Today is my birthday. It’s actually not just any birthday, but in my mind it’s a milestone birthday – 45. Forty FIVE! That doesn’t seem possible in my mind. I sure don’t feel that old. In honor of being old, I wanted to take a moment to remind you that it’s never too late to start working on fitness and health. I waited four decades, stumbled, but then found my way and left the first 40 years in the dust.
I spent years doing (off and on) various fitness trends and reading the latest and greatest health advice. Most women are used to doing supersets and circuits to lift weights intermixed with cardio bursts or intervals. You find this type of workout in magazines like Shape, Fitness, Women’s Health. There are tons of classes with this concept using 5, 8, 10 lb dumbbells. Multitask, they say. Save valuable time and do supersets. Sounds perfect, doesn’t it? Let’s chat.
When I first started working out with a trainer a few years ago, we focused mainly on circuits. It keeps your heart rate up and burns a ton of calories. It’s great for weight loss but not much of a muscle builder. At that point, I was more concerned with being healthy and getting my cholesterol down than how I looked in the mirror.
Mission accomplished relatively quickly. My cholesterol and body fat finally got under control and my thoughts turned to how I looked. After I got my first competition under my belt, I decided to join a competition team. The one I picked is nationally known for training and nutrition. I was busy and had no free time to spare, and the workouts were focused on supersets and circuits.
I crushed my workouts week after week. I sweated profusely, breathed hard, left the gym by crawling most days and felt like I was going to get some kick butt results from all the effort I was putting in. More is more, right? More sweat, more effort, more results. After a year of working on the team, I realized something. I didn’t look better.
In fact if I had to be honest, I’d say that I looked worse after killing myself 6 times a week in the gym. I felt like I lived there. If I wasn’t in the gym during lunch, I was doing something once I got home. It.was.exhausting. Who has time to do that week after week. I had a job, a kid, a life, a need to do something besides working out. This coming from someone who lives to workout. I’ll admit I’m an overachiever which is why it took me so long to reach the point of giving up. I actually didn’t care if I ever lifted a weight again. I was done. End of the fitness quest with no pot o’ gold.
It was around this time that I stumbled across a new idea purely by accident. (Fitting that yet another part of my fitness quest was an accident.) This accident came in the form of straight sets. Bro lifting AKA Growth Stimulus Training. After doing my research into this straight set concept that the “guys” had used for years, I still wasn’t convinced.
I grilled the founder, Ryan Miller, like a crazed defense attorney. It finally boiled down to either giving up and doing nothing or trying straight sets and seeing if it did anything. I wasn’t going to continue as I had been. I had nothing to lose by trying something new. So try I did. I felt awkward standing around between sets, twiddling my thumbs and weird finishing so quickly. At first I added on to my workouts and walked a lap during each set so I didn’t just stand there feeling silly. I was out of the gym in about 45 minutes, an hour tops… 4 times a week.
I had three other days with no gym to do whatever I felt like. Spend time with The Kid, yoga, watch TV, make dinner. I even had a couple lunch hours during the week to EAT LUNCH. I know you’re wondering if there was any difference once I changed over to straight sets. I’ll let you answer that from my before and after picture. 
The Before was after a year of 6 days a week, every week using supersets and circuits. I didn’t miss a workout during that time so it wasn’t lack of dedication on my part. Not one workout missed, seriously. The After was 9 months of 4 days a week lifting using straight sets and resting between sets. Guess which method I prefer and now use with all of my clients.
You don’t need to do more reps, more sets, more exercises to see a change. You don’t have to leave the gym crawling or feel spent to get results. You don’t have to be shaking and sore for days. More is not more in this case and you don’t need to add on. You just need a proven program based on your goals.
I now refer to this kind of lifting as “The Lazy Woman’s Workout.” Tongue in cheek of course. I look back at my old workouts and am so glad that I’m lazy now. My results are 1000+ times better because of it. Most of my clients lift 3 days a week, and none lift more than 4. Trust the process and be lazy with me.
Here are a few things I’ve heard from clients recently:
“I eat more and workout WAY less… Seriously… It’s crazy. I only go to the gym and work out 3x a week for an hour.” – Melanie
“I am beginning to see small changes in my body that are helping me to trust in the program and the process. I love that I’m seeing results even though I’m not at the gym every day like I used to be!” – Kristen
“Some of the sets I looked at and thought ‘no way’ then surprised myself. I do feel better and I love what I’m doing. It makes me feel strong; like I’m doing something really good for myself. Wouldn’t be doing it without you!” – Jane
“I’m going to be one fit very pregnant lady who can kick someone’s butt. I’ve noticed my arms are feeling and looking better. I even catch myself flexing in the mirror at the gym.” – Summer
“I want to say ‘Thank you’ from deep down in my heart. You have made the progression and experience of lifting so much more enjoyable. Again thank you for your encouragement and devotion over the past months. You are an amazing coach and that has made things so easy.” – Darren
We’re all average every day people. We are moms, moms to be, older, younger, with families and with empty nests. I also have a few guys thrown in the mix so maybe I need to rethink the Lazy Woman’s Workout label. LOL. Guys, you can be lazy too.
If you’re interested in seeing just what you can do regardless of age or anything else, let me know at adrianne@growthstimulustraining.com and we’ll talk about what we can do together. In the meantime, you can learn more about my online training and nutrition programs and see what other clients have to say.
The only question I have is what are you going to do with all your free time?
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