What am I doing wrong? (x-posted to r/fitness)

cherrelle

New member
First of all, I have read the FAQ and regularly browse this sub on my main account. I could not find an answer in the FAQ.

22 years old, female, 5'2", 115lbs, unknown bf% but not very fit. Taking omega 3, vitamin d, multivitamin, oral contraceptives, antidepressants, and stimulants. No known health problems. My sleep is less than ideal (not enough hours, poor quality) but that is something I am trying to fix. My goals are to decrease body fat, increase functional strength, increase glute size, and fix my posture.

I've been working out for about 3 months and see almost no progress (and some regression) in terms of increased weight lifted, body weight, and body size/composition. My lifts have barely increased, body weight is pretty constant, and I am slowly but surely putting on more fat (measurements/clothes fitting differently/visual changes). Every time I work out I am in an incredibly terrible mood before/during/after, my anxiety/irritability noticeably decreases, and I feel pretty depressed for the rest of the day. I never get an endorphin rush, or a sense of being glad I worked out. Everything I have read says that exercise helps 100% of people with depression/anxiety so it's a pretty big sign I'm REALLY doing something wrong if it is making these things worse for me.

I eat at maintenance, which I calculated by starting with a number from a TDEE calculator and adjusting until my weight was constant for a few months at the amount I'm eating. I know I am not eating enough protein, and I already ordered protein powder and will start supplementing with that as soon as it ships. As far as I know, not enough protein shouldn't be causing me to gain fat, though.

My workout is 2-3x/week lifting with 15min cardio afterwards, and yoga on off days (just added yoga about a month ago). I do everything 3x5 and alternate between bench/squat/row and overhead press/deadlift/squat. When I started going, I asked a trainer to look at my form and he said I shouldn't be doing anything with weights because I look too weak/inflexible/unbalanced so for the first couple of weeks I just did walking lunges instead of squats to avoid showing my face in the weight area. I also mix in the seated abductor machine (for my weak glutes, not to make my thighs smaller :p ), leg lifts, hyperextensions, assisted pullups/dips, inverse rows, bird/dogs, supermans, and bridges.

My lifts are all in the "untrained" category according to exrx, except for squats which are almost at "novice". Over this time I have made 10lb progress on bench and rows, 50lb progress on squats, 0 progress on overhead press, and 0 progress on deadlifts. I am really concerned about my deadlift form so I have not been increasing the weight because I think my form is totally off and don't want to injure myself. I try to increase weight every time, but am not even able to add 5lb a WEEK - adding weight makes me basically have to wiggle like a worm to get the weight to move at all.

I assume my form is a huge problem, and watching youtube videos isn't solving anything, nor would recording and uploading a video of myself because I have pretty awful coordination and need somebody to physically put me into the correct position a few times in order to be able to do it myself.

I paid a trainer to go over my form with me, but she refused to even look at me do anything with a bar and seemed more concerned with making me a new routine (I told her I just want form checks and my goal is to increase strength). She said I need to do 15 reps of everything and shouldn't be doing less than that unless I want to be a bodybuilder. She also said I need to be using 5-10lb max for the exercises and other than that should do bodyweight. I asked her how I would progress in strength this way and she said not to worry about it until I get the exercises down and that would take a long time anyway.

I know I am doing something very wrong and I don't know what it is. Should I just keep throwing money at trainers until I find one who is willing to actually look at my form? Is my routine bad? What else could be wrong? HELP.
 
@cherrelle I learned how to lift properly from a CrossFit on ramp class. If you have a good CrossFit location around you, I HIGHLY suggest taking the 2-3 week course. And just getting away from the globo gym trainers. THey are ALL about plyo, high rep, etc type stuff. It's gonna cost you about $250 but you'll learn how to deadlift, back squat, OHS, press, etc. And it's basically like personal training. You'll probably have 3 or 4 other people just as clueless as you are working out with you. And I think it will help with some of your frustration too! Honestly I do. You dont have to sign up to CrossFit afterwards ... I just think it's a good thing to do. If you go to a CrossFit website, ask the coaches which trainers have olympic lifting certifications or some type of lifting certification (NOT the CrossFit Level 1/Level 2 stuff). Then see if they're the ones teaching the intro course to CrossFIt.

OR you could go to a local powerlifting gym and get one of those guys to train you. I just think they're harder to find online. And I'm not sure of their prices.

Girl, I hear ya. I need to drop about 20 lbs and I have a hard time doing it with the weight I'm throwing around. But, I love lifting heavy! So whatevs.
 
@cherrelle That sounds really frustrating! And it sounds like you're being hard on yourself, everyone has to start somewhere and I think you're on the right track!

That trainer sounds pretty unhelpful, she's wrong about the body builder thing. BUT I think she's right about doing the exercises with very light weights until you get the form down, which might take a few weeks of consistent practice until you get the muscle memory established. Doing yoga might help with that too, since it gives you more practice with moving your body in a specific way, I think yoga is a great addition to your fitness plan. It should help with your posture too. Tree pose!

