Tag Archive for workout

Day 1

Today has been great! I got up around 9 and walked to the gym (about 3/4 mile) and began my workout. Today was chest and triceps. Let me just say, narrow pushups are my enemy! They were so tough! After my lift, I hopped on the treadmill for 30 minutes for some incline walking. I started at 10% 3.3mph and worked up to 15% 3.3mph. Afterwards, I jumped into the tail end of a circuit/plyometric class that was going on. It consisted of 1 minute each of:

-Medicine ball squats on a bosu ball

-Jumping jacks with a dumbbell held in front of you

-Exercise ball knee crunches (Start in push up position with your feet on the ball and crunch inwards)

-Battle Ropes

-kettle bell swings

-Step Up Jump offs

It was a good end to my work out!

I can’t believe it’s already 1:30pm. I got some work done at the gym and am at home now…..still doing work. I’ll post later with an update on my food intake!

 

Hamstring Fiyah!

 

Hey guys!! Sorry my posts have been so sporadic. I’m moving to Los Angeles on Saturday, so I’ve been tying up the loose ends here.

I’m finally getting over the horrendous cough I had. It’s been a week and  a half, and I’m finally able to work out again as of Sunday. I’m still coughing a little bit, and my ribs are sore, but I’m not going to complain. It’s funny how sickness makes you appreciate your health so much more!!

I haven’t been able to do much cardio, since my lungs are a little pre-occupied with coughing, but I’ve done some. Aside from that, I’ve just been watching what I eat and getting in my weights. I haven’t done much plyometric work either, and I’m excited to get back to that, hopefully next week sometime. I don’t want to push it and end up sick again!

This is the hamstring/glute workout I did yesterday. It had me sweating like crazy. I’m not sore today, surprisingly, but it was a great workout!

Leg Workout

Deadlifts: 95 x 15, 95 x 15, 115 x 12, 135 x 8, 135 x 8

Superset of:

DB Step-Ups: 20 x 15, 20 x 15, 20 x 15

Quadruped Hip Extension(one of my faves): 20 x 12, 20 x 12, 20 x 12

45* Hyper: 10 x 15, 10 x 15, 10 x 15

I finished with 20 minutes on the elliptical to cool off and move my legs around 🙂

Enjoy! Let me know if you try it and what you think. (Of course, use weights that are appropriate for YOU.)

Expletive, EXPLETIVE, EXPLETIVE!!

If you’re wondering about the title, I can explain. You see, I’m on day 4 of a cough that will.not.go.away.

It came out of nowhere and is leaving its mark on me! I’ve tried all kinds of over the counter medicines (which I very rarely do. I normally like to just let my body fight off whatever I have). I tried teas, lemon, honey, cough drops, etc. Nothing was working. The cough has been plaguing me and it’s forced me to take 3 full rest days!! It feels like Chinese water torture!!

Finally today, I bit the bullet and went to the doctor. I don’t typically go to a pedobearpics doctor (I have a naturopathic doctor) but at this point, I want ANYTHING to take away the cough so I can keep my lungs. He prescribed a Z pack (antibiotics) and cough syrup with codine. Normally, I avoid antiobiotics like the plague, but considering I feel like I HAVE a plague, I went ahead and started them. The cough is so bad that even the cough syrup with codine didn’t help much!!

Anyways, that is what I’ve been up to!! I am hoping that tomorrow the cough will have subsided enough for me to at least get some type of work out in. I took a long walk outside yesterday, but I’m still itching for a real work out.

Trying to listen to my body and let it heal, while not driving myself crazy! Luckily, writing at my other blog and mixing/editing music has kept me pretty occupied the last few days. Here’s to hoping for improved health!!!

Wedding and Workout

Hey!!

I told you I’d be back Monday, but I’m barely making it back to blogging today! My sister’s wedding was a BLAST, and I couldn’t imagine a more beautiful bride.(Don’t worry, there are pictures at the end of this post…)

We had a LOT of fun and continued the party to the hotel that night with about 15 of our friends. We had brunch the next morning, and let’s just say, nobody was feeling too great. I didn’t drink at the wedding (I know, I know) but I was still extremely tired from lack of sleep and literally dancing the NIGHT AWAY. My dad invited my brother and I to a Diamondbacks game, so we did that and then enjoyed more time with the family that evening.

I took Sunday off from working out, but yesterday I was back at it! I did another one of Zuzana’s workout, this one to be exact, and it was a total ass kicker. Unbelievable.

