My Delts

I love shoulders. Big, broad, round, strong shoulders. The delts make a difference in any physique.  I have always loved to train shoulders and it shows, they look good. 

Today (Friday), I was training shoulders with Roy, we were using the chains. He said he had been studying my photos, like this one, from my last competition. 

He said that my delts are well developed in some areas, but lacking in others, and he wants to work on that. I am not familiar with everything he discussed, but apparently I am lacking development in the second and third muscle I think he said, out of 7...I didn't realize there were 7, I thought there were just 3!

So I know there are three heads to the deltoid, but within those three are more muscle fibers, for a total of seven. I need to start bench pressing heavy. He said with my year round low body fat, and the level of development of my deltoids, I should have a distinct cut showing between the pectoral muscles and the anterior deltoid, which I do not have; he wants to remedy that situation.

We start next week.

I am thrilled!

I have never, ever had someone take an interest like this in the development of MY physique! Now don't take this wrong, all of my other trainers had interest in what I wanted to do, and they helped me to work towards my goals, but Roy is advising and pushing, where I didn't know I needed it. He is the first to come out and say something like this.

I remember one trainer might say my "front delts were flat" and I needed to work them that day, but that would be about it. Roy is engaged with me, with my goals, with my "journey", my next adventure towards Women's Physique. If my only goal was to train strictly for my competitions, with no thought about my enjoyment or life in general, I might find another trainer, a bodybuilder. I am sure I could find another trainer who specialized in bodybuilding or Figure, one who solely worked on the development of the body for pure aesthetics; for the one goal of the next competition; with no concern for strength and overall body development, but I have no interest in that do I? I am interested in someone who values nutrition, mind and body connection, enjoyment of the moment, and the science of strength training. I am not training for aesthetics only. 

I enjoy working with someone who not only appreciates my goals, but who has engaging conversations about those goals, and is willing to embark on an adventure, along with me. Someone who isn't afraid to experiment. 

Today we talked about my new "diet plan", a rotating plan that limits starches, and always after training only, and increases proteins. I will have occasional "cheat meals" My goal? Add lean mass and decrease body fat, a very, very difficult task. But I think I can do it. I will give my idea a try, and if it works, great. If it doesn't, no harm done, I go back to the old plan. 

Roy was supportive and interested. He admits he doesn't know if my plan will work, but it is MY plan, no one else's, and he is there to support it along the way. 

I realize that my success is ultimately his success, and that is what makes a great team.

Did I say I am thrilled?

4 Weeks Out

Four weeks left, I am getting antsy; however, I am not where I need to be yet!


I am looking good, but I always start thinking "what if I don't lose that last bit of fat in time?"


I do worry, and losing the fat and being ready too early is just as bad as not being ready on time. I lose it all too quickly and I risk looking thin and stringy, old and tired, haggard, not healthy.


So I do fret and tonight David reminded me I have 4 weeks still! That's a whole month, and I only need to lose a pound or maybe two of fat at most. Easy!


Let's get on with the weekly critique shall we?


Shoulders look great, arms fabulous. The quads are even looking good.

The delts look nice and round, I think my rear delts get so big because I train back twice a week, and the low row, bent over row and pull ups all hit those delts too.

Ah, the back. Lumpy and bumpy, in a good way! This is the first picture I see my size starting to come down, meaning my overall size, I am getting smaller now, at least I feel smaller.


The 'smiley' under the glutes is just about gone (and it's not a frown thank goodness!) the glute ham tie in is looking tighter and pulled together.  The waist really looks small from this view.

I am happy, ready to move along and start the next journey soon.  What am I planning? I am not sure what the specific training will be. I told Roy I would be in to train the Wednesday after my competition, I am not one to take a week off as so many people do. I will be too anxious to get back and into the gym after a couple days away.

Fridays Training with Roy

Shoulders, you gotta have big, round, meaty shoulders, be you man or woman! I think it's funny because people just love to stare at women with nice arms and shoulders, like we are freaks or something.


