superstar34’s BodyBlog

yaya. my back is going to be dead tomorrow!

Back, Abs
Superset 1 (5 sets of 12 same thing)
Overhand Barbell Rows 85,75, 75, 75, 75lbs  
One Arm Cable Rows 25, 27.5, 30, 27.5, 27.5lbs each arm
Superset 2 (5 sets of 12 same thing)
Assisted Wide Grip Pullups 80lbs
Straight Arm Cable Decline Pullovers 35lbs
Superset 3 (5 sets of 12 same thing)
Undergrip Lat Pull 90, 75, 75, 75, 75lbs
Barbell Deadlift 125, 125, 105, 105, 105lbs
Superset 4 (5 sets of 15 same thing)
Reverse Crunches
Oblique Crunches
Superset 5 (5 sets of 15)
Floor Leg Raises
Floor V Ups

Oh yeah, and I did 35mins of cardio in the morning: 15mins on stairmill 20mins on treadmill, walking and jogging!

Okay, So today is a new week so new program continuation on this cutting cycle. Okay I am a self-proclaimed masochist so this is guaranteed to be the BEST workout week EVER and tonight was no exception! At first I had no clue what weight to start at but I got the hang of it very quickly and even had a personal best on flyes, even with the 5:2:1 tempo!! The most I’ve ever done for flyes is 50lbs and ended going up to 60lbs! I guess when I changed my mindset this time when picking weights it went from-do weight that will get me to the end of the superset, to do the most I can do EACH EXERCISE, pacing myself on weight no longer became an issue! yaya! I can’t wait to see what the rest of the week will look like, especially leg day ha. Anywho, I had clients this evening so I did the first 3 supersets, trained a client for a half (25min) session then went back and finished the workout! My chest is ALREADY sore typing this shite!! :

Chest, Abs (5:2:1 Tempo!!!)
Superset 1 ( 5 sets of 112)
Incline Dumbell Press 60lbs, 12 partials, 70lbs, 2 partials!, 70lbs, 3 partials, 70lbs NO partials 12 reps total to failure last set!
Flat Dumbell Flyes 55!!lbs, 12 partials, 55lbs, 12 partials, 55lbs, 6 partials, 55lbs, 8 partials, 60!!lbs, 2 partials! yaya!
Superset 2 ( 5 sets of 12 same thing)
Machine Chest Press 80lbs, 4 partials, 70lbs NO partials, 70lbs, NO partials, 60lbs, 2 partials, 60lbs, 3 partials
Decline Dumbell Press (laid on an incline bench backwards and balanced, ha, no decline at this gym) 60lbs for 10 reps total to FAILURE, 60lbs for 10 reps to failure, 60lbs for 10 reps to failure, 60lbs for 12 reps total to failure! 60lbs for 12 total! OW
Superset 3 (5 sets of 12 same thing)
Flat Dumbell Press 60lbs, 3 partials, 55lbs, 2 partials, 55lbs, 3 partials, 55lbs, 2 partials, 55lbs for 12 reps total to FAILURE
Decline Dumbell Power C’s 40lbs, 6 partials, 40lbs, 8 partials, 40lbs 6 partials, 40lbs, 6 partials, 40lbs 2 partials
Superset 4 (5 sets of 15 same tempo)
Hanging Knee Raise
Incline Leg Raise
Superset 5 (5 sets of 15)
Incline Russian Twist
Incline Sit Ups

So a friend recently asked me about some protein pancakes recipes and I sent him the message and was like what the heck, I might as well post it on a blog! Believe me when you eat the SAME thing everyday, you get creative on ways to prepare it! So here’s an example of how I prepare protein pancakes during each phase, cutting AND mass!

Protein Pancakes perfect for ‘mass’ phase:

1 cup oatmeal
7 egg whites 1 yolk
4 packets splenda
cinnamon to taste
1 chopped banana (or berries, watever!)

Mix together and make two big size pancakes! I use Walden Farms (only!) brand of syrup, that shite is a freaking miracle! NO carbs, sugar, OR calories! Or with the splenda the pancakes are sweet enough to just eat by themselves! This is my meal #1 during my mass phase!

