The In-Between Stage: The workout rut that is slowly adding to your gut

Have you ever gotten to that in-between stage?  The stage where you are not currently training for anything, but you aren’t being a total waste of life at the same time? Are you sitting there asking yourself, how do I get out of this rut? What do I do next? If you are currently asking these questions or have asked these questions before, do not fret….I am right there with ya! For the first time in almost a year, I am not training for anything in particular and I am not sure what I should do next.

Over the past five weeks I have had a lot of big things happening in my personal life, which limited my gym sessions to sporadic at best. I continued to stay active and I maintained myself by watching my diet, however, I had no plan on when I would get a good workout in or what my workout might consist of.  Over the past two weeks, my life has gradually become more consistent and I have made it into the gym 4 times each of these weeks, and I am starting to get into a routine that allows me to carve out a chunk of my day for the gym.  But as I lay there last night thinking, I realized that am still walking into the gym without a structured plan. There has been no method to the type of workouts I am doing and I have no specific goals in which to accomplish.  This brought me to the realization that I am morphing into one of the rest of mankind…a mindless being pilling around the gym.

Since this is not an appealing image and I’m sure many people do not want to be in this category, I have been doing some research in hopes that I can come up with a structured in-between workout plan.  I am planning on posting my plan/results weekly and will be tailoring it as I go, however, here is a little insight as to where I got my inspiration…

There are many top female fitness professionals out there that have their own theories on working out.  The names reoccurring on most lists are Rachel Cosgrove, Neghar Fonooni, and Flavia Del Monte. What happened to Jillian Michaels you ask? Well this is a list of top female fitness professionals, not top GROSSING female fitness professionals, lol.

Why are these specific females on my list? Primarily because their stories and lifestyle is an inspiration to myself. Rachel Cosgrove is the author of the best selling book, The Female Body Breakthrough, and is dedicated to connecting with women of all ages and giving her professional advice to other fitness professionals. Neghar Fonooni is not only a performance training specialist, but she is also a mother and the founder of the movement, Girls Gone Strong, which focuses on both the benefits and the misconceptions of strength and power training. The next on the list, Flavia Del Monte, is someone who I really connected my personal story with.  She didn’t start focusing on working out until her early to mid twenties and really wasn’t dedicated until she started focusing on the nutrition aspect. She suggests many good books including How to Drink While Dieting and Metabolic Cooking; and has even created her own workout system, FULL-BODY-LICIOUS.

Though these fitness females are very inspirational, my research does not end there. There are many components that go into creating a complete fitness plan; Training, Motivation, Supplements, and Nutrition.  My goal (motivation) is to keep up my strength and physique so it is easy to spring back into training mode when I decide on my next challenge. My goal (training) is to keep my workout regime to 60-90 minutes, 4-5 days a week. My goal (supplements) is to aid my workout without breaking the bank and without establishing absolute dependence. My goal (nutrition) is to lean towards the healthy end of the spectrum while maintaining my social lifestyle and being able to indulge in scrumptious food from time to time. It is important to establish your fitness goals prior to starting or creating a fitness plan to maintain motivation and to prevent lapsing back into that workout rut.

Stay tuned for more to come…