Eating and Training to Add Muscle

I have absolutely no desire to look like a bodybuilder, yet many people think I do, they are just "uneducated" in the sport and think that all women with muscles are Bodybuilders. I am trying to add muscle, still. 

The last month has been a whirlwind for me, it's month two of adhering to my new diet, I am no longer eating chicken, broccoli and brown rice meal after meal.  Oh I still love those things and eat them every week, but I eat so much more than that! I think it would be easier to tell you what I do NOT eat.

Most packaged and pre made foods. I will eat Greek yogurt, breads and cheese, but no boxes of low fat chips, crackers, snack foods. I don't eat sausages, although I probably could and I am not a bacon eater by choice. I still refrain from drinking much alcohol, although Layne has taught me how to incorporate it if I want a glass or two on occasion; I prefer to save it for special events, I feel better without it.

Things I am enjoying that I really rarely ate for the last several years: Greek yogurt, fruit (lots of fruit - especially watermelon and apples), cheese, fatty meats (all cuts of beef, lamb, pork, chicken), breads, English muffins, toast and jam, olive oil on foods, pasta, french toast, you name it!

I just have to meticulously account for everything I eat and it must be timed correctly around my training. 

I have learned so much about how my body responds to certain foods and amounts, there is no need to be a martyr, you can live your life, compete or just look amazing! 

I shall never, ever, ever again be one of the competitors who starves herself and eats only the few staples: Tilapia, broccoli, asparagus, brown rice and yams. Never will I be a cardio queen! I never really was anyway, I always knew that a lot of cardio is bad for your body and makes you look drawn, tired and depleted, and I have always believed that someone who does hours of cardio just doesn't have their diet dialed in correctly.  

However,  I used to enjoy doing cardio more often than I get to now. I used to like hitting the stairs across the street from my house! I am currently only doing High Intensity Interval Training two times a week, and the duration is so short it leaves plenty of time to spend on abs, something I always skipped! 

The pictures above were taken 3 weeks apart. On the left (September 8) I was 126.5 pounds; on the right (September 28) I was 126 pounds. Almost exactly the same weight but in the right I look much more muscular and shapely. My shoulders are rounder and more prominent, and do I even need to say anything about the infamous glutes? 

It's a combination of the hard training and lifting I do everyday: my trainer, Roy Ganju, the owner of BodyComp Gym, is pushing me to lift heavier and heavier now that I am eating more; and the food, the variety and the timing of it all. I never realized just how important the timing was. 

I must say that I feel better and look better than ever. My weight fluctuates but is still lower than when I started working with Layne Norton, I believe I have lost bodyfat, but it's odd how much bigger, fuller and more muscular I look.

My emotional state is better, David is always telling me that (is he dropping hints???). I am happier, I feel much more freedom, although the daily meal calculations are still quite a job for me. I just have to plan ahead a couple days.

No longer do I have the massive food prep days, since I don't eat the same thing everyday it's not realistic or necessary. And, Layne changes my macro-nutrients every week, so I prepare my meals two days ahead, that's it.  I still cook a lot of chicken at once, or rice but not at all like I was doing in the past.

My squat has really improved, and this has no doubt helped my glute development, and that's in part due to an injury I sustained back in July. I developed plantar fasciitis again, I last had it about 10 years ago and it took two years to heal.

I am squatting lower, my back is better aligned and I am squatting heavier. I don't discuss "one rep maxes" I am talking reps here! I am squatting 170 pounds now!!

I have been taking some heavy duty anti-inflammatories, icing my feet 15 minutes daily with water frozen in coke bottles.

And I am rolling them for 15 minutes daily on lacrosse balls. Stretching, I am doing a lot of stretching too.

In addition to that, I have to sleep with night splints on. These are basically hard casts that go from my toes, along the bottom of my feet, up to my knee. I place my feet and legs in them and then wrap them with ace bandage. My foot is in a constant stretched position, all night long. The doctor had them made for me and he is confident this will "cure all my ails" 

For someone who sleeps naked, this is a very, very uncomfortable event, let me tell you!