Protein Pancakes perfect for ‘cutting’ phase:

2 scoops your fave Protein Powder (I like six star malt chocolate, designer whey choc peanut butter, or ON flavors!)
6 egg whites
Splenda (if not sweet enough)
Cinnamon to taste (if using vanilla protein powder)

Mix together and cook in skillet makes one big pancake! Be careful as these cook quicker than the ‘mass’ pancakes! I like them slightly undercooked so they’re a little gooey! Yum =0)

Yeah I think i know spanish, not really. Anywho, again, did an hour 45mins of cardio today. Oh yeah so I forgot to blog about starting a new shortish Cutting Cycle as of yesterday. This past week already the program has been geared towards the same but the new diet started yesterday. And lemme tell you as I’m typing this IM FREAKING STARVIN! haha its for the cause though. I’m going to have to go to Sam’s for the bulk size of Orbit Gum. I keep them in business. Anywho, back to the workouts. So again I split this madness up into two sessions, an hour this morning of 20mins on the stairmill and the last 40mins on the treadmill mostly walking on incline but a bit of jogging and sprinting as well. Tonight I did the stairmill again for 30mins then ran, walked sprinted on the treadmill again for the last 15mins! My legs are shot! ha. The past couple of days I’ve been foam rolling the crap out of my calves and IT Bands!!

Ok so my body told me earlier today it was time to take a FOUR HOUR nap so I had to train after my nite clients tonight! So I sucked it up and pushed through a good workout, however, I did not do abs cause it was 9:15pm by the time I was done with the first 3 supers so I’ll do them in the morning after my first session of cardio. Man I’m exhausted, officially coming off the workout high right now as I type this.
I’m also really happy because I got to talk to a dear friend of mine Trish (bestabs on here!) who I haven’t talked to in awhile. I look up to her like a big sister and she has taught me a lot!! One of the worst things I do when I’m havin a bad time with life is I shut out people who I care about and Trish was no exception. I am grateful to her for being understanding and she is happy for me that I am finally on the right path again.

Alright so here’s the el workout:

AM Cardio on empty stomach: 35 mins of walking, jogging, sprinting on treadmill

Giant Set 1 (4 sets of 15 same tempo) (Still keeping the weight lower because of the 5:1:2 tempo!)
T Bar Row 35, 35, 35, 45lbs
Decline Dumbell Straight Arm Pullover 25, 30, 35, 35lb
Overhead dumbell Extensions 25lb
Giant set 2 (4 sets of 15)
Lat Pull (wide grip) 60, 75, 75, 75lbs
One Arm Squatting Cable Row 20, 25, 25, 25lbs each arm
Tricep Cable Kickback 10, 10, 12.5, 15! each arm
Giant Set 3 (4 sets of 15 same tempo)
Undergrip Machine Row (Barbell taken) 55, 70 oww, 55, 55lbs
Hold For Pull Up Position (Hang for 1 min)
Assisted Wide Grip Pull Ups with 90lb assist

Okay so today I’ve done the most cardio in a day in maybe EVER. I think I’m being punished by someone, I don’t know who, ha jk. Anywho, today I did a total of an 1hr 45mins of cardio split up into two sessions. This morning after I ass kicked, ahem, I mean trained a client, I did an hour of cardio hell: 20 mins on the stairmill (NO HANDS! ppl that lean on that shite drive me nuts), 25mins of jogging 2 miles, then last 15 mins walking on treadmill on incline. I felt great during and for about an hour afterward, but then this depression deal I’ve been trying to avoid by not talking about it crept back in my head. I’ve been identifying it as the ‘darkness’, best way to describe it.

Later tonight with encouragement =0) I got my ass up and went back to my fave gym and did 45 more mins of cardio. Both times I wore my hoodie too so I sweated my ass off. This time I walked for 15mins on these new free motion treadmills so I could put the incline up to 19 or 21 keeping the HR around 145bpm, but I was havin issues walking fast enough to get the HR up so I just started running again. Lemme just say me and running do not traditionally mesh well together. I’ve always thought marathon runners are nutty and people who love running are some new breed of ’sicko’, but tonight I kinda saw what the ‘eff’ is up with this whole running deal. I got a lot of decent thinking done. Besides, since my calves weren’t killing me like they usually do when I run (since I’ve been more consistent with running now) I could actually enjoy running. That ‘cleared out’ lungs feeling. So I ran for 25 mins for another 2 miles. Then the last 10mins walked again on incline.

