Building strength for those built like sticks

[Keepers]

How do you do it?

I'm female, small built and I work entirely on my own
The sheep work I mainly rely on strong dogs, catching and holding down rather than bringing to me to grab etc, I have up to date equipment and even a winch system on my truck to lift heavy things (dead ewe etc) into the back
But alot of the time I get wound up and frustrated with myself when I struggle with lifting or moving or pushing certain things, I hate it and I end up feeling useless nearly every day, even lifting the winch back ontop of the yard is hard work at the end of a long day!

I had a back injury over a year ago getting crushed by cattle in the back of a pen, I still suffer from this and am on painkillers on and off.
But I really need to build strength back up, in turn this would help my back, im very physical, but I seem to never get anywhere, I still have stick arms and get blown over by a fat lamb's fart
Where do you start?
How do you find the time if always busy? and if i'm always busy and active then why arent I stronger anyway?
are some people just built that way and never have a chance of changing?

Cheers

 

[Sheep]

Diet:

Work out your total daily energy expenditure:

TDEE Calculator: Learn Your Total Daily Energy Expenditure

Use the TDEE calculator to learn your Total Daily Energy Expenditure, a measure of how many calories you burn per day. This calculator displays MUCH more!

tdeecalculator.net

Eat more calories than you burn (approx 2-400 more). You can record this by aiming to gain 0.5lb per week. In two months you should notice a good strength difference.

Up your protein intake to 0.85g/lb of bodyweight (10st, 140lb, 120g of protein).

Fitness:

Stay active the way you are. If you want to gain a lot of strength then do a simple strength routine. 30-45 minutes 3 days a week. It'll help your back tremendously too.

 

[Lofty1984]

How do you do it?

I'm female, small built and I work entirely on my own
The sheep work I mainly rely on strong dogs, catching and holding down rather than bringing to me to grab etc, I have up to date equipment and even a winch system on my truck to lift heavy things (dead ewe etc) into the back
But alot of the time I get wound up and frustrated with myself when I struggle with lifting or moving or pushing certain things, I hate it and I end up feeling useless nearly every day, even lifting the winch back ontop of the yard is hard work at the end of a long day!

I had a back injury over a year ago getting crushed by cattle in the back of a pen, I still suffer from this and am on painkillers on and off.
But I really need to build strength back up, in turn this would help my back, im very physical, but I seem to never get anywhere, I still have stick arms and get blown over by a fat lamb's fart
Where do you start?
How do you find the time if always busy? and if i'm always busy and active then why arent I stronger anyway?
are some people just built that way and never have a chance of changing?

Cheers

I’m no help sorry but this had me laughing ?

 

[teslacoils]

If you have done your back, I'd strongly recommend you did a course of sessions with a decent sports physio first who could also advise on exercise. I did my back two years ago. My physio is vital. If I just hit the gym I'd have done some serious damage, which you can't afford to do if self employed.

 

[tepapa]

You need to eat more, loads more.
Eggs/protein for breakfast and protein straight after heavy work/exercise, and lots of fruit and veg. You'll also need to do weight sessions 3 days a week. Even just press ups and pull ups will help with your upper body. 10 sets of 10 reps (use bands to help with pull ups).
But beware it's boring as hell. Finding time can be hard.

 

[Kiwi Pete]

I lost heaps of strength after a couple of head injuries and a neck fracture

I eventually got the welder out and made a set of monkey-bars just to do pull-ups and leg lifts and stuff like that, strengthen my core, I had a rope-ladder on the side of it etc

I'm still only 72-74kg and will be 40 in little over a week, I've got duck's disease; it seems to me that your core is where actual "oomph" begins, and spinal injuries can mean we tend to 'go easy' on it and use our limbs too much - making us less strong and more tired

..possibly something along the lines of pilates or yoga would also help..?

 

[Chae1]

@Andyrob

 

[Farmer Fin]

I too have back issues and Pilates helps a lot. My take would don’t worry about trying to get “stronger”, fitter yes. There is no point in bu##ering yourself by putting to much strain on your body. Continue to work smarter, your winch etc. I have worked with loads of female vets over the years who use their heads rather their muscles to get things done, often in the same amount of time but safer and with less injuries. Don’t be frightened to ask for help either.

 

[teslacoils]

I'm scrawny. And find gaining bulk and retaining it tricky. I gave up on trying to get drastically bigger arms etc as a lost cause. To that I now just do a lot of compound exercise, so a lot of rowing and a fair few squats and deadlifts. Again, my first set of squats after being signed off by the Dr was like going back to beginner level. And I was very concerned at damaging my back again. So was very, very, very careful.

Rowing and swimming is fine for me.

 

[Dry Rot]

Think ahead. I'm old so not strong any more but thank goodness for those physics classes I attended when at school years ago. They've taught me how to work around a lot of problems.

I also work alone and don't like people around when I'm working because I am thinking about how I am going to do the next job. Sorry to have to say this but you are not going to get any younger and in the long term you will lose strength.

Think out now how you can use winches, levers, ropes, rollers, machinery, gadgets, and gates. Train animals with food so they want to go where you want them to go rather than fighting against you. Lots of ideas and inspiratioin on the internet and I've always meant to subscribe to Farming Ideas. Good luck with the fitness regime, but dont depend on it for the long run. It ain't gonna happen!

 

[ffukedfarmer]

Think ahead. I'm old so not strong any more but thank goodness for those physics classes I attended when at school years ago. They've taught me how to work around a lot of problems.

I also work alone and don't like people around when I'm working because I am thinking about how I am going to do the next job. Sorry to have to say this but you are not going to get any younger and in the long term you will lose strength.

