Wk 25...Back on Track

Finally...the scales are moving! And it's not because I'm coming down from a carb-loaded weekend. It's refreshing to know that my body responds to a proper diet and increased exercise, so quickly.

My loss on the scales this week was 900g, bringing my weight down to 61.4kg. I'll know things are starting to buzz along when I get back under the 60kg.

So I'm back on track, albeit slowly. It feels so good to be training consistently again and hitting the weights and cardio. I have to admit, it hasn't been an easy return. I now have a program I'm following, and hope to be riding the wave of consistency and intensity within a month or so. At the moment, I'm starting gently and will increase my sets and weight gradually as I gain confidence and fitness.

My program is pretty basic, but I'm really enjoying it. It's a real challenge for me, because I'm starting from scratch and am having to re-learn some basic lifting techniques, in the bid to pinpoint my activation problems and work out how to recruit the correct muscles in the correct way.

So it's as basic as it gets...Deadlift (full and sumo) and Squats (box) for lower body. And for upper body...Push-ups (my request), Lat Pulldowns, Bent-over-rows, and some isolation work for triceps and biceps.

It's sounds so simple, but it's quite a challenge when you realise that you've been doing it all wrong and recruiting different muscles to what you thought. Here I was wondering why I couldn't lift or move much weight, thinking I was strong. And I was getting so much muscle tension in the upper traps and necks, because they were in a constant state of tension.

But it all comes down to being aware of what your body is actually doing and then being able to control the muscles you need to do the work correctly. It's not only about utilising the correct muscles for work, but learning how to relax the other muscles which aren't required.

It's been a real learning curve, and thanks to Liz, a real education. The time spent going over the basics and how it relates to my rehabiliation, has given me a deeper awareness of how my body works.

It's just the little things, like simple tips to ensure I'm using my core and recruiting those muscles when doing lat pulldown, bicep curls, etc and everything I do. How to relax my hip muscles and use the glutes instead. How to relax my neck muscles and upper traps when doing bent-over-rows and lat pulldowns, so that I recruit my lower traps/back muscles, rather than my upper traps, which is what I'd been doing in the past.

So needless to say, it's changed the way I train and how I think about training. At the moment there's alot to think about as I ensure I'm activating the correct muscles. And I'm not lifting anything of any decent amount. But that's okay. If I keep persisting, eventually I will get to a stage where I don't have to think about it so much, the correct muscles will activate when they should.

And once that's happening, I can then start to think more about the finer details of lifting to get maximum lift. Hopefully, over time, as my technique improves, so will my strength and ability to do more.

Oh...and my glutes...I'm feeling em' baby! I've never felt so much DOMS in my butt, hammies and adductors before. It's a good feeling! :)