Archive for Workout

Tuesday Workout & Fun Fitness Survey!

Hey Hey!

How’s your day going? Mine started with a half-asleep-but-killer leg workout!

I got to bed a little bit later than planned last night and was a little slow to get going this morning!

My workout started with heavy squats and I think I was yawning in between each set. šŸ˜€

I ended up doing this workout:

  • Squats: 4 sets of 5 reps (135, 145, 145, 145)
  • DB Walking Lunges: 3 sets of 12 (20 lb DB’s)
  • Medicine Ball Jump Squats: 3 sets of 15 (16 lb med. ball)
  • 45* Hypers: 2 sets of 20 (25 lb plate)
  • Banded Hip Thrusts: 2 sets of 20 (heavy + extra heavy band)<—-these were HARDDDD
  • Leg Extensions: 3 sets of 12-15 (90, 110, 130)
  • Lying Ham Curls: 3 sets of 10-12 (50, 60, 60)
  • Banded Hip Adduction: 2 sets of 30 (heavy band)

My legs are definitely a bit shaky after this and I’m pretty sure I’m walking funny!

fun fitness survey

I saw this blog survey on the interwebs and since I love filling out forms, I just had to do it!

1. What did you eat for breakfast?

A Chocolate chip banana muffin that my mom sent me home with (YUM), some grapes, and a coffee. Normally I do eggs + egg whites and fruit, but I changed it up today!

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Photo doesn’t do it justice. SO good!

2. How much water do you drink a day?

Not sure. I keep a bottle with me wherever I go and drink throughout the day.

3. What is your current favorite workout?

I love lifting weights.

4. How many calories do you eat a day?

Anywhere from 1700 – 2400. I eat what I want, but don’t try to hit a certain number each day. That’s just where it falls.

5. What are your favorite healthy snacks?

Fruit, Quest Bars, coffee (that’s a snack, right?!), and nuts.

6. What do you usually eat for lunch?

My go-to: brown rice, a turkey burger chopped up (or chicken), avocado and hot sauce

7. What is your favorite body part to strength train?

Legs and Booty!!

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8. What is your least favorite body part to strength train?

Triceps.

9. What are your ā€œbadā€ food cravings?

I don’t really label my food as good or bad. But for the sake of this question….sour candy!

10. Do you take vitamins or supplements?

I have been taking the About Time L-Glutamine, Multi-Vitamin, and Joint Supplement recently.

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11. How often do you eat out?

I grab food from Whole Foods and the Co-Op (like Whole Foods) quite often, but other than that, maybe once per week.

12. Do you eat fast food?

I haven’t had fast food in years unless you count a McDonald’s ice cream cone every now and then šŸ˜€

13. Who is your biggest supporter?

My parents, family, and boyfriend. (and Oscar too!)

14. Do you have a gym membership?

I work at a gym, so yes.

15. How many hours of sleep do you get a night?

Realistically 7ish.

16. Do you have a ā€œcheatā€Ā day?

No. I eat what I want for the most part. Some days I try to eat less junk than others.

17. Do you drink alcohol?

Nope.

18. Do you have a workout buddy?

Sometimes I workout with Charlie or friends, but usually I’m on my own. It’s hard to find the RIGHT workout partner (possibly even harder than finding the right life partner haha….but really.)IMG_8918

19. What is the best thing that has changed about your life since committing to a healthy lifestyle?

My confidence. I used to be shy. I was unsure of myself when going after things. Now, I feel like I can take on the world! It really is life-changing and hard to describe unless you’ve experienced it.

20. What was the last healthy thing you did?

I worked out this morning! Woohoooo.

Questions of the Day:

1. Pick one survey question and answer it in the comments below!

Why Lifting Weights Rocks + Leg Workout

Wednesday already?!

I’m not complaining, but this week is kind of flying by! I also have Friday off of work, save for a few personal training clients, so I’m definitely excited about the weekend! Summer is just the best!

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Since taking a week off from the gym, I’ve been getting in some really awesome workouts! I thought I’d share my leg workout from yesterday. It was a KILLER. I even posted a video on Instagram mid-workout. For anyone that thinks weight lifting doesn’t have cardiovascular benefits, think again! I was sweating and breathing hard the entire workout!

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As you all know, I’m a big believer in lifting heavy weights (which is totally relative to what is heavy for each individual person). Lifting weights and working towards getting stronger WILL change your body composition. If you’re eating in a deficit, you WILL start to lean out and the beauty of it all is that as you put on more muscle, your resting metabolism increases, which means you’ll burn more calories throughout the day even when you’re just sitting around. Bret Contreras put up a great Facebook post the other day that sums it up pretty well. Smart guy!

