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

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householder29

New member
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?
 
@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 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!
 
@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.
 
@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 Not looking to be ripped after a month but would love to see some more definition in my legs, stomach and arms.

I think I eat as clean as I can. Lots of veggie heavy green smoothies and egg dishes for breakfast, protein heavy mid day snacks, and lean protein/veggie heavy dinners. I try not to track calories all that often because that might not be healthy for my mindset, but when i do track I eat about 1700-1900 calories a day. It's a little more fat heavy than I think I would like to see. Working on ways around that.
 
@householder29 What worked for me (44/m, 165lbs) in terms of definition was to cut carbs and increase protein intake.
Pasta/rice cravings were fulfilled by having cauliflower rice and top it off of ground beef and tomato sauce for example.
Salads were massive and filling and always topped with grilled chicken. No dressing. Just a squeeze of lemon and some olive oil.

I started to sip on Bone broth too. Love that.

Because of the hip issue you mention I would use the KBs for presses, halos and carry work.
 
@householder29 I’m basing my comments off the assumption that by “results” you are referring to physical appearance.

The best advice I can give is to take a picture of yourself weekly similar to what they did on The Biggest Loser.

You see your body everyday and will never notice slight changes. But If you have 12 weeks worth of photos where you can quickly compare you will see the change…with the HUGE assumption that what you are doing is causing change.

For me, that act of taking a picture every week forced me to be very accountable for all my actions during the previous week. The camera won’t ever lie.

Depending upon your training, appearance may not change much but you may be a whole lot stronger or have increased stamina. These are great attributes and should not be disregarded just because you don’t look like someone who works out.
 
@blondebattleaxe I usually do about 2-3 sets* of 20 squats, moving up in bell weight every time (10, 20, 26)

1 set of push presses each arm. I started with 5 and now can do about 11.

1 set of rows each arm...again started with 5 and now I'm up to 15.

Lots of core exercises. I don't know the names of a lot of them heh.

I usually don't to more than one set of a lot of things for fear of over exerting and injuring something. Definitely have some injury PTSD

edit: sets not reps because idk what I'm talking about lol
 
@householder29 Side note to preface: you mean “set” when you say “rep”. Not a big deal though I understand what you are saying.

Are you doing as many presses/rows as you can in one go, ie going to failure or close to it? If that’s the case, then you are seeing results because you are doing more now.

If you’re getting stronger, then you are seeing results and can just continue on progressing.
Maybe I am misunderstanding you though.
 
@abeiku You're right I do mean set LOL. I don't know anything about lingo. Just a gal doing things to try and get strong haha.

Yes I'm definitely pushing myself when it comes to arm exercises in particular.

I think I am seeing strength progress. Just wanting to also see it aesthetically as well.
 
@householder29 Stick with it it’s all about consistency don’t get discouraged when you aren’t seeing results. Plus your looking at yourself everyday so it’s hard to see “results”. I feel if you find something you enjoy to do a year will go by and you’ll have the results you want. But it’s really a lifestyle change we want this isn’t temporary.
 
@householder29 The biggest win at 30 days will be if you feel comfortable and confident to continue your 3x a week routine for another 30-60-90 days.

The biggest risk right now is if you feel it's not been worthwhile and you stop.

Whether the specific exercises you're doing and the diet you have are working on your posture, definition, appearance are hard to match right now.

For instance your body may benefit from better posture than you have now, and that may appear faster on the basis of upper body & back strength development than muscle definition which needs more careful nutritional planning.

My suggestion, find ways to keep progressing, break into smaller sets for example
  • 1 set of 15 reps into 3 sets of 5 reps
  • Then add another set or increase one rep per set
Always stop when you feel uncomfortable in the first month or so.

Doing 3x per week for longer, while changing what you do as your strength and confidence improves is the way to get what you want.

Btw if you can goblet squat and deadlift, you should be able to start with light swings? A pt would be better qualified to check your body out and work with you.

There are now some good pt available online as well! Surprising as it may sound, worked well for my mom to do some rehab. Not as good as in person, but better than nothing.
 
@householder29 Congrats on sticking to the your training! That’s the hardest part for most.

I am in no way an expert or trainer. I’m also fairly new to kettlebells (6-8 months in) but I can relate to your question. It depends on what results you’re looking for ultimately. Are you doing one more rep today versus your previous workout or when you first started? To me that’s progress! Though small, will have a large impact in the long run.

Your physical appearance might take some time to change and that’s ok. Can you be doing more? Probably but it’s up to figure that out. Listen to your body. I think if you stick to it while making small but significant wins every so often you’ll see results eventually 💪
 
@jwickfall Yeah I definitely can feel myself getting stronger. I've never ever been able to do push ups before, and now I can do one regular pushup (or sometimes two!) When I started I could do an exercise maybe 5x and now I can go 11-15.

I'm just getting impatient with the aesthetic progress but I don't want to push myself and injure myself again.

I'm also eating cleaner than I ever have in my life haha.
 
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