Personal Update: Getting it Back

I do not take a lot of time to do my own personal updates, so I thought I would give it a go. Back in August I had surgery (elective, no worries!! :) right after 7 months of dieting for shows. This means that I was doing intensive cardio and weight training sessions right up to surgery date, as well as dieting. Well, combine surgery with a complete lack of exercise, and I ballooned up. It was rather embarassing to me, since I had promised myself that I would alsways stay in control of myself, my weight and my diet, especially after being signed by Sexy-Strong: Nutrition for Women...Now I feel like I am anything but Sexy-Strong!!

Well, I am fully healed, lifting heavy again, and finally in the right mental place to take my body back! I am not weighing myself right now, becuase I KNOW me. I know I will let the number on the scale discourage me, and use it as an excuse to fall off. Nope, not this time.  After a week of being 100% compliant to my diet, then I will see what I weight. I can estimate through that in my heaviest I probably reached 148 (still 8 lbs less than my previous bulge though, and thats will three pounds of boobs added!).

 

So now, my mind is clear, my motivation is high, and my workouts are intense! I am steering clear of long slow cardio. I am trying to keep my metabolism up throught about 20-30 minutes of HITT training per day, and relynig on my weight training workouts for calorie burn. I am carb cycling (4 day low, one day high) but that may change. It is technically my off season, so dieting to lose massive weight is not my goal. My goal is to get back down to a healthy and maintainable off-season weight. Then, its muscle growing time!

I am going to see about my own personal 4 week transformation! Where can I be in 4 weeks without extreme dieting or cardio, but just getting back to eating 100% healthy (with maybe a cheat meal on the weekend) and maintaining my high-intensity workouts. Basically, compliance!

My goals for the future are to grow my shoulders, back, and hamstrings. so I will working out those 2 days/week. I hope to do more jounraling here on my blog, to help inspire others to live the Sexy-Strong life!

ABsolutely FABulous!

Ok, lame title, but I wanted something catchy! I have not focused on my abs in years. As a former gymnast, I always had nice abs, even a 6-pack if I got lean enough. Then I got pregnant, had my wonderful son and just never really worked them. I bounced back, and my abs are still in decent shape but I miss the hard contours that I used to have pre-pregnancy. I am making my abs (and my hamstrings) more of a frontrunner focus this prep. I want a bit more definition, especially for photoshoots! So here is my abs workout today, and it kicked my booty! (or abs, rather)

Circuit 1: Repeat 3 times

·         25 Leg lifts on an incline bench (head at the top, hips at the bottom). Keep legs straight and lift your hips when your legs reach vertical.

·         25 incline crunches with a 10-lb plate

·         25 incline twists with a 10-lb plate

·         30 Medicine Ball (12-lbs) rainbow chops (over the head, knee to knee) Keep pace fast but controlled

·         250-meter rowing sprint. As fast as possible!

Circuit 2: Repeat 3 times

·         15 BOSU oblique crunches, opposite knee to elbow (15 per side)

·         20 BOSU tuck-ups. Sit with your butt on the center of the ball, legs straight out off the floor and place hands on BOSU behind your butt. Crunch knees to chest, keeping legs off the floor the whole time.

·         BOSU planks with opposite leg lift, 15 lifts per leg.

·         Medicine Ball wood chops, keeping ball centered. Start with ball overhead, then throw it between your knees while executing a small squat. Keep your chest up and hold onto the ball! It’s not a ball slam.

·         250-meter rowing sprint. As fast as possible!