Sweating... in Pink Pants

Happy Friday FitFam! 

How about those quad lines! 

Do you know what the best deterrent at the gym is? Wearing some sort of colored pants that shows every drip of sweat that comes off of your body. Yum. No one will bother you when they can see your butt sweat, just sayin'. Who cares though? You aren't there for anyone but yourself, so wear what you want; Sweat like a pig, look like a fox. Promise the sweat is worth the outcome! ;)

 Speaking of sweat, I have a confession to make...

I was venturing around the workout section at Walmart and saw this $4 neoprene waist training wrap. I've never used any kind of waist trainer or wrap or even a belt to squat and dead lift. I've always been opposed, however I see everyone and their dog with all of these workout waist trainers that cost anywhere from $40 to $70, which I don't have, so I figured I'd give this little $4 wrap a shot. I was feeling super bloated, so what did I have to lose? Ummmmm apparently like 5 pounds a workout. I must say this little velcro neoprene thing makes you sweat so much! Even if it isn't actually doing anything, I feel "smaller" when I take it off because I've sweat off so much water weight! $4 well spent. Maybe it works, maybe not, but I love a good sweat, so I'm in! If you happen to be wandering around Walmart in the exercise section, maybe look at one!

Anywho, so as promised, my 3 favorite workouts of the week!

Upper Body: Landmine Press! This one is new to my routine, thanks to my boyfriend's recommendation, and its a shoulder crusher! Shoot for 3x10.

Lower Body: Lateral Swaying Lunges! Not gonna lie, I really didn't feel them much while I was doing them, but boyyyyy are my inner thighs sore! Stay at parallel and shift from one lateral lunge to the other. I use a barbell on my back and shoot for 3x12 each way.

Core: Good 'Ole Leg Lifts! You can literally superset these bad boys with anything and guarantee and great burn! I shoot for reps of 20.

Squaterday and PLYOS!

Happy Squaterday fit fam!! Killed quads and glutes today at the gym and I'm happy to welcome my new trainee and coworker Shannon to the fit fam! She killed quads and glutes today for her squaterday and I'm so excited to be training someone so driven and motivated! :)

Finally starting to see definition coming back to my quads, whoop whoop!! Loved the "sweat today smile tomorrow" but I thought it was more suiting to sweat today, smile today :) 

Later.... 

I decided to do some much needed plyos, what a sweaty mess!!! Had to train to beat the rain ;) trying to get rid of some of this water weight before vacation, ahhh!! Plyos we shall be friends ;) 

Hope you all had a happy Monday!! :)

Squaterday!

Soooo, now that I'm getting back into the swing of things, I've got a new Squaterday Routine to really work those Glutes and Quads :) 

What I have planned now:
Go hit the Rack!
Back Squat Standard Stance:  3x15 increasing Weight as you warm up
Back Squat Narrow Stance: 3x15 increasing Weight as you warm up
Front Squat: 3x15
Go heavy or go home guys ;)

Then...
Quad Extensions 3x12
Superset with Dumbell walking lunges 3x10

Leg Press 3x10 Heavy
Superset with Dumbell Step Ups 3x10 Each Leg

Weighted Bridges 3x15 Heavy
Superset with Glute Kickbacks 3x15

Dumbell Bulgarian Split Squats 3x8 Heavy
Superset with Dumb bell Goblet Squats 3x10

 Obviously I've got my priorities straight, Cuddling and Squatting ;) But seriously... 

Kill your workouts guys, Enjoy!! :) 

Squaterday! Quads and Glutes

Hey guys!! I know it has been a long time since I posted a workout, so I'm going to post my lifts for this week. My workout partner, Ashley, and I did this one Monday! 
Stay motivated Guys, and Enjoy! ;)
Make sure you get nice and warm before you start this one, its a killer!

Back Squat Pyramid Heavy:
2x15 warm up
10,8,6,4,2,2,4,6,8,10

Walking Lunges With Dumbells
3x20

Leg Press Heavy:
4x15 (2 sets Wide and 2 sets Narrow)

Vertical Leg Press Heavy:
3x20

Quad Extension:
3xBurnouts (Drop Sets)

Glute Kickbacks Heavy:
3x15

Weighted Bridges:
3x10

Step Ups:
3x10

Bench Sumo Squats with Plate:
3x15

This is a heavy lift. Don't be afraid to challenge yourself and go heavy! Your muscles will thank you, I promise :)

Happy Wednesday!

