My take on my fitness journey and my current workout split (fitness series part 1)

To talk about my fitness journey in a comprehensive way is quite difficult, simply because my fitness journey hasn't been super exciting or adventurous or anything like that. In fact, for most of my primary school career I was a mediocre netball player and an even more mediocre track and field athlete. I used to take part in the occasional long jump, hurdles or sprinting event and played some netball leagues, but that's about it. In my pre-primary and early primary school days I used to do some gymnastics and modern dancing, which I thoroughly enjoyed, but these hobbies became a bit too expensive as the years went by and a private school education became the top priority. It wasn't until I was about 16 that I started crafting my own "fitness regime" or routine according to my likes and strengths.

For the most part of my high school career I did middle and long distances at athletics events and I played some netball. When I was grade 10 I decided to quit netball and I also stopped my athletics training, simply because I was far more interested in a multitude of cultural and academic activities and also because I was sick and tired of feeling like I was about to faint and throw up after running 400m laps in 37 degree Celsius weather every afternoon. This was sort of a weird stage in my life because I didn't really know what to do anymore. I knew I couldn't stop being active altogether, because then I would probably have to stop eating and that was never even an option. So I started doing small circuit exercises and workouts in the tiny space I had in my room. At one stage I even did the famous Kayla Itsines BBG (Bikini Body Guide) plan and I would do 28 minutes of HIIT training in my room with minimal equipment almost every single day. I have to admit that this was probably one of the times in my life where I was at my very skinniest but there came a point where I got bored of this type of training as well. So in September 2016, for my first date with the guy who I have now been dating for almost 3 years, I went to a real gym for the first time in my life and I fell in love - not only with Rory, but with squats and the leg press machine. For the first time ever I found a form of training that was made just for me - it was fun, it was challenging but not discouraging, it made me feel strong and empowered and I just knew this was what I wanted to do, maybe even for the rest of my life.

Fast forward almost 3 years later and I am still an avid weightlifter. The gym is one of my happiest places and a place where I can challenge myself with every single set, every single rep and every single time I lift a weight. What initially made me gravitate towards weight training especially was the fact that you can burn an insane amount of calories in an hour, for example, yet still feel completely fine afterwards. You don't have to feel like your lungs are collapsing and like you are swallowing small droplets of blood for a weight training session to be effective. All I had to do was challenge myself a little bit beyond the point of comfort every time.

However, I'm not going to say one never hits periods of being demotivated by weight training, especially when your progress reaches somewhat of a plateau and you start feeling like you are in a major fitness rut. For this reason, it's very important to constantly switch up your workout routine. In fact, some experts even recommend changing your workout routine every 8-12 weeks. Usually what I do in times like these, is I try to incorporate small amounts of cardio and HIIT into my training - just so I can amp up my calories burned and feed my need for variety in the gym. My current workout split consists of about 2 upper body days, 2 lower body days, 1 day of HIIT and 2 rest days per week. I also try to start every lifting session with 20 minutes of walking at an incline on the treadmill. For upper body days I like to do a day of back and shoulders and a day of chest and triceps or chest and biceps. My lower body days usually consist of a quad and hamstring day and a glute and calve day.

BUT, this is only part 1 of the fitness series and I will go into progressively more detail regarding my workout split and favourite muscle groups to train as the weeks go by in this series. Thank you for supporting my blog and embarking on this exciting series with me!