Tag Archives: lifting weights

Does weight lifting make you feel less feminine and sexy?

February 27, 2015Emotional issues after weight loss, Motivation to stay fithealthy life mindset, lifting weights, motivation, muscle, successful weight lossChristina Marky

We've all heard the misconception that weight lifting will make a woman big, bulky, and she will lose her feminine side. I've addressed these misconceptions earlier, so we've established that weight lifting won't make you accidentally look like The Rock. But what can you do when becoming physically stronger than most of the guys around you makes you feel less feminine and sexy?

Is it possible to stay feminine and sexy as a woman on the inside while weight lifting?

Yes, it is possible to stay feminine and sexy as a woman while weight lifting. But the real question is how? Spending time in the weigh lifting section of the gym among guys 3 times a week can influence not just your weight lifting abilities and body, but your perception of yourself as well.

Imagine yourself after few months of weight lifting seeing a guy with big manly muscles use the same weight dumbbells as you. Pretty self confidence booster, isn’t it? Now fast forward a few months of regular weight lifting, and you’ll be watching more and more guys using smaller dumbbells than you are. After 9 months of weight lifting there will be only few regular guys at the gym using heavier weights for weight lifting than you.

This is exactly what happened to me, and at this point when I realized that I lift more than most of the guys at the gym, I panicked. Suddenly I started to feel less feminine and sexy because seeing myself stronger than most of the guys placed me in front of them on that invisible weight lifting hierarchy ladder in my head. I’ve became one of the guys. Then I remembered:

My strength does not come from lifting weights, my strength came from lifting myself up when I was knocked down. [Tweet this!]

So how can you stay feminine and sexy on the inside while weight lifting?

3 tips to make you feel more feminine and sexy while weight lifting

Use these 3 tips to make you feel more feminine and sexy inside and outside of the gym while you regularly do your weight lifting routine.

Tip #1: Spend time with other women

Spending time in a gym weight lifting where most of the members are guys you are comparing yourself to and competing with is exhausting. All that manly energy and testosterone surrounding you while weight lifting may result in you ending up feeling less feminine and sexy.

What you need to do is get yourself among a group of women. By spending time with woman will make you unconsciously observe their feminine body language and movements, and after a few hours you will start to imitate them. Spending time with women will turn on your feminine side that you’ve put aside for weight lifting.

Tip #2: Be graceful

When out of the weight lifting room, make smooth movements instead of powerful ones!

You can teach yourself to be graceful and more feminine. Watch your posture: tighten your abs, move your shoulders down and back, away from your ears and raise your chin to be parallel to the floor.

To walk gracefully in heels or in any other type of shoes, do the following: take small steps, walk heel to toe not toe to heel. Don’t rush, lean slightly back while walking and visualize yourself walking in a straight line.

Tip #3: Dance

Dance classes are great for improving your feminine posture and teach you graceful movements. Just be sure to choose a dance class that requires you to learn sexy, feminine moves! It doesn’t have to be modern ballet, I suggest belly dancing, or my favorite, Zumba! After you learn the steps, you will be able to pay attention to your body movements in order for them to become calculated and fluid.

Get more useful tips on how to motivate yourself towards a more balanced lifestyle! Click here>>>

Fitness trackers are useless for gym workout: exercise routine before and after wearables

February 10, 2015Motivation to stay fitafter weight loss, fit body, healthy life mindset, lifting weights, motivationChristina Marky

Searching for the perfect fitness tracker? Don't know if you should get the latest model of that fitness tracker everyone is wearing? Let me share a secret: fitness trackers are useless for gym workout. Don't believe me? Read on.

I was excited just as you are for getting a fitness tracker for Christmas. A smart wearable was the big thing I thought I was missing in order to level up with my healthy living. But getting a wearable fitness tracker hadn’t affected my workout routine in any way. Trendy fitness trackers are made for lazy couch potatoes, not for people who work out regularly and already live a healthy lifestyle. In order to track your workout routine at the gym you will need a special fitness tracker that is not among the trendy ones currently on the market.

