WOD: Biceps/Triceps

Good Morning!! Happy Monday!

I know that Monday's are probably the most hated day of the week, but I choose to focus on it being a new beginning. Every Monday you get a new shot at your goals...at things you didn't get accomplished last week...you get to try to achieve those things in a NEW week. In social work we call this the strengths perspective...try this week to look at things in a positive way and I promise that you will have a better week!

So today I want to give you guys a workout. One of the areas that I am personally trying to better is my upper body. I struggle with a small upper body and that is why I workout upper body 4 times a week. 

1. Cable Curl (or barbell) (4x15) superset with Jumping Jacks (30)

2. Extension (4x15) superset with Burpees (10-15)

3. Tricep pushup (or close grip bench press (3x10)

4. BOSU ball shuffle (3x10) (see notes)

5. Dumbbell curls (standing) (4x15) superset with Tricep dips (4x15)

6. Shoulder Press (4x15)

BOSU ball shuffles - If you fortunate enough to have a gym with BOSU balls you should try and use them all the time! They help with creating core strength. BOSU ball shuffles - start with your hands on the dome, place right hand out, tap left hand to right, replace both on dome, repeat on the left side. Focus on keeping your arms straight, you should feel it in your shoulders, triceps, and biceps. ALSO don't "bow" your butt up. Make sure you stay straight in plank pose. Keep your core tight the entire time. Remember to breath, and go at a pace that it comfortable to you. I am going to put up a video later on Instagram so make sure to go check it out!

Happy Lifting! :-)

Motivation...Where do I get some of that?!?!!!

Hey Guys!! I hope you are having a fabulous start to your week. I am feeling good, I am on track with my diet so my energy levels are great, I'm sleeping well, and I am having great workouts! But...this isn't how I feel all the time. Sometimes I think we get caught up in the "hoopla" of other people and become discouraged. We see that "so and so" is always happy, always thin, always motivated and we get angry at ourselves for not feeling this way all the time.

I'm going to be real with you guys...sometimes I just want a big cookie, ice cream, brownies, and a glass of wine and sit my happy butt on the couch! I won't pretend that I have good gym days, or that I don't mess up on my diet at times. I won't pretend that I am always happy, but what I can tell you is that I work for those things constantly. I already talked about my views of happiness...it was a pretty good post if I don't say so myself, go and have a gander.

So the question becomes...how to do I keep my motivation up when I feel it going down. WOW what a GREAT question ;-)

I once had a client ask me about motivation...so I obviously gave them the definition...the act or process of giving someone a reason for doing something : the act or process of motivating someone (Merriam-Webster). But what does this actually mean? How can we increase our motivation so we stay focused and on task even when we don't want to...well I'll help you out with a few of mine (and with the help of another blog, you can check it out @ http://zenhabits.net/get-off-your-butt-16-ways-to-get-motivated-when-youre-in-a-slump/).

1. Set one goal - often times we get ahead of ourselves and set lots of goals. Unfortunately the human mind and body rebels against a lot of change at one time. Take one goal and make it your primary focus. For example most people set the goal to get healthy for a New Years Resolution. That's great...but being healthy encompasses a LOT of stuff. So set one goal, maybe get active 3 days a week or eat health 5/7 days, or not eat fast food. Once that becomes a permanent change (2-3 months) create another goal.

2. Find people that inspire you - you can do this is lots of ways. Social media is amazing (and not so amazing) with connecting people of similar mind sets. When I started my fitness journey I followed every fitness model/bikini pro/gym rat I could find...if they were out there I followed them. They helped me with new and different exercises, recipes, and motivation. I eventually weeded out some and only followed people that really inspire me. If you have Instagram, you can follow me @fitcassie_88 you can also look at my page and see the people I follow. :-)

(One of my faves, Amanda Latona is an IFBB Pro Bikini Athlete)

3. Think about it Daily - When you want sometime bad enough you should think about it all the time. Goals are meant to challenge you, that being said you want to find one that you have to think of new and creative ways to crush it. I haven't been doing the same fitness routine for the last two years...I change it up...challenge my body. I read articles and magazines everyday to learn more about fitness and nutrition. I talk with my friends everyday about it...probably to the point that they want to shoot me in the foot :-P But doing this makes it your primary focus.

