I did leg day at the gym the other day. I did a spinning tape at home in the morning and then went to the gym after taking my kids to school (it’s how I release stress). Well…to say the least, my gluteus maximum was sore for 48 hours after that workout starting 2 days later after the workout. I wanted to understand the science of that burn. Frankly, it doesn’t often happen to me.
In the July issue of Oxygen magazine, Dr. Erin Boynton explained that a muscle will hypertrophy (enlarge) when it’s physically challenged with increased challenges. When really pushing a muscle it its’ full capacity through 10-12 repetitions, it causes small tares in the muscle. It’s thought these micro-tares will lead to increase size and strength in that muscle.
For me, I have to monitor that fine line between too much workout, pushing too much, expecting too much and being realistic about results.
Be sure to feed your muscles with enough protein (egg whites, lean proteins, and protein shakes) to encourage muscle growth and not deprivation (which encourages your system to attack the muscle instead of burning fat).
Workout 1/26/10: Tuesday
Elliptical- 44 minutes, 4.44 miles
Strength train- legs/biceps (gym) [50's]
Leg extention- 20lb
biceps row- 5lb (in plie')
glutes-15
hammer curl- 5lb with lunge
leg press- 50 lb
preacher curl- E-Z bar with 40 lb
Seated leg curl- 30 lb
low cable row- 5 lb
Food Diary 1/26/10: Tuesday
Breakfast-
1 cup non-fat vanilla yogurt (80 cal)
1 cup organic egg whites, 1 cup organic spinach, 1 brocolli pieces (140 cal)
whole wheat toast, 1 tbls no-sugar added jam (100 cal)
A.M. Snack-
apple (57 cal)
Lunch-
1/2 cup crab delights ( polluck)(80 cal)
salad- 2 cups organic spinach, 5 asparagus, 1/4 cup green beans, 1 red sweet pepper (81 cal)
P.M. Snack-
1 whole grain tortilla, 2 tbls organic almond butter, apple, sliced ( 277 cal)
Dinner-
4 oz. salmon (240 cal)
small spinach salad, 4 asparagus, brocolli, 4 cherry tomatos (176 cal)
Dessert-
apple (57 cal)
1/2 cup carmel popcorn (69 cal)
TOTAL CALORIES-1350
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