Fitness - what am I doing wrong??

[657904I]

I’m in my 20s, short, and was always slim until I gained and lost weight last year.

My BMI has been back to 20 for about a year. I’m not dieting anymore and I have been able to maintain this weight. I don’t really monitor what I eat.

I work from home, so I don’t walk much. Instead, I go to the gym several times a week. For cardio I do indoor cycling and rowing. For strength training I don’t have a set routine, I just try different machines in the gym (whatever is free tbh). I also attend reformer Pilates twice a week.

I’m generally fit, but I’m wondering if I’m doing something wrong?

My figure is pear/hourglass but I find that my glutes are now quite flat and my hips are quite slim; whilst my quad muscles are getting quite bulky. I have some tummy definition under my ribs but my lower stomach is still quite flabby, no abs in sight. I have stubborn body fat on my tummy, thighs, back and upper arms that I cannot shift!

Do I need to review my exercise routine/have I been training the wrong areas? Do I need to Walk more? Eat more to build muscle? I’m worried about gaining weight again, if I do eat more.

If your gym has PTs, I’d book a session with one & ask for advice on an exercise plan for the cardio & strength training.

How much exercise are you doing in a week? I suspect you just need to do more/more focused (agree with PT suggestion). It does sound like you need to build up muscle. My bmi is 21 but I don’t really have any flab. The more muscle you build the more toned you will look.

Get a strategic plan with a PT. To progress, you need consistency and to gradually build up the reps/ weights of the same range of exercises.

Make sure you eat enough protein to support muscle growth and repair

Building muscle will help boost metabolism and help with looking less "flabby"

You need to have a plan where your body is challenged on resistance training. Obviously, Pilates isn't doing it, and your random weight training isn't either.

For the "toned" look, you need lean muscle without too much fat. At BMI 20, you're obviously slim, but maybe you don't have much muscle mass - this is what's called "skinny fat" I think?

It's hard for women to gain muscle! You need to up your daily protein - 1g for every pound of weight.

You also need to challenge your body to create muscle by working muscle groups to near failure. You need to have good form at weights you can manage easily for say, 3 sets of 8 reps, with 1 to 2 minutes rest between each set.

Once good form is locked in, then you need to increase the weight so that the last 2 reps of each set are tough, and leave you panting a bit. Or you could test yourself to see how many reps you can get before you just can't force another rep out. That's "training to failure" and it gives you a good idea of how much weight you can manage.

It's best to have a set routine of weights for a few weeks, so that you can increase weight each week, even if only by a kilo or so! Your body learns the pattern, and you can increase your capacity. Then you can change that routine every few weeks.

Consistency is what works. And it'll take at least 6 months for quads & biceps to shoe, but they will! Have a look at Henley Fitness on Instagram - she's great fun & explains how to start out really well.

NEAT is really important - non exercise activity thermogenesis. Basically your day to day movement outside of the gym. If you are walking from home and driving to the gym, you aren't getting much. Try to go for a long walk every day, can you walk to the gym?
Some good advice above re getting help and a proper PT routine with what you do in the gym in terms of weights. And reformer is great to support weight training, though in your 20s you have the benefit of youth on your side, so much less likely to get training niggles and injuries than someone like me! I did only yoga and reformer between the ages of 36 and 48, and it worked for me in terms of being strong and fit with visible muscle definition (I've always waked loads though), but now peri has hit, I do heavy weights and calisthenics too, and I'm going to increase that in my 50s.

@657904I my trainer has just put me onto Dr Stacy Sims - she is phenomenal! Find her stuff on YouTube - talking to Andrew Huberman, or her interview with "Diary of a CEO."

There's lots of information, but she attends to women's fitness & hormonal health at different times of our lives. I wish she could be my personal nutritionist.