I absolutely love your arms. How did you get them in such great shape. Oh and your abs and butt... you look great. I have been working on trying to get more definition in the upper body . Its coming but very slowly. as for the abs, I dont know that mine could ever look like yours after 3 c-sections . I cant complain though there not entirely aweful either. but my arms , I know from what I have developed that its possible. please give me your tips on how to get more cut, especially the middle delts. thanks!
Lauramax!
- Thread starter laura35
- Start date
LauraMax
Cathlete
Laura, how sweet of you to say! Thank you! 
The key to my arms is my shoulder workout. Bottom line, you can't see defined bis & tris without having good shoulders. I call it the Madonna V. ;-) Anyway, I have a pretty intense shoulder workout (military press, superset front & lateral raise--this is probably where the mid delt definition comes in--superset incline raise & rear squeezes) with pretty heavy weight. Also b/c rear delt definition is so important for shape, I do 6 extra sets of rear delts w/my legs/chest routine.
As far as abs go, I never do abs without weights. I work them 2X a week--once at the gym where I do cable crunches & traditional crunches w/a plate on my head, once at home where I usually do Core Max or something similar.
You could be right about the C-section thing though. I've heard a lot about how your abs never really recover from that. I don't think it's something you should worry about. If you can get a nice flat stomach & still have 3 kids you should be damn proud. If your 3 children are a trade off for defined abs, well, you're definitely trading up. ;-)
The key to my arms is my shoulder workout. Bottom line, you can't see defined bis & tris without having good shoulders. I call it the Madonna V. ;-) Anyway, I have a pretty intense shoulder workout (military press, superset front & lateral raise--this is probably where the mid delt definition comes in--superset incline raise & rear squeezes) with pretty heavy weight. Also b/c rear delt definition is so important for shape, I do 6 extra sets of rear delts w/my legs/chest routine.
As far as abs go, I never do abs without weights. I work them 2X a week--once at the gym where I do cable crunches & traditional crunches w/a plate on my head, once at home where I usually do Core Max or something similar.
You could be right about the C-section thing though. I've heard a lot about how your abs never really recover from that. I don't think it's something you should worry about. If you can get a nice flat stomach & still have 3 kids you should be damn proud. If your 3 children are a trade off for defined abs, well, you're definitely trading up. ;-)
laura,
so you go from a military press right into front and side raises, no rest in between, how many sets and any rest in between the sets? as far as the incline raises, side raises and when you say squeezes , are you on your stomach and doing reverse flys? sorry so many questions. I actually love posterior delt flys, and have learned to love to work my shldrs. I use to hate working them. abs is my least now.
so you go from a military press right into front and side raises, no rest in between, how many sets and any rest in between the sets? as far as the incline raises, side raises and when you say squeezes , are you on your stomach and doing reverse flys? sorry so many questions. I actually love posterior delt flys, and have learned to love to work my shldrs. I use to hate working them. abs is my least now.
LauraMax
Cathlete
I do rest between sets. To build muscle you have to have at least a 60 second rest betw. sets. I'll do 3 sets 10 military presses. I superset the side & front raises, but I'll do one set each & then rest (I have some problems w/this from hands cramping).
Yes, the incline raises are the posterior flies--I usually to them seated at the end of a bench leaning over (you know, the position people tell you to get in when you feel like you're gonna pass out? Or on a plane before it's gonna crash? ). So the weights start under my thighs. I don't like lying face down on a bench, I feel just a little too vulnerable in that position. Cathe does the rear squeezes in Drill Max on a stability ball. I do them on an incline bench w/much heavier weights. So I superset these two also, do one set of each & then rest before the next set.
With my leg/chest routine, my extra rear delt sets are usually done on the pec deck & the incline flies. I usually superset my chest flies on the pec deck w/the rear delt flies, & then do 3 sets incline flies right before I leave the gym.
You know, I used to be so obsessive about abs but since they're also worked with so many other exercises (squats, lunges, tricep pushdowns, bicep cable curls--almost anything that's a balance challenge) I don't worry so much if I miss one of my two ab workouts. For me good abs are more about diet than exercise.
Yes, the incline raises are the posterior flies--I usually to them seated at the end of a bench leaning over (you know, the position people tell you to get in when you feel like you're gonna pass out? Or on a plane before it's gonna crash?
). So the weights start under my thighs. I don't like lying face down on a bench, I feel just a little too vulnerable in that position. Cathe does the rear squeezes in Drill Max on a stability ball. I do them on an incline bench w/much heavier weights. So I superset these two also, do one set of each & then rest before the next set.With my leg/chest routine, my extra rear delt sets are usually done on the pec deck & the incline flies. I usually superset my chest flies on the pec deck w/the rear delt flies, & then do 3 sets incline flies right before I leave the gym.
You know, I used to be so obsessive about abs but since they're also worked with so many other exercises (squats, lunges, tricep pushdowns, bicep cable curls--almost anything that's a balance challenge) I don't worry so much if I miss one of my two ab workouts. For me good abs are more about diet than exercise.
goldenrun358
Cathlete
how heavy Lauramax? I always wonder if I'm heavy enough to see the results I'm looking for. What weights do you use? Thanks!
goldenrun358
Cathlete
Just pushing this one to the front of the stack again! Thanks!
goldenrun358
Cathlete
For overhead press?
For side lat raise?
For rear flys?
For front raise?
For whatever you do?
I feel that with shoulders it's harder to go into the heavier range--like the 20lb range--than with other muscle groups. I use anything from 5-15's, but wonder if I should leave it there or keep striving to go heavier (like 20's for an overhead press and 12-15's for side lat raise).
Part of the reason I like this forum is to gauge myself against others. Since I only workout at home and have no one else to compare myself too, I find hearing about what others do gives me a reality check--am I REALLY working as hard as I think I am, or could I step it up a bit. Hope that makes sense.
For side lat raise?
For rear flys?
For front raise?
For whatever you do?
I feel that with shoulders it's harder to go into the heavier range--like the 20lb range--than with other muscle groups. I use anything from 5-15's, but wonder if I should leave it there or keep striving to go heavier (like 20's for an overhead press and 12-15's for side lat raise).
Part of the reason I like this forum is to gauge myself against others. Since I only workout at home and have no one else to compare myself too, I find hearing about what others do gives me a reality check--am I REALLY working as hard as I think I am, or could I step it up a bit. Hope that makes sense.
goldenrun358
Cathlete
Dear God woman!
I am a weakling compared to you!
Well, make that my new mission--keep going heavier!
And to think that I thought I was tough when Cathe grabs 10's for side lat raises and I grab 12's!
But, on a serious note--thanks. I really want more definition and I was kind of afraid of what might happen if I go heavier with shoulders. Not sure why I felt this way, but good to know that it won't hurt me!
PS: Seriously? 22.5lbs dumbbells for front raise? That is somethin' to be proud of!
I am a weakling compared to you!
Well, make that my new mission--keep going heavier!
And to think that I thought I was tough when Cathe grabs 10's for side lat raises and I grab 12's!
But, on a serious note--thanks. I really want more definition and I was kind of afraid of what might happen if I go heavier with shoulders. Not sure why I felt this way, but good to know that it won't hurt me!
PS: Seriously? 22.5lbs dumbbells for front raise? That is somethin' to be proud of!