4. Support - you want to have people around you who inspire and help you through this time. Whatever your goal may be, it will be challenging, you will want to quit, be with people who will force you to stick to it. I have a friend that I talk about prep with...she isn't doing a competition, she doesn't have the same fitness goals, but she pushes me and gives me that nudge when I don't want to do something (cough cough cardio).

5. Start small...super duper small - I know what it is like to have a big dream. Problem with big dreams is that sometimes getting there can be overwhelming and we eventually give up. It's better to start off small (with a larger goal/dream in mind of course) and celebrate small successes. Say you want to lose 25 pounds...wow that's a lot of weight...for anyone. Instead of focusing on the 25 pounds all the time...focus on 1 pound, keeping one pound off, keeping two pounds off...etc. That way you are happy with progress you have made and don't become discouraged by not reaching your 25.

6. Lastly...think about the benefits - being healthy is hard. I won't lie...it was so much easier to be fat and unhealthy. I didn't think about the food I was eating, I didn't care about how much weight I could squat, I didn't really care about calories...problems is I was unhappy...probably bordering on depressed about my weight. I had poor self esteem. Being healthy makes me happy on the inside and outside :-) it has pushed me to try new things. I have made new friends, pushed myself to get a new job, and to get on stage in a tiney tiny bikini in front of hundreds of people!! It may be a pain to weigh/measure all my food and exercise 5-6 days a week...but it's MUCH BETTER than the alternative!

(Progress pics for week 2)

Happiness :-)

Today I thought that I would give you guys a little bit of background on myself and why I decided to do this blog. About a year ago I ended a long term relationship, at the end I started to feel like I had lost myself somewhere and had no idea who I was or what I wanted from life. During this period I thought, well might as well get in shape while I think about who the hell I am. This was the greatest thing I could have ever done for myself. I have learned so much about myself in the last year than I have in the previous 25! One of the biggest changes I see is my self-esteem and overall happiness. I talk to my patients about happiness all the time, so I thought I would share some of my helpful hints that I have picked up over the last couple of years to increase happiness. Enjoy :-)
 
1. Positive Thinking - in typical social work fashion this has to be first! If you know anything about Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, you'll know that changing negative thinking into positive thinking is one of the main tenets. How do you do this you ask?! Well when you start to feel yourself, or catch yourself, being negative make a quick change to something more positive. Example - "I feel fat" change to "It's a beautiful day outside today". People a lot of times think that they have to make thinking changes toward themselves, that's very difficult in the beginning, it is much easier to just think about random positive things. Think about your favorite flower or a funny joke. Eventually those negative thoughts will decrease and you will begin to see things in a positive way.
 
2. Positive Peer Group - Have you ever heard that saying, "you are what you eat"? Same concept..."you are who you hang out with". If a person hangs out with people who do drugs and steal the likelihood of them participating is high. If you hang out with someone who likes fitness and health eventually it will be something you like as well. You want to be around people who bring out the best you possible. You want to be with people who push you to be better and are positive. Believe me...I have known positive Penelope and negative Nell and one is DEFINITELY better than the other. 
 
3. Self-Esteem - you are probably like "duh Cassie, this one is obvious". Unfortunately there are so many people out there that do not like themselves. Low self-esteem is for a variety of reasons. Some of it stems from early life experiences. Sometimes it develops later on in life due to continuous negative experiences. Whatever the reason people, a vast majority of these people are women, do not like themselves. I am very guilty of this. During my first prep I was CONSTANTLY comparing myself to others. I wanted to look like them, I wanted what they have. Well what is so fricking wrong with what I have right now?! Nothing is exactly right. I started to change the way I was looking at things, stopped comparing myself to others and almost instantly I was happier.
 
4. Love of Others - One thing that I have learned in life is that I have not gotten to this place in my life without help from other people. I have amazing parents. I have an amazing boyfriend. I have amazing friends. All of these people have been with me through thick and thin. This one is not "loving" someone in the romantic sense, it is about knowing that there are other people out in the world. This world does not revolve around you. When you have a bad day the world doesn't stop spinning. To love others is to leave your problems at the door sometimes as well as being able to trust others with super secret spy stuff (aka SSSS) :-) Believe it or not there are people out there that do not trust and all they think about is themselves, it's sad because they have to be very lonely. 
 
