Fun Changes Ahead for Boot Camp

I am very excited about what is to come for FIT OC Women boot camp classes! In the next few weeks, I will be offering more class times as well as a great time slot this fall for the not so early bird (perfect for the mom who has just dropped their kids off at school and wants to get their workout done for the day). I will have limited spots for the the later morning class so check back often for updates and to reserve your spot!

I am also looking forward to announcing a very cool opportunity that has come my way!

Later this week, I will share a great finisher to your training session... it has left this woman with the sorest booty ever.

Fun stuff ahead!

14 Weeks, Long Road Ahead

Two weeks ago, I made the decision to do a competition in early October. Initially I had thought I would do an NPC competition in late October (unfamiliar with physique competitions click HERE). I have decided to switch and try a different organization, INBA- The International Bodybuilding Association, click HERE to read more about it.

I had contacted Kellie Davis who had recently done an INBA competition to get her feedback on the organization. She raved about it and only had positive things to say. She has a great site, www.motherfitness.com check it out. So, thank you Kellie, you helped me make the decision to switch and I am excited to give it a try!

The competition I have my eyes on is Clash of the Natural Champions, October 1st in Corona, CA. That is 14 weeks away! I wouldn't be honest if I said I was totally confident that I will be ready by this time but like most things that are tough in life you never know unless you try. Switching to this competition cut my prep by 2 weeks. Lots of changes need to be made in this 7 weeks post baby physique. Thankfully I am a girl who likes a challenge and love to work hard!

So, with 14 weeks to go and a body fat at a higher level than I have EVER started at, I am ready to go!

The nitty gritty details...

16 weeks out- weight 157

body fat (taken with 3 spot Skyndex)- 23.5

Currently (14 weeks)- weight 156

body fat- 22.5

I will post progress pictures eventually but for now I am just not quite ready to do that yet :).

If posting my progress in this journey inspires you to try something new or commit to something way outside your comfort zone, than I have succeeded.

Your Weekend Workout

If you are in need of a quick weekend workout, here is one straight from today's session at boot camp, 500 reps.

Warm Up- jog, skips, butt kicks, knee hugs, wide out squats, jumping jacks, quad stretch, jump rope, lateral lunges, sumo squat to stand, hip crossover

Core Work- various plank positions

500

Circuit #1

25- Prison Squats

25- DB RDL

25- Mountain Climbers

25- Forward Jump (jump into a deep squat), 2 hops back

short recovery

Circuit #2

20- Right Leg Forward/Backward Lunge

20- Left Leg Forward/Backward Lunge

20- Prone Pike Up (plank position, pike hips up and then back to solid plank is 1 rep)

20- T Turns (push up position, turn open to sky, back to start, open to sky other direction back to start is 1 rep)

20- Burpees

short recovery

**Repeat entire 2 circuits

Last 100

20- Full Sit Ups (keep straight leg, full sit up to tall spine)

20- DB Russian Twist

20- Jackknife

20- Push Up Position, Knee to Opposite Elbow

20- Plank to Push Up

Didn't feel challenged? Add some resistance to the circuit- weight vest, dumbbells, medballs.

For the overachiever, finish the session with 10 minutes of jumping rope. Jump for 45 seconds, rest 15 for entire 10 minutes.

Have a great weekend!

Goal Attained & Lesson Learned

Just three weeks ago, I posted my 5 personal goals regarding fitness. Today, I achieved my goal to run 3 miles under 24 minutes. The last 3-4 minutes my heart rate was through the roof!! I was using all the mind tricks possible to not quit.

During that last 1/2 mile I glanced at my heart rate monitor. It read 173 bpm. I typically see 172-175 bpm when I am doing a timed interval. Those intervals are usually only 60 seconds long with a good rest in between. I feel pretty beat after 60. What I am getting at is, I held a very high heart rate, for almost 3-4 minutes. I didn't think I would be able to keep that pace. However, I wanted to beat that clock so bad that I hung in there.

The take away message is you are stronger than you think you are. You are faster than you believe you are. You can focus on something when everything around you or in you says to quit. If you set goals and share them with friends, family or the internet world in my case, you will achieve them and learn something new about yourself when doing so!

If you have a burning desire in you whether it is to shed 5 pounds... cut out the sweets at night... exercise 3-4 times a week... serve healthier meals for your family... be able to do 10 perfect push ups... drink more water and less soda... write it down and share it with someone else!

My lesson learned today- I am definitely faster than I thought I was and pretty sure I need to up my intensity during those intervals. It is time to set a new goal.

Boot Camp Hill Sprints & Suggested Treadmill Workout

If your goal is fat loss, then long slow runs outside this summer shouldn't be your focus. I can completely understand the need to get out in the sun, take in the scenery and log some mind numbing miles. These runs should be for fun and mind rejuvenation... if that's your thing.