Welcome Back Progress Post!

Well, it has been forever since I've been able to update my blog. Between exams, homework, 2 jobs, and 2 sports, I rarely have a break! That doesn't mean I haven't been lifting though! I decided to bulk when I got to school, so I put on 15 pounds, and now its time to shred. Here are some progress pictures. Obviously I'm not lean like I was during the summer for those of you who remember, but I like how my muscles filled out!

Over the Summer I was notorious for 5 days of cardio a week, with long heavy lifts, and super clean eating throughout the day. Lots of burning and a quick metabolism. That is how I maintained my lean muscles. But I wanted to put on some muscle, so I decided to bulk. For my bulk, I really upped my calorie intake a ton, and cut out cardio. BUT I kept my lifting habits with heavy weights, and here is what happen!

This is my progression from a little into my fitness journey in May, then lean stage in June and beginning of August, and my post 15 pound bulk on the far right! My arms and legs filled out quite a bit, and my abs aren't as defined. I'll admit, that is definitely something I miss, but you have to make some sacrifices sometimes! Now its time to shred!

Bulky arms, Bulky Legs. This is after my bulk as well. You can see where I store my weight...

My workout partner Ashley Naughton! Our backs are filling out finally! ;) I've always had the boniest shoulders on the face of the planet, and its so nice that they're finally getting some muscle! 

Bulky Bulky Bulky


Time to Shred Now!!! 

Ab day swag day work! Starting to see my abs again, finally! 

Operation Shred in session! Starting to get back definition but maintaining all that bulked muscle!

So So Behind!!

Wow, so I've been back at school since August 1st, and we still don't have internet at our house, which makes it super difficult to update my blog. I'm so bummed that I haven't been up to date on it, but once we get internet it'll be a different story!!

So as always, lets play some catch up! And my "some", I mean a TON!!!

Lets see, so while I've been back at school, I'll be the first to admit that I am not proud what so ever of my eating choices. I had just been seeing friends and family a lot, and going out for lunch and dinner, and not keeping my eating clean, and my body was (and still is) suffering. I've been better recently, but I'm still working to get back what I had over the summer because I feel like I've completely lost everything I worked so hard for.

Many people have been asking for my workout routines, so I'm going to post my workouts for each day!

Let the catch up Begin!!

Legs Legs Legs Legs!!

So I changed up my workouts a little bit. I've always had "Squaterday" and "Beast Mode" Days, but I really tried to Isolate muscles a little more now. Break up my muscles instead of trying to do my whole lower half twice a week. So on Squaterday, I hit quads and calves after squats, and on Beast Mode, I hit hamstrings and glutes.

So these two are after Squaterdays! Pumped up quads for sure! 

Here is my Squaterday routine:

Hit the Squat rack for 95 lbs for 15 reps

135 lbs for 10 reps

165 lbs for 8 reps

185 lbs for 6 reps

200 lbs for 4

and 210 lbs - 225 lbs (depending on how my legs are feeling) for a minimum of 2 reps, but max out if I can do more. 

135 lbs for 10 to wind down.

Walking Dumb bell Lunges 2 sets of 20 each leg. 

 Backward Dumb bell Lunges 2 sets of 20 each leg.

Lateral Dumb bell lunges 2 sets of 20 each leg.

Leg Press 3 sets of 12 (Heavy) 

3 way weighted calf raises on the floor, and on a ledge. 2 sets of 20 each way.

Sneaky Lunges 2 sets of 20 each leg.

Dumb bell Split Squats 3 sets of 12 each leg. 

Quad Extension Burnouts 2 times. HEAVY. 

Don't be afraid to go heavy! You'll like the results ;) 

Knee was a little sore after really deep squats, but this is for Beast Mode days. Sweat it out guys! 

