Take a break

Today is day two of my two day break.  Having lifted for many days back to back; I was feeling the need for a break.  Rest days are so important when you work out on a regular basis.  I try to always take a day, workout for two.  But that doesn't always happen if I'm in a zone.  You will hear from all directions "go, workout, don't stop, go, go, go;" but I say "whooooooooaaaaa."  Stop, you need to take a break.  Sounds easy right?  Not.  I had to talk myself into NOT going to the gym.  The workout mode was winning, so I pulled out my laptop to write.  I don't want to go today, I really didn't want to; I need a rest, a two day rest.  Slowly the "I'm not working out today" vibe sunk in.

Rest is very important when you work out hard.  If you go to the gym and just sort of float around; hop on the tread mill for a bit, then do a few crunches and leg lifts then rest isn't all that important.  But, if you are really working your muscles, you have to rest them so that they can heal.  When you lift heavy, you break down your muscles.  You need to rest them so that they can heal, build and become stronger.  When you take a couple of days to rest, you come back stronger.  I love the power that I have after a couple rest days, there is nothing like it.  But like I said, we sometimes have to force ourselves to take those rest days.

Live healthy on rest between lifting.  

Rest is one reason why dividing your body into sections is a good idea once you get into a more intensive lifting regime.  You cannot train the same muscle two days in a row.  By dividing yourself in half or into certain muscle groups you give your muscles a day off all the time.  I workout my upper body and lower body separately.  This means that every other day, a half of me is resting, sort of.   By working out my upper and lower halves of my body on separate days I can really focus on each section.  It also means that if I lift really hard that I won't have a whole sore body.  Plus, there is no way that I would ever have the time or energy to do a full body work out.  Like I said before, I am in and out of the gym really quickly.  No hanging around for hours for me.

Rest days are as important as working out.  If you over train and never rest you will actually be doing your body a disservice.  No rest can lead to burnout which leads to not going to the gym anymore.  Not a good thing; you need a break, take it.  It can also lead to a plateau in weight loss; sleepless nights and sheer exhaustion.  Rest, take a day or two and just chill.  Do you for you, your body needs it.

Ya gotta feed muscle for it to grow.

You have to eat to grow.  That my friends is a fact.  Sadly what I see in the gym is a whole lot of people who think that the way to being healthy is to stop eating.  They spend hours at the gym trying build their muscles but it is just never going to happen; not unless they start eating right that is.  When you decide to lift weights to get strong and in shape; you must also commit to eating right.  That means that you must give your body the correct amount of fuel for it to grow muscle.  Seeing someone put hours into working out who is not eating properly is just sad.  So much work for no or very little return.

Protein is key, but that said; you do not have to eat a mountain of protein to fuel your muscles.

Here is a couple of great articles on the subject.

Authority Nutrition - protein

Healthy eating - protein

Have you been working out like crazy and getting no where?  Your diet could be the reason.  I am not a big fan of supplements; I prefer to eat a wide variety of food to ensure maximum nutritional intake.  I try very hard to eat fresh foods and when I do eat a bar type food I try to find one with lots of protein in it.  You don't want a bar that is filled with carbs and sugar.   If you are serious about growing some muscle for strength and feeling great; have a look at your diet.  Opting for that 'lean' look will be achieved by not eating; but a 'lean and healthy' look needs food.

I'm tweaked

I tweaked my back.  I'm not sure if I did it while frog jumping around the house the other day; doing leg press or maybe just reaching for something.  Tweak happens; I did my back in several years ago while trying to get a great angle for a shot.  (photograph)  I was out of commission for several days and could barely walk.  It happens, but it happens more often if you don't work out.  Without muscle to support your spine, then you are susceptible to everything from minor or serious injury. 

Almost everyone throws their back out one time or another.  Strengthening your back for the wear and tear of everyday life is essential as you get older.  As we age the risk of being tweaked rises if we don't build muscle around our joints.  The back is no exception and is the primary long term area of injury that can plague us.  We demand a lot from our back; but often forget to keep it strong.  Sedentary lifestyle would be the prime culprit for back issues; lack of exercise causes all kinds of problems that can lead to injury or other problems. 

Lifting is a great way to keep your back strong so that your chance of injury is down.  That said, building back muscles should be done carefully as should all lifting.  Going from no working out to lifting heavy will surely cause it's own problems.  When you start, you must lift light; using the full extension of your back to build up those muscles.  Do not hyperextend your back while lifting; this too can create injuries.  There are many exercises that call for hyperextension, don't do it. 