What is a freak anyway? Let's look at Dictionary.com (and not Urban Dictionary, which by the way is a great source of information!)


Freak:


1. any abnormal phenomenon or product or unusual object; anomaly; aberration.


2. a person or animal on exhibition as an example of a strange deviation from nature; monster.

I don't think I fit that category, but I suppose muscular women are just not the norm. 


Today we trained shoulders, week two of this program. I enjoy it in a sick kind of way, it's hard, really hard and I struggle yet I find so much satisfaction in finishing. 


Incline barbell press with fatgripz 4 sets of 10 95 pounds
Incline dumbbell press, neutral (hammer) grip 3 sets of 10 32.5 pounds each, 1 set of burnouts with 20 pounds: 15 reps, maybe more I cannot recall
Lateral raises 4 sets of 11 10 pounds each
Incline raise (rear facing on bench) 3 sets of 10 7.5 pounds each superset with
laying rear delt raise 3 sets of 10 7.5 pounds each


I haven't been sleeping well, and some of my bodyfat readings are out of proportion from the others, so we are now delving into what could be going on with this body of mine. Sleep is very important, it makes everything good or bad in your day. What's out of proportion? My umbilical and knees. Yup - fat knees.


Roy is checking the alkalinity of my body. How is that done? Litmus strips and spit. We walk out to the parking lot so we can spit over the grate in the ground, makes it all more fun! Roy misses his strip, but I am dead on the first time, a professional spitter!


My strip does not turn green, this is not good. I am too acidic, my strip is a sick yellowish color. Roy's is a beautiful green, like  seafoam.


What do I do? Way too much to tell you here, but the work has started! I was sent home with HCL (Betaine Hydrochloride) to see how my digestive enzymes are working. See it here in the picture above my plate? It's the small white capsule on the upper left. I will know if I am taking the correct amount when I feel a hot burning sensation in my stomach...


I am to take it halfway through my meal, I have chicken breast with Mrs. Dash and vegetables, a mix of peppers, eggplant and leeks. 


Nothing. Zilch, no pain, no warmth, no burning. This means I have to take two at dinner! Once I feel the burning, then I am at the right dosage. Hmm, odd but that is the way it shall work until I get on track I suppose.

What is the reason for all of this anyway, who cares? I care, I want to be healthy and I want to be able to optimize my food and training for best results. I expect so much of my body, so I need to take care of it, I need to give it what it needs to function, and function in a beautiful way.


I think this is just the beginning of a very interesting journey!


Here are a couple interesting reads about the subject from Charles Poliquin.


The HCL Acid Test

Maximize Your Progress with Hydrochlooric Acid

6 Weeks Out

It's Tuesday and how does your competition suit fit? Mine is sitting pretty right now, I like the way things are moving along. I am down another pound, so I am losing it slowly, and appear to actually be gaining lean mass, or I just  look pretty frigging ripped these days!


I am at 123 so I am guessing I will get down to 120 after all, and should look about right, but I never know till I get there.


I really owe the legs to Roy, I have never been able to get much shape, and although I want them even bigger, I think this is the best they have ever looked!  I am actually developing a sweep there! YAHOO!


After this competition, we just keep working on the legs, and since I won't be restricting calories as much, they should grow bigger!


The shoulders are popping out and getting nice caps. You can see the glutes looking better from the sides here, the "indent" of something I don't know the name of! But it's just where most women have saddlebags...I have saddle divots starting I guess!

The shape of the upper back is nice but I would like to see more definition in my spinal erectors, that should come in time and with more bodyfat loss. The glutes are now starting to tighten up and the glute-ham transition is becoming smoother.

This is for my friend Sakura, she wants to see the glutes from the side, I hope she is pleased! Riding high still! Take a look at the hamstring bulge that has developed! Rear delt looks nice and round.

I am happy all around, the waist is coming in, the quads are coming out, shoulders are getting rounder and I still have 6 weeks left!