5. Spirituality - I honestly don't care if you believe in God or Jesus or Muhammad or whoever. Knowing that you are here on this planet for a reason should give you solace. It should be something to relish in and focus on when you feel off "centered". Spirituality is about knowing that no matter the reason, you are here and you have a purpose. Finding that purpose is the spice of life. Live it up, find what you like and go for gold! Meditation, prayer, church, yoga, deep breathing are various examples of ways to evaluate spirituality.

 
6. Hobbies - for goodness sakes do fun things! I mean for real, what do you like to do? Find fun things and do them! We tend to let hobbies go due to kids, job, time management problems, etc. Don't let these things get in the way of your happiness. Hobbies should be the thing you turn to when you need an escape, when you want to turn that frown upside down. :-( ---> :-)
 
7. Healthy Lifestyle - this one is probably the easiest to understand. Put crap in = get crap out. Healthy lifestyle - this includes exercise and diet. But it also includes sleep and your emotional/mental well being. I am not going to go into health a whole lot because I mean...seriously this is a blog about health, come back and I'll CONSTANTLY tell you about it ;-)

 
8. Practice, Practice, Practice - happiness is not something fixed...it is fluid. Some days will be better than others. You want to practice these 7 things DAILY! I promise that if you practice you will feel much happier :-)
 
I know this is not a typical post for me...but I think that mental health is just as important as physical health...you cannot have one without the other. Hope this helps...please ask questions in the comment section if you have any!!

Fasted Cardio: To Do or Not To Do, That is the Question?!

Fasted Cardio

 

So lately I have been seeing a lot of articles on fasted cardio. I am not one to jump into a program lightly so I have been doing some research. I was surprised to find so many articles contradicting the other. So I want to discuss the reason people do fasted cardio and my opinion on cardio.

 

First, the definition. Fasted cardio = cardio on an empty stomach. Second, the purpose. The purpose of fasted cardio is so that your body will be at a glycogen (fuel) deficient state that your body will have to pull fat to burn for energy. So is fasted cardio better than "normal" fed cardio? To the best of my knowledge...no it is not. For people looking to put on lean muscle mass, fasted cardio can acutally be detrimental to your progress. During fasted cardio your body is breaking down fat and fatty acid are released into the bloodstream, but there are too many and the body isn't able to process and therefore they are reabsorbed back into fat cells. It has been shown that low intensity fasted cardio does burn fat, but you have to do cardio for longer than 90 minutes...thats 3 episodes of The Big Bang Theory! I don't have that kind of time lying around in the morning! Fasted cardio may burn more calories upfront but you stop burning calories the minutes you stop doing cardio. To burn fat you want your body to go into "excess post-exercise oxygen consumptions" (EPOC) this is called afterburn, these are calories you burn hours after you have stopped exercising...this doesn't happen with fasted cardio.

 

My suggestion? HIIT cardio. It has been proved over and over that high intensity interval training is the best cardio for your body. First, it is quick (average 15-45 minute sessions). Second, it can be done anywhere (outside, home, gym). Third, intervals keep the person guessing so time goes faster. I LOVE HIIT. This is the only way I do cardio anymore. Usually I do cardio right after weight lifting so 15-45 minutes is the perfect amount of time. I also like it because it's not boring...I am not one of those people that can run on a treadmill or ride a bike for hours...I would DIE. My suggestion is to get a heart rate monitor, doing this you will be able to monitor your heart rate and adjust intervals to your necessity. I have posted a couple of HIIT workouts...some of my favorites are on the treadmill but I have recently started going outside to do cardio. Cardio outside is also great because I can do it with the dog...two birds with one stone anyone?!?!

 

HIIT is also super awesome because it help your hormones. When you have a good diet, sleep 7-8 hours a night, lift weights, your hormones will be super helpful in building lean muscle. Always remember...

 

lean muscle = more fat burning = awesome sauce

 

Cassie's Tips for Cardio: (kinda sorta stolen from Men's Health)

1. Always Always Always warm up - at least 5 minutes before cardio AND weight lifting

2. SPRINT - do max for 30 secs and then recovery for 90ish secs

3. Good posture - when on any cardio machine it is easy to have bad posture, you want to make sure that you have good posture in order to decrease possible injury.

