sbogard08’s BodyBlog

Had a pretty good work-out today.  Lifted very heavy, so completely wiped out at the end.  Unfortunately, when I arrived at the gym I realized that I had forgotten my training instructions from my trainer so I had to do my own routine.  I tend to be alot harder on myself than he does, so I’m sure that I did more than I was supposed to.  I didn’t however make it to the stairs.  I forgot that I promised my daughter and one of my friends that I would go to Skinny Dip (a local frozen yogurt place). I also was a little sore in the glutes from the heavy wide leg sqauts from the morning, so decided to wait til tomorrow morning to do the stairs.  Tomorrow is supposed to be my "rest" day from training, but I still find it difficult to buy into that concept, so I usually try to do something everyday that I can.  Therefore, tomorrow I will "rest" from the weights, but run the stairs and do some sprints and mountain walking.

Training went like this today:

Abs:

Ball Crunches 3 x25

Side Ball Crunches 3 x 20

Ball V-ups   3-12

Pole Twists 3 x 50

Legs

Squats 7 sets (shoes off/feet 2 inches wider each set)

Extensions 5 sets, superset w/

Lying Leg Curls 5 sets

Leg Press 5 sets (wide legs)

Barbell Bench Step-ups 4×15 (each side), superset w/

DB Squats 4 x 15

Deadlifts 4 x 8-10, superset w/

Standing Single Leg Curls 4 x 10

Cardio:

30 minutes on Incline Treadmill - Level 20 (alt forward walk and backward run)

Running backwards on an incline really put the burn in my legs!

After all of that I’m not quite sure my legs would have been up to hitting the stairs. I usually try not to do them when I do legs in the gym anyway.  I try to do them after back or shoulders once per week and then a 2nd day when I donot train in the gym.  On that day, I take my bands and do some upper body circuits to get a little pump and get my blood flowing before running. 

Having been a distance runner my entire life, I really do miss the long runs.  I was able to really relax and clear my mind during those times.  Since I’m trying desparately to put some size on my legs, the long runs are out.  Stairs and sprints are good, but I really have to get myself all hyped up and “ready to fight” in order to give my all.  Definitely not a time to clear my mind.  In fact, Christina Aquilera’s “Fighter” is the song that I play when I need to get a second wind and find the motivation to keep going when my legs want to quit.  Yea, Christina has been that little bug in my ear many a day when I thought I had nothing else to give.  Time and time again, those words have chimed in my ear, energized my muscles, and motivated my will to succeed……….”Makes me that much stronger, Makes me work a little bit harder, It makes me that much wiser, So thanks for making me a fighter“.

Woke a little late this morning, but I think that I needed it.  I don’t tend to sleep more than 3-4 hours at a time during the regular work week, so every now and then it catches it up with me.  I think that is why I have been so exhausted this entire week.  Yesterday I was struggling to stay awake and then developed a horrible headache and some nausea.  So I finally just gave in to my bodies scream for some rest and went bed (instead of going out for kareoke with my friends), and slept until the sun woke me up.  So, all in all, it looks like I got a full 8+ hours of sleep last night. 

So I am rested up, full of energy, and ready to hit these legs…..HARD.  No mercy today!  And if my day goes as planned, Mt. Trashmore and those 72 stairs and hilly mountainside will be waiting for me and my weighted vest this evening. Oh yea, I can already fill the burn!

Today I had an all out gruesome shoulder work-out.  I’m trying to getthose caps, so I show them no mercy.  I also figured out how to do HIIT on the stairmill…..now we are in business! I absolutely HATE the bike and I’m not a big fan of running on the treadmill.  I love the stairmill, but up til now haven’t been able to do HIIT on it because it takes so long to manually change the speed of the revolving stairs.  But a little playing around with the console and I figured out how to program my own intervals and not use the pre-programmed ones.  YEAH!!!  I want complain about doing HIIT anymore.

