Tighter Together: What I Learned About Myself, Lifting, and Nutrition

I started @madelinemoves Move Sweat Shred program last summer, which was my first official introduction into weight training. I then committed to her Tighter Together challenge this past spring and saw some major results. I now love to weight train (so much more than cardio!) and I've learned so much from just doing her two programs. Read below to see what I mean :)

LIFTING

I felt like a badass lifting weights and crushing goals.

I became super excited to hit the gym everyday. I wanted to push my weights and I wanted to do more burpees than the following week. Once you feel yourself getting stronger and actually start to feel lighter at the same time, you get a high. I wouldn't classify this as an addiction because I've been there and I've been in a place of obsessing over going to the gym everyday for a certain amount of time. With Madeline's challenge, I became more goal oriented and the results were only a sweet (but not small) plus!

It's not all about cardio.

I used to swear by cardio. Running a lot of miles frequently used to be the only way I thought I could feel better and see the changes in my body that I wanted to see. Being a student athlete my entire life, I became super comfortable just hitting the track or treadmill to do endurance runs, sprints, or HIIT workouts as that's mainly what I did on the field anyways during practice. This was the problem– I never stepped out of my comfort zone and allowed myself to see the change that lifting had to offer my body. I've come to realize that I hate running. I prefer walking on an incline, leisurely walking, or speed walking to get my heart rate up. A lot of women tend to think that lifting will make you bulky and grow your muscles, which is true, but that doesn't necessarily mean for major mass. It took me a while to trust the process of gaining muscle and becoming stronger in order to boost your metabolism and look leaner.

Everything stems from your core.

Some of the best workouts I've had resulted in me waking up the next morning with my abs or core super sore– even if the workout was focused on legs or upper body. A lot of people don't realize that doing 100 crunches or running 5 miles a day won't get you a sculpted core. Your diet also doesn't have to be on point and 100% perfect all of the time to achieve this either. Every single muscle you work stems from your core because it's the major muscle group that stabilizes your entire body. You don't need to train abs everyday in order to have abs. I can feel the difference in my core being tighter after just 3 days of weight training, while not doing a single ab exercise. I now try to engage my core as much as possible in all of my exercises, which is something I used to ignore. Trust me, it makes a difference and it also saves you from some major injuries (especially your back!).

Don't jump too high in weight too quickly.

After my foot surgery this summer I couldn't work out for over a month. You have no idea how much that killed me. I was so eager that when I did get back into the gym, I wanted to jump right back to where I left off. Huge mistake. Here's why: my body could not handle it. When you sacrifice your form and stability for pushing higher weights, all you're doing is punishing your muscles. I had to make myself be ok with the fact that I was starting from ground 0 with 10lb weights for every exercise– even my legs, which are my powerhouse! I had to remind myself that it was ok and I would get to that point eventually, but for right now, what I was doing was enough for where I was at it will make a difference. That being said, I learned this because when I first started getting used to lifting and doing Madeline's challenge, I wanted to lift more weight faster as I was continuing to crush goals. Slow and steady aways wins the race. Sometimes it's good to push your weight because you may not realize that you can go heavier, but never ever sacrifice your form or stability for those heavier numbers or because someone else is going higher.

Form is key, not repetition pace.

Again, don't sacrifice your form for anything. The trend seems to be lower weights with more repetition, but the problem with this is if you're going too light then you can go too fast, which results in less stabilized form and not much of a challenge– meaning not much of a change. You want to do lower reps with proper form and a weight that's challenging, but not overdoing it.

The difference between hypertrophy and compound movements.

This is honestly probably one of the biggest things that I learned during this challenge and I'm so glad that I did. Madeline would split the weeks up into hypertrophy weeks and compound weeks, with each day focused on a different muscle group. It was the perfect schedule because you trained upper body and lower body twice during the week, 1 HIIT session, and 1 full body workout with some cardio thrown in throughout. Weeks 1 and 3 focused on hypertrophy movements, which incorporated multiple muscle groups for difference exercises. Weeks 2 and 4 focused on compound movements, which were designed to work specific muscle groups at a time. It was very interesting to learn about this and extremely helpful in creating my own workouts in the future.

NUTRITION

Nutrition is where your hard work shows.

Yes, you put the hour of work in everyday at the gym through sweat, calices, and a bright red face (or is that just me?), but you have no idea why nothing is changing. First off, if you're not lifting weights then you actually won't see any change in your body composition. Second, your nutrition doesn't have to be perfect to see change either, but I've experienced first hand that the numbers play a big part in your results. I saw this with doing macros for the first time on this challenge. I was actually amazed at how much my body changed when I switched my workouts to weight training and fed my body the right amount of fuel it needed in order to perform in the gym. Sometimes I would eat too little during the day in general, but wouldn't even think about it. Sometimes I ate way too much fat and not enough protein. Sometimes I ate way too much protein and not enough carbs. Giving your body the consistent amount of proper fuel each day will do wonders. I'm not a fan of macros because it can be too obsessive for me, which is a point below, but I now know at least the range of carbs, protein, and fats that my body needs in order to ~thrive~ at it's full potential.