But, one of my issues for years has been very tight calves and poor dorsi-flexion, these night splints seem to be solving the issue! I can now drop down to the ground, right into a squat, almost like a child! 

Below you can see the progression as I wrap my feet and legs up before bedtime, this is a nightly ritual now for four very long weeks! 

The end result below, nothing on but my casts on my legs! David and I laughed and laughed this first night, and I have since learned to wrap them up very quickly on my own. 

Sleeping as I said is difficult, and then of course there is the whole getting up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night issue too!

But I think about people who may not have a choice and have to live with something like this (or actually worse) every single day of their lives, for me it's a temporary setback, and I can wear regular shoes during the day. I will survive this event in my life.

 10 nights down, 18 to go! then watch me squat!

Back and Glute Training for Women's Physique

I spend a lot of time training every single part of my body, but the back view is what will make or break a competitor. 

I realized today as I left the gym, that I have only four months to go until my Women's Physique debut, I am just feeling some twinges of nervousness. That subsided quickly, but then other thoughts started running through my head about the upcoming preparations.

I am training, and I never stop. People always ask (trying to be polite) "Are you in training now?"....The training never stops folks! Ever! I have been practicing my posing and it is so much more difficult than Figure ever was. Everything needs to be flexed and tight, everything, it is strenuous.  So not only will the back win the competition, but if it's a tie between the backs- then the best Poser wins!

What does change is the eating!!! That's the hard and the fun part.

Soon I will need to start a diet. It really won't be too bad, but it tends to go on and on and I just get tired of eating the same old thing without much variation. I think, I am like most people. If there is something that is "illegal, immoral, or not within my reach", I want it! So, when dieting I want big spoons of peanut butter and thick, rare cheeseburgers.

But I am jumping ahead, I haven't started my diet yet and I have a whole month before I need to really buckle under, and then January is a slight "ease into it" so I can enjoy a week in Mexico in February- then all shit hits the fan.

I will soon start to take weekly pictures in my suit, so I get a better idea of where I am. I will modify my training slightly, but I am not sure how yet, I have to wait and see how things "look"

In the past I would start training my back twice a week instead of the usual once; but I am not so sure I need to this time. I believe that all of my pull ups and chin ups in the last several months have really paid off. My lats are huge, and have reminded me almost everyday of how much I am pushing them. I frequently need assistance undressing due to the soreness. 

I think my back looks stellar and I haven't even started dieting! Maybe you are wondering why a back would look different with a diet? Most women tend to hold a great deal of fat in their upper backs, along with their glutes and hips. As you can see, I am fairly "fat free" in those areas, I hold it in the abdominal area, so that's my area to concentrate on and there is no amount of crunching or exercising that I can do for the fat in my abdomen, it's completely DIET!

The glutes look great too- the "smileys" (the folds of skin where the glute meets the hamstring) are not too pronounced, and that will indeed disappear when I diet down too. 

My glutes tend to recruit with all of my leg training, I suppose I am lucky there. Unfortunately it means my quads won't grow as large as I would like, but there are trade offs in every physique. If I had to choose, I would choose better glutes over bigger quads. A flat butt is just an absolute eyesore! I can see a wonderful physique but if they have flat glutes, it just ruins the entire thing.

So what's the plan? Keep training and eating the same for the next month, through January, then assess where I am. I plan to enjoy the rest of my time off as I have been. This means sticking to a clean diet most of the time, but enjoying "normal" food on occasion (a couple nights a week).

I am going to track down Mike the BodyFat Test Guy and have hydrostatic body fat testing, I am not really sure how much I need to lose, but I know where I need to get to! If I know my starting point, then I can plan my dieting accordingly. 

I am (the day these pictures were taken) at 129 pounds. I aimed for 120 at my last competition but dropped to 118 due to water dehydration. I don't think I need to lose that much this time, I have added some muscle, it has been 6 months after all!

