Winter Is Coming | New Fitness Goals, Diet & Workout & Growing the Booty

So a bit of a chatty one today! I wanted to talk a little about my new fitness goals & why it's so important to keep refresh your goals! I've been weight training for over 2 years now & like anyone, I have my lows & highs when it comes to motivation. But what I find helps me focus the most is setting myself new goals & trying new things - constantly changing things up & keeping it exciting! And since the big summer motivator is now behind us, I needed to look for something new, to keep me committed.

So I've decided to attempt a lean bulk. And what better time of year to attempt it, than a time when you're wrapped up in layers! But why? Well over the summer, I experimented with cutting, by introducing a calorie deficit of around 300. This worked amazingly, but I did notice my muscle mass & strength started to decrease. So after a little research & I decided to give bulking a shot. This is the next logical stage now in my fitness journey, for me to progress both physically & to improve my strength - and that's why it excites me so much, as it's a chance for me to improve at what I love!

Muscle mass isn't the only thing you gain whilst doing a bulk, you'll naturally gain some fat too & this scares me a little! As a woman, so rarely do we aim to put on weight, especially after such a long time of trying to decrease my body fat! But I know with the right control & information, I can keep fat gain to a minimum.

So how do I plan to keep control? It's going to be so important for me to keep track of numbers - my weight, body fat percent, muscle mass, macros etc. In doing so I can monitor exactly how my food intake is affecting my body composition. But numbers is only part of it, I also need control. Although the idea of bulking brings to mind eating loads of extra food, it still matters what you eat! Unfortunately cake for breakfast, lunch & dinner is not on the menu! Instead its essential that I'm eating clean, natural foods that my body can make good use of, instead of sugar & processed foods. I'll be making sure I hit my protein & fat intake, whilst making up the remainder of my calories with carbs. If you're unsure on how to calculate your macros, check out my post Master Your Macros. I'll also be slowly increasing my calorie intake, maybe starting off by introducing a 100-150 calorie surplus & seeing how that effects my body. One things for sure, I'll be introducing my additional calories slowly, rather than upping them by 500 instantly!

As for my workouts, I'll be focusing on less reps per set when weight training (around 6-10 reps for 3-5 sets, depending on what I'm training), so I can really focus on lifting heavier & increasing strength alongside. I'll also be paying more attention to rest periods when lifting heavier & really challenging my muscles. As for cardio, I'm going to try my best to work it into some of my lower impact workouts through HIIT, for example on core days. And I'll still continue to do my yoga & stretching post workout, to try to keep my muscles flexible & elongated.

So what am I hoping to achieve with this? I really want to build a little muscle all over & no, I'm not scared of becoming bulky all of a sudden! It takes a lot of hard work & a long time to build muscle, especially for females! I'll be paying particular attention to my lower body - especially the butt! I also hope to increase my strength alongside - maybe I'll finally be able to do 5 pull ups in a row by the end...?!

Now I did warn you this was going to be a chatty one! I really hope some of you think about joining me in this journey. I'll be doing a more detailed post shortly about how to bulk & will be keeping you updated with my progress throughout the winter. If you have any questions - give me a shout & I'll be glad to help!