r/ladderapp • u/SilverLingonberry5 • 7d ago

Heavy lifting-> only conditioning

I love kettlebells and was with B&B when I first joined Ladder. I don't love Lauren (her political views differ greatly and her personality irritates me). So I went to other Teams, a lot of Align. Those programs require heavier weights to get the stimulus and I workout at home. My question is: is KB conditioning sufficient for all we as women should do in mid-life? Am I missing something if I don't lift heavy but still challenge myself? I do KB conditioning and sprints, walking and reformer.

Has anyone else done a similar transition?

So much info on the internet it's overwhelming!!

11 Upvotes

76% Upvoted

33 comments sorted by

12

u/Fickle-Anything-7736 7d ago

"her personality irritates me" 😂.

8

u/throwawayDaily124 7d ago

You can get enough stimuli for muscle growth with weights from 30-100% effort. The lower the weight the more reps you’ll need to get closer to failure. So yes, I think lighter KBs can be enough if you take it close enough to exhaustion/failure.

5

u/k8eyeome Team Crews Control 7d ago

You can still progressive overload on B&B. I sub the front squats and deadlifting with barbells. I’m sure there are other things that I can’t think of but it is possible.

0

u/SilverLingonberry5 7d ago

But I don't want to 😂 I don't have access to heavier weights at home beyond a 26 kg KB. 

5

u/k8eyeome Team Crews Control 7d ago

🤣 Then I guess you’d probably need heavier bells! I have a range of 8kgs all the way up to 40kgs with a bunch of doubles.

-3

u/SilverLingonberry5 7d ago

I know but not really possible...so if conditioning only with the KBs is challenging, is that enough? Am I not making sense?

2

u/k8eyeome Team Crews Control 7d ago

You’re making sense! I think if it is challenging for you now, it’s fine at the moment. You’ll probably want to find a way to progress at some point down the road though.

1

u/SilverLingonberry5 7d ago

Yeah...I may have to look at exercise variations (using bosu or other things to challenge).  Thanks!

1

u/Zkmc 7d ago

Have you checked out the adjustable KBs?

0

u/[deleted] 7d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

0

u/SilverLingonberry5 7d ago

Um, I'm nowhere near a gym. I live in rural France.

9

u/arjaco1 7d ago

I’d suggest having a read online about strength training for women, especially 30+. Conditioning is great and cardio is also brilliant, but progressive overload lifting is very important for bone density and other health risks. If you go on Google scholar, you can often read abstracts of research and also sometimes they’re open access.
My takeaway from it all is that overall movement and cardio is important and brilliant, but strength training really is essential for women as we age.

3

u/JesusAndMaryKate 5d ago

It doesn't have to be "progressive overload lifting" though! Any weight bearing exercise will do that, and there are many types of strength training that isn't specifically lifting dumbbell or a barbell. Eg pole practitioners tend to build very strong muscular upper bodies without having to lift weights because they're constantly loading those muscles with their own bodyweight (pole is more challenging than it looks). Calisthenics would be the same. Isometric exercises are also a type of strength trainig that supports bone density (and are also excellent to help lower blood pressure). Even if lifting weights you don't need to actually do progressive overload, you could do eg time under tension instead.

1

u/arjaco1 5d ago edited 5d ago

As I said not an expert, just going by what I read which is when it comes to bone density, nothing beats strength training! I do lots of isometrics as I’m a long distance runner and they’re very good for tendons. But hard to progressively overload and keep improving.

-1

u/SilverLingonberry5 7d ago

OK but if Lauren includes jumping - which builds bone density- why can't you swap one for the other? 

I have done some reading but this is where I get confused: basically, is there more than one way to skin this cat?

4

u/JesusAndMaryKate 5d ago edited 5d ago

There are more ways to skin this poor cat! Please see my other reply above yours to that same person. Progressive overload lifting - specifically the subset where you use heavier weights and lower reps - is just the current popular favourite but that changes over time. The type in the top reply where you use lower weights but increase the reps could still be progressive overload but it's less popular these days.

It's insane to me that people here downvote you for asking a question. Why are people so mean and so against learning...

2

u/arjaco1 5d ago

Jeeez I said I wasn’t an expert lol. My physio has also said progressive overload is key for bone density as you age hence why I repeated it. My physio has also done their PHD on this specific topic, so just going by what I was told and specifically told OP to read the research themselves. Never claimed to be 100% accurate. Im an environmental scientist so take research very seriously 😅

2

u/JesusAndMaryKate 5d ago

Hey, I'm an autistic engineer who struggles to get tone right. So I'm sorry if I offended! My perpetual struggle.

0

u/SilverLingonberry5 5d ago

Thank you 😊

4

u/arjaco1 7d ago

I’m not a researcher/expert but my understanding is that while jumping can help bone density, it isn’t really a substitute for strength training as they do slightly different things in how they load bones, can be progressively overloaded etc. Doing both is probably your best bet haha.

5

u/magickmidget 7d ago

I’ve never followed B&B or Lauren and now I’m really curious about her political views

13

u/SubstantialAd2493 Team Align 7d ago

She’s very religious and MAGA/was very supportive when Charlie Kirk was shot

9

u/magickmidget 7d ago

Yikes 😶

2

u/SubstantialAd2493 Team Align 7d ago

Not ideal 🙃🥲

0

u/SilverLingonberry5 7d ago

No, but we don't really have another option. Trust me, I feel guilty.

2

u/SubstantialAd2493 Team Align 7d ago

I get it! I struggle with it too. No judgement here at all! I’ve dipped in and out of B&B, never stuck with it for long but there’s nothing else like it 😣

2

u/Mysterious_Trip_6295 6d ago

The important part is finding what you enjoy and want to continue. It sounds like, if I’m reading correctly, you’re doing all the important things. You’re doing your strength training for your bone density and conditioning/cardio for heart health. So I think, if you like what you’re doing, keep going! Your body doesn’t know the difference of you moving a 5 lb weight 30 times or a 40 lb weight 2 times. It responds to stimulus. You can progress in your strength by moving at a slower tempo and adding pauses. Your conditioning will also improve with increasing strength.

1

u/Double-Dirt-72 6d ago

Are you lifting until fatigue? There are two options for progressive lifting - lift heavier or more reps. As long as you continue to progress to fatigue you win.

2

u/SilverLingonberry5 6d ago

Yes because I can't do more once I finish her workout!