Bring Sexy Back "Light" Cardio

The definition of “light” is loose in my head J

To stop myself going mad and add some intensity into my boring as hell “light cardio” sessions I went back to my circuit days and pulled this out the bag.  Actually really hard in my cardio terms, so please don’t laugh at me cardio bunnies.

My aims

·         Add some resistance and hit those fast twitch muscle fibres that are having a good old rest given my injury

·         Do a sharp 30 minute cardio session, having fuelled up before hand to remain anabolic not catabolic (read up on it if you’re a fan of fasted cardio)

·         Get a good sweat on

So here it is

Warm up

5 minutes incline walk – 6% incline, 6.0km

Lunge circuit.  Remaining on the treadmill.  Incline 3%

·         2 minutes walking lunge – 4.5km

·         1 minute side skip right – 5km

·         2 minutes walking lunge – 4.5km

·         1 minute side skip left – 5km

·         2 minutes walking lunge – 4.5km

·         2 minutes running backwards – 5km

Jump off the treadmill and perform 50 weighted walking lunches.  I held two 5km plates as I don’t like to load my back unless I really need to (thickens the core = wider waist).  But you can use dumbbells or a barbell if you find this easier.

Back on the treadmill.  Sprint circuit.  Incline 1%.  These speeds are for my ability.  I max out at 16km, as in my legs struggle to carry me.  Your max will be individual to your ability.  The gauge I gave Gabby is run like a rapist is chasing you.  THAT'S your max!!!

·         30 seconds walk – 6.5km

·         30 second sprint – 13km

·         30 second rest (jump onto the side of the treadmill)

·         30 second sprint – 13.5km

·         30 second rest (jump onto the side of the treadmill)

·         30 second sprint – 14km

·         30 second rest (jump onto the side of the treadmill)

·         30 second sprint – 14.5km

·         30 second rest (jump onto the side of the treadmill)

·         30 second sprint – 15km

·         30 second rest (jump onto the side of the treadmill)

·         30 second sprint – 15.5km

·         30 second rest (jump onto the side of the treadmill)

·         30 second sprint – 16km

·         30 second rest (jump onto the side of the treadmill)

·         30 second sprint – 16km

·         30 second rest (jump onto the side of the treadmill)

·         30 second sprint – 15.5.5km

·         30 second rest (jump onto the side of the treadmill)

·         30 second sprint – 15km

·         30 second walk – 6km

Breathing out my arse – 100 sumo squats, using 5kg plate until I can’t do anymore then just use own bodyweight.  I think I managed about 60 with weight but pretty sure I was delirious by this point.

Back on the treadmill for Squat Intervals - Incline 1%

·         1 minute side squat left - 3.5km

·         1 minute side skip left - 4.5km

·         1 minute side squat right - 3.5km

·         1 minute side skip right- 4.5km

·         1 minute run backwards - 3.5km

Incline walk (to finish off those hamstrings). 5 minutes, incline 10%, speed 6km.

This broke me!  Have fun....

Love

x

Injury Woes

It was only a matter of time until injury struck again.  Given the strain I put my body under sometimes it’s no surprise when I tweak things here and there.  However, twisting your knee in your sleep has to go down as one of thee crappiest excuses for an injury I ever heard!

According to my evil physio there’s nothing actually wrong with my knee at all – which is good news because thats months out not weeks.  After a few painful sessions in which I’ve had needles stuck in my legs (deeper than acupuncture apparently and awesome for trigger points.  Awesome = horrendously painful) and suffered the annoyance of rest I’m not convinced he’s any the wiser.  “Apparently” I’ve tweaked a tiny muscle in my lower back, which is putting strain on my glute, into my hams and quads and setting off my knee.  Jeas!

That ain’t the technical explanation I’m sure but it’s what I remember through the haze of the pain....

Anyways, injury 3 weeks before Vegas is a flipping disaster! 

No weights and light cardio.  LIGHT CARDIO!  I feel my booty deflating by the day and I’m playing old head games with myself convinced I’m turning into Miss Piggy.  NONE OF MY NEW CLOTHES ARE GOING TO FIT!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't do light..... and I don't do c-a-r-d-i-o......

Now the logical side of my brain is saying rest and get better, rest is good for muscle growth, tend to niggles now so they don’t turn into anything serious, you’re not gaining fat yada yada.  Well the emotional side is screaming, wanting to reach for the biscuit tin and cry that it’s JUST SO UNFAIR!!

