Fit_Femme’s BodyBlog

By Alissa Carpio, NASM-CPT, NPC Fitness Competitor
Afraid to tackle that new move you saw in the latest fitness magazine? It’s a common worry. I mean, trying out something new in the gym when eyes are continually scanning the scene means you’re likely to set yourself up for embarrassment if something goes terribly wrong. So, what can you do to shake up your routine without becoming the laughing stock of the gym? Read on to find out.

One of the biggest areas I’ve slacked in during the past 6 weeks has been legs.  I’ve prioritized my back and shoulder for so long now (2-3 years) that when I have to miss a workout, it usually ends up being legs.  So now that I’m on this new split, my goal is to really focus on the quads (particularly quad sweep) and get my old volume back up to about 18 sets total.  Yesterday was my 2nd leg workout since starting my split.  The middle of my quads is tight and sore, and during my last set of barbell front squats yesterday, I could feel that meaty part of the muscle just start to burn deep inside.  It was a great feeling!

Smith Machine Split Squat (R,L) 10’sx13,11; 10’sx12,9; 20’sx12,10

Narrow Hack Squat 25’sx15, 25’sx15, 45’sx12, 45’sx12

Barbell Front Squat (deep - down to floor) 95×8, 95×8, 95×7

Leg Extension (feet turned in) 50×12-10×5R only; 70×8,2-10×6R only; 90×8-70×4-10×6R, 10L, 7R only

13 sets, 40 minutes

Shift into Fall with New Motivation!

By Alissa Carpio
If the stifling summer heat has dragged you down, use the seasonal change to your advantage. Dust off your goal sheet and get motivated to pursue some new projects as we fall forward into autumn!

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Article on Skin Care
As funny as it may seem, some people don’t know whether their skin is dry or oily, because often times it is both! So if you struggle with both, how do you treat it? Wash more often? Moisturize liberally? To understand how to treat your skin, you have to know what’s causing the problem to begin with.

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I figured I’d post my new training split.  I am just getting back into a routine after dinkin’ around the past 6 weeks.  My goal for this short training phase is to get my conditioning and volume back up so I can go into my first hardcore off-season building phase.

Training Split Length: 4 weeks

Start:  Sep 19

This will be a 4-day rotating split.  I will not take more than a day off every 2nd or 3rd training day.  My off-lifting days, I will be running in prep for the Army Ten Miler on Oct. 5.

Back/Biceps

Chest/Triceps/Calves

Legs

Shoulders/Calves

*Abs twice per week

I won’t say what my scale weight is.  Suffice it to say that I gained a little more post-comp weight than I’d liked, so I am on my first diet since the start of my off-season on June 22.

I committed that I would NOT weigh myself in the off-season and obsess over the scale.  Rather, I wanted to let my weight gradually go up to a ‘comfortable’ point and then maintain that.  Well, I passed comfort about 8 lbs. ago!  I was at the gym learning a new body assessment tool and had to get my weight and BF checked.  That was my wake-up call.  Trust me, I was glad to break from dieting after 7 months, but after 10 weeks of doing my own thing I am welcoming the regimen back into my life!  My goal is to lose another 6-8 lbs. and maintain that weight for the remainder of my off-season.  It was a weight I was sitting at last off-season, but that only lasted 2 months before I resumed pre-contest.  The longer the off-season, the easier it is to let the weight creep back up.

So, I’m excited for a 3 lbs. loss since I began roughly 1 1/2 weeks ago.  It’s tough for me during football season (beer & snacks!), but like I said, I’m ready and motivated!

I rarely do targeted chest training since my routine skills target my chest so much, but now that I’m not training routine for a while, I have to add chest back in to my routine.  Today was my first chest workout in weeks (maybe months), so it wasn’t too bad considering.  After thrashing my back yesterday, it definitely affected my strength endurance on chest.  The traps and lats stabilize a lot, and I could feel them fatiguing early in the workout.  Nonetheless, it was a great workout!

Incline DB Bench Press 35×12, 40×10, 40×8, 45×9

EZ Tri Extension 30×12, 40×8, 30×10, 30×9

BOSU Pushup x10, x9.5, x8.5

Superset w/ Free Motion Fly 15×5-20×7, 20×5-15×8, 15×12

Hammer Wide Chest Press 25’sx15, 25’sx18, 25’sx12

Reverse Grip Tri Pressdown 50×10, 50×10, 50×8.5, 40×12

It’s FRIDAY and there’s nothing better to do after work than to head to the gym!  Yeah, I am fired up!  Had to take this week off (except for running) due to unforeseen circumstances, so I am itching to get back in there.  Today I plan on KILLING my back.  Here is my workout:

Assisted Wide Grip Pullups 3 sets of 12

Straight Arm Pulldown 4 sets of 12
Hammer 1-arm Lat Pulldown 4 sets of 12

Narrow Lat Pulldown 3 sets of 12

1-Arm DB Row 3 sets of 12

If you’re anything like me, you view gym cardio as a form of torture derived by the evil exercise gods. True, there are some "cardio queens" who look forward to the torment of logging hours and miles in a stifling hot gym, but for most of us, it’s just something we have to do as part of our fitness plan. I relegated myself to gym cardio machines, assuming that it was a necessary evil in order to maintain a comfortable weight and proper cardio fitness. That is, until I discovered race running.

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-Alissa

www.alissacarpiofitness.com