Find the right fitness tracker

Researched online different wearables and fitness trackers, and I’ve read tons of reviews each of the wearable. Different wearables have different functions that seem awesome at first: tracking physical activity, including calories burned, distance and what type of activity you are doing, such as walking, running, cycling.

I really believed that a fitness tracker would be of help in my workout performance and positively affect my workout routine.

Reading the specifications carefully revealed that the functions I would found useful, such as the heart rate monitor, does not work well when you move around… So what’s the point of measuring your heart rate when you just stand around? I want it to measure it while I am jumping around in Zumba class, so that I know how high is my heart rate when my face gets red. Got really disappointed while researching the fitness trackers: none of the fitness trackers functions could be useful during my gym workout, nor my Zumba cardio sessions.

Then it hit me: all the trendy fitness trackers are made for the lazy couch potatoes, not for our type who are already living healthy and exercising regularly. [Tweet this!]

The only function I thought I would find useful was the pedometer. But I already had a free app downloaded to my phone that worked as a pedometer.

Life after getting a fitness tracker

Although I really didn’t know for what I will be using a fitness tracker for, but it is the popular thing right now – everyone is wearing a fitness tracker. I figured I might as well get a stylish one and jump on the wearables bandwagon. After all, it was Christmas, and there weren’t much things that I needed or wanted anyway. Got to have a wrapped present, because simply saying “I love you” or “thank you for being in my life” is not a valid Christmas present in today’s society.

I settled for a Sony SmartBand fitness tracker, because it’s lightweight, stylish, and as its ad says: when a call or a message comes in, you feel it. Figured at least it will be useful on meetings when my phone is on silent.

How useful are fitness trackers in everyday life?

Fitness trackers are useless for gym workout: exercise routine before and after wearables — A fitness tracker for weight lifting is just as useful as these bands on your wrist.

Pedometer helped walk more daily. Had to be creative to figure out how to walk more to reach my daily goal. The secret how I manage to meet my daily goal of 10 000 steps: take stairs instead of the elevator, go for walk during lunch breaks, walk the dog more often, walk to the store for getting just milk even if it could wait until next big grocery shopping, walk to the market, walk to the bank and doing errands mostly by walking. After a few weeks, it becomes a habit. So I don’t have to think about it anymore, whenever I see an elevator and stairs, I take the stairs. Tip: identify opportunities in your everyday life for walks.

I use my fitness tracker in everyday life for:

Tracking steps
Smart wake up (my significant other looked forward to this function: no more early morning alarms waking him, my band vibrates to wake me while he stays happily asleep)
Letting me know when I receive a message or a phone call.

And that’s it, this is a complete list of the things that I use my fitness tracker for.

Fitness tracker useless in the gym

I found the fitness tracker totally useless in the gym. It did not track any of my fitness activities whatsoever. It only tracked my workout once when I used the running machine for warm-up instead of the elliptical. However, if you are a runner, then you will find fitness trackers more useful. But if you are going to the gym to lift weights and use the workout machines, having a fitness tracker on your wrist is completely useless. Pretty disappointing.

There wasn’t any difference in my workout performance before and after owning a fitness tracker. My fitness tracker just helped me get more aware of my everyday activities.

Will a fitness tracker be usefull with my workout?

Stay realistic: don’t expect too much from current fitness trackers. Here is a list of different exercises types and the usefulness of a fitness tracker for that exercise:

[table caption=”Fitness trackers usefulness for different exercise types” width=”500″ colwidth=”20|100|50″ colalign=”left|left|center|left|right”]
Exercise type,Fitness tracker useful,Remark
Aerobic exercises:,,
Running,Yes,Tracks time running
Cycling,Yes,Tracks time spent cycling
Walking/hiking,Yes,Tracks steps
Zumba,No,Can’t pick up the various steps
Tennis,No,Need special fitness tracker that tracks specific body movements
Anaerobic exercises:,,
Weight lifting,No,Need special fitness tracker still in early adopter phase
Flexibility exercises:,,
Yoga,No,Can’t track anything-showed me asleep while relaxing
Pilates,No,See yoga
[/table]

Right now, even the best fitness tracker in the world is still just that: a wearable tracker.

