I’m in my off season which means I’m taking a break from the
lean competition diet and eating a diet that is intended for adding more muscle
to my frame. This has been a challenge
for me because I’ve spent the last 20 years making sure the needle on the scale
does not go up! Unfortunately, when you
add muscle you add “gains” to the scale.
It’s been hard to watch that number increase over the last 3
months. I don’t see my muscle gains quite the way
everyone around me might see them. The
additional muscle makes me feel larger and thicker. My face is fuller, as are my arms, back and
legs. My jeans are incredibly snug around the quads, hamstrings and glutes and
my shirts are much tighter around the back, shoulders and arms. I’m starting to feel like the incredible hulk…if
I add any more muscle I may bust right out of my clothes!
This phase of adding muscle is new to me. I don’t like watching the number on the scale
go up, I’m not psyched about the tighter fitting clothes because it reminds me
of what it feels like when you gain fat.
I battle this feeling every day as I slip into my workout gear or
clothes…everything is snug! Most of us think of fitness as a way to lose
weight; the end result is weighing less and fitting into smaller sized clothes
which make us feel good about ourselves and we feel more confident in every
outfit we wear. It was time to give myself a break and do something that would make me feel good.
Today, I gave my mind what it needed; an endorphin rush! I headed outside for a 40 minute run. It’s been about 6-8 weeks since I’ve gone on
a run. My legs were a little sore from
yesterday’s workout, so I wasn’t expecting much other than a nice steady
jog. I cranked the tunes, started my
run meter app and off I went onto the trail.
After the legs started to feel warm, I could tell something was
different about this run. I felt
stronger. I’ve run this path for the past 7 years. My time is around 9 minutes and a few
seconds. I’ve held that pace year after
year, never trying to improve it.
Running has always been a way for me to clear my head and get high off
the endorphins.
The music on my iPhone starts to fade as my run meter is about
to tell me what my pace is. I’m not expecting anything different than what my
run meter app has chimed out in the past, so I continue to cruise down the path. My pace is being announced and I can't believe what I am hearing. My pace is 7:48. HOLY
SHIT! I broke out into a smile, threw my arms up in
the air as I jumped high and said, YES!!!!
I have never run that fast on a steady run and certainly not for 40 minutes.
I realized in that moment that I had finally reaped the
rewards of adding muscle. The last 6-8
weeks training on a treadmill doing sprints and climbs between a 15 and 30
incline, helped me increase my running speed!
It’s an incredible feeling to have accomplished this. While my weight continues to go up, the
payoff is far greater from a fitness level than I ever could have expected. The additional muscle I’ve put on my legs
helped me power through the run. I could climb the hills without feeling like I
needed to stop and take a break. I could
feel the new strength that my legs brought to the run. I can’t wait to see how they do in a few more
weeks. That is a great GAIN!!!!
Until next time…here’s to adding muscle!
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