Finding What Works...

I don't know about you all, but I consider myself pretty knowledgeable about fitness and nutrition, I am no expert by any means, but I have learned a lot through my own experience and research. Yet I find myself second-guessing myself constantly. I ask one person something and I get one answer, I ask another person and I get a completely different answer, and it's kind of frustrating. One person tells me for bulking I should do high weights low reps, another tells me mid weights, lots of reps. How does one know what is the right thing to do?

That is the question I am asking myself. So, I just need to stick with something for a while, and if it's not working change it up. I started my bulking phase the first week of January and have been doing the heavy lifting low reps, no cardio. I decided that this week I will do Med weight, high reps, see how my body responds. Yesterday I did legs- I did 4-6 sets of everything for 15-20 reps, and holy cow, talk about your legs feeling like rubber. After I finished leg extensions I went over to do Dumbbell step-ups and when I went to step up, my leg acted like a spaghetti noodle, so I decided to rest for a minute before going further. Today is one of those days where when you squat to go to the bathroom, you go "ooh". But it's a good feeling.

Today I did chest, once again did med weights, high reps, and I def got a good workout in, I also decided that for the next couple weeks, I will do abs, mon, wed, fri, and do just a little bit of low intensity cardio at the end. Today I got on the bike for 10 minutes, and man did it feel good! I didn't realize that I really did kind of miss that cardio.

Sunday I went to meet with a trainer to look into having him train me for my competition. This guy was huge! He is a pro-body builder and his arms were about as big as my thighs. I could tell he def knew what he was doing and if I had him train me, I could be confident that I absolutely was the best I could be, but when it came to the price, I cringed. Def cannot afford $1600 for 16 weeks at this point in my life.

I went home that night and scoured the web, trying to find some trainers in central Iowa. I came up with one and immediately emailed him. I am set up to meet with him tomorrow night! His rates are much more in my price range. Under $500 for 16 weeks contest prep, which includes posing. I'm excited! I'm really hoping it works out. I would really like to have a trainer in person rather than correspond with someone online.

Now about my eating. This is something that mentally I'm struggling with. I've been told I need to, while bulking, try to stay around 2300 calories, while I'm able to do this, I am struggling with it mentally. Should I really be eating that much? What if that's too much and it's turning to fat instead of muscle. Especially as I see my stomach expand, my abs are hiding under the cushion that has developed. Ugh. I know it's temporary, but I still care a lot about what other people think even though I know it doesn't matter, and most people probably could care less.

One last thought. Toward the end of my workout today, a thought occurred to me. I truly LOVE working out. Seriously, it makes me happy, I get a joy from working out. There is nothing like it! I love taking care of my body! Even through the pain, it hurts so good! I will do a competition this fall, and at this point I don't know if I will continue competing after that or not, one step at a time. However, this I do know, I will never give up the gym, it is too much a part of my life, and I will never get enough! :)