Vickie: The Voice Of Experience

Have to tell you how much I loved your post and enjoyed your profile.

I've been active and thin my entire life, always enjoyed looking 10 years younger than my girlfriends. It never fails that my overweight friends always ask me "Vickie, how do you stay so thin". There's no magic here- I've just always stayed really active. I've been thru every fitness craze and always come back to lifting.

I took a few years off from resistance training- had a physical challenge that I was told I'd never come back from. As an athlete, I had to really dig deep to get past that, "I've always done everything right, why me" mind set but when I got to the other side of it, a much different girl emerged. Way stronger in the broken places and much more than 'just a great body".

So now in my early 50's I return to weight training. It's incredible how my body has responded especially because i didn't have a ton of fat obscuring my muscle.

I feel so much more 'magnetic' and attractive at this stage of my life than I did in my thirties or forties. Confidence in yourself, having your feet on the deck for a while and doing the most i can with my own tiny, mighty body has been like wearing a special perfume in my experience.

I hope you don't think its out of line to say this but i've seen guys in my gym in their 40's walk past women in their 30's to get to this 50 something woman even in age crazy Los Angeles. I've bet that you've had that experience.

Your inner game is soooo important. But you really can't explain that to someone who hasn't experienced that themselves.

Water, Clean and Pure

Plenty of clean water for drinking and cooking should be everyone's goal. Bottled water is expensive and of questionable value. Costco has a killer under-sink filter that is cheaper and better than anything available, trapping pathogens as well as microscopic debris. And it comes with a year's supply of filters, and a really handsome chrome water spout for your sink, all for about $150.
The Pur or Britta water pitchers with filters are a far better investment than bottled water is, except the price of the pitcher itself is ridiculous, especially for a piece of plastic that breaks easily.
Paying someone to filter tap water and supply it to you in bottles is crazy when you can use a pitcher or the Costco filter to make your own.
Drinks lots of water, but 8 glasses a day is a little much I think, unless you have a job or sport that makes you sweat profusely. Water engorges your skin and muscle cells, plumping them up, making skin softer and smoother, and giving muscle a more toned appearance.

Indespensible Workout Foods Increase Overall Attractiveness

I think you know that the best bodybuilder foods aren't just for bodybuilders.
The following foods promote glowing, healthy skin and increased muscle tone, for a more attractive you, whether you are male or female: here's a list of some of some foods you should be eating on a regular basis:

-salmon with the skin on: this kind of fat is awesomely healthy
-broccoli and asparagus
-sweet potatoes
-chicken/turkey breast
-beans / lentils
-oatmeal
-whole grain bread, rice, pasta

It goes without saying that the health benefits are decreased substantially if you add butter, cream, sugar or fatty ingredients to these, or any foods. Monosaturated oils, on the other hand, may indeed add calories, but are healthy: nut oils, olive oil, avocado oil.

Comment:
Worked chest today and I really felt the chest working. I have adopted the one-body part per workout deal. I wanted to keep training and training, but I had to force myself to stop. I wanted to do MORE! I love to train, so that was real tough; I had a lot of energy and power!
I really felt the pecs working. I was only pressing 60's, but man, the pec was working real nice.

Response:
60s are a good heavy dumbbell weight. When you see theses pro BBs doing 100 lb dumbbells, understand they are huge, have anabolic help, and are still taking chances.

Bob Paris was a major BB star in the '80s and he was questioned about his biceps workout and how he got away with doing preacher curls with a 60lb. barbell, yet he was huge and cut and the envy of all.

"If I can make a 60 feel like a 100, who's going to break the news to my biceps?", he said.

That quote was a turning point for me, as he was saying, it's not how much weight you use, it's how you use the weight.

If you watch the Charles Glass videos on bodybuilding.com, notice his instruction on posture/form when performing chest. Make sure there is no curve in your lower back: keep the entire back and shoulders completely in contact with the bench: this will force the pecs to do all the work.

I am glad to hear you are so motivated. There is nothing like seeing and feeling progress to keep you upping the ante. Instead of increasing weight, try to perfect your form, forcing the target muscle to take on more and more of the full stress of moving that weight, and also, try to rest less and less between sets for the aerobic benefit. Those two things will tire you and leave you less wanting to work out more. Put EVERYTHING, mentally and physically, into each workout, and you'll be very satisfied, and very tired. Your muscles grow while you're at rest. Don't rob your muscles of their full potential to build and shape by your taxing them again too soon.