Oh, yeah. I need to start doing the dreaded cardio next year too! I did buy a treadmill so that makes it easy to knock out 20 minutes while watching a movie on Netflix (please send some suggestions, I only watch TV when I do this, so I know nothing about what's good on streaming these days).

I will probably start running stairs again at work, after vacation, so that means the last week of February.

Guess I better plan some great food for the next few weeks! 

Hurt Hams, Grateful Glutes

Yes the hams are still causing me a problem, but I start physical therapy in a week. At this point it's more mental than physical I think, at least it's hard for me to push myself, I have this horrible fear of tearing something and causing even more damage. I can feel the hamstring "pull" when I try to train, and it's bound to pull for a while, I just need to get past the fear and realize that.

Below is the standing work station I have for my office now, it is sitting outside my door, waiting to be assembled and moved in, my desk is way too heavy for me to move it on my own.

My doctor believes that sitting for long periods of time is causing me to have tight hip flexors and it is shortening my psoas. That, and then the contracted glute muscle seemed to have contributed to the hamstring strain I am now dealing with. 

Here is a very interesting article that was in the San Francisco Chronicle called "Firms take stand against sitting" describing the exact situation I am up against and how other Bay Area Companies are moving away from traditional desks and incorporating these standing work stations. You may want to consider one for your office or home!

I have been walking my stairs at lunch, taking them two at a time and this seems to be working my quads more than my hamstrings and glutes. When I would run them, I would need explosive posterior power, it's funny how the same exercise is changed so much by walking instead of running.

As you can see, the glutes, hamstrings and quads have come up, they have all increased in size and I have been able to maintain a reasonable bodyfat level. This area (hamstrings and quads) is one I have been working on for quite some time, I have naturally lean legs, this is considered by some a blessing, and by others a curse - just depends on how you look at it (I say it's a curse).

Before I hurt my left hamstring I was training them twice a week - heavy. I have to do that to make them grow, and as soon as I get clearance and can psych myself up, I will start back in. In fact, today I actually jogged to the Event Center to walk my stairs, and I had no pain. Of course, anything can change tomorrow, so I will need to assess how I feel when I wake up. 

Roy and I have been hitting the glutes since we need to avoid the hamstrings! Now, they are connected, so the hamstrings will be trained when training the glutes, but we can target specific areas and avoid specific areas. 

We are doing single leg hip thrusts,  and back extensions on the roman chair, both with weight. The hip thrusts were hard at first, in fact we started with only bodyweight as it pulled on my leg and my hip flexors were so tight, but on Monday we were up to 12 reps with 60 pounds, I have an Olympic bar across my hips with weight added. Thursday we add more weight, he said it all looked way too easy for me.

The back extensions are 12 reps again and I am holding a 35 pound plate, squeezing the glutes at the top of the movement. This hits the very top of the glutes.

I was a bit worried that my glutes would just "deflate" if I couldn't train hamstrings,  I really do prize my high round glutes and at the age of 51 have to fight tooth and nail to keep them where they are, so not only just maintaining status quo is difficult, but even more so is improving them!

But thank goodness I was wrong, we are progressing right along, glutes are fine and the hamstrings are getting some training, and that is what is needed to allow them to heal, there is nothing more that I can do except be patient, go easy and keep working them gently but consistently.

I think we are doing a fine job, what do you think?

Active Release Technique (A.R.T.)

I finally went into Chase Chiropractic and saw Dr. Joseph Leahy for the muscle pain I have been experiencing in my glute and hamstring. It was Tuesday and I would be there for a seminar afterward, so I spent a couple hours at his office, this actually gave me a great chance to assess how the Active Release Technique worked for this situation.

Dr. Leahy has worked on me before and I was happy with the results. The first time it was more for an athletic performance issue, now I was seeing him due to pain, not only was the pain becoming unbearable, but it was also hindering my athletic performance.

