Dreamy Days
I’m loving these summer days! Spent all day lounging by the pool with the boy. My body is ridiculously sore from starting a new strength training regimen last night. Goblet squats, bench presses, and some pull-up variations. My body is sore sore SORE but it feels great and I got to spend all day soaking in the rays in my new home! :)
Focusing on strength training instead of doing my normal round of cardio (which I don’t like :[) is really great. I feel like I’m starting to get to know the muscles in my body instead of aimlessly running on a treadmill, completely unengaged with what or how my body is feeling. Female metabolic rates decrease during our 20’s-30’s which explains part of the weight gain that occurs in college. So, my body can’t handle all the crap I was eating in highschool and maintain a low weight anymore. These days, I’m doing a mix of strength training & healthy eating to get my body back on track. Here are a couple things I’ve already realized:
1) Just because your muscles aren’t sore, doesn’t mean you haven’t had a good workout. Though muscle pain after exercise is often attributed to lactic acid rushing into the muscles, to a large extent, it is unclear why muscles become sore after intense workouts. The most important thing is to feel your target muscles tense up WHILE you are working out, not after.
2) Decreasing time in between reps gives you maximum workout. As your rest time increases, the intensity of the workout decreases and you get less out of the time you put in.
3) Benchpresses are for girls. Too often, strength training is written off by women because they’re afraid of “becoming bulky” or “too muscular.” The fact is, doing 30 minutes of cardio and then throwing on a pair of heels is NOT what’s healthiest for the female body and women need muscles too. It is a false notion that women will become bulky if they try to use heavy weights.. most women that are too muscular use steroids. Take the following gals as a examples of the benefits of strength training…
Jillian Michaels from The Biggest Loser
Jamie Eason
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