#bc i need motivation and i like tracking numbers but i sure af am not gonna track my weight that is a recipe for disaster | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

smallblanketfort · 7 years

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what are your gym goals and can you make a beginners guide?

lol i still really feel like a beginner, but ye, i can share some things that have helped me!

i want to bulk up and get myself what puberty didn’t give me Lol. that is, a nice peach, bulking up my arms, keeping my abs defined. also using it to get a handle on mental health, managing anxiety and shifting chemical. so far so gooooood. i’m really happy.

first thing i did about a year ago when i started this was to watch many youtube videos. a lot. of videos. hours worth. it helped me feel like i knew what i was doing as soon as i walked into the gym for the first time. i knew what i was going to do, what to expect. wasn’t wandering around lost. so i suggest whitney simmons, jazmine garcia, nikki blackketter, grace fit uk, and heidi somers, if you’re looking for badass, genuinely lovely women to follow.

i follow their instagrams and youtube and screencap workouts i like. sometimes i do them, sometimes i just incorporate exercises i like into my workout. these are great for a couple reasons. you learn to use machines and you learn good form. i’ve also bought jaz’s flourish strong program and such, and they’re helpful. bodybuilding.com is also a good resource :)

if you hated it one day, it might not be that you hate working out. i discovered a couple weeks ago that working out at 7 am (or just 40 min after i wake up) is the worst possible thing i could do for my body. the time you workout also matters. the best time for me is mid afternoon or evening. depends on your energy levels!

eat a preworkout an hour-45 minutes beforehand. i like to have black tea for caffeine, and either a granola bar or a bit of fruit with peanut butter. even a piece of whole grain bread and peanut butter is good.

wear layers. dude it might be 98 degrees out, but i’m still going in there with leggings, a crop top, and a flannel. this is me and my anxiety and the need to feel covered lol. by the end, i have the flannel tied around my waist, but it’s like a security blanket. keeps me from feeling exposed.

your shoes matter. running shoes = cardio. think cushy, comfy nikes/adidas/whatever. flat soled shoes = weights. think converse, vans, i even end up wearing minnetonkas lol. lifting shoes = lifting. fat soles are 100% find, but some people find that the slightly elevated heal helps. i haven’t gone that far, but it might be an option for you.

take music. also, wear a baseball hat if you really want to keep yourself from everyone else. if anyone watches you, they’re either assholes or they’re gathering inspiration (seriously).

begin with some bodyweight activation/warm up if you’re doing strength training. that is, leg swings to warm up your hips, rolling your wrists and ankles and shoulders. do a few squats, really squeezing your glutes. calf raises. activate your muscles. warm them up. also a good time to use a foam roller.

stretch afterwards! damn it! stretch! so important to avoid injury!

keep track of your workout with an app like myfitnesspal. it helps me keep track of my weights and sets so i know for sure whether or not i’m increasing. also gives you something to do between sets.

take it slow! don’t put too much stock in numbers! so many really strong people still use 5 lbs for some exercises, doesn’t mean anything. speaking of which,

define your goal and work accordingly. fewer reps (1-5), heavier weight = strength mid range reps (6-12), mid range weight = muscle buildingmore reps (15+), lighter weight = enduranceif you’re trying to lose weight, do not forgo strength training. muscles burn calories faster than fat, so you’re going to want to lose fat and gain muscle. since fat is lighter than muscle, you might notice that your weight doesn’t change as much, but that’s cool. likewise, if you’re trying to gain muscle, cardio is also good for building endurance. stairmaster is your boo that will Actually Murder you.when you’re working with weights, it’s a good idea to calculate your max rep. enter what you usually work with, for how many reps you usually work with, and this calculator will tell you your max rep (the max weight you can lift at one rep). why is this important? so i’m someone who doesn’t feel like they succeeded if they don’t go to burnout/have pain. knowing your max rep helps you manage your fatigue. that is, you choose a weight you can manage for 11 reps, but you only do 8, for example. so i like to do 3 sets of 12 reps, so i should be going at about 70-75% of my max one rm.this can help you if you decide to lift heavier and less, or lift lighter and more.you can also combine these concepts. if you want, you can create descending/ascending reps for altered weighted sets. that is, for example, you can increase your weight and decrease your reps with every set, or decrease your weight and increase reps with every set.ALSO. i’d be doing you a disservice if i didn’t mention diet!!! start eating cleaner and according to your goals. for example, if you’re bulking, you need to up your calorie intake, and your protein intake. no matter what your goal is, ffs, don’t use a ~diet~! no! my guy! diets are not sustainable, and we’re trying to build a happy lifestyle here. balance is everything. my coworkers have had success with going sugar free and/or vegetarian (i’m already vegetarian, almost vegan). but those are lifestyle shifts more than anything. they’re making good choices, rather than restricting and cutting out foods. i will say that once you get over the hump, you’ll crave less. gluten free made me cry once a week, but now i dont even crave bread or cake or pasta. this is coming from someone whose favorite foods were always those. same thing with cheese. regardless, get over the hump, build a lifestyle, and MAKE YOURSELF HAPPY. that’s the whole entire point.

end with a light, easy burnout on your focus area. your goal isn’t to make this hard, but just to exhaust the muscle group. so i tend to do bodyweight + 10 lbs on a small movement and just go until i can’t. makes me feel accomplished. THAT BEING SAID. do NOT burn out your body! im sooo sick of this “i vomited at the gym!” mentality. nuuh. don’t hurt your body. be gentle. you don’t need that. when i say burnout, i mean light, easy, and for one muscle, like your glutes. working out until you see stars or throw up isn’t good for you. at all. your body is doing its best. be nice.

workout in splits. this is why building routine is so important. currently, my workout schedule is a little sporadic, so i am there much longer doing a full body workout. however, if you can for sure get there more than twice times a week, make a workout split. the major muscle groups are as followed, with recommended pairings:back + bicepslegs + shoulderschest + tricepsabsthe logic is in the fact that when you work triceps, you’re probably also working your chest in the exercise, so fitting them together makes sense. creating splits helps you isolate the muscle group and really get them done.

rest 👏days👏are👏important👏 consider rest days a part of your split. as in, make. sure. you have rest days scheduled. do not workout every day. nope. your body needs time to rebuild iteself. give it that time.

experiment to keep interest. there are a lot of ways to work a specific muscle group. the easiest example i can give is that i have found i love doing abs on an exercise ball. that is, depending on the way i drape my spine over the sphere of the exercise ball, i can go beyond a full crunch, since my spine is arched, while also receiving support on my crappy spine.

take classes and/or get a trainer. i havent gotten a trainer bc im poor af and would be too anxious at this point Lol. however, i love yoga classes so much. i swear by them. integrating yoga with strength training is a serious aid in terms of mental health, physical stability, and flexibility, which are also important when you’re bulking. so it all cross pollinates and gets my interest hyped! :)

afterwards drink a cup of lukewarm water and eat a protein bar. makes all the difference when you feel like you just died, i promise. alternatively, make a protein shake, drink protein water, however you’re getting protein.

take progress photos every month or so. same place, same poses. i take them in snapchat and use the date filter, bc it’s easy. i suggest dumping them all in a specific folder- and not looking in that folder for quite a while. that way, when you need motivation later on after progress has surely been made, you’ll see the difference. it makes me weepy and i love it even if some months i know nothing has changed. (that’s okay.)

so ye. really all my advice comes from doing research and keeping myself comfy. take it slow! do you! everyone in there is present for the same reason, to better themselves. we all start out sometime, we all have different goals, and we are all making progress. so are you. it’s all good.

#lifting #work out #working out #idk how to tag this lmao #health #anon

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