Inspiration, Motivation and Leg Day Training

Saturday was leg day, I lift weights 7 days a week (twice on Wednesdays) and I train most body parts twice a week, once with Roy and then once on my own. Weekends I spend a long time at the gym, I take my time stretching and warming up, I would like to be able to do this on weekdays but I have a thing I have to get to called a "job". 

One of the stretches I have found very useful is this stretch for my hip flexors. If you have been reading my blog you know that I have been having hip issues since June of 2012, so I have learned to do an awful lot of stretches and roll a lot. I do have to laugh about why it took so long to shut the video recorder off, I kept getting messages from several people at once on Facebook and they just popped up over and over as soon as I could dismiss them! (email readers will need to navigate to the blog to see this and another video below.)

 

I had gone out the night before and had three glasses of wine, I am not yet in full blown competition prep yet, and I tend to get way too lean, so I could afford to do this once in a while. I was in bed by 9:00 pm and could feel the affect the alcohol had on my body the next day anyway. That's why I rarely drink, I am not as vibrant and alive the following day, even with just one glass. I think because I expect so much of my body, I just need to learn to treat it well all the time.

I started to get the squat rack ready, adjusting the hooks for the Olympic bar when a guy walks up to talk to me. I don't know his name, I have never spoken with him, but I see him there all the time, he is a regular morning lifter and trains with another guy, they are both in their late 20s or early 30s, they carry big waters and training books, recording their reps and sets as any dedicated lifter does.

He walked up close to me and this is the conversation:

Guy: "I don't want to interrupt you when you were lifting, but I wanted to talk to you. Everyone has heard about those people who inspire others, who push them to keep going when they don't want to. You inspire me and you have for a long time."

Kristy: "I do?! Really?! Wow! I'm not sure what to say.....Thank you for telling me!"

Guy: "There are so many days I don't feel like coming in here, I want to skip it, then I think how I see you everyday, your workouts are all so intense, you train harder each day than the day before, you never stop, you are so focused and never give up, ever. I wanted to tell you this yesterday, but I didn't, then I knew I would see you here today."

I was floored. He wasn't trying to pick up on me, he wasn't being rude, he was sincere. A big, strong alpha male, who is serious about his training said I inspire him.

It motivated me to push on, I didn't have as much energy as usual, but I would never dream of skipping the gym, ever.

Roy had just changed my program, I was doing a different type of squat, one where there is no rest at the top, it's easy to shoot up and stand there "resting", but these are a lighter load, a very long "time under tension" on the eccentric portion, and then as soon as I straighten up, right back down again. They become almost aerobic. I warm up with 95 pounds, lighter than I will use for the squats.

I have my phone attached to the mirror and I set it on the timer. I am to aim for 44 seconds time under tension for 10 reps. It's much harder than it sounds. I am using 115 pounds, my legs are under tension the entire time. I finished my sets, and rested before going on to step ups. My left hamstring is still weaker than the right after my injury, it's taking a long time to rebuild that strength.

For the step ups I have to have a box 25 inches high, so I have stacked two here and they are perfect! I will hold a 25 pound bar in front, on my clavicle, front squat style and slowly push up, re-setting at the bottom with each rep. 10 on each leg, three sets. I carry this little tape measure in my gym sack with my training log, lifting straps and fingernail file! I cannot stand having a nail with a snag....

I use the leg press on Saturdays, I don't when I train with Roy but I have extra time on Saturdays so I do just to totally exhaust my legs. I don't use a lot of weight, as it starts to hurt my knees, so I keep it light. Here I have 450 pounds added to the machine. 

That's Aaron in the background, to put things into perspective the day before he was pushing 1,500 pounds on this same machine. He's a beast! He also has some added advantages, he's male (lots of testosterone), he's very young (I have been married longer than he has been alive and....still more testosterone) and he used to be a Power Lifter and wrestler. He's still a beast though!

We met because I went up to him one day and told him that he looked just like my previous trainer (SC), it's uncanny how much they look alike!

Aaron stops to help me and advises how to place my feet for quad development, he lifts his long shorts and displays some very impressive quads! Nothing worse than skinny legs on a big guy....(think most Male Physique Competitors). 

