Advice please...

[serenity4]

Hi
I am in my late 50's and am looking for some good exercises to tone up. Ten years ago I lost about 20 lbs and did weights and toned and weighed more than what I do today and felt great, but now I have been on a cholesterol lowering diet and lost fast and seems my body looks less toned then it did with the weight on. I look great in clothes but I hate my legs and stomach and refuse to wear shorts or bathing suit, so whats the point in being smaller and still feeling fat? Frustrating, and probably cause I lost about 15 lbs in six weeks and my skin just doesnt seem to have the elasticity like it had ten years ago but I am hoping with some good weight exercises I can atleast bring some tone back? The past while I have not been able to do alot of weights as I have been treated for a sciatic problem but am feeling much better now. I do enjoy walking and free weights. My upper body seems to tone much faster, could be I use the upper body during the day outside working alot. My legs are a nice shape but more soft and harder to tone along with my stomach area. I also have osteoporosis and arthritis so I chose my exercises carefully to not hurt myself, but I am an active person through out the day also. I don't want to lose anymore weight as it will contribute to more areas of loose skin I believe..I need to tone and build muscle. Is there hope that I can build where I have looser skin to help bring back some tone? I don't think I am too old to make these changes? I am willing to listen to more experienced people out there. Thanks so much for listening to my long post.

 

[Lizard King]

What kind of exercises are you currently doing. Something with a low weight and a igher rep range should help you tone up a bit but it does take some time.
Male/Female?

Welcome to TID btw.

 

[Bilter]

You did not say bit I am assuming you are female? Regardless, I think the most effective training routine for you would be a cross fit type training regiment. The weights are light, reps and in intensities are high. Its great full body conditioning as well as losing unwanted subcutaneous fat.
Istvan Javorek has hundreds of routines for people in every state of conditioning and in any sport. He is also willing to answer any questions you have if you buy his book / cd directly from him. I have used his methods in the past and I will tell you, they are extremely effective.

 

[AllTheWay]

good morning and welcome to the iron den! we are very pleased to have you here.

i am assuming you are a female because your complaint about your legs is just like mine

i think bilter has a great suggestion on the crossfit. also one can never ever go wrong with squats, squats and more squats

 

[serenity4]

Hi,
So nice to know others have similar problems and I am not alone. Lots of good info here. Thanks, looking forward to this forum and learning. I am 57 year young female lol. I am 5'3 think I was 5'4 but shrunk some lol...and weigh now about 118 lbs. I am not hung up on weight as I would rather weigh more and be toned which I know will come with a consistent routine. Kinda sucks though as I see woman my age and know they don't do weights and still can have firm legs? I am quite active outdoors as I live on a farm, however, I do try and walk most days, but honestly have not been consistent at all in weights the past three months I have been losing weight. I know about 15 years ago, younger of course I did alot of weights and squats using 100 lbs and it did make a difference but I still had some loseness in my inner thigh, not alot but frustrated cause I was doing alot of workouts. Then the past years I didn't keep up with it and gained about 15lbs, but now since I had to cut back on my fat intake even though I hadn't eaten red meat or fatty foods for years my cholesterol had gone up so the doctor wants to see if its genetic so I have been watching what I eat the past three months and have lost weight in the process but not happy with the results, but again not exercising consistently due to my sciatic problem, its on the mend so I want to take it easy. I think I will join a gym so I can have access to the weights there as when we moved we sold everything so until I can get it back at home the gym will be my investment. I just need to know that there is hope and I will be able to firm up somewhat, I know I am not 20 years old but I also want to feel good in my skin at any age. So do you think that I still need to lose weight to firm up or work with what I have? I find my elasticity is not good since I lost this time, my skin seems so thin if that makes sense? Just glad to have this forum and information. Thanks again.

 

[AllTheWay]

i hate to be the bearer of bad news but you will have a very tough time getting your skin to firm up. with us women there is so much genetics involved in the elasticity of the skin! i have been working hard on my ass and legs and my skin is loose and i HATE it!!! so discouraging. so i am trying to not get too hung up on it (it isnt working very well) i see women that are skinny and have horrible looking skin and i see fat women that have absolutely not one drop of cellulite, i dont like them

i have been concentrating on jogging on the treadmill, that has helped more than i ever could have thought and on making sure i am doing squats. a girl can never go wrong with heavy squats!

 

[serenity4]

Ouch that hurts. I just want to be healthy and look the best I can for my age. Ya I see bigger woman with nice firm legs and wonder how come not me? lol...I always had nice legs growing up, then yo yo dieting and losing and gaining didn't help I guess. I can't handle jogging because of my joints but I can sure power walk with a sprint in between. Perhaps doing that religously 7 days a week and my weights 3 days a week I may start to see change eh? Just thought too much cardio would make me lose more weight and cause more untoned skin? I think as you said squats are good and I know my husband said that too...but they hurt lol...I could not squat what I did in the past...my knees would give out...but I can follow Bilters suggestions too...or I can gain 20 lbs of fat and fill out that way haha..No seriously, I will start a stricter workout and I am sure there will be some change. I thank you for sharing with me and that you have similar problem, as it is frustrating when you work so hard and have lost the weight only to want to hide those parts and I really don't want to get hung up either on it, just want to embrace myself as a strong woman and love myself, but dam it is hard sometimes lol...but working on it.

 

[AllTheWay]

do you take any joint supps?

 

[myosaurus]

welcome to TID. you have few things working against you but also have positives in your favor.(good news and bad news)
first the bad news... your age, hormonal issues(thus explaining the lesser toned legs and joint issues). I'm assuming you had to drop weights to improve cholesterol? skin won't tighten up fast(if any) at your age, especially if you lost that weight fast. higher fats in hip/thigh are just norm for most women as ATW mentioned, you can't go wrong with squat. if you're having trouble in inner thigh area, there's agood chance that your squat depth is not deep enough and the weights(or intensity) are not challenging enough. I understand that you have sciatica which makes it difficult to squat deep and heavy. joint supplements can help as well as fish oils. I must ask, how did you develope that sciatica to begin with. I do have a long term solution to that problem. I'll copy and past it to this thread soon.
now the good news! you're not overweight and you're healthy and active!(remember, movement is life). that means you'll have better chance of filling that loose skin by building more muscle in the area(legs/hips, and trunk mostly in lumbar area through squatting and deadlifting) than simply trying to tighten them up without.
squat is a great movement that I feel everyone should be doing(given their health permits it). if you have knee, hip, back problem, those issues must be addressed while building up your squat form and poundage.

 

[myosaurus]

here's the copy/paste from a post I made to another female member with similar issue. remember, stronger glutes help support knees and back...
Re: Firming Glutes and inner thighs
I know its a female section but let me butt in with my IMO if you ladies don't mind... some have trouble activating glutes because the spine is in excessive lordotic curve(arching) and its usually caused by tight hip flexors. the symptoms are inability to go deep on squats, excessive bending forward, and overactivation of lumbar and hamstrings when squatting(as opposed to quads and glutes). keeping flexibility in hip flexors and keeping a neutral spinal position(flat) at the bottom of squat will activate glutes best. simply tighten up your guts when reaching the bottom of squat and pushing with heels will help with this.
What is Lower Crossed Syndrome? | Back Into It

 

[AllTheWay]

great advice myo

 

[JackD]

I'm just jumping in to Say welcome to TID, and Alltheway is the best person to be talking to about toning up, since she is an expert in the Female body Physique