Last week I wrote about how I was feeling stuck. That blog led to lots of great advice! Every piece of advice that I got included one of these three words: strength, lifting, muscle.
Ok, ok. I get it! I need to increase my muscle strength if I want to continue to work towards my fitness goals. A few weeks ago I was reading a blog (if it's yours I'm sorry I couldn't remember where!) that talked about a book called The New Rules of Lifting for Women. I started looking into the book over the weekend and on Sunday I went down to the bookstore and picked up the book. I started reading Sunday afternoon and was instantly hooked! THIS is my missing piece. I am only on Chapter 4, but there are several things that have already struck a cord with me.
* If the weights are unchallenging your muscles won't grow.
* We have different types of muscle fibers- who knew? :)
* The fat the you burn during exercise matters LESS than the amount that you burn the rest of the time. I had to ponder this one, but it does make sense.
* As one gets leaner (read ME!) it becomes more and more difficult to burn the same number of calories as one did when one was nearly twice her size.
Here's my favorite....
* "You are voting for a leaner body by working out, but you're voting against it by eating too little food." Still processing this one....
On to the weightlifting. I did my first session today. Today I did:
-Squats-2 sets- 15 reps- 40 pound barbell each set
-Push-ups- 2 sets- 15 push-ups; I had to do "girl" push-ups. I look forward to being able to do real push-ups!
-Rows- 2 sets- 15 reps- used a 12.5 lb hand weight in each hand
-Step Ups with 2 risers- 2 sets- 15 reps- 12.5 lb weights in each hand,
-Prone Jackknife- Ummm- I HATE these! I was able to do the first set of 8, but for the second set I ended up holding plank for 45 second. Does anyone have any great tips on how to do these?
There you have it- my first weightlifting workout! The whole workout only took 20 minutes and I was able to do it after my Kickboxing class.
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About Me
- Kari
- On June 19, 2009 I started my weight loss journey. It has become quite the journey! As of today (2-1-11) I have lost 162 pounds and have gained a whole new life. This blog is a continuation of my journey. I hope to inspire and encourage others through my process.
One suggestion I will make: If at all possible, try to do your lifting BEFORE your cardio workouts. You will have more strength and energy to put into the weights, which will help you build the muscle you need. Keep it up!
ReplyDeleteI was totally wondering about that! Thanks for the suggestions. I look forward to reading and learning more. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm with K-Fish, I do 10 min cardio warm-up then weight lifting then back to cardio. One thing I'll mention is that weight lifting has always made me hungrier so just to warn you if that happens. I found that though the weight lifting made my body look better the scale didn't really reflect the effort.
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