I never get the endorphin high from weight lifting, I only get it after I've done at least 1 hour of cardio. So don't worry about not having that. And having depression = messed up brain chemicals, so it might be harder for you to get the endorphin rush than non-depressed people. I didn't used to get it, until I got meds that work for me.

That sounds bad that exercising actually makes you feel worse mood-wise, that must be hard! Is the gym you go to not a fun, welcoming atmosphere? You mentioned not wanting people to see you do lunges without weights, it sounds like you feel self-conscious about it? It could just be a gym with a bad vibe, some are like that, but at least some of it might be in your head (sorry, I don't mean to sound dismissive, I can't think of how else to put it) I know it can feel like people are judging you and it's hard to tune that out. Do you use an iPod/earbuds? That might help. And (maybe this could go along with your yoga practice) you could try a 5 minute meditation before and after you work out to help you focus on what you're doing and how it feels, that might help with the negative impact it's having on your mood. 5 minutes meditation every day has helped me with depression and anxiety. It might sound silly but it's working for me, I just sit in a quiet place, maybe with soothing music, and repeat to myself a phrase in my head, something like "I don't have to meet other people's expectations," or whatever I'm feeling anxious about that day. I have a meditation timer app on my phone, that's nice.

I think it might help if you focus on the exercise rather than body composition, at least for now, and focus on how you feel (physically and mentally) rather than whether you're meeting some standard schedule for progress. You'll get long-term benefits from exercise even if you don't see big changes in the way you look, it's still very worthwhile.

If you're restricting calories (if that's what you mean by maintenance?) that might actually be hindering your progress strength-wise. You might need to eat more lean protein and vegetables (that's what I always crave after I work out, the body knows what it needs!) and the protein doesn't all have to be meat: legumes, whole grains, seeds, and mushrooms are good too (and delicious! I love mushrooms). And as other commenters have said, see a different doctor if you can, and tell them about the problems with depression, unexplained weight gain, sleep issues etc. because those could be caused by a medical condition or by the medications you're taking.
 
@cherrelle Therapist here: research shows that an hour of cardio 5 days a week is what's shown to boost mood. I work in a prison and most of the guys lift, so when I ask about exercise habits I really have to encourage cardiovascular activity in order to help decrease anxiety and depression. The 15 minutes of cardio may not be cutting it. You also need to ensure your heart rate is elevated enough that you are doing true cardiovascular training (refer to a chart but at least above 120 bpm).
 
@dawn16 It would take some digging. I'm summarizing a study I read about a year ago. I lost my privileges to the library and all those journal subscriptions once I graduated but I might be able to find something on google scholar.
 
@dawn16 This is not the study I read, it is another one. The subject in this study are older and only had cardiovascular exercise for 30 minutes three times each week. The one I read had younger participants and they exercised for about 50 minutes about 5 times each week. I'm not sure if being younger means you need more or whether 30 minutes three times a week would work for any age group.
 
@cherrelle Sleep more.

Sleep can undermine a lot of things. Irregular sleeping patterns can worsen or cause chemical imbalances (which it sounds like you already have problems with, since you're on antidepressants).

Not getting enough sleep, or not having a good sleeping schedule messes up other chemicals in your body as well. It makes you're metabolism really confused, which is why lots of people with sleeping problems gain weight.

Sleep is also when your muscle repairs itself, which is necessary for increasing muscle mass. And when you don't sleep as well, you're more likely to feel the effects of stress, and stress causes your body to cling to and try to gain more fat.

Possibly you should see a doctor about how you could improve your sleep. I used to have some sleeping issues when I was really young, and it was much beyond my control.

Also... stimulants (like vyvanse, which I'm on because of narcolepsy and ADD, a weird combo) decrease your appetite. But antidepressants, depending on what kind can increase it. I would go see the doctor who prescribed these both to you, as there could be a weird interaction between these two drugs you're on (some ADD meds/stimulants can worsen psychiatric problems) that affecting your mood and/or sleep.

Best of luck!
 
@micahissaved I agree with the sleep advice - good quality sleep is priceless. I had sleep studies done last year and it has changed my life. Had been sleeping poorly for 2 years (due to stress) and was gaining weight, stopped exercising, etc. Turns out I had a sleep disorder. I was given a program and followed it to the letter. Within a month I was well on the road to healthy sleep patterns again. It was remarkable.

If sleep is a concern for you, which it sounds like it is, I'd highly recommend speaking with your doctor about a referral to a sleep clinic. My only regret was not doing this a year earlier when my doctor first suggested it!

Also, experts are exploring the connection between poor sleep and depression more and more. It could be that correcting your sleep issue may improve many areas of your life/wellbeing at the same time.
 
