Powering Through the Sickness

'Tis the season to be sick, get colds, and slack off! Well, the first two things, no slacking off this winter. With the weather getting colder (or fluctuating from hot to cold in Cali), the risk of getting sick is higher and higher. While there are many things you can do to prevent the bug getting you, sometimes it just comes out of nowhere despite your careful planning. So how do you stay motivated when you're sick? Are you just going to throw out your plans and goals for a week in your bed? Are you going to power through and go to the gym sick? I'd say neither is a good plan, though there has to be balance. You can't just show up to the gym putting everyone in danger of catching what you have. Think about it, you cough into your hand, you touch a dumbbell, do your set, put it back. Someone new picks up the same dumbbell, gets an itch on his face or eye, or randomly decides to put his hand in his mouth, bam! He's got it too! The gym is a bacteria frenzy! Okay I know I've scared you now and yes there's a lot of risk in the gym, but you can take matters into your own hands by taking extra precautions during your workout.

1. Take a towel (or two) everywhere. For you to breath or cough into, and to wipe down the machines after use. 
2. Before use, use a wet wipe or spray and towel to wipe off everything you'll be touching. You never know what the person before you did on there or their condition. 
3. Don't go to the gym if you feel too sick. Which brings me back to what motivates you.

When you're coughing, sneezing, wiping your runny nose, I'm sure it's hard to build up the motivation to even get out of bed. If you have a goal in site like a prep or a fitness challenge you've joined, you'll need to get back into the gym asap. If you don't have a goal in site, by all means, take that time off to recover and get well. This is more for those of us who need to fast forward getting well so we can get back in the gym and attack those goals. You don't want to reschedule a show because you got sick. Could you imagine? Some great things you can do to keep your prep moving forward is move around! Go walking on the treadmill. I know it's hard taking a step from our hardcore workouts and jumping on a treadmill just to walk, but do you feel like running? That's what I thought. So walk for 30 minutes to an hour, keep your body conditioned throughout your sickness. A stationary bike is also a great choice! Sitting down might be all you want to do so it's probably the best choice. I mean, if there were a lying down cardio machine, I'm sure we'd all be in line for it. Don't want to leave the house? Below is an at home workout I've put together that's sure to get your heart beating, while letting you workout in the comfort of your own home.

Low Impact Burpees: Go through the motions of a regular burpee, only walk your legs one at a time back, push up, then back up. Stand up with hands in air, don't jump. (Unless of course you're up to do the high impact jumping)(As many as you can for one minute)

Jumping Jacks (One minute)

Body weight squats (One minute)

Stationary lunges (One minute)

Lying toe touches (One minute)

Repeat this cycle 3 times or as many time desired. That makes 15 minutes of moving around, getting active, and staying accountable. Don't let that cold knock you off your feet, you're better than that! In the same right, don't push yourself so far that you get even sicker and end up being out of the gym even longer. Listen to your body, if you feel you can do it, do it. If not, take a break. Now onto diet, because it's not all about the gym.

When sick, what is the LAST thing you want to do? Eat! And what is right behind that? Meal prep,

eat right, eat all healthy food. Who wants to be in the kitchen all day prepping meals? YOU do if you want to stay on track with your goals. This whole week when I was sick, I prepped every single meal and every single meal was clean. I thought, well if I'm going to be out of the gym, I'm at least going to be on point with my eating. You have push yourself to eat well, you must. The main problem when sick is that you don't want to eat. It's such a chore especially eating like clockwork like we do. My advice is to just do it the second it crosses your mind before you have a chance to think about it. Get up, cook, and soon you'll be able to lie down again. If you're lucky, maybe you'll have someone to cook six meals for you. That would be nice, but who has time for that? You have to want it, live it breathe it! No sickness will get you down. How wonderful it would have been to just order food all day and eat just that. Nope, we can't do that because we have goals to conquer! So dig deep and do what needs to be done in order to stay on track. You can do it! I did :)

Thanks for reading! I hope this inspires you when you're sick to get up and keep fighting for your goals. Bookmark this for when you are sick to try the workout and let me know how it goes!


Mel

Fall Challenges (Workout and Diet)

Hello guys! It's been a while. I took a little break, but I'm back and I'll be posting more. Especially for my clients and people who want to see workouts and clean eating recipes. I'd love to help! So what's new with me? Well I've taken the fall season off from competing so I can have a life and not have to be so strict on myself. It's fall! Time for pumpkin flavored everything, cuddling with hot chocolate, maybe some bonfires, and relaxing without worrying about being so strict. Well... that was the plan. Last week Bodybuilding.com released a new challenge called Shred vs Bulk challenge by BSN Supplements. Contestants have 6 weeks to either present the best bulk or the best shred. Both winners will win $10,000! So yes I have started that. I just can't stay away! From the end of August until now, I have been having cheat days more frequently however, my diet was about 80% clean. My brain and willpower won't let me overindulge. I have goals for next year and I'm not trying to gain weight and ruin my chances. My goal is to kill it next year! I have a great chance, I just need to tighten my glutes even more (I'll get into that later with coverage of the Tahoe Show).

