Archive for June 27, 2010

Giving

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When you enter a preparation for something, whether it be a fitness competition, athletic event, or any major event, you learn many things about the people around you.

People will support you and go out of their way for you, or people will criticize you and turn their backs on you.

First Competition

Throughout my first competition, although most of what I did was on my own and guided by my own beliefs/research, I still had a TON of help from others. I had a former body builder train me for FREE 2-3 times per week. I had experienced competitors offer their words of wisdom and ensure me that I could do it, and I made many new friends who were in the same position as me. Without the help of those people, I’m sure that I COULD have competed, but I’m not sure that I would’ve. The doubt and unsure feelings that go along with preparing for an event are present much of the time, and sometimes you just need that little encouragement from someone to keep moving forward.

My New Support Team

As I prep for my 3rd competition(2nd prep, since my second show was only 1 month after my first) I once again have had the pleasure of getting some help from those around me. Although this time, I went the route of hiring a coach, she lives in another part of town and I’m not able to see her everyday. At my gym, a friend/personal trainer/figure competitor has been there for me through it all. She has helped me with posing, we’ve done countless cardio sessions together(she is prepping for USA’s as well), we’ve talked about prep, she hooked me up with a sponsor, and most of all she’s there to listen and give me advice and encouragement. That is invaluable to me. This prep has been difficult as far as making sure I’m ready in time, but she is there to remind me that I’m doing what I need to do and that I WILL in fact be ready for the show.

Negative People

I’ve definitely dealt with my fair share of people who don’t support me, but I’m pretty quick to kick them to the curb. I have never been one to argue with people. If you are going to criticize me or what I do, then I’m not going to give you the time of day. On that note, I’m forgiving and if you decide you want to be supportive than I’ll likely befriend you once again. No need to hold grudges. Most of the time people aren’t trying to be malicious, they’re just in a disagreement with me. Not a big deal.

The Message

What I’m trying to get across is that the people that have been there for me and helped me have shown me how important it is to give back. Everyone at the gym knows that if they have any questions or need advice that I would gladly give it to them. There are some people who have the “all me” mentality and they aren’t as open to giving support to others, but I know just how much of a difference it has made in my preparations and journeys, and I love nothing more than doing the same for others.

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5 Weeks Out

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So I’m pretty sure that nobody reads this anymore 😀 Sorry for being such a slacker but I just haven’t had much time for blogging these days.

Training

I’m literally in the gym all day long. As you know I work there, as well as work out there, so if I’m not working out, I’m usually working. My cardio is…well…a lot right now. I don’t want to get into too much detail because it isn’t something that I would ever have a client do. I’m borderline behind schedule and need to make sure I’m ready for the show. I am not taking on more than I can handle, workout wise, but it is definitely rigorous training. I am thankful that my body keeps up with me 🙂

My diet is very strict right now as well, but I’m feeling good. I truly like training hard and dieting hard (although I’m definitely looking forward to eating a bit more variety after the show ;-)). I feel extremely accomplished knowing that I’m putting in all the effort that I can.

Stress levels are high right now for other reasons. Lots of things going on in July, lots of things going on in my head, and lots of things that cost money and take a lot of time. I don’t have much of either to spare, so I’m trying to work it all out.

I’m hangin’ in there and only 5 weeks to go! Hoping my body does what it needs to do 🙂 I’ll post some pictures here sometime soon when I get a chance, too.

Posted in cardio, contest prep tagged with , , , , ,

We’re jammin’!

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Goooood morning!

A very early morning, obviously. It’s 3:15am and I have to leave for work in about a half hour, but I woke up extra early for some reason today. I figured I should blog now because I’ve got the time.

Life Update

I seem to love to keep myself extremely busy. Okay, I seem to love to do everything to the extreme. I don’t have a happy medium apparently! Haha. Today is going to be a nice 15.5 hour day…Work, workouts, class, meetings and a demo this evening.

I’ve found a new way to incorporate my two favorite things in the world……….

image

This is me at the gym jamming out while I work. Yes, I am a nerd. No, I don’t have kids.

