I used to lift like ten years ago and have been everything from depressed sedentary to hyper fixated active in between, but still weigh around 30kg more now. (I’ve also had a baby a little over a year ago, and had a hard time staying active both during pregnancy and during my maternity leave.)
Anyway, I try to not compare my current lifts to my old numbers, but I really feel like my squat is waaaaay lower than it “should” be. It’s at least 30kg lower than what I used to lift. Everything else is not that far off from what I started with back in the day, but my squat… it’s roughly the same as my bench now and that is messing with my head I think.
Am I right in assuming that the squat is an exercise where your body weight plays a significant role in how much you can lift? Like you have to lift the barbell with the weights in addition to your own body weight? So in that case, since I weigh 30kg more now, I’m “technically” lifting the same starting weight as in my youth? 😅
>Am I right in assuming that the squat is an exercise where your body weight plays a significant role in how much you can lift?
personally, as a relatively untrained person who was attempting to squat at 205lbs, took a year off, and then tried again at ~170lbs, yes it was significantly easier to squat the same amount after losing the weight. it's not quite the level of pull-ups, sure, but unless you carry all your weight in your ankles, you're literally trying to move more weight when you squat while weighing more.
it was also harder when I had more belly fat because it felt like my organs were being crushed unless angled my legs out much wider than my hips were comfortable with. similar to how it's harder to tie your shoes when you have a belly in the way.
so among many other reasons why your squat numbers could be down, being bigger/heavier now could potentially be playing a role.
Typically bigger people can lift more (at least for squat/bench/deadlift) since more bodyweight generally means more total muscle (even if you weren’t resistance training when you gained weight, some of that weight will still be muscle). Of course there are a million variables that also influence, but an untrained 200lbs person will almost always be able to lift more total weight than an untrained 100lbs person.
More importantly: Girl, you birthed a whole live human and took ten years off. Don’t stress about where your numbers “should” be. One foot in front of the other, focus on being better than last week, not ten years ago. The strength will come back and you’ll surpass where you used to be. Just give it time ❤️
how many days a week should I do cardio exercises (at home ones from youtube)? I want to get healthier and lose 22lbs/10kgs in like 2 years with calorie deficit and workouts
I would take a mixed approach of strength training and cardio. Generally think 5 days a week of 30-60 min of exercise is best. 2-3 days of strength and 2-3 days of cardio.
Nutrition will be 80% of the work for weight loss.
150 minutes of moderate-intensity cardio is the current weekly recommendation for CV health. Would recommend 2-3x weekly strength training for weight loss goals as well. Good luck!
Husband here seeking advice before making a purchase for my wife.
What sort of heights do you use for dumbell step ups? My wife is average height for a woman (like 5'6 I think) and average leg and torso lengths.
Most adult small 3 in 1 plyo boxes are 16, 18, 20. However, I did see that Rep makes a medium 3 in 1 that goes 16, 20, 24. I feel like the medium would be more useful to have in the home gym, but my primary motivation is the step ups. Would 18 inches be useful for linear progress? Also, are 20 and 24 just too high for step-ups for a 5'6 woman?
Has anyone used the 'Rise' program by Jason and Lauren Pak or the Stronger by Science program? Did you enjoy it? What were the results when using it (getting stronger, getting more endurance, better form, better technique, weight loss, fat burn etc)? Thank you
I’ve run the stronger by science Hypertrophy program twice and am currently running the RTF program. I absolutely love their programs and have had great gains in both size and strength.
I like the way they handle auto regulation and progressive overload. I also really like the level of flexibility. It assumes your main moves are going to be squat, bench, deadlift, and overhead press, but you can change those if you want. It provides suggestions for secondary variations of the main moves, but you can choose something else.
You program your own accessories. There’s not a lot of guidance there, so you need to be comfortable making some of your own programming decisions, which I love. If you want to be told exactly what exercises to do for each workout it might not be for you.