Don't be afraid of carbs.

Seriously, just don't be. I used to be deathly afraid of them, but they are necessary. You're either going to take this piece of advice as it is or gloss over this one, so I'm going to leave it at that.

You need to hydrate.

Water, water, water. Don't skimp out on your ounces because it matters! This doesn't only matter in terms of glowing skin, digestion, feeling lighter, and better sleep, but it also contributes to how your body feels and is able to perform in the gym. Your body will feel so crappy (excuse my language) if you don't hydrate properly. Just do it!

Nothing has to be perfect.

This is a huge thing that Madeline did a great job of reminding everyone during the challenge– nothing has to be, or is perfect. Stop worrying about the things you can't control and just focus on the things that you can. Stop trying so hard to make everything perfect because it's not sustainable. Just do the best you can because any effort at all will add up and make a difference.

MY MENTALITY.

All bodies respond differently.

This was really proven to me not just with my macro numbers, but also going through the challenge and seeing different people's responses to certain things. Of course all of our numbers are going to be different in terms of macros, weights that we lift, how many hours we work, how many minutes we spend at the gym, how many hours we sleep at night– literally everything. This is why no body is the same and not one person will respond the same way to anything. Try to remember that and stop being so damn hard on yourself for how your own body exists.

Progress photos.

It's the only way you will be able to see the change in your results. Don't even ask me about the scale because my number actually didn't even budge on this challenge, but my clothes were so much more comfortable, some even looser, and I could see how much leaner I had gotten in my before and after pictures. I know they're cringey to some people (myself included), but it really does show the differences that you can't see from just looking in the mirror everday.

Once you learn the basics, you'll thrive.

I now feel like I can make my own workouts and use weight training terminology with ease. Granted, I still go back to Madeline's Tighter Together and Move Sweat Shred workouts all of the time for inspiration or when I need something quick, but I feel much more comfortable in the gym because I know what to do and how to do it.

Macro's aren't for me.

This was mentioned earlier, but I feel the need to reiterate it. Since I come from a background of disordered eating, I am not a fan of macros. It can be obsessive for me and I've grown out of that. It's also honestly too much effort and time. I know my general numbers and what works best for my body, but more importantly I know when I've over eaten or when my body needs more fuel. Not going to lie, I also don't want the added stress of logging every single meal, morsel, treat, or glass of wine that I consume because I just don't care that much. Everyone is different though and this is in absolute no offense to Madeline because she has a body that is on fire and is an awesome coach, but she has also been doing it for a while and is comfortable with it. I am not so that's how I know it's not for me. Now, if I am trying to cut or get back into shape I would consider logging and following a macro plan for a short amount of time until I reach my goal, but in terms of a lifestyle it's just not something that I see being sustainable for me. If you have never done it and are interested in trying it, I would definitely encourage you to do it! You won't know if it's for you until you do it.

Don't hate where you're at, get excited about where you're going.

It's taken me a while to get into this mentality, but since I have I can honestly say that my outlook has changed for the better. It made going through my surgery and recovery so much easier and less stressful. I was obviously uncomfortable at times with not going to the gym, not being as active, or not having any control over my situation, but I kept reminding myself that this was temporary and I would soon be back in control of my own schedule. Currently being in that spot, I am still not where I want to be, but that's fine. I was only able to lift with 10lb weights for the first 2 weeks of working out, which is a lot less than what I was able to train with before. However, I just made my way up to 15lbs this week and I know I'll eventually keep advancing and getting stronger with every day that I walk into the gym with this mentality. It's a process and it should be exciting knowing that what you do can pay off.

FINAL THOUGHTS

If you've never tried out @madelinemoves Tighter Together Challenge or her Move Sweat Shred Program, I highly recommend checking it out. It has taught me so many things about weight training, my own body, my personal mentality, and provided me with a goal oriented attitude. She's a great coach and such a sweet, inspiring person! She is also very reasonable on pricing, which is always a fat plus. I hope some of these thoughts have rung true to some of you and encourages you to take a look at what she has to offer (this is NOT in any way sponsored– just my true opinion that I want to share!). Also check out her app for $20/month because she posts a new workout everyday. If you do check her out and try out the plan, let me know!

~

stay vibrant

xo lindsay