Oh To Be Back In The Gym!!!

Oh To Be Back In The Gym!!!

What a feeling! Especially for a hard-core gymmer to hit the gym again after 2 months. This 2-month absence from the gym was a self-imposed exile (not for any medical reason. I would have rather died!).

And yes, this is also my comeback article. I know I’ve not written anything for a while now. I’ve been posting a lot of healthy, tasty tried out recipes and kept my blog alive.  

There were lots of ideas floating around in my head (the problem was there were just too many and I had a tough time zeroing in on one). Then it was also partly a hectic schedule and part procrastination. And of course, I was busy cooking also.

Way To Start

Anyway, so here I am writing about something very close to my heart. Secretly I wondered if I would end up with aches and pain on the first day of gymming after 2 months. I targeted my back muscles on the first day. It’s customary to start my week with a Back and Biceps workout schedule. It just struck me that I had forgotten my bicep workout. I only did Back yesterday. Slow and steady is the way to go.

Today was abs and core strengthening. I could feel a slight stiffness in my upper arms but they vanished when I did my stretches at the end of the session. Yayyy, it’s not difficult for a seasoned gymmer to get back. Touchwood.

In these 2 months, I had been very active. Training my clients rigorously with thrice a week jogging or brisk walking thrown in. Plus my diet consultation. And then there was the bank work and other official stuff that one keeps postponing endlessly. Suddenly I had time to do it all. So it was a busy 2 months.

In these 2 months, I enjoyed my solo morning jogs and walks in the park. It brought me in touch with a different side of me. Being a nature lover, I could have been lured into continuing with this fitness schedule. But experience makes us wiser. 

Flashback

A few years ago, I had fallen into this trap. After years of gymming, I thought I needed a break from gym. This is courtesy those self-proclaimed fitness gurus who give gyaan like one should not stick to just gym and a whole lot of nonsense like that. Of course, I wasn’t a Fitness Professional then... so didn’t realise the stupidity of their words. I lulled myself into alternate days jogging and brisk walking. That year, I fell sick so often - Malaria, viral fever, stomach infection, some strange throat infection and fever that kept coming back with the slightest provocation. Not once did I attribute this to my ‘no gymming phase’. Looking back, I’m sure it was.

Cut to the present. Once bitten twice shy. So I knew I had to get back to the gym sometime soon. In this 2 month period, I admit that I felt a bit fragile. I experienced few aches and pains in my body a month after I had stopped gymming. This worried me. I knew I had to get back.

So now I’m back and already experiencing the highs of exercising.  While jogging and walking is important nothing can replace resistance training. For those who do intense yoga using their body weight, this works. For the others who love to pump iron, weight training is the way to go.

Only Cardio

I often see people walking or jogging. I wonder if this is all they do for their fitness. Over the years, I’ve seen people who’ve been doing their morning walks or jogs regularly. Some of them, mark my words, are in good shape. The others, over the years, have either bloated up because their knees don’t permit them to walk or jog with the same intensity as before, or look too tired and weak to walk with the same intensity as before.

Point is, by just jogging or running, we are only causing wear and tear of our tendons and ligaments. Worse, if the diet is not up to the mark, there’s also muscle loss. Research shows that not only can weight lifting improve your body composition and give you a toned appearance; it can also improve your overall health and make you a happier person. Weightlifting can help you burn fat, reduce your risk of diabetes, prevent back pain and even help you fight depression. 

Read on to find out all the benefits of weightlifting:

Muscle Fights Fat

Type II muscle fibres, the kind you build when you lift weights, improve your metabolism. An increase in type II muscle fibres can reduce body fat and might be effective in the fight against obesity.

Fight osteoporosis

As you age, you naturally lose muscle and bone mass. This is of special concern for women, whose bones can become dangerously weakened by age. Weightlifting can help fight this. Just as your muscles adapt to the stress of weightlifting by becoming bigger and stronger, your bones also adapt. Any time your bones perceive stress, the response is - more bone will be deposited.

Lowers your risk of diabetes

A study funded by the National Institutes of Health found that those who lifted weights - about five 30-minute sessions per week - had a 34 per cent lower risk of diabetes. Adding regular cardiovascular exercise slashed the risk by 59 per cent. According to a study published on the Nature Medicine website in April 2013, weight training encourages the growth of white muscle, which aids in lowering blood glucose because it uses glucose for energy. Red muscle, which uses fat oxidation to generate energy, is more prevalent in endurance athletes, such as marathon runners, while white muscle is abundant in weightlifters and sprinters.

Better heart health

45 minutes of moderate-intensity strength training decreased blood pressure by 20 percent - a benefit equal to or surpassing that of taking anti-hypertensive drugs. The blood flow improving effects of resistance exercise persisted for about 30 minutes after the end of a training session and continued for as long as 24 hours in people who trained regularly - 30 to 45 minutes a few times a week.

Prevents back pain

Weightlifting strengthen your core muscles which provide support to the spine

It Will Make You mentally stronger

When you feel stronger physically, you usually feel stronger mentally. Weightlifting teaches you the skill of perseverance, the ability to overcome discomfort and challenge yourself.

You will look and feel better

Weightlifting is the best way to get a lean, toned, fit body - for both men and women. Do all the cardio you want, but without some form of resistance training to challenge the muscles, you will never get those toned muscles in all the right places, the ones that shape your body.

Note: Day 2 - Legs Day
I was hard-pressed for time. It was a rushed 45-minute workout. But did it feel good!!
That will be my next blog.  

I survived the first week of gymming after a break with a few muscle aches and pains which gradually disappeared by the end of the week.

2nd week
Today was the start of the 2nd week. I could lift better and little heavier. I think I'm almost getting back to my old form. Touchwood. But this is the advantage that years of gymming gives you. It takes us shorter time to bounce back after a break.