Good luck with that :3

I'm trying to do that too, and it is very much a bitch.

I'm trying to swim that river too. But I'm lucky if i can get a smaller keg at this point XD

HIGH WEIGHT LOW REPS
HIGH WEIGHT LOW REPS
:D

Too easy to damage deep muscle if you push that limit too far. Low weight, high reps to build up work strength and tone FIRST, then go for size-building mass. Trust me, you do not want her ripping her tendons by pushing mass she isn't ready for, yet. Ripped tendons do not heal very well and they take years (if ever) to do so. Get the strength and lose some fat first (not that she has much), worry about the slow build up later, and it will be slow. It's gonna take her at least three months to hit the tone she'll need and another possible two years of dedicated working out to get big.

I didn't have the dedication, so I didn't get the size I'd wanted, and I ruined a kneee overdoing it. Be very careful when you're pushing your body- injuries are common and extremeley painful.

WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY EMMM SEEEE AYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

remember to always stretch before and after work outs, so you wont get too sore.

Start slow, hon! Stretching isn't always needed before a workout, but it can help you to warm up for one. Also, low-impact cardio is a good thing- fast walking a treadmill works. Some small, cardio things like skipping a rope will do it, too, as will dancing or hitting a heavy bag (if you're working on upper-body strength). Swimming is awesome for an over-all body workout- it gives you more muscle-movement and cardio than almost anything else.

Avoid twisting any of your joints when you do any of this stuff- blow one, and your body-building career is over. If you want mere bulk, skip the stretching- just know that you might sacrifice flexibility if you go that route, and you run the risk of sudden injuries to joints or tendons. If you want strength, tone and mass, always stretch while you're warmed up. You can stretch cold, just do it more slowly and more carefully, never going past the point of pain. Pain is important to pay attention to: it's not just annoying, it's a warning that you might be going beyond what you're ready for. Ease up when things start to hurt. Going until you're a little tired is fine, but going past your hurt is just asking for an injury. NEVER do that, if you want to save those tendons. Patience, though- it doesn't take long for the ligaments to grow long and whippy.

Switch out your exercises, too- upper body stuff one day, lower the next, taking a day every few cycles to just swim, go for walks or some other low-impact activity. This gives your body time to "heal" up the work you're making it do. Gentle stretches every day are a good plan if you want to keep flexibility with your bulk.

Diet: avoid the protein shakes and other "supplement" crap, unless you are getting REALLY serious about body-building and need the calories you can't get enough of just by eating (our bodies can only hold so much food at once), as in the monsters you see on the magazines. If money-flow is slow, stay away from the supplements- they're fucking expensive. Concentrate on getting a good two to three thousand calories a day to fuel your work-outs (whichc is gonna cost you on it's own in terms of money). Nibble all day on veggies. No high-sugar or fructose "snacks": that stuff is crap. Nuts (if you're not allergic) are an awesome source of protein and calories in small packages.

You won't need to drop much fat from your diet- you'll be burning it off faster than you can take it in. Unless you're "cutting up", shedding all of your fatty mass by lowering calorie intake to a thousand calories a day and stepping up your work-outs to burn off more, leave the fats in. They're needed for brain and muscle-twitch functions. Drink as much water as you're comfortable drinking. The eight 8oz glasses a day thing is a myth- just drink regularly when you're thirsty, and sip a lot during work-outs. Don't worry about salt in your food- leave it in. Drinking a lot of water flushes you, and will lower your sodium level, so, if you start to feel faint and vaguely nauseous, even though you've been "drinking enough", cut back on the amount you're drinking a little and add a tiny pinch of salt to your bottles.

It's hell of a project you're taking on, and it's going to impact your life in ways you might not expect. It takes a lot of dedication, patience and stubborn work. It can also get expensive, especially if you're on a budget. Big blocks of time will be eaten out of your week. Forget about going on dates or going for coffee with buddies, unless they're working out with you and you go after... Unless you want to go the body-builder route, I'd suggest just simply eating sensibly, exercise more than you usually do, but don't go for two or three hour workouts, unless you know you can handle it. This stuff takes a lot of time, it'll kill your social life, you'll get monomaniacally focused on your body, which is never a healthy thing, mentally. You'll find yourself thinking of ways to avoid a workout, especially if you've hurt something. You'll injure yourself, possibly, and then it'll be a slow healing, your muscles going slack, and you'll hate it. You'll over do it, at some point (we all do), and you'll fucking dream about exercising while you sleep... You'll feel stiff and tired the first few days or weeks. If you get addicted to the endorphin rush after the workouts, you'll get grumpy if you can't exercise...

Now, seeing all that, do you still want to keep at it? Think on it.

The pay-off will take a while, and you'll have to maintain it. But, damn, you'll be one scary punk. Good luck!

you fucking rock! :D I'll take your advice. Maybe I'll post some progress piccies every so often :3

*blushes* Not so much- I posted that 'cuz I didn't want to see you injure yourself like I did... I have no pics from that time, but the deep muscle bruising was ugly... Then I blew my left ankle one year, then my right knee a few years later from dancing too hard, and that pretty much killed any body-building ideas I had. Canes can really get in the way of a work-out. I'm not exactly buff anymore- I'm downright flabby, actually. So this stuff is my apology to my abused bod. I don't want to see it happen to someone else.

So go slow, have fun with it, and enjoy how your body will change as you work. I do know this: it feels bloody awesome to come out of a good work-out- you feel like a frickin' superhero, ready to take on the world. If you feel like that, and not wiped, you've done something right.

Pix would be brilliant! Both 'cuz I'm a nosy old dragon, and because you can use it as proof to yourself that you're getting somewhere.

WHIP IT!!!!

WHIP IT GOOD!!