I have a love/hate relationship with cardio.
I fell in love with running a year ago. I had ran before but never with a plan and a goal. It was just something I did because I was a girl and we're supposed to do steady state cardio. (I'm saying that with a lot of sarcasm). Last year I set some fitness goals and running was included in them and so I did it. I didn't expect to fall in love with running but I did. Running has become my anxiety release. Time for me to think. Time for me to talk with God. And that place that oddly enough brings me some spiritual peace. I can't count the number of rough days I've had since then that have totally been made more peaceful by a 4 mile run.
Running is something I will keep doing because of the peace and the endurance I get from it.
That said. My fitness goals? When I quit doing other workouts and switched to JUST running I lost some of the results that I had gained in the winter/spring of last year. Especially in my abs and arms. Then fall season hit with it's 12 hour days and Olive Garden breadsticks and I lost all the tone and regained all the fat from last year.
In November I decided to join a new gym. My YMCA membership had been expired for over a year and so I'd just been running and doing home workouts since then.
I quickly remembered how much I loved the weight room.
I started reading and learning more about fitness when I rejoined the gym and found a lot of conflicting info.
"Women should focus on fat-burning cardio"
"High-reps/low weights"
"You don't want to bulk up like a man so be careful not to lift too heavy."
Most of it was stuff I'd been hearing my whole life.
But then I started finding info on lifting for women, and not just the low weight/high rep stuff I'd always heard about. But actual heavy lifting. After a little bit of study I started throwing some heavy lifting into my routines. I'm already noticing a huge difference and the results have been much faster than I expected.
I've finally gotten over my fear of the squat rack and my legs and butt are thanking me for it.
So cardio/running? I love you because you are peaceful and you burn some fat too. But I hate you because you really don't give me the results I want and you hurt my knees.
But weight-lifting? You're quick and hard and get me where I want to be fast. I think you're my new fitness BFF.
When it comes down to it - muscle burns more calories than fat does when you are in a resting state. Now I'm not one to obsess about calories but I love good food and hate having a muffin top. Having more muscle is win/win.
So we'll see what happens over the next few months. I don't want to look like a body-builder. But that said? I can see my obliques again, my triceps are peeking through and I like it. Lifting my coffin bag at work has gotten a lot easier. (It's called a coffin because it looks like one and weighs about as much as one. Ha). And I'm noticing that I'm not struggling with carrying all my heavy gear across school campuses like I used to. Heavy lifting may stay awhile.
(Post-workout sweaty selfie.)
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