Fridays Training

Woo Hoo! I love Fridays!


Monday, Wednesday and Friday are almost like "two a days" for me, but they aren't brutal like the "two a days" I do during competition prep, that will start soon enough.


In the a.m. it's "calves and conditioning" or it could be "calfs and conditioning", I have looked it up since I see them used interchangeably and when I did, I found this hilarious site called "Legs of Steel" and this is what they had to say:

Women's legs with muscular calves come from working out regularly. Often times they are found on women body builders. Some people prefer the saying "Legs of steel" and if this is what interests you then you can go to:www.legsofsteel.com to see lots of women in this category. The women are listed in alphabetic order so if you find one you like you can find them again easily. There are over 75 different woman listed here.

Ha ha, you know you can find just about anything on the Internet!

I am not promoting the site, and no, I am not listed on the site, It was just a silly thing I wanted to share.

So my Friday morning starts with a 5 minute walk on the treadmill then I go down to the back weight room to hit the calves. I prefer to start with the donkey calf raise, but I need the incline bench and just as I have my schedule, so does another guy and he bench presses (thats ALL he does) and he does it three times a weak. Now I am not the one that will tell him this is not effective nor is it a good idea, especially when I heard him telling someone about his sore shoulders that same morning!

So he does the flat bench then the incline, so I let him do his thing and I hit the seated calf raise first. Two plates, 4 sets of 20. It is easy to throw your shoulders backwards to give yourself a little help, don't do this, keep your back straight and work your CALVES only.

Then the incline bench fellow is done so I take the Olympic bar off the rack and set it up for Donkey Calf raises. I am up to three plates now, that's 135 pounds hanging from my lower hips on a dip belt. I am doing 4 sets of 20, slowly up, slowly down. I need more weight soon, but getting up into position is the hard part with that much weight, I have to push up with one leg and I won't be able to with much more weight. I may need to ask one of the guys to sit on my back soon, and I need to be careful who I ask. Bobbie would don a Cowboy hat and scream "eeh haw" and try to kick me with spurs, I best try to find a smaller, more docile fellow... ha ha ha

Then it's off for conditioning in the Basketball court. I warm up by jogging around the perimeter four times, then I practice on the heavy bag a bit. My boxing has gotten better, but its hard to kick this bag, it's way too hard and there is some velcro at the bottom, so when I practice "knees" I scrape them on the velcro. It's not that I am a wimp, but gyms are really dirty places, and not the place you want to get a scrape.

Then I throw the gloves onto the floor and start in with my conditioning. Pushups, high knee jumps, running, burpee/sprawls, squats holding weight overhead. They have these big heavy tubes with hand holds in them, I am not sure what they are called but they are like a more stable form of sandbag training, and they have a huge stack of them in the basketball court, just waiting for me.

Sweat is dripping down my face, I have done many rounds and now a couple guys come in to play basketball, I run around them. I am then down on the floor, doing crunches, frog crunches, side crunches, then shadow boxing and high knees, down to the floor for mountain climbers.

I finish off with more boxing, my hair is plastered to my neck and face. Off I go, I have to go into work.

At 11:45 I am waiting for Roy at his place, I am early and I have a new book "The Metabolic Typing Diet" by William Wolcott and Trish Fahey, and I sit in the sun reading and waiting, actually enjoying myself.

He arrives and it's shoulder day, I love shoulders. I change into my workout clothes and stretch, then we start in with behind the neck shoulder press. I warm up, then we get up to 75 pounds, all the way down until the bar hits my rhomboids, then power up. My left is so much weaker, it struggles. I think we did 4 sets maybe? I did 10, 8, 6, then 5 if I recall. We then did a drop set, 65 pounds, 55 pounds, 45 pounds.

Roy says my stomach is looking better, that means flatter. It is, I have lost some body fat. My weight is down to 126 pounds yet my muscles still look full. This is good, I do have to start the diet soon, so it helps me "mentally" to see  some improvement when not really trying yet.

Then seated dumbbell press, bringing them slowly all the way down to stretch the muscle, and power up. This, I believe we did 5 sets of with 32.5 pounds in each hand.

Last we did dumbbell front raises, with 12.5  pounds. Several sets, my left arm is almost a joke now, it is so weak compared to the right!

No time for boxing or ropes, damn! Stacy comes in, it's her turn, I have to leave, just when I was getting warmed up.


Funny, I love doing this and could do it all day. Some people complain and whine the entire time they are in the gym- what, do you suppose makes us feel so differently about this?


Saturday will be quads, my poor legs have been beat up so much lately, but I win the battle. They might complain and moan, but I keep them in line, pushing harder and harder everyday.