You may or may not know that I am a music fanatic to say the least. I went to recording school and have played piano and guitar for the better part of my life. Although you would THINK this would mean I’m good at those instruments, well, I play for 6 months, then take a year off and have done this for about 8 years. I can still rock out though! Anyways, bringing my guitar to work has been the highlight of my shift! Playing music at the gym=two passions combined. Success! Another reason why I’m not a fan of the corporate gyms….couldn’t do this there!

Prep Update

This prep has been relatively easy mentally. I’m making progress, it’s just a matter of if there is enough time. I am now just under 6 weeks until my competition and although I’m leaning out, I’m just not sure I’ll be ready in time. Sure, I could be ready enough to get on stage, but for a national show, I need to be looking 110%!!! My coach and I talked and we are going to decide July 7th whether I do USA’s or wait another month and head to Texas for Jr. USA’s. Kind of frustrating as seeing that I have invested a lot into this particular show, but it’s not out of sight yet and I’m pushing it HARD!! We’ll see what happens in these next 2.5 weeks!

 

Okay, time for work+workouts+jammin’!

Posted in contest prep, guitar, music, Work Hard tagged with , , ,

Tips for Getting it all Done! + TV Appearance

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Hey guys! I’ve been so neglectful with the blog. I apologize, I’ve just been busy! Summer school is great because you get everything done so quickly, but it is SO much work!!

I’ve talked about the various things I have been doing with my life these past few months, and when I begin to write about it sometimes I’m amazed that it all gets done. Here are some tips to getting it ALL done:

Tips to Getting it All Done

Sleep: Go to bed as early as you can. Hands down, the best advice I have. The earlier you wake up, the earlier you can get your day started, and the beauty is that most of the world is sleeping, so they won’t bug you and things won’t just come up as often.

Cardio: Wake up and go do it. Even if you don’t want to, just do it. Just get your butt to the gym, or outside and just START. Don’t think, just start!!

Weight Training: Some people prefer to do this in the evening, but by the evening the last thing I want to do is work out. My routine involves doing cardio, eating my breakfast at the gym, waiting for the food to digest and then hitting up the weight room. If i have more cardio to do, I do it right after my weight training and then my workouts are DONE for the day. I’m usually done by about 8am

Studying: If you’re in school or studying for something, it can be hard to find the time to do this on its own. I’ve found that incline walking and  reading chapters for my classes is pretty much a win-win situation. With incline walking, you don’t bounce as much and you don’t have to worry about slowing your intensity because you have it pre-set, so you can’t slack. The cardio time also goes by really fast when you’re reading, so cardio flys by. Studying+Cardio all in one=AWESOME.

E-mails, Homework and Work-related items: A lot of my work (outside of my gym and supplement store jobs) involves writing client workouts and meal plans; and doing freelance articles. I’ve found that the best way to plan for this is to write it in my calendar and get things done early. If I have an hour in the afternoon free, I write in my calendar what I can get done in that hour. I do this every Sunday for the week, and obviously it changes, but it’s a guideline to ensure I don’t forget about things. Plus, who doesn’t love checking things off of a list?! 😉

Those are just some tips that I use to get everything done. I try to multi-task when I can, and to plan things out for the week so that I get it all done without cramming it all into one day.

TV Appearance

If I get a copy of the airing, I’ll post it, but if you are in the AZ area, tune into Channel 3 tomorrow (Monday) morning at 10AM Arizona Time to see me demo-ing some exercises for my former roomie Emily! It was really fun to do, and I can’t wait(or maybe I can, because I might look like a goof haha!) to see it on TV.

****Less than 6 weeks to go until competition time!! Still have some work to do, but I’m confident I can pull it off!

Congrats to Rebecca, Genie, and Kendra on their competitions this weekend. They all 3 did incredible and have set the bar very high!!! Way to go girls!!!

Posted in cardio, contest prep, Focus on the task at hand, school, Work Hard tagged with , ,

I’m feelin’ it….