My metabolism is right where it needs to be now, It takes a while to get there, but when it does, watch out. At this point I am still hungry immediately following eating, but it seems to dissipate after about 30 minutes, then I really am not hungry for a couple hours, then it hits me suddenly and I must eat immediately! Luckily that's right about the correct time.


As soon as I start eating, I start to sweat. I mean a lot! More than when I do cardio, it's kinda weird but seems to be my body just kicking into overdrive.


I will keep up with my after work sprints and stairs, it seems to be working well for me. I will try to move away from so many stairs and start more sprints.


I was at Home Depot as my husbands "helper" this morning, and we asked the fellow where the melamine boards were and he took one look at me and said "You look like you are hecka strong!"
And right he is!

Friday's Training with Roy

Roy and I are training shoulders on Fridays right now, and I am loving it!


There is always a point in my training where I think I know so much, only to find that there is a whole world that I don't know about, and it is so fun to discover it! 


We are working on my anterior and lateral deltoids to show more roundness. The posterior are looking good, and that usually lags on so many people.


We went for volume, I seem to respond well to that.


Incline barbell press (using fatgripz)
Incline dumbbell press with a neutral (some call hammer) grip
   superset with
Lateral raise
Incline front raise (on a bench, face down, neutral grip)
   superset with
laying rear delt raise


I took longer than an hour, and it felt great!  We chatted for a while about the world of competing, dieting and the shady side of the bodybuilding world in general.


A guy wanders over from the pull down across the drive, we are in an industrial area, who knows what goes on behind the closed doors! He said we both look like "fit people" and wanted to know if we wanted to buy some Sea Bass.


Roy and I looked at each other, I couldn't tell if he was about to crack up and was holding it in, or not. I know it was rather odd. It is 80 degrees outside, we are standing in font of his gym and some guy wants to show us his fish in a crowded and cluttered garage...


I say "sure we will come see" and we walk over, they have huge ice chests with not much in them, they buy from the fish wholesalers...hmmm. I see fishing poles but I don't think they are for sea bass. They give us a crab cocktail and we thank them and walk back to the gym, we decide not to buy anything.


We huddle together in the gym wondering what kind of business they are running and laugh as we both tell the other they can have the crab salad. We talk about Arnold and wonder if he will be able to make a comeback, or are we stuck with the vision of his belly in the speedo forever? He was stunning in his younger days, and although he did use steroids, he was and still must be genetically gifted.

I say goodbye, we will train legs on Wednesday evening. I drive off to have a pedicure. I realize it sounds like I have some odd foot fetish, I have a pedicure or a foot massage almost every week, but it is so relaxing and an inexpensive treat to myself. 


I picked wild orange today, one of my last hurrahs to summer.

I fell asleep, It seems that I am always falling asleep when I have a pedicure or a foot massage! That's a good thing right?


Actually a waive of sheer relaxation came over me, making my eyes heavy. I wouldn't say I was tired or exhausted, it was like every inch of my body felt spent and completely at peace. It happens sometimes when I train for a long period of time, and I believe it is endorphines surging through my body and then a let down, like there is nothing left in me. It is this high that keeps me doing what I do all the time.


I closed my eyes, just sitting waiting for my orange creamsicle polish to dry then home I went, floating on a cloud, not quite sure what is in control of my body. 


Time for a great muscle building meal. I had planned on having fillet Mignon, but we had another teenager over for dinner and I gave up my fillet for the good of the cause. Instead I had a fabulous beefalo patty from Pampero Ranch.  Stacy introduced me to this farm, Jim sells at the Mountain View farmers market. The beefalo is very tasty, 4.8% fat, grass fed and a great source of protein. He sells some wonderful eggs where the chickens eat only melon rinds and flax seeds too.


I had beefalo, a whole egg, broccolini, mushrooms and peppers. A spoon of mustard and a big glass of water. 

I am ready to hit the Quads on Saturday morning. Roy and I trained hamstrings Wednesday, they are still tight from the workout, of course sprints and stairs afterward certainly helped to pump them up. 

I wonder, do you ever get this feeling after training? I would love to hear!