My stats:

Part 1: 4 min. 26 seconds

Part 2: 8,9,7,7,7,7,8,7,7

and finished off with 10 minutes on the spin bike.

Enjoy the photos!

Me, Rachel(sister), Maggie(friend)

The kiss!

Me after makeup

They look so happy!!! 🙂

BEAUTIFUL bride. Love it.

Thisss is basically how everyone looked the morning after. Our friend Scotty, looking his finest….

Today’s Workout

As I mentioned a few days ago, I’ve really changed my workouts up a bit lately. I haven’t done much formal lifting, but have been incorporating more plyometrics, pushups, compound movements and metabolic training into my life. Weights are still being lifted, but at a much faster rate! It’s fun and I’m at a point in my fitness journey that makes me want to just get in ridiculously good all-around shape. I’m just not feeling the heavy lifting right now, but I know the bug will come back eventually. It always does 🙂

So I thought I’d give you a taste of my workout today. As always, know your limits and check with a doctor before you try anything new. What works for me may not work for you.

I started out with 15 minutes of incline walking on the treadmill. Then I moved to a different area of the gym to get my fitness on.

I did timed intervals of the following exercises(1 minute of each), with a jog to the stairs, up and down, and back to the starting point in between exercises. A 25 lb barbell was used for most exercises.

-Squats

-Step ups

-Bench press

-tricep extensions

-Bicep curls

-Bent over rows

-Shoulder press

-calf raises

I think thats it? It’s hard to remember. Anyways, i did about 3 sets of each exercise for about a minute straight and probably threw in about 5-6 jogs to the stairs with a sprint up and down the stairs. Next time I will do my best to remember accurately!! 😀

Well, tomorrow is the rehearsal dinner and the wedding is Saturday!! You probably won’t hear from me until Sunday or Monday, but i hope everyone has a great weekend! I’m off to bed so I can squeeze a workout in before the fun begins!

Tabata and Running…and then I got all preachy.

Buenos Tardes amigos!

Today has been somewhat crazy, and the next few will be even more-so! This wedding is really starting to stress me out, and it’s not even mine!

I went to my (almost) final fitting for my dress and finally got shoes for the wedding. I just need to finish up my speech, and the rest should fall into place! I have to go back one more time on Friday because she is making a few slight alterations, but it’s basically ready.

Today’s workout was pretty killer. I was sweating up a storm! I started out on a jog around the neighborhood I’m house sitting in. It is a really nice, overcast day here, so the conditions were great. I set out for 5 miles and was just going to call it a day after that. About 2 miles into the run, I decided that although I was enjoying myself and the time was flying, I wanted to push myself harder. My pace was pretty fast, but I was starting to mentally check out and get my brain set on doing something more intense. I finished up 3 miles and came inside to do a Tabata style workout.

Tabata is a style of training that involves 8 rounds of 20 seconds work, 10 seconds rest. You need an interval timer to do it, but luckily I found this handy tool online. Makes it easy when I just have to listen for a bell!

My tabata exercises included:

-Mountain climbers

-Squats

-Pushups(holy hell.)

-Bicycle Twists

I actually wanted to do more, but I’ve been having some lower back issues the past few days and started to feel it a little bit. I’d rather be smart and do less, than do more and be out for a long period of time!

It’s funny, I think that females, or maybe everyone, tends to work the body parts they don’t like much more than any others. I have ALWAYS worked my legs like crazy, not to mention, I love leg workouts. Combined with all of the cardio activities that I do, my legs have some crazy endurance. The squat rounds really didn’t phase me. Next time I will definitely add weights. The mountain climbers were tough but not terrible, the bicycle twists weren’t so bad, but the push ups? Murderous. I work my upper body A LOT, but it has always been my weak point. If you saw the way my body is made up, it would make total sense. I actually have a decent amount of upper body muscle, but it is all self made. Prior to my working out days, they were stick arms. My lower body is very athletically proportioned. Although I’m carrying around a few extra pounds these days, I have very muscular glutes and hamstrings. My quads are also pretty muscular, but it isn’t as noticeable as the backside.

