One thing that is amazing to me is the change that can happen in your body… your weight can stay within a 5-7lb range, but you can achieve a significant amount of physique change by altering your body fat percentage. Here are my stats as of now…
May 3013: 143lbs, 23.4%BF (33.5lbs of my body weight was fat, the other 109.5lbs was muscles)
April 28th, 2014: 137lbs, 17.7% body fat (24.2lbs of my body weight is fat, the other 112.8lbs is muscle.)
In about a year, I lost 9.3lbs of fat and gained 2.5lbs of muscle. I am excited to see where my stats are come show time, and how they pan out 3-4 months post show. Woo!
The other thing I have gained is strength. When I started lifing regularly again in May 2013, I was so weak! Bleh. Even before that, I was never very strong. I didn’t quite udnerstand HOW to build my strength up. Week after week I would push as hard as I could, even if my body was saying “PLEASE STOP.” This caused me to hit some plateaus and I wasn’t sure how to break them. Because you are supposed to hit it hard every time, right? While that is a good mentality to have, to maintain longevity of your activity you need to put in place a program that also caters to resting and building and listening to your body.
When I mentioned to Coach one of my goals was to get stronger, he put me on a custom lifing plan that included deloading and working at percentages.
These are my original 5 rep max weights for my chosen power lifts:
- DB Shoulder Press: 20×5
- DB Flat Chest Press: 30×5
- Cable Row: 80×5
- Squat: 145×5
- RDL: 145×5
Now here is what I can lift:
- DB Shoudler Press: 25×5
- DB Flat Chest Press: 35×5
- Cable Row: 90×5
- Squat: 165×5
- RDL: 145×5 (no change here 😦 )
There are other things I gained strength in as well, but these were the specific ones I was working percentages on. Woop!
I LOVE progress photos. They really show the change visually. But having the numbers really solidifies your progress. I am a fan of keeping track of things. No – the numbers do NOT overshadow what I have gained mentally and emotionally, but it is cool to see the physical progress put to paper 🙂
Keeping track of the numbers is always important if you are going to set goals as well. Having a goal weight, a goal lifting max, a goal body fat – these can all help you to REALLY focus and fine tune your efforts. That way instead of flailing around in the gym or on the treadmill day after day, you have something to work towards. Keeping track of the numbers will help you see when you plateau and allow you to make the necessary changes to meet those goals.
Don’t forget about the the most important part! Your mental and emotional health. The numbers are great, but make sure on your journey you are becoming the best version of yourself that you can be .
Fit, Sweet, and Sassy! 