Too much "cardio"....not for me! (part 1)

Been some time since my last "rant" or "rave",  But today....I'm baaaccckkkk!  =)

SO you've heard the mainstream and the norm right?  Ya know...to lose weight, get in better health, you gotta do this, this, this, and that.  Meaning....excercise regularly, eat 5-6 small meals a day, eat lean protien, eat a lot of veggies, avoid too much starch, avoid too much "bad carbs", avoid sugar......blah blah blah blah blah.  Right?  This isn't rocket science.  We all know you have to eat right and workout regularly.  Unless you are the .01% who is genetically blessed and don't have to lift a finger and can eat all the pizza and french fries you want and still have the body of a greek God or greek Goddess.  Am I wrong?  =)

In this blog I want to talk about the workout aspect.  The diet part will come later as I am still in the experimenting phase of my current diet.  Yes it's working like a charm but I want to give it a go for a few more months.  But since my workouts have also been giving me amazing results....I will talk about that first.

So we all know that cinco de Mayo of this year I had my knee surgery.  To make a long story short, I am bone on bone and will need a full knee replacement in the future, but not now.  I had surgery for a torn miniscus and damaged cartlidge.  They pretty much want to do a second surgery where I need an "alignment osteotomy" and where they want to inject new cells to see if I can regrow new cartlidge.  Recovery for that?  about 9 months to a year.  No thank you.  I am JUST recovering from my surgery in May.

You guys know how frustrating it was for me not being able to get to the gym.  After all that hard work.  Losing about 80 lbs and was on my way to more leaness when the knee crap happened.  I probably gained about 10-15 lbs after my surgery.  My recent Vegas pics show that really well.  You can see the difference from last years Vegas pics and this years Vegas pics.

Vegas last year:  July 2010

And Vegas of this year.  July 2011

You can clearly see the difference.  ESPECIALLY in my midsection and I wish my legs would have shown in the second bikini pic, but it was HORRENDOUS.  They were all squishy and with no muscle tone.  About 4-5 months prior to surgery I didn't do any lower body workouts except the spin class I taught once a week but even in my class I didn't use much resistance.  It was hell!  Then after surgery of course I didn't do much except go to physical therapy and try to heal as fast as I could so that I can hit it hard in the gym again.  You can tell that I lost a lot of the muscle tone in my arms and my face looks "fuller" as well.  10-15 pounds does make a big difference.  I had the "squishy" look that I dreaded.  Well, my knee isn't 100% but I am able to do lower body that I couldn't do before.

Let's track back 2 years ago when I was about 80-85 lbs heavier.  My next blog I will show from where I started (yes the mortifying fat pics) and to where I'm at now.  WHen I first started I started with the group fitness classes.  I had to start somewhere right?  For about 6 months I did nothing but these classes and then some of my own cardio and weight lifting.  I was in the gym 6 times a week.  It was spin class after body pump after bodycombat after more bodypump then the elliptical then hitting the free weights (yes the dumbells).  I was at the gym sometimes 2 1/2-3 hours a day.  Yes I lost weight but to be honest I was only becoming a smaller version of my fat self.  I had no definition.  Yes I was getting smaller, but that wasn't the look I wanted.  I wanted the vascularity, the muscles popping.  One of my favorite female fitness model is Jamie Eason.  This is what she looks like.  I love her physique.  Not only is she beautiful on the outside, she is the most humble, sincere, and kind individuals I have ever met.  She is also a woman of faith and NOT ashamed to tell everyone that.

Jamie's physique is one I want to hopefully achieve or pretty well come damn close to it.

What I realized is that I was wasting my time doing too much cardio.  You may beg to differ and I've already gotten a lot of crap from people who tell me that I'm wrong.  I'm not saying that my methods of training will work for you or anyone else.  But this is MY body and this is what is working for me.  From doing cardio 5-6 times a week I now only do "cardio" once a week and that is when I teach my spin class on tues nights.  You will never see me on another cardio machine (unless I'm warming up for 5-10 min) or another cardio class unless I'm doing it just for fun (like I really miss the Kangoo Jumps class I used to take--because it really is a fun class).  That's another thing....if you are smiling and having "fun" then you're not doing it right.  You want real results?  The workouts you do then should want to make you cry.  Go hard or go home!  ANyway, Ill get more on that later.

WHat I really wanted was a TRANSFORMATION.  Not just a smaller version of my fat self.  The group fitness excersice classes were great and yes i was losing weight, but then I stalled.  I wasn't getting the results I wanted.  That's when I met Jason.  The man you guys know I refer to as Satan.  That man has changed my life.  He wasn't your typical personal trainer who just followed you around the gym with a clipboard checking your form and telling you which workouts to do (ok, well yeah he did those things too, but stay with me here, lol).  I've worked with LOTS of trainers before.  But never one like Jason.  In part 2 of this blog I'll go more into detail about the workouts and how it's changed my life but let me just conclude this blog by saying this:
You can do all the cardio till you are blue in the face and do all the group fitness classes till you're laying in your own puddle of sweat.  But that is NOT going to do it for you.  I know this from personal experience but also my circle of friends and family in my life who has done the same things I have, but then with one little change...has changed not only their physique, but the saying...LESS IS MORE really did apply.  Hell, I'm a group fitness instructor myself.  I am in NO WAY bashing group fitness classes.  They are a GREAT addition.  But those alone is not gonna do it for you if you want to change your body.  Yes, you will lose weight and be healthier, but if you want a true transformation and change your physique.....you need to incorporate LESS cardio and more strength training.  And No bodypump does NOT count.  I am probably back to my Vegas weight of last year if not more leaner.  I think that was when I was in the best shape of my life.  The vascularity in my arms are finally starting to slowly pop through which I NEVER had.  =)
Before you send hate mail and disagree with me, let me finish this series first.  Part 2 coming tomorrow or within the week when I have time to write again.  =)  Until then.....happy training everyone!!!!!