Like any exercise when you dedicate yourself fully to the programme your body will change for the better.
Looking at my past exercise programmes they have always been weight loss based, and the results I have been used to were clothing getting bigger, me getting smaller and the number on the scale decreasing.
BUT was I happy? Honestly... no. I was never satisfied with the results and never knew where this was going to end. If I got skinny my life would be better, but I got skinny and I was still the same, life was still the same and therefore my end goal kept changing to a lower and lower weight.
Switch to now and my end goal is endless, I have a clear focus and it is limitless... to an extent of course!
I want to compete in crossfit and olympic lifting competitions, I want to be strong as fuck and beat all the boys.
I am one month into training and I am loving it, it has made exercise fun, and I am constantly working to improve on everything.
Sounds great right, and of course it is I love it but the changes to my body and the new calorie and nutrition goals are new to me and have been proving to be a struggle mentally to make sure I hit the calorie goal and also deal with the fact I am outgrowing my trousers!
So why lift?
The good: you feel pretty badass when you hit a new PR and achieve something new each week. Highlights for me have been lifting 85kg deadlift, and also being able to squat with 140kg on my back. The feeling of this was like no other and I felt so proud of myself to have done this.
You will also feel sexy, you will find you have curves and muscles like never before, and also an ass and legs that both women and men will envy.
All the foods. That is all I have to say on that one.
The bad: you will out grow your clothes, trousers will become tighter and eventually jeans will not be your friend, tops will become tighter and if your like me you will spend every free moment in gym clothes, vests and shorts... work clothes are not usually my friend!
But this is all progress, it is just a different kind, health and fitness are not measured by numbers alone, it is about how you feel and what your goals are.
Don't compare yourself to anyone else, just focus on you.
The ugly: you will be questioned if you are a girl as to why you lift. People in the gym bubble love it, admire it and cheer you on, those who are out of it will question it, and probably will not understand it. Daily I hear "don't lift to heavy, you will get bulky" "aren't you scared you will look like a man" "surely you just want to be toned and not have muscle"
Brush it off and again focus on you. There will always be negative people in the world, you don't need this in your life.
So if you had worries that lifting weights would make you an instant bodybuilder have no fear! The women and men who train specifically for bodybuilding have been working for months or even years to look like that.
When it comes to body shape there is no quick fix and it is the same for muscle gain - there is no quick solution!
Next time you are in the gym, embrace the weight section and watch the changes happen!
