Posts Tagged ‘strength training’
Rest is not optional
Posted on: June 10, 2013
For a change I’m not going to talk about the food. I want to talk fitness for a change 🙂
More specifically, resting and recovery. When I am at the gym, I put everything I can into every set, every rep. I’m not going there to waste my time. It’s too valuable. Sometimes, I do have a problem when it comes to resting.
The rational side of my brain says “yes, you need to rest. You can barely walk up the stairs because it feels like someone used your bum as a punching bag.” The motivated, goal-oriente side counters it with something like, “Oh, it’s just lactic acid, you can work through that. The harder you work the faster you’ll get to where you want to be.”
I can’t honestly say what split I’m doing in the gym because Nick seems to always switch it up. Nothing drastic, but enough for me to not be positive what’s coming next. He knows what needs to be done to get results, and results we are getting. One thing he is always telling me “use your foam roller, and rest!” What I try to do is get my gym time in during a typical work work, then use my weekends for a long run, active rests, or strict recovery.
As for the foam roller, I love that thing. So much so that I’ll make a separate post just for it!!
Back to the rest. There are different kinds of rest, all of which need to be considered when trying to get to your fitness goals.
The most obvious is the complete rest day. It’s a day that you are literally resting… lounging. This is also happening while your sleep, which is why it is so important to get your 8-9 hours a night! There is also active rest, in which you are doing things but at a very low intensity. Grocery shopping, walking around the mall, basic clean up around the house, etc. Then there is the rest you take DURING your training, between sets and exercises. This is probably my favorite rest. I love every single second of this rest! And yes, I will stall to make it a bit longer sometimes. During this rest, your body is coming back down from the effort exerted, it’s getting prepared and pumped for another go-round, and steadily building. You need to take your rest during training in order to train more efficiently, especially if you’re training for strength.
Now some of the benefits to resting/recovery:
– replenishes glycogen stores
– repairs tissue damage
– lessens the chance for injury
– body starts to learn adaptations to certain exercises, making it more proficient
– muscle recover faster from fatigue
– muscles build endurance
The list goes on, but really, after you’ve put 110% into your workout during the week, don’t you think your body deserves a day off?!
Workout pictures!!
Posted on: May 28, 2013
I don’t get to post many of these because, well, I’m the one working out! Nick was nice enough to get these for me. I did have a slight injury to my left groin area after working out on Saturday. It was bad enough I had to cut the training short, but it’s doing much better now. At my training I made sure to tell Nick if it was being bothered or not and we adjusted the exercise as necessary.
He’s got me doing all sorts of exercises, but the pictured ones below are just a straight leg dead lift and lunges. The step is there because I can go further than my toes and deeper in my lunges thanks to my flexibility. And thanks to my flexibility and Nick knowing how flexible I am, he makes me get the FULL range of motion when working out. I hear “go deeper” or “further down” almost every time I train with him. (Keep your dirty thoughts to yourself!!)
In any case, here are the pictures as promised!
Wanna know what else is cool?? Or at least I think it is…
See the bulge in the middle of my hamstring? That is apparently the “bicep femoris.” Bicep makes you think of your arm right? Two and two together… That muscle basically reacts like your arm bicep! And you can see mine now!! Yay.
And just for reference:
Um… Time to bare it…
Posted on: May 6, 2013
I have been taking before and after shots since I started working with Nick. Just recently I had a meltdown because I wasn’t seeing/feeling any different. I knew I was getting stronger, but I didn’t feel like I was getting any leaner. I was frustrated and complaining to both Link and Nick about it. Frustrated doesn’t even really come close to how I felt to be honest.
I am all for getting stronger. I have been promoting the benefits of lifting for some time now. I love the benefits I’ve been reaping thanks to lifting. I apparently still need some help to get over my mental road blocks. I still find myself turning to food to help deal with stress. I still see myself as “chubby” and I am very critical of myself.
Here are my original before and afters:
It took Tom pointing out the difference because I honestly could not see them. I see them now and feel crazy for not having seen it before. No, they’re not drastic, but they don’t need to be! It’s progress and that’s what I need to be concerned with!
