Back Training

Sunday, Back day! Love it! For some odd reason I am holding my shoulders crooked in this picture, But I think you can still see the wideness of my back, which is what I wanted to show.


I think it is imperative to have a written plan every single time you walk into the gym. Now, that doesn't mean you need to adhere to the plan, and Sunday I didn't.


I decided I wanted to do lots and lots of chin ups. So after stretching I wandered down to my favorite power rack, I wanted to use that instead of the dual cable in the main room. The dual cable has an area in the middle with several different hand positions for chin ups and pull ups, but I wanted to listen to some really good Latin reggae and hip hop and just crank out chin up after chin up, watching in the mirror. I actually watch my abs, it helps to see them in the mirror, to maintain a tight core, make sure I don't use any swinging or momentum, and concentrate on the eccentric move. 


I listened to Orishas, I love them! 


Want to hear one of the songs that let's me do chin up after chin up? Here ya go! (Email subscribers will need to navigate directly to the blog to see the video below)








I did set after set after set. Then I did some back extensions in between. And more chin ups, over and over. The music kept me going.


I then did 4 sets of bent over barbell rows, in the same power rack. The off to the T-Bar row, with lots of weight. I came back for more chin ups. 


Up to the Low Cable Row.


Then I did barbell curls with the e-z bar. A male, much bigger than me was doing the same thing, with the same weight. He should have been using more.


Then triceps extensions with the same e-z bar.


I was done, my back was toast.

Phenomenal

A friend sent me an email on Sunday, she was telling me about some new clothes she bought. The color? Black and she said "I know, not your thing. You like the bright colors, you like to stand out, to be noticed, to grab everyone's attention."

Yup!

I do love to be the center of attention, and I love to walk by and see heads turn, maybe that's why I am successful competing. You cannot be very shy and stand up on stage, especially with almost nothing covering your body.

You need to feel confident, comfortable in your own skin, and proud. I am very proud of myself, I like what I have created.

I think that's why I work so hard in the gym, why I devote so much time and energy on my physique.

A trainer came up to me on Sunday as I was on the Low Cable Row. She said she wanted to tell me about a friend of hers who was visiting from out of town, and she was in the Gym with her the other day. She was going "ga-ga" over my physique, she thought it was 

phenomenal (her words). She then said "I hope you don't mind, but I took the liberty of sharing your age, and when I told her you were 50, she refused to believe me."

Ha Ha Ha, I threw my head back and laughed a huge belly laugh, "Mind? Not at all I am very proud of my age"

She said she thought I might enjoy the unsolicited compliment, and I said yes, indeed, I loved it so much.

Then Sakura sent me an email after looking at Saturdays blog picture, saying "HOLY COW. Do you realize how phenomenal you look? Actually, quite a difference from when I first started reading your blog, Mama! But a good difference. :) 

Two "phenomenals" in one day! YES!

We all go through periods of self doubt, questioning if what we are doing is right, is it working? Am I eating correctly, training correctly? Am I devoting the time to the body parts that need it most? The list is endless. Although it may sound funny, my husband gets tired of me standing naked in front of him asking how things look (really, it gets old).

These two compliments will keep me motivated for weeks, I felt so good after hearing both of them.  Makes me want to wear hot pink and bust my butt in the gym even more than usual!

Thanks

Monday Morning Motivation

Men for the sake of getting a living forget to live.

~ Margaret Fuller

Many of us crucify ourselves between two thieves - regret for the past and fear of the future.

~ Fulton Oursler

Whatever we plant in our subconscious mind and nourish with repetition and emotion will one day become a reality.

~ Earl Nightingale

The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.

~ Albert Einstein

Quads

Saturday is quads again, I have been "over training" for several weeks, hitting hamstrings twice a week and quads twice a week. Soon, I will change that and go back to one quad day, one hamstring day and then a combo leg day (both quads and hams).


This over training has resulted in my legs being sore in one place or another constantly, and I mean all the time. Seems I get a moment when they start to feel OK, then I hit them all over again.


Saturday I arrived at 6:00 a.m. opening and warmed up on the treadmill, then stretched. I walked down towards my favorite power rack and as I got there Alan stuck his face in mine and says "Are ya deaf!!?" He had been following me trying to get my attention, but my music was way too loud. He was going to San Francisco and wanted to know the name of a restaurant we had talked about.


I then started in on my squats. I noticed that both of my quads were bruised, odd. They both had bruises in just about the same location. I couldn't figure out why.


I warmed up quite a bit, 45 pounds, 65 pounds, 85, 95, 115 and finally started in with 135 pounds, 10 reps. I am concentrating on maintaining the same strength in each leg as I rise up from the squat, I have been "shimmying" as one leg is stronger than the other, and I get partially up then veer to the left and then up, an odd movement and not desirable.


I actually think I may have conquered it today! But we won't find out till Roy watches me from behind on Wednesday.


I finished 3 sets and moved to the Leg Press. Again, several warm ups and then 4 sets of 10 reps at 450 pounds (plus the weight of the machine).  I know I should be able to do more on this, but it is only the second week I have used it, and haven't used it in ages since before this. 


Then up to the Leg Extension. Again, not something I typically use, and I may start using it before squats, I haven't decided yet. Warm up then 5 sets of 10 reps at 110 pounds. I am actually seeing more muscle and definition in my quads, I am super excited!