Fridays Training with Roy

Well? Do you see what I do? A pretty ripped Kristy! I am feeling so wonderful right now! Damn look at those veins!


What brought all this on? Besides a great diet, a wonderful trainer, a determined attitude and a whole lot of hard work?


Friday, the alarm sounds at 4:00 a.m. but I am already awake, I feel really rested, some nights I sleep better and work has gone from stress level 800 to level 5, I am feeling better about everything.


I had my Lean 1 and supplements and checked email....fixed the typos in the latest blog posting then off to the gym, I am there just before they open at 5:00 a.m.


Only 20 minutes on the stairmill, I am listening to Big Nation again, the guy next to me looked alarmed when I threw my head back laughing at the discussion in my headphones.


Stretching, and rolling and that little tennis ball on my delts...it hurts and feels good all at once.


Home to shower, get to work and I am off just as soon as I got there, out the door at 11:30 a.m. to get to BodyComp Personal Training Gym to train shoulders with Roy.


I asked about my post training drink and supplements, I am cutting even more now and that is 200 calories, mostly sugar, it has to go. I will instead just keep on with the glutamine, BCAA's, creatine, and amino acids.


We did more stretching, I even hung from the cable machine for a while. 


Then  seated behind the head barbell presses.


Lateral dumbbell raises, like none I have ever done, I couldn't use weights as heavy as I have been, what does that tell you? Did you see my delts in this picture? They look good don't they? 


Unilateral Cable raises, across the chest.


We are done. I know it doesn't sound like a lot, but Roy makes sure that we use proper tempo, as much time under tension as possible to build the muscle, it means slow, deliberate movements, not fast jerky ones using momentum. You must admit, I look a lot more muscular than I did before I started training with him. 




I had to stop at Joanne's to get something and I saw this sign as I walked back to my car.

I had been thinking of getting a foot massage anyway, and this was even less than the one by my house. I am a daring person, I love adventure, I decided to go in, I mean, what do I have to lose?

Now, how do you suppose you can have a foot massage and not loiter?

I can use this, I need to relieve stress, I need to relax, it's always good to improve circulation, but I am not a "headache" person, I don't usually get them. And, I have found that a massage immediately after weight training feels so wonderful!

I loved the interior of this place, it seemed lighter, cleaner, more open, same big comfy chairs (are they all red??), and they had a big screen TV with landscapes of waterfalls and oceans showing and relaxing music.

A woman started and for the first ten minutes she worked on my face, head and neck. She then moved to my shoulders and arms. After twenty minutes two men came over and one went to my feet and the other leaned over and said "strong man"...." we brought a strong man for you", and the lady left me.

I am not sure, but I don't think they do that to everyone. Maybe I scared her?

He started on my feet, they had been soaking in a large wooded tub of hot water. He massaged and asked if it was too hard. I told him "no, I like it hard, you can go harder" and he let out a quick gasp of air and went to work, I could hear him breathing with effort every once in a while.

My feet, my legs, I fell asleep. Then the heart shaped paper cut out is placed on the opening in the headrest and I flip over. He starts on my back, digging deeper and deeper, it hurts a little, but I feel the knots being pushed aside.

My lower back, my glutes, my legs, my neck. Everything is massaged, for an hour, for $15.00. That's how much one cocktail costs poolside at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas (not that I ever had to buy my own mind you!)

We are done, he gives me water, I give him a tip and leave to pay. The fellow asks me how it was and I tell him "wonderful, I loved it, what is his name". He said the masseuse was Casey, was he too hard? People complain about him being too hard. 

"No, no, no, he was great, I love it hard, I will be back to see him again."

I took a card and wrote his name on it and wandered out to my car, time to go home and eat.

I had a great mixture of cauliflower that was baked with paprika and chile powder; eggplant, leeks, peppers and broccoli. Along side a big vitellone patty, rare, super rare. A big glass of water.

Life is good. Fridays are heaven on earth.

SuperGirl

Friday afternoon, I love Fridays!

