It has to be said that I did begin my bodybuilding journey with lots of trepidation. I had to confront all the common misconceptions that accompany the bodybuilder stereotype.
For example:
"Only guys do weightlifting though - I don't want to look butch",
"I have seen the women who lift weights, they look so muscled and gross. They must lift heavy weights - I don't want to look like that so I won't lift heavy weights"
"Do I have to drink protein shakes now?"
After doing quite a bit of reading on the bodybuilding website, I found that there are plenty of women who partake in the sport and many women who have written articles on various aspects of bodybuilding - from training splits to correct nutrition. On further searching the rest of the web, I discovered quite a lot of literature about women who lift weights, and why women should indeed do weight lifting.
So, as mentioned in a previous post, I found a programme (one that is endorsed and run by a woman) and wrote down each exercise for each day of training. Writing down the programme is easy. The tricky part was my inability to connect the name of each exercise to what it looks like. Also important to me was to avoid looking like a complete novice. I didn't want to adopt incorrect form (which my research tells me is an injury risk) or choose too heavy a weight which would then cause me to fail immediately and rather dramatically.
A useful feature of the bodybuilding site is that it holds a database of videos to illustrate each exercise. This is perfect if one is unsure of how to complete an exercise or what the correct form should be. So, to prepare myself, I watched the necessary videos and drew little stick figures to make sure I remembered what to do. I felt prepared and excited.
My first training session in the new year (2014) was going to be a weightlifting one. The training split for that day was chest and triceps. I honestly thought that lifting weights was such a boring pursuit - that is until I tried it. On my previous visits to the gym, while I was working up a sweat on the elliptical trainer, I had watched intently the way in which the men in the weights section were doing the same movements repeatedly. It looked incredibly dull and I never thought I'd give it a shot.
When I found a free bench and set myself up with the weights I'd need for my session, I found that it was not boring at all. I was concentrating on counting reps per set, I was concentrating on my form, and I was listening to music I enjoyed. I was surprised at how much fun I was having, and how good it made me feel.
Another fantastic feature of the bodybuilding site is the ability to track workouts that you have completed. If one is following a preset programme, the workouts are simple to track. You simply choose the workout of that day from the list and input all the data from your session - how many kilograms you lifted, how many reps you completed per set, and how many sets you completed.
After tracking my first workout, I felt a sense of achievement and I couldnt wait to hit the gym for my next session.
xoxo
Foxy
Tuesday 23 December 2014
Saturday 20 December 2014
My Fitness Basics
A suitable place to start would be to explain my school sports career.
Oh yes, I remember now - it was non-existent. I hated sport. Hockey and athletics in particular were the methods of torture employed by my primary school to ensure that I became a team-sport-hating, PT-class-avoiding rebellious pre-teen. Tennis in summer was passable as fun, until the powers that be made it important and prestigious for a child to be good at it. External pressure for me to do something (and to do it well) immediately makes me think "how can I best get out of this situation". I played tennis at the least competitive level possible, merely to avoid the spotlight that goes along with being a sporty pupil. (I preferred the academic spotlight.)
Winter sports were, as mentioned, hockey and athletics. Years of this have left me with vivid memories of sweaty shin guards, hockey sticks smashing into shins that were devoid of shin guards (not mine, as I always wore enormous shin guards and I tried as often as possible to be placed as a wing - out of the sweaty, stick-swinging skirmish), hockey balls breaking noses, the extremely well-padded goalie (who happened to be the shortest girl in my grade - she was a fine goalie though), being forced to do high jump and long jump barefoot on grass and gravel respectively, the dirty landing pad on the other side of the high jump pole... I could go on, but I think that this is sufficient information to form a decent picture.
With all of this in mind, it is rather obvious as to why I avoided sports for most of my high school career and my entire university career. During my year away from home, I was incredibly inactive. I did try to engage in road running, but the surroundings were too unsafe for my comfort, so I abandoned that pursuit. I bought a very thick yoga mat and downloaded a few exercise programmes from the Women's Health website that were mat-based, with the hope that I could engage in some form of exercise in the relative comfort of my flat. Because I was very unfit, not flexible at all, and had no equipment in the form of dumbbells or free weights, this was also not a fruitful use of my time.
During my post-graduate studies, my family moved home and the gym became an option. I signed up for a gym membership a week after the house move, and I was set. I was going to commit to going to the gym as often as I could and do whatever looked appealing. I took yoga classes, Pilates classes, Zumba classes and spinning classes. These are wonderful for a gym novice and allow one to go to the gym with purpose. I was afraid of not knowing what to do when I got to the gym - attending a class solves this problem. So far, so good. I developed a routine of class attendance and added the occasional weight lifting circuit (the kind that consists of machines strategically placed in a certain sequence to target one's entire body, including cardio, which is catered for with the step platform in the centre of the circuit arrangement).
