Tag Archive for workouts

NAMM 2014 + Fitness Plan for Week of 1/27

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Hey guys! I’m back!! I took a brief break the last few days, as I was attending the NAMM show in Anaheim. If you’re not familiar, it’s basically a ginormous convention filled with all the instruments and gear you could imagine and then even more that you can’t imagine. It’s always a fun time, but it is exhausting!! My favorite thing this year was definitely this CrushDrums setup with the hardware designed by SawBladeHead Designs: 

Somehow, Charlie and I didn’t take any pictures together all weekend. Oops. We got home Saturday night and basically made dinner and crashed. Being on your feet for 2.5 days STRAIGHT is really tiring. 

Sunday morning I had a recording session with the Music Immersive. It is actually a really cool program. We had 11 people recording the music they had written that week with several top writers, and the talent always amazes me. We ended up working for 16.5 hours straight and I didn’t get home until 2:30am. My alarm Monday morning at 7am was not welcomed. Not one bit. Here’s a little clip of the studio and the band jamming. A long, but fun day for sure! (Sorry for the crappy vidoegraphy skills :-))

On to Fitness…

This past weekend while at NAMM, while I did walk for 2.5 days all day long (not included the mile each way to and from the hotel), I also managed to get this workout in on Saturday morning:

Tabata Fun!

Tabata Fun!

Quick, but good! This week, I plan on doing my usual thang. 

Monday: Heavy Lift + 20 HIIT

Tuesday: 30 minute run + Bouldering

Wednesday: Crossfit or metabolic conditioning

Thursday: 30 minute run + Heavy Lift

Friday: Full Body Workout + Bouldering

Saturday: Paddleboarding + Yoga (my friend’s birthday party….she is too cool!!!)

Sunday: REST + Superbowl!

I hope everyone is gearing up for a great end to January! (How the HECK did that even happen, by the way?)

What are you looking forward to most this year?

Any fun trips or events planned?

I get to see my little brother for the first time in almost 3 years next month. It is pretty much the highlight of my life right now. Can’t. Freaking. Wait. 

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Recipe + BoulderCrossfitRun

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Good morning friends! It’s actually more like mid-afternoon, but it feels like morning to me, so I’m going with it!

Yesterday was a really good day! I was extremely productive (even dyed my hair, woot woot!) and got in a LOT of fitness. I actually didn’t feel like I was overdoing it at all either, which was nice!

Workout

To start my workout, I did a little over 3 miles running around the Crossfit gym. I got there about 40 minutes earlier and figured I should use my time wisely! I took it nice and easy and ran about a 9:30 pace as sort of a warm-up for the Crossfit workout.

Sweaty Lizzio

Sweaty Lizzio

(Side note: These bluetooth wireless headphones my lovely boyfriend got me for Christmas are AWESOME!!! They don’t move AT ALL. I’ve run in them, done plyometrics (including burpees), weightlifted, etc. and they don’t move! They are wonderful!)

Afterwards, I headed into the gym for the WOD. We actually warmed up with a version of tag that was KILLER on the legs. You see, it was your typical game of tag, except you were in a squat position the ENTIRE time and holding a medicine ball over your head. My legs were burning so much! We then did a 1,000 kilometer row for time and then went into the WOD. Good little cardio bursts to start the workout!

Full Tabata – Lowest Score

(this means that whatever the lowest amount of reps you get in any given round is your score)

(20 seconds on, 10 seconds off x 8 for each exercise)

-Pull-Ups

-Hand Release Push Ups

-Sit Ups

-Squats

The workout was tough (especially the pull-ups and HR Push ups). I ended up with 2/2/8/12 for my score. Definitely want to work on this one and get better at it!

As if I hadn’t done enough exercise, I then headed to the rock climbing gym for some bouldering. I had some fruit and a Think Thin bar on the way for some needed fuel. I just LOVE bouldering so much and I needed it in my life last night. It didn’t disappoint whatsoever. I got stuck on a move on a V2 route that I just couldn’t seem to get through. I think it took me about 15 tries to get. I swore I wasn’t going to leave until I got it. Finally….I GOT IT!! It felt really great. I left right after that. It had been a good 1.5 hours at the gym and I just wanted to end on a good note!