I have a busy day with my brother planned, so need to get some cardio or conditioning done now, I will not be able to do anything later. Saturdays the entire Basketball Court is taken over by men playing.....basketball! Can you imagine? So I really cannot go use the facility, I decide to hit the stairstepper for 20 minutes.  I forgot how boring it can be, at least on the stairmill my feet move! But they were all full so this is all I could do.


8:05 and I am done! Home for coffee and breakfast of 1 cup egg whites scrambled, 1 whole fried egg on top and a small serving of steel cut oats with peanut butter....


In the shower I figure out why I have bruised quads, it's the Donkey Calf Raises. The 3 plates hanging down between my legs. The chains from the dip belt hit right where the bruises are. I have got to change my calf training on Monday.

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.

Homemade Turkey Chorizo

I love chorizo but it is way too fatty for me, so I make my own with turkey! It really is easy and fairly quick. It does need to be prepared one day ahead though, as the finished product must sit in the fridge overnight for the flavors to marry.


I cook with taste and eyeballing, so the amounts I am giving are approximate and based on my likes, feel free to add/subtract whatever you want!


2 pounds ground turkey breast
8 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
4 Tablespoons distilled white vinegar
2 Tablespoons dried oregano, crumbled
8 Tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
6 cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon salt

Put the turkey into a bowl and add all of the remaining ingredients (pretty difficult huh?). We make out own red wine vinegar, and dry our own oregeno. I like to use two different types of chili powders. The chipolte chili powder has great flavor and heat. 

Mix it thoroughly with your hands, that will ensure everything is thoroughly combined. Smell it, if it is not spicy and super vinegary, add more! Here I added more chipotle chili powder.

 

Pull off a small amount, make it into a patty and fry it in a pan over medium low heat (there is no fat in this so be careful you don't burn it.)

Taste it. It should taste good and spicy. If not, add more of whatever it is lacking. When it seems right, cover the bowl tightly with a few layers of plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, form it into patties weighing the proper amount, wrap each individually and place into a freezer container or bag and freeze. Ground meats will keep about three months. You really don't want to keep them longer as the small pockets of air will allow the fat and meat to go rancid easily.

This chorizo is great in a scramble, as a meat dish, mixed with sautéed vegetables, any way you would eat your lean protein!

Here I have sautéed it with green onions, a whole bag of spinach, 1/2 cup egg whites and a small amount of low fat swiss cheese.

Arm training

I probably receive the most comments about my arms. Now, I realize that my arms are also the most visible part of my body, but when you walk around the gym like this, just about everything is showing anyway right?


I was recently attending a class for work- I have to maintain a certification that requires constant training. There was a woman working there who came up to me and asked how I get my arms to look the way they do. She explained she has been doing lots of bicep curls and doesn't feel anything and doesn't see any results.


After talking with her a bit I realize that I don't really do a lot of bicep specific training, I feel that my biceps and triceps get trained quite a bit with my back training. I do throw some bicep and tricep moves in, but not as much as people seem to think. 


When people ask about my arms, I automatically think my shoulders, but my biceps have gotten so big that I realize now they are talking about the whole arm, shoulders, biceps, triceps.


I think that most people think that the training comes all together, "the arm' but it doesn't, not at all. The shoulders require a lot of detail and love, a lot goes into big, broad shoulders. The biceps and triceps are easier, they get trained when other body parts get trained, if you do it right that is.


It is a rare day you will find me doing a bicep concentration curl, it just isn't necessary. let me put it this way, you can develop beautiful arms while working other body parts at the same time, how's that?


So what exactly is my training? It varies, as it should. I have always been known for having great, broad shoulders (at least in the last few years competing), but they really have popped since training with Roy.


An example of what I do for shoulders:


Dumbbell Lateral Raises
Dumbbell Front Raises
Dumbbell Rear Delt Raises
Barbell Press
Behind the Neck Barbell Press
Dumbbell Press
Arnold Press


But they get trained when I work back too. I always incorporate pull ups and chin ups, these are probably one of the best overall exercises you can do. They hit the back, triceps, biceps, lats, traps, abs, neck...need I say more? If you are not doing several sets of chin ups a week, you should.


Cables...


What do I do for my biceps and triceps? 


Most of it is my back training. It hits the biceps too!


The Cable Lat Pull Down, we all use that right? It hits your biceps too.
The Low Cable Row? That hits the biceps and rear delts also.
Again, the chin ups and pull ups.
Dips, they hit biceps, triceps and back.
Barbell Bent Over Row: Use a supinated grip (the palms towards your face), this targets the biceps, if you change the grip to a pronated grip, you target the triceps (I almost always use supinated).
Single Arm Bent Over Dumbbell Row, it hits the biceps too.
T-Bar Row, hits triceps, back, rear delts, biceps


There are two "arm" specific exercises I do, that is the E-Z bar curl and skullcrushers.


The other consideration is the weight- everyone wants to know "how much is the right weight?"


Well that all depends on your goal- is it strength or hypertrophy or weight loss? I am assuming it is hypertrophy. So the weight would be as heavy as you can go anywhere between 8 to 12 reps.  That means you can do 10 reps with good form, but are struggling, that's a good weight. If it is easy to knock out 10, then it is way to light. It should be difficult.


I do change it up and sometimes I will use heavy weights with low reps then lighter weight with higher reps. It must always change.


So you can see why my shoulders and arms look so good- I devote two days a week solely to shoulders, then one day to Back, so the arms are getting hit three times a week, and close to competition I add one more Back day so they get hit four times a week!


So my advice to anyone who is trying to have killer arms (but not look like Jay Cutler), concentrate on your back and shoulders, the rest will follow.