So todays training went like this:

Abs: 

 Hanging knee raises 3×20,

Overhead DB Sidebends 3×15 each side,

Reverse Incline Crunch 2×12

Shoulders

Standing Overhead BB Press 5 sets

Arnold Presses 4 sets

Cable Shoulder Raise Combo 4 setsx 24 reps

Bent Over Reverse DB Flyes 4 sets

Seated DB Lateral Raise 4 sets

DB Front Raise 4 sets

Upright Rows 4 sets

Reverse BB Shrugs 4 sets

Cardio:

HIIT on Stairmill x 20 minutes

Incline Treadmill x 15 minutes (alternating forward and reverse)

I really would like to go back to the gym tonight, but I think I am going to stay in and get some rest.  I plan to do heavy legs tomorrow, and then go run the stairs and do some sprints afterward.  It always takes everything I have to charge up those 72 stairs with all that I have, but I absolutely love it.  I usually can’t feel my legs by the time I get to the 10th run, but sometimes I am able to eek out and extra 2-3 sets.  Whatever little bit of energy I have left to move my legs I tap into to do sprints.  That’s when I get the real rush.  A funny thing is that I have charged up those stairs so aggressivley that I actually broke my Nike Shox in half.  The front part of the shoe is in no way connected to the back half.  Oh well, guess I’ll being heading to Nike outlet this weekend…….I need some more workout shorts anyway.

Happy training!

So I am officially back to strict/clean diet and structured training.  I have been eating high carbs (about 200g/day) since late June.  I really wanted to see if I would be able to put on some muscle and not worry too much about staying lean.  While I will admit that I loved every minute of it, I also had to stay away from the scale and the measuring tape or I would have had a cow and drop my calories and carbs so that I could get my weight down.  It’s really difficult to see myself in the mirror at the gym with my thick mid-section, but I know that in about 8 weeks I will be able to see some definition in my abs.  The funny thing is that everyone else who looks at me thinks that I am crazy because  what they see when they look at me is completely different from what my eyes see.  They don’t understand that just because I am relatively small, that doesn’t mean that I am lean.  So I say that I am "fatty".  I really have to focus on my overall goal to stay encouraged sometimes because I just don’t like being "fat".

So, here i am, ready to start the lean-out process again.  The difference this time is I am in no hurry.  I want to maximize fat loss without sacrificing any of my hard-earned muscle. My trainer and I are trying some new supplements. I want go into what we are using right now, but I do plan to keep a journal to record how my body responds.  I will attempt to take regular photos and post so that I can truely see how my body composition changes ove rtime.  Hopefully, everything will go as planned and in about 16 weeks I will be lean and chiseled, but still feminine and sexy . 

At this point I am not going to comit myself to a show. I have things going on in my professional life that I absolutely must focus on ove rthe next few months. Once those things are resolved and my body is where I think it should be to step on stage, I will chose a competition.  The 2 prior competitions that I have done were OCB. I really think that I am going to try NPC for the next show.  I was a little apprehesive to do so in the past because I know that some of the girls who compete in NPC use steroids, and I’m not interested in competing against that.  I desire to stay natural and only wan tto compete against those who have made the same decision.  Howver, over the past year I have seen that NPC is starting to reward the conditioned and toned, yet feminine figure and shying away form the hard mini-bodybuilder look.  That is somewhat more promising. I think that there should be a distinct difference between female bodybuilders and figure competitors.  Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love the muscular-developed female physique, but also value the natural curves of being a woman.  So I guess I will see where my physique goes over the next few months, and then try to find the appropriate show to compete in. 

