Exercising tips?

[emtprincess]

I'm a 19 year old female, about 5' 1" and 105 lbs with almost no muscle mass. I recently passed my skills test, and I'm about to take my NREMT written within the next month. And I came to the realization that if I can't even do fifteen simple, regular push ups, then how do I expect to be able to lift up the stretcher onto the ambulance? Anyway, are there any exercising tips for my poor stature? What workouts do you all advise? I've been working on beginner calisthenics workouts. Should I be working on different workouts like weights, cardio, etc? Are there any foods I need to be avoiding as I am working on this? Any advice is greatly appreciated

 

[topemttraining]

I think, first you have to improve your stamina level. Because, you would have to perform much physical works in your job. You should join any strength training routine; get some supervision and expert recommendation. You should work on weight lifting exercise. But do not go faster too rapidly as muscles need to get accustomed to the new activity. With the regularity in your exercise routine you will find your stamina levels increasing and you will be able to progress to lift heavier weights.

 

[titmouse]

^nailed it. Also a good source for exercising routines can be found online, youtube is good too. Keep us posted on your progress and welcome to the board!

 

[emtprincess]

Thanks so much everyone! I will certainly keep everyone posted. I feel like I'm a lost cause in my abilities at the moment haha.

 

[titmouse]

Thanks so much everyone! I will certainly keep everyone posted. I feel like I'm a lost cause in my abilities at the moment haha.

You are not, at least you have the desire to better yourself.

 

[drjekyl75]

Some of the easiest exercises to do for beginners are pushups and squats using just your body weight. As you see progress you can move on to more advanced exercises

 

[emtprincess]

Some of the easiest exercises to do for beginners are pushups and squats using just your body weight. As you see progress you can move on to more advanced exercises

Thanks! I was wondering if focusing on those two would help. I've recently started this challenge for myself to do push ups for one minute every day and work on increasing the number of push ups gradually. Think that will help? So far I'm only at 12

 

[drjekyl75]

Those 2 exercises will help you build a base because they work most of your muscle groups. The other thing to keep in mind is to eat. You can't build muscle from nothing. I work with some smaller girls who always say they want to gain muscle but then starve themselves because they don't want to get fat. As long as you eat healthy and do those exercises you'll build muscle in no time

 

[Kevinf]

Truly, one minute a day isn't going to cut it. You should condition your muscles, then focus on strength building. Here's what my plan would be:

Get in the habit of doing 30 minutes minimum of exercise per day nearly EVERY DAY (take Sundays off). I take my showers at night before I go to bed and I do my exercises before I shower. Get in the habit of doing something similar.

Start off with body weight exercises for a month. Push-ups, pull-ups, dips, crunches, squats. Do as many reps as you can of one and move to the next. Start over when you get to the last. Repeat the cycle as many times as you can before you call it quits. You should be pretty well drenched in sweat by the end and good and sore head to toe for the first week or two. After 1-2 weeks that stiffness/soreness should vanish (despite doing the same or more exercises) and unless you absolutely overdo your routine you won't get particularly achy any more when you exercise. Your muscles are conditioned and beginning to tone. You won't add mass but your large muscle groups should feel firmer and your metabolism should be ramping up a bit.

After a good month of that routine, keep it up but add in strength training with weights to actually BUILD muscle. The conditioning routine will tone your muscles and build your stabilizer muscles up a bit so you don't hurt yourself with the weights. Consult a guide for proper form when lifting and lift as much weight as you can reasonably do to start building up some muscle mass. Since you are a slightly built female, you won't bulk up tremendously since you don't have that nice testosterone boost the gentlemen get so don't worry too much about looking like she-hulk. You'll build up some mass but it would take years to truly add bulk. You will get stronger however, no worries there.

Once you are satisfied with your lifting performance, just keep your muscle conditioning routine going and you'll maintain it pretty well. You'll also be healthier for it since it makes for very decent cardio. It's already been said but I'll reiterate; don't starve yourself or you simply won't get anywhere. Eat healthy, that's all.

 

[emtprincess]

Thanks so much! Everyone's advice helps a lot. I'll be using it

 

[Mainspring]

as mentioned above, don't forget the other half of working out... diet!

healthy diet is just as important as the exercise.

work out til cows come home with poor diet and you'll get nowhere.

protein = muscle.

if you start lifting weights, get some whey protein. great for pre/post workout.

 

[kev54]

I would second the whey protein and diet. I use the Mediterranean diet and that works well for me.

 

[TeamCutz]

No one has really broken down your diet. When you expect results from your body, whether it's leaning out or mass gain, everyone has a number. It's 80% nutrition and 20% gym.

