Swimming♡ "Get Your Body Wet"

When’s the last time you hopped in the pool for a good workout? The sparkling blue water in that pool is good for much more than relaxing and cooling off. Swimming isn’t just child’s play. Taking a dive into the lap lane is a great form of cardiovascular exercise that can trim pounds and help you maintain a healthy weight. You can burn 300-400 calories in just 30 minutes of doing laps. Swimming is a great way to mix in your regular training to shock you body. 

Swimming was my passion before I began lifting and bodybuilding. I swam most of my younger years into late teen years where I swam competitively in high school and college AAU teams. I just loved the feel of the water and how peaceful it felt working out in water. Swimming burns so many calories and works out your entire body. My favorite was how great I would feel after a good, hard swim workout. I stopped swimming when I started competing in bodybuilding, but the years of swimming only helped with my bodybuilding in that I had much longer muscles from swimming all those years. Me being small the long muscles helped my body be symmetrical and more appealing than if I had shorter muscles on my small frame. When you're a smaller bodybuilder you never want to look boxy and having shorter muscle belly will do that. So without even knowing it all my years of swimming helped me in becoming a better more successful bodybuilder.

Swimming in a lap pool is much different than swimming in the open ocean. So you need to realize that you may be great at swimming laps in a pool and then try to take it to the ocean and see it's just not the same. It's much more difficult to swim in the ocean because of strong currents of the open water. It makes it much harder and more difficult to swim if you not accustom to it. Your body will work much harder swimming in open water than in a lap pool.Both a extremely beneficial and a tremendous workout for your entire body so give it a try and challenge yourself and your body to something different and new. Changing it up and continuing to push and challenge yourself is the best thing for you and  your body.

If you have yet to learn how to swim, or need tips on how to keep breathing while you swim laps, sign up for a class at your local YMCA or gym. If you already know how to stay afloat, just remember: It’s not your amazing skills that are keeping you buoyant in the water. Fat floats, muscle sinks. So get your booty in that pool and start swimming! When floating isn’t so easy anymore, you’ll know you’ve reached your weight-loss goals
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Workout of the Day✿ "Tuesday"

Workout of the day... Everyone needs to start somewhere and here is the perfect beginners workout to get you going on that fit4life path. Make a choice to wake your body up today and give your body a chance to change! 

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Workout of the Day✿ "Monday"

Workout of the day.... Everyone needs to start somewhere and here is the perfect beginners workout to get you going on that fit4life path. Make a choice to wake your body up today and give your body a chance to change! 

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Inspire me✿ "Be That Champion"

Champions aren't made in gyms.

Champions are made from something they have deep inside them... A desire, a dream. A vision.

#BethatChampion

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Exercise of the Week✿ "Hack Squat"

The hack squat is a variation of the traditional squat done on a hack squat machine. Most commercial gyms will have a hack squat machine.

This exercise isolates the front thighs more so than traditional squats. This exercises doesn't use the lower back and glutes to the extent that squats do. However, this exercise does a pretty good job of strengthening and building the front of the thighs.

The primary muscle group is the front thighs and secondary muscle groups include the glutes (butt), hamstrings and calves. This exercise comes close to traditional squats but the difference is that it takes some of the pressure off the lower back and glutes.

Position for the hack squat

1. Firmly plant your feet on the hack apparatus. Keep your back straight and flat against the hack rest with your trapezius muscles under the shoulder pads.

2. Place your hands on the hack handles. Keep your head level.

3. Slightly angle your toes outward.

Execution of the hack squat  

1. Slowly bend your knees bringing your upper body downward.

2. When your knees are at 90 degrees, slowly push your body upwards back to the start position. Repeat the movement.

When doing this exercise, keep your feet firmly on the platform and butt on the back pad at all times. By changing the positioning of you feet you're able to hit other area's of your legs to get a more well rounded, full muscle development. Start first set with you feet forward, then turning them outward and then inward to hit all area's of your legs. I have even done the hack squat facing face first and doing a reverse hack squat. This is hard on your lower back so you need to be very careful, but it really hits the glute and hamstring area and will guarantee some major soreness the next day.

Free weight style 

To execute a perfect hack squat using free weights, you need to get a weighted straight-bar with the amount of weight added that fits your level of strength. If you've never done Hack Squats this way you may want to start light to get the form and positioning correct before adding more weight. If you have a partner or spotter they can hand the weighted bar to you from behind. You will be placing you arms and hands behind your back to grab a hold of the bar. Keeping bar in place behind your back with palms facing outward just about glute (butt) level. 

