Hi Friends,
I’m at about the two month mark of my latest fitness experiment – weight lifting – and I’ve been pretty blown away by the results. I’ve always done a lot of cardio (check out 
Speaking of 
Getting Started is Intimidating
I felt intimidated by the idea of starting to lift because I was worried I’d end up injuring myself, pulling muscles, or just looking stupid around a bunch of experienced lifters at the gym. Let’s be honest – the power rack kind of feels like the “dude’s” part of the gym – loud grunts and massive weights hitting the ground included.
I had some training sessions in the beginning to make sure my form looked good and then started SUPER slow and have just been gradually adding weight as I go. I’m now up to squatting 75 pounds – which might not sound impressive, but it’s something I’m proud of. When I first started… I could barely hold the 45 pound bar and do a couple squats – let alone adding weight with confidence and going through 5 full sets. I’ve also added bench press, barbell row, deadlifts and overhead press into the mix.
How do they get that booty?
I’ve enjoyed seeing more arm definition creep in from these exercise’s – but squats have really been my favorite. I used to see people with these super sexy, toned asses and wonder how they got them. Seems silly that it never occurred to me that I had a lot more power over that than I thought – all it would take was a little work and some heavy weights. It just didn’t occur to me that I could do anything about it.
I’ve enjoyed the shift from cardio to weights for other reasons as well. Cardio is so just damn time consuming! Although I still go running sometimes – I don’t feel the pressure to get a lot of cardio in every day. I just lift 3 times a week, and then try to go for a walk every day. It’s pretty simple and works into my lifestyle way better. I can hit the gym 3 times and then not have to feel guilty the rest of the week if I don’t do more.
Women and Weights
The fairly quick transformation I’ve seen kind of makes me wonder why more women don’t lift. Obviously there are tons and tons that do – but it does seem to be more skewed male. Perhaps other women (like me) felt intimidated to get started, or worried they would start looking “bulky”. You know what I’m talking about – the women that do those bikini contests that look like they could seriously kick your ass. Of course those women are beautiful, but that’s not the look I’m going for. I just want to get a little more toned!
So far what I’ve found is that weight lifting can be a really great tool to change your body – and it would take a long, long time before I would ever have to worry about looking bulky or masculine. In fact, I bet most women would have to intentionally eat a crazy amount of protein and train for that specific look before they could achieve it. A woman eating a normal diet and exercising a moderate amount likely wouldn’t have to worry about it.
Cheers to Health
I wish I had taken more “before” photos to compare as I continue down this journey – but I’m definitely starting to take them now. I found the photo on the left on my phone from the 4th of July last year and realized I had a more recent photo in the same shorts from Austin. Love finding coincidental before and after’s.
That would actually be one piece of advice that I’d give to anyone that is starting a new exercise regimen or food plan. Having before pictures to compare can be so motivating and exciting! Even if you never share them and they are only for you to look at – it’s such a satisfying feeling to see progress.
I hope you all have a healthy and happy day!
XO,Lea