My back side (Back, Glutes, Hamstrings, Calves) are not my strong point, so I'm really trying to work them out. Trying to get this little bum to grow!! 

For Beast Mode, I do the same kind of pyramid I do for Squats, just for Deadlifts. Go HEAVY!!

RDL's 2 sets of 20 

Good Mornings 3 sets of 20

Dumb Bell Single Leg RDL's 3 set of 12

Dumb Bell Bulgarian Split Squats 3 sets of 20 each leg

Weighted Bridges 3 sets of 8. Go HEAVY

Sumo Squats with plates on benches 3 sets of 20

Hamstring Curl Burnouts

Soo those are my recent lifts, still modifying them. I definitely need more glute workouts, but I'm working on it! I'm going to switch glutes to Squaterday and Calves to Beast Mode, It makes more sense. 

Let's do Abs next! So for Waisted Wednesda/ys and Ab Day Swag Day I have my workout partner Ashley :) She is on the left in the blue spandex in this bottom picture with me! So FITFLUENTIAL. I'm actually going to post her ab workout, so credit is to her! This one will kick your butt!!

So she runs her circuits like I do, with running through each pair of exercises twice, with no break. Here, we, go!

- 1min plank on Physio ball

- plank dips (15 per side)

-30 reg crunches

-30 v-ups

-weighted russian twists (20 per side)

-Barbell oblique crunch (15 per side)

-Pulse ups (heels to heaven) 25x

-Hip Rock Raise (make legs in diamond shape) 25x

-crunch frog 25x

-reverse crunch off flat bench 25x

-alt. Bosu ball crunch 30x (15 per side)

-Decline ball throw 30x (15 per side)

-punching plank 15x (or until fail)

-Knee tucks w/ physio ball 20x

-Weighted Decline Negative 10x

-sit ups 30x

And here is post workout after Ashley's workout!

Get after it guys! :) 

Next are my upper body days, like Tear It Up Tuesday!

Finally seeing gains in my noodle arms and weak back! They're getting bigger and stronger, finally! Hard work pays off!

Two weeks later, biceps are looking even better! Yay! :)

So my upper body days consist of...

Cable bicep curls 3 sets of 8 heavy

Tricep extensions 3 sets of 10 heavy

Dumb bell Over Head Press 5 sets of 5, increasing weight

Dumb bell bench 5 sets of 5, increasing weight

Pull ups 3 sets until fail

Chin Ups 3 sets until fail

Lat pull down 3 sets of 12

Single Arm High Pull 3 sets of 12

3 way Flys 3 sets of 10

Upright Rows 3 sets of 8 heavy

Seated cable rows 3 sets of 8 heavy

Heavy hammer curls 2 sets until fail

Hanging Tricep Dips 2 sets until fail

50 push up finisher! 

Well, I think I covered everything. Sorry it's taken so long for the posts! I promise we'll get internet soon! 

Kill your workouts everyone! :) 

So behind!!

So I can't remember the last time I posted, sorry guys! I've been really busy packing and getting stuff ready for my move tomorrow. BUT, that doesn't mean I didn't work out!!

Let's see, I had a modified Ab Day Swag Day. I had to house sit/ dog sit for my neighbors, so I did half my workout in the morning, went to work, and finished up when I got to their house and hit the pool to cool off! :)
If was kind of strange to break it up like that, but at least I got it done.

I also got a new watch! So excited. My polar ft40 finally came!!! I love it so far. Still figuring stuff out, but it makes me push myself harder during my workouts. 

(Not bad for arm day ;) )

Killed leg day. Definitely trying to go a lot heavier now with my workouts, especially squats,  and its definitely paying off! 

New legs, new bathing suit, and we're in business! 

(Don't mind my brothers socks on the floor, haha) 

Today was Tear it up Tuesday! Again, trying to go heavier on my workouts and I think its paying off. Seeing small changes, but a little progress is better than no progress at all!

Excited to see a little back progress. Finally starting to bounce back from the labrum tear! 

My Upper body workout today had:

Cable Rows

Lat pull downs

Shoulder Press

Barbell Curls

Hammer Curls

Skull Crushers

Plank Rows

Tricep Kickbacks

Three way Shoulder Flys 

Wide fly Pushups

Military Pushups

Bosu Ball Pushups

Three Sets of everything, Heavy, Until failure!! Get after it guys!! 