The Ideal Female Body

Yesterday I wrote how most people think Jessica Beil is too muscular and several people commented and emailed- Can they be nuts? Who took this poll? How many idiots participated? (my own comment here).

I had to search to find the one I saw this in, and I found it! I will post the link below, please read it.

The poll was on Leigh Peel's site- and it is very, very interesting. I do like reading Leigh, she says it like it is and doesn't mice words.

What I find so amazing is how educated people think that it is easy to bulk up and look like a bodybuilder. Do you know how hard I train, how precise I am with my diet, how regimented I am with supplements and sleep, yet I still have not achieved the look I want? I will be there someday, and am actually getting close.

Today, I was training legs. It was Saturday, I could take my time and I would. I went in feeling high as a kite, I usually do feel like that on my way to the gym, but I wouldn't have to go to work so I felt especially carefree.

I weighed myself, I hadn't in about a week, it really doesn't matter what I weigh right now. I was surprised, I have lost a few pounds, but then I need to remember that my weight always fluctuates with what I ate the previous days before. I was at 128, and only a week ago I was at 133 and had been for quite some time, odd, very, very odd.

I look at myself quite a bit, critiquing. I like the way I am looking right now. My arms look really big and curvy, I have biceps and delts, I like that. I have traps, and while I don't want big traps, I always seem to have them. Friday Roy told me that was one of the first things he noticed about me when he met me, I had big traps. He said you can tell a real athlete by their traps. A real athlete doesn't need to train them, they grow because of the correct training. I never train traps- ever. But they are there from my deadlifts, RDL's, shoulder work, sled work, everything.

I was sitting resting on a bench near the end of my training and Denise asked if she could work in on the GHR. She looked up at me and said "Your body composition has changed quite a bit, are you getting ready for a show?" 

Believe me, you cannot pay me a better compliment than to ask "are you getting ready for a show?" It means I look GOOD! I asked her - "tell me how it has changed, what do you see?"

"Muscle, you have put on a lot of muscle. There was a time, maybe about a month when it didn't look like muscle, but it has changed and it looks like it now."

I smiled, "thanks, that is just what I am trying to do. I struggled with my diet for a while, I am eating more, trying to gain and add size, and it's hard to get it dialed in, it's new to me"

"So you are trying to add more muscle? Well it's working! You look good." she said.

Hear that Roy? Good Job!

I finished training and passed Stacy in the hall- she wanted to talk so I told her to meet me in the cafe, I needed coffee. 

Stacy came up to me "You really look good right now!" I told her  "Yes I think so too, I feel good, I look good I am getting to where I want to be, it feels great!"

Here is Leigh's post about "The Ideal Female Body", I think you will find the results interesting.

Leigh Peel, The Ideal Female Body

Life is Good

How often do you have those days? Those days when you drive in the car, singing at the top of your lungs? I seem to do that a lot- but then I have a convertible and it makes it oh so much more fun!

I got an email from Roy, he sent it Thursday night but I didn't see it till I checked my email at 4:15 am on Friday.  Can we train at 2:00 instead of 12:00? 

Heck yes! It means I leave work at 11:30 and hit Santana Row right away - Lululemon just got a new shipment in the night before and they received one of my two favorite bra tops in Paris Pink! It's like the one I am wearing here, but HOT PINK - called the Hot n' Sweaty Bra. The name alone makes me all excited!

Then off to Vintage Wine Merchants for some stocking stuffers for Cooper. I cannot name them on the blog or he will see what they are. 

Then grocery shopping- we will have Chateaubriand with shallot sauce tonight- roasted potatoes for the boys, Brussels sprouts for me. 

Stacey emails just before 1:00 - "Aren't you training with Roy today???" She is there at his place at 1:00 and normally I would be there first but I am not.

Roy and I train shoulders. He said this is the first week that we have not been able to progress in weights since we started training. We started back in March, so that is quite some time. Keep in mind that he changes the program every three to four weeks, so each week I show progression, but not this. I think it is because we have been doing low reps, high weight.

For instance, I am doing a barbell shoulder press with 105 pounds, that's quite a bit. 5 sets, 5 reps each set.

I suppose Roy needs to have something new next week!

The heavy weights mean long rest periods. We chat about bodies, what people find attractive, what people like. I am still astounded by the women who want to be skinny, painfully skinny, with huge breasts and very thin arms. It just doesn't make sense to me.

Roy asked if I know of Jessica Biel. I told him yes, I think she is stunning. 

Roy said polls have shown that most women think she is too manly- too muscular. 

