Find and Use Your Inner Bloke When You Workout

Can't do one of these? Time to tap into that Inner Bloke! Credit: reynolds.james.e

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The other day I was training at my CrossFit gym and our trainer was teaching us girls how to do pull-ups. If you’re not sure what a pull-up is, watch any action movie when the hero hangs from a high window ledge and has to pull himself up before plummeting to his death—it’s that movement. They are pretty tough, particularly for women.

As we tried our pull-ups, one woman after another gave up on their pull-up attempts. “You can do more than that,” said our trainer in exasperation. But at the first sign of not being able to do it, they just dropped off the bar and shook their heads. It’s then that I realized all of us women should tap into our “Inner Bloke” when we work out…

You may not like to admit it, but we all have an Inner Bloke. It’s that part of you that wants to lie on the couch, drink beer and eat chips all day; leave a pile of clothes on the floor rather than take three steps to the laundry basket; and still thinks it’s funny when you belch loudly in public. You can also find your Inner Bloke by walking around like John Wayne—that is, a slow and sure walk, legs wide with your hips slightly thrust forward. To go the extra mile, drop your voice as low as you can and speak from deep inside your chest. All of this can (and should) be done within the privacy of your own home…

Now that you’ve found your Inner Bloke, what do you do with him? You could just use your newly discovered Inner Bloke to have a break from your regular stresses and responsibilities, but what you really need to do for weight-loss success is use your Inner Bloke during your workouts.

5 Ways to Use Your Inner Bloke for Weight-Loss When You Work Out

1. Your Inner Bloke will make you sweat more. Your Inner Bloke will love to sweat. In fact, he’ll take pride in it. There’s nothing more enjoyable for your Inner Bloke than to be dripping with sweat when working out. It’s a sign that he’s pushed himself hard, and he’s keeping up with his mates.

Tip #1: Sweat it out during your workout to burn more calories and reach your weight-loss goals.

2. Your Inner Bloke will get out of breath. Many women have a fear of getting out of breath. Getting out of breath during your workout is a good thing though! In fact, if you work out at the same intensity as you would wander around the supermarket, it’s hardly worth bothering at all.

Tip #2: Find your Inner Bloke and let him take you to a new level in deep breathing!

3. Your Inner Bloke will lift a heavier weight. Women are often scared of lifting heavy weights because they think they’ll bulk up. It’s extremely difficult to bulk up as a woman, so try to dispel that concern. What lifting heavier weights will do is increase your strength and your muscle mass, which will reduce your overall body-fat percentage. More muscle mass doesn’t mean “big;” it means more compact.

Tip #3: Take your Inner Bloke to the weight rack and let him coax you into lifting bigger. You’ll gain muscle, reduce body fat and improve your weight-loss results—three benefits rolled into one.

4. Your Inner Bloke will do one more rep. Reps are how many repetitions you do of one exercise before resting. A while ago, I was at the gym and was doing 12 reps before resting, using my Inner Bloke to lift quite heavy. As I took my short rest, I watched a bloke do about 50 reps using a ridiculously heavy weight. This is something that CrossFit has taught me, too—lifting heavier weights and doing lots of reps is a fantastic way to get a high-intensity workout in a short amount of time and burn off loads of calories in the process.

Tip #4: Burn loads of calories to help with weight loss when you and your Inner Bloke add more reps to your workout.

5. Your Inner Bloke won’t chat much to his mates. Working out is a great thing to do with a training buddy because it keeps you motivated and is an alternative to catching up over a bottle of Shiraz. But, to get the most out of your workout, you need to work out more and talk less. It’s all very well to be in the gym for two hours, but if you only actually do 20 minutes of exercise, you could be kidding yourself about your true weight-loss efforts.

Tip #5: Your Inner Bloke will speak in monosyllables during your workout to get the job done so that he can have a decent chat afterwards.

How will you embrace your Inner Bloke? —Tora Cullip

Tora Cullip empowers women to take control of their weight through an anti-diet, pro-lifestyle approach to permanent weight-loss. Having overcome her own disordered-eating demons, she now inspires women to master the inner and outer game of weight-loss so that they can take charge of their mind and body once and for all. A qualified counselor, personal trainer and a former national-level triathlete, Tora wants every woman to stand and walk proud (and slip into their skinny jeans again).