It's All Abs To Me!

You may have noticed that in recent posts I've gone from using the term "abs" to the term "core". It was brought to my attention that I use the term abs when I'm describing all core work and well, that's simply not accurate (yes, it was a trainer who pointed this out; they tend to be annoyingly set in their ways haha). At the time I responded with an eye roll and an "It's all abs to me!" comment but I'm sure that person would be satisfied to know that I've managed to correct my terminology ever since :P

Anyway, after several days in a row of amped-up intensity and duration in the weight room, my body needed a break so today was a day of all abs - oops - I mean all core work! I got to the gym at my usual time after my first day back in the office post-holiday PTO. Ughhh, sitting for 9 hours straight is so much worse after you've been given a break from it! Fluorescent light headache, frozen fingers & toes, poor sitting posture backache, general annoyance with any one within 6 feet of me, you name it I had it! However, it made my escape to the gym all the more enjoyable and I worked extra hard to offset my lack of energy depletion during the day!

Upon arrival I did a quick 15 minute warm-up on the elliptical, a 5-10 minute stretch sesh and then embarked on my core routine. First up were plank 1-arm rows (3x14), followed by stability ball weighted leg lifts (12-8-10 adjusting weight), med ball wood chops (16-14-12), tee pees (3x8) with knee balancing in between sets, and finally stability ball & incline bench weighted side crunches (3x20 - my stability ball was stolen when I went to get a different weight after my first set, thus the switch in exercise). I had planned to use the ab roller instead of doing the side crunches but that piece of equipment seems to be a hot commodity these days and it was nowhere to be found! Tomorrow's routine is going to be a run followed by back & bi's. I've got some fun new moves on the agenda so I already can't wait to get back in there and get after it!

Changing the subject for a moment, I've been reading the blog postings on jillfit.com in my spare time (*ahem* boredom at work) and found one that brought me back to my comment in last week's Pre-Turkey Burn post about dealing with family & friends who don't understand your fitness & clean-eating lifestyle. If you get annoyed with the commentary you receive as a result of your lifestyle choices then you really need to read this blog. Alternatively, if you don't understand the fit lifestyle of one of your friends or family members then this is for you as well. Hopefully it'll help you better understand where us gym rats are coming from... Here's the link: http://jillfit.com/2012/10/09/loved-ones-dont-understand/

Keeping the blog entry short tonight. I'm 5 minutes away from signing up for my CPT course through ISSA! I decided to go with ISSA for two main reasons: 1) It's all online so you don't have to travel out of state to take the final exam and 2) They offer a Fitness Nutrition Certification that I want to take afterward and I figure its best to have all of your certifications from the same organization. It's also internationally recognized which will be helpful when I become a famous fitness guru and get paid to travel the world giving celebrity clientele workout and nutrition advice hehehe :)

It's all part of my 6 month life plan. Almost one month down... 'Til next time gym rats, happy gymming!

Pre-Turkey Burn

I'm writing this post a bit late in the day to be calling it a Pre-Turkey Burn but that's all I've been thinking about during my workouts this week and I can happily say that I ended this food-centric holiday in a bit of a calorie deficit, despite stuffing my face this afternoon, thanks to my solid workout this morning!

I can't wait for my favourite show, the Biggest Loser to start airing again. All I thought about today and yesterday was making the most of my "last chance workout" haha. Yesterday I skipped my usual cardio and instead did the 30 minute maXtreme "Pure Grit" routine. The app workouts are meant to be done as your only form of exercise but instead I'm using them as warm-ups for my more focused weight routines as I am trying to gain some serious mass right now! This one was a lot of fun, hit several different muscle groups, and got a wicked good sweat going! Then for my regular weight room sesh I did shoulders and core with this routine:
-Bosu ball arnold presses (3x8)
-Lateral raises (3x8 each arm)
-Standing cable cross-overs (3x 12-11-10)
  *I'd never done these before but one of the friendly gym usuals was kind enough to show me a new move and I really like them! You simply stand in the middle of a set of cables, set your weight on each side, grab the left cable with your right hand and right cable with your left hand and uncross your shoulders while lifting the cables to opposite sides. It's not as difficult/confusing as I am probably making it sound and it really gave me a burn!
-Incline weighted crunches (3x12)
-Side plank one-arm rows (3x10 each side)
 *This is another new move I got from another person earlier in the week. You do a side plank in front of a cable with your weight set and whatever pull-bar you want to use hooked onto the cable (you don't use any with the cable cross-overs). Simply do one arm rows while in plank position, lifting your top leg for an extra burn.