So back to this ‘darkness’ deal since I’m on this writing rampage. In my earlier blogs, months after my first ever comp, I went through a very scary, deep depression. It’s never just one thing,   but a bunch of things went on all at once that I had a really hard time dealing with and for awhile I just didn’t care about anything, anyone, or myself. It’s frustrating to think of myself like that, cause I’m not all about being a wuss, but shite happens, and I think I’ve finally figured out why. I have been working very hard to deal with those issues instead of stuffing them down and trying to ‘forget’ about them. Well obviously I haven’t finished because the past month especially I still am having days where I’m crying and can’t stop. Even the really bad thoughts that I used to have daily. And I ask myself, what the ‘****’ is wrong with me?

Today when I was running it all kinda came together at once. A friend who is very dear to me told me that their worst fear is to not succeed. I was stunned at hearing them say this because I look up to them immensely, one of the many reasons being because they are so driven. After awhile of chewing on this idea, I realized I understood where they are coming from because I have the same fear and it can be PARALYZING.

I am 27 yrs old and I’ve been thru a lot of life already. I’ve been thru college, marriage, bartending school, had my loan officers, real estate licenses, I’ve worked with kids of all ages, even churches of all denominations, a psychiatric ward, retail hell, been a dating counselor, headhunter, etc… I’ve excelled in academics, art, and athletics, so what is my freaking problem? Why am I more afraid, why have I been more depressed, and ****ed up feeling than ever before?

Because for the first time in my life, I’m where I NEED to be. I’ve always been ‘good’ at things, but never HAPPY and PASSIONATE about what I’m doing. Never been one of those people like my brothers and sister who KNOW what they ‘want to do.’ But for the first time ever, I wanna do more than just be ‘good’ at something for awhile, I want to continue to succeed at the same thing!! I’m so scared of failing, I’ve ALWAYS been scared of failing, THATS why I’ve ‘done’ so many different things, because I quit before I can say I’ve failed! HELLO. So now that I’ve found my place, my passion, what "I want to do," suddenly this ‘quitting’ deal is NOT an option. And so now for the past year that I have come to know health and fitness as my passion, I’ve been sabotaging myself worse than EVER, hence the depression (and all the stupid shite I’ve done during this time)…..

What I’ve learned from all this, is when your worst fear is succeeding, your biggest obstacle is YOURSELF. I KNOW I can do anything I want to do. I’ve done it before. Now there’s no excuse when what you want and how to do it is staring you in the ****ing face. It also helps (take away the excuses) when you know someone who believes in, encourages, and who supports you no matter what. Cause the curse of the driven, disciplined, obsessed, passionate, whatever you want to call it (its all the same), is that we constantly doubt and critique ourselves, we are never good enough and we become our own worst enemy….and while sometimes that can be the fuel to push us forward like it has in the past, sometimes it can be what paralyzes us. When they believe in you, and you can believe in yourself, there is no reason for doubt, it all just melts away. Without my friend who is SO eerily like me, I would have never put all this together on my own. Thank you. And I believe in you!

Oh this workout was fun cause I did it with my MOM! Yeah she’s a hass, I guess thats where I get the ‘hassness’ from. =0) The trainer even became the ‘trained’ when SHE was yelling for me to keep with it on the last set of the last superset, hahaha good times. So we did the entire workout at home using her KETTLEBELLS (yeah told ya) and resistance bands for certain exercises as well! Yeah the shoulders should be dead tomorrow, woohoo!

