Deadlifts can make a waist much thicker with muscle all the way around it though, so you might prefer squats to deads, being a girl and all. I think deads are the best exercise there is, but still, it's something to think about.

Every girl I've ever seen doing deadlifts @ the gym has been smoking hot.

Variance?

They're a fantastic exercise and you can still be hot with a thick waist, but I think a lot of women's vanity will make them rule out deadlifts. If they can do deads without getting thick-waisted, then it would be the best of all worlds, as I don't think the exercise can be beat. And some may be happy to trade a waist that's a bit thicker for a much firmer, more shapely, and trimmer legs and butt.

What is deadlifts?

google

lol.....ok

here

http://exrx.net/WeightExercises/Erec...BDeadlift.html

You may want to work with a PT or at least someone who knows what they're talking about at first to make sure your form is ok.

Not exactly instructional, but useful:

http://media.crossfit.com/cf-video/C...dliftIntro.wmv

Note the bar over mid foot, shin close to bar, chest up, shoulders forward, scapulae over bar-- then during the lift, it is through the heels and the hips and shoulders move together until the bar is above the knee.

I'm going to disagree with Blarg a little bit about this lift thickening your waist. You aren't going to gain muscle while dropping 20 pounds. Your waist size will shrink whether you deadlift or not. Worthwhile to at least learn how to deadlift and to gradually work towards finding out what is heavy for you.

Also, as far as rep ranges go. I don't think bodybuilders lift much if any in the range <6 reps, and they tend to accumulate a lot of fatigue by numerous sets of several exercises for each targeted muscle. This is nothing like strength work-- much of the gains from which are due your brain learning to leverage what you have-- not from growing more muscle. To add at lot of muscle as a woman you'd need to be rarely genetically gifted and/or on roids and eating to encourage that accumulation. It's particularly common for women (a bit less so with men) to needlessly fear something that won't happen, bulking-- they'd be so much better off firing a worry synapse on that whole chocolate donut issue thing.

Good luck. Have fun-- if you can figure out how to have fun maybe you won't fall in and out of shape.

I agree that it would be harder for women to gain muscle around the waist simply because they are women. However, the deads also get your lower back too, and that can affect how you wear your clothes too.

Personally, I'm an incredibly hard gainer, and my waist and lower back very noticeably thickened with muscle anyway. I started off carrying some fat on my belly, lost it all down to a sixpack -- and was bummed to try on some pants that were too tight for me and see that they still were. I hadn't lost an inch even though I was trimmed down to sixpack level. Oh well.

Being that OP is a girl, she is much less likely to have that problem, and getting to the point that she did might still be worth it, just for the overall strengthening and systemic stimulation she'd get along the way. Then she could always just choose a different exercise later, if she got too much thickness at the waist. I didn't mean to imply that there would be no benefits to the deadlift -- it's my favorite exercise -- or that the thickness was guaranteed, but just thought that in the long run, she might like squats better. Or kettlebell swings, even.

Same here. This is probably the only greek god physique aspect that I'm rapidly improving. The wide waist.

I posted this in January.....

And I have stuck with it.

I am now 137 lbs......

but still have some body fat and leg fat to loose.

I've been doing A LOT more strength exercises but I guess need some tips to loose overall body fat......

There's an advance move called the push-away, it involves increasing spatial distance between your belly button and the lunch table. Congrats on the progress so far and thanks for the update. Good luck.

oh: you might look at hiit or some strictly aerobic activity?

Good job so far!
I'm gonna stay away from the checkboxes for now.

You've lost some weight and perhaps stagnated lately. Now you gotta refine your diet/training.

As for diet, post everything you eat. See where you can make adjustments (caloric, or macros). You said in your new thread you've cut down on carbs and fat. You might be making some mistakes there, so post some food logs. As you get closer to your goal, calorie counting could be pretty key.