So I started this shred at 130lbs, 7 pounds up from competition weight August 23rd. No big! Nothing I can't handle. The great thing about competing this year and doing prep on my own is that I have gotten to know my body so well and how it reacts to every little thing that goes in it. I know exactly what to do to get rid of my extra water weight. I know exactly what foods make me bloated and what foods flatten me out. I know what not to eat the day of a shoot, event, or show. So I'm excited and I know I'm going to look amazing by November 30th (the end date of competition), but wish me luck! $10,000 would be freaking amazing right now! Especially when supplementing my business Lifting Ladies. I have a lot planned and am super excited about it. Money would help kick start it a lot!

Anyway, I've been doing more of a balanced diet style for this cut so I can enjoy the fall while keeping my bikini diet. It's more of a 90% clean, 10% cheat diet. My days look something like this:

Meal 1: 1 cup of oatmeal (half of my carbs for the day except Wednesdays which is no carb day and rest day)
Meal 2: Chicken, 2tbs avocado, baby carrots, mozzarella cheese (I don't cut dairy because I don't cut things I love :) )
Meal 3: Chicken, half sweet potato (2 eggs on Wednesday instead), 1tbs Peanut Butter
Meal 4: Shrimp, 2 cups broccoli
Meal 5: Ground turkey tacos, 2-3 eggs,(on Wednesday I make a GT bowl with eggs, cilantro, and salsa)

Calories: 1430-1600 Friday: 2000+

Friday I have a cheat meal because it's my super cardio day and I have to load up on calories, Saturday and Sunday are the same as Monday-Thursday. This is important guys! ONE cheat day a week, not the whole weekend because you're "rewarding" yourself for the hectic week you had. You have a week every week, do you think you need to be "rewarded" EVERY week? Reward yourself with an awesome body! :)

For my workouts I'm trying a new circuit style training by Ashley Conrad on Bodybuilding.com  (click link for complete plan). It's a 21 day cut, which I'm following the workout but not the diet. The diet is a little boring for my taste. If you want to survive in eating clean all the time, you need to be able to customize it to your liking. You don't need to eat bland boring food everyday to be fit, that's silly. This doesn't mean having cheat meals of course, it simply mean find a healthy alternative for each undesirable factor in the plan. If you enjoy following diet plans, then by all means, follow the plan word for word. Anyway, the workout plan looks like this:

Monday: Lift
Tuesday: Cardio
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: Lift
Friday: Cardio
Saturday: Lift
Sunday: Rest


Lift days are a circuit in which you repeat the workouts below in a row with a 30 second rest in between. Once done, repeat the circuit 3-6 times depending on physical abilities.

1. Clean and press
2. Overhead medicine ball throws
3. Dumbbell rear lunge
4. Push ups
5. Bench dips
6. Sprint in place
7. Body weight squats
8. Wide grip lat pull down
9. Medicine ball jumping jacks
10. Incline push ups
11. Dumbbell bicep curl
12. Lateral dumbbell raises
13. One arm dumbbell row

Do each workout for 12-15 reps and repeat cycle for desired times. It's a great workout! I would definitely try it, especially if you're in need of something new. That's why I'm doing it instead of writing my own workout for the cut. I put in my own workouts to better fit my needs. For instance, instead of the medicine ball throws, I do kettle bell swings, Instead of rear lunge, I do walking lunges. I replace the incline push ups (because there is a ridiculous amount of push ups in this circuit) with stiff leg dead lifts or hanging leg raises for abs. I try to put more leg stuff in singe my goals are in my legs.

For cardio day: 
Interval training on treadmill:
Walk (level 5) 60 seconds
Jog (level 7) 30 seconds
Sprint (level 10) 60 seconds (dead sprint as hard as you can!
Repeat 10 times (25 minutes total)

Cool down: Incline walk 5 minutes.

If you only do one thing in this blog, do the cardio! It's great! I'm in week 2 now of 6 of the shred. It's going well and I think I look great so far. cleaning up my diet from 80 to 90% has done wonders in just a week. It's awesome! I think it's cool that Bodybuilding.com can release a challenge with 3-4 days to register pretty much saying "hey everyone, I know it's the fall and Halloween and Thanksgiving are coming up but we'll give you $10,000 if you drop everything and lean out or bulk up for the next 6 weeks!" And everyone drops whatever they're doing, joins the challenge, and starts cutting (or bulking). It's crazy to me, awesome, and inspiring. Good luck to everyone who joined!

As always, thanks for reading!