This morning I got to the gym nice and early to make sure I got my spin pass prior to the Turkey Day crowd I was anticipating. I must say, I was extremely disappointed in the lack of early morning turnout. There were of course a few usuals and I know I shouldn't complain since it's so much nicer to work out in a quiet, empty gym but it sure goes to show who's really committed! I concentrated on chest and core today, adding in a bit of calve work since they get so strained from spinning. I don't know what it was, but for some reason I was on a serious role, going heavier than usual for all of my sets. It must have been my subconscious panic at the thought of getting fat off of the chocolate mousse cake I knew I'd be eating later today haha. Here's the rundown of my routine:
-Stability ball free weight chest presses (4x12)
-Standing calve raises (4x12)
-Incline seated chest flies (4x12)
-Hanging loop leg raises (3x8, 1 set forward bent knee, 1 set forward straight leg, 1 set side-to-side bent knee)
-Flat bench leg raises with a stability ball between my feet (3x12)

THEN SPINNING!!! It was an instructor I hadn't had before and always being skeptical of new instructors I wasn't sure how it would go. However, it was a great class and the best part was that she was quite the comedian! I think I was smiling/laughing so much during class that I didn't even feel like I was working that hard! Don't get me wrong though...I was still sweating buckets haha. She played an odd set of music that ranged from Nelly's "It's getting hot in here" to "The Devil went down to Georgia" (Zac Brown version) but everything matched the class really well and kept us very entertained!

After a good foam roller session (my glutes and quads HATE me right now), I filled up my shaker with a free sample of Giant Sports Delicious Vanilla Protein that the guy at PNC was nice enough to give me the other day when I went to re-stock up on Xtend. To my surprise, it really did live up to it's name and was in fact delicious...as far as protein goes anyway haha. Sidenote: I also got a massive container of Syntrax Nectar Vanilla Bean Torte flavoured protein that should last me a while. I've only tried it in my oatmeal thus far but it's tasty enough that I don't have to mask the flavour with maple syrup like I've been doing with the awful GNC unflavoured kind I've been forcing myself to choke down haha.

Then I was off, headed home to get ready for my family's Thanksgiving feast which was also a combination birthday celebration for one of my family members (hence the chocolate mousse cake). Despite having some seriously inflated portion sizes, I managed to keep my plate rather clean (sans gravy/butter/other unhealthy extras) so I could indulge in dessert. I got plenty of the usual harassing for declining the pre-dinner cocktails and asking for my veggies to be set aside before they were doused in butter but I guess I just need to learn to ignore it. Maybe some day my good habits will wear off on at least one of them! Anyway, I'm sitting here in a bit of a Tryptophan coma and I think I've managed to create another run-on blog entry so I'm signing off. I hope all you true Gym Rats got in a good pre-turkey burn today and enjoyed a delicious meal with friends and family. Happy Thanksgiving!

NA-NA-NA-NA-NA COME ON!

Rihanna's S&M may quite possibly be the best workout song ever...or pretty much any Rihanna song for that matter. It's finally Saturday again, not only my favourite day of the week (for obvious reasons) but also my favourite workout day of the week! I'm a creature of habit so as usual I got up bright and early to get in a solid weight sesh before hitting up the 9:00 am spin class. Earlier this week a friend of mine sent me links to these motivational videos on YouTube called "How Bad Do You Want It" (Part I & II). If you haven't seen these videos, you need to. After watching Part I, I decided that I've been slacking all my life and I need to seriously step-up my gym game. Part I is all about what is necessary to make a person successful and Part II is about what to do once you've attained success in order to differentiate yourself from everyone else. Ever since I watched these I've been working extra hard in the gym. More sets. More reps. More weight. Seriously, you have got to watch these videos whether you want success in the gym or elsewhere in your life. Prepare to be motivated! Here's the link to part I:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-raYgOmYPvQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Also this week I've been doing the maXtreme "Get Strong" workouts in addition to my usual routine. The other day I did one called "Kitchen Sink" (no idea where the name came from). I was in a rush to bust through the 20 minute routine prior to spin class and I honestly was pooped before even entering the classroom! My favourite move in the routine were the pike pushups where you alternate pikes and pushups (both using a stability ball). These were after already having done tee pees so they were quite brutal!

