Wednesday Sept 8th Hams, Glutes & Calves

Hams & Glutes are a fun day - I don't mind them too much other than being tired afterwards.

Began with a 10 min warmup on bike to get the blood flowing into my legs.

KICKBACK PRESS - GLUTES

Using the leg curl machine, I kneel beneath it - with a 90 degree angle, the bottom of my foot presses up on the pad.  This isn't the actual machine, but since the overall movement is about the same I posted a picture incase you wanted to try it.
40 pounds x 15
50 pounds x 15
60 pounds x 15

KNEELING GOODMORNINGS- HAMSTRINGS
A safer variation of the standing Goodmornings and a great hamstring workout.  Begin by setting a smith bar on a low rack.  I began this exercise with 25's on each side, I can now safely do 45's on each side.  Here's a picture of the standing goodmornings.  Do NOT attemp a standing goodmorning without a trained coach to show you correct form!  Here's an example of a standing good morning.

I do 3 sets of 15-20

PLIE SQAUATS - GLUTES

Using a 70 pound dumbbell, I do 3 sets of 20

STIFF LEG DEAD LIFT - HAMS

95 X 10

105 X 10

115 X 10

SEATED CURLS - HAMS

Settings 5,6,7,8 for 12 reps

STANDING CURLS ON CABLE MACHINE

80 X 15

110 X 15

125 X 15

125 X 15

Tuesday 9/7 Chest & Shoulders - My Favorite Day!!

Everyone usually had favorite and least favorite body parts to train.  My least favorite is Legs which fittingly is on the least favorite day of the week - Monday, but at least I get legs & Mondays over with on the same day and get to look forward to my favorite workout on Tuesday.

At this point in my training season, my workouts are pretty much the same week to week as the focus is on fat loss and maintaining the muscle I have.  Any growth at this point is an added feature.

Started off with shoulder warmups with 2.5 pound plaltes and bench press with bar (45 pounds for 20)

Was feeling really good about my Incline Presses...Ann keeps saying Im gonna get those 50's! 

Incline Press - felt good
30x15
35x12
40x10
45x6 (sad face)
30x12

Flat Bench
Warmup with bar (45x20)
95 x 12
105 x 10
115 x 10
115 x 8

Low Cable Flys (i never liked these - I perfered the high cable fly but these are growing on me)
25 (each side) x 15 (3 sets)
Personal best this week in weight and reps!!!

Flat Flys
15 (each arm) x 12
15 x 12
20 x 12 (time to start with 20's next week!)

I took 2 Amino Acids after my Chest workout to help recover before I started Shoulders.

I love running the rack with side raises.  This week I raised the starting weight from 20 to 25!!

Side Raise
25 (each arm) x 6
20 x 8
15 x 10
10 x 15
5 x 20

Another favorite of mine, esp since you can use so many different pieces of equipment to this is the Upright Row.  This week I used DB's and increased the weight from last on my last set.

Upright Row
20 (each arm) x 10
20 x 10
25 x 6
Personal best in reps and volume

Rear Delt Raise
15 (each arm) x 10 (3 sets)

That finished my weight training

MEALS

Breakfast
1/3 c Old fashioned oats
with 2/3 c Egg whites mixed in
Cinnamon
calorie free Walden syrup

Early Lunch @ 11 am
I didn't bring anything to work today which stinks, I had to deal with Cafe food. So I got a Chicken Ceaser Salad with my own Calorie free dressing.  I threw away the croutons and dumped out the parmesean cheese.  So I was left with Romain lettuce and what looked to be about 3 oz of chicken (I sh have brought my scalel) But for $4.99 I doubt there was more than 3 oz of chicken breast.

Late Lunch @ 2:30 pm
Happy to report they had perfectly portioned 4oz fresh salmon that they cooked dry for me.  I put that atop the remaining lettuce from early lunch

Dinner @ 8:15
I was soooo hungry when I got home.  I cooked up 4oz steak (top round) and 1/3 c brown rice w/1 tsp olive oil.  I had a couple ounces of cashews while I waited.  I got my gallon of water in by the time I got home so anything else is extra.  Ill probably have a cup of tea later as its now 9pm and Im still hungry, I might just go to bed.

Oh I almost forgot, 5 people noticed I was losing weight and gaining muscle!!!  That was a very welcome surprise today, esp since I was thinking this food/diet thing is really getting old!!  I have my list of "food" i want after the show, they are, in no specific order:

• Coffee Roll from dunkin donuts
• Brownie ice cream sundea with hot fudge, marshmellow & butterscotch topping
• Bertucci's shrimp pizza
• crackers & hummus
• guacamole and whole grain tortilla chips
• dinner @ Fengs  - Asian Bistro with kim & bing!!!
• MARGARHITTA(S)!!!!!!!!

Legs!

I had a surprisingly great leg workout day.  I was starting to think my strength was beginning to decrease due to my low carbs and low calorie diet, but no such luck.

Leg Extension (personal best in volume)
Warmup 50x15, 60x15
Set 1 70x12
Set 2 80x12
Set 3 90x12 (personal in reps)
Drop Set 4 60x15

Static Lunges (personal best in volume)
Set 1 20x20 (each leg)
Set 2 20x20 (each leg)
Set 3 25 x 15 (each leg)

Leg Press (personal best in volume & reps)
Set 1 245 x 15
Set 2 335 x 12
Set 3 425 x 10

Squats
135x20
Gym Closed - couldn't finish

Lunch
4 oz Top Round Steak
1/4 c brown rice 1/2 tbs olive oil

Dinner
4 oz Salmon
2 TB brown rice
2 TB Green Beans

The Water Diet

Researchers presenting last week at an American Chemical Society meeting gave a shot in the arm to a weight-loss technique that's been around forever. In a study of middle-aged and older adults, they found that drinking two cups of water before a meal may speed weight loss when dieting.

