Do you even lift? | Things to expect as a newbie weight lifter

Who would have thought that weight lifting could come with such drama? I mean come on really it's just like lifting and putting down, reset and repeat right? Wrong! Ever since I ventured into THAT part of the gym many dare not go I have noticed a number of things that happen when you start lifting weights, from unfortunate gym misogyny which you can read in a bit more detail about here, to the dramas you actually take home with you. So if you are considering venturing as I have maybe take note of some of the following things you'll be sure to notice.

1. Drying your hair becomes the struggle of all struggles. Whether you have long hair, short hair, thick or thin you'll struggle to keep your arms up long enough to become bone dry, in fact any holding your arms above your head becomes a daily struggle. Want to put that tin of soup in the top shelf of the cupboard? Nope! Want to reach for the stars and your dreams. NO!

2. Flexing your new, albeit teeny tiny muscles becomes your new obsession. You're sitting at your desk, flex. In for a coffee, flex. Everyday you'll see how much more you can flex and hey you'll still be working a muscle of some description.

3. You develop all new and anger inducing pet peeves. Think the most annoying thing about the gym are machine hogs? Oh honey it's about to get so much worse. I give you the weight hoarders, the hiders and my personal favourite the dumbbell ditchers who don't seem to know how a weight rack works!

4. Sweat isn't just a disgusting bodily function any more. Instead think of it as a glistening medal of your achievements from that hard hour of weights! 

5. ALL OF THE PROTEIN. Got to repair those growing muscles yall, where before you thought protein bars smelled and tasted like hamster food you'll suck it up and it's all for the gains. (Trek bars are my best friends just FYI!)

Well guys as I'm sure you can tell this post contained a few satirical undertones, but not about the hamster food, that shizz is real! But I hope you have found it entertaining, informative or maybe even true to your own experiences. If you're a newbie weight lifter a bit like me I'd love to hear what you have found to be true? Have you struggled to reach and stretch to your tall cupboards after a workout? Maybe getting dressed is your real struggle, whatever you have found be sure to leave your experiences in the comments below, come have a laugh and a natter about them on Twitter with me or if you'd just like to keep check of my expanding muscles and major gains (ha!) be sure to keep track of Granite City Girl on Bloglovin.

Until next time folks, girl do you even lift?

H.Elizabeth x

Pure Gym | Pure Loser Weight Loss Course

Today I'm coming at you with a rather special 'what to expect post' as you guys will probably know in the past I have covered a wide range of things from pure gym including kettlebells and spin most recently and I'd like to share my most recent gym going endeavour with you which is a little different to the usual half hour class and you're outta there that I'm used to, and that ladies and gentleman is the Pure Loser 6 week course.

It was the New Year (figures!) when I saw Pure Gym advertising their weight loss programme, I was always quite put off of trying it before now because the programme was very restricted and focused solely on what you can't eat rather than easing you in with a balanced diet, but since their course restructure the options feel a bit more open and therefore I was far more willing to give it a bash. The course itself lasts for 6 weeks and costs £20 in it's entirety, and includes a binder full of foodie and fitness info, a food diary, nutritionals as well as a weekly weigh in to keep you in check.

The first week the course was explained to us and we had our first ever weigh in and body fat measurements taken, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that in week one I had lost 3lbs which was fantastic as my weight plateaued months ago! Our trainer and holy spiritual weight loss guide, Andrew, is great he is full of tips for the week and recently introduced us to my new favourite snack psyllium husk with mixed seeds (don't worry domestic goddess post pending!)

I'm not going to lie the toughest part has been keeping myself in check during the evenings, I went vegetarian for a week and a bit but hubby wasn't all too pleased with the amount of quorn I was serving up nightly, he eventually had enough and succumbed to a McDonalds (and a Dominos, and a Burger King etc...) Since I work a 9am to 5pm job and attend the gym until around 7.30pm most evenings, I'm shattered by the time I get home and need to get myself into more of a routine of Sunday batch cooking - maybe you guys could act as my Sunday alarm and reminders? (please!)

To date I have lost 4.5lbs and ideally I'd love to lose 3 more before the formerly fat lady sings, I have upped my game in the gym, cleared my cupboards of smackery and asked my husband to hide everything else (though I reckon he has just hidden things in high places!) so as Shia says, JUST DO IT!

