18-11-2015, 12:07 AM
High Hope,
I think HIIT is pretty brutal, especially when just starting out. If your heart's OK, go for 30 minutes, doing a "set" of 20 seconds exercise, 10 seconds recovery, for several sets. The more, the better. If it's an issue, rest more, and build up to it.
For HIT, it's more a question of how much effort you're putting in. Gasping for breath without killing yourself is the goal. I manage that with lower weight, actually, and best options are power moves: Squats, Cleans, Deadlifts, in that order. (Maybe reverse cleans and squats, not sure. I go from Cleaning the weight into a push press. Cleaning the weight from the floor, or from a hang position, WILL have you gasping quickly.)
As to sets, I'm TOLD that 5 sets of 5 reps works well, using heavy weight. If I don't do a lot of foam rolling and soft tissue work afterwards, I get tight, hard legs. If I do the same weight for sets of 10 reps, I'm fine afterwards. Keeping that in mind, here's the normal progression:
2 sets warmup: 45-pound bar by itself. (Trying to do front squats here; builds quads more, which will make for a more feminine appearance, I think. Women are supposedly often quad-dominant... So makes for more curve.) Also, I'll do a slow eccentric (lowering), hold for a second, then try to explode upwards.
2 sets / 10+ reps per set / @$$ to grass squat, get your butt DOWN to lengthen muscles.
2 sets, light weights: 25# plate each side, BACK squat.
2 sets / 10+ reps per set / A2G again, play with the stretch.
Repeat that with 50# each side, I prefer 2 25# plates each side over say a 45# and 5# together. Form will be stricter here, my knees go over my toes - long body, shorter legs. Ideally, the knees don't go beyond toes.
Up to 75# each side, 5 sets of 5 reps each, careful on form. Don't rest too much here, but you'll be slowing down.
Now, if the "heavy"is too much, you can adjust it a few different ways. Make a complex of moves, say - Deadlift to Clean from Hang, to Overhead or Push Press, working them in a series with minimal rest. I think we need to adjust the sequence, maybe NOT develop the upper body? But it's difficult to do a complex on the lower body without killing yourself. (Meaning, total exhaustion, which will reduce exercising, which will reduce calorie burn and muscle development. YES, you want muscle development - muscle burns more calories even at rest. Also looks better than fat. )
If you're looking at it from a lighter weight routine, you can do more explosive power. Try to keep reps in 3-5 range, from my readings - I still have problems with fewer reps. But where I'm comfortable, 10-12 reps, is where the muscle grows largest. So I think it's not working out well for feminization.
You can work the muscle in different ways, too, to achieve your objectives, but I'll defer to real experts on that. ;-)
I got most of my mass through swimming and bodybuilding exercises (10 rep sets with lighter weights.) When I was skinny, I was 180 pounds, and could've packed on about 20 pounds of muscle. Stretch marks I have prove it, from the swimming and lifting I did do. (I was lifting 50 pounds at that time, and too lazy to change weights for each exercise - so, if I could curl it, that was the weight for everything. Then Mom and Dad chimed in, Mom said I was getting too big, and shouldn't be working out that way. Dad complained I wasn't doing real exercise, like yard work... :-P But I digress.)
I lost significant strength getting skinny. I'd avoid going every day for 4 hours and doing 2 hours of cardio, which I did for 2 years, to drop from 240 - 180. Chased the calorie burn too much, and didn't do the diet enough. So make sure you have a really good diet.
And the HGH? Just the squats. It's the exertion that builds it, the larger the muscle, the better. Largest muscles are lower body. Quadriceps, Gluteals, then hamstrings, abs, lower legs. Upper body you can ALMOST ignore, but symmetry is better than a heavy bottom and no top. Do something "girly" for the upper body, just to keep the skin tight and avoid the triceps fat deposits women get. Also, rowing, swimming, etc, but be careful about developing the Trapezius at the neck. I did Butterfly for one summer, I can't keep bra straps up, PERIOD. Makes for a visual triangle, which is MALE, not feminine.... ;-) That development was over 20 years ago now... Never went away.
Another option, important if you're prone to building mass: Bodyweight calisthenics, again back to squat variations, but you can do them for volume and build a pretty decent (strong enough, resilient, flexible) body. This would take the routine above and modify it a bit to exaggerate movements, instead of increasing weight.
