Thursday, May 20, 2010

Muscle Matters.

I said I wouldn't have any more Diet Coke, so I'm drinking a Coke Zero.  Go figure.

I lifted last night at the gym for the first time in months.  It actually felt really good and I was feeling the burn.  Tonight I intend to go back and do it again.  I will lift different body parts of course, but I will lift again.  Eventually I'd like to get the weights back to the mornings, when I used to lift.  It's just a nice way to start out your morning- with a good energy boost.  It's not too hard to do in the mornings cause you lift slow and you're not really doing any cardio (maybe 5 minutes to warm up), so it's an easy way to wake up.  Then I go back in the afternoons about 3 times a week for 30 min of cardio or so.  Or that's what my lifting program USED to look like.  Right now it just consists of lifting for 30 minutes, and then doing 30 minutes of cardio right after.  I don't feel super bad about this program right now because I read on someone's blog the other day that their trainer told them the best time to do cardio was either first thing in the morning, or right after lifting.  Now, I know my original routine doesn't look like that, but that's ok with me; it worked for me so I don't care.  Funny how changing things up can really make you feel refreshed and energized.

As some of you know (those who have read my blog for a while now), the skinniest I have ever gotten in my life involved a time when I was lifting weights heavily on a regular basis.  I was on a routine and so I was lifting with a purpose, and I was lifting everyday except Sunday.  I've been thinking about that time in my life a lot lately.  I know lifting helps you get super lean and boosts your metabolism quite a bit, and I know it kind of whips me into shape quickly.  One thing I hear repeatedly about lifting from girls is that their afraid to lift too heavy because they don't want to get bigger- I have to tell you from experience and from research (the little that I've done) that you will NOT get bigger.  Or...let me take that back...you MAY get bigger for a few weeks, because your muscles will swell with water the first few weeks because they're freaking out and aren't sure what's going on, so they retain water while they try to repair themselves.  But this water retention will go away.  And then you will go back down.  Women do not have enough testosterone in their bodies to actually get bigger permanently; like I said it's temporary in the beginning (so keep lifting anyway and power through those first few weeks.  You'll see a drop in the water weight plus a dress size drop too).  Think about it; even men have a hard time building muscle and they have way more testosterone than we have- why do you think so many of them use steroids to help them?  Cause it's hard to build muscle mass- enough so you can see it anyway. :)  I did this first hand- I can tell you that I actually kept getting smaller and smaller.  Like I said, it was the one of the skinniest times I had as an adult and I loved it.  I was lean, tan, and I could eat a lot more than most of my girlfriends because I was a calorie burning machine!  BRING ON THE WEIGHTS.  Bring them on heavy too- lifting something light does nothing for you.  If you can do 20 reps or more easily, then the weight is too light.  When I learned to lift- I would always do the first set as the hardest.  That swells blood to the muscle right away so when you do the second and third sets, the muscle will burst (that's what you want to have happen).  So the first set- you should only be able to lift 5-7 reps before you're completely fatigued.  Then the second and third sets should be progressively lighter, but more reps.  So maybe the first set should be 5 -7 reps; the second one should be 12-14 reps, and the last set should be light enough that you are totally wiped out by 17-20 reps.  That way you're ensuring that you're killing the muscle; in turn it will take the next few days building itself back up, and while it's building, you're burning calories like a crazy.  Oh, and ps- DON'T try to drink caffeine the next day like I'm doing now, cause it will dehydrate your muscles and give you wicked lactic acid.  And you'll be oh so sore...

So tonight I'm on to lift again.  Who's with me?

D

5 comments:

  1. i'm with you, if only in spirit! and i'm so glad you're going the weights route again. i'm going in that direction (albeit, a kiddie version), and i look forward to reading about your results.

    i'm also tired of hearing girls say they don't want to lift and get big. PLEASE!

    i remember david zinczenko saying on twitter that lifting before cardio means burning more during cardio. makes sense, no!!?

    xoxo

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  2. I'm so impressed with all of your knowledge of this! It is something I could never imagine myself doing, but you're making me curious...

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  3. Diz I think I may have to start lifting!

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