Make sure to fuel after though!

After my protein shake, I had 2 Turkey Sausage, 2 Omelets, and Greek Yogurt. Good post workout meal :) 

I said I'd try to get some more food stuff up, so here it starts! 

Kill your Workouts Everyone! :) 

Beast Mode Thursday!!

Happy Beast Mode Thursday!! New name for Thursdays thanks to Miss Ashley Naughton :) And boy is it suiting!! 

Like I had said earlier, I didn't have the best Squaterday on Monday, and although an injury from a few months ago was bothering me, I'm a NO EXCUSES kinda girl, so the bottom line was, I had a bad lift, and I promised to make up for it the rest of the week. Boy did I make up for it today!! Super stoked!!

So you guys remember a while back when I made my new Squat max 205 lbs and was so excited? Well, today (after doing my pyramid) to finish it up, I did 205 lbs for 3 reps, 210 lbs for 3 reps, and 225 lbs FOR 4 REPS!!!!! Ahhh! SO STOKED!! So excited to see what my next max will be.

Special thanks to my spotter Steven, so nice to see you!!! There it is, 225 lbs!!! :) 

So I did it for 2 and felt pretty good, so we decided to give it one more try on video. Goal was one, try for two, and I got two more for a total of 4! So here are the last two. (My phone doesn't take the best videos) 

You guys better kill your workouts! Happy Beast Mode Thursday!!! 

Recap!

Happy Monday Everyone! It's the beginning of the week, so time for new goals to complete! So once again I find myself making a post to catch up on everything. Sorry it took so long guys. Let's see what I missed... pretty much 2 of everything, legs, core, and arms. So let's start with core..

Ab Day Swag Day this week was another combination of my routine and the "Rough and Ruckus" circuit I posted before, super killer! I was a little over excited about my favorite workout of the week, if you couldn't tell, I had a lot on my mind, so it was nice to get away for a little bit. Really cooked those abs though, and it's evident in my swing for volleyball that my core has gotten a lot stronger, I'm stoked!

Killed Squaterday and Leg day this week too! Quads were super pumped afterwards. When I'm lifting at home, I don't have a lot of weight to put on for squats and dead lifts. The most I have is 95 pounds. So for my squat and dead lift, I up my reps a lot to make up for the lack of weight. Keep that in mind when your reading my workout. I would not be doing this many reps if I were in the gym with 185, I'd be doing a pyramid. (10,8,6,4,2,1)

For Squaterday I do:
Back Squats 3x25
Single leg Bridges 3x20 each leg
Dumbbell 3 way lunge complex (forward, side, backward)  3x8 each way, each leg (48 lunges is one set)
Barbell 3 way calf raises (forward, inward, outward) 3x20 each way
Barbell weighted Bridges 3x20
Barbell Step ups 3x20
Dumbbell Sumo Squats 3x20
3 Way Glutes  3x20 each way
Quad extension burnouts   Til Fail
Hamstring Curl Burnouts  Til Fail
Good Mornings  3x20
Barbell Split Squats   3x15
Wall Sits 3x 1min
Wall Sit   Til Fail

Remember for all of these, pick a weight that is challenging to you, and get after it! Push yourself, your body is stronger than your mind lets you think!

I'll post my Leg Day next time.

Upper Body day went well too. Getting some definition in my baby noodle arms, finally! 

So I start off every arm day with my shoulder rehab since my Labrum is torn. That makes a lot of my shoulder workouts harder than they should be, but I push through. 

Tightening your muscles for each exercise, make them burn! 

I'm going to start posting more food pictures because a lot of people have been asking about what my clean eating is. 

Hope everyone kill their workouts! :) 

Legs!

<p>So today was leg day. Killed it, was super tired. Legs were pumped! My workout is on the left :) I did everything with a barbell and plates, but you can do it with dumbbells our even body weight. Enjoy! :)

Legs Legs Legs!