If stripping the fat and getting your workout done fast and fierce is your plan then some hill sprints are a sure fire way to do so.

Boot Camp this morning- ladies getting the job done, the hill is a bit deceiving, definitely tough


If you have access to a great hill, then get outside. First off set a goal for each workout. It may be only making it up the hill one time or it may be 5-10 times. Each week you do this workout add one additional sprint. Warm up for 5-10 minutes prior to sprints. Then run with all you have until you reach the top, pause to make sure you are still alive and make your descent to the bottom. Repeat

Your guide to great sprinting is monitoring how you feel once you reach the top. If you are completely out of breath and need a good few minutes to recover, then you are right where you should be. Another great tool to keep tabs on how hard you are working is a heart rate monitor. Need help figuring out where you should be on these sprints? Then click HERE.

If you have to drive to the next town... town- that would be the northern Minnesota small town girl coming out :)... to find a good hill but you have access to a treadmill, then here is a great workout to try! The suggested speeds and inclines are for a rather advanced runner. Be wise and adjust the workout to your level.

Time Speed Incline
0-10 minutes 6.0 -7.0 mph 0%
10:00-11:00 8.5-9.5 mph 4%
11:00-13:00 3.0 mph 1%
13:00-14:00 8.5-9.5 mph 6%
14:00-16:00 3.0 mph 1%
16:00-17:00 8.0-9.0 mph 8%
17:00-19:00 3.0 mph 1%
19:00-20:00 8.0-9.0 mph 8%
20:00-22:00 3.0 mph 1%
22:00-22:30 8.5-9.5 mph 9%
23:30-24:30 3.0 mph 1%
24:30-25:00 8.5-9.5 mph 10%
25:00-26:00 3.0 mph 1%
26:00-26:30 8.5-9.5 mph 11%
26:30-27:30 3.0 mph 1%
27:30-28:00 8.5-9.5 mph 12%
28:00-30:00 3.0 mph 0%

Time to motivate yourself and try something different if the flat land is where you like to reside. Some hills thrown in your workout will give you huge results!

My parting tip, don't quit before you reach the top or stop the sprint with 5 seconds left... those final feet and seconds are what can take you to the next level. If you are already working this hard, why cheat yourself the full benefits.

Working On My +1

I feel that being able to master the chin up is a truly awesome feat. I have posted various videos over the past few months of myself and most recently a boot camp member performing chin ups as well. It all started with a video of myself doing 10 assisted chin ups at 8 months pregnant and then another video at 9 months pregnant and last week 5 unassisted reps at 1 month post pregnancy.

I have a goal to do a whole lot more than 5! Last Wednesday, I was able to do 5 and have implemented a negative eccentric hold for 30 seconds on my last rep with hopes to get 1 more rep each week. Today, I stepped up to the bar and got 5 1/2 reps. I needed a little hoist to complete the 6th rep and then held on for dear life... 30 painful seconds.

Here is a little video clip of what my 3rd set looked like- 1 rep plus 30 second hold



This Wednesday I should get 6.

Weekend to do list: Bed Bath & Beyond

You hear it all the time that the serving sizes in America are outrageous. We all know this and recognize we need to eat less. But how much less? What does an actual 1/2 cup of rice look like or 4 ounces of chicken for your salad? If you have never measured or weighed your food, now may be the time.

Take some advice from Frank the Tank and spend your weekend at Bed Bath & Beyond. Invest a little money on a food scale and get familiar with what different serving sizes actually look like on your plate. Once you are able to eyeball this, then put the scale away. There is no need to obsessively measure your food. After you have spent a week measuring your food, you will be an expert at knowing exactly what food weighs.

Here is what 4 ounces of chicken actually looks like. Would you have guessed that? Do you know how much calories, fat and protein is in 4 ounces?

4 ounces Chicken
roughly 185 calories
4 grams fat
0 grams carbs
35 grams protein

I have a pretty good sense of food portion sizes but occasionally I will take my scale out and measure my food. I do this simply as a self check. I know when I am making my meal on an empty stomach my portion sizes may be affected by my grumbling tummy. If it is time to tighten up the diet than invest in a food scale and spend a little time learning your portion sizes.

Show Your Kids What a Playground is Really For

Yesterday on facebook, I posted my progress video on my chin up goal. I am striving for 14 unassisted chin ups. I am currently able to do 5. I feel good about this since I am still carrying some extra pregnancy weight. I hope to get one more rep next time I step up to the bar.

Today at boot camp, we had 5 stations and one of them was chin ups/pull ups and sandbag squats. I was able to get a few videos before my Flip died. Here is one video of an incredibly athletic and dedicated boot camp attendee!



