I know!
not everybody wants to exercise to lose weight. Some people exercise to grow. To stop being skinny or to get some curves.
But other will exercise, diet and still see no progress.. (I have done all)..
Instead they see fat gained..
They start looking bigger on areas they do not want regardless of how heavy they lift.
Then, we wonder why is this happening? ”It could be my genetics, I am a bigger frame or My body is different and it won't change."
This is how mindset plays a role. Let me help you identify what it might be going wrong..
When we "exercise" or " train" (i like this term better).. We focus on burning calories because of course, everybody says you should burn calories to lose weight...
We focus so much on doing and physical activity becomes our daily routine.. we also start being slaves of work because we really want that fat off.
It can help as long as motivation last, but like we know our body has a set back and hold us from moving forward.. because our body can't burn calories just because it wants to.
It needs calories to work and unfortunately it becomes accustomed to the one we had struggle to get rid of and even if it wants to, there's no way to get it off because it needs an exchange.. This is how building muscle comes in play...
But let's forget about getting big because this is what terrifies the most women when we talk about building muscle.. because building muscle gets mistakenly confused with hypertrophy so we insist of doing 8 to 12 reps and focused on getting to feel the muscle and forget about the most important which is “to get strong”…
Lol you all will think I am playing, but strength is also mistakenly confused with lifting heavy weights.. believe me you will do it because it is one of the most amazing feelings in the world.
I know love is, but this one is something like it..
Getting strong is balance… it is coordination.. it is speed.. synchrony..it is empowerment.. and it is your energizer…
So why does weight lifting can make us fatter and hungrier afterwards…
-Because we want to make it hard..
It should be easy for us to do it, but different for our body.. Track to measure progress.. no pain or work..
Heavy does not mean you should lift 300lbs… you could but to be honestly getting strong takes time..
-TO MUCH ACTIVITY AND NOT ENOUGH REST.. doesn’t allowed our body to settle and learn the load (the weight used to perform) so it becomes anxious and confused so it doesn’t get calm..
Lifting weights and getting strong is supposed give you peace.. because you all know our body’s cells are always hungry and they want to eat to survive.. they are looking for something to grasp.. They never settle because our body is always trying to protect us (long story from our ancestors)…
We have endergonic reactions and exergonic reactions.. they both work for anabolism and catabolism..
Strength training isn’t only about physical activity… It is about learning.. which means to feed our cells by slowly correcting our movement patterns.. (that’s how our body eats) endorphins might be..
-Because no body ever teaches us how to properly move…
It is not about standing straight and fixing our back is about moving with a rhyme.. This is the rhyme of our muscle cells helping our body to feel and become aware of our body’s actions..
This awareness that allow us to slowly fix.. starting by noticing..
This is the main way of protecting our energy..
This is the main reason and the most important reason strength is great for us..
We weren’t born with strength as we are with speed when in danger…
Lifting weights is about teaching our body.. It is the learning that sticks to a change not just in a physical form but in behavioral…
Here is the plan:
Focus on the big lifts…
SQUATS, DEADLIFTS AND BENCH PRESSES..
Your body does them all day long for anything that you do…
Focus on form but then think of the weight that you used as a reinforcement with more reps or punishment with more weight-to turn our fight and flight response that helps our body to pay attention.. Remember our body’s homeostasis wants us lazy.. no matter who you are!
Have your mind on Track!
Focus on enough rest and forget about getting tired when you are lifting weights.. I know we have to get rid of the working hard mentality..
Focus on breathing.. If is not in a good pattern it will make us anxious no matter what we do..
And I know… we can become anxious and our emotions can change at any time.. because of the weather, people around us, the place where we are, or maybe a memory… But making our body strong can be a great tool to avoid getting worse because of not enough muscular strength..
Everything in our body is connected and sometimes we need to work on what we have control so that what’s hard to control gets out of our attention…
-you could also be eating more, but because what you do and how you do it makes you to eat more..
Stay strong!