If you don't have a spotter or partner you will be picking bar up backwards by bending down and reaching back to grab bar and then stand up. Once your set and ready with bar is in position you will then squat down just as doing a regular squat, but the trick is you will be holding bar behind your back just at or under your glute area. As you squat down the bar will move with you and lower as you squat down and raise with you back up to same position. It may feel strange and can be difficult executing free weight style, but if you don't have a Hack Squat machine to use then you know you can always perform them free weight style. It's a great way to confuse your muscles as well.. I love doing them both ways to keep my muscles guessing and keeping my training fresh by never letting my body adapt. #LoveHackSquats♡

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"The Right Workout Partner"

Having a hard time sticking with your fitness routine? Find a friend to help you out and you may experience more fitness success.  Partnering up will make you accountable to someone other than yourself. Which means you’re more likely to make the effort even when you really don’t feel like it. Knowing someone else is counting on you might just give you to boost you need to get yourself in gear. Just make sure if you're going to take on a workout partner you choose wisely because if you pick a close friend who has never worked out or hates exercise you could have some problems. You want to pick someone who is motivated enough to push past their comfort zone and not give in to the temptation of just leaving you messages at the last minuet that they will be missing today's workout. This could hinder your own progress and motivation and then you could skip your workout as well.

Picking a workout partner is not personal so if you choose not to pick your close friend to be your workout partner don't feel bad and they shouldn't either.  Now if your close friend or family member has the same goals and motivations as you, but your not sure about them committing and keeping to a schedule with you then give them a probation period. If they cancel, change or miss more than 1-2 workouts within a months time then it might be better to separate and find a new partner. You can still be close friends, but when it comes to your fitness, health and motivation you need to count on yourself most of all and if your partner doesn't have those same wishes, goals or wants as you do it will not work. You and your partner need and have to be in sync with each other to make a workout partnership work for both of you!

I only had one real workout partner and that was my brother Dana who taught me all about working  out with weights. As I fell in love with weight training my brother and I became more than trainer and trainee, we became true workout partners and relied on each others motivation and drive to keep us both accountable each workout and our set workout schedule. In the beginning I would have to be at my brothers house by 5am in the morning and it was brutal. He picked that time purposely to see how dedicated and serious I was by choosing such a grueling time. I had to leave my house by 4:30 am to be there on time and my bother was always ready at 4:50am so I had to be there and be ready to train at 5am. To my bothers surprise day after day, week after week and so on I kept coming back to train and continued to get my butt kicked at 5am 3-4 days on to one day off then back again.

I didn't love the early mornings, but I loved the feel of it when I was there pumping the iron before sunrise and the great high after we kicked our butts for 90 minuets working out. So I continued to be there and my brother always knew I would be there to train with him so he was too pushed to be up early and ready on those occasional days he wasn't feeling so motivated. When I had those occasional days I knew he would be waiting for me so I could NEVER let him down and most of all I couldn't let myself down. The feeling of not going and missing a training workout was a far greater disappointment to me and I could never stand that feeling so coupled with that strong desire to not let myself down and then not letting my brother down it gave me exactly what I needed to keep pushing myself past any barriers that came my way.

So if you feel a workout partner will help and it's exactly what you need to push and motivate you past your own barriers then start searching. If you don't have a close friend or family that holds the same desires and goals in fitness and you do or want to have then try the gym and see who trains at the same time as you do.  Ask around the place you train, run or take workout classes at and see if their is anyone like yourself who wants or needs a partner. I am sure most gym's have bulletin boards that you could also place an ad and see if you can find someone that way too. Sometimes the best workout partner is someone you don't know so well at first as it can make it that much harder to let them down and you also may feel that wonderful competitiveness come out inside of you to prove yourself to your new found workout partner.  Man or women will do as long as it's a workout fit and the motivation keeps coming as you become in sync with each other as training partners. #TrainHard   

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"There's No Magic in Being Fit"

Many people drop their exercise routines before they ever get to experience weight loss. They expect to see change too soon and when it doesn't happen they feel why bother? Some exercisers set their expectations too high and go all out in the beginning, then fail to keep up with the unrealistic demands of their WAM-BAM plan.

