Middle Aged Fattie + Anavar= ?

[Strategus]

Hey 40plus -

Good to hear the arm is healing! Your BP looks great!

Jumping rope and/or doing stairs are good for cardio.

What I mainly wanted to recommend is to do lots of whole-body exercises e.g. compound exercises. It's really hard to get a set of washboard abs without also doing A LOT of work everywhere else - legs, shoulders, back, arms, shoulders...

Compound lifts like squats and deadlifts release growth hormone which stimulates muscle growth "everywhere." Once your arm is recovered to hold the dumbbells, go for some squats, presses, and so on.

The abs are usually the last muscles to really "show" - which is why they're the "big deal" for people who are cutting down for contests or whatever.

What I've noticed from ~1.5 y lifting (natural - female) is a reduction in waistline and a change in shoulders/arms along with strength increases. Abs...haven't happened yet, although they're getting stronger. I do work them, but it's usually toward the end of a w/o where I do some compound lifts first.

Don't mean to disappoint.

It's just that when someone lifts, there is soooo much demand by the body to add muscle in big places like legs, arms, back etc. that the relatively small ab muscles take a while to become noticeable. It's similar with the triceps vs. biceps. The triceps, which are bigger than the biceps, will get noticeably bigger more rapidly than the biceps, at least from my experience.

Another thing you can do is, if you are doing stairs for cardio, put a weight inside a backpack. It turns a pure cardio session into a leg w/o also. I don't recommend this while jumping rope of course. However, carrying some weight around can make a walk or stairs session more effective. And, it can make walking more time-effective. And, it's a good way to cut bf, too.

Best wishes!

[40plusnewbie]

Hey 40plus -

Good to hear the arm is healing! Your BP looks great!

Jumping rope and/or doing stairs are good for cardio.

What I mainly wanted to recommend is to do lots of whole-body exercises e.g. compound exercises. It's really hard to get a set of washboard abs without also doing A LOT of work everywhere else - legs, shoulders, back, arms, shoulders...

Compound lifts like squats and deadlifts release growth hormone which stimulates muscle growth "everywhere." Once your arm is recovered to hold the dumbbells, go for some squats, presses, and so on.

The abs are usually the last muscles to really "show" - which is why they're the "big deal" for people who are cutting down for contests or whatever.

What I've noticed from ~1.5 y lifting (natural - female) is a reduction in waistline and a change in shoulders/arms along with strength increases. Abs...haven't happened yet, although they're getting stronger. I do work them, but it's usually toward the end of a w/o where I do some compound lifts first.

Don't mean to disappoint.

It's just that when someone lifts, there is soooo much demand by the body to add muscle in big places like legs, arms, back etc. that the relatively small ab muscles take a while to become noticeable. It's similar with the triceps vs. biceps. The triceps, which are bigger than the biceps, will get noticeably bigger more rapidly than the biceps, at least from my experience.

Another thing you can do is, if you are doing stairs for cardio, put a weight inside a backpack. It turns a pure cardio session into a leg w/o also. I don't recommend this while jumping rope of course. However, carrying some weight around can make a walk or stairs session more effective. And, it can make walking more time-effective. And, it's a good way to cut bf, too.

Best wishes!

No disappointment at all. Your feedback is very helpful. I hadn't thought of the weight in a backpack, that's a great idea! I have done walking and stair stepping in the past holding dumbbells above my shoulders and walking carrying weights in a gym bag (neither of which I can do at the moment) but a weight in a backpack would work perfectly!

And I"m in it for the long term, so while this recent setback is a disappointment I still have that visual image in my mind of what I want my body to look like and am determined to get there.

I was interested in weight lifting for the first time at the age of 12 but had no idea of the connection between diet and lifting, didn't get muscle growth, and subsequently gave up. Same thing again at age 16 or so. Now I know the formula. And I don't care if I have a layer of fat over my ab muscles, I'm still gonna work them with heavy weights so that when I do finally get to that low bf I'll have a real eye catching mid section.

And thanks to your post I remembered that I haven't done my 20 minutes of stomach vacuum this evening like I had planned on doing. Time to do that right now!

Thanks again!

[Strategus]

Great! Glad the idea was helpful!

I'm staring right now at the backpack (with a weight in it). The weight actually came from a junkyard and it says that it's lonely so I guess I should take it for a walk tomorrow (my silly sense of humor).

[40plusnewbie]

Great! Glad the idea was helpful!

I'm staring right now at the backpack (with a weight in it). The weight actually came from a junkyard and it says that it's lonely so I guess I should take it for a walk tomorrow (my silly sense of humor).

Do you do the stomach vacuum exercise? If not I think you might be surprised by the difference it can make in defining ones mid-section.

[Strategus]

Hello 40plus -

I will try doing stomach vacuums. I did a few, and they _do_ exercise muscles different from what crunches or leg raises do.

Hope you're doing well today. I had a good day and w/o.