Today's Motivation

‎"It ain't about how hard you can hit. Its about how hard you can get hit, and how much you can take, and keep moving forward." Rocky Balboa

Px

Travel, Food and The Makeup Session!

I’ve had a busy last few days in transit, travelling between my home town and the snow. I always try and maintain as active as I can when travelling but don’t beat myself up if I miss a work out. I just make sure I’m still eating healthily. Or vice versa, if I relax my diet on holidays I compensate with harder workouts.

The one thing I do before any trip I take is to plan my food. I ensure I have my breakfast (oats and protein shake) for each day I’m away, snacks of carrots, nuts, apples and raw broccoli to much on while travelling. Then as soon I get to where I’m going I head to the supermarket to stock up on basics like fruit and veg, cottage cheese, tinned salmon and natural yoghurt.

To make up for my trip away, I really pushed myself in RPM yesterday keeping my heart rate up around 90% in all intervals and not letting it get below 170 beats per min. I then followed this up with an intense back work out today. I used different grips and focused on making it a cardio based weights workout.

Cardio Based:

Bent Over Row super set with Over Head Barbell Presses x 3 sets

One Set is:

Row + 5 Presses

Row + 4 Presses

Row + 3 Presses

Row + 2 Presses

Row + 1 Press

Doing this as quickly as possible to keep the heart rate up but maintain form

Lat Pull Down – Pulsating 8 reps, 6 reps, 4 reps, 6 reps

Cardio Based:

Horizontal Pull Ups super set with Dumbbell Bent over rows x 3 sets of 10 reps

Reverse Flys – Pulsating 8 reps, 6 reps, 4 reps, 6 reps

Tomorrow I have personal training that will be outdoors, and I’m hoping to follow that up in the afternoon with a nice heavy leg session. I miss the burn

Never fear shadows.... that always means there is a light shining somewhere. Jonathan Santos

Px

Girl Power

Ignore the fact this video is an advertisement and have a look at the power, strength and absolute beauty of these two women! Amanda Latona and Jennifer Nicole Lee are two of my inspirational women, so It's nice to have them in the one video! 

T

he rewards for those who persevere far exceed the pain that must precede the victory. 

Ted W Engstrom

 

Px

The Get In Shape Girl

The workout shown in this video is exactly the type of intense gym session I love! It's from The Get In Shape Girl. Have a look at her site for more honest workout stories and the results she achieves. 

Conquer your day! 

Px

Today's Motivation

Family Break

I had a weekend filled with laughter and fantastic moment as part of my family came and visited me. While I still had to face my mountain of Uni assessment and course work it was great to be able to relax with those I love. I even had a sneaky glass of red! I am not a big drinking; I don't enjoy the effect it has on my body at the time of drinking and certainly not after. It means I can't train as hard as I want to but a nice glass of wine with dinner ever now then goes down quite well. 

We did a lot of walking and exploring this weekend and luckily their visit feel on a rest day and an arms day.

I followed up the weekend with an intense RPM class on Monday. I felt like I was seeing stars by the end of it and then a back work out today my legs are still struggling from yesterday so it's a non cardio day to prepare for my leg workout tomorrow. 

Here’s my arm and back workouts - 

Arms

Close Grip Bench Press - pulsating 4 sets x 10 reps, 8 reps, 6 reps, 8 reps

Seated Bicep Curls - 3 sets of 12 reps superset with Eccentric Bicep Curls  - 3 sets x 6 reps

Bicep Curls - pulsating 4 sets x 10 reps, 8 reps, 6 reps, 8 reps superset with triceps pull downs - pulsating 4 sets x 10 reps, 8 reps, 6 reps, 8 reps 

(Eccentric exercises occur where the muscle lengthens in a contraction which cause higher levels of fatigue and micro-damage to your muscle, promoting muscle hypertrophy because of the heavier weights used.)

Back

Lat Pull Down - pulsating 4 sets x 10 reps, 8 reps, 6 reps, 8 reps

Reverse Fly - 3 sets x 8 reps superset with Bent Over Row (Underhand Grip) 2 sets x 8 reps

Pullovers - 3 sets x 12 reps superset with One Arm Rows 3 sets x 6 reps

"Our attitude toward life determines life's attitude towards us." John N. Mitchel

Px

Rewards

I wanted to speak about something that I feel most women do - reward themselves with food. Sometimes I forget that this is very common occurrence, one I used to do as well but have trained myself not to. I think it's important to realise that food should not be a reward. Generally, I feel it has been instilled in us from childhood when were promised a 'treat' such as ice cream for being 'good'. 

Breaking this habit can help in reaching your health and fitness goals (getting moving being the number one priority!). Food is not your reward for being good. Using treats or food that is not beneficial for you is only sabotaging your good work. 

Replace treating yourself with lollies, cakes, flavored coffees etc. with a manicure, a massage or some new workout gear to keep you motivated and feeling great!

So you can reward yourself, as long as you remember food is not a reward. 

"Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish." John Quincy Adams

Px