As some of you may know, I've decided to compete at some point in the future. Hopefully 2016!
There are many reasons why I want to compete, one of those is I love having something to aim for, it's really motivated me to be more committed than ever to my nutrition and lifting. I stopped tracking macros a few months ago, because I was content I was eating enough, I knew pretty much what I needed and didn't feel as though tracking was necessary. However, as I'm planning on competing, I'm being a little more strict, I've recalculated my macros and I'm sticking to them.
I used to the online Macro Calculator which I highly recommend, it calculates your macros according to your goals and you can bulk or cut as steadily as you like. Whilst bulking I am using IIFYM because I feel as though it's good to keep track of your calories whilst bulking, going crazy and just eating whatever..well, of course it can be fun, but it's not sustainable. For me, it just didn't work as I gained too much fat too quickly and felt the need to cut down again! Slow and steady wins the race.
So, to calculate my initial bulking macros I selected 'cautious' bulking, but I plan to increase my macros as my metabolism gets used to the calorie increase. This way I can work my way up, slooooow and steady. At this moment in time, my macros are: Calories: 1960 Carbs: 240, Fat: 44, Protein: 147. Now, it's important you do this for yourself, everyone is different, your body will react differently to my body to these kinda macros. My food will be mainly 'clean' but not because I'm eating clean or whatever, I feel better eating well, I perform better and actually prefer the food. But of course, there are plenty of 'non clean' foods I love too, that I'll be incorporating into my diet.
My workout plan
Over exercising has always been a major issue for me. Major issue *salutes* (that was a how I met your mother reference btw, I'm not insane) I used to dread rest days, sometimes I'd skip them entirely, even if I didn't go to the gym I'd do some kinda crazy home workout. Looking back, although I thought it was beneficial, it really wasn't. Your body needs rest, I pretty much learnt the hard way, I'd constantly think yea yea but I don't need rest. When I really really did. I mean the logic is pretty simple, tear down the muscle, rest and let it repair and grow stronger. Then why do we feel the need to be constantly exercising? If this is you, then think why you're doing this. There's a reason why you see some people at the gym every damn day and their making no progress at all, usually these are the same people who don't care about form, only volume of the workout, sweating and calorie burn. That was me.I found ig to be very influential on my exercise obsession too, often the hashtag #TEAMNODAYSOFF yeah..that would really stick with me, well I introduce to you, #TEAMDAYSOFF we actually make some gains and our strength goes up too. Oh and those people who be like, I took a rest day but I've decided to run 100 miles and do 1000 sit ups anyway. Yeah, some people I'm sure can somehow make gains that way, but not me..it just doesn't work.
If you want to progress, rest is essential. Therefore, as I'm trying to gain muscle I'll be lifting no more than 5x a week. I'll be doing 1 session of cardio per week for 20 minutes and no I'm not concerned it will 'ruin my gains' I enjoy cardio, it's a part of fitness, cardiovascular health IS important and I don't want to lose all of mine on a bulk. Rest days for me now, well..I really enjoy them, I get to wear normal girly clothes and my hair doesn't get all gross and sweaty, win win.
So here's my schedule: Monday: Legs, Tuesday: Chest, Wednesday: Back and Bis, Thrusday: rest, Friday: shoulders and cardio, Saturday: Legs, Sunday: rest.
aaaaand yes, my macros will remain the same on rest days as well as training days, cause I'm crazy like that.
Hope this post was helpful as I've had a lot of requests concerning my intake/workout schedule.
P.s - I will be posting more regularly. again. yay.
I would advise those macros for a sedentary house wife with no kids and only a iPad to attend to. Do you really think/feel that you can support all bodily systems with that amount of calories and whilst avoiding suppressing mitochondrial function i.e. energy production..i.e. Immuno health?? Interested to know how you monitor your physiological status, whilst training that frequent. :)? cheers
ReplyDeletep.s. just interested..
DeleteHey there, In response your question..
Deletethese macros work for me. I have subjected my body to a lot of metabolic damage throughout the years, due to a restrictive low calorie diet. My plan is to effectively reverse diet, to slowly increase my metabolic capacity. I have found since using these macros that my body is responding very well. My overall health has increased, my energy levels throughout the day and at the gym! For a person of my height/weight these calories are adequate for me to gain weight (and I have done) My plan is to increase my macros gradually as my metabolism adjusts. Thanks for the question, hope this explained somewhat :)