Aaron asks if I have ever competed in a National level show and I tell him, "No, although I have qualified several times". "Why??!!" He asks. "You look great- you could get your Pro-Card!" He went on to say that I look as good as several others he knows, I would be successful if I did it. 

I explain that I have no desire to, what would I do with a Pro-Card? I do this because I love to lift, I love the training.  He walks away, saying "You would win, but if you do it just cause you like it, that's really cool!"

I love to lift. I cannot say the same thing about competing.

His comments floored me again. He was genuine in them, he thinks I have developed a physique worthy of Pro status! 

Two males, motivating me now.

I do my sets, it take time as I do 5 sets of 20 reps. So a total of 100 reps. I have my timer for rest periods, and the same funny guy from the previous week interrupts me and asks to work in. He did the same thing last week, There are four machines, the only one being used is the one I am on and he taps me on the shoulder and asks if he can "work in". I wasn't  sure if he he was trying to hit on me, or just was lazy and didn't want to load plates on the machine or what. This week I found out, I was finished so turned it over to him and he was asking all sorts of questions about weight training. I think it's odd he would be asking me when guys like Aaron are right there, but maybe I am less intimidating.

I have inspired and I am motivated. And I am lifting, it's a great day at the gym.

Think about your days in the gym. Try to inspire others. Try to motivate others. And please, please...help the world stamp out "chicken legs", train your legs!

Carpe Diem

It's all coming together, my legs are getting bigger. You can see it in my shorts here, I can see it, everyone can see it. And the glutes? Huge in all their glory! 

Roy and I have been hammering and hammering on my legs, and now with this extra leg day added in, I am really getting excited!

Also, with the three days a week of calf exercises, my legs will soon catch up to my massive shoulders!

This is the kind of change that gets me so pumped up to seize the day "Carpe Diem"

What is so significant about this is I have been working on my legs for a couple years and really haven't seen a great deal of progress. I have great shoulders, they get wide and round; I have a wicked back, it gets wide and muscular; my glutes, get big and round; but the legs, they have always plagued me.

I am feeling so good about it all, I wake up in the middle of the night and think about training. I think about the food I will eat that will fuel me, and it encourages me to make better choices, what I eat immediately following training will make all the difference.

Wednesday night we met and it was quad day. We started with front squats, with the weight I left off with last week. These are down low, below parallel. Roy wanted to go heavier- "should I put on some more or just go for the big plates?" he asked. No need to ask again..."Big plates!!!" I said, so he stripped the bar and loaded on two 45 pound plates. I would try 10 reps of front squat with 135 pounds.

Roy said he wanted to video it but he was sure he should spot me instead. I banged out 10 without trouble, still maintaining a slow, steady tempo. I re-racked and told him I could have done 11. "Yeah I could tell!" he said.

We moved to lunges. Long, low and slow. You really haven't done lunges till you do them Roy's way. He wanted 4 sets of 15 on each leg. So that's a total of 120 lunges, 60 on each leg. The second set he says he wants to increase the dumbbells to 30 pounds, I say sure.

He sets down the dumbbells but they are 25 pounds with micro-weights, so they weigh 127.5 each. "What, you chickened out?" I ask. "That's all I need!" he says. "You want 30's? You got it!" He takes the others back and gives me two 30 pound dumbbells.

I do the next two sets and I do them well. I feel exhausted but elated at the same time. I am feeling powerful and triumphant.

Roy was excited too, I am not sure which one of us had more fun, me hammering the legs or him watching me progress and get bigger and stronger before his eyes.

My legs and glutes feel massive, we joke how soon I may need a cart behind me to carry the added weight, or a separate zip code just for my glutes.


I arrive home and Cooper and Adam are working on Adam's car in the garage, right where MyRedRocket (my car) lives. I park in the drive and give them the keys to move it when they are done.


At about 9:15 I am heading off to bed, I go to say goodnight and they are not there, I look down the drive and I see them with Adam's car, out in the street. I talk them out of their late night project and help push the car back up the long drive. It is difficult, the drive is slightly uphill, my legs are shot. So I guess this is my sled workout! 


We push it back into the garage and I tell them to leave it there, let MyRedRocket sleep outside tonight, she will be OK.


