Sunday Back Day

Sunday morning I wake before the alarm sounds, I am anxious to get up and get to the gym. I don't know how many people feel this way, I just love quietly slipping out of bed, then into the kitchen to shake up my drink. I walk over to the computer and drink my meal, take supplements and slowly wake up as I read email, Facebook, check my blog and other sites I interact with.


I am looking and feeling a little "soft" today, and it is going to happen, my body changes every few hours according to what foods I have eaten and how much water I have been drinking. The hydration level really is the most crucial. 


I had some sweet potato (2.5 ounces) with dinner and when you consume carbohydrates, it increases the glycogen in the body, the more glycogen in your body, the more water you hold onto, weight goes up.


It's temporary.


I hit the abs first, get the stuff outta the way that I don't like. 20 Reverse crunches, slow and steady, concentrate on the abs. 10 hanging leg lifts, I can see the veins popping out running up the sides of my abdomen. I do three sets of each.


To the squat rack, time for chin ups. I do 8, then walk over to the captains chair and do 10 dips, lowering slowly, as low as possible. Rest and back to the squat rack. 3 sets of each.


My tops are tighter across the back, the fabric is stretched and I have to take it off by pulling it down over my hips, I cannot get them over my shoulders any longer. 

Now on to my favorite, bent over barbell rows. I warm up with the bar (45 pounds), 10 reps, music is thumping in my ears. Then 10 at 65 pounds, 10 at 85 pounds and then I load on 115 pounds. Three more sets at 115 pounds, I rest 60 seconds in between, I have my stopwatch on the rack.


I love these, it's difficult, not many women do these, or at least the ones I see use little dumbbells or a very tiny barbell. I am in a zone, counting, slowly down, fast up, making noise. Hit the stopwatch so I don't rest too long.


I look up, in the mirror and three men are staring at me, grinning. I take my earbuds out and turn to look at them expectantly. It's Mike, Bobbie and another guy whose name I don't know, I only see him on weekends.


"You know I cannot hear a word you guys are saying..." I tell them. Mike laughs, "oh we were just talking about a new piece of equipment in the other room", as he points to the next weight room.


No they are not, they were talking about me. All the new equipment came in a week ago, I have looked at everything, there is nothing new in that room. I don't mind, there is something amazing about watching a woman train with heavy weights, I even like to watch!


The guy whose name is unknown to me looks at me and says "It's getting close isn't it?" He gestures towards me. "Everything is all dialed and and looking sculpted." 


"Yea, I have 4 weeks" I tell him. "Still have some fat to lose".


They all three laugh, "right!" Bobbie says. "Have you seen her shoulders!? Damn those shoulders!.....


I turn to get on with my training. 


E-Z bar curls 3 sets of 10 at 58 pounds.


Low Cable Row 2 sets of 10, wide bar at 100 pounds, 3 sets of 10 triangle bar at 100 pounds.


Lat Pull Down 2 sets of 10 wide bar grip at 85 pounds, 3 sets of 10, triangle at 85 pounds.


Offset Grip Curl 4 sets of 10 at 22.5 pounds


Posing for a while, then 30 minutes on the stairmill


I went to roll my legs, they have been quite sore lately, especially the vastus medialis  Well I figured out why, both of them have big dark bruises on them! How on earth do you bruise both of your VM's??? I did squats, leg extensions and lunges a couple days prior, maybe that did it. Now I know why just touching them with the roller caused intense pain.  


Home for egg whites and steel cut oats. No ketchup, no sweetener, no nada. Time to cut all condiments out for the next 4 weeks.

I gained weight over night!

This is me and Phil Heath, the night of my competition in October, shortly after he won second place in the 2010 Olympia, we make a pretty good looking couple huh?
We both have very full, round, healthy looking muscles don't you think? There is a reason, and it's what we ate.

I have heard so many times from friends "Oh I went out last night and I had pizza (or pasta, or fries, or cake, the list is endless) and I now weigh three pounds more than yesterday!!!!
 

They really think they gained weight!  Oh I fall for it too, it's that nasty scale! Stay away from it!

You cannot gain three pounds overnight, sorry, it ain't gonna happen, ever! You may weigh more, but it's a temporary situation, honestly.

You must ingest over 3,500 extra calories to gain one pound. So...thinking about what you ate in one day or night, do you think you ate enough to gain three pounds? Nope, didn't think so.....

There is this sneaky little thing called GLYCOGEN and it can make or break you!

Where does it come from? Carbohydrates.

Carbohydrates can be thought of as molecular necklaces with carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen atoms strung together in chains. These necklaces are broken apart during digestion by digestive enzymes and converted into individual beads or molecules of blood glucose, also known as blood sugar. Assisted by the hormone insulin, blood glucose is ushered into cells to be used by various tissues in the body.

Several things happen to glucose. Once inside a cell, it can be quickly metabolized to supply energy, particularly for the brain and other parts of the nervous system that depend on glucose for fuel. Or it may be converted to either liver or muscle glycogen, the storage form of carbohydrate.

When you exercise or use your muscles, the body mobilizes muscle glycogen for energy. Blood glucose can also turn to body fat and get packed away in fat tissue. This happens when you eat more carbohydrates than you need or than your body can store as liver or muscle glycogen.

You can generally store about 1600 calories of glycogen in your muscles and liver. On average, about 1,200 calories of glycogen are stored in your muscles, and 400 calories in your liver.

The amount of glycogen stored in your muscles is directly related to how much carbohydrate you eat and how well trained you are. Diets containing 60 to 65 percent or more of carbohydrate allow for the greatest storage of glycogen in the muscles on a daily basis.

The more glycogen you store in your muscles, the longer you can train or work out. So to maintain an active lifestyle, your diet should always be high in carbohydrates (the RIGHT ones though).

Back to why you weigh more though. For every gram of glycogen your body stores away in the muscles, it also packs away 2.6 grams of water!

Just sleeping for several hours can deplete your stored carbohydrates anywhere from 140 to 260 calories (depending on your size and fat free mass).
What exactly counts as a carbohydrate?

Fruit, Vegetables, Breads, Cereals, Milk, Soda, Fruit juice, Grains, Pasta, Legumes, sweets. Maye we should name what is NOT a carbohydrate!
So, look at what you ate the day or two before the "weight gain", was it high in carbohydrate?  You may just be packing a little extra energy and water. It will go away as you deplete the stores and/or reduce the carbohydrates in the next few days.

If you are a competitor and are carb cycling, don't go getting freaky on me! Your weight WILL fluctuate as you cycle through the carbs. 

 What's the best way to figure out what is going on with your body? Write down what you eat, everyday. Everything. Be honest, if you aren't, the only one you are cheating is yourself.