Pump hard……. Pump often

I’ve had such a mind transformation this weekend concerning fitness. I might have had a spiritual moment in the mix of all of it as well considering how enlightened I feel.

Ok…maybe that’s a bit overstated BUT I do feel much more aware.

Especially concerning the concept of having a relationship with food. My moment of awareness came when I went to the movies on Sunday and did NOT GET ANY BUTTERY POPCORN. Guess what? I survived it. Ohhhhh the amazement of it all. I purposefully stuffed myself at dinner with veggies and steamed soybeans so that by the time I got to the movies there was no way I was eating anything else including popcorn. And I still enjoyed the movie. Who knew? LOL.

I have to see food in a different light. I have to  realize that I need to eat the amount needed for a given time. And yes for a little while I will have to endure some hunger pains as my body adjusts to not eating the amounts I’m used to eating. But I can handle it. I remember when I stopped eating meat and felt hungry ALL the time until my body adjusted to no meat. I have done two diet adjustments in my life (from meat eater to vegetarian and from vegetarian to vegan). Getting adjusted to eating less food in a day should be a piece of cake.

Speaking of cake…well carbs anyway….I’m trying out carb cycling.  The idea being to eat more carbs on the days I need the extra energy and less carbs on other days. The days I do cardio I’ll need less carbs than the days I do weights and I’ll need even less carbs on my rest day. So instead of eating the exact same thing all days I’ll adjust my eating to reflect my energy need for the day. I’ll probably start this in full effect when I get back from Paris.

Went into Dicks Sporting Goods store today. I love this store. It inspires me. The store and the indoor rock climbing wall. Tried that once and made it to the top. I need to do that again one day. Anyhoo, I’ve been thinking of how to vary up my workout routine. What can I add different? Decided I wanted to start punching on the punching bag in my gym. I don’t know a lick about boxing but I figured I’ll just punch away until I’m tired. So I bought a pair of punching gloves. Not boxing gloves but punching gloves. Guess what? I got them in black and pink!!

I needed a new pair of lifting gloves as my current pair was wearing through the leather and I was beginning to get blisters. So instead of getting the pretty black and pink pair like I did before I got a set of "pro" pair that were better made (and cost more) with better padding and got them in black.

Add to these two pairs of gloves new workout top and that completed my shopping at Dicks. I’m so excited about trying out my new punching gloves on a punching bag. Just bam bam bam away ROFL. I probably look up an instruction video online so at least I have something that looks like a form LOL.

Here are my new gloves

Alisa
There’s a reason it’s called a WORKout!

Ahhhhh hilarious.

I was thinking about this idea earlier this evening.  I was reading an article in Muscular Development and it talked about the two modern day hardcore gym icons Powerhouse Gym in Syosset, New York and Metroflex Gym in Arlington, Texas. These gyms have produced some of the major names in the competition of bodybuilding such as Branch Warren and Ronnie Coleman from Metroflex and Kai Green, Kevin English and Victor Martinez from Powerhouse. The article talked about what makes a gym hardcore. Not so much a gritty environment of the gym (although that will give any gym the image of being hardcore) but the spirit of the people in the gym. If the people who train there are serious about training and the management is serious about creating an environment catering to serious training then you got a hardcore gym.

Later in the day I was surfing the net and was looking at the website for Ladies Workout Express. It’s a fitness center just for ladies that provides an interval circuit training program. It provides aerobic and strength training in 30 minutes using circuit machines. Looks like a nice place for a woman who may not feel comfortable in other gyms to get her recommended 30 minutes three to four times a week of exercise.

And then you have the mega fitness centers like LAFitness, Gold’s Gym and World’s Gym.  Where you can get your weight training, cardio, aerobics, swimming, basketball game and flirting on all at the same time LOL.

All of these "gyms" cater to a different crowd. The lady who workouts at Ladies Workout Express may never step her toe much less her foot in Metroflex. And the guy who pumps iron at Powerhouse may find the "do not drop the weights" rule at LAFitness absurd.

So what do you look for in a gym?  What keeps you paying money every month to your gym or what keeps you happy pumping iron in your basement?

Alisa
There’s a reason it’s called a WORKout!

I was thinking about this earlier this morning. Last night I was leaning back about to doze off and as I stretched I felt my bicep. I felt a solidness I’ve never known before. I was like "Whoa. All those curls are producing results."  The other week I posted my picture on a social networking site of me flexing and some of my friends complimented me on having nice arms. I was glad to know all my time in the gym was producing results. (I’m looking forward to the day I drop enough BF for someone to say nice abs LOL).

So this morning I started thinking about bodybuilding and body builders. Bodybuilding is more than just getting healthy and fit. Doing 30 minutes of moderate exercise four days a week and eating better will improve your health if that’s all one is interested in. No… people who spend two hours in a gym five days a week (and often more) plus spending hard earned money on supplements are beyond just wanting to be in better shape. Most of them are in great shape. It’s beyond that. They are beyond exercising.

They body build.

That’s a whole different level. I’m not sure if I can even explain what I’m thinking here. Besides, you probably already have the same understanding.

Most of us know people who say "oh I need to exercise, loose some weight, be healthier…you know get in shape". We probably know people who are very healthy and in great shape because they do exercise and eat healthy. And for a lot of people that’s the goal and the end result desired. They get to that point and then maintain good health. For a body builder great shape and good health is already attained.  That’s not the finish line..that’s just the starting line. Great shape is just the beginning. They don’t stop there. They don’t simply maintain being healthy.  They take it to a higher level. They body build.

