I just had another huge awakening moment. I meet with a trainer and found out that I know nothing…Ok, that I only know the tip of the ice burg when it comes to fitness. She had her bachelors and is currently working on her master in Physical Fitness. Wow! My brain is just buzzing with possibilities. Here’s the low down.
Current Weight: 158 (yea, 2 lbs, I fluctuate up to 5 lbs a day, no big deal)
Current Body Fat %: 24.0 (taken with a cool Game Boy looking thing)
The Goal: (Yes I actually have one, pretty close to my estimates, but it’s nice to see it.)
Weight: 141
Body Fat %: 15.0
Gain 10lbs of muscle and lose 20lbs of fat. (That’s exciting. I’m crazy about fitness, and it just keeps getting better. Hey, I‘ll take crazy over boring any day.)
Cardio: Heart rate too high?
I found out I was doing my cardio completely wrong. After the age of 25 women naturally start to lose muscle mass. (hu..who-da-thunk) So, if I’m doing cardio I need to keep my hart rate in the fat burning range, or else I risk burning more muscle. For me it was 117-156. Ideally around 145-156 during the entire workout. I’ve been way in the 200’s is all I can say.
Resistance: This is my main focus
Weights I need to give 4-6 days for my muscles to recover from those micro tears they get.
Monday: 5min warm up, upper body front/abs, and 20-30min cardio
Tuesday: Cardio 40-60min
Wednesday: 5 min cardio, lower body/abs, and 20-30min cardio
Thursday: Cardio 40-60
Friday: 5 min cardio, upper body back/abs, and 20-30min cardio
Working each muscle group in 3-4 different ways with 3-4 sets. Then switching it up every week to prevent ever hitting a plateau. So, if this week I use free weight , next week I’ll use machine, and the next medicine balls, then next isometric, plyo, stability, medicine balls, resistance bands, functional, and more. ??? I’ve never heard of some of these. This was a plethora (ok I never use that word unless it’s really necessary and this was a plethora) of knowledge that I know nothing about. (Jaw hanging down in aw.)
She kept pausing to see if I was understanding what she was saying and I was just eating it up. I got it and it all made sense, and I wanted more…input, input (anyone seen Short Circuit). The great thing is, then I can come home and output on the blog.
Eating: Eat more protein
I’ve been just randomly eating every day. Somewhat healthy but a little too heavy on the carbs, and way low on the protein. I need to have a 40:30:30 ratio. Protein:Carb:Fat ratio. I shouldn’t go more then 2-3 hours without eating or I could potentially burn away some of my hard earned muscle.
Maintenance: Let my muscle burn calories for me =)
Once I have reached the 15% body fat at 141ish then I’ll be in maintenance and can maintain this body easily with only 3 workouts a day. 10lbs more muscle will naturally burn 500-750 more calories a day, even while I’m sleeping. The more muscle in the body the higher the metabolism. Now that’s exciting.
Am I becoming a fitness nerd? Is there a term for that? So, instead of “a techy” I would be “A Healthy” nope that’s already a word but funny how it works. Ok….fitty, too weird…phisicy….hum. Anywho, I’ve found my passion and every day is more exciting. “Watch out for her, she’s a “healthy” lol (it must be late)
Sign up with a personal trainer?
All of this great info is directly from the trainer. I told her exactly what I’m doing now, and where I want to be, and she told me how to get there. Of coarse she sold me. Now, for $2,106 I could have a trainer with me on my weight days from now until my surfing trip….oh so tempting. I’m pretty tough on my self, I feel like I would need the trainer to educate me, more then motivate me. Show me new ways to work the same muscle, and how to do it without injuring myself and to get the most out of each set. Perhaps I’ll just do a few to learn some of the other ways to work a muscle, and to make sure I‘m doing it right.
I’ll work on a meal plan tomorrow and start applying everything she taught me for now, and then if I want more input I’ll set up a few training sessions.
November 21st, 2008 at 8:26 pm
I want to be a “healthy” lol. Actually I think I am… I went to the natural foods store nearby and stocked up on fresh natural peanut butter, jelly, and other healthy natural treats… only to get laughed at by mom when I shared my excitement! Oh well
Becoming a fitness nerd is fun! It’s amazing how being healthy really takes over you when you commit to changing isn’t it? I find myself constantly sharing a new tid bid with someone almost everyday.
There’s a special at my gym, $99 for 5 25min sessions… do you think it’s a good investment? I always wonder if it will be a waste of time ya know?
November 21st, 2008 at 8:27 pm
PS – Women’s Health online has TONS of good workout routines:
womenshealthmag.com
November 21st, 2008 at 10:48 pm
Yea, my mom would do that too if she looked in my cupboards. She’s starting to switch perspective, and might even meet with a personal trainer once a week (her work is paying for it).
As far as trainers go….I don’t know much, and I don’t know much about your finances. My trainer said a lot of people just have online degrees. Or just certifications. It would be good to make sure their well qualified. I loved it. If I hade the cash I would totally do it. For now I’ll just use up my next free session…then pay as I go depending on where I’m at. Just the one session was a ton of new info to digest and apply. I will put any Christmas money I get towards it.
Yea…The day after I decided to find out new fitness exercises on my own two people refer me to Women’s Health. You and my sister. It’s awesome. I’ll be checking it out all weekend.