Don’t overload yourself with unrealistic expectations when you’re just starting out with a new fitness program. You can’t expect yourself to work out three times a day if you’ve been sedentary for years. You’d be so sore after the first day or two that you’d end up back on the couch by day three. Quick-fix plans have you putting all your hopes into a rigorous routine that you think will work in no time at all.

Unfortunately, weight loss takes time. But don’t let that discourage you – the slower you lose it, the slower you gain it back. Start out with a slow, steady routine to get your body adjusted to new movements, and then slowly increase the intensity, frequency or duration of your exercise sessions. Crash diets and grueling exercise routines will get you nowhere. The slower you start, the longer you’ll stick with it and the better your body will be able to adapt and progress. This could take weeks or even months, so be patient. 

Have you ever noticed that Monday's are always the busies day at the gym and for training. Tuesday is busy again and then by Wednesday you see it start dropping down a bit. By Thursday and Friday it is down to the regulars and what I call the "Die Hards"  Same thing goes for the beginning of the New Year, a few months before Summer and the beginning of each new month. Everyone has the best intentions to start their fitness program and be fit and healthy, yet will go to hard trying to make it happen too quickly and when it doesn't the discouragement sets in. This is why you see a drop off in people by the end of the week, by February each New Year and by middle of the month because too many expect by week two or even three they should see their fit, amazing body happen. Sorry, but it just doesn't appear like magic. There's no magic involved in being fit, healthy and feeling good about yourself. Embrace the wonderful, alive feeling you get from working out and continue for that reason alone and not just for obtaining a beautiful body. If you enjoy that and be consistent then you will see the beautiful body forming right before your eyes like magic.

Consistency is the main key to weight loss, getting fit, and maintaining not quantity or how much you do in one day or week. You would be better off doing less and doing it every day consistently than doing a lot a few times a week. If your trying to get fit and lose weight you do need to put the time in to see results. 4-6x per week. 1-3x per week will not get you the results you want if you're wanting to become fit, lose weight or improve what you already have. You need to set yourself up with a good fitness program to begin and be consistent and think of it long term, a life time commitment and stick with it. Only then you will reap the benefits you so desire to have to body of your dreams. There's NO easy way around the hard work that needs to be done. Do the work... Reap the benefits!    

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Always Train like a "BadAss" 2 Be #1

Training for speed is no cake walk, but it could be the difference between completing a race and competing in a race. There are a number of things you can do to become faster, but you won’t find “do the same old program you’ve always been doing” on the list.

You can’t expect to run fast in competition if you don’t run fast in practice, which means that strength and endurance training won’t make you faster. Instead, try adding intervals to your training regimen. This can be as simple as adding hills or sprints to your normal routine. Running uphill makes you work twice as hard, which builds strength, power and speed. Surprisingly, running downhill can also improve your speed.

While training for a super fitness competition I had to train for a half mile beach sprint which wasn't going to be easy. My bother had me doing quarter, half and full mile interval sprints for at least 2-3 consecutive miles. Running each one full force sprinting. I chose a area I could run and we marked the course out with spay painted dots. White was quarter mile, green half mile and red one mile. I would rotate which color I was running each day I went to train. Between each interval I got a break of 100 yards which I had to keep walking at a fast pace to prepare for the next interval run. My brother even had my rest/walking period marked for each color run in black. Those color dots came up fast and when I got to them it was time to start hauling butt again. Red, while, or Green day we called it. Of course red was the hardest because it was a mile haul out sprint. I called red dot day barf day because it always made me barf after I was done sprinting a mile.

I also did a lot of hills and down hill running for speed. I also ran in the sand so I would get use to running in the sand for the race. I would always run in soft, dry sand with my shoes on to make it tougher for me. Certain days I would also wear leg weights in the sand to make it even more tough on me. Making my training tougher  would only prepare me for the race that much better. I also ran at the hottest times of the day to make it again that much harder and tougher on me. My run in the competition would be late morning or early afternoon and would be in the hot sun so I made sure I was used to much hotter and tougher conditions to be able to run my best that day.

