davidsprincess's Journal, 14 Jan 21

DP, you are truly amazing. All your hard work is definitely showing in this photo. Keep up the hard work you looking amazing.💪💪💪💪💪 

I’m convinced! Look at those back muscles and that left arm! Looking good DP! 💪 

Just fill that skin with muscle, you're on that path anyways and it's not a bad thing. 

Wow! I'm inspired! Love those buff arms! Nice work! *curls kettlebells frantically*  

😁😁 glad you over rode the autocorrect. Not that far of a drive for mr. muscle to make a surprise visit. Just in case maybe I'll get a dozen donuts to smooth things over. But in all seriousness my cut is buried under more fat layers. Your back looks better than mine. 

Wow! 

how do you build muscle like that? I feel like I'm not making progress with muscle, when I go to the gym I feel weak and feel like I'm starting all over when I've worked days in a row. The days I work I only eat 600 something calories cause we don't get a lunch when I get the opportunity I would my food down and I don't get off till 11:30pm so I don't eat when I get home.  

Thank you, Nutricali! Thanks, Keilin! First of all- you always look very beautiful to me and 2nd- yeah- I need to dye my hair. 😉 I'm glad I inspire and motivate! Thanks, Kattay and John! Thank you, Egull! If I could only get my food better controlled- like you do!! Thank you Jenny and Lonnie! Thanks, LBG! Laraae- I'm so glad you are back! I truly am and I am excited to see your progress! Just keep doing it! Thank you, ocean girl! You are sweet! Thanks, 60pack! Katsolo- If I filled the skin with muscle- I'd be in the Guinness Book. Way too big! Thank you, Brandy! That made me smile! Yes, Hebrews- a box of donuts would make everything better. (Almost anything). Sparticus- Thanks, pal! 

RN16- You diet calendar is showing more than 600 calories (thankfully). You need to eat enough calories and lift as heavy as you can to failure. Or at least that's what I do. I don't know about everyone else. I don't eat a lot before I go to the gym in the morning but I eat plenty throughout the day. I don't really give great lifting advice. Just not my thing. Maybe someone else can respond. I just think- lift heavy- if you can do 12 reps of something- you need to be increasing the weight. Push yourself. Some muscle groups- like back- are really strong. When I see 200 pound women at the gym using 10 pound dumbbells to do back rows- it irritates the shit outta me. So push yourself. Good luck! BTW- You need to eat when you get home from work. Who cares if it is 11:30 p.m. if you have only had 600 calories- you need to take care of yourself.  

Thanks for the advice. Ya, I don't eat when I get home, because I don't want to eat and lay down. I usually do 50 of all the leg machines at the gym and I use a weight as heavy as I can, each machine is different as far as weights. The arms I do 40 of the bicep curls and the other arms with 40 lb weights and the other arms machine I do 30 with 30 lb weights the shoulder raise machine and the other one where I push out with arms. So should I go heavier and do less reps? 

Thanks for the advice. Ya, I don't eat when I get home, because I don't want to eat and lay down. I usually do 50 of all the leg machines at the gym and I use a weight as heavy as I can, each machine is different as far as weights. The arms I do 40 of the bicep curls and the other arms with 40 lb weights and the other arms machine I do 30 with 30 lb weights the shoulder raise machine and the other one where I push out with arms. So should I go heavier and do less reps? 

Are you saying you do 50 reps or using 50 pounds? If you are doing 50 reps- yes- for sure you need to be lifting weight that is so heavy that you are not doing more than probably 12 reps- as in- not able to- lifting to failure. You can then lower the weight and do as many with that weight- Doing drop sets. And I don't know how much time you are spending there. I lift an hour to an hour 15 minutes 6 days a week. You can probably see some results with 3-4 times a week. I don't know. I only know what I do.  

Oh so I need to go heavier and do less reps. I work 3 12 he shifts a week and don't exercise those days, because I work 11-11 and I need my energy for work, believe me I run around the entire 12 hour shift, non stop most days so depending on my schedule I go to gym 2-3 days a week to lift with a day of rest in between 

You are getting in a lot of exercise! That's awesome! Good for you! Eat more, sleep more and continue to lift!  

RN I agree with DP. 600 kcal isn’t enough! You have to eat enough healthy calories to build those muscles up! (Protein is preferred but you also need some carbs for fuel) I’m post menopausal so don’t have the hormones most women have. For me I do what I consider moderate on weights. I try to lift for 3 sets of 6-8 reps. If I can get 10-12 then I go up a bit. I had some success with that but not like a huge growth in size or strength. Then surgeries, gym closing, kids getting busy etc and I’ve been out of the gym a lot. I’m going 1-2x a week now trying to slowly build back up. I was 3x a week before that. Just don’t have the time of an evening right now and don’t want to ask some strange man to spot me during the day (never any women in there between 9am and 2 pm that I’ve seen). Best of luck to you!  

I totally agree with DP and Peepers. The main reason most people's muscles don't grow is they are working them too much. This continually tears the muscle down. That's great if you're looking for definition but not if you want them to grow. I do 15 reps because I don't want huge muscles but once that becomes too easy I try to go up to the next size of weight. Even if I can only get one rep in. Eventually you should be able to increase it. I've always heard 6-8 reps for bigger muscles and 10-15 for definition. Many body builders have alternate light and heavy days. Light days help strengthen the tendons and ligaments. I go by feel. Many use a 3 day on, one day off schedule and do chest/triceps, Back/biceps, shoulders/trapezoids/legs respectively. I do a 4 day on, one day off and do legs and abs on the 4th day. This helps give your muscles the rest they need to repair and grow. Ideally you should take one day off for this as well. That's the general rule of thumb I learned.  

Oh yeah. Same as Peepers says 3 exercises, 3 sets each for each muscle group. For big muscles like back and chest you can do 4 different exercises and for smaller muscles biceps and triceps no more than 3 sets usually. Even 2 sets is ok if you exhaust them pretty good. I don't think more is advisable when starting out due to risk of injury. I knew someone who tore their bicep by doing too much too soon. It's good to make sure you aren't working the same part of a muscle group when you pick exercises. For example working shoulders pick something for front, middle and rear delts. You don't want all 3 exercises to only be for front delts for example. If I'm overstating the obvious I apologize. Since I don't know your level of expertise I'm just answering with this. I know I don't have the muscles DP has but I did alot of research in the past and my hubby was a body builder too. Hope it helps!  

Lol you’re funny Chris.  

Thank you all for the tips. I'll try different things. The days I work, I'm trying to figure out a way to get more calories in 

Don't listen to Chrisw77. He is an ass. 🙄