Hard Work = Success

Yeah! I finally was able to go the gym tonight. Trained all body but my legs felt the most worked. I love training my legs! ONly for the reason I see results when I do.  Having strong legs is ideal! lol.

Legs training: Leg extensions, barbell squat, lunges, leg curls. & standing calve raises! Did 35 min cardio.

The following article from http://www.exercisegoals.com/leg-exercises.html

From Bodybuilding to sports, strongThighs are a must. Besides being the most powerful Muscles of the body, thighs are capable of great endurance. No wonder training legs is so demanding.
 

Many people including bodybuilders, skip training Legs, or do not give an all-out leg training effort, but many people do not have a proportioned body either.
 

For a full round development of the Legs, you need to train both the Thighs{ front } and Hamstring { Back } Muscles of the Leg. Also Calf Exercises is a must for a cool beach physique.
 

Key Points of Leg Training.
 

1. Leg training is demanding. Look up to this challenge with an eye of a tiger.

2. The Basic Muscle Mass Building exercise for quadriceps and gluteal muscles is Squats Exercise- an exercise regarded as the King of all Leg Exercises. If you cannot do Squats then goodbye Muscular legs. Period.

3. Make Squats and Leg Curls a regular part of your Leg training regimen. These are fundamental Lower body Exercises.

4. If you are particularly weak in Lower Body musculature, consider Weak Point Training with Priority Principle.

I hope I can acheive my overall goal before I reach 40. At times I don’t want to think about my age. LOL! I get depressed when I do. I know very silly because 38 is quite young.  I do feel old when my 2 year old grand daughter runs around looking for me at my home and yells out "Grandma, Grandma where are you?" LOL! (She’s such a sweet angel!)

This week I met a woman, an avid runner,  and who is in great shape and very youthful. I was very impressed by her energy and her love of life.  She is 67. I told her when I reach her age I hope I can look as good.

I am always impressed by those who keep themselves active and maintain a healthy lifestyle. I feel it’s very important and I wish I could convince more people to keep themselves healthy for their own being.

Another interesting article from businessknowledgesource.com

Hmm.  I’m trying my best to keep this ab stuff in check.  For me it has been so difficult but I won’t give up.

Who doesn’t want to have a flat stomach? Let’s be honest, almost everyone has the dream of having great defined abdominal muscles. Magazines and ads are spotted with good looking boys and girls with flat, tight tummies. Unfortunately not everyone can have defined abs, and those ads perpetuate a desire to obtain those dream abs. Everyone can get a flat good looking stomach to be proud of, but maybe not washboard.

To build and maintain abs there are a few things you must do, there are three areas of getting great abs that you can’t avoid. If you want good abs, you have to do the following three things:
1. Maintain a low fat diet.
2. Do Abdominal workouts
3. Do Cardio Exercise
If you can do these three things you will have much higher chances of building and maintaining abs.

Let’s take a closer look at these three areas:
1) Low fat diet
Everyone has abdominal muscles, you just can’t always see them as they are covered in a layer of fat. This layer of fat is natural, and thus to get rid of the fat you would have to follow a low fat diet to reduce your overall body fat. The only way to see through this fat is to get rid of it. Because there is no way to target fat reduction, you would have to begin by reducing the fat all over your body. The best way to do this is through exercise, and a low fat diet.
2) Ab workouts
Beyond simply reducing your fat intake, you will need to better tone the abdominal muscles. Once you rid yourself of the fat on your stomach, you will need to have better toned muscles. Abs, like any muscle in your body, responds to being worked out. So build your stomach muscles by concentrating on some very specific and at times very difficult exercises. When you are building up our abs you will want to separate exercises into your upper abs, lower abs, and obliques.
While most of us think of great abs being a six-pack, the truth is you can get an eight, ten, or twelve pack. But this takes having almost no body fat, and having some intense workouts regularly. But, for most, unless you are a big time body builder, building and maintaining a six pack, or even just getting a flat stomach is enough.
3) Cardio exercise
While you eat a low fat diet, and do ab workouts, there is more to getting your abs to really show. You will want to build and maintain abs through combining the two with a great cardio exercise. The truth is, you will never get ripped abs or even a nice flat stomach if you don’t include a certain component of cardio vascular exercise in your workout.