Today's pre-spin routine was all shoulders, upper back, and of course core! Here's the routine I did:
- Bosu ball narrow squats with shoulder presses each time you come up from your squat (3x12)
- Assisted pull-ups (3x6), alternating grips each set (closed/narrow/wide)
- Bosu ball 1-legged arnold presses (3x8)
- Side crunches on the back extension machine (3 sets each side) with 20-16-12 rep sets
- Hands-free knee pull-ins on a bench while holding a weight to my chest
...and of course a ton of all-over stretching and foam-rolling pre-, during-, and post-routine!

Fueled-up with a my delicious raspberry protein oatmeal, coffee, celcius, xtend, and my new "Take No Days Off" attitude (you'll understand this once you watch the videos), I had a seriously successful start to my weekend! I'm thinking tomorrow will be a cardio-free lower back and chest day and then I"ll do a run and hardcore legs sesh on Monday. Ahhh I'd be so happy if all I did every day was design and test out workout routines! Speaking of which I think I'm going to become a certified personal trainer this winter. Not necessarily to do personal training full-time (at least not yet) but I wrote up a 6-month life plan last weekend and that is just one small part of it! Life's too short to be cooped up in a miserable, overly air-conditioned, stuffy corporate environment where you waste away sitting in front of a blinding computer screen for 9 hours straight every day.

Anyway, I'm off to keep up with the Saturday productivity. Keep up the good work, gym rats and cheers to the freakin' weekend!

Clean Slate

Motivation Monday, Meathead Monday, Monday Funday, whatever you call it it's another chance for a fresh start to a new week. A chance to wipe the weekend slate clean and get back into the weekday grind whether that means back to work, back to the gym, or both. I personally took the day off from work so I could enjoy a 3-day weekend, use one of my last remaining PTO days of 2012, and of course observe Vereran's Day! It's a good thing I did take the day off because my body apparently needed the extra rest, having slept for 10 straight hours last night! I must be battling a minor cold or something but luckily once I got myself up and going, motivation kicked in and I felt much better.

I hit up World's around 10:00 am this morning and found it to be quite crowded. Worse so, all the creepy old men were in full-force and I had to do what I could (rather unsuccessfully I might add) to dodge them throughout my workout. Would have been a perfect day to put on my headphones and use that as an excuse not to converse but unfortunately I was not thinking clearly.

I decided to do a lower body workout today since I know I'll want to do spinning again on Wednesday and I need more than one day for leg recovery. First, I warmed myself up on the elliptical for 15 minutes. Then I moved on to walking lunges with medicine ball side twists. I always love doing these because no matter what shape I'm in they give a killer burn! Next I moved on to another favourite move of mine, bosu ball 1-legged weighted deadlifts. Between those two moves my hamstrings will definitely be angry with me tomorrow! Next I moved on to some core work where I did stability ball leg lifts and then finished up with stability ball weighted side crunches with balancing v-sits in between sets. Either it was about 20 degrees warmer than usual in there or I really am battling something because I was sweating buckets the whole time and really didn't feel like I was pushing myself any harder than usual.

While not as many different moves as I usually do, that routine took a solid hour so I decided to call it quits and go stretch out for a bit as well as hit up my new fun gym activity the monkey bars. World's got a jungle-gym-like contraption early last week that is called the Synergy 360. It's basically a large station with monkey bars, pull-up bars, bands, med balls, kettle balls and various TRX straps. There really isn't anything on it that you couldn't already do on the existing gym equipment but it is a pretty cool one-stop-shop for those looking to do a quick circuit or those who are afraid of the weight room lol.