WTF??

As David always says: The masses are asses.

Roy and I finish shoulders and we box- although the air is cool we end up taking it outside in the sunshine, the cool air and sunshine feels good. I can feel myself feeling more confident, I cannot wait until my next session at AKA tomorrow!

After I am home, we visit Mark and Virginia, then come home and eat. I have two great emails waiting for me.

One is from Alicia. She lives across the street from my father in law and reads my blog everyday. She has been working diligently since we met last Christmas on shaping up and trimming down. She told me she has lost 12 pounds! That is amazing! 12 pounds is a huge accomplishment, especially for someone who works taking care of children in her home. This is probably one of the most challenging jobs you can have, and she has done a great job!

Great Job Alicia!!

Then I had an email form Rita Barry of Fitblooger. I will be their featured blogger on January 2, 2012!  An auspicious day for all fit people! I am so excited and cannot wait to come up with a great post for this day. 

Soon to bed, It's leg day and the gym opens at 6:00 am. then I have kickboxing with Jerome Turcan at 10:00. 

And then....lunch with the boys and Lauren at The Cellar Door restaurant in Santa Cruz!

Shoulders and Musings

There are days when everything flows, and I feel great. Today was one of those days, and of course, it was Friday! I still keep wondering how I will be able to manage to work only half time (at some point) every other day of the week and not just Fridays...

I work hard to sculpt my physique and frankly, I think that it is probably a bit harder for a 50 year old woman than an 18 year old, I mean, they look good as soon as they roll out of bed every morning, complete with tousled hair and sleepy eyes!

I trained with Roy and enjoyed every minute as usual. We ended with boxing, this time Roy hit me in the head, but it was the back and not hard so no big deal. But I was feeling strong and wailing on him, at one point I hit him so hard one of his punch mitts went flying off his hand. Ha! That was exhilarating.

Proper training makes the difference in any physique. People who insist they do not need a trainer just don't know what they are missing. Or maybe they do. Maybe they are afraid of working as hard as a good trainer will push them?

My shoulders look great today. Of course they are pumped and full of blood from training and boxing but regardless, take a person off the streets who does none of this, and let them train for one day, their shoulders won't look like this.

I had to go to Sephora and the grocery store and the pharmacy. In those three stores, four individuals asked me if I competed! Damn my shoulders must have looked particularly good!

As the fourth woman, the pharmacist, asked it I laughed and said "Yes, I compete in Figure and just finished training and boxing, so I probably look better than usual at the moment. And I must look really good today because you are the fourth person to ask me this in the last hour!"

She then started telling me how she was trying to lose some weight and we talked about diet a bit.

It made me think how the other day Stacy said I was looking like a "little fireplug". She said my legs are looking bigger and my shoulders look good as usual. I consider that a great compliment. I am little, only 5'3" and a fireplug is a sturdy, strong piece of equipment, functional. I am not overly fond of "fluff" or unnecessary things nor am I fond of skinny and helpless. So I am looking strong and muscular. My off season diet and training seem to be working. I am gaining, but not too much fat.

I finished my shopping and went home and ate. I had been thinking about food since I finished training, I never seem to stop. I had a bigger meal than usual, and I had starch. I have been limiting my starch to once a day and today I thought I would splurge. I made a burger on sourdough bread. It was a big lean beef patty on only one slice of bread cut in half with mustard and pickles. I was hungry after I finished it too, damn.

I had a spoon full of almond butter and made myself back out of the kitchen.

Tomorrow is legs. Those damn split squats again...but you know what? I hate them and I love them. I love the way they make me feel, I feel alive. And I love they way they make me look.

San Pedro Market Square

On Saturday we went on a little outing. Me, David and Stacy. I am a foodie at heart, always have been and always will be. Just because I diet half the year doesn't diminish that at all, I still eat great, tasty, healthy, low calorie foods most of the time.


I am a firm believer that you can eat healthy food that tastes great too. One of the most exciting part of competing is dreaming about all of the wonderful foods I can eat and prepare afterward!


So I decided we would go check out the soft opening of the new San Pedro Square Market in downtown San Jose. They say it will be alive with restaurants, food stalls, vendors, markets, bars, and music.


First stop ? Vino Vino, a wine bar that has varietals kegged and for sale by the glass . Here is David giving us a lesson on the local wines (above).


Next was to Pizza Bocca Lupo . David said it was great- but not as good as mine, seriously! This pizza cooked in 2 minutes, it was a very, very hot pizza oven. But this style is meant to be eaten with a knife and fork, it is a thin crust but soft. Mine is very thin and crispy crust.


