Summer Weightlifting Project- Post #6

Well, summer is winding down. I've accomplished so much with this project, and I'm really happy about it! My logs are completed, I've tracked everything, I stuck with my original plans, and in the end everything has worked out near flawlessly. With that being said, I better finish up these last couple blog posts within the next few days. Some of you may be wondering why my posts are so late! Well, it's only because I didn't want to make posts about nothing where there weren't results. Also, I had a week a deload, where you lift much less in order to recover. Quite frankly, there just isn't much to write on for a week like that!

This week I've learned the importance of mixing up your routine. Sure, trainers and coaches are constantly telling athletes to mix up your routine, but I feel that it's only something you can really understand unless you do feel the effects of mixing up your routine yourself. Throughout most of my project, I was doing low sets, and low reps. With this routine, I was constantly gaining strength, but after a while my body was becoming used to this. This week, I decided to change things up a bit. I made the decision to have a shorter, but much more intense workout with less break in between each set. In stead of 3 sets of 5 reps, I was doing 4 sets of about 8-12 reps, which definitely kicked hypertrophy into gear. After this, I was sore for about 3 days, so I know it's working!

Overall, this project has just gone really well. It's the beginning of summer, who really wants to do a summer project? Well, it's really payed off. I feel that my project has taken so much research, especially before starting. I was reading so many different articles trying to figure out my approach. Other than the articles themselves, I made sure I read up on the same topic from multiple different people so I wasn't getting a biased opinion. Trying to figure out what to eat was really tough too, I wanted to gain healthy weight; not fat. The research definitely payed off, as I've gained a solid 10 pounds throughout this summer with my bodyfat percentage not budging at all (no bodyfat change due to soccer). I'll continue to finish up my last posts, and in the mean time, have a great summer!