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

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

Rest Days and Tacos

Oh hey everyone! This has been a crazy, busy, tiring, ridiculous week. I've been training really hard and working hard on my nutrition and macros. I over study and analyze everything so I spend at least two hours a day studying nutrition, physiques, new workouts, and pretty much anything fitness related. I LOVE motivating people and encouraging them to feel beautiful. So I've been on Twitter and Instagram "inspiring" and empowering people. I feel like any kind of encouragement can at least boost some one's day. After all, it is great getting compliments.

This weeks forecast of workouts consisted of Tuesday: morning fasted cardio, night back and calves, Wednesday: Forced REST DAY (I was so sore, could not even move), Thursday: morning fasted cardio, night leg day, Friday: cardio and some shoulders, Today: more shoulders and triceps and HIIT. Taking a rest day on Wednesday pushed my triceps day to today so I just have to pair it with shoulders. Should be a fun time.

Last night I made some delicious chicken tacos and I'd like to share them with you. I've never used basil, but I've always ordered it at restaurants and it's always amazing whatever it's in. So I bought some while grocery shopping yesterday and decided to make some tacos.

List:
Whole Grain tortillas
Chicken breast
Chopped tomatoes
Chopped Onions
2 basil leaves
Salt, pepper, Mrs. Dash seasoning (I also used onion powder and garlic salt)

I'm a huge fan of skillet medleys, AKA chop everything up, throw it in a skillet, throw it in a bowl, and enjoy! So this recipe is quite easy and will take no longer than ten minutes. For my side vegetable, I steamed some seasoned baby carrots. AMAZING. The sweet and "salty" mix was a great contrast to the tacos, you HAVE to try it.

Cut all vegetables, sautee onions into a skillet with olive oil, once medium done, add the tomatoes (you can choose to keep tomatoes raw but I don't enjoy raw tomatoes), then add the basil. Once onions are cooked to desired (I like mine completely cooked as I hate raw onions), put vegetable mixture to the side. I used the mini fajita tortillas, I put them in the toaster to make a taco shell, put the cooked chicken in, and then the vegetables. The basil adds its own flavor so you won't need to top it with any kind of seasoning, cheese, or any other garnishes, unless you want to of course. I also had 1/4 cups of brown rice. Enjoy!

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

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

Another Dead Day

OMG today was such a drag! Of course there are going to be days that are down, days that are hard to push through, days that make you feel like you can't go on, but always power through. I know yesterday I had the same situation, but today was worse. I was so excited though because of leg day. I'm so determined and motivated to mold these legs into what I want to see in myself. So nothing can hold me back, not even some stupid period pain. I have really bad and painful periods, like numbing pain in my stomach and back all the way down through my legs. No cramps, just ringing pain. So if I can get my ass off of the couch and lift some weights, you can definitely do it. Especially if you're a guy and you don't have to deal with this monthly crap.

Anyway, despite my day of sitting on the couch, eating every two hours, and drinking a gallon of water, I sat on Instagram all day searching hash tags, looking at physiques, workouts, getting motivated. I went through #fitfam on Twitter to get motivated. So it was a great motivating day and I never fell into the slump of "not wanting to work out". Of course I didn't feel like going, but not going was not an option.

Leg Day- Hamstrings and Inner Thighs

I started out with a 5 minute warm up incline on the elliptical. Then 25 reps of 45lb of Good Mornings to get the hamstrings warmed up.

Lunges
115lbs x 8 reps x 4 sets

Stiff Leg Deadlifts w/barbell
95lbs x 15 reps x 2 sets
115lbs x 10 reps x 2 sets

Super Sets
Wide Sumo Squats w/ dumbbell
35lbs between legs x 20 reps x 4 sets (My legs were way further apart than this video)

Dumbbell Stiff Leg Deadlift
Holding dumbbell the same way as sumo squat, bring legs closer together, bend down with dumbbell with back and legs straight.
35lbs x 8reps x 4 sets

Lying Down Leg Curl
40lbs x 15 reps x 4 sets

Adductor Machine
50lbs x 15 reps x 4 sets

Sitting Leg Curl
50lbs x 8 reps x 4 sets

Cable Kickbacks
40lbs x 12 reps x 4 sets on each leg

Hamstring Roll Ins w/foam roller
3 sets of 8

Something like this, but with a foam roller. GREAT hamstring workout. And great way to end your workout lying down lol. That's it! No HIIT today.

Now I'm going to eat my shrimp and chicken bowl and watch something on TV. I know my hamstrings and inner thighs are going to be sooooo sore tomorrow and even worse the day after. Cardio day is tomorrow so I'll be limping in there lol. Thanks for reading!

Mel

Powered Through

Omg I am dying! Ladies, it is THAT time of month. Which means it's the hardest time of the month to get motivation to go to the gym. Ugh. Don't worry, I didn't skip the gym today, I went, but I was in pain the entire time. I did cardio, shoulders and abs. In a whole, it was a great workout! I was SO glad to get out of there though. I'm always proud of myself after a workout when I'm on my period. Go me for powering through instead of crawling in a ball on the couch all day. Go me.

My back is SO sore from back day. Back day went well. I deadlifted 205 pounds for three reps and two sets. I could have gone up, but I didn't feel like doing a one rep max. I also did calves that day, much like last back day. Pretty standard. I changed some of the workouts up a bit by doing higher reps with lower weight.

Valentine's Day was wonderful! I spent all day with my love and it was amazing. He's a personal trainer and had to train two clients in the morning so I didn't see him until after noon. I made sure I got my workout in so that it wasn't a surprise rest day (there's no such thing as surprise rest day lol). I did some cardio and stretching and then got ready for the day. He surprised me with flowers and brand new surround sound headphones to use at the gym. I love music and love being surrounded by it, especially during a workout. This whole time I've been using the headphones that came with my iPhone, LAME. You can literally hear everything and the music is background music.  Now I can just get lost in my music and train like no other. I love it! He's so amazing. It sounds silly, but it's great. We shopped and went to the movies and went out to eat all day. And no it wasn't a cheat day and there were no cheat meals. Although, I'll be honest, I DID have a bite of a biscuit at Red Lobster. OMG SO GOOD! But other than that, it was a good eating day.

Today I did super sets for shoulders and abs. It was pretty killer and I had to take a bunch of breaks because of my horrible back pain, but I powered through. I also did biking for 10 minutes before my workout and 10 minutes afterwards doing interval hills.

Super Sets
Alternating front dumbbell raises
15lbs x 10 reps on each arm x 4 sets

Side lateral dumbbells (both arms at same time)
15lbs x 10 reps x 4 sets

Overhead Press (Smith Machine)
45lbs x 10 reps
65lbs x 8 reps x 3 sets

Super Sets
Barbell Shrugs (Smith Machine)
95lbs x 15 reps x 4 sets

Leg raise on parallel bars
15 reps x 4 sets

Super Sets
Bent over side lateral raise (one arm at a time)
15lbs x 15 reps x 4 sets

Sit ups on exercise ball
30 sit ups x 4 sets

Overhead dumbbell Press
25lb dumbbells x 10reps x 4 sets

Super Sets
Lying down leg raises 
Front, then side, then front then side, 10 times.

Machine crunches
90 lbs x 8 reps

10 minute intervals on bike. Ended at about 400 calories.

I'm going out tonight for my friends birthday! Not drinking but going to have a good time. Just because I'm prepping doesn't mean I can't go out :) Don't need to drink to have fun. Thanks for reading!

Mel