Once again, form is highly important.  Making sure that you are not creating more problems by using poor form while lifting is essential.  You want to build wisely for ultimate results.  A good strong back that can protect itself from injury is the goal; under doing and over doing your back can both result in injury.  Slow and steady wins the race.  Think building blocks, not instant gratification.

If you do get tweaked, rest.  I took yesterday off but will hit the gym today for an upper body workout and stretching.  I will pay close attention to my injury and not further aggravate it.  Letting your body heal and knowing when to allow healing is very important for your future lifting.  If you happen to be someone with back issues, then you need to start lifting.  Building up the strength and muscle in your back is never a bad thing. 

Why lift?

 

Workout bands are a great way to get started and/or workout at home.

Today was a push day; a day to challenge myself.  I worked out harder and longer than my normal workout.  Sometimes you just have to push; getting stuck in a rut is a common thing with exercise.  I could just stay in the same spot forever but then I'd get bored.  Once bored, there is a good chance of quitting out of boredom.  Yesterday was also a push day and I am most definitely feeling the result of pushing.  It feels great.  It means that once my muscles heal that they will be stronger, I will have gained muscle which is a good thing. 

The whole idea around lifting weights is to get strong.  As we age we get weak as our muscle starts to vanish.  The only way to keep it is to use it; it is as simple as that.  Moving is essential, but not just moving, pushing.  During my breather between sets I glanced around the gym.  Everyone was moving but so many were moving without achieving any benefit.  Laying on the floor and lifting a leg ever so slowly is moving but it's not doing anything more than walking to the grocery store.  You may as well just go to the mall and shop.

When I started lifting I was 16 years old; that is a long time ago.  It was easy then, I never hurt and kept in shape.  There is now more drive behind my lifting; heck I'm not getting any younger, none of us are.  It is more important to lift now more than ever.  Sure, there are days when I hurt; mostly little aches and pains; nothing huge unless I have an injury of some sort.  But those little aches and pains tell me that my muscles are being used.  "Use it or lose it," as they say.  I don't want to lose my ability to move as I get older, hell no. 

Lift.  Just try it, you'll love it.  If you do it right you will just hurt a little; enough to let you know that you are still alive and gaining muscle with every lift.  If you don't want to do the gym thing, lift at home.  It doesn't matter where you lift, just lift. 

Lost Music Zone

I lost my sound; my tiny ipod shuffle went missing.  Not cool, not cool at all.  I almost didn't go to the gym; yes, it was that serious.  Without my "cone of silence" I was going to be subjected to the idle chatter at the gym, not cool.  Horrible actually, this is very serious when I rely on my shuffle to filter the chit chat from around me so I can enter into the zone.  The zone is an important place where I go when working out.  A field I enter to challenge myself; push harder and block out the rest of the world at the gym. It is essential for me to have a good workout, bottom line.

Not wanting to miss a workout I pushed on.  I went to the gym knowing full well that I'd be plagued by the mundane conversations, gym social time.  I'm not a chatter at the gym; I'm not there to chat and I do not want to listen to everyone else's chat.  I go to the gym to workout; social chatter interferes with working out.  But there are many people who are there for the social aspect; that's fine, but if you aren't, you do not want to have to listen to them.  So there I was with no sound protection.  I tried my hardest to get into the zone but it was illusive with the sounds of chatting coming from every direction.  I was actually amazed at all the chatting that goes on.  I love my sound filter.

I play it loud, my music creates my zone of self competition.  I'm there to challenge myself and without the ability to get in the zone; it was a mediocre workout at best.  There are three things that I need to head to the gym; my shuffle, gloves and gum.  My music is the most important; so without it I just never got to the zone.  I don't know how people workout to the barely audible gym music and everyone talking around them.  It is very distracting.

Perhaps it is the whole "After 50" thing that makes my music essential.  Although I remember it being a constant when working out in the basement when I was 16.  It is sort of like dancing without music; it can be done but it is much better with loud booming music right?  With my music turned up, I slip into my lifting zone.  There I am alone, just me, my music and the weights. 

I am happy to say that I found my shuffle.  It was at the back of my desk where I'd pushed it out of the way.  I'll be having a much better workout tomorrow, bring it on.