So I competed n the OCB Pride of the Atlantic show in Richmond, VA last weekend. I didn’t do as well I I hoped, although I wasn’t surprised.  I placed 6th in Master’s and 11th in Open Short Class.  It was a VERY competitive show with many well-conditioned girls.  Going into the show, I wasn’t quite feeling ready to step on the stage.  The weeks leading up to the show were very hectic for me at work and my training was suboptimal.  Couldn’t get my cardio sessions in, which is crucial in those last weeks.  My overall conditioning was pretty good, but I know that I wasn’t at my my best.  After the show I spoke to the judges regarding how I could improve things , and most said the same……..quad sweep, abs…..  But one judge said something that completely shook my self confidence. It’s not so much what he said, but how he said it. He said that I needed to work on developing my arms and shoulders b/c my shoulders were very small compared to some of the other competitiors.  Now, that is the first time that I have heard that one. My shoulders are usually one of the first things tha tI get a compliment on.  That being said he went on and on about it as though he wanted to make sure that I understood that he did not care for my shoulders….afterall, he has been judging shows for X # of years….   So after I picked up my self esteem and drove back to Virgina Beach, I really started to question why I even put myself through all of this.  Why am I constantly beating up my body and pushing it past its limits?  Why do I spend most of my time isolated in the gym with just some iron and cardio machines, when all of my friends are hanging out and "enjoying" life.  Why do I get up at the crack of ass, even when I donot have to go to work, just so I can get a "good" workout in at the gym early enough to return later to do some cardio? Why do I eat the same 10-15 items day-in and day-out, and deprive myself of the Starbuck’s Chai Tea Latte, Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake, and Gourmet Pizza that I so dearly LOVE?  Why do I seemingly sacrifrice any and everything that could possible be a diversion from my fitness goals…including some personal relationships…….Why?  Am I crazy?  Do I just like to be tortured?  Does everything have to be a challange in my life?  Why am I doing this?  And even more, why should I keep doing it?…..The short answer….I do it because I LOVE IT!  I love pushing myself to new levels and seeing the results. I love proving to myself that I can be disciplined enough to stick to my diet.  And I love the adrenaline of competition.  And I love my shoulders because they are awesome!!!

With that being said, my self-esteem and I are one again.  And today I have officially decided that I will compete in the NPC Lynda Murray Competition here in Norfolk in August.  I have just over 12 weeks to train, and once again I will get bigger, stronger, leaner, and stay feminine in the process.  So off to do some Arnold presses b/c I’ve got to work on my shoulders (LOL!).

So I am now 2 weeks out and searching for some extra energy to get through this slump that I have seemed to fall into.  My energy levl has been very low recently and I feel as though I am beyond exhausted.  However, there is something in me that just will not allow me to quit (even though I sent my trainer a text message saying otherwise).  Lack of sleep is really taking its toll on me.   Although there are 2 other shows that I would like to compete in later this year, I really think that I am going to take some time off after this show.  I will keep eating clean, but will likely limit my time in the gym to 4 days.  Hopefully, as long as I keep my diet in check, I can limit fat while gaining a little bit more muscle. 

As for the show, I am excited and anxious at the same time. Ready tohit the stage and do my thing, but still wisshing I had more muscle.  Although I have done my very best with my training and diet, I know that there is always someone out there who did it just a little bit harder.  And you never know who is going to show up.  So I know I have to bring my very best, or its not even worth getting up there on that stage.  Doing things a little different this time.  I didn’t do tanning for the last show…got my Jantana Competition kit ordered (hopefully it will arrive tomorrow).  Did all my own posing last time….3 sessions with posing coach this time.  Still can’t quite hit the back pose everytime though.  Still have time to work out the kinks though.  The only thing that I have not done is picked a song for my individual presentation.  Have no idea what I’m going to use.  I don’t really listen to the radio that much, so I am at a lost.  May end up going with something old that I am familiar with.  My daughter will love that.  She thinks that I am so old.  Using my same suit, although I’m adding more stones to it.  Decided to wait to get new suit b/c I am planning to get some girls before next show, so will need to get new one then.

All in all, I want to relax and enjoy myself in two weeks. Although it’s alway nice to bring home some hardware, I really do feel like my victory is my journey to the stage.  In my chaotic world as an Ob/Gyn resident, being able to have the self-discipline and consistency in my training to even compete gives me a sense of pride and accomplishment that is only enhanced with the trophy.

