Exercise: Going Through The Motions

Today i woke up and reflected on the past few weeks of my fitness journey. Ever since stepping into the gym and deciding No More "i wish i could look like this... i wish i didn't have this... i wish i could do this.." i have learnt so many things about my body and mind. It really is a journey. For the past few days i have been daydreaming about the day i have firm glutes. It is my weak spot, so i am going to turn it into my STRONG spot. I started to think "WHY didn't i start doing squats the moment i learnt how to walk as a baby", but in actual fact i HAVE tried to work on my bum in the past. I mean, okay maybe not as hard/many times as i should have but it's not like i NEGLECTED it. Now with my perspective in the incredible benefits of lifting weights i realise my approach to how to use exercise FOR my body was a bit off the mark. Let me explain.

NB: I am going to group Leg/Glute exercises as just 'Legs'

-I was very hesitant about working out my legs because all my life i've had muscular legs. I used to walk for 8 mins up a hill from the bus stop after school to my house, and within 5seconds of this routine my calves were so muscular. My friends all had skinny legs. I used to be so envious, so i used to WANT the muscle to waste in my legs. I avoided going too heavy with weights and using a very challenging gradient/resistance on machines for this reason.

-In August i started to not give a * about other peoples legs, and just focus on mine. Once a week i started incorporating exercises that weren't going to really bulk up my legs, but would work my glutes. I started doing squats and lunges on a bosu ball without heavy weights (8kg if anything), glute bridges, leg bands, squats without heavy weights. And started incorporating the stair/stepper into my workout.

-Overtime, i started to want to use heavier weights, and so began using the Leg Press, Lunges with a 10kg --> 15kg bar, [deadlifts- back and hamstrings but also glutes], Split leg squat. etc. My gym at the time didn't have a squat rack so i couldn't really squat heavy.

- Truth is, i never TRULY felt my glutes working. I did these exercises with the mentality of just going through the motion. Now i did sweat, i did find certain reps and certain sets challenging, and occasionally had DOMS the next day, but i just assumed that by doing these exercises, i was inevitably working out my glutes. 

-This isn't the case. Anyone can pick a weight that's really heavy. Anyone can walk up high gradients on the treadmill, use the stair machine.
I realised that i used to get the ache in my Quads. My Quads had built up over time because even when i was doing exercises to target my glutes, my quads fully took over. Now even now when i work with my trainer i feel it in my quads aswell, but i ALSO feel it in my glutes. I have never really felt it in my glutes before. My quads are strong, which means any stress on my legs, the quads are quick to take over. Even with squats and leg presses, my quads would take over.

Tips

-If you want to work a muscle, you need to FEEL the muscle working. You have to put it under stress. This means using the correct form and using a weight that feels challenging. I think when people say "lift heavy" it actually is confusing. Like people used to say this to me, and i used to think WHAT IS HEAVY. what do they MEAN. To make it simple, just lift a weight that feels like its a challenge. That makes you breath out and sigh and even make funny faces after a few reps.

-If you want to grow that muscle, you need to repair the damage you've done to it by putting it under the stress of the exercise. This means eating enough protein. The recommendation to build muscle is 1.5g protein per kg of body weight per day. You are NOT going to get big and bulky. TRUST ME. Muscle takes TIME to grow. And if you are getting bigger, then it's most likely fat gain, so reassess your net calorie input (i.e. are you eating more than you are burning off).

-I almost... ALMOST.. put the blame on genetics. i thought WHY WHY can some people work out less hard than me, or even actually have the same approach and just go through the motions, yet still reap the benefits. But genetics or NOT, it's not an excuse. Your attitude and consistency will ALWAYS triumph genetics. 

-If you are like me and your quads take over your glutes, 'Pre-fatiguing- the quads before you start your glutes-focused exercise help. This means doing heavy and high rep training of an exercise that will just work the quads, till the point where they feel weak. This will help prevent them from 'taking over' when you move onto exercises for your glutes.

-FEEL THE MUSCLE. This may mean doing a more focused exercise routing with fewer exercises. This may even mean dropping the weight to a lighter one so your form is perfect. This may mean squeezing at the top of an exercise, or keeping the muscle contracted by doing pulses/half reps. This may mean using a machine and instead of strictly obeying the picture drawing/instructions it has on how to use it, and tailoring it to how it works for YOU.

I hope this helps, because i really wish someone told me this sooner. Just saying "lift heavy" means nothing. Stay focused, and keep your eyes on your goal. Don't give up, you've got this 

