Tag Archive for rock climbing

Leg Day Workout + ACU-MASSAGE

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First off, thanks for all of your awesome comments on Part 1 of Then & Now: How I’ve Changed! You guys are nothing short of amazing. I’ll be posting Part 2 in the next few days, but I thought I’d keep it a bit lighter today.

Yesterday was a pretty good day. I packed a LOT in. I’m definitely feeling sore today, but in a good way. I have a feeling that throughout the day it’s going to get worse, but for now I’m feeling great!

For the last few weeks, there’s been an area of my back that is knotted like a friggin’ PRETZEL. Seriously guys…..it is ridiculous. I go to an Acu-masseuse who is AMAZING and saw him for it about a month ago. It helped a TON, but one session was not enough for this. I went back to him last night to try to eradicate the problem for good.  He WORKED ME last night and I’m even a bit sore from it. Instead of working on digging into the tissue a ton, he works on re-aligning the spine. There is no cracking or popping, just a lot of movement. It works wonders. I feel like a new person today. I think between boxing, rock climbing, and weight lifting, my back just gets beat up. He also finishes the session with cupping, so I’m rocking some awesome octopus kisses today. 😀

back

Workouts:

On the workout front, yesterday had me sweatin’ bullets. I did legs at the gym:

LEGS

Superset 1:

Romanian Deadlifts – 3 sets of 135# x 12 reps

Medicine Ball Thrusters – 3 sets of 16# x 15 reps

Superset 2:

DB Walking Lunges – 3 sets of 20#DB’s x 10 reps (per leg)

Ninja Jumps – 3 sets of 10  (i’ll have to take a video of these someday….they are intense…and awesome.)

Final Exercise:

BB Wide Stance Squats – 3 sets of 95# x 10 reps

After finishing up some work, I headed to Rockreation and did 10 routes. They re-did some of the routes and one in particular was SO COOL. I ended up doing it a few times to really perfect my technique on it. Low and behold I ended up tearing a callous. 🙁 I haven’t done that in a lonnnnnng time, so it was bound to happen sooner or later. Whomp, whomp.

2014-06-26 11.23.58

Since my back is a bit of a mess and I now have a ripped callous on my pinky, I’m not quite sure what I’ll do for exercise today. I need to let my back rest a little, so boxing is out, but I may do something crazy and take a yoga class or something (as I shudder thinking about it),. We’ll see how I feel later in the day.

What’s on your workout agenda for the day?

Have you ever done Acu-Massage?

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Monday Food Diary + Abs Pic

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Another Monday in the books. Glad I got that one out of the way! It was a good, but busy one! (aren’t they always?)

Workouts

On the workout front, I got my 20 minutes of HIIT on the stairmill in + a bouldering session at Rockreation. I got WORKED at Rockreation. I didn’t take many breaks and was completely sweaty by the end….and I was only there for about 35 minutes! Such a fun sport. I’m so glad I was introduced to it years ago and re-introduced since I’ve been back here in LA.

 

Food Diary Monday, 6/24/14

On the food front, I journaled what I ate yesterday for you guys. I’ll be honest, my breakfast isn’t anything to be proud of. I forgot to make breakfast and this was my best option with the time I had.

Breakfast:

Americano w/ Nonfat Milk

Nugo Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Bar

Snack:

Americano w/ Nonfat Milk

Lunch:

Paleo Beef Burger (Ground beef, guacamole, lettuce, tomato, ketchup)

Side of fresh fruit

Snack:

Quest Cookies n Cream Bar

Dinner:

Salmon, Avocado, & Brown Rice Sushi (the perfect ratio of protein, fat, carbs)

Mango Slices

Grapes

I realize that I’m a really weird eater, by the way. I eat a lot of fruit. And could easily eat a bag of grapes in one sitting (and often do). I need to be better about my breakfast and morning snack options (Coffee really doesn’t count! Just a busy morning). It’s helpful to look back at a day and see what I’m missing. I could definitely use some veggies, hello! I’ll double up today at lunch. 😉 (Maybe I’ll even take photos of my food one of these days! Haha…i’ll try…)

Here’s what my abs looked like after dinner last night. I’m going to try to take a few each week to see the changes. I’ll also try to take one in the morning before I’ve eaten or drank anything. The difference is quite large…

photo(2)

I’ll be heading down to ABA this evening for a Boxing class. I love boxing and ABA is definitely is the best sweat in Los Angeles. You don’t leave ANYTHING when you take those classes. It’s awesome.

