Welcome To The Jungle, Ladies

The gym I belong to is doing a pretty cool fund-raiser contest for a little boy named Eli who has a brain tumor.  From what I understand, his parents have little to no health insurance.  So, not only is it devastating to learn your child has a tumor (I literally tremble at the thought!), but his parents also have to be concerned with how they are going to pay for what I will assume will be insane medical bills.  Anyway, the gym put together a fund-raiser to help out this family.  For $5, you could buy a "car" (it is a paper car not a real one!) and you race around the track for 500 miles.  Mileage can be earned on the Spinning Bikes or on the IndoRow machines.  Since I now do both of these workouts, I figured this would be a great way to keep myself encouraged and help out a little boy.  They have been giving bonus miles for decorating your car, racking up 100 miles in the first 10 days, and even racking up 200 miles in the first 20 days!  I have decorated my car and have been working like crazy to hit the other milestones.  I am happy to report that as of this past Saturday, I finished up 101 miles (technically this was done in 6 days as I had to miss 2 days at the gym!), so I hit the first goal!  As of today I am at 123 miles!  I still have 9 days to get to 200!  Then it is an all out race to 500 miles!  There is a man that is INSANE and has over 350 miles in the first 10 days.  I'm guessing I won't be able to catch him, but this is one time where 2nd place will make me very happy!  I am going to put a thing over to the right to help keep track of my mileage so you can help cheer me on!

Since I have been working so hard on the bike and the rower, I decided to take this past week off from lifting weights.  My weight-loss had gotten a little stagnant over the past couple of weeks, so I thought this would be a good week to change things up, and shake my body into dropping some extra poundage.  It totally worked!  I dropped 4.8 pounds this week.  That is awesome and I'm very proud of the hard work I put in.  That said, I sure was happy to get back in the weight room this week!!  I'm serious when I say that NOTHING makes me feel stronger than lifting heavy weights and watching what my muscles can do.

I know there are a lot of women out there who are scared of the weight room and of lifting heavy weights.  I am here to tell you ladies...there is NOTHING to be scared of!!  The weight room can be a really fun place to work up a sweat.

Yes, there are usually lots of men down there.  Sometimes those men are lifting crazy huge amounts of weight.  Sometimes they are great to watch to learn more about correct form.  Sometimes some of those men just lift a silly amount of weight and are only going to hurt themselves in the long run, don't watch them.  If you aren't sure which is which, watch how slowly the weight is moving.  If they are swinging the weight, look elsewhere, they are just moving weight, not really "lifting" weight!  If the weight is moving slowly and in control, then they are probably a good person to watch for form.

OK, back from the tangent.  First thing I want you to realize is that no one's opinion of what you are doing (assuming you are using correct form!) matters.  If someone watches you while you lift, just imagine that they are enjoying the show.  If that isn't what they are doing, it is their own deal, not yours.  Yesterday, I had a man stare at me the entire time I was doing standing shoulder presses.  At first, I wanted to ask him what his problem was.  Then, I just decided that he was just being appreciative of what I was doing, so I kept quiet.  That may or may not have been his thought, but I don't care.  It helped me get through and helped me ignore him.  I continued my workout.  That said, if someone who works at the gym or is a trainer or someone that obviously knows what they are doing is watching you and gives you a piece of advice about your form, listen.  It will help you in the long run.  I even had a man today tell me that he loved seeing women down in the weight room and wished that more women would not be scared of it (I realize he may sound creepy, but that wasn't how he meant it!  He was a cool guy!).

Secondly, do not be a wuss!  Do NOT be scare of lifting heavy weights!  Assuming you are using correct form and are not lifting over your ability, you are not going to hurt yourself.  You are NOT going to "bulk up"!  You are not going to get big ladies.  Lifting heavy weights help those muscles get strong, strong muscles are more efficient at burning fat, burning fat means weight-loss!  Do you see what I'm getting at here?  Have you seen any women that do CROSSFIT? Seriously sexy women, not bulky, but HOT!  Strength training should not scare you.  Get yourself in front of a mirror, grab some weight and watch those muscles work!  

I found a great article here that talks about Strength Training Truths.  Check it out.  Let me know what you think!

Obviously, I am NOT knocking cardio workouts here or workouts like Pilates, Zumba, and all those types of activities.  I like them too!  I really think that mixing everything together works the best!  Just remember that every time you do one of these activities, no matter what it is, you are making yourself the best you possible.  Work is the key.  You have to put in the work.  Yes, people lose weight by just cutting their calories and sitting on the couch.  But do you know what often happens to those people?  They get flabby.  Ugh.  Flabby does not sound good.  Working out while eating healthy gets you toned and toned is SEXY! That is what I am working towards.  I don't want to just look in my clothes, but I want to look darn good NAKED.  That's right, I said it.

So, who is with me?  Who is going to venture into the weight room this week?  If you don't know what you are doing, ask someone who works at your gym.  If you are at home, check out proper form online.  I promise, your body can do it, just don't be scared!  Changes people!

Blessings!