I’ve always been a gym bunny and since the age of 18 or 19 I have loved making the effort to eat healthy foods and get to the gym 4-5 times a week. For years however, I was doing it all wrong. I would cycle from my house in Corbally out to UL to go to the gym and then spend 45 mins on the cross trainer or stepper, 15-20 minutes on abs and then cycle home. Thats a WHOLE LOT of cardio.
In the pictures here – the 1st one was a time where I concentrated solely on cardio. I wasn’t overweight by any means but I wasn’t toned either. The second picture is a more recent one – taken last week.
I began to introduce weights into my routine slowly but being honest I only ever took weight training seriously in the past two years. Funnily enough Dave and I are coming up to our second anniversary together so he MIGHT have had something to do with it!!!
I started small. Learning what exercises were for what body part and figuring out what weights suited me for those particular exercises. As I grew more confident I started adding different routines and split my days into body parts so I could focus solely on one or two muscle groups per session.
Thats a great starting point for anyone. Learn a few exercises for the following:
• Chest
• Back
• Legs
• Triceps
• Biceps
• Shoulders
• Abs
• Calves
Ask a fitness professional to help you with the correct form (thats what they are there for so DON’T be embarrassed!!)
I change my workout routine every 6 weeks or so adding in new elements or setting a new goal. At the moment I am doing four days of weights.
Day 1: Shoulders and Abs
Day 2: Legs
Day 3: Chest and Biceps
Day 4: Back and Triceps
Day 5: I deadlift.
Deadlifting is one of my favourite exercises and the one I put a lot of time into. Adding it to my routine has been the turning point for me. It changed my mindset when it comes to training and made me realise that feeling strong is far more appealing for me than looking slim or “skinny”.
Food of course also plays a big part in toning the body. My biggest downfall was UNDER
EATING and not getting enough calories in throughout the day. Without getting too technical for now a way I managed to tackle this was to eat 5-6 small meals filled with good clean foods throughout the day. At first it does seem like a lot of food to be eating but real healthy food – eggs, avocados, greens, chicken, salmon, tuna, sweet potato, steak, nuts, seeds, berries – will only ever aid your body goals.
So my advice – get a weights plan and start eating plenty of GOOD foods ! Stop spending HOURS on the treadmill. I still do cardio – of course I do – I find it amazing for my mind. But I make sure if I am putting in the extra minutes of exercise, that I am also fuelling my body with the right calories.
Don’t forget to follow me on social media:
Snapchat: Leanneacmoore