5 Things I Wish I Knew About Fitness 5 Years Ago
What are some things you wish you knew at the beginning of your fitness journey?
Previously joining LFF, I thought I knew it all and I learned A LOT through trial and error. It cost me a lot of time, money, and unintentional self-sabotage. We want to save you time and help you be on the fast track with your own journey!
Less is more
Could that be true that less is more? Have you heard people toss around the term “no rest days?” I used to workout 5 times a week and I didn’t realize how much stress I was putting on my body. Our body is put under stress during a training session, and to think that we should workout again the following day and give it even more stress?!
When we are lifting weights, our muscles are working endlessly. It is causing damage to our muscles (this damage is okay because that’s what will help you build muscle). Then after a workout, your body needs to rest and recover so that the damage can be repaired, which ultimately leads to muscle growth.
This is where the less is more approach comes in handy! With the proper training program, we workout 3 times a week, with at least one rest day between training sessions. Of course there are other factors that are involved (which we will get into), but it’s imperative that our muscles are getting adequate rest before your next training session!
Train until technical failure
What is technical failure? Training to technical failure means that you’re pushing yourself during your exercise, and so much so that you’re struggling to complete the last few reps. You’ve reached a point where your body gives out or “fails” and you physically cannot complete another rep.
Do you think you train until technical failure? With training 3 times a week, we want to make sure we are truly pushing ourselves for each training session. That means we are giving each exercise our ALL. The end of that set is when you can’t do another rep without breaking proper form. This will help you increase muscle and strength over time.
Why routines are so important
What kind of routines do you have in place? When you have routines put into place, you’ve built good healthy habits, you have a sense of control, saves time, and manages stress more effectively.
Currently, I’ve built a habit of having a solid morning routine, where I get up, drink a tall glass of lemon water, go for a walk, wash up, make my coffee, and get dressed for work. Having built this routine into my morning allows me to have my me time, allows my mindset to get ready for the day, and starts off my day with some movement.
An effective routine gives way for a less stressful day and a better mental health mindset. Not sure where to start?
When do you complete your training sessions? Try and get your training sessions done around the same time. This way, your body will begin to associate a certain time with workout time. Trust me, you’ll feel more in control since your body is anticipating this outcome of going to the gym at a certain time, and you’ll have a plan for when you’ll be completing your training sessions!
Lifting weights will make you look big or bulky
Lifting weights will not make you look big or bulky! If you’re worried it will make you look “manly,” trust me, you won’t get there by accident. In fact, having muscles will make you look more toned! Accompanied by the right macros and the right training program, you’ll see that doing these proper exercises with the proper nutrition may even drop your weight.
You might think cardio is the solution to losing weight. If you’re just losing weight through huge amounts of cardio, you’ll look smaller, but you’ll never achieve your goal to look toned.
Not only do you get toned from lifting weights, but lifting weights gives you other benefits such as:
stronger muscles and ligaments
increase in balance and mobility
more effective way to target fat loss
increase in metabolism
confidence!
Form over weight
Adding more weight to your exercise doesn’t necessarily mean it’s what you need! Lifting lighter weights with proper form is always better than lifting heavier weights with poor form. Unfortunately, just because you are lifting more weight doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll become stronger faster.
Having that mind to muscle connection and focusing on proper form will help maximize muscular development. We need to master the form and technique of an exercise before adding additional weight! The correct form ensures that the targeted muscles are properly engaged, which ultimately maximizes your workout and you get the most bang for your buck.
All in all, sacrificing form over weight is a recipe for disaster! Once you have mastered the execution of the exercise, THEN you can increase the weight.
Are you ready to make the most of your journey?
Say yes to tips that will help lead to a successful journey. You’ll see how less is more and lifting weights won’t make you look big or bulky. To get there, you need to focus on training until technical failure, setting your routines, and focusing on form over weight.