It’s beyond being healthy. It’s about transforming the body into a work of sculpted art. It’s about knowing exactly how you want your body to look and then working on different areas of the body to create the over all image. It’s about knowing anatomy. That’s one thing that fascinates me about body builders. They know the human body well. They know it better than most people you will ever meet. If you want to sculpt in marble then you better know something about marble. If you want to sculpt your body then you better know something about its anatomy. Some bodybuilders even know about bio-chemistry as they are deeply knowledgeable about how supplements work on the body.

This is more than just being healthier. It’s about building, developing, shaping the human body.

I enjoy working on my body’s development.  It fascinates me to see how my body responds to hard work in the gym. To develop my body into a sexy shape and have strength. That’s my goal. That’s beyond just getting in shape.

That’s building my body.

Alisa
There’s a reason it’s called a WORKout.

I was looking out the window of my office yesterday doing some people watching as I needed a mental break. And I saw some folks wearing summer clothes their bodies were too plump to wear. And I began to wonder is MY body ready for summer? In the winter people can cover up what they don’t want seen. Between thick sweaters, jackets, coats, and layers of clothes nobody knows your bodyfat is higher than you would like. But come summer time? People either get creative in dress to cover it all or don’t care what’s all hanging loose and out.

Well I’m focused on getting my figure summer ready. Heck, not just summer ready but looking good all FOUR seasons. I’m pumped, hyped, focused and determined. Hitting the gym hard and often.

I want to put on a sundress and know it fits well with it bulging in all the right places and none in the wrong ones. My core is the area that needs the most improvement. Which is why I hit abs with a vengeance and it’s helping. Today I altered my diet to drop about 200 calories out of my day. Not burning fat as quickly as I should and my calories are a bit too high. That should help. I’ve also up my heart rate on cardio. These two changes should produce some changes soon.

So how’s your summer body coming along? Ready to turn heads or is your body causing people to raise an eyebrow? LOL

Alisa

There’s a reason they call it a WORKout!

I’m sleepy. Not tired. SLEEPY.

Monday and Tuesday I was not feeling great at all and had zero energy and I also didn’t sleep very well. Plus I didn’t make it to the gym either night. There are two days a month I never go to the gym and Monday and Tuesday happened to be those two days.    Last night was my dad’s birthday and we went out to dinner and it was 10:30 p.m. before I got home. No gym last night either. So I’m feeling very BLAH. Like physically just BLAH.  No gym in three days. I’m having gym withdrawals.

Tomorrow afternoon I’m leaving to go out of town and I’m taking half a day off from work. I’m going straight to my parents house after work to meet up with them therefore I will not even see my own house. Which means tonight after going to the gym to do biceps, triceps, abs and cardio I go home to do laundry, wash my hair, pack and clean up the house.

So I had a bright idea this morning. Why not take all of tomorrow off and give myself some extra time! So I mention to my boss that I wanted to take tomorrow off instead of the half day I had planned. My boss started asking me about why and I did what sleepy people tend to do. Start running off at the mouth trying to explain things. So here I am trying to explain why tonight I don’t have time to pack to get ready to leave out of town and why I wanted to do all of this tomorrow morning (instead of being at work.)

And my reason for why I don’t have time tonight therefore I need to take off ALL tomorrow from work? I haven’t been in the gym all week and I NEED to get to the gym tonight.

Cue the chirping crickets to go with my boss WTF did she just say to me stare.

I hate being sleepy. You don’t think straight. Hell, you just don’t think at all.

Needless to say I’m still working a half day tomorrow.

Tonight will be a long night. *sigh*

Alisa

I was told that the other day and was excited to hear from someone that my body is actually making the transformation I’m sweating to achieve.  I was told earlier by someone else that I’m getting smaller but for someone to notice the change in my build my body’s definition was exhilarating. I was thinking the other day how exciting it is to be beyond that state of mind that says "I need to get some exercise. I need to workout and loose some weight."  But to be at the point in my fitness journey to start making goals based on how I want to sculpt my body. Like the other day when I decided to lightly train shoulders because of how they had a slight slump in a picture. Or a few weeks ago when I decided to replace sit ups with the ab crunch machine because I get better results in my abs that way.

I decided months ago the look I’m going for is the figure competitor off season look. And I’m searching the net for their nutrition, supplements and training programs looking for ideas.

My workouts are starting to impact me mentally in a positive wonderful way. I’m definitely more confident. I have more clarity and better focus.  Another thing I’m noticing and I’m not sure what to make of it is that I have less tolerance for slack, lack of commitment and b.s. out of other people when their actions impact me. I’m improving physically and mentally and I feel better about myself week after week.

The holiday weekend is over and its back to the normal routine in the gym!

Alisa

I was looking at before and after photos on the Biggest Looser page on NBC.com. And some of the people impressed me. Some lost a lot of weight and look good plus healthy. Others are thinner yes..but look frail or even sick in some cases. I get the impression they either lost the weight very quickly, starved themselves thinner or maybe both. I read somewhere (it might have been on a blog in BodySpace) that cardio alone will simply create a thinner version of you but does not truly transform your body. That’s how I feel when people just loose weight …especially a lot…but do not work to strengthen their body. A thinner you may not be the best looking version of you that you can create.

Of course everyone has a right to look how they choose and I’m sure to a person who is obese looking like a skinner version of themselves is perfectly wonderful. I don’t blame them that would appeal to almost anyone. But I think it is healthier to not only loose weight but to have a stronger body. Especially as we age.

Alisa

 Funny cartoon.