I'll Tell Who Bodybuilding Is NOT For...

Hang on a minute - first I have to clear something up. I have a brother that I really love. I mean I really think he's special and value his opinion. But he's a joker. Likes to clown around a bit. It would be fair to say that I have sometimes struggled to know the difference between when he is serious and when he is joking - and that should let you know that not all of his jokes are terribly funny. So when I asked him if he had read my blog lately, he replied, "Yes. You whinge a lot".

Whinge a lot.

Whingealot.

W.h.i.n.g.e.a.l.o.t.

Whinge.....alot.

No matter what way you say it, fast or slow, it still says the same thing.

Well, I swallowed this unprovoked attack and decided to mull on it a while. 3 weeks actually as I didn't want to write in this blog again until I had something truly positive to say. It's taken a while and, in this time, I have forgiven the said brother as he is currently on a sugar-free diet and tells me that he has a sudden 'respect' (perhaps my word, not his) for my way of life and the few little negativities it might bring.....such as starvation and body breakdown. In fact, I feel just a little smug that I'm a bit down the path on this whole clean eating caper and he is at the first step......sorry bro, it's definitely pretty hard at the outset...hehe....but no moaning for goodness sake!!

So...on with the show!

WHO BODYBUILDING IS NOT FOR:

* those that do not like lifting weights (ok - pretty ridiculous but I had to start somewhere).

* those that  like food. Fullstop.

* those that like company to chitter chatter with everytime they work out.

* those that like their spare time to remain spare.

* those that like to remain pale skinned.

* those that don't like bling on their bikinis.

* those that don't like the pain of screaming muscles.

* those that don't like cardio on top of an empty stomach (I'm told this is necessary closer to comp time and it sounds gruelling).

* those that read this blog and have little thoughts like, "OMG she's crazy!!", or, "tuna in olive oil on top of lentils sounds disgusting!", or, "who on earth would want to get muscly like those girls in the competitions??".

So I'm not whinging, merely pointing out some of the hard bits in a new and novel way!

As far as my training is going, I had a little chat (NOT whinge!!!) to my trainer about the monotony of some of the exercises and she assured me that this is the way the cookie crumbles when it comes to putting on muscle. It takes dedication to the solid forms of compound exercises which means less of the dynamic and exciting bootcamp style - think more shoulder press, deadlift, chin ups (hey Kyles...finally got 5 in a row out!!! Woohooo!), and then of course, squats, squats and more squats! I'm heading into a new program sometime this week that will take my reps right down and the weights right up. It'll be really intense and my split will go from 6 sessions per week to about 3. The upside is that I can fill in the gaps with some more bootcampy style circuits as long as I keep up the intensity of the weights.

Foodwise, all is going good. I am going to be introducing some more carbs over the next few weeks to keep 'tricking' the old body into responding better. It will mean a small weight gain which, for most of us, is a hard pill to swallow but I knew this whole challenge would mean trusting someone who has been there rather than relying on my own very limited knowledge of such things.

Oh yes - green tea. I've started on this awful, dreadful mucky stuff!!! I would go as far as to say that I believe anyone who says they truly love green tea is telling a little fib. It may be a fairly 'white' fib, but I reckon it's a fib nonetheless!! I'm told the antioxidant values and some other guff are the reason why it's in my daily diet, but it's still like awful medicine to me and I literally shut my eyes, skull it down and chase it with .......something nicer!!

On that - off for a late dinner of tuna stir-fried veges - YUM!!

Talk again soon!

The First Real Slump Has Hit!

It's ok - I'm not at the t.v & pizza stage quite yet. I'm just flat. Flat out trying to muster big enthusiasm to hit the weights. It's an attitude thing rather than physical because I'm still eating right and training right, it's just that I'm doing it all with a face like a smacked bum. I'm getting mad with my programs and talking back to the dumbells.  I made an effort to hit the gym rather than my own garage weights, just to see if the monkey would jump off my shoulder and I think I downsized to a baby monkey (what the hell is a baby monkey called?) and the ipod seemed to drown it out a bit.