Also post your training. In the other thread you said, "I usually do cardio for 20-60 mins (longer for things like walking and biking, shorter for jogging and more intense things) [4-5 times a week]"

This seems like too much low intensity steady state to me. Focus more on full-body lifting. The compound staples: squats, dls, bench, ohp, lunges, etc. You can structure em in various ways: barbell complexes, crossfit, afterburn (cosgrove-type stuff).
Then throw in some running/biking work on the side.

Some personal trainer wants me to work with him for a few sessions ($500 for 6 hrs) but I think that is a bit expensive for things that ppl can probably tell me on here....

but he said something about keeping my heart rate between 120-130 while doing cardio to burn fat......but it doesn't burn as many calories, so how does that make sense?

So should I spend more time strength training and doing exercises, or just mainly cardio, or continue to do both?

I bought a skipping rope to use in the gym in my building, to do like 2 mins of fast skipping, then push ups, then 60 s skipping, then sit ups, ect.......is that a good idea?

I go jogging.....usually like 2-5 km outside.....or maybe like 30 mins at the gym...

or I do the eliptical gazelle thingy.....with a lot of tension and incline....or walk on the treadmill uphill for 45-60 mins....

See above.

Perhaps I should've posted checkboxes. The "fat burning zone" is for the most part BS.
http://www.prevention.com/cda/articl...t.loss.coaches

Total calories (while exercising and after) is more important. So is muscle preservation. Again, see my above post.

ETA: Jumproping is pretty awesome for a while.

Yea I am sure it's probably diet.....

I try not to eat things like fast food (my boyfriend eats a lot so this was a hard one, but also an important one as I was doing it a lot with him)....and if i go to a restaurant I don't even look at any sections besides salads and sandwiches....and I go for something turkey or chicken......and never get the fries anymore....

I guess it's the little things tho......I like cheese.....I switched to the "skim milk" cheese, but its still fatty........and I like rice....

argh its soo hard. Calorie counting is miserable.

Please don't give this guy hundreds of dollars. Your health would be better off if you spent them on donuts.

(And gave them to me. Yum.)

Anyways, I find that getting calories from fat and protein is much more satisfying and filling than those I get from carbohydrates. (And so does like almost everyone else.) So, instead of eating your half a bagel or low fat yogurt, eat a couple eggs or a few strips of bacon. Yes, not eating these things and rice and pasta sucks, but it's worth the effort. And we need a newer pic!

Big fan of your jumping rope + bodyweight circuit idea.

Ya i cut out my toast with peanut butter for breakfast.....

and eat a banana and non-fat non-sugar yogurt

lunch is omelette's with veggies in them, with some sliced turkey cold cuts that i make sure are super lean....

I made some chili loaded with veggies and beans and extra lean ground beef that I drained with water first....

I made cabbage soup with beef and veggies.......

thanks....

any idea how I should do it?!?

2 min skipping? 1 min? 30 secs?

And between every exercise? Or between two? three?

What are you going to do after you get there (wherever there is)? And are you sure you aren't already there? Are the boys in OOT calling you a heiffer? You weren't to begin with, and you aren't now. I'm rambling, but is it a number on the scale you are after, or reduced bodyfat or what-- and what then?

You might be cutting fat too much. Enjoy your fats, while still adhering to your total caloric intake. Fats provide energy, maintain hormonal balance, and promote satiety. Arguably a good balance of fats polyun, monoun, saturated can promote lipolysis.

Good sources: fish oil (epa/dha, blah blah), olive oil, peanut butter, flax seed animal protein.

Your pics show solid progress, btw.

How about this version of crossfit's annie:

150 fast singles (aim for singles at between 120-180 per minute).
50 situps
120 singles
40 situps
90 singles
30 situps
60 singles
20 situps
30 singles
10 situps

for time (try to make this time decrese).

Maybe substitute pushups for sit-ups.

Maybe do double under instead of singles reduce by /3 to 50-40-30-20-10

Build up to 5 or even 10 minutes of fast singles.

pull-ups? dumbbell swings? other stuff?

Make the jump rope part of a 4 exercise circuit you do 3-5 times, or part of a 8-10 exercise circuit you do 1-2x.

That enough to get you started?