4. Recovery - when doing interval you want to go to 90% of your effort, with this being said you need to give your body time to recover. When sprinting you should find it hard to breath at the end of the 30 secs, and then 90 sec recover to normal breathing.

5. Take your cardio outdoors - I mean hello...vitamin D!! :-)

This is one of my treadmill HIIT workouts. 

1. Warm up - 5 minutes (spd 3.0, inc 7)

2. Lunges - 1 minute (spd 1.8, inc 1.5)

3. Walking plank - 1 minute (spd 2.0, inc 1.5)

4. Push-ups - 10-15 reps

5. Jump squats - 10-15 reps 

6. Walk- 1 minute (spd 2.0, inc 1.5)

Repeat x4

6. Cool down - 5 minutes (spd 3.0, inc 7)

***like what you see?! Check out my Instagram page for workouts, recipes, and motivation!!!  @fitcassie_88***

Nutrition 101: Protein

Nutrition 101: Protein

Most people know that you need protein everyday. What most people don't know is the importance of protein. Protein is one of the 3 macro nutrients that your body needs on a regular basis. Proteins are important because they contain amino acids, which are the building blocks of cells. Most people, even I am guilty of this, don't know how much protein to take in or when...which are both SUPER important. Protein intake will depend on your age, sex, and activity level. I will discuss ways to calculate protein intake later on.

So, what is the important information that everyone needs to know about protein? Ok so in the post I will go over the different types of protein as well as supplements for protein. At the end I'll given some info on types of protein as well as some little facts about protein.

1. Different types of protein: complete and incomplete proteins

-----Complete protein is a source that provides a person with all essential amino acids. Essential amino acids cannot be made in the body. These amino acids are important for the body in order to help repair and make muscle, tissue, cells, etc. Basically everything...duh! So you need to make sure that you are getting these types of amino acids in your diet. These amino acids can be found in animal based foods.

-----Incomplete protein are sources of food that provide some amino acids but not all 20 essential aminos. Incomplete proteins can be used together to create a complementary protein in which two or more sources is used to complete the 20 essential aminos.

Now I know this is a lot of information...and you're probably like whatever Cassie, why is this important. Well its important because you need to make sure that you are getting adequate amounts of protein in order for your body to function at its maximum potential! This is especially important for people who do not eat animal based proteins...you need to investigate your food to make sure that you are getting all 20 essential aminos!!

2. Supplements. Lots of people ask me about supplements that I take. Maybe one day I'll blog about that...it depends on the season that I am in and I have differing views about supplements than most I believe. First let me say that supplements are just that...SUPPLEMENTS. They are NOT replacements for regular food. Supplements should be used to supplement your diet to make sure that you are getting everything that you need. I only use protein supplements when ABSOLUTELY needed. And I'll let you know those times in just a little bit!

-----Whey protein: there are three different types of whey protein powder. Whey is a by-product of cheese production that is used because it is a rapid dissolving protein. Whey is great for the beginning of the day and making sure that you have something in your stomach to kick start your metabolism. Whey is also great right AFTER a workout to start the repairing process for your muscles. Right after a workout you need to get (at least) protein in your system within 30 minutes.

    1. Concentrate - higher fat ratio, usually the best tasting protein because it has more fat.

    2. Isolates - remove the most of fat and lactose, taste is mild and similar to milk

    3. Hydrolysates - less fat of the three, higher level of protein, taste is "ok" (remember to think it has less fat and that's the most important part of this). If you have a milk allergy this the whey to try first, less likely to have an allergic reaction.

-----BCAA - branched chain amino acids. You want to take this during your workout and after your workout. Helps aid muscle repair.

-----Glutamine - This is an amino that is in BCAA's as well as whey but in small amounts. This will help prevent muscle soreness if taken during workout and post-workout.

These are the supplements that I take everyday. I usually take whey only once, right after my workout. I take BCAA's and Glutamine during my workout and after to help prevent feeling sore the next time...because that is NO FUN!!!!!!!