I was led to the exam room and I explained my situation to him.  I told him about the chiropractor at the expo, about the massage and how the therapist said I had a contracted muscle, I told him about my pain and how I am working on my knees at my desk because I cannot sit for long periods of time.


Although it has felt like a hamstring issue, it was discovered that it really was my glute, the muscle originates in the glute and attaches at the hamstring, so it all just feels like one big, tight mass; and since the muscle was contracted, I was fine as I stood, but sitting would cause a lot of pain in my hip, hamstring and glute, and then this of course caused me to favor one side when training quads and hams, not a good thing for someone who is trying to grow the size of their legs. 

 He had me lie on my side and pushed and probed until he found the tender spot. “Yes, it’s your gemellus and your piriformis, the massage therapist must have studied A.R.T or he never would have known about these very small but important muscles.”

A.R.T. is similar to massage, where the soft tissue is manipulated, but the body is moved around in conjunction with pressure on the muscle and the idea is break up adhesion's and offer relief.  Dr. Leahy gave me directions on what he wanted me to do, this is interactive. He would manipulate the glute muscle as I lay on my side on the table, and I would pull my knee up to my chin, with the help of my hand and arm, pulling as far as possible and it would hurt. It was a good pain though, I could feel relief afterward.

He explained that when the muscle gets overworked it can remain in a contracted state, and if it isn’t released it can cut off the blood supply and cause damage. This worried me as it has been going on for a couple months now. I told him after my massage it felt better, but as soon as I tried to run stadium stairs it started back in. “That’s exactly when you would feel it.” He replied. “That’s when those muscles are engaged.”

He said he would be doing the same treatment for 80 football players the following day, he is the team chiropractor for the San Francisco 49ers, training camp is opening and he said many of them have this same issue.

I left and went outside to hangout waiting for the seminar to begin. For entertainment, many people go out to bars or the movies; I go to things like this. I would be having my PH tested (urine sample) and my antioxidant levels tested via laser scan. Then we would listen to a discussion on DNA, aging, supplements, various treatments….boring to you, interesting to me.

At one point just as the seminar was starting I told him it was still tight, he said “Come on” and back we went to the room. Again he worked the muscle, a bit differently and we talked more about the pain. I then did lunges up and down his hallway as he watched, I was able to sink all the way down and not feel the pulling sensation I had been, it felt better!


He commented on my bright pink shoes. I told him he says the same thing every time I see him.

I was able to sit for an hour at the seminar before my quad, glute and hip started aching. I got up and stood. I then talked to Dr. Leahy again and he said it was most likely inflamed and that was causing the pain.  My injury does not require multiple sessions; he said the next step is A Perfect Light therapy, which takes one session and lasts 20 minutes. If the pain was not gone after that, he said I must have an MRI to see if I have nerve damage.

I scheduled the therapy for Thursday; I couldn’t do it Wednesday as I was meeting Roy after work to train quads (and you know I won’t miss training, ever!)

It’s unfortunate that my insurance will not cover this, they don’t cover chiropractic medicine.  A.R.T. is not even chiropractic, it is practiced by other health professionals, but is considered "alternative". I imagine that if I went to my physician I would be given a cortisone shot and then an MRI, and of course if I need to MRI I will go to him to see if I can get it covered by insurance, those are quite costly. I prefer to solve the problem though instead of treat the pain.

As I write this on Wednesday, I have been able to sit all day, but I have felt some slight discomfort. I am taking Aleve and will continue to for a few days. David says “Ice it!” but honestly, my glute muscle is so big, that I don’t see how I could sit on ice long enough to really help the inflammation, but I will in the evening for a bit anyway.

Getting in and out of the car was not difficult as usual, and walking up stairs seemed normal. My hamstrings are sore, but both are sore and equally sore, so I believe that is from the new hamstring workout Roy and I did on Monday evening.

I seem to be on the right track, but only time will tell for sure.

Previous posts on my sessions:


A.R.T. (2nd)


A.R.T. (1st)

The Thinker

You've seen "The Thinker" haven't you?

