Renae's Introduction

[Rosiesan]

Hello there,

 

My name is Renae. I'm 26 years old.
 

In high school I was very active in theater and marching band, but then in college I spent too much time drinking and playing video games.

 

Now I'm all gown up (HA!) working full time, married, with a house and a baby.

 

I just ran my first 5k and as much fun as it was, I realized I just am not a runner. A friend of mine recently won a body building competition and it got me interested in lifting weights. One google search after another and I found strength training which led me here. Honestly at first I thought it was a boys club until I read about Stacy and then I was hooked.

I'm 175lbs right now with lots of extras left over from the pregnancy that I'd like to get rid of, but now I'm really interested in seeing how strong I can become.

 

My daughter is only 9 months old, but I want her to grow up thinking of me as this super strong woman mentally and physically.

 

This was my first week attempting to properly perform a dead lift and squat as well and scope out the free weights section. This is the hardest part at the moment is making sure I'm performing these moves correctly without paying someone to train me.

 

My current goals are:

Dead lift 1.5x my body weight
Do 15 Pushups (properly in a row)

Do a pullup

Here's a routine I've put together for at least my first 6 weeks:

Week 1:
Day 1: Strength Training 1: squats, push ups, inverted row, back extensions
Day 2: Cardio
Day 3: Strength Training 2:dead lifts, standing press, lat pull downs, back extensions
Day 4: Cardio
Day 5: Strength Training 1
Day 6: Rest
Day 7: Rest

Week 2:
Day 1: Strength Training 2
Day 2: Cardio
Day 3: Strength Training 1
Day 4: Cardio
Day 5: Strength Training 2
Day 6: Rest
Day 7: Rest

 

Repeat those two weeks for 6 weeks then see where I'm at.

 

I know my hardest part is going to be the diet. Working full time, going to school full time, taking care of my child, and normal household chores makes it difficult to find time to cook let alone a healthy meal. A lot of nights end up being frozen pizza.

 

I'm ready to see what my body can do!

[blkhole24601]

Fellow band geek! I did a lot of marching band and drum corps in high school and college, and now I'm doing theatre as an adult, which keeps me plenty occupied!

 

And I do understand the sentiment of being too busy to cook. I'm trying to carve the time to do it, even if for the weekend anyway I'm relying on easy-to-throw-together meals like salads to try to be healthy. I've also found that hard-boiling a dozen eggs and keeping them in the refrigerator is a useful thing, too.

 

But welcome! And what kind of cardio are you looking to do? (And serious props for your goal to do free weights. I'm still wary of them myself. Someday, though!)

[Rosiesan]

But welcome! And what kind of cardio are you looking to do? (And serious props for your goal to do free weights. I'm still wary of them myself. Someday, though!)

 

Thanks! I've found that I like to do interval jogs on the treadmill for 20 min increments 3 times. I do 4mph 1:30 then 6mph for 2:00. and do that for about 20 min. It keeps me interested. I was just doing straight runs training for the 5k but I've found I get bored very easily.

 

We do try to plan out our menu for the week on Sundays and get all the ingredients so that my husband can get veggies chopped or prepared during the day and I can cook it when I get home at night (Our schedules are weird). This does help most of the time.

 

Go for the weights! It really does make you feel BA!

[blkhole24601]

Thanks! I've found that I like to do interval jogs on the treadmill for 20 min increments 3 times. I do 4mph 1:30 then 6mph for 2:00. and do that for about 20 min. It keeps me interested. I was just doing straight runs training for the 5k but I've found I get bored very easily.

 

We do try to plan out our menu for the week on Sundays and get all the ingredients so that my husband can get veggies chopped or prepared during the day and I can cook it when I get home at night (Our schedules are weird). This does help most of the time.

 

Go for the weights! It really does make you feel BA!

 

Intervals do make things a lot easier and funner, I agree!

 

I'm trying to get back into the groove of making meal plans for the week, and maybe even trying to do a lot of cooking/pre-cooking on the weekends. It makes a world of difference. And it's awesome that you have help.

 

One of my goals is to do more strength training. Maybe someday I can walk into a weights room with a bunch of dudes and scare them with how much I can lift, but I have a loooooooooooong way to go before I get there. If you're okay with me asking, how much are you lifting now?

[Rosiesan]

Intervals do make things a lot easier and funner, I agree!

 

I'm trying to get back into the groove of making meal plans for the week, and maybe even trying to do a lot of cooking/pre-cooking on the weekends. It makes a world of difference. And it's awesome that you have help.

 

One of my goals is to do more strength training. Maybe someday I can walk into a weights room with a bunch of dudes and scare them with how much I can lift, but I have a loooooooooooong way to go before I get there. If you're okay with me asking, how much are you lifting now?

 

Well this was my first week. So I'm still focusing on form and not weight.

Squat: Just doing body weight so 0

Overhead Press: bar (45 I think?)

Dead lift: 60

Bench: bar

 

Seriously nothing to write home about, but it's a start!

[blkhole24601]

That's awesome! Better than me, and we all have to start somewhere! Right now I'm focused on body weight and low (I'm talking 10-lbs or less) dumbbells.  Can't wait to watch your progress!

[Rosiesan]

Thanks same to you!!