Add plyometric (explosive movement) drills to your workouts to increase power, coordination, agility, and speed of movement. “Bounding” is a good example of a plyometric drill that can help you run faster: As you run, push forcefully off the ground with your feet for each step you take. This exaggerated version of running will have you literally leaping as you run. This improves both your explosive power and speed.  If you decide to follow a speed-training regimen, just keep in mind that it's especially hard on the body and shouldn’t be done on consecutive days.  I chose a video below with some of the drills I was taught by my brother for my own speed, power and endurance training. Some of the drills my look funny and odd and some are funny to preform as well, but they work and they do prepare you for any type of competition you may be entering or if you just want to improve your skills to be more all around fit, healthy and completely "BadAss"   

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Motivational Note✿ "Get Back Up"

There is one thing I am sure of in this world...is that those individuals who win in life, whether in love, sports or in business, know that they can never have what they desire if they give up after getting knocked down. So if you get knocked down just get right back up, dust yourself off and keep pushing toward your goals, dreams and desires in this one life we have to live. There's only one other alternative and that is to stay down and cry about it.. right? You can cry, get mad even. Take some time down there, but don't take too long because life and time is always moving. So get up and move with it and make it all happen for yourself and your life. #Getbackup ✿

#8 Steps to Be...."Summer Ready Body"

✿✿ 8 Steps to a Summer-Ready Body Summer just around the corner and does the thought of putting on a swimsuit, bikini make you panic? Take control of your fitness and get your body in the tip top shape and ready for summer time. Here are 8 Steps for you to get started on your swimsuit ready body. ✿Step #1 ~ Start by taking note of what you eatOver a typical three day period write down what you eat, paying attention to when you eat, portion size, ingredients and calories (calorie counters are available on the internet). Don't forget to write down every morsel that passes your lips in to your mouth...including liquid. ✿Step #2 ~ Reset your bodyDetoxing brings your body back into balance so you feel healthier, burn energy more efficiently and reduce water retention-all which help you lose weight. A guided detox program is the best way to cleanse, but if you can’t join one either do a juice fast or try the following for at least 3 days, up to 2 weeks:   1. Squeeze lemon in to warm water and drink first thing in the morning..This stimulates the liver. 2. Don't eat dairy, meat or refined foods. They produce large amounts of acid wastes in the body.  Don't eat salt, sugar or foods with added sugar. Use honey, agave or stevia if you need to sweeten something. Don’t eat fried foods or foods cooked with oil. If you want to use oil drizzle cold-pressed organic olive or flax seed oil over food just before serving.  3. Eat as many raw organic fruits and vegetables as your body can handle. If your digestion is weak, you may need to eat some steamed or baked vegetables. 4. Drink at least one raw fruit or vegetable juice per day.  ✿Step #3 ~ Review your food journal Identify foods which are processed, high calorie and low nutrition, and contain lots of salt and sugar. Replace them with more nutritious options. Focus on foods that have a high amount of nutrients per calorie such as leafy greens. Replace processed foods with high fiber foods like oatmeal, fruits or vegetables, which help you feel full longer. Replace high fat foods with low fat options. Note times that you eat unhealthy foods, and replace them with wholesome snacks. If you crave something sweet, choose fruit instead; salty and crispy-try snacking on nori or celery sticks. ✿Step #4 ~ Keep hydrated Water helps us feel full and flushes out toxins– two key factors for weight loss. But most of us don’t drink enough. During the program drink a minimum of 3 liters of water per day and avoid dehydrating alcohol, coffee, soft drinks and diet soda. ✿Step #5 ~ Work up a sweat   Cardio exercise is the best way to burn fat, and intense intervals burn fat up to 3 times faster. Try walking, swimming, running, or any cardio class for 30-45 minutes, 4-5 days a week. Get your blood pumping and your body moving and work up a good sweat... Keep your metabolism fired up and burning the fat. If you can manage to do your cardio workout in the early morning which will kick start your metabolism and keep it burning throughout the day. ✿Step #6 ~ Tone, Shape and define Although it weighs more than fat, muscle uses energy. So the more you have, the more calories you burn – even at rest.  So get at least 30-45 minuets of strength training in to tone, shape and define your muscles which will make your body look fit, firm and sexy.  Strength training of some sort is a MUST... So make sure to do this along with your cardio and you will be thankful when you get into you swimsuit for your first summer beach outing. ✿Step #7 ~ Triumph over cellulite The unsightly texture that can appear on legs, hips and stomach is due to fat, water retention, reduced circulation, fibrous tissue and weakened cell membranes. The recommendations above will improve cellulite, as will eating plenty of healing nutrients. Healthy fats found in nuts and seeds heal cell membranes. Vitamin C, zinc and silica found in fruits, vegetables, pumpkin seeds and oats improve skin’s elasticity.  We don't want any unsightly bumpy cellulite on our body when we get in to our swimsuit... That's just not happening is it? Do the work and it won't! ✿Step #8 ~ Get the right attitude The confident people on the beach aren’t always the fittest. How people see you is influenced by how you feel about yourself. Taking care of your body makes you appreciate it more and feel like you look better, which is half the battle. So be confident in yourself, secure and happy in your own skin and it will show inside and out. Do the work and get your body healthy, fit and ready for the summer and for the rest of your life.. You will glow in your swimsuit this summer.