Think out now how you can use winches, levers, ropes, rollers, machinery, gadgets, and gates. Train animals with food so they want to go where you want them to go rather than fighting against you. Lots of ideas and inspiratioin on the internet and I've always meant to subscribe to Farming Ideas. Good luck with the fitness regime, but dont depend on it for the long run. It ain't gonna happen!

With a UTV, telehandler and mini-digger at my disposal I almost never break a sweat

 

[choochter]

I also work alone, but with cattle. Although I aim to do most things myself, often I have to work around things, particularly situations that require brawn.
Things may take longer, so be it. And as long as my cattle are well and happy, that's fine with me.

As I get older there are things that have become too arduous for me to tackle myself so I get someone in to do them.
This year I got someone in with a machine to bash some gorse. Took a load off my mind because it had been bothering me.

You can't be something that you're not, try to find some new, easy ways out of the difficult bits of your job.

 

[choochter]

But alot of the time I get wound up and frustrated with myself when I struggle with lifting or moving or pushing certain things, I hate it and I end up feeling useless nearly every day, even lifting the winch back ontop of the yard is hard work at the end of a long day!

Have you got a tractor with a loader?

 

[Andyrob]

Sorry folks didn't see the tag...

Gaining strength is actually quite easy to increase food such as protein and fats and then do more heavy work but never go hungry...

For example last few weeks iv slowly added 90g more protein to my diet via shakes and its slowly starting to show up.

But alot of the time I get wound up and frustrated with myself when I struggle with lifting or moving or pushing certain things, I hate it and I end up feeling useless nearly every day, even lifting the winch back ontop of the yard is hard work at the end of a long day!

Mindset is a wonderful thing today you may sit feeling useless but tomorrow you could be queen of the hill...

I had a back injury over a year ago getting crushed by cattle in the back of a pen, I still suffer from this and am on painkillers on and off.
But I really need to build strength back up, in turn this would help my back, im very physical, but I seem to never get anywhere, I still have stick arms and get blown over by a fat lamb's fart
Where do you start?
How do you find the time if always busy? and if i'm always busy and active then why arent I stronger anyway?
are some people just built that way and never have a chance of changing?

Back injury will always annoy you so you need to see a chiro and a physio to make sure that you are not going to cause more damage long term either...plus its always a mental battle as well.

45 mins can achieve quite a lot as well btw

i'm always busy and active then why arent I stronger anyway? eat misses...

 

[Dry Rot]

I don't know about more strength but I could surely do with more swear words.

 

[Macsky]

How do you do it?

I'm female, small built and I work entirely on my own
The sheep work I mainly rely on strong dogs, catching and holding down rather than bringing to me to grab etc, I have up to date equipment and even a winch system on my truck to lift heavy things (dead ewe etc) into the back
But alot of the time I get wound up and frustrated with myself when I struggle with lifting or moving or pushing certain things, I hate it and I end up feeling useless nearly every day, even lifting the winch back ontop of the yard is hard work at the end of a long day!

I had a back injury over a year ago getting crushed by cattle in the back of a pen, I still suffer from this and am on painkillers on and off.
But I really need to build strength back up, in turn this would help my back, im very physical, but I seem to never get anywhere, I still have stick arms and get blown over by a fat lamb's fart
Where do you start?
How do you find the time if always busy? and if i'm always busy and active then why arent I stronger anyway?
are some people just built that way and never have a chance of changing?

Cheers

Do you eat enough? I know a few skinny folk who claim they eat and eat and never gain an ounce, but in reality they don’t eat very much at all, they might eat as much as anyone else at a sitting, but that’ll do them all day. Gaining weight is probably one of my greatest abilities, because if I’m not otherwise occupied, I could eat all day ?

 

[deleted user 837354]

I'm embarking on some sort of personal fitness regime shortly. I have gone very soft due to the last 12 weeks of inactivity. Regretting it now but didn't have much option. Coming off the farm I had a good level of fitness and could work in the garden with little effort. Back running and press ups/sit ups again shortly.

If you are wiry and slim like me, don't expect to build muscles in size very rapidly- my brother is totally different to me and can nearly gain weight so fast it scares him, to the point that he is at risk of stretch marks on his arms and shoulders etc if he goes at it. In slimmer people (and monkeys, incidentally) strength in the major muscles can be gained through increase in muscle density rather than size. You will be stronger and with more stamina without looking much different. This is particularly important in women who are built differently anyway.

It is safer to work out using your own body weight rather than free weights initially, there are plenty of basics on youtube etc. These also help with your back and core strength which is as important as anything. Throw in some cardio as well.

 

[MRT]

You know me @Keepers , same build as you, 5'10 63kg when fit and its a struggle. I'm weak as a kitten atm after a trapped nerve had me sat down for the last 8 weeks and up at 67kg (a lifetime high) without any muscle. Lifting the same weights as my son atm, which wouldn't be a problem if he wasn't 11 yo.

When I was strong I did a lot of weights (which I hated) and ate a lot of tuna. Muscles which contain an angry knot (which IME you may not be aware of) will never be strong so go to a sports massage therapist, lift weights when you can and eat more.

 

[MRT]

Tried picking up the weights I used to lift today... arms like Inspector Gadget

 

[Man_in_black]

I'm the same in terms of being skinny spaghetti arms, but I find working on core has helped. Last 6 years I've been doing pilates (not as gay as I expected!) with my wife, any time I get to relax I try to spend some of it doing plank. Been doing krav maga (Google it) for couple years now & that has really helped my strength. I'm still skinny, I just cannot put weight on, but definitely much stronger.