Big Fitness Update!

Happy Monday Guys!

At the beginning of the year I told you all about my fitness goals for 2017 here. I started the year off strong with a few different workout classes (Reformer, CrossFit, and Cycling) in January and February. In March and April I incorporated more regular running into my workouts. Well in the past month I’ve kicked things into overdrive by making a drastic change to my fitness regimen. If you watch my stories on Instagram you probably already know what I did. I joined a gym! And not just any gym. This gym is the stuff that Instagram dreams are made of. You know the sled pulling, tire flipping, astro turf having gym that everybody seems to go to on Instagram. Well I managed to find one. Right in Raleigh. 

Hold up Chi! I thought you were a die hard, at home exerciser?!

I still do love my at home workouts. However, my number one priority in fitness is that it fits my current needs and lifestyle. This makes me more likely to stick with a routine. The truth is that right now I want more from my workouts than fitness DVDs alone can provide. That’s why I decided to switch things up.

What are your goals again?

First, I’d really like to get into fitness competitions, particularly Spartan races and maybe a couple half marathons. These require speed, agility, strength, and endurance. While not impossible, it’s definitely challenging to work on improving these in an apartment where I have limited space and downstairs neighbors to contend with. Second, I have some aesthetic/physique goals. Particularly, I want to gain more muscle mass and add some healthy fat. If that fat and muscle mass were to magically make its way to my behind, I wouldn’t be mad at it. Third, I want to get out and meet some new people who enjoy being active.

Okay, enough of that. So get back to telling us how you end up joining a gym?!

I wasn’t even looking to sign up for one. I was actually looking for a personal trainer who could help me supplement my at home workouts with some strength training workouts, and ensure that I had proper form for the fundamental moves.

It just so happened that as I was looking for a trainer, a gym came up – a personal training gym with nothing but five star reviews. With my curiosity piqued (and eyebrows raised) I contacted them for a free consultation. I got to the gym on a gloomy, rainy Monday morning. When I walked in I was greeted by one of the trainers, Lauren, who I had spoken to on the phone the previous Friday. She gave me a quick rundown of the gym before we got started with the session.

In the gym they have white boards on the wall with four days of strength training workouts written out for the week. Lauren started me off by doing squats and with just a few pointers from her my form considerably improved. Side note: my squat form was not the business. At the end of the session I thought to myself, “If I can make that kind of improvement after just one session, where could I be in one month?”

That did it for me. I tend to be a little gun-shy when it comes to making decisions like this, so when I had no reservations about signing up I knew that this was something I had to try. I opted for their month-to-month membership. I told myself that all I had to give it was a solid month of showing up. If I hated it then I could walk away at the end of the month with no regrets.

Today I entered my fourth week of training here and I love it (even in spite of waking up at 5:15 during the week to avoid rush hour morning traffic). My form has significantly improved on my squats, deadlifts, and bench press. I’m learning a bunch of new moves, some of which I can do at home or when I’m traveling. I’m also quite enjoying the soreness I feel the day after my workouts. It’s like a badge of honor.

Talk more about this social aspect. Has it given you what you wanted socially?

Definitely. As diverse as the benefits are that are associated with physical activity, I hadn’t really tapped into its social benefits. Working out is a great way to meet and connect with other people. As an avid at home exerciser, my workouts were very convenient, which is great don’t get me wrong, but they were also isolated. For a while now I’ve been craving the camaraderie that group classes can provide. I’m getting more of that here. The trainers all know you. They ask you how your weekend was on Monday, and how you felt after last week’s class (to which you might respond “too short” and “very sore”). You know exactly who’s going to show up to the 6 am class on Tuesday, and they offer modifications or different moves altogether if they know you’re dealing with any type of pain or injury.

The motivation has also been nice. Other people are there struggling with the same moves you are. You laugh between sets as you commiserate about how much it burns, and the trainers motivate you when you don’t think you can pull off that last rep for the bench press.

A big part of the reason for this is that it’s a smaller gym. I’ve taken several classes here now, and at most a class has had 6 people (myself included) and that was considered a lot. For the last two weekends I’ve gone to a metabolic HIT class where I was the only person who came. No phoning it in possible!

All joking aside though this is nice because there’s no slipping through the cracks. Everyone gets individual attention from the trainer at several points during the workout. Usually there are 2-4 people in a strength class. For their metabolic HIT classes, it varies depending on whether it’s during the week or weekend (sometimes it can be 4-6, or it might just be 1).

How are the workouts structured?For the strength classes, the workout of the day is listed on the board. A trainer is there to show you the moves, spot you, and correct form as needed, but you move through the workout at your own pace (within an hour time frame).For the metabolic HIT classes that’s more like a traditional group class. The instructor tells you what’s coming next. It lasts an hour as well and typically involves multiple circuits. In any given class you may be using sleds, TRX, kettlebells, ropes, dumbbells, sandbag balls (I’m not sure that’s the correct name), the rowing machine, or the bike.

Protein

Since I’m taking strength classes 3-4 times a week, I’ve been a lot more mindful of my protein intake. I’m trying to adhere to the rule of centering each meal around a protein. It’s been a little challenging though because I still want to get enough fiber, but things that are high in protein aren’t typically high in fiber, and vice versa. It’s a work in progress. I’m trying to make my snacks higher in fiber to make up for it.

There are two protein bars that I’ve found that I absolutely love. Guys, these are so good. The first is Zone Perfect’s Cinnamon Roll Nutrition Bar. This is heavenly. It tastes like a cinnamon roll. No false advertising what so ever. It’s something you want to eat whether you need the protein or not. It’s just that good. The second is Oatmega’s Lemon Chia Bar. I tried this after the Cinnamon Roll Bar and honestly thought that this poor little lemon bar didn’t have a chance after that one. Then I took my first bite and realized just how wrong I was. It tastes like a lemon cake/cookie. So freaking good.  The nice thing about the Lemon Chia Bar is that it also has 7 grams of fiber. 

For protein I also stick with my Powerful Yogurt Key Lime Greek Yogurt which has 20 grams of protein.

This same brand also makes Greek yogurt protein drinks. I’d highly recommend the Coconut and the Maple Vanilla which have 20 grams of protein each. 

So that’s it. I’ll continue to keep you guys updated on my fitness journey as it continues to evolve. And don’t worry. My Go Gymless series isn’t going anywhere! You can check out the most recent post here.

I hope you all have a wonderful week!