Random thoughts: I skyped with the man(funny to call him that because he’s about as mature as an 8 year old. But who am I to talk, so am I.) who got me started in the fitness world. He’s currently in New Zealand working on his PhD and we haven’t talked in a few months. We talked about when I first started working out at his gym, and how I’ve changed over the years both physically and mentally, specifically towards my views on strength and conditioning. It’s just still crazy to me that I walked into Lifts almost 4 years ago just thinking I’d start working out a little bit. Little did I know that my entire LIFE would be completely changed. Even though my weight has fluctuated through the years (if I was a yo-yo I’d definitely be a Bumblebee) my perspective on life has constantly been getting better and better. My parents were never big exercisers, other than my mom having a short stint with the gym. It still amazes me that I played sports my entire life, when the other 5 members of my family sat on their ass (my older brother actually was a swimmer/mountain biker but everyone else was a sit-on-their-asser). My grandparents were very active and involved with sports though, so maybe that’s where I got it. My dad started working out about a year and a half ago. Over the last 6 months he has told me that the best gift and greatest lesson I have ever taught him is how much exercise can change your life. He doesn’t realize that him telling me that is one of the greatest gifts I’ve been given by him. It feels good to help someone. Exercise doesn’t just change your body and health, it transforms your mind. There is NOTHING, N.O.T.H.I.N.G in this world that can do for your mind what exercise can do. Yes, one workout gives you endorphins, but long-term continuous exercise makes you believe in yourself, instills confidence in you, and really gives you a drive that you may have never had before. I would assume that the happiest people on the planet are those that exercise regularly, whether that means they live in a walkable city and walk everywhere, or whether they spend hours in the gym, exercise has the ability to change you and bring out the best in you.

Okay, I’ll stop with my preaching, but I just can’t begin to describe how wonderful exercise has been to me. It’s a gift and a privilege to be able to work out as lightly or as fiercely as I want to each day. I am continuously thankful for that, regardless of being 15% body fat or 25%.

We’re jammin’!

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’!

Friday and Saturday

Grab some popcorn and put on your snuggie. This is a long one 🙂

Orange you glad it’s friday??? (I’m an idiot, it’s actually Saturday. My brain is a little fuzzy from boxing just now…fyi, just wrote “luttle” …this should be a good post……..)

Thursday night I got a whopping 4.5 hours of sleep. I should have gotten at least an extra hour, but since I am such a baby genius, when I woke up before my alarm, I assumed it would be going off shortly and proceeded to get ready. I got ready, started mixing up my protein shake (1 scoop protein, ice, water, 1/4 c. egg whites, and 1/4 tsp xanthan gum) and decided to look at the clock. 3:30am. Lovely.

Friday’s Workout

I headed to the gym for my Friday Yoga class. It was a really good class, and so far it hasn’t disappointed me. I’ve never been a huge fan of yoga, but I am starting to realize maybe I just hadn’t(how weird of a word is “hadn’t”?!) been going to good enough classes. I am really enjoying it. I also think doing it early in the morning when I’m still somewhat tired, helps to open me up and energize me for the day. I still want to try hot(bikram) yoga, but that post is for a different day.

After yoga, I hit up the cardio room for some, you guessed it: shmardio. I was feeling antsy and decided to try out a few of the new machines. Our gym got new free motion ellipticals. They are extremely…weird? Whatever motion you move, they move that motion and add resistance. If you want to mimic running, it does that. If you want to mimic stair stepping, it does that too. It is weird, and I think I like it, but I’m not sure. I’ll be honest, I think ellipticals are for light cardio. I am definitely not saying that you can’t get a good cardio sesh out of an elliptical, but I just think that more traditional forms of cardio challenge me more. Running, stair mill, sprints, boxing, and most things that mimic “real life” things seem to get my heart rate up much more. Maybe I just suck at ellipticizecycling. That’s very possible.I’m not knocking the elliptical, it’s just not for me. However, on days when I’m sore or just want to do a light session, ellipticals are a great thing for that for me. Remember, everyone is different and different things work better for different people. End rant haha.

So anyways, after I tried out the free motion machine, I hopped on the treadmill for some incline walking to finish out my 45 minutes. Shweaty mess success.

I headed to the other gym afterwards for a Chest workout. When I work my chest out, I try to keep my heart rate up and do high reps. I have no desire to build my chest muscles up, but they still need to be worked. If you want to be a conditioned person, you have to condition all of your muscles, even the ones you hate to work 😉

My Chest workout consisted of 4 sets of 3 compound sets(2 back to back exercises that challenge the same muscle groups):

-DB Incline Press/ Wide Grip Incline Pushups

-Close Grip EZ Bar Flat Bench Press/ CG Incline Pushups

-Cable Flys(neutral)/ Wide Grip Pushups on the floor

I totalled 108 pushups in that workout, and I’m feeling it today. I’m not sore, but my arms are fatigued.