Here is the "real" Thinker:

It is a bronze and marble sculpture by Auguste Rodin, it depicts a man in sober meditation, battling with a powerful internal struggle.  I feel that struggle on occasion with my training and diet.

I was taking pictures and I did this, and the pose made me think of the sculpture. I love sculptures and I think it is because they depict the human body the way I like it.

Sculptures catch the human form in a way that no other media can. They show men with muscles that were grown with labor not drugs, women as athletes and life-giving beings and not morphed sex objects. If you have never seen life sized sculptures up close, I cannot urge you enough to go visit a museum to see what the human form is supposed to look like. 

If you live here in the Bay Area, you may not be aware that we are lucky to have one of the largest collections of works by Rodin (outside of Paris), right in our own backyard. It is the Cantor Arts Center located at Stanford University and it's open to the public and free to get in!

If you are in Paris, then museums are everywhere, the largest and most impressive being The Louvre, I would plan more than one day there and not in a row, you need time to absorb it all.

Back to the "internal struggle". I love it when I add more weight, but it comes with fat, there just really isn't a way to add more size without adding some fat. I'm not huge by any means, but this is my struggle, I want to have the added shape and muscle and not the fat.  I just need to get over it and convince myself I actually look healthier, but it is my "internal struggle". I wonder how many others go thorough this? If you do, I would enjoy hearing from you, how do you deal with it?

Tonight I trained with Roy, it was squat day. There is a Crossfit Gym in the same industrial complex as his gym, and we see the folks run past every now and again. Tonight they were doing farmer walks, they all peer in as they go by, they are curious about who could be making so much noise inside. It's just me and Roy.

As I left one of the guys stopped me. "I don't mean to be disrespectful" he started, "My girlfriend has no butt at all, how did you get that?!" as he pointed to my rear end. I threw my head back and laughed out loud. "I turned and pointed at BodyComp Gym and said "He gave it to me!". The guy read the name on the outside, "What is it" he asked. "A gym, we lift weights, that's all we do" I told him.

We talked a bit, he wanted to know what his girlfriend should do. I said she should come train with Roy, but it didn't sound like that was part of the plan. He asked if it always looked like this. I told him, it wasn't bad to start, but we have been working, and working hard at getting it bigger.

I ended by telling him to have her do squats, heavy squats. I just did 5 sets of front squats at 135 (7 to 8 each set), and walking lunges holding a bar (last set was 75 pounds), and I said to add in the Glute Ham Raise. He thanked me and trotted off to the Crossfit Gym.

I laughed again and told Roy, then drove home thinking, thinking, thinking.

Respect for my Passion

It was the 4th of July, I was off work for the day but would hit the gym as soon as they opened for 30 minutes of cardio and calve training, then I would meet Roy at BodyComp Personal Training Gym in the afternoon to train quads. I love days like this, I feel so alive and accomplished.

I am progressing right along as planned, adding size but keeping bodyfat low, as you can see in my picture above. The diet still puzzles me, I will be writing more about it later, but I managed to avoid all starches now through the last weekend, none at all.

As I left Gold's Gym, another member stopped me, he is  young guy, an MMA fighter and fairly ripped, not someone you would call a couch potato by any means. "Hey- you are pretty much a professional right?" he asked, and he didn't wait for a response. He started asking me about my training, what my split was and how often I train each body part. We talked about it and he explained that he thinks his MMA is counter productive, he is staying small due to the sheer energy expenditure of the constant conditioning that MMA requires.

I told him how I was struggling a bit, I feel like my shoulders have lost much of their size, I have always been so proud of my massive shoulders, but I am training my chest right now with only a very little shoulder work thrown in. I will go back to training shoulders again in a few weeks, but right now I need to stop, so I can work on other body parts. I looked him in the eyes and said "You just may need to give something up", he nodded his head and agreed, he didn't want to hear it, but he knew it already.

He thanked me for my time, and walked into the gym, the conversation heavy on his mind. 