@cherrelle Your aren't eating enough to see strength gains or to build muscle. Increase your daily calories by a couple hundred (no more than 500, probably) and I think your body well have the fuel it needs to give you the results you want.
 
@bbcemt Mixed grip, how much I'm lifting doesn't really matter because I'm pretty sure I'm doing it entirely wrong and need to find a trainer to actually watch me do it and correct me.
 
@cherrelle I can't stress how important it is to have healthy sleep habits. Sleep is when your body processes all of the work you have done and heals itself (which is what leads to strength increases, muscle building, and a higher metabolism). It can be hard to fix a troubled sleep cycle, but cut out all caffeine after noon and all screen time (computer, tv, and phone) for two hours before bed.

Fixing your sleep will make you healthier over all, even out your mood, and give you more energy. All of these things will make your training easier and help get you to your goals more effectively.
 
@cherrelle Yes. I do a lot of running and agility workouts for my sport and I notice immediate and sometimes dramatic decreases in my performance if I don't sleep well. To the point that, if I have to lose sleep for work or other commitments, I purposefully do form-focused training until I am well rested again. I'd rather finish a productive form workout than feel completely horrible halfway through a more intense speed or agility session.
 
@cherrelle Personal trainer/bodybuilder here.

Mood and visual changes: take a serious look at your diet. What are you eating? Is there a possibility of unknown allergies/intolerances? It's worth getting checked out. This is coming from someone who was severely depressed and overweight, but then I found out I had gluten and lactose intolerances. Big changes all around.

Exercise: Usually you start doing "endurance", which is 1-2 sets of 13-15 reps over 60 seconds. You need to get your muscles used to the increased demands in a safe way. This isn't a quick process. From there, you can go into "hypertrophy" at 2-4 sets of 8-12 reps over about 40 seconds. Being a woman, this won't get you "bulky", you will just be teaching your muscles to work under a higher weight and less time. From there, you can go into serious strength at 3-6 sets at 2-6 reps.

A trainer shouldn't be suggesting weights unless they personally perform an assessment on you. However, if you know your form is wrong, then don't use any extra weight until you get it right. If I feel like something isn't right with my squat (for example), I unload all the weight and go over and over the motion and work my way back up with the corrected form. I've done this several times with various exercises.

I'm currently working on my deadlift form. I know I can do about 200lbs, but I'm having a hard time retracting my shoulder blades correctly at the top of the movement, and engaging my "core" correctly at the start. So I've gone down to starting with 135 and increasing weight for each of my sets from there. I've noticed improvements right away, and now I know that when I get back up to 200lbs+, I will be doing it safely and efficiently. It may feel like going backwards, but it will make a big difference in the long run.

I suggest you research a trainer in your area that can go over form with you. Don't just randomly select one. Ask around, look them up and talk to them personally BEFORE you have a session. State exactly what it is that you want from them. If they don't want to do that, then you go elsewhere. After you get your form and current strengths assessed, then you can talk to them about a program that will be beneficial and unique to your needs.

Sorry for the wall of text, but there is no simple answer to your questions. I hope at least some of this made sense to you.
 
@brooklyn1212
Exercise: Usually you start doing "endurance", which is 1-2 sets of 13-15 reps over 60 seconds. You need to get your muscles used to the increased demands in a safe way. This isn't a quick process. From there, you can go into "hypertrophy" at 2-4 sets of 8-12 reps over about 40 seconds. Being a woman, this won't get you "bulky", you will just be teaching your muscles to work under a higher weight and less time. From there, you can go into serious strength at 3-6 sets at 2-6 reps.

What kind of time periods should I expect for progression? What should I be able to do or how long should I be doing it to switch from endurance to strength?

I wanted somebody to look at my form because I have no idea if/when I get it right, so doing the same exercise with a lower weight still doesn't really help me because I just always think it's wrong.

Before my session, I told the trainer I was just looking for somebody to help me with my form and that's it, which she agreed to, but once the session started that all just went out the window. Are there any questions I should ask/things I should say when looking for a trainer to make sure this doesn't happen again?
 
@cherrelle Time periods vary from person to person. If you do 10lbs at 13-15 reps for 3 weeks, then it starts to feel too easy, then go up to 12lbs for 13-15 reps. It could take a week, or 2 months. You have to learn to listen to your body and experiment (safely) to be able to progress properly. Even with doing endurance, your muscles will get stronger because you'll be increasing the load regularly. I'm not sure how "strong" you want to be, so I can't say what weights you should be working up to.

I'll restate: if you think you're doing it wrong, or it feels wrong, DON'T increase the weight. You're just asking for injuries and problems if you do. Find someone to watch and correct you over and over again. Take a video of yourself doing it wrong, then right, so you can see the difference. When you learn to do it right, you'll be able to feel when you're in the correct/incorrect position.

If the trainer deviates from what you agreed on, then leave. Don't pay them, and don't go back. Let them know that you will do this ahead of time.
 
Back
Top