Today I managed to get it my two cardio sessions, athough it was not easy.  I worked 30 straight hourse,so whe I arrived home my body wanted nothing more than to collapse wherever there eas something to catch me.  I did AM session during small break that I had this morning.  Did treadmill at 18% incline fro 3.8 - 4.0 MPH x 45 minutes with weighted vest.  Tried to push through my heels to keep my hams working as hard as possible.  I worked up a really good sweat and kept my heartrate at 60-70%.  It’s always hard for me to do low intensity because for so long I have bought into he misguided belief that intense cardio is best for burning fat.  But I’m trying to not burn too much leg musle, so when not doing HIIT, I want to focus on burning the fat, but maintaining as much muscleas I can.  After AM cardio, I went back to work to see patient s in the clinic for the morning.

In an attempt to halfway listen to my body, I decided to not go directly back to the gym afetr clininc, but to come home and take a short nap to energize myself.  I took a short catnap , but ultinately talked myself into getting up getting in to the gym.  Checked the mail on my way out…..the new issue of Oxygen magazine was in the box.  Just what I needed to get me motivated.  I love my Oxygen mag!  Quickly skimmed through and found some new ab moves to use.  I ended up doing my abs routine, followed by straight leg dead lifts, single leg curls, and glute machine (moderate wt/high rep), and then ended with my cardio, 25 minutes on revolving stairs with weighted vest (alternated side and backward steps to really get a good burn all around).

Tomorrow I am going to meet with  a posing instructor.  Really want to perfect my posing for this show.  If I can nail myback pose, I will be very happy.  Can’t figure out if I just donot have enough lat development, or if i’m just simply not doin gthe pose correclty.  Hopefully, I will figure that out tomorrow.  

The sun will be out tomorrow….yyaaaahhhhhh!  You know what that means?!?  Running the stairs and doing sprints until I can’t feel my legs any longer.  Gotta get those hams to show.

Well, I’m off to bed.

So I am now in the home stretch for my second competition.  This Saturday will be the 4 week ou point.  Overall, I feel confident.  I have gained a small amount of size over the past few months.  I think that I will increase my calories (clean, of course) the next go around.  I am anxious to see how things will look after I finish leaning out.  I was looking back at the pictures that I took 4 weeks out before the first show.  Comparing them to the 5-week out pics that I took this past weekend, I am much leaner now.  My current weight is the same as my competition-day weight (122#), although I am smaller now, which tells me that I have more muscle.  I’m still waiting to see the quads, but I am getting more definition each day.  I definitely have to change the way that I approach training my legs for the next show.  Size, size, size will be the goal.  Because the summer is just around the corner I will be able to get more days out running the stairs and doing sprints. 

Although I did everything myself the first time around, I recently started worikng with someone to do my diet and now my training for these last few weeks.  Things have been going pretty well, so I think that I am definitely going to continue working with him.  He has taught me so much in the few weeks that I have been working with him.  It’s been a struggle for me to learn to trust his judgment, but I am slowly relaxing and sticking to the plan exactly as he lays it out.  The most important thing that he has taught me is the importance of REST.  I rarely took a day off from the gym before, but now I look forward to my day to relax without feeling guilty.  And I actually feel that I am stronger for it. Of course I will be doing daily cardio for the next 4 weeks in preparation for the stage, but after that, I will have regularly scheduled time out of the gym.

Well, I will be posting regular update photos, along with my daily training schedule as I prepare for the stage .   Check back and feel free to leave comments (good and constructive).  Give me your honest opinion because the judges will definitely do so.

So I am now 7 weeks out from my next show and I’m still not feeling like I have made any great strides in my quad development.  I am so frustrated.  I’m almost at the point of deciding to not do the show, but then again I know that the legs and abs are last to lean out.  Once again, my upper body is cut and chiseled almost to perfection, and my lower body still looks soft.  I don’t know what else to do.  Diet is clean.  I dedicate 2 days a week to legs (1 for hams/calves and 1 for quads/ add/abductors).  I do squats and leg presses (variations with weights and feet width) with every leg day.  On quad day, I usually can barely walk when I leave the gym b/c I put my legs through so much.  Sample quad day is Close leg squats (6 sets), close feet leg presses (6 sets), hack squats (4 sets), barbell walking lunges (24 steps/10 sets/wts from 70# down to 30#), extensions (4-6 sets) superset with sissy squats.  Time permitting I end with Plies, adductor, and abductor machines x 4 sets.  I  lift to exhaustion (either heavy wt or high reps).  I also run bleachers and do sprints regularly.  I recently started walking on treadmill at 15% incline at 3.8MPH for 30-40 minutes.  I also do the revolving stairs at least 3 times per week.  Have been getting in 2 cardio sessions about 3 times per week (including 2 HIIT sessions), but will be increasing that to 5 times per week from here on out.  So why can’t I see my quads????  The thing is, my legs feel hard when you press on them.  They just don’t look hard. And I am beyond frustrated and don’t know what else to do.  I’m thinking that I am going to increase my leg days to 3 and combine some of my upper body days since I can stand to slow down a little on the upper body.  I would just like to have some balance and not look like 2 different people above and below the waist…………and my waist, well that will have to be another post.