Let me recap: if you are a regular user, you will find fitness trackers useful. However, if you are exercising regularly, you will need to do a thorough research on the various wearables out there to find the a fitness tracker that fits your type of exercise.

So my advice when choosing a fitness tracker for yourself is to do your research: know what type of exercise you will be doing and what are you expecting from your fitness tracker, know the limitations of the device, read reviews, go see it how it fits your wrist before you buy it.

What fitness tracker do you have? How did you choose it? Is it meeting your expectations or are you disappointed like I am?

If you agree with me, share the blog post with your friends!

Afraid of going alone to the gym? 4 tips to help you go to the gym for the first time as a girl

January 20, 2015Emotional issues after weight loss, Motivation to stay fitBody Image during and after weight loss, body image problems, fit body, healthy life mindset, lifting weights, motivation, muscleChristina Marky

I was afraid of going alone to the gym as a girl. I was afraid of going alone to the “manly” section of the gym to start lifting weights. I remember planning to go to the gym alone for days. What occupied my mind was the moment when I’d step into the manly section of the gym to start my routine of lifting weights. I imagined that every person in the gym would look at me walking towards the weight rack, judging me. It was awful. It took me days to gather courage to actually go to the gym. But I wanted to go alone. I knew about the benefits of lifting weights for girls. I wanted to be that girl. The girl at the gym who is lifting weights.

Going to the gym alone to workout and start lifting weights can be intimidating for a girl. Here is a guide to get you on the road of going alone to the gym for the first time:

1. Pretend like you belong there

Fake it till you make it! Pretend like you know what you are doing. This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t prepare yourself for your first time going alone to the gym. Pick out a workout plan that fits your level of fitness, know exactly what exercises you will be doing at the gym, in what order. Study the exercises you are about to do. Watch YouTube videos of proper forms of the exercises. Use the mirrors in the gym, they are there so you can check yourself and your form (and later to see your sexy body and flex your muscles!). Do everything that you feel like you need to do in order for you to feel ready for your first time going alone to the gym. Then just walk in and pretend like you belong there. Let me tell you a secret: chances are, the others are faking it as well. Also, don’t be afraid to stand around and stare at the equipment or look around to see if it is the machine you’re looking for.

2. Use warm up and cardio for making yourself comfortable

You need to warm up before engaging in any exercise activity. Use this time to calm your mind. If you are used to running, then use the treadmill to get your pulse up and watch other people around you. This will make you feel like you fit in with the gym locals. If your goal is to start lifting weights, then do what I did: use the weight room for warm up exercises so you can assess the situation before starting your lifting routine.

3. Have a workout plan

Know what you are there for. You surely have a goal set ahead of you (for choosing a goal, visit XXFitness FAQ). Whether it is losing weight and fat, gaining muscle and strength, improving your cardio and heart health or toning up your body, you will need a workout plan for it. Pick a workout plan in advance that works towards your goals. I started lifting weights with the Stronglifts 5×5 app, because having my phone with me at the gym and using the built-in timer for counting rest time between sets seemed like a good idea. Knowing that I can see the exercises on my phone gave me the courage to act like I knew what I was doing. Or you could just have pictures of exercises on your phone to remind yourself of the exercises you will be doing. Nowadays I just use 3 different post it notes with the exercises scribbled down with cute stick figures performing the exercise that I rotate on my 3-day workout days.

4. You are awesome for even thinking about going alone to the gym

If you’d have ever spent time in a gym, you’d seen that most people there are noobs. Not many people know what they are doing. So don’t be afraid to be one of the noobs. Everyone has to start somewhere. By having a workout goal and a workout plan, you are already in the scarce minority. Just look around among your friends: the reason of why you even thought of going alone in the gym in the first place is because there is no one around you to keep you company. So committing to going alone to the gym, you already placed yourself in the scarce minority of people that actually care about their lifestyle. Congratulations, by researching the proper form of exercises and attempting them you further narrowed yourself to make the awesome gym people cut!