I appreciated this fellow for the fact that he engaged me in a meaningful conversation and wanted my advise, he saw me as a knowledgable  lifter, someone who has been able to accomplish what he is struggling with.

I felt really good after our conversation, almost "validated". I don't need anyone to validate my actions, but I think we all feel better when we beleive that people take us seriously. My daily exercise is not a hobby, it is a part of my existance, it is one of the things that makes Kristy, "Kristy".

There are those who find my devotion to the gym and my lifting "cute" and an entertaining hobby, and they wonder when I am going to come around and act like everyone else, or perhaps get bored, start eating like a "normal" person and find something more worthwhile to do.

Never.

The glutes and legs are growing, my goodness most of my pants are too tight and uncomfortable now in the butt and thighs, it is my goal but it's still rather funny. When I met Roy on Wednesday he remarked "Well your legs and  glutes are bigger, or maybe it's the shorts?" No, it is the shorts you see here, the same ones I have been wearing and they cannot shrink, they are all man made fibers, I have grown, just where I am trying to. We laughed about it and he said "You said you wanted a 'shelf butt' so when you have a 2 inch ledge that you can set a coffee cup on, we will quit". Until then, I am destined to having sore glutes, quads and hams for a bit longer.

I am proud of my lifting, proud of my accomplishments and prod of my determination and drive. It's unfortunate that everyone cannot see how important it is and respect it, but I won't let that stop me, I will contnue to surround myself with people who do share my passion and together we share a mutual respect. 

Glutes

You know what I really worry about when I am dieting for a competition? 

My Butt!

This is my typical "hit the treadmill" attire when I am at home, and I can keep an eye on the butt in the full wall mirror in the guest room.

There are two things to worry about and they are complete opposites so that's why I always worry.  I want a tight set of glutes, and a large set of glutes. 

I am lucky, I have a nice butt, I mean genetically. It's round, full, rides pretty darn high and I don't have saddlebags. Of course, I have practically no hips to speak of and I suppose this all goes hand in hand, but I am happy with my "gift"

In Figure, you want a nice, tight, smooth, hard transition from the hamstring to the glute, no "cheeks" , no "smileys", no "saggy skin". Your glutes really don't end up looking like real glutes, but one long muscle.

So this means you need to lose pretty much all your fat, and.....butts are typically "fat". I do realize that glutes are the biggest muscle on the body, but they seems to be covered in a  nice layer of fat.

My goal: Lose the 'smileys" and make one tight transition, while keeping the size and roundness of the glutes...see? Lose fat and keep size...

Fat and no fat. Not quite sure why I think it's possible, but I see other women do it so why can't I?            

SC used to check my bodyfat all the time, usually once a month but when I was getting close to a competition, we went to once a week. My lower glute would range form a high of 20 cm all the way down to 6 cm! The typical bodyfat was at a reading of 8 cm when I competed. 

I have no idea where it is now, I don't really need to check it constantly, as I always get way too lean anyway.  I do think checking it on a regular basis is important for folks who are making big changes and need to see the results, see some improvement, but in my case, I just chug along on the same track I have been on many times before. 

How are the glutes coming? We are not at 10 cm yet! ha ha

Still working on it!

Glutes

Nice huh?

Venus Williams.

My mother in law would cringe, no she would probably shut off the TV. She loved tennis and she also loved the ceremony of it all. I am sure she didn't care much for Venus. But that's OK, they are both two very powerful women in my opinion!


I think Venus is an amazing woman, and she has balls too. I like that. So what do you think makes her wear something like this on a clay tennis court? I am guessing the match doesn't last long, I mean the judges wouldn't stand for this would they?


I would love to be there.


So, if you had a butt like this, wouldn't you flaunt it?  She is actually wearing pants, they just happen to be the same color as her skin, and she happens to have a damn fantastic set of glutes.


I work to have glutes like this too, and they are fairly respectable but compared to Venus, not where they should be.