Personally I cannot wait to go when I can try it. I was happy with my chicken breast, brussels sprouts and sweet potato.


We sat out in the warm sun listening to a great band, and there was yet another bar set up outside in front of the Peralta Adobe, a real European atmosphere! It reminded me of all the times I have spent at a public square with my brother in his home city of Barcelona, Spain.

Then it was out back where San Jose Eats operated by Moveable Feast, was gathering.  Several mobile food trucks all lined up serving all sorts of gourmet dishes. Here is a list of the trucks there on Saturday:


An the Go
Eat on Monday
MoBowl
MoGo BBQ
O Mi Ninja
Sanguchon
Soulnese
Treatbot


  Here David and Stacy are waiting for a Heritage Berkshire pork taco from eatonmonday.com

The Peruvian truck had some dishes that sounded wonderful, and the gourmet Vietnamese truck too. In fact, they all had something I would love to try.

If you live in San Jose, sign up to receive updates from the market. Their grand opening will be in late October, once all the tenants are in and open. Although it is small, I am envisioning a great place to spend some time.

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!

Body and Soul

The boys were out of town for the weekend, I was on my own. Ah sweet nothingness! Actually I never do "nothing",  I feel like I will miss something in life. What would I do while they were gone? The same thing I do when they are here, only louder and with light! ha ha

I woke up at the crack of dawn and turned lights on! It was great to be able to walk around and see as I got ready for the gym. I met Maria for a while and we trained legs and glutes...I then went home and cooked my food for the upcoming week, chicken, beef, and lots of vegetables since I got two CSA deliveries. Virginia went out of town so she asked if I wanted hers, and I always get a delivery at work. I have enough produce for a family of 10 now. Good, I am cutting starches way back and will need the vegetables.

Stacy and I went to the San Jose Jazz Festival and wandered, people watching. She and I are more alike than I had realized. When she says "should I bring food?" I know that means her own particular meals, it won't be crackers, cheese, chips or junk.

When I say "let's get a drink" she knows that means water.

We both schedule our lives around our training and food prep, and we understand that about each other. 

I was feeling good as I walked through the crowds of people, and it really shows when you feel good about yourself. 

A man smiles at me and says "nice tan!" I am not tan, but I may look tan. I have had basal cell cancer, I use tanning lotion, tanning is for fools. But I also have a trick: Body Bling. The gold bottle is for blonds, it gives a beautiful golden color; the black bottle is darker, it gives a more tan color, sometimes I mix them.

Body Bling makes your skin look like a golden statue, it's amazing. I put it on my legs and it transforms plain legs to glistening works of art. Even Stacy asked me about my tan....


A woman and man at a booth selling drinks waved me over. She leaned out and said "Your arms are amazing! He was going on and on about your arms and I told him I am trying to work on mine but we wanted to see you up close!" I smiled and laughed and waved as I walked away.


We walked on, towards the blues stage, I wanted to see Eric Lindell.


A woman looks at me and says "You have a beautiful body!" and her friend turns to look and says "Uh huh, I noticed she sure does!"


I smile and thank them and walk on. I tell Stacy it happens all the time, almost everyday, I just don't get it. "It all makes the hard work worth it though." I told her, she agreed.  


A couple guys talk to me, I haven't the heart to tell them I am older than their mother..or maybe they don't care?


We talked and joked with the police on every corner, they sure were friendly! 


A guy asks if Stacy and I are single, they are having a dating show for single women. I tell him we are single for a couple hours, we have no time for his show. He laughs and agrees. As we walk away I laugh and tell her that we don't need a show to find a date anyway! We both bust out in laughter and people wonder what we have been drinking...

We enjoy the music and watch the people, pointing out the beautiful bodies to one another. I like to look at beautiful bodies. We critique and comment about what appears to be original parts and what is "refurbished". We talk about how some could improve in certain areas with proper training or a modified diet. 


We spend a long time watching a woman dancing by herself. We wonder if it is drugs or just a very free spirit. She certainly was having a good time and danced beautifully. She left when the music stopped, we assumed to spread her joy elsewhere. 


We left, driving home with the top down, each would go home to more cooking and planning, we run our schedules the same it seems. 


I felt good, I felt wonderful to relax, to have all my hard work recognized by strangers, to enjoy the festival completely straight but high on life. 


And to be in the company of a wonderful person who values the same things in life I do, hard training, physical activity, great healthy food; and the curiosity of what makes people tick.


I started cooking again, went to bed early and planned to get plenty of rest for my next long day at the gym. Sunday would be back day, and I planned to turn the lights on and make some noise when I got out of bed!