Blogging and the Draft: sounds like a good combo to me!

Monday: Cardio

4.0mph- 30 sec

6.0mph- 30 sec

9.0mph 30 sec

Repeat 10 times

Tuesday:  I decided to lift shoulder with someone in the gym since I had been putting it off for a week because of my accident. I think it's safe to say it's healed for the most part with the exception of a small purple bruise on the very end. :) I'm just thankful it wasn't broken!  

The shoulder and core workout:

4.0mph- 30sec

6.0mph- 30 sec

9.0mph 30 sec

Repeat 4 times

 Round 1) Arnold Press: 10lb  dumbbells, 20 reps  

super set:

1- Incline sit ups 20 reps

2- ab roll outs 20 reps

3-  hanging leg raises 20reps

4- 20 crunches ab machine

 Round 2) Military press 10lb dumbbells 20 reps

Lateral fly 5lb dumbbells 20 reps

Forward shoulder raises 20 reps

super set:

1- in and outs 20 reps

2-  leg thrown downs ( holding a 25lb plate straight over your head) 20 reps

3- decline reverse crunch 20 reps video demonstration

Round 3) Wide grip barbell shrugs: 85lbs 20 reps

super set decline reverse crunch 20 reps

Wednesday:  rest day

Thursday: 2 mile run around the neighborhood before the rain came! :)

Bodybulding.com

So I've been on this 21 day plan for 7 days, tomorrow, and I have to admit I can already see a difference. Also with this plan, I have 2 rest days instead of 1 so hopefully I can do a better job staying on top of the blogging. Rest days are Wednesdays and Sundays!

 This week I've kept the weight somewhat lighter than normal especially, for the upper body movements, because my shoulder has still been giving me trouble since my accident. Today is rest day, but it's feeling much better. Hopefully by Tuesday I'll be able to get my weight back up to where I had it without causing too much irritation. 

Alot of the workouts or exercises I choose come from Bodybuilding.com and I alter them just a bit. The one I'm doing right now has a large amount of cardio and I love it! I can see a difference  every day I run  days as the week progresses. If you're not sure how to make your own workout plans, I definitely recommend using this site as a tool! There are tons of great resources just on this website alone!

Wednedsay: Rest

Thursday: Lift day ( same as what I'm posting for Saturday. Reps are 12-15)

Friday: cardio

4.0mph- 60 sec

6.0mph- 30 sec

9.0mph 6.0 sec

Repeat 10 times

Max HR: 172 Min HR: 114

Saturday: Lift day 

4.0mph- 60 sec

6.0mph- 30 sec

9.0mph 6.0 sec

Repeat 4 times

Clean & Press:   40lbs 15reps

Overhead Medicine Ball Toss: 8lb ball 15 reps

Dumbbell Rear Lunge: 10lbs each arm 15reps

Push Ups: 15 reps

Tricep Bench Dips: 15 reps

Body Weight Squats: 15 reps

Wide Grip Lat Pull Down: 50lbs 15 reps

Incline Push Up: 15 reps

Medicine Ball Jacks: 8lb ball 15 reps

Bicep Curl: 10lbs 15 reps (each arm)

Lateral Shoulder Raise: 5lbs (each arm) 15 reps

1 Arm Row: 20 lbs 15 reps

After completing the circuit take a 30 second break

Repeat 2 times

Sunday: Rest day

These last few days have been crazy!

So the blogging has kind of suck this week, sorry. I went to the gym on Friday and never posted my workout, Saturday I slaved in my grandmother's gardens pulling weeds, mowing, weed wacking and all kinds of other terrible landscaping for 7 hours, so that was a workout in it's self. I used Sunday as a rest day,and I skipped the gym yesterday, for a legit reason though. I got double teamed in a car accident on the way home from work. Good news is I'm okay other than a bruised left shoulder andand knee, I wasn't at fault and my car was able to be driven away from the scene (even though there is a good bit of damage.) I wanted to play it safe and make sure the pain in my shoulder wasn't more than a bruise and honestly after giving an hour police report in the pouring down rain in 5 o'clock traffic, I wasn't in a gym-going mood. 

The workout for today was the same as last Tuesday. As I stated I started a new 21 day workout plan with an increase in cardio. ( I can say the timing on the 21 day plan was not good, so we're gonna restart as of today)

4.0mph- 60 sec
6.0mph- 30 sec
9.0mph- 60 sec
Repeat 10 times

Tomorrow is a lift day, hopefully my shoulder and knee will be cooperative :)

Hitting a road block. Time to change things up.