I adjusted my diet carefully and began to drink a large amount of water. My life away from the gym at the time consisted of sitting behind a computer for at least 8 hours each day (I was working on my post-graduate essays), - not exactly very active. However, this did allow me to control my water and food intake and create an eating schedule (this is extremely valuable for reasons I'll go into in another post).
The biggest part(s) of my body is/are my thighs, and it was important to me to lose centimetres in that area. What was almost immediately noticeable was that I started to feel better about my body and I became more careful about what I put into it. I began to work harder at the gym and would sometimes attend two consecutive classes, for example, a Zumba class followed by a yoga class or a spinning class followed by a Pilates class. I enjoyed this schedule as it allowed me to spend more than 2 hours in the gym on some days.
I then completed my university studies and found myself with a day job. This put an abrupt stop to my attendance of fun classes. I became concerned as to which direction to take my training but I also knew that I was only going to achieve a certain level of fitness if I continued to attend the same classes and perform the same exercise routines.
Someone close to me mentioned that I should look at a particular bodybuilding website for weight lifting programmes. I did some research and created an account on the website. I found a programme that looked doable (ie one with beginner-level exercises) and I took note of which exercises should be done together. I added it to the personalised calendar and began weight training on 1 January 2014.
Thus began my fitness journey. I went from "going to the gym" to "going to train", from being a "gym member" to a "gym bunny" (though I don't think I'd claim that label out loud).
xoxo
Foxy
Oh yes, I remember now - it was non-existent. I hated sport. Hockey and athletics in particular were the methods of torture employed by my primary school to ensure that I became a team-sport-hating, PT-class-avoiding rebellious pre-teen. Tennis in summer was passable as fun, until the powers that be made it important and prestigious for a child to be good at it. External pressure for me to do something (and to do it well) immediately makes me think "how can I best get out of this situation". I played tennis at the least competitive level possible, merely to avoid the spotlight that goes along with being a sporty pupil. (I preferred the academic spotlight.)
Winter sports were, as mentioned, hockey and athletics. Years of this have left me with vivid memories of sweaty shin guards, hockey sticks smashing into shins that were devoid of shin guards (not mine, as I always wore enormous shin guards and I tried as often as possible to be placed as a wing - out of the sweaty, stick-swinging skirmish), hockey balls breaking noses, the extremely well-padded goalie (who happened to be the shortest girl in my grade - she was a fine goalie though), being forced to do high jump and long jump barefoot on grass and gravel respectively, the dirty landing pad on the other side of the high jump pole... I could go on, but I think that this is sufficient information to form a decent picture.
With all of this in mind, it is rather obvious as to why I avoided sports for most of my high school career and my entire university career. During my year away from home, I was incredibly inactive. I did try to engage in road running, but the surroundings were too unsafe for my comfort, so I abandoned that pursuit. I bought a very thick yoga mat and downloaded a few exercise programmes from the Women's Health website that were mat-based, with the hope that I could engage in some form of exercise in the relative comfort of my flat. Because I was very unfit, not flexible at all, and had no equipment in the form of dumbbells or free weights, this was also not a fruitful use of my time.
During my post-graduate studies, my family moved home and the gym became an option. I signed up for a gym membership a week after the house move, and I was set. I was going to commit to going to the gym as often as I could and do whatever looked appealing. I took yoga classes, Pilates classes, Zumba classes and spinning classes. These are wonderful for a gym novice and allow one to go to the gym with purpose. I was afraid of not knowing what to do when I got to the gym - attending a class solves this problem. So far, so good. I developed a routine of class attendance and added the occasional weight lifting circuit (the kind that consists of machines strategically placed in a certain sequence to target one's entire body, including cardio, which is catered for with the step platform in the centre of the circuit arrangement).
I adjusted my diet carefully and began to drink a large amount of water. My life away from the gym at the time consisted of sitting behind a computer for at least 8 hours each day (I was working on my post-graduate essays), - not exactly very active. However, this did allow me to control my water and food intake and create an eating schedule (this is extremely valuable for reasons I'll go into in another post).
The biggest part(s) of my body is/are my thighs, and it was important to me to lose centimetres in that area. What was almost immediately noticeable was that I started to feel better about my body and I became more careful about what I put into it. I began to work harder at the gym and would sometimes attend two consecutive classes, for example, a Zumba class followed by a yoga class or a spinning class followed by a Pilates class. I enjoyed this schedule as it allowed me to spend more than 2 hours in the gym on some days.
