๐๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ, ๐ฐ๐ก๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐งโ๐ญ ๐ฅ๐จ๐จ๐ค ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ค๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐จ?
๐ ๐ซ๐๐๐ฌ๐จ๐ง๐ฌ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎโ๐ซ๐ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ญ๐ฌ.
1. Intention and mindfulness.
Are you going to the gym just because you have to? If you go just because you have to with no clear thought or intention of why youโre there, just going through the motions, your results will reflect that. You can do your laundry mindlessly, it doesnโt really matter how much time you take to fold it, in fact, the faster the better for me. Not so with your workouts. You want sculpted arms and a tight booty? Take the time to visualize the muscle working and lift with the intention of making that muscle respond.
2. Taking adequate rest times, not rushing your workout.
Are you doing your workout as fast as you can to get it over with? Are you impatient or get bored when you have to rest for 1-2 minutes? Geez Louise, if you canโt take the time to slow down, donโt flipping go to the gym.
Allow your body to rest and recover between sets so that you can perform just as effectively for each set. You should be able to do the same amount of reps with each set or at least be within 1-2 reps, with proper rest in between.
Give yourself 45 minutes to an hour for just yourself, no one else and youโll see those muscles start to respond. If you only have half an hour to workout donโt try to squeeze 45 minutes of work into that time.
Half assed effort equals half assed results and we want full ass results, right?
3. Not lifting heavy enough.
To actually stimulate muscle growth you need to lift appropriately heavy. If you grab the 10 lb dumbbell every single time to do bicep curls or shoulder work, youโre not stimulating the muscle. Challenge yourself with more weight, this is how you make your muscles grow and bring them up to their full potential. Weight lifting should feel like work, it should feel heavy. If youโre doing a set of 10 bicep curls and it felt like you could have done 5 more reps easily, itโs time to pick up a heavier weight. Come on girl, lift that weight!
4. Not eating enough.
To develop your muscle and get the toned, rocking body you want, you need to feed your body. Youโll need more than 1500 calories in most cases to build that muscle and adequate amounts of protein, like 30% of your calories. Wait, isnโt that too much protein? To build muscle, try to get in at least .8-1.0 grams of protein per pound of body weight. Anything more that 1.2 wouldnโt be helpful unless you have some serious body building goals. Get in 25% fat and then fill in the rest of your calories with carbs. You gotta eat to get that sexy muscle! And no, youโre not going to get big and bulky. Itโs really hard for women to build muscle due to amount of testosterone in our bodies.
Set your intentions when you step foot in the gym, be mindful and pay attention to the muscles youโre working. Slow down for crying out loud and give yourself and your body the full attention it deserves. Be a bad ass and start lifting as heavy as you safely can, challenging yourself, your mind and your body. Feed your body, you canโt grow muscles if you are always in a deficit, not giving your body the calories it needs. By applying these 4 principles youโll start seeing results and people will say, โDamn, have you been working out?โ Why yes, yes I have ๐