Tonight was Leg day! I had another late workout because I was running errands all day with momma for girls day. :)
Anyhow, I've got something going on with my back, and I'm not sure what yet, but it's really hindering any kind of lift that involves me having the barbell on my shoulders which is quite irritating. So I started squats...

But they didn't last very long thanks to my back. :(
So I compromised and did squat jumps supersetted with single leg squats.

Next were burnouts. These are miserable to do, but are such a great workout!

So you do these with both quad extensions and hamstring curls.
You add at least 5 plates of some sort of weight, so you have 5 sets to do.
So put the weight on, and start your leg extensions.

 Quads are cookin! ;)

Do as many as you can stand, really push yourself, and when you feel like you can't do any more, take one plate off. Then do as many as you can again, until you can't do anymore, and take another plate off. Do this until there are no more plates. Such a killer workout!! Your quads will be burnin' so bad! 

For the hamstring curls, the same rule applies....

Do as many as you can for each plate, push yourself!! 

So there is some new stuff for you guys to try if you'd like. :) Enjoy your workouts! 

Today's Workout, Legs!

Okay, now that I have filled my blog up with my other recent stuff, now I can get to today's workout!

Today was leg day! I worked out in my garage, so don't mind the random things in the background. Here are some examples of some of the lifts I did today. 

So first is deadlifts! These are great for your quads, inner thighs, hamstrings, butt, lower back and traps from holding the bar, so they cover a lot of muscles. :) For those of you who work out at the gym, use the most weight that you can! Really challenge yourself, and check to see if the gym you workout at has hexbars, they are much easier to hold then a barbell for deadlifts. For those of your who are at home like me, and might not have a ton of weight, compromise, and add more reps. I normally deadlift around 145lbs for 3 sets of 12, but since I only have 95lbs of weight, I compromise and up my reps to 3 set of 20. So once you get your weight and reps set, squat down low enough to pick the bar up. DO NOT BEND AT YOUR BACK. Bend at your knees to pick the bar up. Then.... 

Stand up!

That is one rep. Now squat back down to the ground and stand up again. Finish your set. :) 

Next are Physio Ball Hamstring Curls! These are awesome for your hammies and butt! ;) 

Start out with your calves on the ball and the rest of your body raised, balancing on your shoulders and arms.  This pulls in your core for stability too! Once you get balanced.... 

Pull your feet towards your butt, rolling the ball. Make sure to keep your core tight so your back stays straight. Then push your feet away from you, going back to the position in the first picture. That is one rep. Too easy? Switch from double leg to single leg curls. Get those hammies and bum burnin'!! :)

Last ones I'll show you are Split Squats! 

Also great for quads, hip flexors, and butt.

So for this exercise, again, pick a weight that challenges you, and get it on your shoulders. Take a step with which ever leg you want to start with first, and get a nice wide stance. This is almost like an exaggerated lunge, but instead of walking forward, you just keep squatting in that stance for all your reps, then switch legs and do it again. Keep in mind, unlike lunges, both of your legs will burn doing this, no matter which leg is forward, they both will burn like crazy. This can be done with dumbells in each hand if you do not have access to a barbell. Get after the Split Squats guys!

So that was just a few things I did for my workout, hope they are something you can incorporate into your workouts. :) 

Squats and PR!

Okay, so I'm a little late, but I'm super stoked because in April, my 3 rep max was 155lbs, and my 1 rep max was 185lbs. For my last workout, I did a pyramid, and for the last two sets (on the left) I did 185lbs for 4 reps, and (on the right) I did 205lbs for my one rep max! Hard work really does pay off! After tearing all the ligaments in my left ankle a couple months ago, I was worried that I would never be able to play or train the same again, but now I'm stronger than ever. So even through injuries, keep your head up and push through!
As for squats in general, they are great for you posterior chain! On leg day, make sure to include these in your workout. Either do a higher weight that challenges your for low reps, or like I did in a pyramid (10,8,6,4,1), or you can do lighter weight for lots of reps. Sometimes I'll do only 95 pounds, but I'll do that for 3 sets of 20. So make sure you pick a weight that really makes those last couple reps a burn and a struggle, and get after those squats! Have a good workout! :)