We need to push the car a bit more...all I can think of is how tired my legs are.

Soon, I may have to buy bigger shorts!

Kickboxing Day 2

Thursday Cooper came home from training with Jerome. They have been kickboxing together almost three years now, Cooper is good, really good.

"Mom! Jerome said he is gonna teach you to kick on Saturday." "Cooper," I said, "How can he teach me to kick when I don't even know how to punch yet?!"

"You do- he said you were really good, he said you are a natural athlete and caught on fast. You just need to loosen up, it's not precise like weight lifting, it's more like a dance."

I smiled, I have always considered myself an athlete, and outside of my competitions where they refer to all of us as "athletes", no one has ever called me that. I felt good, accomplished.

He then told me Jerome asked him to come to Friday's "Fighter's Nights", a coaches invite only of full contact boxing and kickboxing for aspiring fighters, Cooper is to start training on a more serious level.

My heart skips a beat, but I am the one who pushed him into this, so I cannot stop him now. Thank goodness he is into kickboxing and not boxing. Not as dangerous.

Saturday I woke up at 5:00 a.m. and got to the gym at 6:00 for legs. I felt good, strong and excited. There would be no need for cardio since I was taking Jerome's class at 10:00.

I trained hams and quads. I did kneeling leg curl, RDL's, squats (100), split squats and GHR. I was there 2 hours, longer than I had planned, but I did sit around quite a bit waiting for the GHR, seemed everyone wanted to use it today, although not one person used it right. One women even came up to me and said "I am so glad I saw you doing this, I have never known how to use it properly!" She asked me how to adjust it, I asked her height and then adjusted it and showed her what to do. I then sat and waited while she readjusted it and used it completely wrong, doing sit ups like most people do on the darn thing!

I got home and ate, 1 cup egg whites, 1 whole egg, 1 slice of my favorite spelt and rye bread from Acme, with peanut butter and jelly. Coffee, but not too much as I remember last week having to pee the whole time during kickboxing, not fun.

9:50 I arrive and take off my shoes, pad across the mat and say hi to Jerome. There are only about 6 guys there and then he tells us to "run!" so we start. Now I learn not to arrive early. 

The class started with me and 10 guys (no Cheddar) and then a few more guys and one wicked looking gal joined in later.

We go through a half hour of conditioning, it's not the same as last week although very similar. We do the same routine of running around the facility with four stops to perform an exercise, starting with one push up, run, one high knee jump, run, one jump sprawl, run, one squat. We do 2 of each, then 3, then 4, and on and on till we have done 10 of each.

It was much easier this week. Then jumping jacks, jumping jacks with one kick, with two kicks, mountain climbers in between, jogging in place and jabbing, jogging and cross, jogging and jab cross, jogging and drop sprawl, jogging and block kick, down on the ground and crunches, side crunches, frog crunches.

30 minutes later done! I survived.

Jerome shouted to everyone to get a partner and he gave instructions, I didn't understand what it was. He grabbed a guy  by the name of Jay and told him that he would be working with me on kicks. 

Crap! 

Last week I was in front of  a mirror practicing punches, this week I guess I am one of the guys. But I didn't have my gear, only my gloves, I wasn't expecting this. No wraps, no shin guards, no mouthpiece, no headgear. 

This too I shall survive.

Jerome told us what kicks to practice, demonstrated with Jay and then left us. Jay kicked me and I kicked him. I could tell immediately that I would have a very bruised left shin the next day.

Jerome would come watch and critique, then show us combos. Jab, cross, midkick, jab, block. High kick, cross, hook, low kick, block.

On and on for a half hour, Jay was good, he really helped me improve my hook.

11:00 and the class was done, I was dripping in sweat, my hair was plastered to my head and face, sweat everywhere, I felt high. Everyone shook Jerome's hand or got a slap on the back. I talked with a few of the guys, they are all very friendly. 

I left walking out in only my tank top, shorts and flip flops although it was probably 40 degrees out at most. With the top down and Citizen Cope blasting on the stereo, I drove home. My hands were shaking, my wrists hurt, my left shin was throbbing and I started crying. I wasn't crying from pain or sadness, it was just a wave of emotion that overcame me.