Shoulders
Giant Set 1 (4 sets of 15 same tempo)
Kettlebell Arnold Press 10lbs each arm
One Arm Kettlebell Lateral Raise 10lb each arm
Straight Arm Kettlebell Front Raise 10lb each arm owwwwwww =0)
Giant Set 2 (4 sets of 15 same tempo)
Cable Shoulder Press Resistance cable
Rear Cable Lateral Raise 10lb kettlebells each arm
Dumbell Shrugs 25lb kettlebells
Giant Set 3 (4 sets of 15)
Upright Cable Rows 10lb each arm
21s (7 laterals, 7 front raises, 7 rear laterals) with resistance cables
Isometric Resistance Cable Hold for 1 min

yaya! I’m laaaaaaazy. Just kidding. Anywho I didnt post last nites workout last night so I"m doing it el now. Later on today I have shoulders and I’m excited about that, I love working out shoulders. Last night’s workout I reeeally pushed myself again. I think I’m still trying to punish myself for that one not so great workout last week where I should have been sore but wasn’t. Yeah I’m a little nutty like that. So as I just get up from my nap (I’ve been up since 5:30am on a Saturday, so shut it!) my soreness is really starting to sink it and I can tell its going to be deep soreness. Wow I can tell differences in the levels of my soreness. So back to the workout, when I did the jump squats, I did this new thing where they are like Sumo Jump Squats. So when I land back down from the jump both arms come down b/w legs and touch the floor immediately jumping back up again so wider stance on the landing. Then the last ‘jump’ I land down in a deep squat, hold for 3 secs then come back up and do 2 more 3 sec holds. Yeah I had probs walking down the stairs after this workout, it was awesome.

CHRISTEN B

Day 2
Legs
Giant Set 1 (4 sets of 15 same tempo)
Barbell Squats 85lbs , 105, 125, 125lbs
Sumo Deadlifts 80lbs all sets
Leg Extensions (Toes out) 90lbs  
Giant Set 2 (4 sets of 15 same tempo)
Hack Squat 135lbs owww
Seated Hamstring Curls 50, 60, 60, 60lbs
Side Lunges (bdywt, 30 steps total each set)
Giant Set 3 (4 sets of 15 same tempo)
Jump squats (3 slow, isometric hold at bottom, bodyweight squats after each set)
Abductors 70lbs (usually weaker than adductors, but really pushed these)
Adductors 70lbs
Giant Set 4 (4 sets of 15) Same Tempo
Donkey Calf Raises (Bodyweight, One leg at a time)
Seated Calf Raise (Rotary, 190lbs)
Standing Calf Raise (holding 50lbs in dumbells)

Tonights workout was great, still keeping that 5:1:2 tempo. I really pushed myself with the weights but still had to keep the weight relatively lower because of the tempo! So my chest and bis should be freaking sore as hell tomorrow:

Chest, Bis, Abs
Giant Set 1 (4 sets of 15 same tempo)
Incline Dumbell Press (30 degree angle) 50, 60, 60, 70, 70lbs
Decline Flyes 45, 45, 45, 45lbs
Machine Preacher Curl (Elbows in and forearms out) 40, 50, 50, 50, 50lbs
Giant Set 2 (4 sets of 15 same tempo)
Flat Dumbell Press 60, 65, 65, 65lbs
Incline Dumbell Flyes 40lbs
Restricted Hammer Curls  25lbs
Giant Set 3 (4 sets of 15 same tempo)
Push Ups (wide grip) owwww
Machine Flyes 40lbs
Concentration Curls 12.5lbs each arm
Giant Set 4 (5 sets of 10 Same Tempo)
Hanging Knee Raise
Incline Sit UP
Leg Raises on floor
Hyperextensions

So today I just did cardio and abs at home doing my good ‘ole boxer workout for 45mins! FUUUUUUUN. =0P

My back is FAAAReaking SORE from last nights workout! It hasn’t been THIS sore in awhile aka it feels AWESOME. nuff said.

Not in a fantastic mood cause I have to pick up some hours at my old job but watever, gotta do what I have to till my schedule gets more full. And I don’t know what my deal is, maybe it’s getting older, being busy, life changes, yada yada, but it doesn’t even feel like ‘holiday’ season to me anymore. And I don’t really even care! I mean don’t get me wrong, I love being with the family, perhaps thats just all I care about anymore, don’t care about a stupid tree, getting presents, and can’t stand hearing x-mas music in the stores, but I do look forward to hangin out with the fam, that’s all that matters right? Right.

There’s only one thing I want for Christmas and that doesn’t come in a box nicely wrapped… =0)