Fitness Files :Women, Weight Training & Supplements

Heyyy Girls!!!
Every time I finish my weight training routine, my trainer makes it a point to remind me, "Madam, please have one scoop of Iso as soon as you get home." He knows me pretty well you see. He knows that I never carry my whey protein to the gym and would quiet conveniently forget to have it even when I reach back home.



Back in 2008, in my desperate quest to lose the extra kilos I piled on in my blissful stage of being newly married, I took to cardio exercises with a vengeance. I practically killed myself, going from being a complete couch potato to a 90 minutes, 6 times a week cardio maniac. I lost weight, 20 kilos in 7 months to be precise. However, I had a tough time losing the last 10 kilos, not because my work out routine had hit a plateau. But because the floor trainers at my gym would constantly give me unsolicited advise that my weight loss was nothing but muscle loss. I, being a novice in the world of fitness science conveniently turned a deaf ear to them.

Me in 2008. weighing close to 68 kgs.

For nearly two entire years of my life, cardio using the regular gym equipments formed most of my work outs. It still does. I still run about 50 kms/week on the treadmill and also cross train sometimes. But it was only after I had my first baby that I realised the importance of strength training or weights as it is better known. Once I found out that I was expecting, I knew I would need to make major amends to my cardio dominated work out regime. I knew that inspite of being in top shape, I would find it difficult to run as much as I did before. This is when my hubby suggested I incorporate a little more weights and stretching exercises in my work out regime, than I used to before pregnancy. I hired an experienced trainer at my gym to help me out with maintaining my muscle tone intact whilst pregnant. I continued this routine till about 20 days before my son's birth which for the curious was all natural and epidural free.

In my third trimester



I realised the benefit of exercising through my pregnancy and also what a blessing it had been for me when just 3 weeks postpartum I was down to my pre-pregnancy weight. Of course I had some loose muscle tone on my stomach and inner thighs but I knew it was nothing which a dedicated weight training routine could not take care of. I have never been the one to diet because I love my food too much. I am the sorts who plan their dinner while eating their breakfast. I have never discriminated between various food groups just because the latest fad diet is asking me to. Like any Indian, wheat and rice are a part of my daily diet, present in some form in my three major meals of the day. Eating 5 regular meals a day, feeding my son and 45 minutes of cardio started once my baby was 22 days old was what I followed for nearly three months after his birth.

Me and my son, 8 days post partum





Do you want to know more about weight training for women and the importance of protein supplements in your diet? Please wait for the next post in the Fitness Files series!