I have been wanting to do this for years, and last week I finally started, but last week was easy; it was play. This week was hard, I was the attacker, I was attacked. I learned to kick with all my body force, it was hard to do at first, I was afraid of hurting him. I learned my leg can kick up to someones chest, soon up to their head. I learned to block with my legs (my poor, poor unprotected legs), with my forearms.

If I was ever to be attacked, lord have mercy on the poor slob who makes that mistake.

Home, all I want is a long hot shower and a big glass of ice water. I take off my shirt, it was soaked, here it is.

I told Cooper about it, about my surprise at the difference between last week and this week. "Why are you surprised mom? You assimilated fast, just like I thought you would."

Nice.

Wednesday's cardio

Have I said I don't particularly care for cardio? I think so, maybe once or twice. I have found that changing things up can keep it more interesting.

I can lift weights the same old way for ages and never get bored, although I understand it is not advised, so I change things every three weeks.  My point is weight training doesn't bore me at all, cardio does.

All of us, no matter who we are and how advanced we are, can learn from other people. We can also use refreshers, it's easy to get in a rut and forget things we used to enjoy or do a while back.

I once attended a Phat Camp with Jen Hendershott, loved it!  Two and a half days of training, I learned so many new things to keep it all interesting, she does a lot of cardio! I still have all of the exercises on my torn and tattered paper as a reminder.


If Jen comes round here again I will sign up and maybe drag Stacy with me!

The other night I watched a DVD called "The Sport of Figure" and it featured Ava Cowan. She showed several exercises that she likes to use, and it reminded me of several I had forgotten. 


What I did come away with was HIIT on a bike. I used to "spin" quite a bit and stopped when I started training with SC. My main goal has always been to add muscle, I am a naturally lean person, adding muscle is not real easy for me. When I would take a spinning class he used to get in my face and say "You want to get big or you want to get small?! Pick one!"


What he meant was I was just burning up my calories on that spin bike, calories and hard earned muscle. I don't spin any longer.


But doing 20 minutes of HIIT is different, a lot different than an hour of spinning. HIIT has been proven to burn fat and spare the muscle.


According to Jonathan Ross, American Council on Exercise personal trainer of the year and author of Abs Revealed; 8 to 12 minutes of intense intervals can burn as many calories as 25 to 30 minutes of constant moderate-exertion exercise. He says: "Pick your favorite cardio machine and do one minute at a high intensity (at least a 7 or 8 on a scale of 1, with 10 being all-out effort) followed by rest or a vary low intensity (2 or 3 on the same scale) for one minute."


So what have I been doing? 5 minutes warm up  and then 20 minutes of one minute intervals, fast as I can for a minute, then recovery for a minute. Over and over until I can't go on.


It's not too difficult if that is all I am doing, like a morning when all I do is cardio because I will meet Roy in the evening. So I did it again on Friday morning. But I tried it on Saturday after my leg day...failure! I could only go 10 minutes, I was spent.


I am not concerned, If I really worked my legs hard I shouldn't be able to do this. So I finished off on the treadmill at a 15% incline.


So Sunday I trained back and I trained hard. I took it outside again, the cool air kept me going. I was able to do the 20 minutes, then an additional 20 on the stairmill. Lots of men on the courts, but they all had their shirts on!


Monday after work? Me and the bike!

Leg Day

Saturday, Legs. I used to love training shoulders most, and now I am starting to really love training legs, maybe even more than shoulders.


I trained with Roy on Wednesday and Thursday evenings, hamstrings on Wednesday and shoulders on Thursday. Saturday I would hit the legs on my own, quads and hams.


Lately I have been sleeping better, I am not up as much as I had been previously so I feel more rested when I wake. In fact, I have been getting up before the alarm everyday. Today, I turned it off so the alarm wouldn't wake up David later and I got up early.  I get excited when I get to go to the gym, and luckily that is everyday!


I walked a few minutes on the treadmill, stretched then started in on my squats. I warmed up with 10 reps @ 45 pounds; then 10 @ 65; 10 @ 85; then I used 115 for the rest. I did 4 sets of 115 with a 60 second rest in between. Except when Mike came up to tell me a joke, then I rested several minutes. Oh well.


Lunges, unilateral with 20 pound dumbbells, 4 sets on each leg.