I showed them to Nick as well. He made a valid point… I need to get out of the shorts! How am I going to see the progress in my legs if I’ve covered them up? I have always had major insecurities with the “thickness” of my legs and booty, which is why I put the shorts on. So, I’ve got new before pictures. In a triangle bikini no less. I took them last night and it was like some weird form of torture. I like being on the seeing side of the camera, not the seen. I cannot thank Link enough for helping me with them. I felt awkward and exposed. Not the best feeling in the world, let me tell you.
But, after looking at them, I can see even without pictures to compare them to, I know I’ve made progress. Of course there are things I don’t like. I’m trying really hard to not focus on those parts. In order to keep with the whole honesty idea of this blog, I’m sharing these pictures with you. And I may or may not be planning to compete in an ACTUAL fitness competition come September which is where the poses are coming from.
oh, and um, don’t mind my crazy, it’s way past my bedtime hair 😉
Most recent workout
Posted on: April 28, 2013
First and foremost: LINK IS HOME!!! His two week “vacation” started this morning, so I was crazy getting the house and kids ready, which is more or less the reason I haven’t posted much in the past week (ish).
Now, onto blog business. A quick update with my “no scale” challenge. It’s been hard. Honestly. I hate not knowing how much I weigh. At one point, a couple of weeks ago, Nick wanted to get my stats, so I found out then what my weight was, and seriously, it was like getting taking a huge breath after you’ve been underwater to that point just before you know you might want to consider coming up for air. I haven’t looked since though. I’m starting to feel the “itch” though. LOL May 4th is the day my scale comes back out. One more week.
On Friday Nick decided it was a good day to work my entire back half. Wow. Lots of dead lifts. Lots and lots of dead lifts. I was actually able to do 185 pounds, whereas last week I could only do 165 pounds. 20 pound difference in a week? I’ll take it! I try to tell myself those are the numbers that matter, even if it doesn’t sink in every time.
We also did some ab work on the TRX. It’s a great training area/device/contraption/torture device if you can find the right form. Some of the exercises are a bit hard to find the right form, at least for me they are, but I think that’s what I’m going to start working on because I really do like how it works.
I’ve included a couple of pictures that Nick took while I was working with cables and while on the TRX.
—Take care of your body, it’s the only one you have!
Supplements
Posted on: March 14, 2013
Since I started my new fitness regimen, I decided it was probably best to heed the advice of so many trainers and articles and start adding dietary supplements. Before I bought anything I did some research to make sure that what I get is appropriate for the type of lifestyle I am currently living. Once I bought it all and it made its way to me (THE NEXT DAY), I was a little surprised by how much I was going to be taking. I had to re-research some of the supplements. 
As you can see, it really does look like a lot. Honestly though, there are only five supplements there, but the dosage is two pills. The back amber-colored capsules are a smart fats complex (as in Omega 3’s). The green ones are my Vitamin C. 
The beige colored pills are my multivitamins. The ugly yellow ones are my fish oil pills… my least favorite. And the two big ones in the center are Vitamin D.
I also use whey protein as a way to get more protein into my diet, because honestly, I can only eat so many meats and beans. 🙂 I also take a green tea extract supplement and a BCAA supplement. The BCAA stands for Branched Chained Amino Acids. I take both supplements before my workout, so that by the time I’m done working out, the BCAA is already in there, doing its job.
Here is a quick run down of the benefits of each one:
BCAA – helps with the rebuilding of muscle after strength training
Green Tea Extract – helps burn fat and gives a small amount of energy
Vitamin C – boost immune system health
Vitamin D – supports bone health as well as supporting thyroid functions
Multivitamin – provides the fundamental building blocks of nutrition
Fish Oil – an essential fatty acid, helps rebuild existing cells and create new ones, as well as supporting cardiovascular health and joint flexibility
Smart Blend – enhances body fat reduction, increases your immune system, and support cardiovascular health
If not for the skinny jeans... 