Does anyone use a decent weight lifting forum?

[BlameItOnTheBogey]

I've been trying to find somewhere for ages where I can chat to other women who lift. But the only forums I have found are either women lifting super light and mainly focussed on cardio or more serious forums which are over-run with misogynists (bodybuilding.com actually makes me weep at how much they hate women).

I want somewhere I can talk about decent weight lifting kit, how to up my personal bests, whether I should be avoiding the trap bar for my deadlifts, how to improve my grip strength, whether protein shakes actually do anything etc etc.

Is there anything like this out there for women?

Obvs these are illustrative questions but you get my drift...

nope never found one that wasnt heavily male dominated and very much in the vein of the one you mention:(

Just take a look in the weights room in the gym and translate that into a forum....no surprise is it!

having said that there are some women who lift on here
and there may be a subreddit

I'm not a fan of protein shakes unless you really struggle to eat enough actual food to support muscle gain...sadly very unlikely for most women who are natural

Why not start posting here about it?

I don't know if there's a specific forum, but you could always ask MNHQ for one?

I have a PT and do various weight lifting stuff. I'm no expert, but it would be useful to have a place to talk with other women, as I have no idea about the progress I'm making.

For example, I'm up to 50kg deadlifts. I have to use straps as my hands/fingers give way before I've finished my reps. I'm 55. I have no idea if what I'm doing is bloody brilliant or pretty hopeless! So being able to talk about it with other women would be fab.

There is a sports forum here which you could post on - as well as asking MNH! for something more specific.

50kg is good going imo
grip strength should improve over time, can you do some lighter sets after the heavy sets without straps, that might help

Oh look lots of interest! Hooray!

BIWI I can help a little with your question about whether 50KG is good or not. See this brilliant link which is in pounds but google with do the translation here

If you follow the links on there you can find the equivalent for other compound exercises.

I don't live in the UK and don't understand kilos but it sounds pretty good to me although it rather depends I guess on how long you have been lifting. I love deadlifting and I'm at about 200lbs these days but that's with a trap bar. I can about the same straight leg dead lift. I also need straps because my grip strength is so rubbish in my left hand. I'm trying farmers walks to improve it but doesn't seem to be working. No problem with grip strength on chin and pull ups oddly enough.

And yes agree about the men in the weight room and how that translates into a forum.

On protein shakes: I eat but I am a small thing. I weigh about 105 pounds and nothing shifts the scales. Which makes me wonder whether I should investigate them but I guess I don't like the idea of drinking some random powder...

I think there probably is potential for one here. There are certainly a decent handful of MN'ers who lift and chime in on Exercise topic when posters pop up seeking advice - I'm thinking specifically about a thread recently where OP was a man looking for advice on getting leaner and didn't like the Men's Health/Bodybuilding.com approach either - the input was v knowledgable! I think it's a great idea.

I'm like you BIWI, not much clue how I compare with others (I deadlift 80kg but see women on Instagram doing 100kg+...Suzanne, that could be you I'm guessing ) - I can do 4 unassisted pull ups and I'm struggling to increase it and I'd like advice on how to tweak my lifting routine, I'd love it.

it depends a fair bit on individual biomechanics....short people with long torso's and short arms and legs typically have the best power to weight ratio for weightlifting

X post with Bogey. If you want to try protein shakes I'd consider vegan ones such as Vital, which is pea protein and only half a dozen ingredients, no issues with whey and weird additives .

my deadlifting is really nothing to write home about, I tend not to do it (lower back issues) if I do it's rarely more than 50kg or so (I am on the small side though @ 47kg)

tweaking...hmm, I switch things about now and again but I tend to return to certain movements that I know work for me (or at least dont cause injuries)

And 200lbs is about 90kg, pretty impressive, especially given your body weight!

Yay! Sounds like it's worth asking MNHQ!. I'll ask them.

according to weightlifting lore it is easier to gain muscle if you are in calorie surplus, you sounds pretty strong Bogey, maybe if you could eat a bit more you'll flip into full on beast-hench mode

Off topic but I have to ask Suzanne, what's with the name change

my sciatica is crackling down my leg at the mere thought of a 90kg deadlift
(oh my misspent youth)

I'm the same with lunges and squats...my poor old knees! Skiing this year nearly destroyed me.

well Sleep my user name theme is 'something that rhymes with Suzanne' (next I may drive a van)

I'm sorely out of touch with my weights.

Big plan is to get fired back in over the next few months. I've been doing martial arts, which I love but don't do th same for me as weights, and learning kettlebells. But nothing beats that feeling of the big lift.

90k is a good lift. I can bench 60k on a good day but I cannot get my deadlifts up. I think I'm scard I throw my back.

So yeah, I'd love a forum too!

I have to say though, I'm sure just a couple of classes of aerial hoop have improved my upper body strength, I was in a world of pain the day or so after the first one- and it's a fun change from the gym!

Great benchpress RJnomore!

Oh look there really are a few of us!

Sleep - I got my pull-ups up through a combination of the following: lat pull downs, chin ups, resistance band pull ups and sheer bloody perseverance with the ones I could do. I took me forever but I find it very hard to put on muscle overall so it might not be so bad for you. I'm working on weighted pull-ups at the moment.

On eating: I really do eat a lot but I doubt my food is very calorie dense. I've never tracked calories so I don't know that for sure but my general philosophy is to eat food that isn't heavily processed and in the most natural format that I can (which is part of my aversion to protein shakes…).

ps - yeah benching 6kg when you are 'out of touch' with lifting is pretty awesome

60kg… 6 would not be so great.

aerial hoop looks very advanced Sleep -if google image is anything to go by

I've been meaning to add in some weighted pull ups but I've not been able to find the leather belt with chain thingy in the gym, I think I'd not add more than a 2.5k disc
then again maybe just the belt would be enough:o