# which is better



## soon2bemt (Jun 30, 2006)

Which is better for women?  Upper body strength or lower body strength?  I heard from one of my clinical preceptors that us women have more strength in our lower body-i.e. our legs so that's what we should work on most when working out.  Everyone always tells us to lift with our legs-and I do-but when it comes to carrying some 250 lb. woman up a hill and across a field to a wiating helicopter-which is better in everyone's own opinion-


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## gradygirl (Jun 30, 2006)

Your legs and your back are the two powerhouses when it comes to lifting and carrying things. Though it is important to have enough arm power to keep hold of something, the muscle groups that are doing most of the work are your legs.

I play rugby and whenever we go into a scrum (where the two teams go head to head in a big pack), we are always relying on our backs and legs to push the other team back fight for the ball. Slightly different principle than carrying a 250# pt. over a hill, but it shows how exactly one moves when trying to control a heavy object.


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## Raf (Jun 30, 2006)

I would agree that woman usually have much stronger legs than arms. What you want to work is up to you.

It's all about whether you want to augment your already powerful legs, or try to strengthen up your arms.

Personally I would rather woman work on their legs than arms. Muscular arms are not always attractive to men. We all have our preferences though.


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## Stevo (Jul 1, 2006)

most women i know in ems use that muscle bettween their ears quite efficiently to get the men to do the lifting....
~S~


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## rescuecpt (Jul 1, 2006)

I usually work my arms and chest, just because my legs are naturally strong.  Right now I'm not allowed to workout (damn broken L5 and herniated L5-S1, L4-L5, and L3-L4 - yeah, I'm only 27)... but when I do it's usally something like this:

Day 1: Cardio (20 min bike, 40 min eliptical), Arms
Day 2: Cardio (20 min bike, 20 min eliptical), Chest/Abs, Cardio (20 min treadmill)
Day 3: Cardio (20 min bike, 40 min eliptical), Legs, Cardio (10 min treadmill)
Day 4: Cardio (20 min bike, 20 min eliptical), Arms, Cardio (20 min treadmill)
Day 5: Cardio (20 min bike, 40 min eliptical), Chest/Abs
Day 6 and Day 7: off

It worked for me, it helped me lose weight, trim everywhere, and put on a little bit (but not so much that its ugly) of defined muscle.  The bike gets me warmed up, the eliptical gets my heart pumping, and the treadmill at the end two days a week gives me a little something different, and helps me cool down a bit.


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