3. Protein Intake - depending on age, sex, and activity level your protein level will be different. Most people who workout regularly need at least 1 gram of protein per body weight. One of my post earlier (I think the first) has a link to a calculator that will tell you the amount of macros you need for your goals, age, sex, etc. Use that!!!! If you don't take in enough protein your body will start to breakdown muscle. To much and your body won't process it and its basically wasted.

That is all I have about protein. I hope this helped. Let me know if you have questions...or anything else that is helpful for others!!!

WOD: Shoulders and Chest

Happy Monday ya’ll!!! :-)

I hope everyone had a great weekend!! I get a lot of people asking me for workouts, so I want to give you guys more workouts to use. At the end of this post there will be a WOD tag, use that to look up more workouts that I have posted in the past!

Over the weekend I did shoulders and chest. Remember to do weight that works for you…always start light and work your way up. If you start heavy you will hurt yourself and won’t be able to work out…and that is no good.

The way I have designed the workout out is that you do a warm up for the muscle group, then 2-3 exercises after, and then 1-2 to burn out.

Warm Up

1. Bench press (chest) – 4x15 (try using a barbell but can use dumbbells)

2. Arnold press (shoulders) 4x15

Regular

3. Front to Lateral raise (shoulders) – 3x15 (go lighter weight in the beginning, lateral raises can cause injury if you “jerk” the weight)

4. Incline chest fly (chest) – 3x15

5. Incline rear delt (shoulders) – 3x15

Burn Out

6. Cable Shoulder Single Arm Press – 4x15

7. Cable Chest Fly – 4x15

After this I did a little interval workout, you guys can find that on my instagram. Hope this is helpful!! Happy Lifting! :-)

Nutrition 101: Carbs :-O

Carbohydrates:

When talking about food most people will divide it up into macro and micro nutrients. Macro nutrients include protein, carbohydrates, and healthy fats. Micro nutrients are smaller like vitamins and fiber. It is important to know the significance of all of these nutrients in order to use them effectively. So what I want to focus on first is carbohydrates. I think that carbs get a bad rep because of the way most people consume carbs.

***Carbs are extremely important for your diet and need to be consumed daily.***

So why do carbs get a bad rep?? Well because of things like pop-tarts, candy, and white bread. These things are what we call fast digesting carbs and beyond that have very little nutritional value. Carbs can be divided into three different categories; slow, medium, and fast digesting carbs.  Examples of different types of carbs will be later on, don’t you worry :-)

Carbs are important because they are vital for energy produce and muscle replenishment. Different body types will use carbs differently, but mainly carbs are for energy. When you ingest carbs they are converted into sugar (aka glucose), which in turn gives you energy. If you ingest fast digesting carbs you will have an insulin spike which will make your body store that energy as fat. Slow digestive carbs give your body the ability to store those nutrients as energy in your muscles to use later.

When I put together a meal plan I like to make sure I have a well balanced meals. I also like to consume mainly “whole” foods. I think to eat things with very few ingredients, and if it has more than a few I like to make sure that I know what they are. Some of the things people eat these days is crazy, and if you look on the box you can’t pronounce half of the ingredients! So when putting together your meal plan…look for carbs that are as close to whole and natural as possible!!

Examples of Slow/Medium/Fast Digesting Carbs

Slow – sweet potatoes, wild rice, beans, red potatoes, and fruit

Medium – banana, potatoes, brown rice, oranges, orange juice, whole wheat pasta

Fast – white bread, white rice, cold cereals, rice cakes, fruit juices

Carbs are needed in any diet and all of these types of carbs can be used on a regular/semi-regular basis, you just have to know the appropriate times.

 - Slow digesting carbs can be taken in at any time. Good to take in at all three major meals. These carbs are going to keep you fuller longer because they take your body longer to digest.

- Medium digesting carbs can be taken right before a training session. As you work out your carb storage from early will start to deplete, so taking in these carbs right before a session will help maintain a steady blood sugar throughout your workout.

- Fast digesting carbs should be taken immediately after a training session. You always want to make sure that you are refueling you body after working out. Your body is in prime mode to effectively use and storage fuel at this point. Use fast digesting carbs and protein for maximum benefits. These types of carbs do not have to be ingested, one could use medium digesting carbs after a workout…it is simply the best (and only time) to take in these types of carbs.