Daily Diet Tip: "Love♡Mr.Potato"

Remember a few years ago when the baked potato became a popular diet food? The idea was to avoid French fries or onion rings in restaurants by providing a “healthier” option. But as with many things, we find a way to get around the healthier possibilities – in this case, by adding bacon, cheese and sour cream. 

The good news is that baked potatoes are back. And some small changes can turn them into solutions for you. A baked potato with healthy toppings can actually be your main course – add some cooked ground turkey, corn, black beans, and salsa, and you no longer need rice or fried taco shells. Or add chopped tomato and onions and a little bit of feta and you have a more substantial salad.  A really good addition to the bake potato is chili.  Now you need to make the chili yourself so you know it's healthy and you can use ground turkey or lean beef.  Pour some chile right on top of your bake potato for a really yummy healthy meal.

The potato, as well as the skin, are great sources of vitamin C, vitamin B6, copper, potassium, zinc, and protein, but neither naturally contain any fat, cholesterol, or sodium. Leaving the skin intact can also help preserve the nutrients in the flesh of the potato. a medium-sized potato, including the skin, has approximately 110 calories. Potatoes are classified as bulb or root, and contain a protein called patatin that is specific to these types of vegetables. Patatin works as an effective antioxidant and helps to lower blood pressure, and potato skins may even help to provide protection against heart disease and cancer.  The skin is my favorite part of the potato and I was told at as a little girl that the skin held all the good stuff, so I always ate the skin. Little did I know that it held this much good stuff.

Potatoes contain more potassium than any other fresh vegetable in the produce department - even more than bananas. One potato has almost 900 milligrams, which is about 20 percent of what you need every day. Potassium is important for body growth and cell maintenance. It's also necessary for nervous function and for normal muscle contraction - including the heart muscle. Potassium is also an electrolyte that helps to balance the fluids in your body, which is important for healthy blood pressure. Potatoes also contain substantial amounts of vitamins C and B6, which are vital for blood clotting, wound healing, a strong immune system, normal nervous system function and for converting the food you eat to energy.

Potato's shouldn't be held out of our diets in fear of eating carbohydrates, they should be in our diets because of all these amazingly great things they have in them for our bodies. One Potato depending on size runs from 28-50 grams of carbohydrates in them. A medium is around 37g. which is considered pretty high, but it converts our food we eat to energy.  If eaten earlier in the day can be burned off easily and also be great benefit in giving us energy for our workouts. Plus it has the high Potassium benefit which is important for body growth and cell maintenance. When you're spending so much time working out, training your body this is a huge benefit for a healthy fit body.

So don't be so afraid of the potato anymore, just add it to your diet along with some good healthy topping choices and you will be doing your body good. Don't forget to eat the skin for more healthy benefits for you body. Love Mr.Potato♡

 

"Running on Empty"

If you're not sure when is the best time to work out? Here’s a little secret: Do it first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. Research has shown that you’ll burn more calories if you perform cardio before breakfast than if you eat first. I don't like doing my cardio in the early morning, but when competing I forced myself to do my cardio which was mostly running in quarter mile, half miles intervals for 3-4 miles and or doing a three mile straight run as fast as possible and last but not least the dreaded half mile beach sprint in the sand.

Oh how I dreaded those early mornings waking up my body that way, but I learned to look forward to those early mornings because I felt amazing afterward and then I could feed my empty stomach as soon as I was done. Except for a little water I would always do my runs on a empty stomach. Doing cadio or a workout on empty stomach early in the morning is not only easier it's also is the best way to getting your metabolism going and your fat burning at the start of your day. 