Clean Bulk: Week 2

Clean Bulk
I met with my trainer on Wednesday 18th September, and since then have begun a clean bulk. Now the reason i use the word 'clean' in reference to my bulk is that it is not me eating all the food i desire all in the name of muscle. It is a controlled diet with the aim of being in a caloric-surplus, providing my body with optimum conditions to grow muscle. Particularly my glutes ;) . This means
-Having a diet plan and sticking to it every day
-Weighing my food.
-Sources of food: Carbs: Oatmeal, Brown Rice. Protein: Chicken breast, Tuna, Salmon, Egg. Fat: Avacado (Salmon included in the meal as it is a fatty fish).
-Week to week review so to STEADILY increase my calories in a CONTROLLED way.
The goal is to increase as much muscle as possible, and minimising the amount of fat gained. Now some fat gain is inevitable, which is why i am not lifting up my top frequently to check my abs. The muscle is there- I CAN FEEL IT- it is strong and tight, but the 'ripped abs look' wont be apparent until i start cutting/my body fat % is low. I weigh myself every week- today was my 'weigh day' with my brand new scales (Amazon UK) and i am 49.9kg. This is good, because the idea isn't to put on weight drastically over the next few weeks- that would just mean i was putting on mainly fat. Any weight gain above 2lbs is most likely due to fat NOT muscle. You will REALISTICALLY only put on about 1-2lbs dry muscle in a month.
After years of eating erratically, i am PRETTY SURE i have caused some issues with my metabolism. I mean, it isn't too bad because i haven't gone up to like 60kg in a day, but what i mean is that the concept of increasing things slowly is really important. Some days i wouldn't eat till 4pm, and then go through a binge-starve cycle, other days it was just binge, other days it wasn't. If some of you had gone through this, just rest assure that the damage isn't permanent- and if you're young your body will adapt more quickly- but it will take time to get your metabolism to its optimal fat-burning state. Now the idea behind using your metabolism to your advantage is to be able to eat as much as possible (particularly carbs) without gaining weight. As your body is adaptive, after a few weeks at a certain number of calories-per-day diet, your body will get used to it. This is why if trying to lose weight, you reach a plateau and have to drop a few more calories, and if you are trying to gain muscle you have to increase a bit more. Now if you can maintain your body on a 2000 kcal diet instead of a 1200kcal diet, you have more leverage to work with. This is the importance of not rushing a process- sometime you have to step back in order to leap forwards.
Photo from this morning:

Initiating a Change

When it comes to living a fitness-lifestyle, one quote that really does prove to be true is "if you fail to plan, you plan to fail". I found this relevant to my nutrition and diet, as well as my gym workouts. There was a time i used to go in to the gym and leave it up to how i felt once i was inside, and whether it was a "treadmill" day, or a "crosstrainer" day, or a "do weights/abs at the end" day etc. I knew this wasn't going to really get me the goals i wanted, but i didn't really know how to change my mindset. Once you get into a routine of thinking or acting a certain way, it becomes difficult to change it. Then i realised:

Well, ain't that the truth. So i was going to have to change something. And the way i initiated that change was to get involved in some gym classes. I used to think gym classes were nonsense. How can a class really help you when its not individualised, tailored to your own personal fitness, goals, age, weight etc. And i did get some stick from it, about it being the lazy option, too generalised ETC. But it helped. It challenged me because the trainer taking the class would push me, and i was able to challenge my comfort zone. Now i used to go extremely "hard" at the gym before, make no assumption that i was a weakling, slowly jogging for 2 minutes then stopping. NO. I was always dripping with sweat by the end of my workout, i would make sure i pushed myself to the point of fatigue, often did HIIT sprints, and was commended by guys at how "hard i go", unlike a lot of the girls at my gym who looked beautiful at the beginning and beautiful by the end. Nope, i was a sweaty pig. But going to the classes made me alter my mindset and that was the beginning of something great. I started seeing exercise as a way of sculpting my body as opposed to "burning off the calories i had eaten". I started to change the way i reached fatigue, say by going to spinning and sprinting right at the beginning of my exercise for longer or with more resistance than if i had been doing it myself. I stopped listening to my own voice and started pushing my body. 

I also started to get introduced to implementing weights into my workout, and centre-ing a workout around weights. I knew that women were being encouraged to get off the treadmill and "lift heavy", but that was so difficult for me to actually do when my gym was full of young, ripped 20 year olds leaving no space for anyone on the weights section. It was easier to "push myself hard'" on the treadmill, then venture over and "go lift". Not only that, but i didn't know what the hell i would be doing. What weight would i use? What if i used bad form? A rep? A set? It was all really confusing and overwhelming. But the classes helped me break that mentality and start to learn the concept behind weights, and the names for certain exercises, including the form, what was an okay weight for me etc. I built the courage. I knew, however, that in order to get the real results i was after that i couldn't just depend on classes. I had to take what i had learnt from doing the classes and implement it into the gym. I started becoming "used to" the classes, and felt it was actually going to hold me back. Body Pump, in particular, is one that comes to mind: it helped me in so many ways to get acquainted with weights, but the very high rep range meant that i wasn't using heavy or even slightly-heavy weights because we were doing 3293481239 reps of each exercise. NOW there is a lot of debate regarded high rep:lower weight vs low rep:heavy weight vs very low rep:extremely heavy weight, but body pump uses A LOT more reps. An entire song worth of reps with sometimes no break. It also means that you cheat on your form, because by the 2394234th rep, your muscle does fatigue and because you have to keep going (in synchrony with the rest of the class), you end up losing the true form of the exercise that is imperative to working the muscle. NOW I AM NOT SLAYING BODY PUMP. it was FANTASTIC. and without it i would NOT have ever got the stamina, knowledge or courage to step into the weight section of the gym. I would still be on that treadmill, sweating my calories away but not reaching my goals. 

This is why i repeatedly use the term "Journey", when discussing my experience with fitness and nutrition. You cannot begin as an expert. It takes a lot of trial and a hell of a lot of errors. And i sure am still learning, making trials and errors (on a weekly basis). You will wish you had known what you know now months before, but it takes failure to reach success. You will wish you had started sooner than you had. One thing is for sure, you can't just read about it and learn, you have to go out there and experience this for yourself. Classes worked for me, but they may not necessarily for you AND THAT'S OKAY. You just have to find what does. And you will.

This is a photo i took this morning of my progress:

September 13th