Trying to get a bunch of work done early in the week so that I can jet out early on Friday and head home to hang with my family. I don’t like the 6 hour drive, but I miss them and want to hang with my cute little nephew, sister, brother, dad, and some friends.

Seriously?! Look at him!!!

Seriously?! Look at him!!!

Questions for the Day:

1. What meal is the hardest for you to stay on track with?

(Mine is breakfast just because I’m always rushing out the door. )

2. Have you ever journaled your food? Did it help you?

 

 

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Weekly Fitness Plan + Whirlwind Weekend

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Whew! I apologize for not posting the last two days, but I had a crazy little weekend followed by a crazy start to my work-week! I’m short on sleep, but hoping to make up for that at least sometime this coming weekend!

This past weekend was my Grandpa’s Memorial. It was a really beautiful celebration of his life. Instead of being a sad, mournful occasion (I mean, of course we were all sad he wasn’t there to celebrate with us!),  the service was filled with highlights of all of his many talents and accomplishments through his 92 years of life. Can you believe that at the age of 91 when his health started to deteriorate, instead of just stopping his daily routine, he cut down his gym time from 5 days a week to 3 days a week?! At 91 freakin’ years old he still didn’t give up!!! I’m sorry, I just can’t get over how awesome he was. 😀

What 6:30am looks like from the sky

What 6:30am looks like from the sky

After 3 hours of sleep, we were up at 4am on Monday morning to catch a flight back to LA. Monday then turned into an 11 hour work day for me and I somehow managed to also fit in a heavy lifting session, 20 minutes of cardio, and a bouldering session. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t a good idea considering how exhausted I was, but somehow I pulled off a REALLY great lifting session. I PR’d on hip thrusts with 211lbs x 6 reps too. Woohoo for strength! I love lifting heavy!!

Getting ready to thrust away!

Getting ready to thrust away!

 

Weekly Fitness Plan

Although work has been crazy and I ended up taking Tuesday off from exercise, here is what my week tentatively looks like. I am hoping to get back to doing 3 bouldering sessions per week. It’s just so much fun and so great for an overall body workout.

Monday: Heavy Lift + 20 minutes Incline Walking + Bouldering

Tuesday: Rest

Wednesday: 30 minute run + Crossfit + Bouldering

Thursday: Heavy Lift

Friday: 30 minute run + Bouldering

Saturday: Full Body Conditioning

Sunday: Hike?

A lot of this will all depend on how my body feels. If I’m super sore from Crossfit, my heavy lift will likely get moved to Friday and I’ll do something a little lighter on the body Thursday. Just have to see how things go!

Ab Progress: They’re coming…slowly but surely they’re coming….

Ab Progress January 14, 2014

Ab Progress January 14, 2014

I leave you with a picture of the cutest freaking boy in the world. I love my nephew, Matthew, so much!!

My heart.

My heart.

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Crossfit + Bouldering = Blister City

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Hey guys! Hope you’re getting a good start to your weekend! I’m finishing up some work and then I have a quick little weekend trip for my Grandpa’s Memorial.

Tonight, my boyfriend is playing a gig at local bar, so we’re heading to that and somehow going to get up in the morning to make a 9am flight. Did I mention I haven’t packed yet? Oops.

Workout

Last night’s bouldering sesh was fuuuuunnnn! My girl Ally and I always have a blast when we climb together. We are both total goofballs and at the same time want to be the baddest climbers in the world, so we make a good motivating team.

Look Ma, no hands!

Look Ma, no hands!

photo 1Since I took a little break over the holidays from climbing, my hands are still getting used to it. My hand/grip strength has stayed pretty well, but my callouses are much weaker! By about an hour into the session, it starts to feel like the wall is covered in razor blades. Fun fun.

Moving on to today. I had to take my boss’s car into the shop, which just so happened to by right near the Crossfit gym I go to in Burbank. I somehow tricked my boyfriend into picking me up and taking the 12:30pm class with me. I made the mistake of looking at the WOD before class the other day and may have chickened out, so I made sure not to make that mistake again today. I’m glad I didn’t because I probably would have chickened out again!

