It's All Working Out

Welcome back to another entry for 'Consistently Inconsistent', which have been weirdly consistent come to think of it.

But, I guess that's quite fitting for today's post, as I'm really starting to see some results now - with both weight loss and muscle gain - and the key to all this has been... you guessed it - consistency.

I've been working out very regularly and keeping on top of my diet too (with a few takeaways here and there). Plus, I'm finally getting into a routine with training legs, which has always been a problem for me and was a huge goal for my return to the gym. Essentially, all this working out, is working out and I'm beginning to reap the rewards for all the hard work.

With all of this consistency, has come a great deal of enjoyment in my workouts - from bettering my form to upping my weights, and gaining more confidence as a result. So, I thought it would be a great time to share some of my favourite workouts, along with a few tips and tricks I've picked up from fitness gurus across the web.

Back

Back days - previously one of my most hated workouts - are quickly becoming a favourite of mine.

After doing some research, checking out different exercises and form tips to growing a bigger back - I've seen a real improvement in strength and size. I can target the specific muscles much more easily and feel the burn far more than I used to - for a long time I wasn't experiencing any DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) after back days, which is a huge indicator I wasn't working hard enough. Now, these sessions leave me unable to reach for a door handle without feeling an ache in my lats. It may not sound too enjoyable, but there's something great in knowing how hard you've worked and it's nice, in a way, to be reminded of that even when you stand up from a chair.

Anyway, here's what I do for most of my back sessions - with a few tweaks here and there. This usually takes me about an hour and a half and sometimes I'll do different exercises or more sets, depending on how I'm feeling. But I'll ALWAYS up the weight and/or reps for each exercise, at least every 2 sessions, if not every time.

Shoulders

Now I'd be tempted to say this is my favourite workout, but my preferences vary week-to-week.

There's something about the style of the exercises and the muscular results too, that appeal to me. I tend to do more sets and reps with shoulder workouts, to aim for definition over bulk. I also tend to do multiple sets at different weights, purely to extend the workout time for each given exercise - maybe I should broaden my horizons and learn a few more exercises, but for now, I have my favourites.

This workout tends to take me an hour or so. Same rules apply for progressive overload here, but the progression is slightly slower - with bigger jumps between weights (especially on cable machines), it will take me far longer to make that leap. There is also some crossover in muscles I work in my back sessions, with some trap and delt-focused exercises for my shoulder sessions too.

Legs

Legs... the workout I've spent almost all my time avoiding, yet somehow it's becoming one of my most enjoyable sessions. I think it's mostly because I feel far more comfortable knowing what I'm doing now that I've finally made a start. Plus, the motivation to avoid little chicken legs has never been stronger, so I'm making sure I always do leg day once a week.

These sessions tend to take me around 90 minutes as I like to do most of the exercises at two different weights for multiple sets to really test my strength and ensure I'm working hard. It also helps me to do this, as I don't have experience in a wide variety of exercises, but doing all of these still ensure I hit every muscle in the workout.

So, there you have it - a few of my favourite workouts at the moment. I do all of these at least once a week, and sometimes mix them in with other workouts where I may end up doing a whole 2 hour session. I'll be trying to broaden my knowledge in the gym, to give myself some different exercises and keep things interesting, so I don't get bored.

But for the moment, the consistency is there and that's my biggest concern.

Stay tuned for some more workouts and eventually my entire plan.