So tonight is a meal prep night since I'm all out of dinners and lunches for the next week.  I'm just waiting on my brown rice to finish cooking and I'm all set. Meal prepping ensures that you are eating enough through the day, and staying on track with your diet. You are less likely to go out/ through a fast food joint if you know that there is a meal, already made for you at home, and all you have to do it pop it in the microwave for 3 minutes. If you can wait 3 minutes in a drive through, you can wait 3 minutes in your kitchen.

The other day, I had a bit of a melt down; we're all entitled to one every once and a while. I have come to a plateau with my body and workouts . This has been going on for about a month; and nothing sucks more than going to the gym day after day and coming to a screeching halt. Like I mentioned early on, you will come to a point where you feel discouraged because you aren't seeing the change where you want and when you want. I hit that feeling this week and I'm coming up on my 6 month mark. (Most consider this time a pretty good mile stone for fitness improvements) After talking with a few friends, Ryan, a personal trainer and looking back on my past 6 months, I know I have had improvement in my strength and my physique, I just expected more.( Sometimes it's hard to see when you look at yourself everyday in the mirror). It is obvious that my body has become comfortable with those workouts, that amount of food and that amount of cardio.  The next step I have to take is to change my workout plan and my diet even more.  I am aware that I eat healthy, but I also am aware that don't eat enough.  I'm still learning how to meet my necessary caloric intake- in the healthiest way possible. I have come to the realization I'm roughly 500 calories short from where I should be eating (According to the PT).

With that being said, I have done some research in the past few days and talked with a few people who have had this same issue. I'm hoping their advice helps me!  I am starting a new workout regimen as of today and I'm concentrating more on my diet. I know it's going to be hard increasing my food consumption and I know that it will take a little while to get to where I need to be. The last thing I would want or would advise anyone to do is add 500 missing calories to your diet in one day. I'm  pretty sure nothing good will come of that, you'll only feel like you have 2 food babies and want to make yourself sick to provide relief.   And I'm not one to binge and purge.

Anyways, here's the workout from today.

*Be advised the cardio is increasing a large amount as of today *


Time to complete: 30 minutes

Warm up: Walk 5 minutes 3.5 mph
Stretch


4.0mph- 60 seconds
6.0 mph- 30 seconds
9.0mph- 60 seconds.
Repeat 10 times 

DO NOT STOP. 4.0mph is your recover time!

Completed 2.43 miles in 23:30  Max HR: 172

2 workouts and my recipe for summer squash! ( It's simple!)

I don't have much to say except this whole macro counting  thing kinda sucks. I have been keeping a food log for the past few days and it is obvious that I don't eat enough, even though I felt full throughout the day and I was satisfied when I went to bed. I'm still short 400 calories for the day!  I'm still learning how to eat more ( how hard can it be right?) Well it is hard!  Once I get the hang of it, I'll share my tips :) Until then, here's a few workouts from yesterday and today.

Saturday: 

wide grip row 40lbs, 20 reps 

dead lifts 30lbs, 30 reps 

good mornings 30lbs, 20 reps

single arm lat pull down 30 lbs, 20 reps

(Repeat 3 times)

donkey kick (cable) 5lbs 20 reps

leg abduction (cable) 5lbs 20 reps

leg adduction (cable) 5 lbs 20 reps

forward leg raises (cable) 5lbs 20 reps

(Repeat 3 times)

Sunday:

stationary bike 10 minutes, level 12 completed 1.70mi

ab machine 25 reps X 4 sets

dumbbell side bend ( I use a weight from the smith macine) 25 reps X 4 sets

leg throw downs 15 reps X 4 sets

reverse crunches  15 reps X 4 sets

cross over crunches 10 reps X 4 sets

flutter kicks 30 reps X 4 sets

leg raises 12 reps X 3 sets

bicep curls 15lbs 10 reps X 4 sets

Double bicep cable curls 5lbs 20 reps X 4 sets

flys 10lbs 10 reps X 4 sets

 **Last night I made steak for dinner. My FAVORITE side dish with steak is summer squash! Here's my recipe for making squash:

1. Slice the squash thinly (as you would a cucumber) * I cooked 3 summer squash*

2. In a large skillet pan  add 2 tablespoons of grapeseed oil ( or whichever oil you prefer)

3. Add salt, pepper, garlic powder and Parmesan cheese to taste

4. Cook on medium heat until soft

5. ENJOY :D

3 day post!

