By Cara Barnes, IFBB Pro Women’s Physique Competitor and Personal Trainer at Physiques Gym in Phoenix, Arizona.Thinking about stepping on a bodybuilding stage for the first time? There is a lot more to competing than building muscle, losing body fat, and buying a beautiful competition suit.I have been competing in bodybuilding since 2013, and after [...]
Strength training after 40 is about much more than burning calories. At this stage of life, building and maintaining muscle can affect your strength, mobility, body composition, and what your body is capable of doing years from now. There comes a point where exercise has to stop being about how many calories you can burn [...]
You’re eating pretty much the same way you always have. You’re still exercising. Maybe you’ve even started doing more cardio. But suddenly the weight that used to come off with a few weeks of cleaning up your diet isn’t moving nearly as easily. If you’re in your 40s and wondering, “Why is it so much [...]
If losing weight in your 40s feels different than it did in your 20s or 30s, you’re probably not imagining it. But that doesn’t mean your metabolism suddenly “broke” when you turned 40. And it definitely doesn’t mean you should accept gaining weight, losing strength, or feeling progressively less capable as an unavoidable part of [...]
There comes a point when you realize it wasn’t the workout that left you sore for three days—it was the fact that you slept five hours, skipped a meal, and expected your body to recover like it did at 25. Sound familiar? Getting older does not mean you have to stop challenging yourself. Some of [...]
Starting a fitness journey can be exciting, but it can also feel overwhelming. Many people walk into a gym motivated and ready to change their lives, but they often try to change too many things at once. At Physiques Gym, we believe successful transformations happen through small, sustainable lifestyle changes that gradually become long-term habits. [...]
GLP-1 Weight Loss Medications: How to Stay Healthy During Your Transformation Journey GLP-1 medications like Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, and Zepbound have changed the conversation around weight loss. For many people, these medications have helped reduce appetite, quiet food noise, improve blood sugar regulation, and support meaningful weight loss. At Physiques Gym in North Phoenix, we [...]
Why You’re Not Seeing Results And What to Do About It You’ve been showing up. You’ve been working out. You’ve “cleaned up” your eating. And yet… nothing is really changing. Or at least, not the way you expected it to. That’s frustrating. I get it. I see it all the time. But here’s the part [...]
One of the most common questions I get from new clients is this: “Why is the scale going up when I just started eating better?” If that’s happening to you, take a breath. In many cases, this is completely normal. And honestly, it usually does not mean you are gaining body fat. When someone first [...]
Classic Physique vs. Bodybuilding: Which Division Is Right for You? If you’re a man considering stepping on a bodybuilding stage, one of the first—and most important—decisions you’ll make is choosing your division. Two of the most popular categories today are Classic Physique and Bodybuilding. While both demand discipline, structure, and years of consistent training, they [...]