This point really, really, really needs to be driven home. All of my clients who stay the same weight and gain a lot of…

Posted by Bret Contreras (Fitness Page) onĀ Thursday, June 25, 2015

Okay, on to the workout:

LEG DAY

-Hip Thrusts (4 sets of 5 reps): 255#, 275#, 275#, 255#

-Deadlifts (3 sets of 12 reps):Ā  135#

-DB Bulgarian Squats (3 sets of 12 reps): 15# DB’s

-45 Hypers (1 set of 20 reps & 1 set of 15 reps):Ā  25# plate

-Lateral Band Walks w/ Squat (2 sets of 20 per leg): I used a light band

-Kettle Bell Swings (3 sets of 15 reps): 20kg KB

Question of the Day:

1. What’s your favorite way to sweat?

2. Any fun plans for the 4th?

Switching Gears

Hey people!

I’m not sure why, but I had a realllllllly hard time saying goodbye to the weekend yesterday. I worked most of Saturday, so that may have added to it, but I definitely feel like I could have used a 3 day weekend!

I’m heading to Big Bear next week, so I won’t complain. A whole week in the mountains is going to be amazing!

Switching Gears

Thank you all for the emails and comments I received on this post. It was a fun experiment and I’m excited to do more in the future!

With that said, for the time being, I’m going to switch back to heavy lifting for a few months. Not only do I love it, but I’ve been really itching to do a powerlifting competition lately! I’d like to start training more for that and sign up for one later in the year. I thought about doing a local one next month (and still might, just to get my feet wet), but being that I just got my wisdom teeth out (and my workouts have been mellow since Wednesday), and that I’ll be in the mountains next week, I’d really only have about 18 days to prepare. At the same time, it’s not sanctioned, so I still may do it just to get some practice!

Workouts for the Week

This is tentative, but here’s what I have planned for this week

Monday: Kettle Bell Conditioning (workout below) + Upper Body Push

Tuesday: Legs (focus: squats & hip thrusts)

Wednesday: Upper Body Pull + Sprints

Thursday: Legs (focus: deadlifts)

Friday: Upper Body

Saturday: OFF

Sunday: Legs

If you’re looking for something quick to change up your workouts or to add some conditioning into your current program, try this:

Kettle Bell Conditioning: Perform Circuit Style for 5 Rounds

  • 10 KB Cleans
  • 10 KB Snatches
  • 15 KB Swings

Question of the Day

1. What’s your favorite way to train? For power? strength? aesthetics?

FitLizzio Training Experiment

bodybuilding.com

So I was sitting at home last night after workout perusing the interwebs.

My new apartment has a HUGE patio (in LA, a big patio is pretty much like having a backyard), and I am determined to make it my playground. I already purchased some rubber flooring I need to put down and I have some light dumbbells ready to go.

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My next purchase is going to be a squat rack, olympic bar, heavier DB’s and plates (just so you know, Charlie). I’ve been scouring over Craigslist and other used outlets to see what I can find.

Anyways, as I was perusing, I was being all introspective and thinking a lot about me, myself, and I.

As I was doing so, I started thinking about my many failures with fat loss, specifically. You see, I LOVE working out. I LOVE weight training, plyometrics, and pretty much any type of high intensity training. It makes me sweat, breathe hard, and feel like a total badass.

But when it comes to eating? I like food. I’m stubborn. I don’t stick to meal plans very well. I make excuses. (That’s the key there, the making excuses.)

You see, I’m comfortable in my skin. This is GREAT (especially considering how I felt just a few years ago), but it’s not great for working towards fat loss. It’s easier for me to just say “eh, whatever” because it’s not a DIRE need for me to lose weight and I do feel good and comfortable with my ed-pills24.

Could I stand to lose a few pounds? Sure. Do I NEED to? Nope. I’m at a healthy weight and I feel good.

HOWEVER, I also see my inner self as something completely different than what I see in the mirror. In my head, my ideal is ripped and shredded. I like veins, I like muscles, I like striations, I like it ALL! Now, I don’t necessarily want to BE that lean, but I would like to be something closer to that extreme than I am currently.

SO, anyways. I have been trying to find the inner determination to stick to something long-term (which for me is macro-nutrient counting) and see what changes I can make. I’ve been doing okay, but haven’t been very consistent. No consistency = little to no results.

