Ok, ladies, can you please stop with all this talk about not wanting to look like a body-building man?
Where does this fear come from? Do you see other women at your gym that are so bulky that they look like men? Maybe I am one, ha! Who knows?
THE SIMPLE TRUTH IS:
You are a woman (maybe not, sorry men, just directing this at the women readers), you do not produce enough testosterone to bulk up like a man, unless you take it in steroid form, and YOU ARE NOT A BODY BUILDER, SO YOU WILL NEVER LIFT THE AMOUNT OF WEIGHT REQUIRED TO GET YOUR MUSCLES TO LITERALLY POP OUT LIKE WHAT YOU SEE IN COMPETITIONS, SO STOP SAYING IT. IT WILL NOT HAPPEN.
But, women who have done extreme conditioning like a lifetime of ballet, or mountain climbing for months at a time, with all of your supplies on your back, DO have a valid question; they got bulkier during that stage of their life, and they don't want that anymore. But, they stop doing ANY excercises on the parts of their bodies they feel got too bulky, and now, they are flabby there, and want tone, but their fear holds them back.
Let go of the fear, and do a new form of exercise for all parts of your body. Your fear has caused you to neglect that part of your body, and allow it to atrophy; we want it to hypertrophy again. (Atrophy is when your muscles get weak and flacid from non-use, and hypertrophy is when your muscles grow in size because they are being torn at their maximum capacity, and re-built).
Also, all too often I get approached with the question of how to get a hot, sexy, plump booty, flat abs, and lean arms and legs. Every one wants to look like someone else. Women, have indescribably particular desires when it comes to our physiques, I get it; I feel you! However, you CANNOT GET THE EXACT BODY YOU WANT, UNLESS THE BODY YOU WANT IS YOUR ACTUAL BODY-TYPE.
STOP WASTING YOUR ENERGY.
http://www.bodybuildingpro.com/bodytype.html
Take stock of the fact that you all have assets that are remarkably unique to yourself. Flaunt your uniqueness. In the process of taking care of yourself, maybe you will forget about who you wanted to look like. But, in the meantime, the best way to be your best physically fit self is...
DO TOTAL BODY WORKOUTS! Your whole body works together to burn fat, and tone up. Focusing on one part is like a company only trying to improve one department. We must strengthen all parts for optimal results.
Simple Solution to both these issues: I will always tell clients that in order to keep your body running at full capacity, like a well- equipped machine, you must challenge it. Like a car that sits in your driveway becuase you take the bus, it's going to need to be re-charged if you want to use it in the same capacity again. My first trainer used the comparison of an army from the World War I fighting a technological battle of today. You have to change up the methods, and tactics, or your body will lose the fight. To put it plainly, if you don't challenge your body in new ways every 8 weeks, you will not make progress. You can maintain your current status forever, but if you are seeking visible differences, you need to do incorporate visible changes to your workout.
So, if ballet or climbing with a 50 pound pack brought you results you did not like, change them!
Don't stop entirely, just adjust.
#1Take stock of what you ACTUALLY do for a workout routine right now. Write it all down, and be honest with yourself.
#2 This is the most important step. Use sites like this, magazines, and other exercise related books to look for exercises that look like they might be enjoyable, and write them down. (I will tear things out of magazines, especially sketches of a stick figure or an actual model doing them, and keep a book of these).
- Pick at least one exercise for every muscle in your body.
- Do the exercises in opposing order, ie: Do a bicep set, and do a tricep set; do a leg extension set, then do a leg curl set. Do a chest excercise, followed by a back excercise.
This way you will keep your body well-rounded, (and who doesn't like a well-rounded person!?)
- How much? Use enough weight so that you can lift it with ease the first rep, but your muscle will be fatigued by the 15th-20th rep.
#3 Change your routine entirely. Pick excercises you just found, and design your own routine at the gym, not allowing yourself to put in anything on your old list. You are gauranteed to not allow yourself to do whatever you were doing before.
#4 Do it! Follow your list for one hour (I would recommend 12 excercises for 5 minutes each), every other day, and see how you feel.
#5 Enjoy the results.
Here is what I suggest for most women, and really is a model to be followed by all for weight loss, and bone mass: WEIGHT TRAINING.
You have to do it. Do it! Follow the steps I described above, and make sure they are all weight bearing.
Anyone with some sneakers can do cardio, and you do enough of that boring crap while you're watching t.v. at the gym.
If you want serious results, and new shape to your body, you have to work it in new ways.
It's just like the definition of insanity; doing the same thing over and over, and expecting different results.
Don't be insane- do something different; then you will justified in expected something else.