Started out with 20 minutes on the stairmill at 5:00 a.m. then stretching. I need to lay off the rower for a while, I can see in this picture that my traps are starting to peek up from behind, I hate that! 

I walked all over looking for my jump rope, I believe I left it at the gym and someone seems to have snagged it. I have another at work, but that stays at work, so it's off to the store on the weekend for another.

I leave work at 11:30 then I drive out to see Roy at BodyComp Personal Training Gym. Today is shoulders, I need to make these delts pop!

I really could enjoy working half days everyday. But that is one of my many fantasies....

First I stretched again and then Roy did some range of motion testing and something he learned from his PICP training, I guess I should know what it is called but I forgot. I was lying on my side, so my upper arm was against a mat, so I could do a little wave with my hand and forearm while keeping my elbow and rest of the upper arm and shoulder stable. Roy would hold my arm down, and I was to resist against it for a while, release, and again, over and over a few times for the rotator cuff.

Then there was the ear squeeze (I am sure again this has a much more impressive name), and the pen on my forearm...you can just use your crazy imagination! I like doing new things and like a massage, you can always squeeze my ears! 

Anyway, it all made me more flexible and increased my range of motion for some odd reason. It has something to do with relaxing the fascia that runs down the neck I think...I will need to ask him on Wednesday when I see him again.

We did:

Seated behind the neck barbell press

Seated front barbell press

~I need to concentrate on keeping my neck straight, don't move forward, avoid smacking the back of my head with the barbell and pushing straight up, not out towards the front, which is easier.

Unilateral dumbbell press

super set with 

Rear delt flye 


Burn outs with a band

Shoulders really are my favorite body part to train, I always feel so powerful when I am doing the exercises. What I like most is doing everything so slowly, I see so many people (mainly men) who swing the dumbbells around like they are almost dancing, although it's a pretty nasty looking dance, more like the chicken dance....

I am sure they think they are doing their body good, in reality they are about to mess up their delicate shoulders for a very long time, shoulder injuries do not usually heal very quickly.

I had an overuse injury a couple years ago, my Doctor looked at the fax of the x-rays and called me and asked me to pick them up and bring them in, so we could "talk". I sat in his office, he asked how I felt and we discussed it for a while. I guess I convinced him of something, and the original x-rays must have been clearer because he told me based on his observations from the fax, he was going to tell me I could never lift weights again.

The fact that I told him I wouldn't listen to his advise at that point may have also changed his mind. But I did have to lay off for a couple months and could only do range of motion exercises. 

I screwed it up by training shoulders three times a week. That was stupid (I have since learned). I was training for a competition, and we all know the delts need to be huge, so that was my way of making them huge. It worked, they looked great, but one side of my body had searing pain running up the arm, and I couldn't even dress myself for a while. There is also a bone spur somewhere in the equation, but I haven't been bothered by it at all. When I looked at the x-rays I could see a bunch of rough, crumbly surface, I was told it should be smooth and clean.

I have learned that although I am strong as hell, and I can run with the best of them, I do need to respect the limitations that any body has, and train properly. This is another reason why I really like training with Roy, he is very concerned about form, so my weights have gone down, but my form is superb! 

In time, the weights will go up again, I am not concerned.

It was another VIB day at Sephora so I had to go to the mall after training, then I had a pedicure scheduled. I didn't have time to go home, so in the picture here I am looking a bit stringy. I had my post training drink, but my body really needed some food. 

I stopped to take a picture for you first though! 

8 Weeks Out

8 weeks until the San Francisco show, and I am feeling like I am on track. My weight has been as low as 124 for a few days last week, yet it moves up a bit according to the carbs and water and sodium in my diet.

I don't think I want to get down to 119 and maybe even not 120. I am beginning to think that I just may have added some nice lean mass and won't have too much more to worry about. 

The shoulders are looking rounder (thanks to Roy) and I can see my quads looking better each week as the fat slowly melts away.

Back looks great- but I have always had a good back, I love the shape that can be seen here.