Mel
BodiesbyMel.com <--- Live in SoCal? Need personal training?

Those Legs!

So today was leg day, gotta love it. Okay so a lot has changed in terms of my workouts and plans. My legs are getting ridiculous. I'm getting progress and gaining muscle way too fast. I need to completely stop lifting heavy and do all high rep workouts, low weight. Same for arms, my guns are getting too big. Which goes to show I SHOULD be prepping for figure, but I want to do a bikini show. I'm definitely a figure girl at heart though, I love lifting heavy. I've found that high reps are boring since I have to count up so high and blah blah blah. It's tiring of course and a great workout no matter what, I just prefer low reps. Unfortunately, I can't do the heavy weight anymore which makes me feel like a weakling at the gym lol. I'm so used to people looking at me like "wtf, that girl is lifting SO heavy". Oh well! I have 7 weeks to trim or maintain these legs, I can't afford to make them any bigger.

I'm also carb cycling now. My macros are set now to 40/40/20 (40% carbs, 40% protein, 20% fats) putting me at at least 158 grams of protein a day, around 158 grams of carbs, and 35 grams of fat. The fat isn't hard for me since I don't eat fatty foods anyway. I literally did not have to cut any foods out of my diet for prep, which is awesome! Well, I switched from buttery popcorn to kettle corn if that counts. Carbs, carbs, carbs. I love carbs. Everything I eat has carbs and it's just crazy thinking about lowering them lol. So I've been trying some low carb dinners which pretty much consists of a large amount of chicken, shrimp, or lean ground beef, lots of veggies, and egg whites. It's not bad, it's actually very good. It's nice to have a change from the brown rice. I get so tired of the brown rice, it's so boring. I love trying out new foods and switching up the ingredients. Yum yum! Seriously though, everything I eat is whole grain and carbs. Wheat Thins, bread, oatmeal, popcorn, peanut butter, yogurt, tortillas, I don't understand how or why on earth people would want to cut our carbs. It's silly. And unnecessary. You NEED carbs! Not just because they are good but because they are good FOR you.

So besides carb cycling, calming down my legs with high reps, and switching up my diet, I'm on track and excited for my competition. SEVEN MORE WEEKS!! It's going to fly by, I already know. So exciting.

Leg Day- Hamstrings, Inner thighs

Super Set
Dumbbell one leg stiff leg deadlifts
25lbs x 15 reps per leg x 4 sets

Super wide sumo squats with dumbbell in middle
25 lbs x 20 reps x 4 sets

Lunges on Smith Machine
135lbs x 12 reps x 4 sets

Stiff leg deadlift on Smith Machine
135lbs x 10reps x 4 sets

Wide stance 45 degree leg press machine
90lbs x 15 reps x 4 sets

Lying down leg curls
40lbs x 15 reps x 4 sets

Adductor Machine
40lbs 25 reps x 4 sets

Sitting leg curls
45lbs x 12 reps x 4 sets

Close and high stance leg press machine
90lbs x 15 reps x 4 sets

6 Minute HIIT
1 Minute of wide stance kettle bell swings
1 minute of shuffles on short platform
Repeat three times

Wow I did a lot lol GREAT workout!!

Thanks for reading!

Mel

Hating At The Gym + Cardio & Abs

Today went well. No craziness, fatigue, and not too much pain. So yay! Today was cardio an ab day and it went well. Did some obliques and super sets before my kickboxing class. I realize my blog is going to get a bit redundant considering I do almost the same thing every week so let's talk about something.

Hating on People in the Gym

Why? Why do you care what other people are doing? Why do you care that that girl is over there snapping photos of herself? That that guy is over there flexing and checking himself out in the mirror? That that guys form is sooooo bad (totally guilty of noticing this)! That that person is texting while on a machine. Who gives a fuck? You should be focused on YOUR workout and no one Else's. Unless of course that person is hogging a machine you're waiting for and they're taking super long breaks. Honestly though, just put on some head phones, get in your zone, and forget everyone else. One thing I don't understand, is that in this world of people trying to better themselves and people who aren't, why on earth are you judging the people who are trying? I commend every person who is in the gym working on their bodies whether it be lifting, cardio, basketball, racquetball, whatever, go you! It's so awesome! I love seeing people doing good for themselves. Yeah they might be doing the wrong form, but what can I do about it besides go help them? Which I'm not going to do because I don't want to stop my workout to help someone who needs one on one attention. Commend them, at least they're at the gym.

LADIES: stop hating on each other for... anything and everything. Always remember that girls hate on each other, women empower one another. Same for men of course, but girls are so notorious for this. Tell a girl she's doing a great job at the gym. Smile instead of giving dirty looks. Competition is fun, but it's great to have teammates too! Remember that.

On to the workout!

