I just completed my 24th week of working out 6 days a week and eating right! I'm very happy about that, and I've been encountering an interesting phenomenon lately.
I don't have to work so hard to get the same results! During the last 6 months, I was really excited about how my body was changing and it gave me a lot of motivation to work hard, especially when I was lifting weights. I wanted to get stronger, and I wanted bigger muscles.
So I would really push myself, maintaining correct form, but definitely giving it all I had. I'm not a doctor or personal trainer, so I can't say if I was putting myself at risk for injury or not. I don't think so, because I was concentrating on keeping good form, and the benefits of working out regularly probably reduced my risk of injury.
However, in the past few weeks, I have decided that I don't really care about getting a whole lot stronger, and I am pretty happy with how I look. I have reached my goals and I am now moving into a period of maintenance.
How strange to actually have the body I had always wished I had! Too bad I didn't start doing this when I was 18!
So now, I have decided that what I want to do is really have PERFECT form when I lift. In doing so, I have lowered the weights a bit and started focusing on being totally in control when I work out. I'm also paying attention to my intensity level, and making sure it's not getting too high during my workouts.
Interestingly, I am noticing that I'm still building muscle and getting stronger. But I'm not as tired as I used to be after my workouts.
I think it's difficult when just starting out to realize that the key is CONSISTENCY, more than intensity. Obviously, you have to push yourself. But in the beginning, it's hard to imagine that a moderately intense workout is actually just as beneficial as a totally intense workout. Now, I don't know for a fact that what I'm saying is true, it's just my perception, but it makes sense.
It's hard to explain the satisfaction I feel knowing that the program I committed to actually worked, and now I'm in a whole new place physically!
It's also interesting to see that, even though I didn't think I was pushing too hard the last 6 months I probably was some days, and I didn't need to do that in order to achieve my goals.
It is becoming clear to me that the most efficient way to get in shape is to have great form and be consistent with my workouts. That's easy to understand intellectually, but my ego is just beginning to get the picture.