If there is one body part I can encourage women to focus on, it's the glutes. Not only is it aesthetically pleasing to have a nice, tight, round set of glutes, it is necessary to maintain good health! 


Mine are really popping now, I noticed it recently, the upper glute is especially round, and high, On Monday I asked Roy what exactly is doing this, they really haven't looked so good before! He said it was all the Glute Ham Raises.


I don't think you will see me in a dress like this though...I don't know how to play tennis!

Mondays Hamstrings

Monday is hamstrings and it was time to change the training. There are several exercises that can be done, but there are a few that prove over and over to be the most effective, so we do those. Just changing the reps, sets, rest periods and/or weights can be enough to prevent adaptation.

I think we have learned that my body responds best to volume, so lots and lots of reps seem to be what I need to do. Now that doesn't mean that I am doing light weight, on the contrary, I am doing at much as I can, but realistically, when performing 10 to 20 reps the weight won't be as heavy as if I were doing only 4 to 8 reps.

We start with the Glute Ham Raise and Roy has it elevated in the back, high up on a bench. This puts the emphasis on a different area of the hamstring and its quite a bit more difficult to do. We tried it like this several weeks ago and I could only perform 3 reps, I failed miserably.

Monday I not only did 10 reps, but I did three sets with body weight and another two sets holding a weight plate. I think it was only 5 pounds, but it made a difference, believe me. My hamstrings have gotten stronger! We will celebrate by doing the Tootsee Roll! (Email readers will need to navigate directly to the blog to view this video, turn up the speakers!)





Yes, I do have this on my iPod...ha ha I love it!


So the GHR took quite some time, then we moved onto the second exercise, Single Leg Deadlift with a barbell.

I have never done this with a barbell, I have always used dumbbells, so I was excited, I love trying new things.

I warmed up and after the second set of 10 I think we were up to 75 pounds. All the way down until a good stretch is felt in the hamstring, maintain a slight curve in the back, keep looking up, then pull up with the hamstring and the glutes, not the back!

Its easy to round the back and start pulling up that way, and its wrong. It is less effective as you won't hit the hamstrings and its also a good way to cause back pain or tweaks.  I cannot emphasize how important it is to "lift with your head". You must put your mind into the task at hand and concentrate. It's serious business.

Many people think that weight lifters are a daft bunch, and I agree that there are plenty out there, but no more than in any other sport. A successful lifter is serious and quite knowledgeable. Find someone in your gym who looks really good, and watch them. See how they train. Do they chit chat while lifting? Do they read in between sets? I doubt it.


Are they concentrating and almost oblivious to those around them? Perhaps they time their sets and rest periods? I bet they do.

You can learn a lot just by observing. Heck, you can probably even do the "Tootsee Roll" after watching the video a couple times!

Back to the hams. Since they are so connected to the glutes, they will obviously get a good workout too. When we started this one Roy looked at me and said "Sorry, but I think this is going to make your glutes bigger" (or something like that). I laughed and said "Great! I love a good set of glutes!"

Wednesday when we met for Quads, my glutes were still sore. Today, Thursday when I write this? Still feeling it! Maybe I need to stretch them out a bit by cranking up the music in the gymnasium tomorrow and dancing. 

to left. to the left. to the right. to the right.

Observations of Butts

Yes, this is my butt, and no, it doesn't look like this today. It does look like this at competition time though and this picture was taken October 1, 2011.

I am always astounded by how little effort people put into training their glutes but they talk about them all the time. Don't they know that you need to actually train this area and devote a great deal of time to it just as with any other body part?

Our lifestyle makes a huge difference and I see that in the butts of the world as I walk around. I work at a university, so I am walking around campus a lot. There are over 30 thousand students enrolled here, and while they may not all be on campus at once, the place is teeming with young people everyday.

Last week as I walked to a meeting across campus I was observing the young healthy bodies surrounding me. For the most part they looked great, however what I noticed is most of them had flat butts. No glutes to speak of.