So that’s what I’m up to.  Bored and looking pretty peeved off with life so if you see my grumpy face in the gym staring longingly at the smith machine give me a slap.  I have been a good girl and stuck to his advice.  Not doing much in the way of "light cardio" because I'm not that fussed if I gain a few kgs, its not the end of the world, and I would much rather preserve all that hard earned muscle that took me so long, and so much pain to build.

Thinking of some good news...... OH!  I do have some.  Slightly tooting my own horn, but hey its my blog so TOOT TOOT!  My trainer is actually a genius.  Not Mensa style but BANGING FOR VEGAS rate.  Despite being a couple of kgs on the heavier than I’d like side, and body fat remaining pretty static around 17/18% my waist has shrunk.  This thick old trunk I call a waist is actually beginning to resemble one.  I’m athletically built which is great for some things but horrid for others.  Waist being the main culprit.  Smallest I’ve ever measured and would be a few kgs lighter for sure is 27 inches.  It’s 26 at the moment, yeah baby!  With a booty measuring 38 - YOWSERS nothing in the shops fit me off the rain.  So I'm havign to buy a bigger size and have it altered.  Its costing a fortune but I love shape and well nothing beats your clothes fitting perfectly does it!

J Lo watch your back honey J

Right, going to leave you with this absolute beauty.  If your well enough to train, and you can't find the motivation after listening to this I will organise for you to be punched in the face.  Made for a heavy legs session!

I said HEAVY ladies, and deep, I wanna see some strain on your pretty faces!

Love

x

Gabby's 3rd Blog

Hi guys

Well it’s been a couple of weeks since I blogged. And although the workouts have been going well and I’ve been doing more cardio as well my eating has not been as tight as I would have liked. This is down to a few reasons but no point going in to them, I know what they are and I know how to address them. But the main thing for me is not being in a routine.

After acknowledging this fact I’ve had a good eating weekend and have kept really active (surfing yesterday was great I highly recommend it! it’s fun but exhausting!).

Three weeks to go until my birthday and I really am on the home stretch now and I don’t have many things on socially as well so that’s good, it stops me from cheating and being naughty. Anyone who knows me knows I can’t resist a wee pick! I’m just going to knuckle down with the workouts, increase my cardio and eat as clean as I can.

I stocked up at the shops yesterday on chicken, veg and greens so I have no excuse! Ive prepared my lunches for the week so I’m not caught on when I’m out about on the go and have my food with me.

So keep your fingers crossed for me it’s going to be a hard three weeks x

Hey boys and girls

Slightly less perky check in this time.  But I’m glad Gabby has blogged as this is her journey and it’s hard.  We had a big heart to heart on Friday morning.  I had watched her take her foot off the accelerator for a few weeks and it was quite hard to stand back from and a real personal challenge with my type A personality not to physically grab her, shake her and go clean out her fridge.  At the end of the day we are accountable to no one other than ourselves and the only person you are cheating, is yourself.

The “journey” is difficult but Gabs can and will do it if she knuckles down.  It’s all down to diet, and again I’m going to point out that cardio IS NOT THE ANSWER for a number of reasons.  Mainly because this will hinder muscle growth, increase cortisol the stress hormone into your body and frankly how long do you really want to spend in the gym for the sake of a Mars bar??

Take a read of this article on the effects of cortisol on fat loss.  Cardio will hinder your progress if not used correctly.

I’m sitting at around 17% body fat and I do one 30 minute cardio session a week.  Leaning out all comes down to a consistent diet, pure and simple.  And getting my head around this was the biggest lesson I learnt and one that I think we all struggle to acknowledge. 

80% of how we look is what we put in our mouths. 

But, I really do want to point out that Gabby’s body is changing and progressing every single week.  Lately I have seen a great improvement in her lower body, her hamstrings in particular!  The workouts are transforming her body shape, now we need to bring in the diet to lean out.

Let’s rally round and support her because SHE CAN DO THIS! 

Love

xx

Banging For Vegas - Day 20 - Gabby's Blog

Hi guys that's me just under 3 weeks in to the new regime and its going well!

I've lost another 2 pounds this week and I can def start to see changes in my body, especially my tummy and arms.

The sessions this week have been quite long and hard but I’m trying to lift heavier weights as the weeks are progressing. The plyo sessions are always awful and last night was no exception. 5 weeks to go before Vegas so if I can continue at this pace I should def reach my target of a stone, so the sequin shorts are still in sight!