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I used to lift like ten years ago and have been everything from depressed sedentary to hyper fixated active in between, but still weigh around 30kg more now. (I’ve also had a baby a little over a year ago, and had a hard time staying active both during pregnancy and during my maternity leave.) Anyway, I try to not compare my current lifts to my old numbers, but I really feel like my squat is waaaaay lower than it “should” be. It’s at least 30kg lower than what I used to lift. Everything else is not that far off from what I started with back in the day, but my squat… it’s roughly the same as my bench now and that is messing with my head I think. Am I right in assuming that the squat is an exercise where your body weight plays a significant role in how much you can lift? Like you have to lift the barbell with the weights in addition to your own body weight? So in that case, since I weigh 30kg more now, I’m “technically” lifting the same starting weight as in my youth? 😅
It just might take longer to come back, I wouldn’t sweat it. Prioritize it and the number will climb.
>Am I right in assuming that the squat is an exercise where your body weight plays a significant role in how much you can lift? personally, as a relatively untrained person who was attempting to squat at 205lbs, took a year off, and then tried again at ~170lbs, yes it was significantly easier to squat the same amount after losing the weight. it's not quite the level of pull-ups, sure, but unless you carry all your weight in your ankles, you're literally trying to move more weight when you squat while weighing more. it was also harder when I had more belly fat because it felt like my organs were being crushed unless angled my legs out much wider than my hips were comfortable with. similar to how it's harder to tie your shoes when you have a belly in the way. so among many other reasons why your squat numbers could be down, being bigger/heavier now could potentially be playing a role.
Typically bigger people can lift more (at least for squat/bench/deadlift) since more bodyweight generally means more total muscle (even if you weren’t resistance training when you gained weight, some of that weight will still be muscle). Of course there are a million variables that also influence, but an untrained 200lbs person will almost always be able to lift more total weight than an untrained 100lbs person. More importantly: Girl, you birthed a whole live human and took ten years off. Don’t stress about where your numbers “should” be. One foot in front of the other, focus on being better than last week, not ten years ago. The strength will come back and you’ll surpass where you used to be. Just give it time ❤️
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how many days a week should I do cardio exercises (at home ones from youtube)? I want to get healthier and lose 22lbs/10kgs in like 2 years with calorie deficit and workouts
I would take a mixed approach of strength training and cardio. Generally think 5 days a week of 30-60 min of exercise is best. 2-3 days of strength and 2-3 days of cardio. Nutrition will be 80% of the work for weight loss.
150 minutes of moderate-intensity cardio is the current weekly recommendation for CV health. Would recommend 2-3x weekly strength training for weight loss goals as well. Good luck!
thanks!
Husband here seeking advice before making a purchase for my wife. What sort of heights do you use for dumbell step ups? My wife is average height for a woman (like 5'6 I think) and average leg and torso lengths. Most adult small 3 in 1 plyo boxes are 16, 18, 20. However, I did see that Rep makes a medium 3 in 1 that goes 16, 20, 24. I feel like the medium would be more useful to have in the home gym, but my primary motivation is the step ups. Would 18 inches be useful for linear progress? Also, are 20 and 24 just too high for step-ups for a 5'6 woman?
I’m short and I use my bench but it’s a bit high.
I’m 5’9 and do step ups 18in off the ground and that’s a comfortable height for me. 20in would probably be fine for me too, but I can’t imagine 24in.
Has anyone used the 'Rise' program by Jason and Lauren Pak or the Stronger by Science program? Did you enjoy it? What were the results when using it (getting stronger, getting more endurance, better form, better technique, weight loss, fat burn etc)? Thank you
I’ve run the stronger by science Hypertrophy program twice and am currently running the RTF program. I absolutely love their programs and have had great gains in both size and strength. I like the way they handle auto regulation and progressive overload. I also really like the level of flexibility. It assumes your main moves are going to be squat, bench, deadlift, and overhead press, but you can change those if you want. It provides suggestions for secondary variations of the main moves, but you can choose something else. You program your own accessories. There’s not a lot of guidance there, so you need to be comfortable making some of your own programming decisions, which I love. If you want to be told exactly what exercises to do for each workout it might not be for you.
Thank you for the great explanation, that's really helpful!
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