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Well, dieting effects are in full force. I’m really digging deep to get through my workouts and cardio, but I have 6 weeks to go. It will FLY. Time has already FLOWN by!! Sorry if I make no sense, the lack of carbs is frying my brain 🙂

Workout

Today was my 2nd leg workout of the week.

High reps , 3 sets of :

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Stiff Leg Deadlifts, Leg Press, Bulgarian Split Squats, Prone Ham curls, leg ext.

3 sets of:

sled pushes, front kicks, side kicks and scissor kicks on the heavy bag

It was a great workout. 90 minutes of cardio on top of that. It’s 7:30pm and I’m totally ready for bed.

**Some cool news:

Tomorrow I’ll be taping a segment on 3TV(local news station) with my old roomie Emily. She will be training me. I’ll let you know if there’s a link that will be posted to their site. 🙂

Posted in contest prep, Legs

Boxing + Everything Else

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Wow, totally disappeared there for a few days!! Sorry about that.

Life has been super busy, but filled with great things. I’ve been working, school, homework, workouts. The usual.

Today I made up with an old friend: BOXING.

I haven’t boxed in a few months. I got kinda sick of it and I kept tweaking my wrists! I decided to take some time off, but tonight I went back. It was a boxing conditioning class so a mix of boxing, plyometrics, and cardio. All I have to say is 3 minutes of jumping lunges is freaking brutal.

Contest Prep

I am 6.5 weeks away from competing!!! I am getting worried, but I think that if things go the way they have been, I should be ready to compete. It’s much different this time around, as I may have mentioned last year, I was ready to compete about a month before my show. This year, I’m cutting it down to the wire. Eek.

I’ve been seriously KICKING my ass in the gym. I’m becoming ridiculously good at coming up with fun, creative and HARD workouts in the weight room. I keep surprising myself with the new things I’m coming up with! I love it though and I’m NEVER bored. So many ways to change things up!

Cardio has been going well. I’m getting it done and that’s what matters. The “end” is in sight and I’m SO stoked for it. I’m already eyeballing a few shows shortly after Vegas, but I’m focusing on the task at hand for now.

 

Hope everyone is doing well!

Question: Do you shower after your workouts or go about your day and then shower at night? I’m a dirty rat and I just go about my day sweaty unless I have a reason to shower. Gotta love having a job that allows me to show up looking like a sweaty beast 🙂

Posted in cardio, contest prep

Exhaustion sets in…..

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Hey guys…

I’m running on about 2.5 hours of sleep so if something doesn’t make sense, just forget abahhhht it. 🙂

It’s finally hitting me. The exhaustion has caught up and I am ready for a few days of absolute nothingness.

This week is going by SO slowly, yet I’ve done SO MUCH.

Between Monday through today I’ve done:

6.5 hours of cardio

About 4 hours of weight training

6.5 hours of class

13 hours of work at the gym

7 hours of work at home

1 hour of posing practice

8 hours of homework

Lots of errands and tying up loose ends with a few things

Needless to say, I’m TIREDDDDDD!

All of that with a contest diet really takes a toll on the body. I couldn’t sleep last night for no reason at all, and had to wake up and open the gym today. I get to sleep in tomorrow, and you can bet that all electronics will be in the OFF position until I choose to turn them back on. 7 weeks from tomorrow is stage time…..body is doing what it needs to. I lost another 2 inches in my legs, 2 inches in my butt, waist and arms stayed the same. My upper body is really coming together and just needs a little more work and the lower body has finally joined in, but still needs more work.

Upper Body Workout

This was hard, but a really fun workout for me.

T-Bar Row – Burpees – Assisted Chin Ups – Med. ball mountain climbers (3 sets)

Pushups – Bench dips – Jumping jacks – pec deck – OH DB Extension (3 sets)

DB Military Press – Rear delt raise – kettle bell swings – lateral raises – front raises (3 sets)

My reps were at 15-20 for each lifting exercise. Plyos/cardio intervals varied.

LOVED this workout. Pretty quick and left me pretty wiped.

BEDTIME!

Posted in cardio, contest prep, upper body, Upper Body Workout, Workout
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