Other studies have confirmed this and found that fat loss increased only when the study participants exercised in a fasted state. This is because your body fasts at night when you are sleeping, and your metabolism naturally slows down because your body needs less energy. Exercising first thing in the morning will rev your metabolism. I would always say... I am running on empty! So tomorrow morning, throw off the covers, and lace up your running shoes and hit that road for some early morning fat burning to start your fit day!    

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Frequent Workouts Are More Effective...

When it comes to losing weight, it may not be how many calories you burn in a week that makes the most impact on your bottom line. Rather, it's how often you burn these calories.

If you’re relying on a 4-hour weekend hike to make up for a sedentary week, you may actually be better off spending four 1-hour sessions in the gym throughout the week. The reason for this is you’ll have more energy to give to your workouts when you break them up into smaller, more frequent sessions, rather than trying to do it all at once. And that means more calories burned. This is one of the main reasons bodybuilders and fitness competitors do double session workouts when preparing for competition. Doing double sessions with high intensity shorter periods will burn the fat needed to unveil their hard earned muscle. Some competitors who have more to lose will do three session at least 4 hours apart to get the maximum fat burning to get their body ready for the stage.

This type of frequent workout will works for everyone not just fitness or bodybuilding competitors. It also doesn't need to be as extreme doing three work outs a day, but doing a workout everyday is what you need to do rather than thinking a weekend filled with activities will do the trick. It's being consistent and going hard for that time you do have. 

 

In my case one day this week I had only 30 minuets to do a workout and rather than just not do it because my time was limited and I could of used the extra time to get ready I chose a circuit workout and blasted my body for those 30 minuets. You would be surprised what you can do in a little bit of time. Even if you have 15-20 minuets to workout just go hard and for that time you have and keep your daily momentum going in getting all your workout in for the week. Being consistent and diligent in working out more frequently will start showing up on your physic and make you more motivated to keep up the hard work.

Sign up for a few group fitness classes at your gym to help motivate you to be more active during the week. Or make it a point to get at least 30 minutes of exercise in each morning before you start your day. The more often you exercise, the more success you'll have at finally losing the weight and getting in shape and obtaining your fit body once and for all. So push hard everyday, then push a little more!

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Don't Fear the "He Man" Look Girls

If you’re looking to tone up, you may be wondering whether strength-training exercises will make you look big and bulky. Women need not worry about this so much. Women’s bodies don’t produce as much of the growth-producing hormone testosterone as men's do. Men produce up to 30 times more testosterone, which is why they’re able to build larger muscle mass. Back in the 1980s, you might have been discouraged from weight-training by women bodybuilders who looked extremely muscular. But remember, women back then followed a very different kind of training program and achieved “he-men” looks with steroid supplements.

There’s a chance your body builds muscle mass quickly – more than the average woman – but this tendency can help you reach your goals sooner. And even if you are a fast muscle-grower, your muscles adapt to your level of activity and intensity of your workouts, meaning rapid growth will slow down in the absence of bodybuilder training. If you stick to core exercises and strength training, I promise your muscles will only become firmer, sexier and shapelier – not bulkier.

I am very small and at only 101 pounds when I starting training hard as a bodybuilder. From day one I lifted heavy weight at the coaching of my brother Dana. I had no intention of competing as a  bodybuilder I was just trying something different rather than just running and swimming to keep my body fit. My brother had me lift as a bodybuilder and within a year I did gain muscle fast and developed a more muscular physique. I did fear the manly look and told my brother that I never wanted to look like a "He Man" ...my brother would laugh and tell me I wouldn't look like a man or "He Man" ever. Even when I did decide to compete in bodybuilding after five years of training hard I had to fight hard to get bigger muscles on on my small frame on the off season.  I had to build enough muscle bulk to strip down for competition. I had be big enough to go against women so much larger than me in height and weight so it was a must for me to lift like a man would to obtain bigger muscles for competition

Majority of the women lifting today don't want the big bodybuilder muscles and are not competing so they really don't have to worry about looking like a "He Man" It takes a lot of heavy lifting, time, sacrifice and eating a lot to get there and even then I always looked like a women. In fact I was called the Barbie of bodybuilding when I competed because I looked feminine with muscles. I was lucky as judges liked that look more so than the bigger bulky look and I was able to defeat women twice my size. Symmetry also plays a big part of your overall package. Your body not only needs well developed muscle it also needs to be balanced and symmetrical to be pleasing to the eye in bodybuilding too.

