Summer Is Finally Here – Is Your Beach Body?

In my last post I said I was going to be competing in the upcoming OCB Yankee Classic Show in Newburyport, Mass. and while I’ve been training and maintaining a clean-eating diet for it, unfortunately, I will not be able to compete in the show.

My health is great and I WANT to compete (very badly), but I won’t be able to because, for me, at this time, it’s out of my budget to do so. I have other priorities I need to tend to so competing is being placed on the back burner…for now! I have some pretty exciting plans coming up that I am focusing on that will only benefit me and what it is I want to do so I’m going after that right now. 

I know I do not need to explain myself to anyone, but I figured I’d let my readers know since my last post said that I was doing the show. You can mark my words; I WILL be competing in future shows, after all, I have a first place finish I have to go after! Depending on finances and my schedule in November and December, I have a couple shows in mind I’d like to compete in. If not, then I will absolutely be hitting the stage come February 2013. This will definitely give me plenty of time to work on improving my body, too.

Speaking of which, I’ve already seen great improvements since my last show. I really wanted to work on building my shoulders and it’s been paying off! I stopped training my triceps and biceps for the past couple of months. The only time I hit those is as a secondary muscle when I’m training back and chest. Other than that, I’ve been training shoulders twice a week – heavy one day, light the other – hamstrings and glutes (typically together and sometimes twice a week), chest and back. I've even increased training my abs around 2-3 times a week. I have been using my other available day for plyometrics. My cardio has increased a significant amount and I think between that and doing plyos, it’s been making a world of difference. I switch up my cardio all the time – I’m either doing steady state anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour or HIIT for 20 to 30 minutes. This week, I am starting to incorporate plyometrics two or more times a week. I’ll be doing this for the next five weeks. Here’s what my schedule looks like as far as cardio goes for the next five weeks:

WEEK 1

Monday: Hill Interval Workout

Tuesday: Plyo Workout

Wednesday: OFF

Thursday: Jog for 30 minutes

Friday: Running/Plyo Workout

Saturday and Sunday: OFF

WEEK 2

Monday a.m.: Hill interval Workout

Monday p.m.: Plyo Workout

Tuesday: Running/Plyo Workout

Wednesday: OFF

Thursday a.m.: Jog for 30 minutes

Thursday p.m.: Hill Interval Workout

Friday: Running/Plyo Workout

Saturday: Plyo Workout

Sunday: OFF

WEEK 3

Monday a.m.: Running/Plyo Workout

Monday p.m.: Jog for 30 minutes

Tuesday: Hill Interval Workout

Wednesday a.m.: Running Plyo Workout

Wednesday p.m.: Jog for 30 minutes

Thursday: Plyo Workout

Friday a.m.: Running/Plyo Workout

Friday p.m.: Jog for 30 minutes

Saturday: Plyo Workout

Sunday: OFF

WEEK 4

Monday a.m.: Running/Plyo Workout

Monday p.m.: Jog for 30 minutes

Tuesday: Hill Interval Workout

Wednesday a.m.: Running Plyo Workout

Wednesday p.m.: Jog for 30 minutes

Thursday: Plyo Workout

Friday a.m.: Running/Plyo Workout

Friday p.m.: Jog for 30 minutes

Saturday: Plyo Workout

Sunday: OFF

WEEK 5

Monday a.m.: Running/Plyo Workout

Monday p.m.: Jog for 30 minutes

Tuesday: Hill Interval Workout

Wednesday a.m.: Running Plyo Workout

Wednesday p.m.: Jog for 30 minutes

Thursday: Plyo Workout

Friday a.m.: Running/Plyo Workout

Friday p.m.: Jog for 30 minutes

Saturday a.m.: Jog for 30 minutes

Saturday p.m.: Plyo Workout

Sunday: Optional: Jog for 30 minutes or use as rest day

What do you think? Are you up for the challenge? If you’re already working out, this is a great supplement to your training program. If you’re a beginner, you can start out doing what YOUR body is capable of and work your way up! Write down your progress, too! That way you can look back and see how much you’ve improved. Let me know if you’d like to try this and I will share with you the plan for it. Let’s get your beach body underway!

Thanks for reading! Happy training!

Bis, Tris, and Abs - Oh My!

I wanted to share with you what I did to train my triceps last night at the gym, but I never got around to submitting another post on my blog. I showed up at Obie’s after work to train biceps, triceps, abs, and perform HIIT cardio on the Arc Trainer (this time a hill interval). Both my bis and tris are pretty damn sore today (tomorrow will be even worse!), which I LOVE! No pain, no gain!

For biceps, I did a total of 4 exercises for 4 sets each and anywhere from 8 to 12 reps. I started with EZ-bar Curls, followed by Seated Dumbbell Curls, Preacher Curls, and Cable Curls.

Moving on to triceps… I performed my first-ever giant set, which I LOVED! I will definitely do something like this again. I placed a rope attachment on one side of the cable machine and a cambered bar on the other. I started with the following:

20 rope pushdowns (pull apart at the bottom)

20 rope pushdowns (hands together)

20 overhead rope extensions

20 cambered bar pushdowns (hands close together)

20 cambered bar pushdowns (reverse grip and hands further apart)

I repeated this 3 times. My triceps were burning! Of course, I used lighter weight than I normally would because I was going for higher reps and I wasn’t resting between exercises.