Examples of carbs for meals – (these are some of my faves :-D)

Breakfast: oatmeal, Ezekiel bread, sweet potato hash

Lunch: brown rice (or wild rice), sweet potatoes, black beans

Post workout: brown rice or sweet potato

Dinner: brown rice, rice pasta, sweet potato

One thing to remember…that veggies are the best carbs! The more and more veggies you eat the better. Veggies not only are low in carbs, they are full of fiber and other micro nutrients that help you feel fuller longer without throwing your diet off a bridge! 

I usually take in about 1/3 cup of any carb and then 1-2 cups of veggies. Some of my favorite veggies are green beans, spinach, and broccoli! 

Look for my nutrition 101 to come! 

HIIT Workout - Outside Addition :-)

Workout Of The Day - 

So yesterday I posted on Instagram that I would be posting an outside workout. I want to do this for a couple of reasons.

 1. Sometimes people do not have access to the gym and want things that they can do at home. I have bought a pair of weights that were inexpensive to use at home.

 2. The weather is so beautiful it sucks to be stuck inside a stuffy…smelly...dim gym. 

 3. Vitamin D is AMAZING for you to get regularly! Being outside in the sun has been shown to increase neurotransmitter release, therefore making the correlation in your brain that exercise is fun! :-) 

So yesterday I went to the gym for a quick arm sesh and then decided to go outside for some sun and cardio! :-) So here is a little workout. (I used bleachers but they are not a necessity) 

Circuit 1 - 

Up and down the stairs (or high knees) for 1 min 

Lunges up bleachers (or lunges on track) for 1 min 

Step up and kickback on bench or elevate surface – 10 each side 

Break for 1-2 minutes (If you have a heart rate monitor, wait until your heart rate has returned to a normal level. If you don’t use your breathing as a monitoring tool. You should be able to breathe “normally” with only slight impairment.) 

Circuit 2 - 

Toe taps on stairs (or fast feet) for 1 min 

      Moving feet one at a time forwards and backwards as fast as you can go 

Up and down the stairs (or high knees) 1 min 

Sprint one length of bleacher x 4 (or spring for 15 secs x4) 

Circuit 3 - 

Run one lap 

Sprint for 35-45 secs 

Walk one lap

This little workout took me about 20 minutes. Remember to rest and get your heart rate back to normal. This is going to help later on with your hormone level, which at night will help with muscle repair. Hope you like this workout. I am going to be posting more I promise!! Life has been so crazy, but I am getting back to my roots ;-)

The Importance of Rest

Hey guys, sorry I have been MIA lately, had a lot going on with Mardi Gras and trying to find time to fit in workouts!

Today I want to talk about the importance of rest. One thing that I have learned most recently is the power of rest. Sometimes the excitement of seeing your body change makes you want to spend more and more time in the gym (trust me I've been there!). But your body needs time to recuperate, repair, and rebuild. 

If you think about it logically, when you are lifting weights regularly you are tearing muscle down, but if you are continuously breaking down the muscle and not resting when does the muscle have time to repair itself? Never is the answer! So the most important thing is to  establishing a routine in which you are able to lifting and rest in order to get stronger.

I was not a strict believer in rest until I started prepping for my show. I started to see that I was more fatigued and getting to the gym was a task, not cool :-( . You don't want the gym to become a chore. The way that fitness becomes a lifestyle is by keeping it something that you like to do, not something you have to do. This happens by treating your body with respect and giving it what it needs. With that being said you need to make sure that you are eating correctly, lifting appropriately, and RESTING!

So you may be like, well Cassie how do you do this?!? Well I'm here to tell you so don't fret! I believe that most people should exercise between 5-6 days a week (it weight loss and fitness are your goal, if not 4-5 days will do). I plan my workouts at the beginning of every week in order to account for my work schedule, what body part I am working, and personal fun time. For example...this week I have worked out Sunday-Friday. I am going to take Saturday off and go to a birthday party for a friend. I am not going to worry about going to the gym or missing that day because my body needs time to recuperate from the work I did all week. I knew at the beginning of the week I had this party to go to so I planned to have my day off be Saturday.

