I joined the gym 7 weeks ago and go 4X a week, I lift and do cardio. My upper body is as week as it was the first day I went. I think I should be up to 2 sets of 15 at low weight..and I can still barley do the 1st rep. Does Atkins way of eating have anything to do w/ it?

I will say...I love the new muscle that has developed!!

are you still on induction or are you OWL ?

Do you have a fitday.com profile up? We could check your diet and numbers there as well?

I'm still trying to keep my carbs around 20 - I don't do fitday but this is generally what I eat. Please tell me what I should be eating.

Morning
2 eggs
sometimes Atkins toast

Lunch
Cheeseburger
or Salad w/ meat

Dinner
Chicken or Steak
vegetables
at least a gallon of water a day
2 Mega vitamins

a couple of ideas:
- do you rest enough between sets? While on LC diets, it take the muscles longer to recover.. try rsting more then a minute between sets.

- Maybe you started with weight that are too heavy? You should pick up weights that you CAN do 3 sets of 12-15 reps. If you can not complete the sets, your weight are too heavy..

I am not sure of your starting point (shape wise), but I started 3 years ago in very bad shape, and it took me 3 months until I saw improvement. However, once I satrted to improve, it moved very fast, and even today, i can see improvements month after month...

I've seen dramatic results in 2 months my quesiton is issue is that I can only do 1 rep of 15 on pretty low weight. Any lower and I might as well not show up to the gym. I thought by now I could do at least 2-3 reps.
Someone told me it was because I don't eat complex carbs - could this be why?

It may not have anything to do with carbs, perhaps more so that you are attempting to complete some arbitrary number of repititions the first time, and not having the physical stamina yet to start or complete the second set of 12 or 15 repititions.

An alternative is for you to perform the first set of 12 or 15 repititions so that you end the set BEFORE you tire out. Stop the first set when you doubt that you can complete one or two more reptitions in perfect form without straining. Take a drink of water and a short 30-40 second break, then try the second set. You'll be fresher and more likely to actually complete a second set. Stop that one also when you doubt that you can perform one or two more repititions in perfect form. Then go on to your next exercise.

Don't worry so much about the actual number of repititions that you perform in the two sets. If you happen to be somewhere between 8 or 12 reps for the two sets, thats fine.

Come back in two days or so and repeat the sequence, again making sure you stop the two sets when you doubt that you could complete one or two more perfect repititions.

Doing it this way will leave you fresher and able to start making headway.

Sometimes light weights just aren't enough to get my muscles' attention. 15 is a lot of reps, even for one set. I just hate to count past 10.

But you also don't say what exercises you're doing. The whole upper body thing is a system, so it could be you're working (and strenthening) one set of muscles, but some other set, basically unaddressed by the exercises you're doing, is holding you back. I'm thinking rotator cuff for one.

Might want to try a different exercise altogether, too.

First of all I am interested in what u consider light weight and what type of lifts you are doing and which parts you are addressing with them. Also, are you doing cardio before weights, if so that may be a reason for lack of energy. Do cardio after you lift or on an off day.

I'd like to say that low carbing did not hinder my energy level lifting.
To strengthen the muscle u have to challenge it.
I for one start out with a very heavy weight and do just 1 or 2 controlled lifts which gives my system the message "watch out"...then I go down and lift just enough to complete 12 reps then up a bit again for 10 and a bit more for 8 reps.
It doesn't matter how much weight u CAN lift at the moment, just that u challenge the muscle . I agree that you need to lift to support all your muscle groups equally. Everything works together in harmony and prevents injury of a lacking muscle or joint.
Keep your lifts controlled and safe, top form is more important than how much u can pack on. Do your reps to exhaust the muscle at the last rep and rest 60 to 90 seconds in between sets.
Remember soup cans are what most start out with ....so don't give up it takes time to build those fibers - and remember too to get enough sleep....muscle grows during the recovery time.

Happy lifting.......

Bubu

I have started seriously weight training again, and I am finding the 20-25g carbs of Atkin's Induction/OWL is too low to allow me to lift effectively. I have started to eat a heavier carb snack about a hour before weight training, and it has helped. Mind you, I mean heavier carb in a LC sense- some strawberries or some nuts, real peanut butter etc. I have started making a protein shake to drink before working out with some strawberries or peanut butter, protein powder etc. I have a lot more energy, but I am not adding a lot of high GI carbs, so my blood sugar is not going nuts. Plus, those extra carbs are ones I am actively using, not letting sit in my bloodstream like I used to.

Also, as others have said, you might want to relook at your reps/sets etc. The more I research, the more I think that 10 reps is probably the sweet spot for beginners. you might want to do something simple like 2 sets, one warmup with 50% of your max weight, and then a second set at your full weight. I have been doing this sort of workout for a couple weeks and have seen good results, meaning I have had to increase my weights already.

One of the things that has concerned me a bit with Atkin's is that his books don't cover active exercisers very well. He has a couple pages here and there saying exercise is good, but no specific information for people doing serious training. I am not sure that "pure" Atkin's works well with people doing serious weight training as part of their exercise regimes.

lets get our terms straight first.
rep: one repetition (e.g. up-and-down) of an exercise
set: a number of "reps" done continuously before resting

so if I am doing curls, 1 up&down = 1 rep.
if I do 15 before resting - that is 1 SET of 15 REPS
if I rest for a little while and do the same thing again, then I have done 2 SETS of 15 REPS

--
now back to what you are saying. I hear you saying that you do 1 Set of 15 reps at "low weight" and thought you should be able to do 2 or 3 Sets by now.

If you want to do multiple sets, try this method of gradually increasing. Be sure to actually rest between sets - that is, rest for at least 60 seconds.

To start, use your usual weight but back off and only do a first set of 8 reps. Then rest - then try another set. you should be able to do 2 sets of 8 (since you can do 1 set of 15 already).

Next time you work out try for 2 sets of 9 reps. Keep adding 1 rep per set each time you work out.

Once you get to 12 reps for 2 sets, up the weight one level - but drop back to only expecting 6 or 8 reps per set and work your way back up to 12. Add weight, drop the reps, and repeat the cycle.

--
if you want to stick with 1 set -- then up the weight now - and drop your reps back to however many you can do with the new weight. If that is 6 or 8 - fine.
Next time try for one more rep. And one more the next, until you get up to 12 or 15 at the new weight. Then up the weight, drop the reps and repeat the cycle.

If I told you to go to the gym 5 times a week and bench press 100 pounds, how many months do you think it would take you to be able to do that?

The whole purpose of starting at a low weight is to build up muscle strength AND muscle endurance. Trying to lift too heavy a weight right from the start is not going to buy you anything if you can't even do two reps on it. Why do you think they make 2 pound weights in the first place?

Start at a lower weight, do 10 to 15 reps at 2 to 3 sets. Before long you will be able to start lifting the higher weights.

One quick question: You say you do cardio and lift. Do you lift or do cardio first?

If you are doing cardio before weights, try switching it up and see what happens. Of course, you should still do a warm-up before you lift ....