I then completed my university studies and found myself with a day job. This put an abrupt stop to my attendance of fun classes. I became concerned as to which direction to take my training but I also knew that I was only going to achieve a certain level of fitness if I continued to attend the same classes and perform the same exercise routines.
Someone close to me mentioned that I should look at a particular bodybuilding website for weight lifting programmes. I did some research and created an account on the website. I found a programme that looked doable (ie one with beginner-level exercises) and I took note of which exercises should be done together. I added it to the personalised calendar and began weight training on 1 January 2014.
Thus began my fitness journey. I went from "going to the gym" to "going to train", from being a "gym member" to a "gym bunny" (though I don't think I'd claim that label out loud).
xoxo
Foxy
Friday 19 December 2014
Hello!
Welcome to my blog.
I have been hatching this idea for a while, and it's been germinating for a few months. Oh look at that, a mixed metaphor - eggs and plants. Both are extremely important ingredients in a healthy, balanced diet, and so I think that's a good way to start this new blog.
A short intro to this new space:
This is a blog about healthy living and the maintenance of a healthy lifestyle. By this, I mean that I shall be writing about healthy food and, when the mood strikes, I shall post a recipe or two; I shall be writing about exercising and going to the gym, about certain observations I have made and lessons I have learned while on my fitness journey. Of course, said fitness journey is a lifestyle choice, and it is not without its struggles and, sometimes, it's failures, so I'll be writing about those too.
Importantly, feeling good improves your perception of your body, so naturally one would want to look good and show off your healthy body. Because I am a lady, it would be remiss of me to ignore this side of my journey, so I shall be writing about body products, skin products, (very infrequently) clothing (this topic would be more concerned with my personal clothing choices and what I have learned while shopping for clothes), cosmetics (very very rarely will there be a cosmetics post - the reasons for this I shall explain in another post - but to cover my bases, I'll list cosmetics as a topic here too), and general miscellanea to (I believe) increase the feel-good factor in one's life.
I am 25 at time of writing, I am 1.75m tall, I'm a size 12 and believe in body love and body-positive messages. Megan Trainor's "All About That Bass" is one such body-positive piece of pop culture. I do love my body, I think I have "all the right junk in all the right places" and "won't [ever] be no stick figure silicone Barbie doll". But of course, there are always the bits of one's body that one would like to improve, parts one wishes were smaller, bigger, tighter, less wobbly, less embarrassing. I have those too. But I don't think they are worth getting hung up on or are enough cause to hate one's body.
Also, I have a long history of doing embarrassing things to my body, so there will be some of that too. Maybe, if I feel brave.
xoxo
Foxy
I have been hatching this idea for a while, and it's been germinating for a few months. Oh look at that, a mixed metaphor - eggs and plants. Both are extremely important ingredients in a healthy, balanced diet, and so I think that's a good way to start this new blog.
A short intro to this new space:
This is a blog about healthy living and the maintenance of a healthy lifestyle. By this, I mean that I shall be writing about healthy food and, when the mood strikes, I shall post a recipe or two; I shall be writing about exercising and going to the gym, about certain observations I have made and lessons I have learned while on my fitness journey. Of course, said fitness journey is a lifestyle choice, and it is not without its struggles and, sometimes, it's failures, so I'll be writing about those too.
Importantly, feeling good improves your perception of your body, so naturally one would want to look good and show off your healthy body. Because I am a lady, it would be remiss of me to ignore this side of my journey, so I shall be writing about body products, skin products, (very infrequently) clothing (this topic would be more concerned with my personal clothing choices and what I have learned while shopping for clothes), cosmetics (very very rarely will there be a cosmetics post - the reasons for this I shall explain in another post - but to cover my bases, I'll list cosmetics as a topic here too), and general miscellanea to (I believe) increase the feel-good factor in one's life.
I am 25 at time of writing, I am 1.75m tall, I'm a size 12 and believe in body love and body-positive messages. Megan Trainor's "All About That Bass" is one such body-positive piece of pop culture. I do love my body, I think I have "all the right junk in all the right places" and "won't [ever] be no stick figure silicone Barbie doll". But of course, there are always the bits of one's body that one would like to improve, parts one wishes were smaller, bigger, tighter, less wobbly, less embarrassing. I have those too. But I don't think they are worth getting hung up on or are enough cause to hate one's body.
Also, I have a long history of doing embarrassing things to my body, so there will be some of that too. Maybe, if I feel brave.
xoxo
Foxy
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