My BodyBlog

I’m going to follow everyone else’s example and just use my blog for personal stuff.   I’m going to move my workout and diet logs to the bodybuilding.com tracker and the forums.  Trying to track all this stuff just wasn’t practical in a blog and I really wanted some feedback, not to mention if the tools are there, why not use them?  I’m going on spring break next week and I’m hoping to spend some quality time in the gym.  Less than 45 days left to the track meet, I gotta really step up my spring training, it’s gonna be pretty grueling but I’m enjoying it.

This morning before lunch I went and did some speed drills down at the football stadium.

My meals for today consisted of:
Meal 1: Orange, whole wheat toast, 2 egg whites
Snack: Banana, protein shake
Meal 2: Chicken breast, lettuce, tomato, whole wheat bread
Meal 3: Pork chop, mixed vegetables, brown rice

My workout today:

15 minutes warmup jogging + stretching

30 minutes for plyo drills, 1 sets of arm swings, 4 sets of (ankle flips, high knees, overstrides, bounding, bunny hops, double leg hops)

15 minutes for speed drills, 5 sets x 5 sprints x 10m

15 cooldown jogging and stretching

I’ll be taking tomorrow off to rest.   Now if I can only make it over to my bed…

Sorry for the late entry, I got caught up by personal stuff yesterday.

My meals for today consisted of:
Meal 1: Peach, plain yogurt with granola
Snack: Banana, protein shake
Meal 2: Cod fillet, asparagus, brown rice
Snack: Banana, protein shake
Meal 3: Chicken breast, spinach salad, wheat pasta

Today was shoulders and back:
Shoulders:
Barbell military press - 4×8 75lb
Front lateral raises- 3×8 15lbs
Side lateral raises- 3×8 15lbs
Bent over lateral raises- 3×8- 12lbs
Back:
Pull-ups-3×8 (unassisted + negatives)
T-bar row-4×8 60lbs
Barbell upright row-4×8 45lbs
Hyperextensions-4×8  10lb plate
No cardio today, I’m doing speed drills tomorrow.  I did some stretching instead.

Had to skip Thursday.  Resumed workouts on Friday.

My meals for today consisted of:
Meal 1: Apple, plain yogurt with granola
Meal 2: Salmon, broccoli, brown rice
Snack: Banana, protein shake
Meal 3: Salmon, asparagus, brown rice

Today was legs and tri’s.  My workout consisted of:
Legs:
Single leg squats - 4×8 65lb each leg
Leg curls- 4×8 60lbs
Leg extensions- 4×8 90lbs
Deadlifts-4×8- 85lbs
Triceps:
Skullcrushers-4×8 35lbs
Tricep pushdowns with rope-4×8 60lbs
Tricep Kickbacks-4×8 25lb dumbbells
No cardio, I did some abs work instead:

Superset of
Hanging leg raises 10
hanging oblique raises 10 each side
Superset of
Bicycles 10 each side
Crunches to failure

Repeat three times.

I hurt.  But it’s a good hurt.

My meals for today consisted of:
Chicken with a green salad, fish and green beans, some fruit, a couple of protein shakes
Today was chest and bi’s.  My workout consisted of:
Chest:
Incline Barbell Bench Press-4×8-80lbs
Dumbbell Bench Press- 4×8-25lb DB each
Dumbbell Flyes- 4×8-20lb DB each
Bicep:
EZ Bar Barbell Curls-4×8-40lbs
Alt DB Curl-2×8-20lb DB each
Incline Curl-2×8-20lb DB each

I ended with a 30 min high intensity cardio session on the elliptical.

I would appreciate any suggestions or comments on my meal and workout plan.  I’ve made some major changes to my workout plan and it’s kind of a work in progress.

Does anybody know this biceps4u person is?  His picture looks well strange and he keeps asking me how much I can lift and if I can lift more than him.  Comments on what I should do?  Is there a way for me to ignore him?

Today I did my first "real" dips.  No, not the ice cream cone, the exercise.  Well I guess it WAS a treat for me, I was expecting to only make it most of the way up (close but no cigar) like always but then I realized I had straightened my arm and voila I had done a dip. I was so shocked I almost let go. So I tried to do another one.  And another.  And another.  Ok maybe not, just 3 this time.  It’s a big success for me, I mean a girl who can do dips,  I don’t think that’s typical.  I’m like the only girl I’ve seen who does them in my gym unassisted, so I must be special right?  Well, I won’t think so until I can do a full set of 8.  That’s probably my next goal.

But I think the best feeling was when it occurred to me that I didn’t need to use the Gravitron anymore.  Oh Gravitron machine, your "assistance" was appreciated but i’m strong enough that I don’t need you anymore.   Wow it feels good to say that.  I (Andi) don’t need assistance anymore.  Who says it’s so hard to say goodbye?

Last week I noticed that I only needed like 20lbs of assistance on the Gravitron and this last weekend I was able to do some lat pulldowns at my bodyweight.  So today I decided to give real pullups a try.

And… drum roll please…I FINALLY DID IT, YES I FINALLY DID IT!!
After 2 months of trying, I did my first real pull-up today.  Correction- my first TWO Andi-only powered pullups, then I needed a spot the rest of the way.  Ok ok I guess it’s not that much of an accomplishment, but as a girl, being able to do finally do a pullup is a major achievement, I know most of my friends can’t do one.   I’ve been trying to do a real pullup for a while now so I’m excited that I actually achieved my goal and it’s only February!  Thanks to all the great suggestions on bodybuilding.com!  Looking forward to conquering the next challenge!!

Ever did those 12 minute runs for PE class?  Well, I always sucked at it, I could barely do a mile in 12 minutes.  I’m now down to a respectable 10 minutes a mile (I timed myself) but I think I can do better.  And since I’m taking this semester to make an concentrated effort to get better conditioned (better endurance, power and stamina), I’ve decided to make it one of my goals this year, that is, I want to improve my mile time to less than 10 minutes, with a "stretch" goal of 8 minutes.

And to give myself some motivation to train (because I’m one of those girls who just HAS to win all the time), I’m planning on entering and competing in the intramural track meet in April.  I’m not sure what event(s) yet, but I’m told I the training is different depending on whether I’m running short or long distances.

A guy who used to run track took me out and watched me run for a little bit.  He said he could tell I’d had developed some power in my legs because I had a pretty explosive start for a rookie.  He also told me that my stride is too short and that I need to develop it further.  He pointed me to some info online about sprint training, it’s good stuff.
I’m actually thinking about the sprint events, the more I think about it, the more I think it’s more doable for me and the more excited I get.  See that flash?  That’s Andrea, think you can catch her?  Good luck!  Haha, ok enough daydreaming and off to work.

I thought the New Year would be a good time to start writing in my blog.  My goal for this semester is to develop a strong yet feminine body like I’ve seen other women achieve in magazines and on this site.  I’ve already resolved to train harder, after surfing this site I’ve seen that I need to make some changes with my workout plan and I also need to work on my diet.  My goal is to achieve some initial success by spring break, and final success by the summer.  This is the semester to do it!
On my brighter note, I’ve been working with negatives a lot on dips and pullups.  I feel like I’m making progress, I’m up almost 3/4 of the way on pullups now, just one more hump to cross and I’m there, it’s very exciting.

I had a friend time my average mile the other day, I ran 20 laps around the track, which I think is like about 5 miles. He measured my average mile time to be about 10 minutes, which is a considerable improvement off my time in high school (12m).  I got some work to do there.