Roy has plans to help me get rid of that fat on the lower glute area, in a few weeks you should see a vast improvement with overall tightening. And don't worry, when I glue the suit on it will fit straight and better!

Close up of the impressive back starting to develop....

The delts look nice and round here, which indicates good overall development in anterior and posterior, I am working on the lateral  delts for width on the side (from the front view). 


Even got some good horseshoe triceps going on!


On target, feeling good and making my list of places to eat afterwards...only two months to go.

Shoulders

Shoulders, I love training them, my favorite body part! I have been focusing in on legs with Roy and sorta lost sight of the shoulders! So I have been making sure that each and every single day I concentrate on the task at hand, and that means a stopwatch!

Mine look pretty good, especially considering I am not dieting so I have no cuts. Drop a few pounds and my delts will pop so loud they might hurt you if you get too close!

Really, you will get a much better workout if you time your sets and your rest periods. Its hard to goof off and chat.

This is for Sakura- I know she can do this in her garage with her dumbbells. Guaranteed to give her boulder shoulders! 

This is adapted from an article in Fitness and Physique, The World of Natural Bodybuilding.  It was called Creating: Colossal Shoulders by James Chan, NCSA CPT. 

I have taken his suggestions, mixed them with my timing and the result is an amazing workout that will get you pumped, feeling strong and hit the lateral and rear delts hard.

Timed correctly this will take about an hour. 

Those of us who 'know" bodybuilding wouldn't think of doing just one exercise for shoulders, after all, the shoulder has three distinct heads and they all need to be trained.

What a lot of people fail to consider is that your shoulders (or your delts) get a lot of training during other days, especially chest. So doing a lot of front raises is most likely either doing nothing (cause you probably don't lift heavy enough to activate these fast twitch muscles) or you are over training them.

It's the sides and the rears that really need the training.

My shoulder workout (weights are what I use, adjust as needed).

Single Arm Dumbbell Lateral Raise, descending sets

Left arm:

10-12 reps 20 pounds (bring weight all the way down in front, shoot up as fast as possible, then lower slowly, count of 4. This should take approximately 30 seconds)

8-10 reps 17.5 pounds (same as above)

6-8 reps 15 pounds (same as above)

6-8 reps 12.5 pounds (same as above)

Rest 90 seconds

Right Arm:

See above workout.

Rest 90 seconds. Repeat, switching arms so each arm is trained three sets per arm. So, you are working one arm to failure then resting and doing the same to the other arm. Over and over and over. It's brutal!

Rest about 5 minutes compete recovery. Maybe dance a little as you wait to start the next exercise. :)

Lying Reverse Flyes 

Lay on your side on a bench, then perform side raises, to the ground and all the way up, slightly twist the pinky  up to the ceiling at the top to squeeze the rear delt. 10 on one side, raise fast, lower slowly - 4 seconds. Then switch to the other side. 

Rest 30 seconds in between each arm, perform 3 sets on each side. 

Side Laterals and Rows


8-12 reps standing side dumbbell laterals (shoot up as fast as possible, lower weights approximately count of 4 seconds, this should take about 40 seconds total).

Immediately start 8-12 reps of wide grip barbell upright rows (50 pounds), up as fast as possible, lower count of 4 seconds.

Immediately follow with 8-12 reps of standing dumbbell overhead presses (30 pounds).

Rest 2 minutes and repeat two more times, total of three sets.

Bent Over Rear Delt Raise (head on bench)

I like to isolate the rear delts by placing a bench at a slight incline, then I face it and rest my forehead against the bench. This takes pressure off the back and stops you from cheating.

Use light dumbbells that are light- no one can really go heavy unless they are a monster. Raise them quickly and get a good squeeze at the top, then slowly lower them.

Repeat 10 times. rest 60 seconds in between each set, do three sets.

Remember, none of this is effective if you are not performing the exercises correctly so don't try to go heavy to impress anyone! 

Yes- use a stopwatch. You would be amazed at how much longer you will actually "lift" and rest!

S, my wonderful, strong, interdependent friend - Shoot me an email if you have questions!