Needless to say, I was dead by the end of that. It was late too, so I didn’t want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen. I whipped up a quick, delicious, and healthy pasta with meat sauce. You’ll love the nutritional facts and it is a LOT of food!!!

Food

Low Carb Pasta w/ Meat Sauce

Serves 4 -5

gfpasta copy

Ingredients: 
-16 oz. extra lean (or lean) ground turkey

-2 cups Mezetta Napa Valley Tomato Basil Sauce

-4 packages Shirataki Noodles (fettucine or spaghetti kind, whatever you prefer)

-4 wedge Laughing Cow Garlic & Herb Cheese

-Fresh Parmesan Cheese (to taste)

-Spices: Oregano, Sea Salt (or Garlic Salt), Black Pepper, Red Pepper Flakes (optional)

Directions: 

1. Cook ground turkey in a frying pan until browned.

2. Meanwhile, let the sauce simmer in a pan (or if you’re lazy, heat it up in the microwave).

3. When the meat is cooked and the sauce is simmering, add meat to sauce for about 1 minute while stirring.

Noodles: 

1. Pour packages of noodles in a strainer and rinse well with water.

2. Dry off with a paper towel and then microwave for 1-2 minutes.

3. Add spices, and laughing cow cheese and heat for another 1-2 minutes.

4. Mix thoroughly and add sauce and meat.

Here is a horrible, disgusting photo of what you will get, but I PROMISE it is tasty!!!

pasta

Dinner is served!! Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top if you’d like!! This recipe is SUPER simple and I’m not even kidding, you will not know the difference between the shirataki noodles and the real thing once it’s all cooked and mixed together. This is also a LOT of food for this serving size. I’m always completely stuffed afterwards as if I’d eaten a 1,000 calorie pasta dinner! This is easily one of my favorite dishes.

1. What is your favorite quick recipe?

2. If you could pick any food to become ZERO calories, what would you choose? Probably cookies or cheesecake for me! 🙂 

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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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Restless & Clean Chocolate Peanut Butter Frosting

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Hey guys!!

We’re almost to the weekend, so that’s something to be excited about, right?! It’s been a realllyyyyyy  busy week for me, but a good one at that! This weekend, I’m taking a super quick trip to Arizona for my Grandpa’s Memorial. He passed away a few days before Christmas at the ripe age of 92. It’s sad, but at the same time he lived a really long and fruitful life. He was a Holocaust survivor, and until the age of 91, was still going to the gym 5 DAYS A WEEK. That right there should be inspiration to anyone that you just don’t have an excuse!  I will miss him a lot, but thankful for the 25 years I got to have him in my life. He is a true inspiration to me and definitely gave me the exercises genes!!

Grandpa at his 91st birthday party at the gym!

Grandpa at his 91st birthday party at the gym!

Workout Plans

Tonight I’m headed to the rock climbing gym for another bouldering session. I plan to get a 3 mile run in beforehand too. Woohoo!

While I was supposed to hit up Crossfit yesterday, I knew my body was just not into it. I’m trying to do a better job of listening to my body so that I don’t overtrain. When I finished working yesterday, I headed home and decided I would take a needed rest day. Once I made some dinner and surfed the net for a bit, I just couldn’t sit still anymore and ended up heading to the gym anyways! I just walked on the treadmill for a while, but thought it was interesting that I just can’t sit still. I am not very good at taking rest days, but I am trying to learn! Do you have trouble taking rest days? If I’m busy enough, I can do it, but if I’m not it’s nearly impossible!!

Since I skipped Crossfit yesterday, I plan to go tomorrow around lunchtime.

Recipe

I was craving something sweet last night, but didn’t want to wreck my diet. I mixed together a few ingredients and ended up with a delicious frosting!!!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Frosting

Ingredients:

2 TBSP PB2

1 TBSP Unsweetened Pure Cocoa

1 Packet Stevia

Water

Directions:

Combine the PB2 and Cocoa in a small dish or bowl. Add  a little bit of water at a time until you get the consistency of a frosting. Then enjoy!

