With inches measured staying the same - I do declare, I genuinely suspect we've had an increase in muscle mass. It certainly feels like it!
A request was made last weekend that I post a little about my workout regimen, which believe you me looks a whole lot different than when I first started this process back in 2017 at 208'ish lbs. When I first started, I simply did 15 minutes of some very basic arm exercises using 3 & 4 lb handheld weights, modified push-ups against the wall, and 20 minutes on the recumbent bike starting at an easy level 5 resistance.
Might I have lifted heavier weights or gone longer with a higher resistance on the bike?
Absolutely, but this time around I wanted to do something I never did previously when it came to physical activity.
I - DID - NOT - WANT - TO - GO - HAM!
I was DONE using every one else's standards when it came to movement. I was done pushing myself so hard, I got injured in some way or simply too disgusted to continue.
I (excuse my language) flipped the bird to every P.E. teacher I remembered in school as a youth that just assumed I wasn't strong enough to finish the mile or do the push-up.
In short, this time - I did it MY WAY, on MY TERMS, and decided to follow a hunch about my own fitness prowess that had been nudging me since I was very young.
And, the method was very, very simple - meet this body where it's at and transcend from there...at a very incremental pace. So, incremental in fact that this body couldn't help but adapt because any increase in weight, rep, and or resistance might be challenging, but completely doable...almost boring, in fact.
In terms of mindset, what was important for me to establish initially was self efficacy in that I wasn't going to put this body through ANYTHING it wasn't able to accomplish - even if that meant staying at the same weights for a whole damn year!!!
The other thing I needed to establish was commitment and consistency. So, the biggest challenge that first year was not the workouts themselves, but showing up even when I didn't want to, even when I wanted nothing more than to dive into a bottle of wine and throw the weights at the wall. Even when this mind said "this is boring, I'm tired, I want to quit." The rule of thumb was no matter what, unless your sick, and even then only from the neck down.
A person can still workout even when they have congestion from the neck up, and I know, because I did and still do :-)
And, since I started weight and strength training at the same time I was working to release excess weight - I put up with all the typical things a beginner in this position tolerates.
- I felt the change in strength far before I actually saw it, and just had to reassure myself the muscle was there and if I continued - there was going to be a point when I was going to see it. Moving up in reps and weights provided obvious proof.
-In that first year, like every single beginner I know who starts lifting (small or heavy)I retained water post workout due to inflammation and comforted myself time and again that it was okay if the scale didn't show any losses - this body needed the H20 to physically repair itself so I might have those muscular gains I was working so hard for.
Note: Actually, this is where all the data and numbers came in handy, because I got to a point where I could predict how much I would go up on the scale based on what kind of workout I did, and thus which days I was likely to hit a new low :-)
-I measured and tracked inches lost
-I had to come to terms with the fact that like most women who do or don't lift, I got farrrrrrrr to little protein in my diet.
-I had to cultivate a patience I never learned, a sense of commitment and faith in something I couldn't even see yet, and continue regardless of not knowing what the outcome or results would be.
Would I just end up "toned" or might I attain just a smidgeon of the muscular physique of my favorite strength trainers and lifters like DLB, Brooke Ence, or Fittest woman on earth Tia Claire Toomey???
I had to learn, accept, and respect that I wasn't to going to become strong like EVERYONE ELSE, I was going to become strong like me and in whatever way this body wanted to that served its needs NOT my ego.
With all that being stated - here is my current workout regimen. All these workouts include a 20 minute warm up to engage muscles and get my heart rate boosted so this body can be prepared for what's ahead :-)
Tuesday - Cardio/Recumbent Bike - (45 minutes, 4 intervals at level 17, four intervals at level 5)
Wednesday - Active rest day with two 20 minute casual walking circuits couched in.
Thursday - Weights sesh #1 or, # 2 (I alternate between these sessions).
