Redditor lucyffer was not always a weight lifting junkie – at one point her BMI was 16, putting her in the “underweight” category and at risk for a multitude of health problems. “I was spending 2+ hours at the gym, 7 days a week. Weightlifting high reps/low weight AND doing cardio, all while eating around 1,000 calories a day,” she writes in a post to the r/fitness subreddit, “I hated every minute at the gym and felt horrible my entire workout. Frequently passed out and my heart rate was around 25 BPM.”
Knowing that she couldn’t continue at this rate, lucyffer began working on recovering from her anorexia. “I spend 45-1 hour at the gym tops, and take at least one rest day a week,” she explains, saying that she now does “barely any cardio” but sometimes throws in “a run once in a while if I’m feeling it.”
Her workout ain’t anything to sneeze at either:
Workout:
4/3 sets x 8 reps unless otherwise said, 6-7 exercises or however many until it’s been ~1 hour, minimum 1 rest day/weekSQUAT/GLUTES
-squats – work up to 135 5×5
-box squats
-barbell lunges
-Glute raises with barbell
-leg press (Glute target)LOWER BACK/HAMMIES
-deadlifts – work up to 195 5×5
-Romanian deadlifts
-good mornings
-weighted hyperextensionsBACK AND BIS
-preacher curls
-chin ups (unassisted until failure, then assisted)
-curls
-lawnmowers
-wide curls
-incline bench curls
-Lat pull down
-rows
-cable curls
-straight arm raise upsCHEST/TRIS
-bench, work up to 95 5×5
-incline bench
-cable flys
-triceps overhead
-incline bench flys
-dips
-tricep rope pull down
-push-ups
-floor pushSHOULDERS
-overhead press with barbell
-Arnold’s
-sitting press
-Lat raises
-side/front raises
-straight pull ups
ab work if timeDiet: solid (500 cals) breakfast, lunch, and dinner (NO EXCUSES!) protein shake after workout (protein powder and milk) aim for 2200 cals but don’t rigidly track (no myfitnesspal!) mostly healthy whole, unprocessed foods with treats 🙂 20-30% protein, 20% fat, 50-60% carbs…
Unlike some recovering anorexics, it’s been less than one year and lucyffer appears to have adopted a much healthier relationship with food already, writing that “you are allowed to deviate from your normal diet. Go out to eat. Get ice cream with your friends. Have cake on birthdays. Eat cookies if you had a sucky day and just need a motherfucking cookie. Experiencing life is more important than hitting perfect macros/calories every day.”
Wisdom beyond her years, and transformation photos that’ll stop you dead in your tracks:
November 2015:
May 2016:
[Via Reddit]