Just remember: it takes one step at a time, and the first step is the hardest! Everyone at the gym had to start somewhere, so nobody in their right mind is going to judge you for being a beginner. Don’t worry, no one is there to watch you working out. At least not yet!

Found this guide useful? Get more useful quick tips on how to motivate yourself towards a lifestyle filled with healthy habits! Click here>>>

Reasons a woman needs to start lifting weights

October 14, 2014Motivation to stay fitlifting weights, lose weight, muscleChristina Marky

Lifting weights is not for women. You’ll look bulky with big muscles! It’s not womanly! These are just some of the bullsh!t women say when I mention that I started lifting weights. Me, a woman. Shame on me. It makes me scream at them that lifting weights won’t make a woman huge, because you are in fact a woman. But mostly I just say yeah, I look huge, right? When in fact I look fit and curvy in all the right places just like a woman should look, and I feel strong from lifting weights. I discovered that lifting weights as a woman can be fun and awesome! So why are women afraid of lifting weights?

While I was obese my goal was to lose weight to look healthy. Getting rid of fat and losing weight was a priority as a woman. I managed to go to overweight from obese and then lost more weight to finally hit the normal weight range for a woman. Achieving weight loss in a healthy way was also a priority and I noticed that I’ve not just lost weight and became thin from overweight but also thanks to regular exercising became a fit woman as well!

Overexercising is not good for consistent, healthy weight loss! [Tweet this!]

So I’ve changed my weight goals going lower and lower. The priority also shifted: it is not so much about losing weight anymore; it’s more about building muscle and paying attention so I don’t lose muscle mass while losing weight; but loose the remaining fat.

Now I am considered more muscular than the average woman out there. I never would have imagined that building muscle will be on my to do list! But having womanly muscles is awesome! And turns out I really enjoy having muscles: I love how carrying heavy grocery bags is not challenging anymore – I can carry them from the market to home easily! Getting six pack drinks and carrying them is also easy! And these are just the everyday benefits of being a muscular woman. I must admit that I secretly enjoy being the only woman in the weights sections of the gym. I let the others do cardio for hours and hours while I lift weights with men.

So why should every woman start lifting weights?

1. Get curvy body figure faster

You can have a fit body way faster with lifting weights than with doing cardio for hours and hours. Plus heavy cardio for more than 1 hour a day is not so healthy for you in the long run. You can easily achieve that desired womanly curvy body / six packs with lifting weights 3 times for an hour a week! So I switched from doing cardio 3 times a week to going to the gym lifting weights 3 times a week. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy the zumba classes, and attend them once or twice a week – but I don’t overdo it like some of the women by combining 2 or 3 hours of exercise a day for looking good. It’s pointless to tire yourself that much. And who the hell has time to exercise for 2-3 hours every day in the long run??? (Lonely women, that’s who.)

2. Being a beast without looking like a beast

Lifting weights will tone your womanly body making it visually pleasing. Muscles only show when you flex them, so you will not look like a beast, trust me. It is a common misconception that lifting weights will make women look big and bulky.

In order to look like big men with bulky muscles, a woman would need to produce testosterone, eat the right things and take supplements. So it is a hard work to look like The Rock, it won’t happen if you don’t make an effort. Besides, women’s bodies do not produce testosterone required to get bulky, so you won’t have to be afraid that you’ll get big by lifting weights.

3. Eat more and still look good

Good news for all you women out there who like to eat: with lifting weights, you can still look good and eat! Of course you have to eat healthy, but using your muscles uses up strength, so you will need to eat after lifting weights. You will need to eat real food, and eat enough of it. Your muscles will need protein!

Lifting weights as a woman has made me looking sexier than ever! Curves all around! You don’t have to be afraid that lifting weights will make you look like a pro body builder with huge muscles – in order to look like a pro body builder, you really have to want to look like that, eat like a beast with a specific diet in order to build that unnatural muscle mass.

Remember: it’s not how much you exercise; the secret is to do it smart! [Tweet this!]

So, you want to look damn good and still be strong? Start lifting weights, woman! Get inspired on your fitness journey by clicking here >>>

From Fat to Fit Girl

coping with changes after weight loss