Saturday

This morning, I woke up and headed to boot camp! I haven’ t been in a whole month. I have been out of town and working at various events, so I was excited to get back. We did 2 sets of a circuit:

-Bleacher steps(run up the steps, down, up down, and around the back of the bleachers)

-Parachute sprints

-Sled pulls

-Sand Bag Squats

-Kettle bell swings

-Suicides

-Frog Leaps

-Ladders

-Mini Hurdles

It was a quick workout(about 40 ish minutes) but definitely a good one. I was feeling it immediately afterwards.


I went to abs class afterwards because I had to work at the gym anyways, so why not? It was a tough one, and my abs were on fiyah! Not to mention, I rarely work my abs. Abs are made in the kitchen and through almost every other exercise you do. No reason to do overkill on the abs unless your looking to bring out a certain area more.

I finished my workouts for the day with a half hour of boxing with a trainer here. It was good and my arms are now shaky and I have that nauscious (i just spent a whole minute trying different ways to spell that word. I give up.)  feeling. It’s not a bad feeling, it’s the feeling of working out hard as hizzle. I dig.

Other bolog-na that you may/may not care about. I’ll guess the latter.

-Eating has been good, and I’m feeling that competition fire burning. Meaning, I WANT TO COMPETE BADLYYYY. That’s good, I need that fire to fuel me through this leaning out process. Here’s to keeping that feeling and not sabotaging myself(which I’ve been known to do. Who knows why?! But I’m kicking that negativity out the door.)

-Next Saturday is the first Pro Show in Arizona! I’m excited. A few people from my gym are competing in it, and I’ve never been to a pro show. It’s going to be really cool to see a show full of elite athletes. Can’t wait!

-I’ve had such a bad taste about bikini lately. Don’t get me wrong, I like competing in bikini and I want to stay in bikini. I thought I wanted to compete in figure, but I just don’t think I do anymore. I like to be small, long, lean and very toned. That is my ideal. However, I am so sick of people, pardon my french, but “slutting it up”on stage! Bikini division means that you are an athlete who has a symmetrical, toned physique, but you just aren’t “cut and striated” like a figure competitor. What is with all of these girls sticking their asses out, trying to flirt with the judges on stage, and basically acting like strippers?! That is NOT what this sport is about, and I don’t like the reputation that the bikini division is getting. I wish these girls would pretend they were doing a model walk for their dads. Then maybe, they wouldn’t come off as a sex kitten. Okay, I’m done. Just wanted to get that out there.

Tonight is my sisters birthday and we’re going out. I haven’t been out in a few weeks, so I’m looking forward to it. My good friend is also coming in town next weekend and I can’t wait! I haven’t seen him since he’s been home from Iraq. Good stuff coming up, I’m going to keep riding this high 🙂

FritesDay

Don’t worry guys, I didn’t eat any french fries. I just like saying “frites”.

Now that we have established that I’m a weirdo, I will get on with this post.

Today has been pretty good overall. My mood has gone up and down, but that’s another story which I will get into in another post.

Got a good chest and tricep workout in this morning and finished it off with some HIIT on the treadmill. I did 5 minutes at 6.0mph then 1 min. on 1 min. off for 10 minutes (6.5-8.5mph) and then went back to 6.5mph and gradually went up every minute by a .5mph until I got to 8.5mph. That brought me to 20 minutes and I cooled down for 5 more. Hard and quick, just the way I like it.(TWSS)

I came home afterwards and ate, dilly dallyed, showered and eventually made it to work. Got what needed to be done out of the way, headed to the bank to finish up some fun accounting bolog-na and then dropped off some D-Bax tickets to papa georgio.(his name is Gregg but when my sibs and I were little we would call him George because we seemed to get a quicker response…that or saying “dad, your secretary called” always triggered an immediate “what?!” from him hehe), and finally headed home.

I was exhausted and had a date with the couch and also VH1 Classic. NEW FAVE CHANNEL. Yesterday it was Woodstock and The Wall…today I watched a show called Classic Albums-one about Nirvana, and the other about U2. I love it because they are in the studio with the rough tracks messing around with them, talking about them, etc. (I am going to school to learn audio engineering so I totally dig that kind of thing!) And now, The Beatles: Hard Day’s Night is on!! I highly reccomend this channel if your a music buff like me 🙂

Going to a movie tonight with my besttty. I miss her we have been friends since we were in 3rd grade and still talk daily. Since we’ve started college we don’t see eachother often, but she is still my numba 1!(besides my seester)

Food-ing went well today again. If I have to bitch and moan my way through these next 10 weeks I will, but hopefully that’s not the case 🙂 So far spirits are still high!

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