It made me think about about how I reevaluate a phase of training or what I deem to be a success or failure. So....5 months of structured, consistent training and this is where I am now.
(I was determined to not post a whole canvas of before and after photos and protein dessert recipes because that is not what this is about; and quite frankly I'm sure it would bore most people to tears!
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| Forget the 12 week prep - It's all abut the 32 week prep!! |
Lessons Learnt from Success
Lessons learnt from failure are usually much more glaringly obvious and I have certainly expressed those in previous posts! I wanted however to take a calm moment and think about the things I have learnt from the successes. They are a lot more subtle, but just as valuable.
Overall I'm pleased with progress, I'm getting closer to ticking boxes that make me competitive in my chosen category - Physique. I've added a good deal of muscularity to my upper body and hamstrings - previous areas of weakness. I do however, still only have 1 ab!
Aside from aesthetics, some of the main areas I will admit to doing right are:
- Remaining Injury free
I have remained injury free for the whole duration of this training and in fact rehabilitated old injuries (unintentionally!). This is usually something that is unheard of for me. I have healthy strong hamstrings for the first time in 3 years (after battling with high hamstring tendinopathy in both legs). Perhaps it is the necessary requirement to address muscle imbalances which accumulate over time from doing sport, or the variation of training. I always try and vary exercise choice and training parameters as much as possible.
- Retaining cardiovascular fitness
Building/ retaining muscle and losing body fat is quite a tricky feat in reality - cardio plays a big role, but the wrong type and duration and the overall effect is too catabolic. The more muscular the competition category, the more precise cardio choice becomes, as muscle preservation is key. I have managed to keep my daily run (because I enjoy it!) and build muscle. Maintaining an element of functional fitness is very important to me, as I enjoy being able to walk up a hill and not asphyxiate.
Lessons learnt from failures!
Now these are a bit more obvious because something usually goes very wrong physically, mentally or both!
- When to push and when to maintain
This knowledge in itself has made me mentally stronger. Now, don't get me wrong there are days I thought I would break. But that's all it is - a bad day, and a new day starts tomorrow. I've settled into the diet and understanding my body. When to reduce training load...how to work with, and not against your menstrual cycle to train optimally. I also think being physically strong is a really good foundation for mental strength. There is no doubt the two are correlated. Of course, you can have one without the other but feeling strong keeps me going. It keeps me wanting to get out of bed in the morning!
- Patience ( A hard one)
Physical and mental Stress is accumulative and it transfers from mental to physical and vice versa. It's a product of work, family life, relationships, financial circumstance etc etc. It constantly changes but it most definitely affects our physical vitality and performance. When you look at conventional bodybuilding preparation phases, they are usually 12-16 weeks long. For me, that is way too short. University assignment deadlines and studying on "low-carb" brain is not the easiest. I made the decision to give myself a longer prep phase for my first show and actually it suits. I like the more gradual approach. It feels like there is room for error, which creates a little more calm (around the storm). It also means I can do both jobs well, rather than doing a bad job on each.
- Make your own rules
I would get frustrated when trying diets or training protocols that just didn't give me the rate of change of results I wanted. Learning to really listen to your body and not be afraid to bypass some conventional rules in training has actually been an eye opener. Some of these, perhaps I will be bold enough to share in another post, but not for now! One of the things with this sport, is individualisation is key. EVERYONE responds differently to stimulus and what suits in terms of: time of day to train, training volume, rest, recovery, nutrition, exercise choice etc is very unique to a single person. I'm fully aware that what works for me (found out through trial and error) is very different from another. Creating your own experiment within the realms of physiological principles is part of the process.
A finishing note
I'm a big believer in choosing goals wisely, then making a plan, reassessing the plan every few weeks and working out what you would view as a success and what you would view as a failure. It's quite an interesting process and subject to change, as it is all perspective. I have been so wrapped up in all the things that I feel have gone wrong; the illness, fatigue and moods, that sometimes you can't see the wood through the trees or the really good things that have happened as a "side effect".
It is an adventure for sure!
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