I will share my workout as usual but first....picture time.
If you are not a believer of what weight training can do for your body yet, this might be a little inspiration for you.
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| Before |
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| after |
I honestly don't know why the pictures won't just go side by side and be happy but whatever...
That "before" picture was taken in May 2011. I don't think I have a more recent picture to use since my backside is probably the least photographed area of my body...haha. Understandably, too. Look at the saddlebags! Can you see NOW why I wanted desperately to loose fat, even though I was practically skin and bones the way it was??!!??!! The fat was there! That picture is proof. Yuck! Saggy butt. No tone or definition whatsoever. Do you see why cardio alone is not the answer? Maybe in the right kind of jeans you'll look good, but at the beach? Not so much.
The picture on the right is recent, taken yesterday. While it is MUCH better in that my saddlebags have gone down quite a bit and my butt seems to be more lifted, I still have a LONG way to go to achieve that tight, defined muscular look I crave. I still have cellulite that clings on for dear life but once I shed the fat off that thigh area, I am positive I will finally be rid of it.
Being able to post a before and after shot of my butt is a MAJOR milestone for me. The mere fact that I have proof of improvement is a big time motivator. And I am SO EXCITED to show my end result in May.
Cardio, cardio, cardio is NOT the answer. Sure, I see plenty of skinny girls on the treadmill at the gym. But they jiggle all over and have zero definition. No tone in their arms whatsoever. I don't mean to sound judgemental. Because they are busting their asses day after day to stay fit instead of doing nothing. But I am trying to shed some light for those of you who want the same thing I want. A DEFINED body. It isn't enough for me to be "skinny" anymore.
Here's another thing cardio won't give you....
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| A BOOTY!!! Yeah, I'm building it! And it's just going to get better and better. I dislike flat pancake butts. But if you are a cardio junkie, that's what you'll end up with. Unless you start squatting, baby! Lift it! |
Here's another couple of pictures I want to show you. These are spaced out over about 5 years, but still, you can see what my arms looked like before I ever lifted a dumbbell and after weight training.
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| after my love affair with weights |
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| before weight training |
My mom would be one of those people who prefers my look on the left. She would say I look healthy and beautiful. But I was not happy with myself. I am much more confident and I feel so much better now than I did back then.
Smith machine overhead press: 1 warm up set, plus 3 sets of 10. I used 40lbs.
Superset:
Upright DB rows: 3 sets of 10. I used 12lb dbs. I probably could have used 15's...not sure what I was thinking.
Standing DB military press: 3 sets of 10. I used 12lb dbs. This was actually tough supersetted.
End superset
Incline bench front delt raise: 3 sets of 10 light weight. I used 5lb dbs.
Cable seated lat raise: 3 sets of 10. I used 15lbs each cable. Last set was a drop set. I used 10lbs.
Lat raise: 3 sets of 10. I used 8lb dbs. I went up to 10lbs on the second set but it was a real struggle to get them done with good form so I went back down to 8lbs on the last set. Did an extra drop set with 5lb dbs for 12 reps.
Rear delt raise: 3 sets of 10. I used 10lb dbs. Last set was a drop set. I used 8lbs and did 12 reps.
Cardio: 30 minutes on the treadmill at 6 mph.
Done!
The gym was really quiet today. I love that. I also love that on most days, I see the same people working out when I do. It makes me feel safe or secure somehow, if that makes any sense.
Things I need to improve on are:
1) Weeks 5-8 I'm supposed to be cutting back on carbs. Which means, tapering starchy carbs and replacing them with fibrous carbs like broccoli for my evening meal. This is HARD because I am so hungry. Probably due to adding cardio now.
2) I need to add more veggies in general. I've been slacking at that.
One thing I have discovered that I love: cold chicken with a tish of salt
Have a good weekend!
3 comments:
charlotte, i literally gasped aloud at your bum photos !!!! did this happen in the 33 days of jamie or did you lose a bit after you took the before photo? i was thinking the other day of reasseing my goals. i had a blast on the weekend with friends - a barby that lasted saturday afternoon and continued til sunday night (we did sleep a bit!). there was fab food, lots of alcohol, laughed the whole time and was with some of our best most meaningful friends. i was one of the slimmest, they were not fat just wobbly, one friend had just survived breast cancer last year and had recon work. i was feeling guilty about the non existant diet - not enjoying what i was doing either. then i thought - whats the point, im not strongminded to do this properly, i feel guilty, not enjoying anything, my friends and hubby dont give a toss what i look like, they love me for me so why am i doing this? if i cant do it like jamies 3 months thing - forget it, reasses, take it down a notch and take the pressure off and just start enjoying life. ive been struggling all week with this, coz its not really what i want but i just cant do the jamie thing either - im stuck on the fence and the palings are up my arse!!! anyway im rambling ... i was really contemplating changing my goals until i saw your after bum shot and i wanna look like that. your arms are incredible (did you just finish a workout - were they pumped - or do you always look like that?) if you achieved that in 33 days i could do it by xmas (dont forget its our summer and we live at the beach). did you achieve that bum in 33 days - please answer me honestly coz im facing a life crisis charlotte!!! do i take it down a notch and dress to cover my bum - still workout but not get super results - or give it a bang and use your arse as inspiration?? my bum looks like yours before (although its bigger, but the same shape).
Please HELP me charlotte, no-one else gives a dam what i look like. i need some sort of reality check, guidance, call it what you want - i need HELP ASAP!
ps i wish you lived in sydney !! xxx
sorry, me again. i was just thinking - in hindsight what do you think has worked the most from jamies programme - the diet component or exercise part? as you have tried before by yourself - what has made the difference in jamies programme? the result is amazing - that is the HARDEST part to lose. comparing it to your own programmes of the past - what from jamies has gottn the results?ifference?
Amanda, I am almost positive it's the diet component that has helped me the most. It could also be the fact that I took quite a long break from weight training and jumped back in. It could have been the shock I needed. I'm sure that by May, if I can keep my diet in check, keep weight training and doing some additional cardio, I will achieve what I am after. I still jiggle like nobody's business when I jump up and down. There is still a lot of fat there. But I like Jamie's program because I like weights, and I like how she is always switching things up. Different exercises, different poundage goals, different rep and set numbers...I'll always be guessing at what's to come next. And that is the biggest difference when compared to my same old workouts. I was always doing the same stuff: deadlifts, squats, lunges...plain and simple, bread and butter moves. They work, but I think my body stopped responding to the same movement over and over. Always the same rep range, same number of sets. Same same same. It's so nice to have a program laid out for you so you don't have to come up with anything on your own. That has made it extremely easy to stick to. As for my arms, it wasn't right after lifting but I was flexing a bit to make them pop out more. If I have my arms down at my sides, they don't look nearly as good :( One day it will happen!
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