Abs

Super Set
Weighted side bends
35lbs x 15 reps 4 sets

Alternate Heel Touchers
Lie on back and sway back and forth touching heels, works obliques
15 reps x 4 sets

Super Set
Cable pull down crunch (middle)
10 reps x 4 sets

Cable pull down left to right
10 reps x 4 sets

Weighted side twists
15 reps x 4 sets
(4 sets of the super set)

Super Set
Bench leg lifts
Middle, left side, middle, right side, middle, left. Do this for 10 reps x 4 sets

Side plank
30 seconds x 4 sets

Super Set
Leg raises on parallel bar
15 reps x 3 sets

Oblique raises on parallel bar
10 reps x 3 sets

Hour of cardio.

Fun fun! Burned about 630 calories.Tomorrow I'm going to go running in the morning so I won't have to do it after back day. Those deadlifts man, they'll kill ya! Thanks for reading! :)

Mel

Week Two Monday!

Ah so today's workout went well! Of course, it was abs and cardio day. Abs kill me but I can do abs all day long! I guess because it's great gratification for me and I love seeing results. I guess I can say that about every body part. I woke up today craving leg day. I just want to do it everyday and I want to see results NOW! I have to be patient though and I have plenty of time to get to where I want to be. I can't wait!

So ending last week, I went all out. I did cardio each day including a 20 minute death HIIT session. Waking up Saturday morning with the intention of another HIIT session, I knew my legs could not do another day. My inner thighs (for lack of a better term) were fucked! Omg I could not even walk lol but that's good. I had a great week and I took Saturday and Sunday off. I went shopping Saturday for new workout clothes and got a bunch of cute stuff. Ladies, if you have no other motivation, new workout clothes will help. It's so exciting wearing new workout clothes!

For my workout today I did 30 minutes of an supersets and finished with an hour of kick boxing. I burned about 650 calories.

Abs: 
Set one:
Leg lifts, front and both sides. Lie down on bench with handle or just grab on back side of bench. Lift legs up, back down to the left, and middle again, then right. Do this ten times.
Five leg circles- circles legs around five times really crunching those abs at the top.

Weighted side bends (45lbs)- 10 on each side

Then back to leg lifts. Four sets of this.

Set two: 
Woodchoppers with weighted cable (30-50 pounds) from bottom up. 10 sets on each side.

Plank for one minute set one.
Side plank for one minute set two.
Other side plank for one minute set three.
Middle plank for one minute set four.

Four sets of woodchoppers switched off with planks.

Set three: 
For the last workout I did three sets of 15 70 pound sit up curls on a machine.

There's a lot of abs in kick boxing so this is a good warm up for the class. You can feel the burn throughout the workout and always know and remember that every time your legs go above your belly button you're working those abs. So get those kicks high! Alright, I'm going to go cook dinner now.

Thanks for reading!

Mel

Wednesday- Cardio Day

Wow is all I can say about todays workout. But of course I will just have to say more! Seriously, what just happened? Today, instead of kickboxing at 6:30, I had to go to the earlier. Why, oh why would you miss kickboxing class?! Well because tonight was my second tattoo appointment to finish my rib piece. Ah! So amazing, I love it! So early gym session and a make shift hour cardio session. Have I mentioned how long it's been since I've done cardio on a machine for an hour? It's been forever! Let me tell you about me and cardio. I hate it. It's boring and all I think about when I'm doing cardio is when I'll be lifting next. It's essential so I must do it! So here I am at the gym, no plan really, just playing by ear and how I feel along the way. So here's what I did:

Treadmill: 
5 Minute warm up
20 Minute workout: Intervals on incline, every 30 seconds running and the next 30 seconds "speed walking" for 20 minutes straight. No rest.
5 Minute speed walking (catching breath), then adding more incline every minute.
10 minute incline walking (to get that booty!) Nice slow burn on the glutes

HIIT: 
Same concept as Tuesday's HIIT, only this time it's 4 workouts done 5 times. I'm crazy I know. It was intense! I wanted to die afterwards, no joke.

1. Kettle bell swings (down into squats and back up)- 1 minute
2. Lateral box shuffles- 1 minute

3.Exercise Ball sit-ups- 1 minute

4. Jumping Jacks- 1 minute

*30 second break*
Set 2- repeat
Set 3- repeat
Set 4- repeat
Set 5- repeat- Full out! Give it all you've got!!

And die.

Just kidding, please don't die. Please don't do this workout if you don't feel you are conditioned enough for it. You can also adjust the rest period to be longer if you need to. I burned about 600+ calories with this workout. I have a heart rate monitor (and you should get one too if you're serious about anything involving calories, aka life) and when doing cardio, I always make sure my heart rate is at or above 140 rpm the whole time. As long as I do that, every minute of my cardio time is worth it. With that said, have a great workout! Comment below, tell me how it went :)

Thanks for reading!

Mel