I'm over the workout shaming. How about everyone just do what they love and love what they do? I love weight lifting...I've spent the last year focusing on it. I also love running....I've let it fall to the side for the most part in order not to "do too much cardio" while building muscle. I found myself looking at both side of the strength training vs cardio fence and wondering who is right. Yeah, muscles are awesome but so is being super fast and being able to run for a long time. I think that my focus now is going to be just being a more well rounded athlete in general. My workouts have been and always will be based on what ever goal I'm trying to achieve at that time. Muscles...well, I fought long and hard. I got strong. I see more muscle than I used to have but not enough to make me super excited. I burned myself out on lifting heavy for a while. I miss it and I feel frustrated in the weight room BUT I know that if I were to focus all my energy and fueling on lifting again I'd be back to it in no time. Thing is, I don't think I want to right now. I want to run. I want to be fast. I want to be with a group of like minded people who will encourage and support me instead of being a lone wolf in the weight room. I may not have the crossfit athlete body that I so covet but so be it. I'm trying to be the best ME that I can be. One day I'll be able to hire a lifting coach and I'll see where I go with that. For now, I need to do what's best for my sanity...I think that means taking a step back from trying to lift 4 days a week and trying to stuff myself with mass quantities of food in order to make those workouts count.
I respect several online fitness folks. Nia Shanks offers sane advice for us regular people. She just posted an article with a 2 times a week strength training workout for people who are busy or who are training for other types of events. http://www.niashanks.com/two-day-strength-program/. I think I'm going to try out her workouts twice a week, do my Saturday morning spin class with hubby then run twice a week with one short and one distance run. I'll let my body decide if this is a good plan or not. I'm constantly tweaking and trying to find the right "fit" for my body with my workouts. I'm ok with that. It doesn't mean I'm flighty or inconsistent. If you don't know me then you may not know that I've been training hard for a few years now. I got from here in 2010--
.jpg)
To here (yesterday)--
and I worked my ass off to achieve what I've achieved. I've cried, I've bled, I've hurt in ways I didn't know were possible. I've been injured a few times too. I had a trainer that I hired after I lost all of my weight because I wanted to start strength training and I knew my form needed help. We moved end of November and since then I've been on my own. I'm proud of what I've accomplished especially when you consider that I was NEVER active before.
I feel like I've rambled on enough. I guess long and short of this post was to say...do what works for YOU. If it works for someone else then good for them. Everyone has different goals and different aesthetics. Focus on YOU. Not on the person next to you or the person who's posting how this is better than that. It's YOUR journey. Not anyone else's! Live it, love it and rock the hell out of it!
Hold on to these thoughts and use them the next time you feel discouraged. You've come a long way! And as far as muscle growth, its often our genetic predisposition that keeps us from bulking up like the guy or gal next to us. You've done great and are strong, I see your muscles!
ReplyDelete