I also love new challenges and while in the past I haven’t always stuck with them, I know that I am capable of it. Hell, I gave up all added sugar for 37 days. 37 days without gummy candy is no joke people.

So back to perusing the world wide web….I ended up on Bodybuilding.com because I love looking at the various training plans for inspiration, as well as giving myself ideas for my own training + my clients’ training.

If you didn’t know, there are a TON of free training plans on Bodybuilding.com. They make it fun (choose your gender, choose your goals, choose your intensity, etc.) and this is when the crazy/fun idea hit me:

I’m going to slowly but surely work my way through the training plans and review them each as I go right here on Fit Lizzio Fitness!

Here’s what I’ll be doing:

-Taking before/after pictures & measurements

-Doing the daily workouts

-Following the meal plans

-Taking most of the recommended supplements (if I change or don’t take something, I’ll let you know that)

-Checking in here on the blog throughout each program

For the plans that last longer than 2 months, I’ll cut them short (so that I can get through at least a few by the end of 2015). At the end of each training program, I’ll do a FULL review on the blog highlighting my successes, failures, what I liked/disliked about the program, and my overall thoughts on the program from both the perspective of a user and a personal trainer. These will be FULL disclosure reviews (i.e. I will tell you if they flat out suck, although I don’t anticipate that). I think this will be a fun way to keep me motivated, provide some good content and reviews for others out there, and hopefully yield some results that I’m looking for!

So what do you think…am I crazy??? I actually keep texting my friends asking if I’m crazy (they’ve all responded yes, so I’m not sure what that says about me), but they all think it’s a great idea. Either way, I think it will be a super fun experiment and I’m excited to do this!

If you’d like to follow on this journey (or better yet, JOIN ME), I’m starting with Ashley Conrad’s 21 Day Clutch.

bodybuilding.com

Photo Credit: Bodybuilding.com

I’ll have an initial post about this up on the blog as soon as I start to tell you about Day 1 and my expectations. Don’t worry, regularly scheduled blogging will go on as a normal, with just a few posts each week about this experiment, which I’ve titled: FitLizzio Training Experiment

I’ll also be posting on Instagram (@fitlizzio) using the hashtag: #fitlizzioexperiment

P.S. If you are crazy like me and want to join me, e-mail me at [email protected] so we can help each other through the programs!

10 Minute Workout!

Good morning!

Today is officially MOVING DAY for us!

I’ve got a 10 minute workout for you at the end of this post, but first an update on the move and workouts for the week!

We’ve been neck-deep in boxes for the last few days, so I’m definitely ready to stop living like a hoarder! I keep saying I don’t know how hoarders do it. Walking around boxes, creating pathways to get to different rooms…it’s making my head spin! I’m definitely excited to get back to normal, although a NEW normal since we’ll be in a new apartment.

Workouts for the Last Week (5/6-5/13/15)

Wednesday: Rest Day

Thursday: Legs + Boxing

Friday: Chest/Shoulders + 10 Minute Conditioning (see below)

Saturday: Hike/Trail Run

Sunday: Packing boxes!!

Monday: Back/Biceps + 10 Minute Conditioning

Tuesday: Glute-Focused Leg Day

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Wednesday: Chest/Shoulders

I’ve been tacking on a 10 minute workout for conditioning purposes to the end of my strength training workouts lately. I absolutely love it! It’s the perfect way to finish a workout, and gives me a great extra sweat and burn!

Here’s one of the 10 minute workouts I’ve been doing:

10minconditioning

After my move, I’m heading to the BLEND Retreat in Boulder, CO, so I’ll be back with TONS of pictures and adventures on Monday!

-Lizzy (& Oscar!)

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20 Minute Sweatfest! {workout inside}

Hey guys!

I’m so glad the weekend is almost here! I’m getting over a little cold, and I want to just chill out and watch movies. Remember the good old days when you were sick and it meant that you were automatically excused of all responsibilities? Oh how I wish that were still the case! As an adult, being sick just means you feel like shit as you go through your normal daily tasks. Boo.

Today I was feeling a bit on the mend and decided to see how a workout would feel. Working out when I’m getting over being sick is a 50/50 risk I take. Sometimes I feel like it kicks me out of the sickness for good….other times it just makes me feel worse. I’m happy to say that I think I’m feeling better after this one! Fingers Crossed.