I had a couple of compliments off friends at work this morning so that's always a good motivation. I’m going to ramp up the cardio next week as I’m finishing up work today so hopefully that should speed up the weight loss a little bit.

Speak next week!

Gabs x

Another great week from Gabs.  I’ll second the awfulness of the plyo session we did last night.  Close to vomit a couple of times!  But we dug deep and suffered together, now that’s friendship J

I have definitely started to see some changes in her body as I blogged.  Everything is moving in the right direction at a good pace.  She is a great example of what can be achieved through the right workouts and nutrition.  Only one cardio session again this week and my spy’s tell me she was a naughty little minx on Sunday with her nutrition but look, like I said before, cheats are ok.  They matter less when you are consistently following a balanced nutrition plan and training programme.

I feel a little like the fun police and sure Gabs wants to kick me at times when I’m giving her shit but so happy to see her doing so well.  Her strength is improving each session and I’m sure she is even surprising herself when she is pushed to try a couple of kgs heavier and smashes the reps out.  I'm pushing her because I believe in her abilities so I hope you don't hate me friend.....

I’d be happy if next week she only did two or three HIIT session.  I don’t believe at this stage the cardio is required if the nutrition is on point.  I know Gabby is keen to speed things up but this is a learning curve and if more than a couple of lbs comes off a week, it ain't fat that's coming off, its muscle tissue.  WHICH IS THE LAST THING I WANT!!!

Well done my friend, SO PROUD!  Keep it up!!

xx

Why I Think It’s Ok To Cheat

.....on your programmes of course

Personally here are the benefits for me to cheating now and again

1.       Keeps me sane

2.       A bit of what you fancy now and again never hurt anyone

3.       Sometimes you just need a rest, mentally if for nothing else

Here’s my approach to cheating on your diet or workout programme.  Sometimes life gets in the way and that can’t be helped, you’re genuinely stuck without access to clean food, some tit eats your lunch from the fridge at work (true story), your injured and can’t workout etc...  Why waste time beating yourself up about it and feeling guilty.  It’s one day, one meal, get over it, move on and don’t waste precious life feeling shit about it.

When it comes to deliberate cheating here’s my approach.  I call it conscious cheating, closely linked to conscious eating (look it up).  Sounds lame but bear with me.  Instead of thinking life is the thing that is happening to you; approach all elements of life, including your diet, exercise and therefore your physique with the acceptance that it is all in your hands.  Your appearance, fitness and to some extent confidence and self esteem are as a result of the choices you make every single day. 

When I cheat, have that Greggs Sausage roll for lunch or take a biscuit from the tin at work I do it putting that food in my mouth KNOWING that my choice will not help me reach my goal.  I consciously accept that I am making a decision that is not going to support what goals and boundaries I have set for myself.

Uh, sounds like a lot of effort for a biscuit?  Well, how much energy do you expend wishing you were that magical ½ a stone lighter? Or your tummy was flatter? Or your biceps bigger? 

This approach makes me think about my actions and also the consequences of my actions.  I’m not saying turn into a crazing nutter and over analyse all the decisions you make but if you know something is bad for you, accept the consequences of that decision to do it anyway.  Ignorance is not an excuse when it comes to fitness; neither is finding an excuse for your cheat.  Just have the dam thing if it’s that important to you but consciously accept what results that choice will bring.

For example:  “It’s a birthday party, I’ve got to have cake at a birthday party!”  You walk away from this situation thinking well it was ok and won’t affect me because I had a good excuse.  WRONG!  Or even worse you’ll spend the rest of the day feeling guilty for having a piece of cake.  Wasting a day of your life feeling shit for a few moments of eating.

It will affect your progress, and if you choose to accept that it’s fine, but don’t be surprised when the scales give you a disappointing reading, or you don’t reach your target inch loss.  And don’t have the cheek to be upset about it either. 

Your body is a pretty simple being.  It doesn’t care who’s birthday it was or what the occasion for the cheating was.  All it knows is “I have no use for all this refined sugar so I’m going to store it”.

It works for me, personnally I ate birthday cake this Sunday much to the surprise of the other attendees.  You eat that???  Yes I do, I eat very well the rest of my meals so I can eat a slice of cake and not beat myself up over it.  I may not be the leanest I could be, because I choose to cheat.  But I am the most sane, in control and accepting of the choices I make on a daily basis.

Think about it....