These last few days have kept me busy between work, going to the gym and making cheat sheets to help me with work. This left little time for blogging as I expected and I'm okay with that. I'm loving my job and have caught on to things rather quickly, I think I'm really going to like it here :)

Anyways, I was pretty sore after my workout Sunday so I decided to stretch my legs out Monday with a 2 mile run at my own pace.  Tuesday I did upper body (workout posted below) and kept the weight rather light and increased my reps to 20. Wednesday I used as an off day and today I did some glute and ab work!

Tuesday's workout:
Time to complete:  1 hour

Lateral shoulder raises: 5lbs 20 reps  X 3 sets
forward shoulder raises: 5lbs 20 reps X 3 sets
Seated row: 40 lbs 20 reps X 3 sets
Straight arm pull down: 20lbs 20 reps X 3 sets
Single arm pull lat pull down: 15lbs 20 reps X 3 sets (each arm)

Abs:
20 butterfly crunches
20 oblique (bosu ball) crunches
20 sit ups
20 V ups w/ medicine and stability ball
Repeat 2 times

V-up with medicine ball and stability ball ( up position)
Body, medicine and stability ball are all in a horizontal line (down position)

Today's (Thursday's) workout: 
Time to complete: 1 hour
* This one you can definitely do at home, with the exception of the hanging leg raises*

Hanging leg raises  15reps
Inclined situps 15 reps
Mountain climbers 50reps
Repeat 3 times

Double leg bridges 20 reps
Single leg bridges 20 reps each leg
Repeat 3 times

Lateral leg raises 50 reps X 4 sets (each leg)
Donkey kicks 50 reps X 4 sets (each leg)

30 for 30 and Happy Easter!

Happy Easter, friends! I hope the Easter Bunny was good to you all and brought you some yummy treats. This year I told him to hold off on the candy, except for the mini Reese's cups (my not so secret addiction) and replace my candy with  some new scrubs. I start my first (medical) big girl job (other than a CNA) tomorrow and I could not be more excited! As for workouts, Friday I ran 2 miles and did 5 sets of the abdominal machine at 25 reps each and had an awesome salad for dinner. No meat because it was Good Friday. Saturday's workout kicked my butt ( literally) so I took today off.  I like to call it the 30 for 30. ( It's 30lbs with 30 reps X 3 sets- with the exception of a few exercises) It sounds easy, but I promise you, you'll be feeling it when you lay, sit, stand and walk!  Welp, here it is! As for me, I'm getting back on my foam roller to get this lactic acid moving!

Saturday 30 for 30: 
Time to complete:  1 hour 15 minutes

 Set 1:
leg curls: 30lbs, 30 reps
super set w/ air squats 30 reps
Repeat 3 times

Set 2:
Roman dead lifts 30lbs, 30reps
super set w/  30 lunges each leg
Repeat 3 times

Set 3:
single leg press down  70lbs, 30 reps each leg Repeat 3 times

Set 4:
Squats: 30lbs, 30 reps  Repeat 3 times

Set 5:
Leg extensions: 30 lbs, 30 reps Repeat 3 times

Set 6:
Stability Ball bridge 30 reps
super set w/ hamstring curl  with stability ball (stomach down)  30 reps
Repeat 3 times

Set 7:
Sumo squats 30 reps
super set with good mornings 30 reps
Repeat 3 times

Starting position for stability ball bridge
( you can have your hands out on the sides for more balance if needed)

Ending position for stability ball bridge
( On your shoulder blades, lifting your hips)

Slacking on the blogging but not at the gym

The past week has had been extremely busy between getting back from Florida, taking care of graduation things and performing presidential duties for my program. I've made time to workout but my blogging has sucked lately, I know and I'm sorry! I'm gearing up to take my national exam here in the next few weeks, so much of my time will be dedicated to review. With that being said, you can expect many workouts where I'm on the bike or elliptical an hour and a half reviewing old tests and online practice exams. Here's the workouts from yesterday and I'll try my best to do a better job on the blogging :)   

Time to complete: 1 hour

Cardio:

30 minutes elliptical: 15 minutes level 5, 15 minutes level 1

Completed: 2.86 miles Burned 257 calories

Circuit 1:

dead lifts 40 lbs X 20 reps  

superset w/ military press 20 lbs ( 2-10lbs dumbbells) X 20 reps
Repeat 3 times

Circuit 2:

Bent over rows: 20 lbs X 20 reps

super set w/ Bicep curls: 10 lbs X 20 reps

Repeat 3 times

Abdominal crunch machine:
Forward crunches 50 reps X 4 sets

Oblique 50 reps X 2 sets