What you don't see is that this is her 2nd set and I jumped in late, I missed a few reps before I turned the camera on. Nice job!

I plan to post more videos of boot camp later this weekend. We do some fun stuff at the park before the kids are even up.

You can find my video on a great blog and learning resource- Ben's Blog, check it out HERE

Some of those videos on Ben's blog are unreal. Amazing what people can do with their bodies, love it! Thanks Ben for taking the time to put together a great source of inspiration and motivation!

Mary Mary How Does Your Garden Grow... of fitness tools that is

I have heard people in the fitness community who say you can't get in shape by working out from home. Oh yea, I will prove you wrong... this was a picture from back in 2008 (ignore the date on the picture, my camera was incorrectly set) taken a few months after I had followed a consistent training program, from home.



My first competition


With the right program and diet anything is possible even from within the confines of your own home. You do need to have some tools to help you achieve a lean physique.

The first tool I acquired was the Iron Gym. I have since replaced this with a gym quality squat rack (has a chin up bar as part of it's structure) but before I invested in a quality rack, this Iron Gym was a permanent fixture in our doorway.


What other tools do you need? Dumbbells ranging from 10-30lbs depending on level of course, bench (I started with a Reebok step, plain old step aerobics bench), and a stability ball. That is it! That was exactly what I started with. As my body changed, I invested in more dumbbells and fitness tools. I eventually purchased a very inexpensive squat rack (make sure it is not attached to a bench) and went on craigslist for plates and bar. This was replaced a few years later with a better quality rack.

What did my workouts first look like? Here is an example..

Warm Up- jump rope 10 minutes
Movement Prep

Strength Training

A1: DB Squats
A2: Chin Ups check out this post for help getting you up over that bar

B1: Reverse Lunges
B2: Push Ups

C1: Stability Ball Knee In
C2: Stability Ball Leg Curl

Intervals

Stretch and Foam Roll

So, as you can tell it doesn't take much to workout from home. As your body changes and grows so does your gym. The results are the same, gym or home training, it's the program, diet and dedication that dictate your results.

Are You a Mom? A Must Read Then!

I am writing this post while holding my 3 week old sleeping baby. That is motherhood in a nutshell. We are incredible at multitasking. We take on one of the most important jobs in the world, raising our children to be well behaved, loving, educated and productive members of our society all while cleaning the house, paying bills, doing laundry, helping with homework, etc....

Somewhere within that heavily loaded job requirement, some women can't find time for themselves. Their day is so full that there isn't even 30-40 minutes 4 times a week to dedicate to fitness and exercise. Really? Is there not 160 minutes in a weeks time to workout? I know most women sleep about 6-7 hours at night but for the sake of the recommended 8 hours that leaves you 16 hours a day, that is 960 minutes a day... 6720 minutes a week to get everything you do in a day accomplished... so 160 minutes of those 6720 is hard to find? That is only 2% of your total time!

Now that I have you convinced that you DO have time, I will provide you with a 40 minute workout to squeeze into your day :).

30-40 Minute Workout for Gym or Home

Perform the exercises in a circuit fashion and repeat 3-4 times depending on level

1. 1/4 mile run/sprint (if you are stuck at home, get a jump rope and and jump for 2 minutes)

rest 30-45 seconds

2. 25 reps of Kettlebell Swings, don't know what a swing is check out this post, there is a link to a great article on the swing (home workout: grab your bottle of laundry detergent, it must weigh at least 10 lbs, and perform 20 Reverse Lunges)

rest 30-45 seconds

3. 15-25 Burpees

rest 30- 45 seconds

4. 30-50 Mountain Climbers

rest 30-45 seconds

5. 25-45 Low Stance Wide Out Squats (squat down low, jump feet out wide, return to start and repeat for reps... stay low the entire time- great burn for the booty!)

rest 2 minutes and REPEAT entire circuit!

**BONUS ROUND**
A great website www.coachdos.com turned me on to a great finisher, "plank play". Check out Coach Dos' site here, full of great info and workouts!

We all know what planks are but putting them at the end of your workout is killer.

5 rounds of 60 seconds plank hold, 15 seconds rest. Alternate between prone and side holds. My abs and entire body were on fire when the 5 minutes were up!

That workout only took .5% of your entire weeks time. More importantly, you will be a better mom because you took the time to do it for yourself.


My stats from this workout today... 40 minutes total
1. 1/4 mile sprint approx, 8 minute mile pace
rest 30

2. 40 reps of 24 kg Kettlebell Swings
rest 30

3. 25 Burpees
rest 30

4. 45 Low Stance Wideout Squats
rest 2 minutes and repeated 4 times