Lifting Heavy Weights

Well, my off day is over and it is back to the kitchen and the gym for me! Sadly, I overslept this morning and had no time to prepare anything “to spec”. However, I didn’t want to fall into the old trap where I used to promise myself that “I am going to wing it” and land up eating slap chips with salt and vinegar. I had to resort to plan B – canned food…
Luckily, I had enough oats left over from yesterday, so that was my breakfast. A can of salmon and a can of curried mixed vegetables formed my second and third meals for the day (I know!!!) followed by a meal replacement shake in the mid-afternoon. When I got home, I roasted some skinless chicken and made a salad and believe me – this felt like the tastiest meal I have ever had! I look forward to tomorrow, when I can actually prepare something good again! Jeni has given me a bunch of recipes that look amazing, and I am dying to try them!

My exercise today was focused on the lower body – stomach and legs. Jeni put me on one of these “basic” programs where you do very basic exercises – squats, lunges, the likes – and you work your butt off… literally! I worked really hard and was actually amazed at the heavy weights Jeni put me on. Like most girls, I am somewhat suspicious of heavy weight lifting as I do not want to look big and bulky, but I am sure she knows what she is doing! 

Mel

Jeni:
Heavy vs. light weights has been a debate going on for decades in the fitness community. Generally, it has been going in the following fashion:
Trainers: If you want to lose weight, you have to add resistance training to your routine in order to build some muscle.
Ladies: I do not want to get big and bulky.
Trainers: There is no danger of you growing as big as a bodybuilder by lifting weights marginally heavier than your groceries.
Ladies: I do not want to get big and bulky.
Trainers: …
Ladies: I do not want to get big and bulky.
You get the point…

Truth is, you WILL NOT get big and bulky by just lifting weights. Definitely not that quick! Do you really believe you can pick up 10kg dumbells a few times and wake up in the morning looking like Cory Everson? I mean, if it was that easy don’t you think there would be a lot more body builders around? Even guys, who have enough testosterone going through their system, can’t stimulate such muscle growth overnight, let alone girls! Unless you are lifting weights in excess of double your body weight AND are shooting growth hormone injections every other day, you will NOT grow big. And even then, it still takes years of hard work and protein-heavy nutrition to get the mass. So, stop with the excuses and pick up the barbells!
Muscles are metabolically active tissue which means that muscles burn calories just to stay still. Your metabolic rate (the rate at which you burn calories for energy) will increase three-fold in you add some muscle to your frame, and I do not mean muscles the size of Dwayne The Rock Johnson. Plus, you still look in the mirror every day. If you don’t like what you see, just reduce the weights! But please stop fooling yourself with those colourful dumbells at the gym. Even my daughter (who just turned 6) thinks they are for babies!

Ciao!
Jeni