On the face of it, it's good advice. The benefits of getting plenty of fluid go well beyond just helping us achieve healthy weights. As far as weight loss goes, we've also recognized for some time that confusing thirst for hunger can lead to eating when we're not really hungry. By staying well-hydrated, we short-circuit that confusion before it even begins.

Taken from http://www.self.com/fooddiet/blogs/nutritiondata-dieting-weight-loss

Happy Labor Day!

How fitting the name labor today - as todayl is the dreaded LEG day! Gym closes @ 1pm today so I will get it over with earlier.  There's a tiny voice saying - don't go - but the girl next to me on stage is going so I must too!
Last night was at a picnic with lots of drink, including my favorite margarhitas.  They had "clean" margarhitas made with Agave nectar and lime juice, Skinny Girl Margarhittas, Strawberry margarhitas, 1800 Margarhitas, you name it they had it - talkk about temptation.  I had 16 oz of water to finish to get my gallon in that day - so thats all I drank... YEA me!  It was hard!  Then there was all cheesy dips and artichoke dips - of course all my favorites that I had to pass up.  I might have had 1 or 2 if I had lost weight this week, but since I am soooo senstive to water gain from salt I decided not to partake, YEA me!  Dinner was decent - and had lots to choose from.  I chose the marinated chicken breast - i didn't measure it - but it was a small piece - prob under 4 oz.  I brought a green bean salad, and picked out some of the green beans and had some of the cucumber salad as well as a teaspon of the sweet potato cassarole that was fairly healthy.  So i made some good choice.......then came dessert.  I decided early that I would have a couple of bites - so I had some topping off a The Chocolate Decadent cake and 3 bites of the carrot cake.  Prob not a good idea since it was late in the day - but I decided that was what I was going to do.  NOT on my comp diet. But I have been following it 100%.
Happily, I am down 1.4 pounds this week.  To reach my comp goal I have 12 to go in just under 5 weeks.  Quite doable - but NO more cheats/treats of any kind.  It will be here before I know it!!!!

Ill post my leg workout later~

Sunday part 2

Started my OFF day with 20  mins of Abs.  I did 75 ball crunches using a weighted low pulley system (25 with 65 pounds  and 2 sets of 25 with 80 pounds) http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/RectusAbdominis/CBLyingCrunchStabilityBall.html. If you have access to the low pulley and looking to ad some thickness to your abs, I highly suggest this exercise.  150 bicycles and 3 1-min plank holds (hands on a medicine ball and feet on bosu which totally strengthens your core)

Fantastic kickboxing class, always so much more fun when my buddy Maria joins the party as she continually raises the bar (and the kicks and the energy!) I will have to post of pic of us having a blast in class! 

So after class I went to buy a hula hoop and I got it home to find the darn thing wasn't exactly round - so that means, I can't hula too well!  I guess that what happens when you spend a whopping $3.99 for something!  I think I will invest in one of the weighted ones.

LUNCH @ 12
4 oz Top Round steak (pounded to tenderize) cooked in Pam & 2 tsp of olive oil and seasoned with garlic & spices
3 cooked shrimp (to hold me over - I was starving!)
1/2 sweet potato with 4 squirts of cal free spray and Walden Farms calorie free syrup http://www.waldenfarms.com/products/syrup_pancake.html and topped with 1 tb of slivered almonds

Supplements
B6 & Tyrosine

I have to get in at least a gallon of water today, I've been lax in measuring my water - I HAVE to get better with this!!!

Sunday, a day of rest?

Good Morning
In preparation for my 1 hour kick boxing class @ 10 am, I had my breakfast at 8 am in order for that food to be digested and not floating around in my bloodstream for immediate use for energy during  my cardio session.  This should force energy stores to go directly to fat burn.
Scale hasn't moved now in 2 days after a constant 1/2 pound weight loss.  So starting today, cardio is daily and my fat burner/app suppressent is increased from 1 to 2.  (btw - IMO I'm not convinced that fat burners really work, other than increasing your heart rate, which for some people can be dangerous, by adding caffeine.  There are however, appetite suppresents that do work)  I do not condone the use of FB for the general public and certainly NOT for extended periods of time - e.g. more than 6 weeks.

The link to the left is a clean eating cookbook I just purchased. The receipes look phenomenal and every recipe has a picture and most appear easy and quick to prepare.  they even have a section on wine pairing!  Tosca Reno, the author was over 200 pounds herself and embarked on a exercise and clean eating lifestyle to have her lose over 70 pounds, and became an Oxygen model and bikini competitor! So you can see why I have purchased her book! I'll report on the recipes themselves once I am able to eat them!!

Breakfast:
1/3 c old fashioned oats
mixed with 2/3 c egg whites (equiv 5-6 eggs)
tsp cinnamon (which regulates blood sugar levels and tastes great in oats)
1 tsp peanut butter powder (Bell Planatation http://www.bellplantation.com/)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Microwave 90 sec - stirring 1/2 way thru
Supplements
1 tsp Dymatize Glutamine mixed in Oats - muscle recovery http://www.answers.com/topic/glutamine see how glutamine is helpful for people undergoing chemotherapy and under sgnificanttress
CLA http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conjugated_linoleic_acid which I highly recommend for its proven fat burning and cardic protection properties
B6 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_B6 helps in amino acid metabolism and oxygen levels, important for weight training. (taken 3x day with meals)
Multi Vitamin
Tyrosine http://tyrosine.com/ helps in appetite control, mood, positive impact on thyroid (taking 3x day with meals)