After, I performed only one set of 50 reps of Overhead Extensions. Then I did 3 sets of 30 (drop set 10 each – so performed 10 reps with the heaviest weight, then dropped the weight and performed 10 more reps, and dropped the weight once more and did a final 10) V-Bar Pushdowns. I finished tris with 3 sets of 12 reps of Dips.

I did all my ab exercises to failure.

If you’re looking to burn out your triceps, then I definitely suggest trying this workout! Happy lifting!

A Delicious Protein Recipe & My New Diet!

So I’ve been looking recipes to start making my own protein bars and came across a really yummy-looking one by Registered DietitianGeorgie Fear, author of Ask Georgie.

These are called Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Bars – mmm, mmm good!

Ingredients:

• Pam cooking spray
• ½ cup plain oatmeal
• ½ cup unsweetened soymilk
• ¼ cup egg whites (or 2 whites)
• ½ tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 scoop chocolate whey protein powder (or 1/3 cup)
• ½ cup Stevia (or 12 packets)
• ¼ cup milled flaxseed
• 2 tablespoons white whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
• ¾ teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons natural peanut butter

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray an 8x8” pan with Pam cooking spray.
2. In a microwave safe bowl, combine oats and milk; cook for 60 seconds. Stir and allow cooling; mix in egg whites and vanilla extract.

3.   In a large mixing bowl, combine the whey protein, Stevia, flaxseed, flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt.

4.   Add oatmeal mixture to dry ingredients; mix just until everything is moist. Spread batter in pan.

5.   Place peanut butter in microwave safe bowl and heat for 45 seconds or until melted. Spoon peanut butter over batter in pan and swirl with knife tip.

6.   Bake for 10 minutes; allow cooling completely before cutting into 6 bars. Wrap each individually in plastic wrap and store in the freezer or refrigerator. Unwrap and microwave 30 seconds to warm.

These bars make 6 servings.

Nutritional Facts:

Per serving:

195 calories

11 g total fat

2 g saturated fat

5 mg cholesterol

14 g total carbohydrate

4 g dietary fiber

12 g protein

218 mg sodium

You can cut the bars into different sizes depending on how substantial a meal/snack you want your bars to be. Because I’m working on leaning out and I’m in my cutting phase, I will probably only have these as part of a cheat meal. But this would make for a great, delicious, and healthy snack/meal for anyone!

I can’t wait to try these! Share with me if you decide to make these, too! Let me know what you think of them!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Bars

My New Diet


So after putting on some muscle mass, I'm starting my cutting phase like I mentioned in last night's blog. Below is a sample of what my diet looks like now. Of course I substitute some of the meals for other foods that are equal so I don't get bored with the foods.


Meal 1:


1 scoop Whey Protein
1 serving of Gummy Bears
(this is my post-workout meal)


Meal 2:


3/4 cup egg whites (1 yolk)
1/4 cup Oatmeal
1/2 cup berries
(sometimes with this meal I make these as protein pancakes and I add cinnamon and use sugar-free syrup - so good!!!)


Meal 3:


1 scoop Whey Protein
1 tbsp all natural Peanut Butter


Meal 4:


4oz. chicken, tuna, turkey, haddock, or tilapia
3oz sweet potato
1 cup veggies


Meal 5:


1 scoop Whey Protein
1 tbsp natural Peanut Butter


Meal 6:


4oz chicken, turkey, bison steaks, haddock, salmon, tilapia, or tuna
small green salad
oil & vinegar, lemon juice, or sugar-free Maple Groves dressing


Meal 7:


3 egg whites


Again, this is just a sample of what I'm eating and I'm combining this with weight training and cardio. Tonight I trained shoulders (my favorite!), abs, and did cardio on the Arc Trainer. I performed:


Seated Shoulder Press
Standing Front Raise
Standing Lateral Raise
Upright Row with EZ Bar
Bent-over Rear Delt Raise


For abs I did:


Captain's Chair
Lemon Squeezes
Plank
Mason Twists


WHAT DID YOU DO FOR A WORKOUT TONIGHT AND WHAT ARE YOU EATING?

Need A New Ab Workout Routine?

Photo courtesy of SimplyShredded.com

If you're looking for a new ab routine to switch things up because yours has become boring, check this one out! 

I aim to perform my ab routine every other day that I workout. Some people think training abs every day is effective, but like any other muscle, abs need time to rest, too. Here's a routine I've performed several times and I have found to be successful for me. 

• 4 sets of heavy weighted machine crunches - until failure
• 4 sets of reverse crunches on the floor holding a 12lb. medicine ball between knees - until failure
• 3 sets of hanging leg raises - until failure
• 3 sets of standing cable oblique twist - 15 reps each side
• 2 sets of standing barbell oblique twist - 15 reps on each side

Photo courtesy of SimplyShredded.com