This can be eaten by itself, or you can top toast, muffins, pancakes, and more with it! Here’s the best part:

choc pb copy

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Holidays, Exciting News, and Wisdom Teeth

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Hey all! I hope everyone had a safe and happy new year’s! Mine was really low-key and I’m totally fine with that. I’m battling a nagging wisdom tooth today and doing whatever I can to try to relieve some of this pain!

Holiday Recap

This holiday season had me in Kansas with my boyfriend and his family. It was also pretty low-key and while we did do a bit of shopping and running around, there was also a lot of down time as well. We spent time with his family, shopped, cooked, baked, played games, went to a Chief’s game (in 9 degree weather!!!!!) and relaxed. With two full time jobs that have me running around Los Angeles every day, it was a real nice change of pace. It snowed for a day or two, but after that the weather was pretty clear.

I enjoyed the break and am finding it difficult to motivate myself to get back into the swing of things. Eek! This is a problem considering all of my pending projects that I’d like to accomplish in the coming months!

chiefs game

Exciting News

I wanted to share some exciting news with you guys!! While in Kansas, I only had a access to a gym for one day. The rest of the time, I was able to create some super-effective workouts that were done in the living room with NO equipment. I even got the rest of the family to join in for some of them. I can tell you that they were some really TOUGH workouts, but they were easily scalable and took anywhere from 15-45 minutes. I am also happy to report that I actually LOST a pound while on vacation. Of course, the scale doesn’t mean much to me, but I do use it from time to time just to know where I’m hanging out. It truly is JUST a number and not a true representation of anything, but it can be a guide to see where your body tends to stay and what makes it fluctuate most.

Anyways, with that said, I couldn’t help but think that I’m not the only person to go on a vacation and not have access to a gym. It can be awkward to ask to borrow a family member or friend’s car to go to the gym, and the day passes can be costly. While this has been in the making for quite some time, I finally decided to put together an e-book called TravelFit that will include workouts you can do ANYWHERE with NO equipment required along with some healthy snacking/meal tips for when you’re on vacation or out of your normal routine. It should be available towards the end of January and I cannot WAIT to share it with you all!

2013-07-15 21.42.25

The e-book will include: 

-15 different workouts that can be done ANYWHERE with NO equipment required

-Healthy Snacking/Meal Tips for when you’re out of your normal routine

-Ways to scale any workout to make it easier and/or harder, as well as to accommodate any weaknesses

Weeee!!! I hope you guys and others will enjoy this! It’s something I’ve been putting a lot of effort into over the past few months and finally putting it together has been really fun for me!

Thanks for a great year! While I didn’t post quite as much as I’d hoped, one of my goals for 2014 is to change that. I’m focusing on making some changes in my life in the near future and blogging regularly will be a part of that change.

Did you travel anywhere for the holidays?

How do you keep your fitness goals in sight when you’re on vacation? 

xmas photo

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Winner, Workout, & Food…

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Winner

Wooo! What a weekend it was…..which means I never got to announce the winner of the Polaroid Sunglasses Giveaway!!!

Congratulations Katie L.!!! Please e-mail me at fitlizzio(at)gmail(dot)com with your full address so I can send your brand new sunglasses to you!!!

For the non-winners, until next time folks…and there will be a next time!

Website

On to a shameless plug….

My brand new website is LAUNCHED!!! I’d be delighted for you all to check it out! It was a long time in the making and I am so excited to finally be “on-line!” My Part Time Manager is OFFICIAL! 🙂

Lizzy Slider

Eats

While I’ll likely never be the type of blogger that documents everything I eat, here are a few tidbits from today!

My never fail Summer Breakfast Smoothie (made with kale, strawberries, blueberries, 1/2 banana, greek yogurt, protein powder, and stevia). It is SO delicious and the perfect pre-workout breakfast that doesn’t make me too full and doesn’t send me to the gym on an empty stomach!!!

breakfast smoothie

After my cardio session (just a 30 minute sesh on the treadmill today) I grabbed a NuGo Protein Bar so I could shower and get ready without chewing my arm off. Real sea salt crystals on the bar. Pretzels inside. Chocolate. Yum.

nugo protein bar

On my way to job #2, I grabbed my favorite $10 salad from Beverliz Cafe in Beverly Hills. It is so fresh, summery, and delicious. The Strawberry Chicken Salad comes with lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, chicken, strawberries (durr), and feta cheese. The balsamic vinaigrette is to die for. I didn’t snap a picture today because I think I had eaten it all before I even thought of it.