Kneeling leg curl (hamstrings), 3 sets on each leg at35 pounds.


Seated leg curl (hamstrings) 4 sets at 70 pounds.


Leg extensions, unilateral 10 @ 30 pounds each, then bilateral 10 @ 70 pounds. 3 sets of each.


I finished with 5 sets of 10 on the Glute Ham Raise.


I felt GOOD! I still had energy. It was too much, I really shouldn't have done it all as the session lasted an hour and a half. Everything tells me not to train that long but sometimes when I am in the "zone" I cannot stop, I am on a high that feels so good I just keep going, today was one of those days.


I climbed up on a stairmill and walked (intervals) for 30 minutes, sweat didn't start dripping on the machine until 20 minutes into it. Cardio, still gotta do it!


I practiced posing for about 10 minutes, I should be doing more but that's all I felt like doing today. Into the meditation room to stretch my hamstrings and roll my quads, I have some very sore spots on my legs.


8:45am I am done. I got there at 6:00am. I sat in the cafe and drank my post training drink and took supplements. Grabbed a cup of coffee and home for a good muscle building breakfast.  1 cup egg whites scrambled with 1 whole egg (fried) on top, and a bowl of steel cut oats.

Find Your Passion

What is your passion? Is there something in life you love to do more than anything? There must be. It could be reading, watching movies, riding horses, building models, so many things.

When we start out as children, everything holds delight for us, a crumpled piece of shiny paper, an old cup, a measuring spoon. Kids can play with things for hours.

Children can make fun out of nothing.

As we grow, our toys become more advanced, we tend to hide our enthusiasm, we act bored. Maybe we are bored.

What did that to us? Who made the rule that says adults need to act responsible, respectable and "act their age". You go to work, come home and make dinner, read the mail, watch a little TV and on weekends clean the house and run errands.

I don't see "have fun", "explore passion" and "LIVE" anywhere in that equation do  do you?

I make a point of getting up everyday and planning to have a great day and feeling like I am ALIVE. I know there will be  things that may not be pleasant, but I always make sure I first plan to fit in what pleases me, what makes me feel passionate, what makes me feel alive.

I am sure you can guess what that is.

My weight training

My work schedule has been carefully orchestrated so I can go to the gym when I feel most productive, and I can leave on Fridays at 11:30 a.m. to train with Roy. I am best early in the morning, I am one of those seriously obnoxious morning people who actually even looks good when they roll out of bed, you know, even the tousled hair doesn't look bad. 

I actually wake up a bit before the alarm goes off and peek under the leopard print bandanna that covers the light of the clock, to see how long I have. Do I get up and use the bathroom now or have only 5 minutes left till the alarm sounds? 

It is my opinion that we will allocate time to what is important to us, so when someone tells me they don't have time to work out, I usually don't believe them. If they told me they don't MAKE the time to work out, then I would believe them.

I cannot make you passionate about something, only you can do that for yourself. You need to discover what makes you want to live every day. You need to decide what makes you walk around with a huge smile on your face instead of a frown or furrowed brow.

Your passions will make you irresistible and interesting to people. Once you find your groove and just go with it, do what you like, don't worry about what other people think, all of a sudden, the world walks with you, along side, trying to grab your attention; instead of you walking in the world as an observer.

I am feeling good right now, I think I say that a lot, and I mean it. Today I am feeling especially good though. I have made a change.

I am now training twice a week with Roy Ganju at BodyComp Personal Training Gym. I had been training with him once a week, so this is double the fun! Actually it's not always what I would call fun, but I enjoy it and love the results I see.

I just got home, it is evening and I had a bowl of soup after training legs with Roy. I feel strong and pretty much invincible. I think I look darn good too!

There was a time when I trained with SC three times a week, but it was a very short period of time, for a specific program we were working on, other than that it has always been once a week. 

Talk about excited!

So we can hit the legs one day and the shoulders another. At least for now, then after my competition maybe we can make it three times a week! 


This also allows me to get some more cardio and stretching in on Wednesday mornings, since I will see Roy in the evening.

Today David said my legs look more muscular and better than he had ever seen...he was referring to my recent picture on my blog, then he looked at them in person and said "yup, looking good!"

Find your passion!