So I'm a bit tragic at the moment. But I will give myself a little credit because I have lifted heavier and longer than ever before. I've had a couple of 6-set sessions and they are extremely intense. By the last 1-2 sets I'm hitting 10 reps max and it burns!! Next week I might step off the weight a touch and complete 4-5 full rep sessions with a good stretch between sets. And I finished off the week with a gruelling plyometrics leg workout consisting of only 4 really heavy weighted exercises all supersetted with 20 x plyometric movements, 1.5mins between sets, 4 sets each set, resulting in a Saturday where I am incapable of bending, walking, shuffling or doing housework. God I LOVE that feeling!!

On that, if you are doing a hypertrophy (definition) style of program with 8-12 reps, make sure you wait at least 1.5mins between sets. I've been reading up on ATP systems and it is quite clear that your body needs 1.5-2mins of recovery for these systems to replenish, giving you the correct energy source to complete your next set. Annoying as it is, clock watching between sets is pretty important. For those on the heavy strength sessions (3-5 reps), they need an even bigger break as they are hitting their central nervous system. For years I thought all of that idle chit chat between sets was just a waste of time - I now know better and have become one of the chit chatters!

I'm finding that, to get through the really hard bits on a workout I'm needing both good music, and more importantly, an ability to get into 'The Zone'. You know what I'm talking about? Actually, I;ve found there are two zones as follows;

1. It's the place you go to when you're at the gym doing a good treadmill run, or a nice heavy weights session, and someone walks in that you can't help but want to impress - for a myriad of reasons that I'll let you determine, hehe. On sight, the heart rate steps up a little, the technique improves instantly, the weight creeps up as much as physically possible, and there's no way you want them to see you cheating in your rep counting. A quick surge of adrenalin hits and you are looking fine, fine, fine!!! That's 'The Zone'!

2. It's the place you really need to dig deep to find. You're doing a weights session, no one is watching, you're hurting, a little bored and can think of a million places you'd rather be. This is the toughest Zone to find but it's in there. It's found somewhere in the mind rather than the muscle, and to tap into it you generally have to complete a quick self-talk session. Find the reason why you are doing what you are doing. Calculate the work you've already done and what you stand to lose if you don't get it finished. Let your mind and your eyes tap into that place of solid and stubborn determination, and get the bloody session finished!!!!! That's 'The Other Zone'!! I usually have to find this one in my garage when I'm all alone and feeling sorry for myself. But, by crikey, these are the workouts that I leave feeling as proud as punch of my efforts.....a la yesterdays plyo legs workout. I finish with a spring in my step and a sense of real accomplishment. Good luck with finding this Zone - it's worth the hunt.

Food wise, all is good. I'm a half tuna, half chicken girl for now and my mood dictates which protein I head for. I have the option of a 3 egg omelette (with only 1 yolk allowed) but the fiddling around puts me right off! I'm not easily tempted to the dark side for the moment but have to admit that I watched My Kitchen Rules the other night and saw the judges bite into a fried profiterole, which made some sort of custard drip out of the bottom. That was at about 7.30pm. By midnight I was STILL thinking about that custard and how it would have tasted, all hot and sweet and oily!!! Thank god we live in a small town where the only available midnight treat is a McD's soft serve cone, and there are 2 issues with those; a) I simply don't like them, and b) the ice cream machine at McD's is normally broken. So, I wiped up the dribble and went back to sleep.

The new cardio regime, which includes a whole range of intense intervals, is what I'm enjoying most of all. It's new and fresh and the results are noticeable quite quickly. Thank goodness for my fit friend who pushes me to the limit. She puts up with me even when I constantly change into her lane while sprinting - why do I do that!!! Training buddies really are worth their weight in gold.

And, the best news of the week for me has been the change in my body. My weight has now dropped to lower than I've been in a whole lot of years. More interestingly though, my biceps have gained a couple of cms, my waist has dropped a fraction (good news for someone who has a torso roughly the shape of a square!!!!), and my hips have dropped a whopping 3 cms!! On my 'glass half full' day, I'm stoked!!! On my 'glass bloody near empty' day, I'm a bit annoyed because none of my jeans fit properly anymore and I'm not the worlds most enthusiastic shopper!!! But all in all, the hard work is paying off and I think I'm heading in the right direction.

I was asked by one of my training clients whether or not I'd keep PTing while preparing for this comp. My answer then, and even more so now, is an emphatic "YES"!! Working with others and helping them achieve their goals is my passion. It keeps me excited and enthusiastic and gets my eyes off myself for a large part of the day. Because eyes-on-self is actually not something anyone should indulge in too much or too often.

That is all from me.