Other random eats throughout the day: Plain strawberries (have I mentioned I love strawberries?), an apple, crystallized ginger (my weird obsession), and an Ezekiel, egg white, chicken sausage sandwich (yum in my tum).

And now for a doozy of a workout….I did this last night and I am feeling it today for sure….

Workout

1 minute rest between supersets…adjust weight to what you’re comfortable with! As always, always ask a doctor before starting any new exercise program.

Superset #1: 4 sets

Snatch(45lb BB) – 10 reps

Push-Up Plank (10lb DB’s) – 8 reps

Superset #2: 3 sets

DB Bench Press(25lb DB’s) – 12 reps

Step-Up Hops(bodyweight) – 12 reps per leg

Superset #3: 3 sets

Pull-Ups with a Resistance Band(green band) – 10 reps

Squat Jumps(bodyweight) – 15 reps

Superset #4: 3 sets

Windmills(15lb DB) – 8 reps per side

Good Mornings(45lb BB) – 15 reps

What is your favorite exercise? 

I love Snatches (gosh that sounds awful but seriously there is no other way to say that…). They are really tough, you have to really work for them, your form has to be spot on, your entire body is involved, and you feel so strong doing them!!! Kapow!!! Your turn!

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Measurements + Cardio Decrease

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Hey guys!

Bear with me for the next few weeks. I’m finishing up my finals, while packing my life away for the big move! It’s been pretty busy around here. 😉

I just wanted to talk about a few things. I like cardio and its unlikely that I’ll ever just stop doing it altogether, but I don’t like doing endless cardio every single day. It’s pretty monotonous and I’ve always done it just to stay in good shape.

Lately, I’ve gotten into some ruts with my workouts, as far as the types of workouts I’ve been doing. I LOVE working out, but I do like to change it up so that I can keep enjoying my workouts. Slaving isn’t fun 🙂

-I was bored with lifting weights, so I started doing more running and plyometrics.(burpees, jumping movements, pushups, tire flips etc.)

-It gets HOT in AZ in April, so running hasn’t been as fun. Feeling like you’re going to get heat stroke while pounding the pavement isn’t exactly my idea of a good time. I realize waking up at the crack of dawn is an option, however it’s not one I want to take right now.

Anyways, I missed the iron, and have been lifting pretty regularly again, combined with the plyometrics. Let me just put this on the record: Best workouts I’ve ever gotten.

They are fast, intense, hard, fun, and always keep you guessing. That’s what she…

As far as cardio? Well I’ve still been doing it about 3-4 days a week, but considering I was doing it 6-7 days, it’s a drastic cut for me. I sweat more, breathe harder and get fatigued so much quicker with the workouts I’ve been doing lately and I finally realize how much time I’m wasting on steady state cardio. I’m not saying it’s bad, and I still like it and will continue to do it, but endless hours is just not necessary. In April, I have lost 0.5 inches in each of the following areas: waist(smallest part), butt, upper thighs and lower thighs. I lost an entire inch on my hips! May will be even better 😀

With that said, I will show you one of the workouts I did recently.

Wacky Workout – Go through these exercises without a rest. When you finish all of them, take a 1 minute break and repeat. Do the circuit 3-4 more times depending on your fitness level. (Note: If you can only make it through once, no shame!! It’s a tough circuit.)

10 Ninja Jumps

10 Barbell Walking Lunges(10 per leg)

10 burpees (with push ups)

Heavy bag pull (if you don’t have access to a heavy bag, you can replace this with a sprint…different but will still raise your heart rate)

15 DB bicep curls (per arm)

20 DB overhead tricep extensions

The funny thing is that when I wrote this workout, it looked pretty easy to me. Then I did it. End of story.

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Today’s Workout

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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!

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