 

So women need not fear developing big muscles from strength training or be afraid of looking like a "He Man" it is so very unlikely from happening. Weights are your body's friend and will add more muscle to your body frame which will help you burn more fat while your body is resting. The more muscle you have the more fat you will burn when your not lifting and it also shapes your body in a way that other types of training cannot. You have the control to shape a better more fit, sexy body when you strength train. Having huge monstrous muscles from lifting weights is not something you ever need to worry about. Of course unless you want them and if you do be prepared for a hard fight to obtain them as a women.

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Train Hard... Rest Up & Recover

Believe it or not, rest is one of the most important aspects of any resistance training program. Now don’t go getting all excited and head for the couch. We're talking about giving your muscles 24 hours of rest in-between workouts. A rest period of at least 24 hours allows the body to recover from exercise. Resting helps your body replenish glycogen stores and progressively adapt to the exercise stress.

Progressive adaptation allows you to reach higher levels of fitness over time, which is very important. Otherwise, you’re stuck in a plateau and going nowhere. To make the most of your rest days, allow at least one full day of rest in between working a specific muscle group. But don’t make the mistake of thinking “if some is good, more is better.” Allowing more than three days of rest for a muscle group will have you losing what you’ve worked so hard for.

If you want to work out more than every other day, group your workouts by muscle type or geography. For example, do an “arms” day on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and then alternate with a “legs” day on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. And then give your body at least one full day of complete rest, like on Sunday. Rotating your workouts in this way will help you from losing your gym habit, but allow you to rest up, recover and get revved up for more! Taking your scheduled rest days will also prevent you from over training your muscles too. Over training can be a major set back and be just as bad as missing your workouts, so make sure to rest and let your muscle recover. After a good day of rest your muscles will be full, repaired, recovered and ready to train hard.                                

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"Feel The Burn"

When lifting weights, you should feel a significant burn when you finish each set. If you aren’t feeling that burn, your form or intensity may not be ideal. Maintaining proper form will allow you to feel the stress of each move on the specific muscle you’re working.

Don’t let surrounding muscles support your movements. For example, when doing a biceps curl, you should feel the full weight of the dumbbell or cable on your biceps, not your back or shoulders. Bad form not only cheats you of an effective workout, but also puts you at risk for debilitating injuries. Intensity is just as important as form when you’re aiming for maximum results. 

The most critical element regarding intensity is choosing the right weight. Pick a weight that completely fatigues the muscle after four reps (i.e. you can’t lift it one more time because your muscle is too tired). If you can do only 2-3 reps, the weight is too heavy. If you can do 5-6 reps, the weight is too light. Make those repetitions count!  

When lifting weights make sure you're not just going through the motions with each rep. You want to really feel the weight and the muscles you're working. The last reps should be the reps that your muscles are working with the most intensity to failure. You want to be pushing for those last reps and really feeling the muscle you're working. Those last pushed reps are the ones that count the most and will make a huge difference in the overall muscle development over time. So don't be lazy and just go through your workout without any thought or really pushing yourself. Feel the passion in your lifting and push yourself in each exercise and every rep.

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"Never Give Up"..... Take what's Yours Today!

✿ Let this be the day the you start fighting for that fit, sexy, healthy body you've been dreaming of...Don't make anymore excuses to delay or push back your starting day this time. You don't need your starting day to be on a Monday or on the first day of the month for it to happen. It can be a Tuesday or Friday or on Monday because you can commit to it at anytime just commit. Commit in the late afternoon on a Friday if you want to, just do it. There is only one set perfect time to surrender yourself to being fit and healthy and that is the day and time you decide to give in, surrender mind, body and soul and just commit yourself to it. Why keep living without feeling fit, sexy and amazing when you can just start taking what yours today.

Life is way to short and by delaying it day after day, month after month years go by and you realize you could of had all that time feeling fit and healthy and proud of yourself. Instead you feel worse because you have only wasted time procrastinating and delaying your commitment. You need to just surrender and dig down deep inside yourself and pull all that bad stuff out and let go of it.  Surrender to the new you and make today be the day you let go and go get what has always been yours to have. Be proud, be happy, be yourself and be fit, sexy, healthy and complete! #SurrenderandCommit  ✿