On week 4 of training 3x a week...How long until I see results?

[householder29]

30 y.o. woman, 5'5" 135 lbs.

I just started training again after having to take a lot of time off for a hip injury. It's been about 3-4 weeks of CONSISTENT kettlebell workouts

I'm training 3x a week, plus walking 3-6 miles a day (3 days when I train, 5-6 when I don't train)

I'm not doing any movements that could re-injure my hip (i.e swings...even squats on a bad day make my hip feel funky) I 'm tending to focus a lot on core/arm exercises when it comes to the bells, and less on legs.

I've never gotten far enough in my training to see any actual results. Every time I start I mess up my hip and have to stop. Trying to focus my training on things I actually can do (plus walking after every session helps re align my hips.)

Anyone have any idea when I'll start seeing some results? Am I not training enough?

 

[snowlucario]

@householder29 Body recomp is a slow burn where you truly don’t notice because you see yourself everyday. For me, I notice when I go to wear a shirt I haven’t worn in a while and he shoulders are suddenly too tight or one day when I’m getting ready and I’m on a different hole in the belt.

Or, just see somebody who hasn’t seen you in awhile. They’ll notice.

 

[householder29]

@snowlucario Thanks for this. I think this was the encouragement I needed! I know body recomp takes a while but I was expecting at least a little something after a month.

 

[ngie]

@householder29 Sorry to hear you’ve been in pain. That’s definitely not fun!

Which lifts bother your hip? Squats, deadlifts, lunges?

Sometimes we have folks squat to a box to limit range of motion. Many people can passively get to a deep squat because a load is pushing them down but they don’t have active control of this range and end up feeling pain afterwards. You can start above parallel and then work lower over time.

Many of our heavy squats with the barbell we do to a 12” box and it’s been working wonders! We’re not competitive powerlifters so we don’t need it to be a certain way to stay consistent and keep building a ton of strength.

The fear of pain is real and you know your body best. But the larger your toolbox is the more you can troubleshoot.

In terms of aesthetics, this is largely nutrition based. A caloric deficit is needed to reduce body composition, so you just need to decide what’s the immediate term goal — improving body composition or getting as strong as possible. It’s up to you!

 

[householder29]

@ngie Goblet squats and deadlifts are the only things I can do on a good day. Anything else (swings, split squats, lunges) all bother my right hip.

I believe I tore something while doing a side weighted lunge back in February of 2021. It's been a very long road of figuring out what I actually did to it, but I'm finally seeing a physical therapist next week. I've been seeing a chiropractor but she's very anti weight training (as well as anti a LOT of things...) but it's taken me switching health insurance plans and figuring how to work the system to actually see a medical professional.

As for nutrition, I feel as though I've been eating as cleanly as I can in a way that I can stay consistent with it. Breakfast usually consists of a veggie heavy green smoothie and some type of egg dish. I usually have a protein based snack before work (cheese and nuts?) I work in the restaurant industry 4-5 nights a week and we have a very limited healthy menu, but I've been choosing lean protein/veggie option more than I ever have.

 

[ngie]

@householder29 Goblet squats and deadlifts are great! Maybe trying goblets to a box in sets of 5-8 would be a good place to start. Deadlifts you can do with two hands or one hand if you’re looking to progress it a bit.

We’re not doctors so we can’t really speak to injuries other than from what’s worked on ourselves and students.

On the nutrition side, we’ve found a lot of success using the RP Diet app. It shifts weekly based on your progress. Many times it’s not the food choices but how much of each food (or macro). We eat the same foods whether we’re cutting, gaining or maintaining — it’s just amounts that change.

Aiming to get 1g per pound of bodyweight in protein per day is always a great start!

 

[broncofan]

@householder29 What kind of results are you looking for?
What is your diet?