Have you guys ever joined a weight loss programme or had personal training sessions at the gym? I'd love to hear how you got on and how you managed your work / home / gym balance! Be sure to leave all thoughts and kindly comments in the box below, come share your experiences with my on Twitter or if you would just like to keep up with how I am getting on be sure to follow Granite City Girl on Bloglovin.

Until next time folks, JUST DOIN' IT!

H.Elizabeth x

Pure Gym | What to expect from your first spin class

 
Your arse will take a pounding and you may cry a little (a lot)

So now that you know I'm not going to sugar coat this 'what to expect from your fitness' post I can move forward. Very recently I started attending the spin classes at my local Pure Gym where I have been a member of for almost 2 years now and it has honestly taken me THAT long to build up the courage to attend one of these classes. When I first started going to the gym on a regular basis I would work out for a solid 30 minutes on the treadmills in front of a congregation of avid spinners, every night they'd come saddle up, sweat, screech and of course spin out their frustrations (which I imagined at the time they must have many) as the incredibly enthusiastic instructor would scream over whichever bass pumping track was playing that evening. The prospect of every joining this class terrified me, yet here I am, one of them, part of the screeching, sweat drippy spinners! And with that in mind I would just like to share the story of my first ever spin class, the good, the bad and the downright ugly!

When I first decided to go to spin it was after quite a long break from exercising, that was my first mistake. I had got it into my head that if I push myself really hard for say a week or wishful thinking, a few days, then perhaps I'll just fall back into it really quickly, unfortunately that was not the case. Surprisingly enough I set up my bike quite well and I didn't need any help, though my RPM monitor wasn't working but I just assumed this was quite a common occurrence, just for your information it isn't, and this was my second mistake!

One of the great things about the spin classes is that the instructor does it along with you so you know what you're doing at every step and stage instead of floundering a bit unsure, plus, and as said as it sounds, it feels like you're all in it together and there's a sense of,'ahhh we can do this!!!' My first clue to the difficulty of the class itself was when asked if anyone was new, I raised my hand and there were gasps, oh dear....The class started with a warm up which was more taxing than I thought and made me seriously rethink my fitness levels, just a word of advice, a towel is a necessity. The class I attend takes you through a serious of different speeds and resistance settings, usually going for a hill climb then sprints and we even work in some push ups and squats in there (on the bike might I add)

When it came to the sprints, this is where my RPM would have come in handy as I was pushing myself far harder than I really needed to through some bits and was totally burned out by the time it came to doing the sprints, ordinarily you aim to stay at about 100 RPM throughout the class and dip lower for areas of higher resistance and of course ones of lower resistance you can speed way up, to date I think the highest I have ever seen my RPM go was about 170 / 175. I have to be honest and say when I was doing the class I decided there and then that this was not for me, I would never get on a bike again, not just a spin bike, I mean ANY bike. My mind went through every emotion possible from oh my god I feel so emotional I may cry to, I'm going to throw up then die and circling eventually back to AAHHHH BEAST MODE. And as unpleasant as that all undoubtedly sounds the feeling you have afterwards can only be described as euphoria and I've really never felt anything like it or had such a satisfying work out.

Since doing spin twice a week my fitness levels have increased dramatically, I've noticed more of a difference in my energy levels and I just generally feel better. Though after the class walking home as such a sweaty mess has been quite an experience, you can guarantee that I almost always bump into someone I haven't seen for years and they automatically think I'm a hobo, just a sweaty, ginger hobo and you know what I don't blame them! If you implement one thing into your fitness routine make it spin, you'll want to hurt your instructor, crawl into your bed and sleep for the longest time but you will feel so glad you went.

I hope this has given you guys a bit more of an idea of what a spin class entails, specifically the spin classes at Pure Gym, though every instructor is different I'm sure the feelings are mutual! Do let me know in the comments below if you go to a spin class and what you thought or come drop me a line on Twitter if you have any fabby fitness tips to share with me. Or of course if you'd just like to see more of my sweaty, hobo face be sure to follow Granite City Girl on Bloglovin.

Until next time, spinning mad.

H.Elizabeth x