COMPETE 2 WIN!!!!

When I first met with my trainer back in July he told me that the stairmill would definitely lean and tighten my lower half.  He’s 30 minutes away, so I did not consider that as an option of going back and forth to his studio 2x a day, so I didn’t even ask if I could use his.  He advised me that the next best thing would be walking on an incline on the treadmill or the stationary bike.  I had already been walking on an incline since February so that was fine with me b/c I absolutely hate the bike.

This past Wednesday I finally decided to take a tour of a new gym called the RUSH.  Several of my friends have been harrassing me about this gym for the last 3 months.  I’ve been skeptical b/c the gym will not be completed until December.  Right now they are working out of a small location with about 1/8 of the equipment that they will have when the main location is complete.  This is going to be a huge gym with 5 locations in town.  The gym will have an indoor track, pool, rock wall, spinning, etc.  Sounds great but I just prefer to see it b4 I join. 

I usually have 2-3 different gym memberships at one time, I like variety!!  So, I decided to meet an old workout partner to take a tour.  When I walked in to my delight I noticed the INFAMOUS stairmill.  I’ve seen this machine in several magazines since I started working out more than 15 years ago, but never seen one in person until I went to my trainer’s studio a few weeks ago.  Then I noticed the Jacob’s Ladder, another IMFAMOUS machine that I’ve only seen in magazines.  At that point, nothing else really mattered…I was joining this gym for those two specific cardio machines.  

This morning I decided to do my morning cardio on the stairmill.  Now I’ve been doing 60 minutes of cardio 2x a day atleast 5 days a week, so I figured I’d be able to hang just fine!  Well, this machine is nothing to play with!! My glutes were on F-I-R-E within 10 minutes and my quads had that explosion sensation at about 15 minutes.  With my high level of pride and not wanting to cheat myself, I was not about to get off this machine until I absolutely had to! I kept telling myself, someone out there is training really hard and they can do this machine for an hour…..keep going, keep going, keep going!!!  That self talk worked, but not for long!!  I was only able to do 30 minutes on Level 5!!! Ppl kept looking at me like I was crazy, so maybe most ppl don’t stay on that long! For my first time on this machine I’m proud that I was able to get 30 minutes.  I finished up my last 30 minutes power walking on an incline.  Wow, I already see this is going to be a love/hate relationship with this machine.  I’ll be back this evening for my 2nd session of cardio….the Stairmill and I will be battling it out again!!!

As for the Jacob’s Ladder, being that it works your back and arms as well as your legs, not sure if I’m going to incorporate this into my cardio routine.  I’ll still be training these muscle groups so I don’t want to be sore from this machine and unable to train….it’s bad enough doing cardio on leg day and the days following when my hamstrings are so tight it brings tears to my eyes.  I’ll have to speak to my trainer about this machine.

Overall, things are going well.  My diet is going well, not having any serious cravings.  I still need to work on consuming my 1 gallon of water a day.  Currently some days I’ll get 3/4 of gallon, others a gallon.  I need to consistantly drink a gallon of water a day.

The minimum 800 crunches are coming along.  This is the 2nd week and it was much easier.. I’m doing a variety of crunches from hanging leg raises, lying heel raises, the basic crunch, crunches on the decline bench, obliques, and a few other moves that I can’t re-call the exact name of.  I’m very surprised to see the faint line of a 2-pack coming in.

I’ve also started stretching for about 30-45 minutes in the evenings.  I can feel a big difference, and my hamstrings have loosened up tremendously and my recovery was faster this week after leg day. 

Earlier in the week I was getting frustrated b/c the scale didn’t seem to be moving.  I chart my progress every Saturday, and this past Saturday I hadn’t lost anything.  Even though I only chart progress on Saturdays I have the terrible habit of weighing myself every day…so it was a little discouraging.  I decided to stop weighing myself this week and to my surprise when I weighed myself this morning I had lost 1.5 pounds.  Don’t know why I’m allowing myself to get frustrated, I’ve definitely lost some inches so I should be happy.

I’ll try to post some pics this weekend.  I just have to find some1 to take them…b/c it’s too much energy trying to take progress pics of myself!!   

Week 11 went pretty well for me.  I’m getting into a good routine and it’s getting a little easier.  Yes, I still hate to get up at 4:50AM but now instead of dragging, I think about my competition who’s up doing their cardio so I go ahead and get up!  This week I did cardio 2x a day for 5 days, and the other 2 days I only did it once. 

My weight sessions are hard.  This go around I’m doing  a different approach and it’s really harder.  I think I’d take heavy weights/low reps any day over medium weights/high reps.  The burn of high reps is just painful, there’s nothing like it, never felt like this when lifting heavy!!!  I’m also proud to say I did my minimum 800 crunches.  Now that was a killer, but I hope to soon see the fruits of my labor as my body fat decreases.

My diet is going well.  Cravings are non-existant, surprisingly!! I look forward to my protein shakes…that’s the best part of this competition diet.  Too bad it isn’t Muscle Milk Protein Powder. I can make those protein drinks taste like milk shakes (I’m a protein bartender, lol)!! I’m now using Oryx Goat Whey Protein.  It has no sugar and only 1G of Carbs per serving.  Of course it doesn’t taste no where near as good as Muscle Milk, but when the diet is as bland as mine anything with a Chocolate flavor tastes good.  I add a few packs of Splenda to make it sweet.

Earlier this week I was getting a little frustrated b/c the scale hasn’t moved the last two weeks.  I’m still back and forth between 148.5-149.  However, several people have told me I’m leaning out.  I can see it most in my shoulders.  My measurements are the same every where else.  But to keep my frustrations at bay, I’ve just decided to stay off the scale for a while and go by my measurements and appearance.   

Week 10!!! Here I come! 

My goals for this week:

Continue to do 2 cardio sessions per day.  Try to add a 3rd 30 minute session in on some of those days to supplement for the 2 days I’m only doing 1 cardio session.  With my work schedule, espcially on the weekends, I can’t get that 2nd session in.   I’m currently doing cardio at 5:30AM, then again at 3:00PM before work.  I’m usually off atleast one day during the week, on those days I’ll go back for a  9PM cardio session. I go to a 24hr. gym, but it doesn’t benefit me b/c the days I need to go in late is the weekend and it closes at 6PM. 

Keep hitting the weights!!

850 Crunches this week!!!

I plan to train extra hard this week.  I’ll be seeing my trainer either Sept. 4 or 5th.  I want him to be happy with my progress!! I want him to say, "Your leaning out nicely!"  LOL, that’s what I want to hear, so I’ll train hard so I can hear it!!

He’s also going to the North Americans this weekend in Cleveland, OH!! Malcolm Marshall, Super Heavyweight!!  If you’re going, cheer for him!! He looks great!!!  I pray he earns his PRO Card!!!!