For this workout, you need a barbell, a kettle bell (or a dumbbell would work too), and a medicine ball. I used a regular 45 lb bar, a 12kg Kettle Bell and a 16 pound medicine ball, but use what works for you.

20 min sweat fest

This workout kicks my butt. I do it once per week for conditioning and it never fails!

After:

IMG_7926That’s my sweaty post-workout bathroom selfie inception photo. What do you ya think?

I’m spending the rest of my day getting a bunch of work done, finding some boxes (oh yeah, we’re moving!), and then going to hopefully relax and get the rest of this sickness OUT of my body.

Have a wonderful day peeps!

Question of the Day:

Do you work out when you’re sick?

 

xo,

Lizzy

Weekend in Park City + Rockstar Fitnessā„¢ Workout!

Good morning!

I promise I’ll be back to a regular blogging schedule soon…just trying to figure this whole “life balance” thing out. Know what I mean? šŸ™‚

This past weekend, I flew up to Park City to hang with my bestie! We’ve literally been best friends since we were in 2nd grade (I hated her before that haha), and since I’ve lived in LA, we haven’t really gotten to spend too much quality time together. Since she just moved up there, I figured it was the perfect time to fix that!

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I had never been to Park City (or Utah in general), so I was super excited about this trip!

The people in Park City and SLC are SO nice. It was such a nice stop-ed-info of pace from LA. The views were GORGEOUS, and it even snowed a little bit on Sunday!

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We ate good food, laughed, did some yoga at her store (lululemon), and just had a blast getting to know the city. I can’t wait to go back!

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Rockstar Fitnessā„¢ Tour Edition WORKOUT!

Woohoo!! Thank you to everyone that has pre-ordered Rockstar Fitnessā„¢ Tour Edition so far! If you haven’t yet, you still have a week left before prices go up!! ($8.99 right now!)

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I thought I’d share one of the workouts from Rockstar Fitnessā„¢ Tour Edition. This workout totally kicked my butt and it only took me 20 minutes. Oh, and I did it in my living room. Win, win, win!

ROCKSTAR FITNESS - Video in a Scrolling Article and a Gallery_1

Hope you love it! Here’s that link again to pre-order Rockstar Fitnessā„¢ Tour Edition!

As always, check with a doctor before starting any new exercise program. Listen to your body and know your limits.

xo,

Lizzy

One Arm Rows, Workouts + OB Dog Beach WEEKEND!

Hey peeps!

This morning started as it always does…COFFEE! My family always laughs at me when I talk about coffee. Before I moved to LA, I HATED coffee with a passion. I thought the smell and taste was so awful, and I just couldn’t get on board with it.

Fast forward to living in LA…

You basically need coffee to live here. Maybe that’s an exaggeration, but I just think it’s a “thing” here. It’s a busy city and since moving here, I’ve had a really busy life! I definitely found out quickly that I needed it when I moved here, and well…now I’m a total coffee snob. I’m picky about my coffee, I know what I like and I know what I don’t like and it just is kind of funny. Total 180!

Anyways…

This past weekend, Charlie, Oscar and I went down to OB in San Diego. Charlie found this great little hotel called the Ocean Villa Inn that not only allows dogs, but basically caters to dogs! There was a dog beach right behind the hotel, the rooms were dog-friendly, they had a dog-wash station on site, and each room had a back door that let out into yards for the dogs to play!

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The beach part was awesome! There were soooo many dogs running around, and there was a place for humans to lay out and relax as well. Oscar ran around through the ocean and sandy beaches, played with other dogs, and had a BLAST. I think he was upset when we had to leave on Sunday. He must have run around for 3 hours both Saturday and Sunday! I’d be lying if I said Charlie and I didn’t have a blast as well!

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We wore both ourselves and the pup out. At least one of us got to sleep on the ride home.

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One Arm Rows

When we got back on Sunday, I somehow roped Charlie into doing an upper body workout with me at the gym. This is the workout we did:

Superset – TRX Rows + KB Clean & Press

Superset – TRX Renegades + Lat Pulldowns

Superset – DB One Arm Rows + Plate Squat to Press

I took some video of the one arm rows (below)

I love this exercise because it really focuses the lats. Notice that I really get a good stretch at the bottom of the movement. This really helps to keep the lats engaged and helps me to pull from my lats, as opposed to from the arms.

