u/SecretWriteress

I've been working hard on having a balanced, athletic, capable body. I'm not too focused on a specific esthetic - I seek harmony.

That said, once I leaned out, I realized my stronger, more defined upper body kind of overshadows the hips from the front view. These pictures don't do my broad shoulders justice 😆

I'm aware that we can't change our hip structure but I assume that working on glute medius could help visually? If you agree, which exercises you think or have found to be most efficient? How often would you recommend doing them?

I've always done seated hip abductions and cable kickbacks but maybe I'm not doing them right. From the side view, I think my glutes look great in relation to my waist (I see the growth happening over the past few months), but from the front not much has been changing.

I was also thinking that working on my core a certain way could help but I already avoid heavy oblique training and I don't think I should lean out even more, that would harm the goals rather than help.

Anyway, thanks to anyone who's gonna share some advice!

I'm quite glad I took pictures before starting strength training because I think the changes are crazy (at least to me), given that I began gym a bit over a year ago post ACL reconstruction surgery to get back the strength of the operated leg, not for any esthetic reasons.

Long story short:

About 6 months of mostly rehab-centered workouts about 3 times a week. Not much attention to nutrition, but it must be said I have never eaten processed foods, have always leaned towards eating healthy but didn't think much about protein/carbs/fats/etc.

Then approx. 9 months of much more disciplined strength training (2 leg days, 2 upper body days, 1 extra session for mobility and/or exercises I do occasionally). I used to jog maybe once a week, eventually stopped, I do walk quite a lot (8k steps a day on average). Some weeks more, some weeks less. With increased physical activity I started noticing more drowsiness and at one point a pretty fast and unexpected weight loss. Even though strength numbers showed progression, I got nervous about potentially losing muscle mass so became more invested in 'correct' eating for my physical activity. Lots of baked meats, fish, baked vegetables, some raw vegetables, lots of cottage cheese, Greek yogurt and most importantly very intentional about carbs (quinoa, buckwheat, dark bread, high protein tortilla, sweet potatoes, brown rice) - that helped immensely with the post gym drowsiness.

Eventually the diet I think helped with muscle growth (my glutes initially lost volume even though they got more muscular - over time they became much rounder and higher up). I will weekly include foods just for enjoyment like high sodium snacks, pastries, mostly by eating at friends or eating out. I try not to keep such food at home, though.

Very happy with how much stronger I've become these past few months than I ever was. It feels so great to do RDLs with a 70kg barbell, which is 10kg above my weight. I've started doing bodyweight pullups without specifically practicing for them - I currently do 7-8 clean pullups per set, in a series of 4 sets. Maxing out the abduction machine. Looking for ways to make all types of planks harder. Fantastic feeling and weird to think I may have never found out I had it in me if it wasn't for the ACL surgery (had never been in the gym prior to joining it last year).

Happy workouts, everyone!

I might understand vacuuming or tidying up clothes in someone else's expensive wedding dress but WASHING DISHES?!

Some examples I can think of off the top of my head: Danny, Joshua, Tag. Anyone else she had a hard time telling she liked them?

It happens in S01E20 around 7:15 if anyone wants to check it out!

Friends is back on my Netflix, so I'm starting from the beginning with the intention to catch all kinds of fun editing mistakes or interesting details I never noticed before.