Note: on the 6th cycle/session I will usually increase the reps by 1 for each set. When I hit 3 sets of 20, I increase the weight.
Sesh #1
Warm up (including plank w/8lb weight & 8 minutes on bike)
35 second L-sit on dip bars
3X20 un-modified pushups with 8 lb weight
Lateral lifts (3X20) ---> 12 lb handhelds --> Cycle 4
Reverse Fly's (3X14) ---> 15 lb handhelds --> Cycle 6
squats with 22 lb kettlebell (3X19) ---> Cycle 1
Kettlebell rows (3X18) ---> 26lbs ---> Cycle 3
Sesh #2
Warm up (including plank w/8lb weight & 8 minutes on bike)
35 second L-sit on dip bars
3X20 un-modified pushups w/8 lb weight
Bicep curls (3X19) --> 15 lb handhelds --> Cycle 6
Tricep push backs ( 3X18) --> 15 lb handhelds --> Cycle 3
lunges w/bosu (3X17) -->12 lb weights --- Cycle 6
inverted rows on stability bars --> (3X17) --> Cycle 3
Friday - Bench workout and cross-fit Met-con. Note: the met con I do changes weekly and I usually grab the routine off my Keelo app which you can download for free from the apple app store
(warm up)
Cycle 2:
3X5 Tricep Dips on dip bars
3X16 Decline Bench Press (12 lb weights)
3X16 Lying Flies (12 lb weights)
3X16 Sit ups (with 2/12 lb weights) --> 24lbs
3X16 Hip thrusts (12 lb weights)
3X16 Dumb bell dead lifts (12 lb weights)
Metcon
4 Rounds:
10 Bench dips
10 HRPU's
If in the summer season - follow up with a mile swim in the pool. In fall and winter follow up with 45 minute walk with 20 lb weighted vest.
Saturday - Mobility training
45 minute walk with 20 lb weighted vest
-PT exercises for balance on bosu ball (routine created to help with Multiple Sclerosis diagnosis at St. Lukes)
-20 minutes of using rollers to roll out tight muscles
-Advanced Hatha yoga routine (I choose from 1 of 3)
Followed by mile swim in pool in summer
Sunday - Strength and Resistance training with resistance bands Sesh #1 or Sesh #2. Another workout with 2 sessions I alternate weekly.
Sesh #1
Warm up (including plank w/8 weight & 8 minutes on bike)
3X20 un-modified pushups with 8/lb weight in backpack
Core Oblique Crunches (Red Resistance Bands) 3X12
Lateral Rows (Red Resistance Bands) 3X14
Kettle Bell Swings (26 lbs or higher) 3X20
modified toes to bar on floor w/8lb leg weights) 3X10 --> use KETTLEBELL FOR LEVERAGE
Sesh #2
Warm up (including plank w/6 lb weight & 8 minutes on bike)
Plank ups 3X14, 13, 13
High low rows w/Red & lightest resistance band combined) 3X12
3X20 un-modified push ups w/8 lb weight
Squats with 12lb weights or higher on bosu ball 3X18
Abductor lifts on both legs with 8 lb weights 3X4,3,3
Inner thigh circles with 8lb weights 3X19
Each sesh is followed by 45 minute walk WITHOUT weighted vest and mile swim in the pool
Monday - Active rest day with 2 casual 20 minute walking circuits
And, there you go! With the pool closing I will simply insert the 45 minute walk with the weighted vest for Friday-Sunday. The goal this week is to incrementally begin increasing the resistance level on the recumbent bike up to 4 intervals in level 18.
I want to re-iterate - YOU DO NOT HAVE TO WORKOUT LIKE THIS TO BE HEALTHY AND FIT. I workout like this because I can, because this body just continues blow this mind out of the water with each incremental increase in reps or weights and because this is my groove and how I like to move.
On that note, may you all find your groove and move in a way that allows life to dance through and with you. Have a beautiful, wonderful, blessed week everyone!