So I have now officially gotten back to my DIET.  I must say that it was much easier the first time around.  I spent most of 2008 having a strictly clean diet.  Now that I have spent the past 8 weeks allowing simple carbs (spelled c-h-o-c-o-l-a-t-e) back into my diet, I am having cravings that I didn’t have before.  I also cannot remember feeling as light headed as I do right now when I changed my diet before.  Whatever the case, I doubt if I will be straying away from the clean eating diet again.

I have been thinking about specific goals that I would like to accomplish in the upcoming year.  as far as my training goes, I really would like to get my mid-section tight…..flat abs, minus the pooch, and tight obliques.  I also want to develop some quads/hams.  These are the areas that separate the well-trained from the mediocre.  Therefore, I have to be consistent in my diet and training.  I will incorporate HIIT into my training on a regular basis (3x/week).  Being an ex distance runner, I have a tendency to do long cardio sessions.  While it does alot for my stress level to run outside for an hour, it does not help in building muscle in my legs.  One thing I learned this year is that my body tends to respond really well to cardio.  That fat comes off quickly, but I am sure that I also had some muscle loss; especially when I was on the lower calorie diet as I approached my show.  I started running the stairs  and doing sprints at an outside park near my home, and I was definitely seeing a difference in my legs.  So I will keep doing that. 

While I will not be competing until later in the year, I will win a show this year…period.  I would also like to transition to NPC this year, with goals to qualify for a national show by the end of the year. 

On a personal note, I really would like to slow down and LIVE a little in 2009.  I have been on auto-pilot for so long that I am missing alot of the truely important things.  I am always in a hurry and too usy for naything that doeas not involve work or working out.  That is not good, and I am going to make some changes.  As a single mother to a budding teenager (14 year-old daughter), I can see that I have definitely got to stop a LISTEN to her.  I have spent so much time trying to keep things afloat for the two of us, that sometimes I have failed to give her what she needs the most.  As an Ob/Gyn I see young girls everyday who are pregnant, HIV+, rebellious, and depressed.  I think that alot of these issues are directly linked to their search for someone to love them and feeling that know one cares.  I donot want my daughter to fall onto that path.  Often times, we as parents intend to do our best to make sure that our children have everything that they want/desire, but in the end we fail to supply them with the basics and emotional support that they so desperately need.  This is especially true when it come to our young girls.  So, in 2009, I want to learn to just stop and listen to my daughter. I would also like to take one day of the month and designate it as our day.  A day that no one else can be apart of.  Just the two of us doing whatever she wants to do.  It is her time to talk, laugh, cry, act silly, be grown-up…whatever.  It’s just her time. 

One last thing that I would like to do in 2009, is incresae my PERSONAL relationship with God.  Over the past 3 years, I have become "too busy" to take time out to talk with the one who blessed me to have this demanding profession.  I know beyond  a shadow of a doubt that it was God who blessed me to get through medical school and has bought me through residency.  So I am not happy that I have allowed the demands and the stresses of my job to affect my relationship with God.  I won’t dwell on th enegative, but will just say that this is something that will be rectified in the coming year.

 So, 2008 is over and I donot plan on loking back.   I have learned from the mistakes that I made, and will continue to build on the positive foundations that I started.  Hopefully 2009 will bring more growth, patience, humility and strength.