Calisthenics, do bodyweight squats for the warmup sets; go for 20, work to that number of reps per set. Then, go to Jump Squats, try to go higher each time, and go as low as possible without losing control. You don't want to bang your butt on the ground, or fall over.
Then, go for the 5X5 routine with alternating Pistol squats, which are one-legged squats. This would actually make it 10 sets. 5 right, 5 Left. Slow and controlled. Then do some jump squats again, to loosen up and keep elastic. If you can breathe, you're not going hard enough. ;-)
Over time, you can build that up, too. Goblet squats to add weight, using a kettlebell, dumbbell, plate, even jugs of water. Try to rest less; try to squat lower; pause at the bottom of the squat so there's no momentum. Explode more when you push back up. Drop at body weight, then explode up with a weight from the ground, and clean it to shoulders.
Even work in other exercises while doing the sets. for example, at the gym yesterday, while doing the sets above? I also integrate in stretching and situps and jump squats (not all at once, but toss in situps near the beginning, and when going heavy, do jump squats to improve my power.) Keeps you gasping, keeps the blood moving. Can also do butt exercises like a hip thrust, kettlebell swing, tablemaker, or glute bridge. Hold for 10 seconds, and squeeze the butt tight. Then get back to the squats...
If I could be a decent guinea pig, I'd develop a program specifically for "us." We don't develop like genetic girls, so we need to be more picky... But I keep gravitating to STRONG, STRONG, STRONG (Side effect of assault, I guess, and I build mass pretty well.) And I can't ask someone else to be my guinea pig, either. If someone wants to volunteer, we can try it, but I can't guarantee quick results. I know ALL THE TRICKS... But if I don't do the trade, knowing the tricks is meaningless. E.G., intermittent fasting raises GH by something like 2,000 %, I think it was? But... From what baseline? And if I'm not working out, what will grow? I'm in IT, can't the HGH hit my brain and breasts? Instead of biceps, triceps, lats? :-P
Does make me think I need to look at my program more seriously, though. I'll have to try a few things and post back...
I think HIIT is pretty brutal, especially when just starting out. If your heart's OK, go for 30 minutes, doing a "set" of 20 seconds exercise, 10 seconds recovery, for several sets. The more, the better. If it's an issue, rest more, and build up to it.
For HIT, it's more a question of how much effort you're putting in. Gasping for breath without killing yourself is the goal. I manage that with lower weight, actually, and best options are power moves: Squats, Cleans, Deadlifts, in that order. (Maybe reverse cleans and squats, not sure. I go from Cleaning the weight into a push press. Cleaning the weight from the floor, or from a hang position, WILL have you gasping quickly.)
As to sets, I'm TOLD that 5 sets of 5 reps works well, using heavy weight. If I don't do a lot of foam rolling and soft tissue work afterwards, I get tight, hard legs. If I do the same weight for sets of 10 reps, I'm fine afterwards. Keeping that in mind, here's the normal progression:
2 sets warmup: 45-pound bar by itself. (Trying to do front squats here; builds quads more, which will make for a more feminine appearance, I think. Women are supposedly often quad-dominant... So makes for more curve.) Also, I'll do a slow eccentric (lowering), hold for a second, then try to explode upwards.
2 sets / 10+ reps per set / @$$ to grass squat, get your butt DOWN to lengthen muscles.
2 sets, light weights: 25# plate each side, BACK squat.
2 sets / 10+ reps per set / A2G again, play with the stretch.
Repeat that with 50# each side, I prefer 2 25# plates each side over say a 45# and 5# together. Form will be stricter here, my knees go over my toes - long body, shorter legs. Ideally, the knees don't go beyond toes.
Up to 75# each side, 5 sets of 5 reps each, careful on form. Don't rest too much here, but you'll be slowing down.