Next is planning what muscle group I am working out each day. I have four lifting days and two cardio days a week. So here was my week: Sunday - legs, Monday - cardio, Tuesday - arms, Wednesday - back, Thursday - chest/shoulders, Friday - cardio. I usually like to take a day off in between my upper body days but this week I just made sure to "check" myself before and make sure that I was able to lift safely. One thing that I do regularly is make shoulders my last upper body day, this is because it is difficult for me to focus on arms or back after because my shoulders are not very strong yet. This is how I plan ahead to make sure that I can lift safely everyday.

So you are probably like, seriously Cassie you haven't even talked about resting yet!!! Resting is not just about not working out. It also includes that time that you sleep at night. Rest includes repairing not only your body but also your mind. Everyday it takes so much energy for your body to function, at night when you rest this is the time your body "replenishes" the energy storage so that you can wake up and do it again. Rest is also importance so that hormones can work their "magic" and make you faster, stronger, smarter, etc. :-) Also, decrease in rest puts your body in a constant state of stress, which increases cortisol, which will increase your body's need to retain water and body fat...that's not cool! Decrease stress, decrease body fat is the goal!

I had a friend tell me one time that I was overtraining. I was fatigued, unable to lift the heavier weights, feeling sluggish at work and the gym, and unable to focus. I was pushing myself going 6-7 days of intense workouts. I thought that if I continued to keep my goal in mind my body would eventually catch up, it didn't! So I took two days off in a row (OMG, seriously horrible) and when I came back to the gym I felt like a different person. I was happy, my workout was AMAZEBALLS and I was lifting heavier than before. This is because I gave my body the opportunity to rest and repair.

You want to make sure that you are getting at least 7 hours of sleep a night. This is the appropriate amount of time that your body needs in order to repair its energy storage so that you can function better. If you find yourself downing redbulls or preworkouts just to get through the day I would suggest taking a few days off, evaluating your rest, and creating a plan or schedule that works for you.

My workout partner just recently decided that she wanted to start doing equal amounts of cardio and weight lifting days. That's great, she is listening to her body and that is what she believes she needs. Listen to your body it is almost always right!

I am not going to sit here and tell you that I am doing 100% with rest. This is one thing in my prep that I really need to work on. I have a lot going on, I work full time and a second job, I am doing competition prep, cooking/cleaning, friends, my dog...life is busy. But that is never a reason to skimp on the sleep/rest! If you have any questions about rest or ways to help sleep better leave a comment and I will be more than happy to help out!

Happy Lifting! :-)

Getting stronger is the goal, just rememember...resting is just as important as lifting! :-)

Music and Exercise

One of the things that I love most about going to the gym is getting to rock out with my music! A good song can do a lot for you in the gym, it can help push you through a set or help you get through that last 5 minutes of cardio. I would say that I have an eclectic taste in music so when I am lifting I like to listen to a hip hop mix and for cardio I LOVE the Ke$ha station:-) But music has actually been show to do more than just give you something to listen to while at the gym.

There have been studies that show that music can increase endorphins which help you push yourself during your workout. It has also been shown that listening to music can help mental processing after your workout. Have you ever been tired and then heard your new favorite song and push out that last set no problem? Well…its because music signals endorphins to release in your brain that make you happy! A good song can also increase your heart rate which will help burn calories and create cardio endurance...AWESOME right?!?

It doesn’t matter what kind of music you listen to, hey if you want to rock out to Disney classics or Beethoven that is up to you! But listen to whatever is going to help motivate you in the gym!! I like to make playlists every now and then so that I can add new music and get rid of the older songs. I also like to randomly go through all of my songs and make playlists out of music that I haven’t heard in a long time!

Here are a couple songs from my playlist that you can (and should!!!) add to yours to help get your gym groove on!!

Bass Down Low – The Cataracs

Bootylicious – Destiny’s Child

Crazy Beautiful Life – Ke$ha

Hips Don’t Lie – Shakira

In the Dark – Dev

The Edge of Glory – Lady Gaga

Pump it – Black Eyed Peas

Turn Down for What – DJ Snake & Lil John

Gas Petal – Sage the Gemini

E.T. – Katy Perry

Happy Lifting Y’all!