Workouts for the Week

Here’s the tentative plan for the week:

Monday: Track Workout + Legs (DONE)

Tuesday: Paddle Boarding

Wednesday: Shoulders/Chest

Thursday: Conditioning + Legs

Friday: Back

Saturday: OFF

Sunday: Hike or some other active recovery ( TBD)

Questions of the Day

1. Are you a coffee drinker? snob? connoisseur?

2. Have you ever been paddle boarding?

Track Workout + Leg Workout {videos}

Good morning friends!

How’s your Monday treating you so far? Mine’s been pretty productive so far, so I’m trying to continue on that wave. I have soooooo much to do this week (a few writing projects + regular work), so I’m trying to keep myself on track to finish it all.

I started my morning with a track workout that knocked me on my ass.

I seriously could barely walk afterwards. My legs were shaking and all I could think about was taking an ice bath.

Side note: If taking an ice bath sounds like a GOOD thing…you’ve officially kicked your own ass.

After the workout, I grabbed a coffee from my favorite place (it made my legs feel better, I swear), took a shower, iced my legs (because I didn’t have enough ice for a legitimate ice bath), and made breakfast.

I’ve been on the same kick lately: 1 egg, 1/2 cup egg whites, 1 slice of Ezekiel bread, and shredded cheese.

Pre leg workout meal. 1 cup egg whites, 1 whole egg, 1 slice Ezekiel bread, and some shredded cheese.

It’s so delicious and satisfying that I just can’t steer away from it yet! I’m sure in time I’ll get sick of it, but until then…it’s my go-to!

Leg Workout

Yesterday I did a leg workout that also got me pretty good.

I started with heavy squats (3 sets of 1-5 reps). Here were my numbers:

Set 1: 145 x 5

Set 2: 155 x 4

Set 3: 165 x 3

165x3...Here I go!

I haven’t squatted heavy in about 2 weeks, so I didn’t really try to push it too hard. I plan on hitting legs again later this week, so I may try to go heavier then.

The rest of my leg workout:

Deadlifts: 135 x 12, 145 x 12, 155 x 10

Walking Lunges: 50 x 15, 50 x 15

45* Hypers: 10 x 30, 10 x 30

Banded Hip Abductions: 10 reps leaning forward, 10 reps neutral, 10 reps leaning back for a total of 2 sets

Q’s:

1. Do you take ice baths? Have you ever?

2. What’s your go-to breakfast? (Maybe it will help me break out of my rut)

 

Friday the 13th, Conditioning, and a Birthday!

Good morning, friends!

Is it just me or have there been a LOT of Friday the 13th’s lately? Maybe I’m just noticing them more? Anyways, I kind of like it. šŸ™‚

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This morning I rolled out of bed to do some conditioning. It is sooo hard for me to get out of bed to workout these days. I can’t believe I used to work out at 5am every day! I’m sure if I tried, I could get back in that routine, but I actually really like my afternoon/evening weight lifting sessions too! Ah, getting older.

My Birthday

Speaking of getting older, I celebrated my 27th birthday on Tuesday. It was actually one of the best birthdays I’ve had in a while. I have the best friends, family, boyfriend and co-workers anyone could ask for. They made me feel super special!

IMG_7120I had to work on my birthday, but I took a break to get a great back workout in, too!

  • Pull Ups
  • T-Bar Rows
  • Cable Rows
  • Straight Arm Pulldowns
  • Close Grip Pulldowns

Birthday pull-ups! Kinda sloppy, but I'm working on getting these bad boys more strict. 3 sets of 4 today.It’s funny how simple things become much more fulfilling as you get older. I couldn’t think of a single gift I wanted this year, but just wanted to spend my day with the people (and furry creatures) I love, doing what I love…and I got just that!

IMG_7162I didn’t even get mad that Oscar tried to steal my balloon. šŸ˜‰

Anyways, back to today.

Here’s what I did for my conditioning:

KB Clean & Snatch Combo (4 sets of 8 reps each)

Barbell Complex (4 sets)

I’ll have a full post on barbell complexes in the next week. They are a GREAT way to get the heart rate up without having to do standard cardio. Stay tuned!

I’ve got a bunch of work to do today (it seems to just keep piling on), and then I’m headed to the studio tonight to set up for an all-day session tomorrow. It should be fun!

I’m really looking forward to Sunday to just relax a bit. I’m hoping to get a hike and/or leg workout in and then just lounge around the rest of the day. Sounds like a perfect day to me! šŸ™‚

In the works…

-I’ve got a few ebooks I’m working on at the moment that I can’t wait to release! Details to come soon!

Q: Do you hate the #13? Love it?

I love it!! I guess that’s the “metal” in me. šŸ™‚

 

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