My goal when I started to workout and lift weights was to be leaner and stronger. I started to work out almost 3 years ago and this is going to be my story of my process meeting my personal goal. When I first started I was extremely unfit and unhealthy as I barely did any form of exercise, thus setting this goal for me was a challenge for me to overcome.
I started working out in hopes to be and look healthier, stronger and leaner. After working out I was able to see the importance of consistency as I have seen so many people start working out but was never able to keep the motivation. Luckily, for me I was able to find ways to ensure that I continue to keep my discipline and persevere even though as the weight increases and the movements gets harder that I have a clear mindset and work smart in order to reach the goal. When it comes to working out, having a strict diet and following it (having the discipline) allowed me to transfer the discipline into my work ethic which has been constantly quite good in the past few years. Physically, currently I am at the best shape of my life which has taken hundreds and thousands hours of work but I believe every minute put into working out has benefited me to become a stronger person both physically and mentally.
A way for me to measure my growth in strength was looking at how much I could lift with compound movements such as the bench press, squats and deadlifts.
Bench Press; I started off struggling with benching the bar which is approximately 20kg. However, through regular and consistent practice I am able to currently bench 80KG which is almost 10 kg more than my body weight. I was able to do this by setting small goals in order for me to reach my personal goal of 80kg. For instance, every two weeks I would try to increase the weight by 2.5kg to get a one rep max. Where, at times I would need one of my friends to help me lift the bench. But being consistent and setting small goals has allowed me to increase my ability to bench heavy weights. Moreover, through this process I was able to develop my form to ensure I minimize risk of injury. For instance, through learning from trainers at my gym, after the first 6 months of training, I started to arch my back when sitting on the bench as to minimize pressure on my shoulder and solely utilize my chest.
Squats: I only started to squat a year ago as in the start I didn’t know the importance of squats for my legs to grow. Initially, I would solely focus on the leg press rather than squats as I thought they were better for me to grow. However, after learning from more people and friends with more experience in the gym, they suggested for me to start squatting. When I first started squatting my form was terrible, but before I would rather prioritize going heavy then getting the form right which almost resulted me to injure my back. However, later in the process I realized I had to alter my goal in order to get stronger without risking injury.
Deadlifts: Same with the squat, I only started to start deadlifting a year go as I wasn’t unaware of the benefits. Initially, my back would be arched as shown below on the left which was terrible for my lower back. However, through weeks of practice with very light weights and getting my friends and trainers to show me the form, I am currently able to deadlift 70kg which is aligned with my bodyweight. However, I hope to be able to go heavier and exceed my goals in the near future.
When I first started working out I didn’t know the importance of the “form” or getting the movement right, as I would just focus on going heavier and heavier whilst being stubborn when others gave me constructive criticism. Which was a big road block of me to get to my goal of being bigger, stronger and leaner. However, now being in my third year of working out I have learnt and almost mastered the importance of ensuring form > weight, as whenever my form starts to go off, I would take off all the weights and fix my form before proceeding to go heavier and break my new personal records / goals.
An essential aspect that helped me get to my goal was planning, as I have a work program and before every workout I would write what I am going to do in the gym, instead of going to the gym and doing whatever I feel like. By doing this, I was able to ensure a balance between all body parts, and I would also save time as I wouldn’t have to think about what exercise to do in the gym. Currently my workout split is the following:
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: Chest Tricep
Wednesday: Back Bicep
Thursday: Legs
Friday: Rest
Saturday: Shoulder Tricep
Sunday: Back Bicep
Moreover, I also have “deloading” weeks which are weeks that I focus on the repetitions rather than the weight which will allow me to continue to increase my strength in the long term. Additionally, another problem I faced along the way was overtraining as my mindset would be the more I worked out the closer I would get to accomplishing my goal. However, realistically almost 13 months into my training I realized I wasn’t making much progress due to being exhausted every time I was going to the gym. Now, learning from my mistake I incorporate 2 rest days to ensure each time I go to the gym I can get closer to my never unending goal to be a better and stronger physical version of myself.
Additionally, having trainers along the way for a few months has allowed me to improve my form and think of the gym from different perspectives. For instance, when I was in oxford for a summer course for two weeks, I had a trainer called “Tom”. Tom showed a different way of training which focuses on drop sets and higher repetitions due to my previous shoulder injury a few months ago. Now, because of him, I bought a food scale to see how much my food weighs to give me an idea on how much I should be eating.
Finally, I have a fitness instagram now which aspires to inspire others to help them either start working out or continue to maintain consistency in the gym. Where, now I currently have a group of friends whom I train with and guide them to push their limits. I have also written many workouts for many of my friends who are both older and younger than me to help them ensure they are meeting their goals regarding fitness.
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