Now, if the "heavy"is too much, you can adjust it a few different ways. Make a complex of moves, say - Deadlift to Clean from Hang, to Overhead or Push Press, working them in a series with minimal rest. I think we need to adjust the sequence, maybe NOT develop the upper body? But it's difficult to do a complex on the lower body without killing yourself. (Meaning, total exhaustion, which will reduce exercising, which will reduce calorie burn and muscle development. YES, you want muscle development - muscle burns more calories even at rest. Also looks better than fat. )
If you're looking at it from a lighter weight routine, you can do more explosive power. Try to keep reps in 3-5 range, from my readings - I still have problems with fewer reps. But where I'm comfortable, 10-12 reps, is where the muscle grows largest. So I think it's not working out well for feminization.
You can work the muscle in different ways, too, to achieve your objectives, but I'll defer to real experts on that. ;-)
I got most of my mass through swimming and bodybuilding exercises (10 rep sets with lighter weights.) When I was skinny, I was 180 pounds, and could've packed on about 20 pounds of muscle. Stretch marks I have prove it, from the swimming and lifting I did do. (I was lifting 50 pounds at that time, and too lazy to change weights for each exercise - so, if I could curl it, that was the weight for everything. Then Mom and Dad chimed in, Mom said I was getting too big, and shouldn't be working out that way. Dad complained I wasn't doing real exercise, like yard work... :-P But I digress.)
I lost significant strength getting skinny. I'd avoid going every day for 4 hours and doing 2 hours of cardio, which I did for 2 years, to drop from 240 - 180. Chased the calorie burn too much, and didn't do the diet enough. So make sure you have a really good diet.
And the HGH? Just the squats. It's the exertion that builds it, the larger the muscle, the better. Largest muscles are lower body. Quadriceps, Gluteals, then hamstrings, abs, lower legs. Upper body you can ALMOST ignore, but symmetry is better than a heavy bottom and no top. Do something "girly" for the upper body, just to keep the skin tight and avoid the triceps fat deposits women get. Also, rowing, swimming, etc, but be careful about developing the Trapezius at the neck. I did Butterfly for one summer, I can't keep bra straps up, PERIOD. Makes for a visual triangle, which is MALE, not feminine.... ;-) That development was over 20 years ago now... Never went away.
Another option, important if you're prone to building mass: Bodyweight calisthenics, again back to squat variations, but you can do them for volume and build a pretty decent (strong enough, resilient, flexible) body. This would take the routine above and modify it a bit to exaggerate movements, instead of increasing weight.
Calisthenics, do bodyweight squats for the warmup sets; go for 20, work to that number of reps per set. Then, go to Jump Squats, try to go higher each time, and go as low as possible without losing control. You don't want to bang your butt on the ground, or fall over.
Then, go for the 5X5 routine with alternating Pistol squats, which are one-legged squats. This would actually make it 10 sets. 5 right, 5 Left. Slow and controlled. Then do some jump squats again, to loosen up and keep elastic. If you can breathe, you're not going hard enough. ;-)
Over time, you can build that up, too. Goblet squats to add weight, using a kettlebell, dumbbell, plate, even jugs of water. Try to rest less; try to squat lower; pause at the bottom of the squat so there's no momentum. Explode more when you push back up. Drop at body weight, then explode up with a weight from the ground, and clean it to shoulders.
Even work in other exercises while doing the sets. for example, at the gym yesterday, while doing the sets above? I also integrate in stretching and situps and jump squats (not all at once, but toss in situps near the beginning, and when going heavy, do jump squats to improve my power.) Keeps you gasping, keeps the blood moving. Can also do butt exercises like a hip thrust, kettlebell swing, tablemaker, or glute bridge. Hold for 10 seconds, and squeeze the butt tight. Then get back to the squats...
If I could be a decent guinea pig, I'd develop a program specifically for "us." We don't develop like genetic girls, so we need to be more picky... But I keep gravitating to STRONG, STRONG, STRONG (Side effect of assault, I guess, and I build mass pretty well.) And I can't ask someone else to be my guinea pig, either. If someone wants to volunteer, we can try it, but I can't guarantee quick results. I know ALL THE TRICKS... But if I don't do the trade, knowing the tricks is meaningless. E.G., intermittent fasting raises GH by something like 2,000 %, I think it was? But... From what baseline? And if I'm not working out, what will grow? I'm in IT, can't the HGH hit my brain and breasts? Instead of biceps, triceps, lats? :-P
Does make me think I need to look at my program more seriously, though. I'll have to try a few things and post back...