We did a pretty good long warm-up and then went onto the workout:

WOD

7 minute AMRAP

Reps: 3,6,9,12…….

Barbell Thrusters (I used 53 lbs)

Pull-Ups

For pull-ups, i can do some one my own, but I haven’t mastered the whole “kipping pull-up” thing yet. This means I do them strict, so I can usually only get about 2-3 in a row. I used a purple resistance band to help me for the reps I couldn’t do on my own. I ended up with 9+21 reps for the workout. It was tough! I think the hardest part was actually the fact that my hands were KILLING ME. More razor blades. Hopefully in another week or so, my callouses will have become strong enough that I don’t run into this as much.

Note to self: Bouldering the night before crossfit MIGHT not be the most genius idea I’ve ever had.

I’m very new to crossfit, but I do enjoy it a lot! I’ve done a lot of crossfit-style workouts, but as for doing them in an actual box with a group, this is only my 3rd class. I’m very competitive and athletic, so this sport is right up my alley.

Do i think it is for everybody? No. Some people do not like this style of working out. And that is TOTALLY okay. You should do something you LOVE so that you will actually do it and enjoy it!

Do I think beginners should jump into it without proper mastering of technique? No. Form is everything. If you don’t know how to use your body properly, the margin for error and injury becomes huge.

Do I think it’s worth a shot for anyone? Absolutely! I think if you’re new to working out and are interested, you should take a few beginner classes so that you can become familiar with the moves. Many people who think they wouldn’t enjoy crossfit, end up as die hards.

So what about you? Have you tried cross fit? Do you love it? Hate it? Tell me your thoughts!!!

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Weekly Fitness Plan & Bouldering

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It’s Mondayyyyyyyyy! Are you excited? I am actually. I like a fresh start to the week!

This weekend was busy, but a lot of fun! Between the enlistment day for The World’s Best Bootcamp-Burbank, a girl’s night, recording session, and a fun workout, I slept like a baby last night!

 

console

Recording Console at Ultimate Rhythm Studios in Los Angeles

My Weekly Fitness Plan:

(This is tentative, but I like laying it out for the week so I have some type of plan in mind.)

Monday: Bouldering (see below) & Run

Tuesday: Heavy Lift

Wednesday: Crossfit + 20 minutes of cardio

Thursday: Bouldering & Run

Friday: Heavy Lift

Saturday: Rest Day (Travelling)

Sunday: Possibly Hike

So that’s what I’m planning! This is actually a lot more cardio than I’ve done in a while, but it’s just so nice outside that I feel like I should take advantage of it and run!!!

What is Bouldering?

So I’ve gotten a few questions on bouldering. Mostly along the lines of ” What is bouldering?!”. Bouldering is similar to rock climbing, but you are not attached to a rope or harness. The walls only go about 8-10 feet high, so if you fall, it’s not a big deal usually. There is a great deal of technique involved in this sport.

Benefits of Bouldering: 

-First of all, it is like doing a puzzle on a wall. There are techniques to bouldering and figuring out how you are going to take the path to the top can be tricky and take some trial and error. While many people think it is all about strength, it is all about efficiency. Technique is what makes being super-efficient on the wall possible.

-Overall body strength: You literally use your entire body. Your core, arms, back, legs, etc. are ALL working. Bouldering has increased my strength in a HUGE way. For example, when I started bouldering a few months ago, I could do 0 pull-ups. I can now do 3 in a row. 

-Mental Zen: There is something about bouldering that has a yoga-like effect. I think part of it is the fact that you are working your body and mind at the same time. For me, I know it is a HUGE stress reliever.

-FUN: Because what about climbing and hanging on walls ISN’T fun?!

It may not be for everyone, but I can tell you that I absolutely love it. If there is a rock climbing gym in your area, I highly suggest trying it out! There are always veterans there that are happy to give advice and help you with your technique. The bouldering community is  very friendly!

bouldering

Me just “hangin’ out!”

So that’s that. I’m working my day away and then heading home for a run and bouldering session. Hope everyone is having a great start to their week!

Have you ever tried bouldering or rock climbing? Are you afraid of heights?

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