I'm about 5'5" and around 105 lbs. I've never kept up with my weight, but my clothing size has dropped down recently, so I'm trying to build myself up at the gym - just started about 3 months ago and am pleased with my muscles becoming more solid and a little definition.

My thighs, upper arms and butt are a little jiggly, in spite of being small. I'm afraid I've slacked off exercise too much in the last few years.

I'm learning about higher weights, lower reps to build muscle, but if I also need to lose that little layer of fat that jiggles, what should I do? I really can't stand to lose any weight, so the usual aerobics wouldn't seem to be the answer. I was wondering if I should somehow combine manageable weights with higher reps, with heavier weights and lower reps. (If I'm at 35 lbs on leg curl, do some fast reps at 25-30 lbs, then switch to higher weight and fewer reps?) Or, will that flabbiness firm up if I continue working on building muscle?

if you want to lose tha fat, you may lose weight, but gaining muscle could cancle it out. muscles wont change the consistency of fat, so you have to try to build one while loseing the other, cardio and a good diet, partnered with the weight training, would be the way to go.

Light cardio, keeping your heart rate at 60% of your max, combined with weights should do the trick. The weights will boost your metabolism so you will burn more calories during the day and the light cardio will burn the fat without burning the muscle.

Also, nutrition is the key to making all this work. Try eating 6 small meals throughout the day. And balance the amount of carbs, protein and good fats that you eat.

I agree with both of the previous posts. While you still have to lose the fat, building muscle would cancel out any weight loss. Good luck. Let us know how you progress.

When you say "light cardio" what do you mean? I've been bicycling a mile on the machines at the gym about twice a week - is that light cardio?

While it's true that your weight may or may not go down if you're trying to put on muscle mass, that should be completely irrelevant. There is far too much emphasis on what the scale tells you when people try to be healthy... hell, everyone always says they need to "lose weight" when they really should be saying "I need to get in shape" or "I want to be healthy". The only people who should be concerned with their weight are people who need to hit a certain weight for a weigh-in (fighters, life insurance physicals, etc.)

I constantly argue that the most important thing to measure when in terms of health and fitness is body composition/body fat %. Truth be told, I almost could care less what I weigh, as long as my body fat % is around 10%. I do track my weight so I can make sure that I'm not losing muscle, but that's about the extent of it.

Having more muscle mass has a plethora of benefits that cannot be overstated:

- Increasing muscle mass increases your metabolism causing your body to burn more fat, whether or not you're actually doing anything
- muscle LOOKS good and FEELS good to have - you don't have to worry about bulking up TOO MUCH, that takes a significant calorie overload and a LOT of effort, you don't accidentally lift too much one day and wake up the next day looking like Ah-nold
- The act of building muscle (weight training, interval training, etc.) burns calories comparable (and argumentatively better than) standard low-intensity cardio
- The list goes on and on...

It can be difficult to gain muscle while losing overall weight, but gaining muscle while losing FAT is actually not difficult at all provided you eat right and exercise regularly. As far as your routine, I'd recommend no more than 2-3 days of cardio and at least 2-3 days of strength training. For cardio sessions, you should focus on doing interval training, whether it's HIIT or not.

Since you're not trying to lose any weight, I assume that you'd be OK with gaining some weight (muscle) so make sure you're eating enough or even slightly in excess. Maintaining a specific weight is pretty hard, so I give myself a weight range to give myself a general idea of how much I should be eating, as long as I'm between 190-198lbs and my body fat % is dropping then my calorie intake is pretty flexible.

Thanks, Clifford (and everyone else)

When I said I don't want to lose any weight, I really meant I don't want to get any smaller. I know muscle weighs more than fat, so, as you say, weight isn't the best guide to go by. The only reason I even know my weight is because I had to weight one of my dogs, and did it by weighing myself with and without him. I've just never paid attention to weight, at all.

I've always been slim, but now I wear a size 0,1 or 2. I have the opposite problem of not being able to get into any of my clothes, and can't afford to keep having them taken in. I go to the gym either 5 days a week, alternating upper and lower body exercises, or every other day with full body. Depends on how tired I am at the end of the day.

If I can ever figure out how to get my DVD player to work with DirecTV, I have a good The Firm workout that's light cardio and weights, and only about 30 minutes. That's one issue I haven't been able to resolve.

Well building muscle will come through a calorie intake with good amounts of protein.

I found I lost fat and gained muscle while doing lifting 5x's a week, so you can see gains slowly over time, but it will happen.

I'm a big fan of pictures as it allows us to see how you look and read how you feel about yourself. Its amazed me sometimes how people view themselves vs how they really look

When you say 5x a week, do you mean upper body one day and lower the next? I go to the gym, usually, 5 times a week, alternating upper and lower. Occasionally, I do whole body every other day, and wonder if it matters which way I choose.

Is it true that you need a day of rest in between lifting? Isn't 5 times a week a bit excessive? I would love to do it that many times but everything I read says not to.

My understanding is that you need to rest muscle groups for at least a day. Some people will do a full body workout 3 days a week, while others concentrate on specific muscle groups over the course of 5 days. So, yeah you should rest. But your "rest" is conditional

Power to the People by Pavel Tsatsouline disagrees with that. Pavel recommends weight lifting 5 days a week. But then again he denounces training to failure and says you should spend 20 minutes at the gym lifting at most. It's a completely different concept. I haven't finished the book yet, but it's just really different than what most people preach.

I lifted 5 days a week for 6 months solid. my rest was like Patrick talked about.

Did Chest/Tri/Shoulders/Hams Mon/Wed/Fri
Did Back/Biceps/Quads/Cavles Tues/Thurs

Gained 19lbs of muscle and alot of str. Course I ate the calories i needed and good protein.

Never felt 'sore' or overworked. Lifting 3-4 times a week now (very busy @ work/life) and I feel like i'm missing out...