Check out IIFYM.com, it's a macros counter, it balances your big 3, your carbs, healthy fats, and proteins. For a few weeks, you'll be reading and soon math on all of your foods, but by then, you'll know what works and doesn't work for your body. I've witness folks lean & bulk with this program & plenty of bodybuilders/physique competitors have their "numbers".

Another idea is to check out a mass gainer from your local nutrition shop, you'll plump up very quickly, and with the size you're holding now, I assume you have a great metabolism and will cut down to a weight you want very easily.

DM me if you need help with the "numbers", I'm a CPT when I'm not on the rig.

 

[Sundancer]

I second the comment about using a mass gainer. I'm your height, but I weigh about 113 and climbing due to working out and using the gainer. My personal weight goal is 120, which would give me a perfectly healthy bmi of 22. Forget everything Cosmopolitan said about "ideal" weight You will look good and feel good if you up your protein as you work out.

 

[amanda30]

have you tried Yoga and jogging, early morning fresh air and good diet will be highly beneficial for you.

 

[trevorR]

This is the routine I follow for weight lifting. It's by "All Pro" from the bodybuilding.com website. It has worked well for me and I find it pushes you.

"A Simple beginner's Routine
You will do 3 work outs per week on non consecutive days. The first work out is your heavy work out. The second work out is your medium work out, use 10% less weight for your work sets. The final work out for the week is your lite work out, use 20% less weight.

Do a lite warm up with 1/4 of your work sets weight. Do a medium warm up with 1/2 of your work sets weight. Do 2 work sets with the same weight. Choose a starting weight and start light.:censored:

You will be running this program on a five week cycle as follows:
The first week do all 4 sets for 8 reps.
The second week do all 4 sets for 9 reps.
The third week do all 4 sets for 10 reps.
The fourth week do all 4 sets for 11 reps.
The fifth week do all 4 sets for 12 reps.:censored:

If you got all of the required reps on the fifth week then increase the weight by 10% and:censored:repeat the cycle. If you didn't get all of the reps on the fifth week then repeat the cycle with the same weight. You shouldn't need more than one minute rest between the warm up sets and you shouldn't need more than one minute thirty seconds between the work sets.

Do some cardio and abs work on non weight training days."

That is the routine I follow using these exercises. I use dumbbells as that is all that is available where I workout at.

Bench Presses:censored:
Bent-Over Rows:censored:
Seated Shoulder Press
Seated alternating dumbbell curls
Lying Tricept extention
Squats
Stiff-Legged Deadlifts:censored:
Standing Calf Raises

Crunches 3×30
Leg Raises 3×20

For meals I make sure I get my 1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight spread over 6 meals and 1 gram of Carbs per pound of body (as I am losing weight. For gaining weight up carbs to 2 grams) spread over 5 meals. I do take 2 tablespoons of flax seed oil to cover healthy fats, I do modify this when I have a salad with dressing.

I also use the app "Myfitnesspal" to track my food values as it makes calculations easier.

Hope this helps.

 

[Handsome Robb]

as mentioned above, don't forget the other half of working out... diet!

healthy diet is just as important as the exercise.

work out til cows come home with poor diet and you'll get nowhere.

protein = muscle.

if you start lifting weights, get some whey protein. great for pre/post workout.

Agreed, you also need glucose as well. Protein alone won't do it. Simple sugars after a workout as well as protein was how I used to put on and keep on muscle when I played football. I'm 5'8" and rostered at 180#, probably closer to 170 realistically but now I weigh 140# so it worked.

I used to hate going to the gym around the holidays because my old trainer would make me eat X amount of christmas cookies after my workout and before I was allowed to leave the gym then I'd go home and eat a solid protein meal or if I was in a rush I'd grab a smoothie with a protein boost.

have you tried Yoga and jogging, early morning fresh air and good diet will be highly beneficial for you.

Beneficial? Yes. What this girl needs to be doing to increase her strength and improve her lifting technique? No. Yoga can strengthen your muscles but using lifts that target the muscle we use is needed as well. If you don't have the strength or the technique you're on a runaway train for disaster. One bad back injury can end a career.

OP, if you've never lifted weights before get with a trainer for a session or two or at least a friend who knows what they're doing. The better your technique the less strength you actually need to move the same weight.

 

[epicEMT]

If I were you I would probably stay away from cardio, focus on lifting weights and lifting heavy. Make sure you have bench press, squats, and deadlift in your workout routines. Eat lots of protein.

 

[jesse24b]

Do you have any equipment? Access to a gym?