The following are some great ways to build abs, and the above ways are a great way to maintain abs.
1. Crunches: Crunches are one of the best forms of ab exercises. They can be done at home, they are free, and they are effective. You can best perform crunches by lying on a flat surface with your hands either across your chest or behind your head, although it’s better to have the hands on your chest or you will be pulling your neck forward and this can cause neck strain. You then must contract your abs. Hold for 2 seconds, and return to the starting position. Crunches should be performed in a continuous and controlled fashion.
2. Lying Leg Lifts: Lying leg lifts is another great way to build and maintain abs. leg lifts will concentrate on your lower abs. You perform this exercise by lying on a flat surface and put your hands either under your buttocks, or stretch them out on either side of your body like a cross, or parallel to your body. Lift your legs up about 8 - 12 inches off the ground hold for 1 second and then let your legs down, but do not let them touch the ground. This will keep the strain on your abs and work harder and more efficiently. Continue doing this until you can do no more.
3. Reverse Crunches
Reverse crunches will work on your lower abs. You do these by lying on a flat surface and raising your legs and your head off the ground. Bring your legs towards your face and bend your legs concentrating on your lower abs. Hold the position for 1 - 2 seconds then let your legs go back to the starting position in a controlled manner.
4. Pull up Crunches
Pull up crunches work on your entire abs, both lower and upper. Pull yourself up using a Dip machine and position your arms and elbows in a ninety degree position as the rest of your body hangs below you. Then pull your legs toward your chest in a slow and controlled manner. Repeat until you feel the burn.
5. Side Crunches
Side Crunches are basically the same as regular crunches, except the main focus is on the oblique muscles (love handles).

Interesting info. from SparkPeople.com

Answers from SparkPeople’s Experts Question: How do you get rid of excess skin from weight loss or prevent this problem from happening? Expert Answer: Extra skin on the belly, arms or legs is a concern for individuals who have a large amount of weight to lose. This extra skin experience seems to happen more in people who lose a large amount of weight in a relatively short period of time. "Special creams" really do not work and can border on being rip-offs. However, you can use a good moisturizer to hydrate the skin. It takes longer for the skin to "shrink" than to lose the weight. In most cases, when you are losing weight slowly and consistently (about 1-2 pounds a week), the skin will naturally "shrink" so to speak, along with the loss of fat. So you’ll need to give it some time. Exercise with weights, which helps to tone your muscles, can also help with the skin. Time Involved: Exercise most days of the week Body Benefit: Toned muscles and less excess skin

I’ve read that our metabolism changes once we reach 30. I’m not sure if that is true. Mine certainly did but I also think since I’m a mom I have to watch what I eat.  I’m trying to preach this to my older girls who recently became mothers. They were both fairly thin before having children. So I think the metabolism changes for women once they have children.  I am happy to say my daughters are planning to follow a diet plan & are also going to train.  I certainly am doing this for my health and not nessarily for appearance. Since learning so much from others I am happy to say I am healthier and have not had a asthma attach since last year.

The most difficult part of this journey is keeping it consistent.

Wow! Found this very interesting article I can certainly relate. Being a mother of six children and familiar with C-sections. I found this article very helpful and answered my questions of this ongoing debate regarding my squishy belly.

I still dream of the flat abs. Will I ever get there???

 http://atozfitness.com/wordpress/pooch-belly-syndrome-why-your-belly-bulges-and-what-to-do-about-it/

It is so true when they say eventually a good diet becomes a habit.

With my new job, I haven’t been able to get a good quality workout at the gym. I’ve been doing some body resistant workouts at home.

So far I’ve been eating healthier; watching the quality of food intake on a daily basis. I feel I’ve lost inches around my waist and stomach. (Not quite flat tummy but a possibility of it if I keep my eating habits consistant)

Eventually it will all come together. Historically for me, I’ve been uphill & downhill with this fitness journey. 

At least I can say I am physically healthier than a year ago.

I am so happy I was able to get a workout in this moirng! I had lost my gym key earlier in the week. Man! I was in a bad mood! Looked everywhere for it!  I felt depressed because I had lost it and I felt I was gaining weight..even though i know it was all in my head.

Today at the gym I did 30 minute cardio interval training on the treadmill which I love!. I used the leg press and barbell squats. I actally did it until I felt the pain rush through my legs. I have to do it! 

For the back I used the seated cable rows.

My least favorite thing to do although I should be working on it harder are the ab workouts. yeah! not really.

I’m such a wimp when it comes to trainng the abs. Now if I would keep it consistent I would have  great abs by now.

I had a great Sunday. the best part of the day is enjoying the company of my beautiful kids.

For dinner I made enchilades & rice for the family and I stuck to my tuna salad with cucumbers and my protein shake.  Gotta love the diet man! The price you pay to try to attain the physique you dream of.

I get so excited when ever I order products from the BB.com store. lol! Talk about quick service! Ordered & shipped  Saturday, August 8th, received it today, Wednesday,  Aug. 12th!

Talk about GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE TOO!

 I GOT CHOCOLATE FLAVOR WHEY!!!!!!!

Yeah, I’m starving but hopfully I’ll get over it. I need to. sometimes I think why am I doing this but I really want the results. and great ones. I’m not settling this time. I need true ab results.  I’m getting tired of trying & trying…then failing.  Tomorrow I’m grilling salmon with light lemon & spices. YUMMY!!!!