MY BODYBUILDING LIFE

A collective of personal notes about the discipline and a lifestyle by choice.

[peanutbuttershredded]

[mybodybuildinglife]

Success And Failure In Weightlifting - London 2012 Olympics

Relive some of the incredible moments in the weightlifting events as competitors experience both success and failure at the London 2012 Olympic Games. Subscr...

CLICK on the TITLE to watch the video

Following my previous post. Cool video from last Olympics. 

Notice the movement technique and also, that any slight mistake can be a disaster. 

[mybodybuildinglife]

THE FRONT SQUAT

Brace yourselves for a long post.

So, the other day i posted this little meme regarding front squat. I have to say that i made some research before writing anything and that anyone is free to do whatever the hell they prefer... but... if i may suggest, research a bit about both front and back squat (aka the real SQUAT) 

First things first. What muscles do we want to build with squats? Quads, hamstrings, glute, lower body basically. To achieve this, our hips and knees must be used and the weight is supported and transmitted thru the back. I will not really enter into hardcore physics but i don’t know we have got that idea that the more vertical the back is the better. The back should be rigid and in an angle in order to work as a solid bar transmitting and supporting the weight correctly, in other words, you have to bend. 

During front squat barbell is supported on the front shoulders and you can’t move as much weight as when you are doing back squats. You feel also more tension in all your body to have keep balance and your knees are under more pressure. Then, why keep doing it? Okay okay, you might say you work the same muscles either type of squats, but still.. why would you do front squats? 

Maybe it has all to do with the crossfit cult or maybe cause there are some ( few) front squatting pictures of Arnold and even Ronnie. Or as some scumbag said to my hubby when saying he hates front squats, “ yeah sure and that is why it has been practiced by Olympic weightlifters for centuries”. Well dumbass, first do you even lift?, second are you a bodybuilder or an olympic weighlifter? And third, if you had really watch the olympic weightlifting snatch, you would have noticed that they do not rest the weight on their shoulders. Some do, on heavier category i.e.105kg but only for a couple of seconds before pushing it over their heads. Also notice, it is one movement with a long resting period. Not sets of 12, 15 reps with heavy plates. 

Folks, don’t forget that the aim of bodybuilding is exactly that, building the body not olympic weightlifting, where the aim is to be able to lift the weight with a clean technique. 3 attempts and there are different weight categories. 

Again, until the day i die, front squats are nonsense and i pledge to do not them in my life. I leave you with this video from 2012 Olympics. And will share another one on the following post.

[mybodybuildinglife]

A CROWDED GYM: A FIRST WORLD PROBLEM

If there is something that really upsets me, is to find the gym crowded. And even more if it has been my fault for not waking up early or going at the time I was supposed to go. And let’s not talk about January when everyone feels guilty from all the holidays food. 

Let’s admit it, the less people there are the better you can workout. Just a few benefits:

You can do your workout in the exact order you planned it. 

You can do super-sets with equipment that is far from each other, without worrying that i will be taken. 

There is no one stressing you out with “how many sets left?” every 5 minutes. Shit! wait for it bro. 

You don’t have to share. Well, sharing is not that bad except if that person needs to change the whole presets, or worst when they use different weights and you need to re-rack your plates. Sometimes it goes even worse and you end up helping the dude the re-rack theirs cause they are lazying around. 

Enough space. No scumbags standing an inch apart from you when you are doing reverse fly (really dude there is no more space???)

You can try new exercises that you are not sure about. If you fail or drop it or if you fall, there is no one. hahaha

Women: we can do those butt and hamstrings exercises without feeling that you are seen as a juicy, full of protein, grilled, steaming rib eye steak.  

You can strike a pose freely.

You waste less time and end up happier. 

The best thing is that you can have a taste of how would it feel to have a gym of your own until you can get one (I’M RICH, BITCH!)

[mybodybuildinglife]

GYM ETIQUETTE

If you are not 100% sure if the equipment, dumbbell, bench, bar... is free, then you ask before you take, grab or lift.

[mybodybuildinglife]

WHEN IT ALL STARTED

“You should do some weightlifting. Light weight and some hamstrings curls to have nice legs and butt.” My dad used to say and I used to reply: “NEVER! i will end up buff and full of big muscles. I will look like a man”

I remember the Arnold and bodybuilding books around the house, the basic but functional dumbbells, plates, bench in the house. Needless to say, i was very resilient to the idea of picking up a dumbbell. Oh but how wrong was i and how right was my dad. 

October, 2013. I was trying to be a cardio bunny. Jogging at least 2 times a week. Not much. One of those evenings, i injured my foot sole and the orthopedist said, sorry no more running for at least 3 months. No treadmill, no bicycle. You can do weightlifting and elliptical. 

I joined the gym, and started weightlifting. It was great. And then started to be more and more interested on it. Since then, some things have changed. Try to workout at least 5 - 6 days a week and changed diet (although i had screwed it up during the last month. Bodybuilding is part of our daily life (yes our, it all started with my now husband, at the gym) and I have to say that once you are in, you never go back. 

[bodybuilding-and-fitness]

[bourbonbryan]

Haha

[motivationsource]

[mybodybuildinglife]

Preach it

[mybodybuildinglife]

WHAT YOU EAT.

Before i start writing anything about Bodybuilding, let me state that i have never competed and do not consider myself a pro, not even an amateur. I am a bodybuilding enthusiast. And this will be a collective of notes about something that it is not a diet or a workout plan but a lifestyle i have chosen. (that i will talk on next post).

Food. Habits. That is the hardest thing. You can workout 3hrs a day and still not have any gains or definition if you don´t eat properly. The body is a machine and filling it up with crap will only deliver poor performance, deficient health and obviously poor results.

Making the right choice of what i should eat has become a battle since i arrived to London. Not making an excuse but anxiety makes it all worse. And lets not talk about that period of the month. The cravings transform me into a cookie monster.

The rebound makes its appearance after 48hrs. And the guilt makes you regret what you chose to eat 2 days ago.

It is incredible how the body works. You need weeks, months and years to build a physique that you imagine, your vision. And only a few cheat meals to make it disappear.

Anyways, next meal is always a new chance to make the right choice. And it is what i am planning to do. Off to Leg day.