Lots of hippy love

x

PS - My side note to all this is the word CONSCIOUS.  I could literally kick people who play the ignorance card and do not know what it is they are putting in their mouths.  It’s ridiculous.  So if you have no idea what carb, protein, fat or most importantly sugar content of the foods you eat you need to have a word with yourself.  People, IMO, hide behind the EXCUSE it would be obsessive to know the content of your food.  I strongly disagree - its education!  You wouldn't put the wrong type of fuel in your car.  You wouldn't drink an unknown liquid someone handed you so why do you eat something a supermarket puts a nice label on without knowing what it is you are consuming.  You only get one body so look after it.  Rant......

Milestones

Monitoring progress is hard and can become a bit of a head f**k when you are working so hard.  Bob, rightly so, pointed out that we should notice all the small milestones, not just what the scales are reading on a weekly basis. 

*  the first time someone comments you have lost weight
*  the first time your regular size no longer fits
*  the first time you can run a certain distance or lift a certain weight

Well, forget what the scales say.  I hadn't seen Gabby in a couple of days and last night I notice she has lost body fat.  Mostly around her shoulders and arms.

Its really difficult for me to tell because we train together everyday but yesterday I could see a change in her physique.  She is beginning to transform in front of my eyes, and its awesome to see :-)

Stay healthy and motivated people, it won't happen overnight but it will happen!

Love

x

Gabby's First Blog & Weigh In

Hi guys, well that's me ten days in now and all I can say is that its been tough but really enjoyable. As a reformed cardio and carb (its the Italian in me) junkie its been a big lifestyle change. At first I was also a little bit intimidated being in the weights area but you soon get over that and the eye candy certainly helps!!

The food was hard to get my head around at first, especially the eating 5 times a day, and preparing the food is also time consuming. But I have saved money not buying breakfast and lunch everyday which is also an added bonus. Without sounding clichéd I no longer feel bloated and do have much more energy. Those that know me know I love my food and have a massive appetite on me, but I don't seem to be hungry and even sat in the pub last night with the girls and just ate chicken and edamame beans even after an awful plyo workout!

I've lost three pounds which isn't a massive amount but a loss none the less. It’s been really good to have something to focus on so has been great for the mental health too! I also keep telling myself that I need to trust the process (it will all come together) and that things are not going to change overnight. I’m a firm believer that things that are worth it in life are never going to be easy.

And as hard as it is to believe its been a laugh as times as well, I always worked out on my own before but having someone push you really does make the difference and having some banter does lighten the pain. Having a couple of hours in the day to focus on nothing else but exercise and listen to my tunes has been invaluable.

I can feel and see a little bit of a loss around my tummy and had a couple of compliments from friends so that always helps to push you through when you are feeling low. My skin is clearer and with the increased protein my nails are stronger and my hair even shinier!

Next steps for me are to rank up on the cardio and get my weights a little bit heavier. I am quite pleased with my weights so far I’m not that far behind Kelly even though she's been doing it a lot longer than me. A little tip that I think is good to share (maybe just for the girls though) is that it’s good to have something hanging in your room that you really want to wear but just don't have the confidence yet to wear, and mines is a pair of sparkly sequin shorts! Silly but it works!

So its 6 weeks to go before Vegas and 18 months to go before I'm a bridesmaid (woo hoo)!  I will blog again next week on my progress.

And lastly a massive thanks to Kelly for helping me out and giving me something that's in my control that I can work hard for.

Gabs x

 

I'm absolutely delighted with Gabby’s hard work and effort!!  Believe me she's been put through some tough workouts and has risen to the challenge each time.  Even in that first horrible week when her legs were in shock and turning to jelly. 

Personally I am very happy with Gabby's weight loss so far.  Pure fat loss, achieved only through weight training, all be it one cardio session.  From my point of view I want her to lose fat and keep it off.  We’re building muscle to not only to firm everything up but make her body more metabolic.  No starvation diets and hunger pangs around here thank you very much!

The weight room can be intimidating, but she is practicing perfect technique and working to failure.  This girl is going to be a machine come Christmas let me tell you!!  And those sequin shorts - she will ROCK THEM with her firm, tight buns!!! :-)

Our initial plan was to do cardio but the workouts have taken longer than I would have liked as we have spent time working on technique and getting that perfect.  There was a little problem with muscle soreness in the first week also which would have just been pure evil to ask her to exercise on. We will introduce some cardio next week but again this will be minimal.

A wonderful start and I’m really enjoying workout out with my friend.  I feel a great sense of responsibility and also very honoured that she is trusting in me and my methods.  We’ve had a great laugh at times!  Pleased as punch and very excited for what’s to come.  Stick at it girl!!

Love x