Thermogenics and Back Day

Hey hey! Today was back day and it was awesome. Man, I love thermogenics! I'm currently taking LIV, a fat burner/ thermogenic and it's the second kind I've taken. It gives me energy all day long and just makes me feel so powerful. I take it around breakfast (10-11am, hard life, I know:) and still feel a "pump" at 6pm-7pm when it's time to work out. I don't even need a pre workout, it's great. For those of you who don't know what thermogenics or fat burners are, educate yourself on them before you consider them, but they are pretty much caffeine pills. Plain and simple, caffeine makes your heart beat faster, thus burning calories, thus burning fat. There's a science behind it of course so read about it for yourself.

I took time today to practice posing and walking in my heels. I have to say man, my body is looking amazing! I love it. My calves have gotten so much better, my legs are harder, my arms are great I just want to work on lateral shoulders a little more. I just look great right now! I can't believe I have a little less than seven weeks left, it seems so far away! I'm still waiting on my abs to come through, but I see the separation when I do ab workouts. It's so amazing! I'm so excited! It's amazing how much of a work of art your body is and how you can literally carve it into what you want it to look at. I'm telling you guys, no matter where you start, you CAN do it. I don't have a success story or any crazy transformation, but I have dedicated my life to fitness and could not be happier. If you know me and you have me on Facebook and you've been looking for motivation, message me. I'll help you out. I don't care if we haven't spoken in years, I love inspiring people and helping them reach their goals. Most importantly, I love making people love themselves, to be confident in themselves. It's great! Even if you don't know me, I'm here. With that said, today was back and calves day.

Back and Calves: 

Warm up pull ups- 3 sets of 4

Close grip cable machine rows
120lbs x 8 reps x 4 sets

Calf raise machine
70lbs x 15 reps x 4sets

High Iso row machine
90lbs x 12 reps
110lbs x 10 reps
130lbs x 10reps x 2 sets

Reverse calf machine (works out shin muscle)
50lbs x 8 reps x 4 sets

One arm lat pull down
50lbs x 8 reps x 4 sets

Super Set
Calf raises on stairs
25 reps x 4 sets

One arm bent over row on bench  w/ dumbell
25lbs x 10 reps x 4 sets

Weighted calf raises
90lbs x 15 reps x 4 sets

DEAAAAAADLIFTS
135lbs x 10 reps
185lbs x 5 reps
205lbs x 3 reps x 2 sets

Super Set
Barbell bent over row
80lbs x 10 reps x 4 sets

One leg calf raises (body weight)
4 sets of 10

Wide grip row machine
90lbs x 10 reps
110lbs x 10 reps x 3 sets

Chin ups 
3 Sets of 4

Done son!

Thanks for reading!

Mel

Fasted Cardio

Happy Tuesday! I ran out of protein last night and I was hoping my protein I ordered would come! It said it shipped at 6AM, and literally took ALL day to get here. But I got it! So yay! I have realized that my protein (Beverly International UMP Chocolate) comes with 30 servings which is one scoop. I take four scoops a day. Therefore that's one container (2lbs) of protein a week! WTF lol. So I need to get a different protein that has more in it. Beverly should sell 5lb containers or more, but they don't. So I think I'm going to go with the Optimum Nutrition protein. It's high rated and has the same stats as UMP except it has 4 extra proteins. Winner! So on Sunday I'll be ordering that. I also ordered some BCAAs to take before and after my workouts. That was missing from my diet so I added it.

Today was back day, and it went well. Of course. I'm feeling very confident about my physique and am very excited for the competition. 53 Days!!

Oh yeah! How could I forget? Today I woke up and did 45 minutes of cardio. After reading about fasting cardio last night, I felt I should try it. Why not? At first I was totally against it since I am always starving when I wake up. There have been many debates about whether fasting cardio is good for you, and there's definitely a scientific backing behind it. Are you building muscle? If yes, fasting cardio might and most likely will break down your muscles. Or you can simply eat before you workout. A protein shake, a banana, something to burn through before getting to the fat "essentially". What fasting cardio does do is effectively burn fat, according to studies. It's not some secret ingredient to lose a bunch of fat, but it's effective depending on your goals. Now, I'm never one to knock anything until I try it myself, so I'm trying it out. Also, since I'm in this awkward phase of muscly and fatty, the fasted cardio will most likely be perfect for me. Although, I hate it. I'm going to try it out doing it every other day, so Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. I know my results will be amazing, simply because of the ridiculous amount of calories I'll be burning doing two a days. I hit like 700+ Calories today, ridiculous.

Back & Calves Day

Cable Rows
120lbs x 12 reps
130lbs x 10 reps x 2 sets
140lbs x 6 reps

Calf Raise Machine
80lbs x 15 reps x 4 sets

Iso High Row Machine
90lbs x 15 reps
110lbs x 10 reps
130lbs x 8 reps x 2 sets

Dorsiflexion "Machine"
50lbs x 15 reps x 4 sets

One Arm Cable Lat Pull down
50lbs x 8 reps x 4 sets per arm

Super Set
Calf Raises on Stairs
25 reps
Bent over one arm row on bench
22.5lbs x 15 reps per arm x 4 sets

Deadlifts
135lbs x 10 reps
185lbs x 6 reps
205lbs x 3 reps x 2 sets

Bent over row w/barbell
80lbs x 8 reps x 4 sets

Row Machine over hand (pronated) grip (One side at a time)
45lbs x 12 reps each side
55lbs x 10 reps each side
65 lbs x 8 reps x 2 sets each side

Chin Ups
3 sets of 4

I ended with leg raises on parallel bars (25 reps) and then oblique leg raises on parallel bars. I also did some oblique leg raises while lying on my side and then side crunches. I'm not sore from my workout yesterday so I wanted to work my obliques a little more. :)

Thanks for reading! Let me know if you try the fasted cardio too.

Mel