After I left I hit up Whole Foods for a few groceries and lunch. I've been craving Mexican food all week so I decided to try their vegan burrito. Now, typically I am 100% anti-vegan but this has peaked my interest for a while due to the yummy sounding mix of sweet potatoes and apples and I have to admit it was delicious! I will definitely be making these on my own in the near future and since it was so good I am going to add my own version of them to the recipes page of my blog so be sure to check that out! It's a beautiful day here so I am signing off now to go enjoy the sunshine and walk my puppy. Happy gymming gym rats and thank you to all the Veterans who have served our country!

Don't You Cry Tonight

I pre-appologize for the somewhat depressing tone of this blog entry but sometimes you just gotta get something off your chest in order to put your mind at ease.

 "Can I make a song request? Something heavy and angry...I have a lot of frustration to beat out tonight", I asked tonight's spin instructor. "Sure, I've already made the playlist but I'll see what I can do", she replied, and turned away to begin class.

All week long I've been a massive ball of anxiety. I'm someone that typically lives in a constant state of stress because I take things very seriously, get frustrated and disappointed easily, and generally expect a certain standard of perfection when it comes to life, people, work, etc. that of course no one or thing ever lives up to. I've been like this for as long as I can remember and in general I think a small amount of stress is actually a good thing. In fact, when the brain perceives physical or psychological stress, it starts pumping the chemicals cortisol, epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine into the body. Instantly the heart beats faster, blood pressure increases, senses sharpen, a rise in blood glucose invigorates us and we're ready to rock. Stress is like a burst of energy; it's our body telling us what we need to do. Full disclosure: I stole those exact words from an article I found on www.msnbc.nbc.com.

Typically, whatever stress I've accumulated over the day I let go of in the gym each night. It's when stress becomes anxiety that I have a serious problem on my hands...and this began over the weekend. The source of my anxiety isn't worth mentioning here. The point is that after about 5 days of this, I feel like my chest is about to explode. You know when you're in the middle of an intense run and your heart is racing and you're gasping for your next breath? Well imagine your heart is wrapped tightly in steel wire and its pounding against your chest at about 500 RPMs. Oh, and you're sitting still, doing absolutely nothing to provoke it. And your mind is racing so fast that it's making your heart beat faster and faster and it hurts and there's nothing you can do about it. That's what I've felt like these past few days. In all honesty, I could probably benefit from a Valium or two but I prefer to fix my issues without drugs (prescribed or otherwise) and that is what led me to the best spin class of my life tonight!

Like I've said before, what divides an average workout and an exceptional workout for me is the music. Little did the instructor know, but when she chose a playlist that included songs like Pink Floyd's "Money" and Guns 'n Roses "Don't you cry tonight", she was basically designing the class just for me. Those are my two favourite bands OF ALL TIME ...and I've always said that one day I WILL marry Axl Rose haha :) Hearing his heavenly voice crooning "Talk to me softly, there is something in your eyes. Don't hang your head in sorrow, and please don't cry" was honestly all I needed out of the class but then my real treat came. Godsmack's "Keep away" starts pounding through the speakers and I think she turned it up several notches just for me. I pushed through that song, heart pounding, like it was my sole purpose in life to make it to the top of that hill despite the fact that I had to peddle through quicksand to get there. My quads were angrily protesting the entire time but I ignored them. I know I'll be crippled tomorrow and possibly the day after too but it was totally worth it. "Keep Away" was the last song of the class and the next few minutes were spent stretching out to the tune of Tom Petty's "Don't do me like that". I mean seriously, did this girl read my mind?!

I'm by no means "cured" now but that one hour was the best hour I've had all week and I'm so exhausted at least I won't have any trouble getting to sleep tonight. On my drive home while in somewhat of a trance I found myself on an empty stretch of Washington Avenue and I floored it. I don't even recall what, if anything, was on the radio at the time. I think my adrenaline was still so high from class that it didn't much matter. It's probably not the best/safest idea in the world to let it rip in a dark 30 mph zone but it felt soooo good! Plus, its always a good idea to test out your brakes once in a while, right?

I came home and opened the door to my happy, bouncing ball of wiggles, Mugsy and it reminded me that there are still some loving, good-intentioned, loyal beings in this world. Well, at least one anyway! Here's to having many more amazing workouts in my near future but hopefully not needing one as badly as tonight. 'Til next time Gym Rats...