I think this is from the sedentary lifestyle that most of us enjoy these days. The young people of the world are not as active as they once were, they sit at their computers and game or interact with friends via Facebook.

It's unfortunate.  

Not only do they have flat butts, they are setting themselves up for lower back pain and injury as they age. A strong set of glutes is very, very important to your overall heath.

Be sure that you focus on your glutes!

So what does my butt look like today after gaining 15 pounds? Not bad, it certainly isn't flat!

Quad Day

Wednesday nights with Roy is quads. Monday is Hams with Roy, and on Saturdays I hit both quads and hams myself. 


That's quite a bit of work for the glutes too, and you can tell. My body responds quite well to volume and frequency, my butt has gotten big.


Not big in a bad way, it never gets big sideways, it gets big from front to back. And it has gotten quite round and is sitting even higher than before.


Wednesday Roy looked at me and was almost shaking his head. "I am amazed at how your glutes respond" (What he meant was dayam your butt has gotten big!) ha ha


I laughed and told him that my glutes do respond quite well, my butt gets big and round, but it shrinks when I diet down. But maybe it won't this time! I have added quite a bit of muscle in the last month and a half. Oh I have my share of fat; however, the lean mass is definitely winning this race.


Then he made a comment about Nicki Minaj. Well, just check this butt out. Fast forward to 1:00 on the video, it says it all. (Email readers must navigate directly to the blog to see this video below.)


 


Entertaining no?


I really noticed my butt today, I was afraid my shorts might split as I squatted....


Back to Wednesday- what did we do?


Poliquin Dips for the VMO (I really don't care for these) 3 sets of 20 on each leg, holding a 20 pound dumbbell


Bulgarian Split Squats, I cannot recall if I did 4 or 5 sets, but I started with 25 pound dumbbells and ended with 30, I did 12 on each leg, slowly as possible, it was really burning.


1 1/4 back squats. That's a regular back squat, weight is a bit lighter than usual due to the nature of the exercise, lower all the way down, very slowly, then up only 1/4 of the way, back down all the way and then stand all the way up, immediately down again. 10 reps, 4 sets. Burning, burning, burning

So if you are trying to work the glutes, the best way is really to work the quads and the hamstrings, then you will be functionally training the glutes and they will look great!

Butts and Backs

Backs and Butts

I think that those two parts of a woman's body are stunning, absolutely beautiful. I mean look at this view, pretty nice huh?

I am on the left (in case you couldn't tell). This is the top four in the Unlimited "C" division of the 2011 NPC San Francisco Bodybuilding, Fitness, Figure, Men's Physique and Bikini Championships. I placed third.

So many people only concentrate on the muscles they can see, the "mirror muscles". I have always loved to train glutes and back, part of this may be because my back gets wide and impressive  and I love to see the results.

My glutes? I have always had a good, round butt. Genetics. However, I still have to train it and train hard. Those little leg pulley things that people call "kick backs" might feel good, and in fact I do it sometimes too, but it won't make your glutes ride high and hard. I don't think it does anything actually. You need to perform exercises with a lot of heavy weight, just like you would for any other muscle you are trying to grow.

And, not much looks worse than a dimply, saggy, loose, fat butt.

What do I do? There is lots to do!

Wide stance squats, plie or sumo squats (stand on two raised blocks so you can go deep), hip thrusts, barbell glute bridge, sprints, reverse hypers, Good mornings, ball ham roll outs, Glute Ham Raise, kettlebell swings, running stairs, lunges, RDL's, deadlifts (all the major lifts and all squats will hit the glutes too). 

Hey! Thats' serious weigh training isn't it? And hard stuff too! You bet. You cannot grow big, beautiful muscles without lifting heavy and working hard! The cute little colored weights with the powder coating are not your friend!

I usually train back once a week and glutes once a week. Then, as I am getting closer to a competition, I will train back twice a week and incorporate the glutes into other days.

Having a strong back and strong glutes is not only pleasing to the eye, but it will help you in life. 

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.

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!