Slowly, surely, making the body of my dreams

[newgirl-chargeback]

Yes, it takes time, patience, planning. But like so many dreams, you also may have to alter your dreams to accomodate reality, and a large part of achieveing the 'body of your dreams' is to shift your perspectives on what that body is and can be. If your 5 foot nuttin, there's no point in dreaming of being a 5'10 leggy blonde! Likewise, not everyone is designed to be a topnotch competitive bodybuilder no matter how hard they try (or how many drugs they take or how much plastic surgery they have), but they can be lean, strong and healthy for life if they make THAT their dream.

Wow, nicely said.

 

[VeggieLifterChick]

Thanks for that post, Steel!

 

[wateengedoe2]

Yes, it takes time, patience, planning. But like so many dreams, you also may have to alter your dreams to accomodate reality, and a large part of achieveing the 'body of your dreams' is to shift your perspectives on what that body is and can be. If your 5 foot nuttin, there's no point in dreaming of being a 5'10 leggy blonde! Likewise, not everyone is designed to be a topnotch competitive bodybuilder no matter how hard they try (or how many drugs they take or how much plastic surgery they have), but they can be lean, strong and healthy for life if they make THAT their dream.

Indeed! Look at this site of my all time favorite Krista (main site here)

 

[SteelWeaver]

Ah, sensible MS. But of course, you are right. But it IS reality that I am speaking about here. The reality of our corporeality is that staying healthy and looking good take time, effort, patience, diligence, persistence, sacrifice, energy, consistency, yes, planning, knowledge, and all those other things that most people simply use as excuses to say, to hell with it.

But others of us just say, Cool! Another challenge

I don't wanna be just like my trainer (lol, there's no way I could anyway, ha ha - she doesn't even come up to my armpit!). I just want to be the best I can - whatever that is. I'm pretty sure by this point that I haven't been blessed with world class genes, (sigh, oh well) but I certainly HAVE been blessed with a whole lot of optimism, patience, perseverance, etc etc - all the above. So SOMETHING good has to come of that, and I'm seeing it every day in the mirror, and feeling it every time I lift something, jog up some stairs ... you know, use my body.

So, I'll be lean, strong and healthy for life AND be a pretty good competitive bodybuilder ... I mean, hey, I haven't come LAST yet, and even if I did, getting up on the stage is the achievement, placing well is simply an added pleasure

Keep on keeping on, girls.

 

[VeggieLifterChick]

I read that link, Wateen, and one thing on it made me wonder...She wrote that if you have narrow hips, take up running. Is that to say that having narrow hips and successful bodybuilding are incompatible?

I have narrow hips, and I do have weak legs (upper body is way way stronger), but I can't run all that fast. Shit, if this means I'm not gonna do so good with bodybuilding, I'm screwed.

 

[wateengedoe2]

Veggie, I think she means, if you have a special talent for a certain sport, try it. And women with narrow hips are (like men) better runners than women with broad hips in general. Of course it's not the only thing that counts, but having broad hips makes it easier to give birth, but harder to run w/o swinging your hips too much. I think it's just an example, not meant to say women with narrow hips can't bodybuild (if men, with their narrow hips can, so why wouldn't we be able to? )

Interesting ... I have much stronger legs than upper body, but probably that's because I only started bodybuilding half a year ago. I've already biked a lot (for transport, not for sport ) and I found out this weekend (by determining the number of reps I can make with 80% of my 1RM on leg press) that I have quite a lot red muscle fibre in my legs, while in my upper body is mostly white muscle fibre. 15 reps with 80% of 1RM on legpress and only 5 on biceps curl and latpully! (chest and triceps are in between, with dumbell press 8 reps and French press 7 reps). So I would probably make a good runner, but I don't like the skinny me, so I will never take up long distance running. I like hiking though, but I have to eat, eat and eat again to keep my weight! My short distance running has become MUCH better because of heavy leg training (more white fibre I think, and bigger glycogen stores). A few months ago I had to run about 200 metres to catch a train and some guy started running faster .. Then after 100 metres or so I caught up with him and reached that train way earlier, LOL, he was very surprised!

I'm one of those women who'll never be photo model, but I'm pleased with the changes in my body so far (e.g. the short distance running and the extra strength) and there's much, much more I can accomplish in the future when I just go on like I'm doing right now

 

[SteelWeaver]

Is that to say that having narrow hips and successful bodybuilding are incompatible?

I have narrow hips, and I do have weak legs ..... (

But this is just what I'm talking about here VLC, and what MS means - forget about whether you have "the right body" the right genetics, blah de blah. Just keep training and eating well and resting well and avoiding stress and doing other things you enjoy and you will be lean, healthy and strong for life - leaner, stronger and healthier than you are now. And you'll never know if you'll make a good bodybuilder unless you TRY.

My trainer told me she never just set her sights on the Olympia and then trained toward that goal - she just kept on the path she had chosen, and took each step as it came, and it just happened that the Olympia was where the steps came out in the end. It was a natural progression.

Certainly it has been proven numerous times by multiple studies that weight training and clean eating improve quality of life and life expectancy greatly, so for sure there is nothing to be lost by following an intelligent training and nutrition plan consistently.