I've been on and off this site for some time now, and I just decided to start a journal here. Here's a little info on me:
I'm a former figure competitior. I did 5 shows. It was my big dream to go pro, but something kept nagging at me that competing was not the right place for me. I decided to quit, and it was like a giant weight was lifted from me. I know I could change my mind and go back to it some day, but right now I have other plans.
I've been a personal trainer for over a year now. I have my own online buiness and this spring I'm going to be opening a business at home. I also work in mental health, but I hope for my training to be steady enough so I can quit and train full time.
For my personal fitness goals, right now I'm mass building. I'm a true ectomorph and my muscles build very slowly. But they are buidling nonetheless. In the Spring I'll stop mass building and increase my cardio. I plan to do some running; a couple 5ks followed by my first 10k. I want to get more in to bike riding as well. Eventually I would like to do a dual a thon.
I'm also an avid hiker. I hike at least once a week int he summer months, and I'm in the process of writing a hiking book. So as you can see, my summer will be full of cardio.
I just finished 6 weeks of mass buidling yesterday, and I'm on day 1 of taking 9 days off from weights. Here's my plan for the program I'll be starting up soon. It's VERY different from anything I've ever done before, but I'm always trying new things to see what works best for me:
My new workouts will consist of 3 full body workouts (MWF), with rest days Saturday and Thursday, long cardio Sunday and short cardio and yoga Tuesday. After 7 weeks I’ll take 9-12 days off from weights. I’ll be doing 2 sets of each exercise and reps will vary weekly as follows:
Week 1: 10 reps
Week 2: 8 reps
Week 3: 6 reps
Week 4: 4 reps (some negative only sets)
Week 5: 15 reps
Week 6: 7 reps
Week 7: 5 reps
I’m hoping to achieve greater strength and hypertrophy gains. So why have I designed my program this way? Anabolism only lasts for approximately 2 days after a muscle is loaded, and full recovery during this time IS possible. As far as sets go, think of it this way: If I did 6 sets of an exercise once a week or 2 sets of an exercise 3 times a week I’m still doing the same number of sets. But since But with the best growth taking place for 2 days after a workout, with the full body workouts I would be having 6 days a week of growth as opposed to 2 days. There is also some research showing that the first 2 sets are the most effective.
The reason for such frequent long periods of rest is strategic deconditioning. The time when a muscle is most receptive and will grow and become stronger is the fastest is when a muscle has never been conditioned or when it has been allowed to decondition. Between 9 and 12 days the body has begun to decondition, but the muscles have not yet started to atrophy.
I will be attempting to increase my weights with each workout, though I know I won’t be able to every time. I’ll be varying my exercises, some, but not every week.
As far as diet goes, I try my best to eat real clean and healthy to keep my body working as well as possible. I eat huge quantities of food because my metabolism is awesome. I have been eating about 2400 cals a day, except for my rest days when I eat a little less.
Let's see if I can post a pic here from one of my last competitions:
I'm number 101 on the left, the black/purple sparkly suit.
I look forward to reading everyone else's journals soon.
Sarah
I'm a former figure competitior. I did 5 shows. It was my big dream to go pro, but something kept nagging at me that competing was not the right place for me. I decided to quit, and it was like a giant weight was lifted from me. I know I could change my mind and go back to it some day, but right now I have other plans.
I've been a personal trainer for over a year now. I have my own online buiness and this spring I'm going to be opening a business at home. I also work in mental health, but I hope for my training to be steady enough so I can quit and train full time.
For my personal fitness goals, right now I'm mass building. I'm a true ectomorph and my muscles build very slowly. But they are buidling nonetheless. In the Spring I'll stop mass building and increase my cardio. I plan to do some running; a couple 5ks followed by my first 10k. I want to get more in to bike riding as well. Eventually I would like to do a dual a thon.
I'm also an avid hiker. I hike at least once a week int he summer months, and I'm in the process of writing a hiking book. So as you can see, my summer will be full of cardio.
I just finished 6 weeks of mass buidling yesterday, and I'm on day 1 of taking 9 days off from weights. Here's my plan for the program I'll be starting up soon. It's VERY different from anything I've ever done before, but I'm always trying new things to see what works best for me:
My new workouts will consist of 3 full body workouts (MWF), with rest days Saturday and Thursday, long cardio Sunday and short cardio and yoga Tuesday. After 7 weeks I’ll take 9-12 days off from weights. I’ll be doing 2 sets of each exercise and reps will vary weekly as follows:
Week 1: 10 reps
Week 2: 8 reps
Week 3: 6 reps
Week 4: 4 reps (some negative only sets)
Week 5: 15 reps
Week 6: 7 reps
Week 7: 5 reps
I’m hoping to achieve greater strength and hypertrophy gains. So why have I designed my program this way? Anabolism only lasts for approximately 2 days after a muscle is loaded, and full recovery during this time IS possible. As far as sets go, think of it this way: If I did 6 sets of an exercise once a week or 2 sets of an exercise 3 times a week I’m still doing the same number of sets. But since But with the best growth taking place for 2 days after a workout, with the full body workouts I would be having 6 days a week of growth as opposed to 2 days. There is also some research showing that the first 2 sets are the most effective.
The reason for such frequent long periods of rest is strategic deconditioning. The time when a muscle is most receptive and will grow and become stronger is the fastest is when a muscle has never been conditioned or when it has been allowed to decondition. Between 9 and 12 days the body has begun to decondition, but the muscles have not yet started to atrophy.
I will be attempting to increase my weights with each workout, though I know I won’t be able to every time. I’ll be varying my exercises, some, but not every week.
As far as diet goes, I try my best to eat real clean and healthy to keep my body working as well as possible. I eat huge quantities of food because my metabolism is awesome. I have been eating about 2400 cals a day, except for my rest days when I eat a little less.
Let's see if I can post a pic here from one of my last competitions:
I'm number 101 on the left, the black/purple sparkly suit.
I look forward to reading everyone else's journals soon.
Sarah
At least I got the weights in.