Nine months of no gym, healthy eating or thinking about calories!  Nine months of a “get out of jail free” card.  In reality, the day your baby is born, all you can think about (besides this tiny person) is your CLOSET!!  How am I ever going to fit into all of these things again?  Seeing that I have been on ‘sabbatical’, surely these clothes are out of style, and I won’t have to face them!  I can still eat what I want, be lazy and buy new clothes!  GENIUS!

Let’s get back to reality – I do not want to get nominated for the “Biggest Loser” or other terrible fat person reality show (and being humiliated on TV is certainly not motivating).  Some days I do not eat; other days, maybe a Starburst or two or the ol’ Bell is ringing in my head for a burrito!  HOW DO I MAKE IT ALL STOP?!  Where is the girl that used to eat only whole, natural foods and avoided white sugar and processed foods like the plague?!  I think the baby smothered her with two buns from Whataburger to shut her up!  Pregnancy is tough; all of a sudden you are unrecognizable, finding yourself wanting foods that were once taboo and shunned from your diet.  Suddenly these unhealthy ‘foods’ are a “must”; eaten in mass quantities just to get through all of the morning sickness. But what does one do when the queasiness is gone and the baby is no longer an excuse to eat it all?

I find that I am full of excuses!  They including the following…

- Too tired (living on 3-4 hours of sleep)

- Too HOT (it’s 103 degrees out with high humidity; I mean, seriously, people)

- No time to cook (the Baby NEEDS me)

- Too sore (C-Section)

- Dirty house (how can I work out when my house looks like this?!)

- Did I mention that the baby needs me?!  (This is ALL Day, ALL The Time, Folks!)

It is so frustrating to flip open a magazine and read about Kendra Wilkinson or Kourtney Kardashian. Their babies are 5 minutes old, and they are back to a size 0, fitting in all of their pre-baby clothes. Bitches. The reality is, I don’t have a maid, nanny, chef, or a personal trainer. All I have is me.  I need to whip my own ass back into shape versus relying on someone else to do it for me.  I have found little to no time for myself, while adjusting to being a mother.  I hope to ‘find myself’ again and incorporate the “old” me with the mom and wife that I have now become.

- Emily Rannebarger

I have now seen how the ‘other half’ lives, the half that doesn’t work out, eat nutritious meals or generally care about their health.  We are not talking about the occasional treat.  We are talking about a lifestyle, specifically, a lifestyle of drive-through windows and plastic playgrounds – children running around screaming from a sugar-high have become my worst nightmare.

The girl who religiously went to the gym, eating protein bars/drinks and chicken breasts has fallen into a quick and easy trap. So ‘easy’ to drive-thru and yell out for something cheesy and greasy.  No messy kitchen, no dishes to clean; that will be someone else’s problem tonight.  Yet the decision to not eat ‘clean’ is a CHOICE.  And it is the choice millions of Americans are making every day, ‘filling up’ on fatty, super-size meals; we our leading ourselves in the direction of an obesity epidemic.  We are teaching our children that clowns should make our meal choices for us and that talking Jack ‘heads’ have the answer to  nutrition.  Really?  Is this what life and health have come to?  Sure, fast food restaurants all have healthy choices, but who wants em’; let’s face it salads are scary at these places. I’ll take my chances on fried and greasy before I eat out of a plastic container they call ‘salad’.

My husband and I now are working hard to keep away from the temptation, and drive past these places and not ‘thru’ them. They are a trap, leading you to addiction that is not only costly to your body, but your wallet as well (in ultimate health toll and expenses)  I ask you all to look over your bank statement and see the reality in cost of these ‘friends’.  Maybe your health isn’t a wakeup call, but your wallet just might be!

Wave  loading involves moving the weight up or down within subsequent sets of the same exercise.  The goal with this approach is to “trick” yourself into lifting heavier loads or more reps at a given weight.  Why does tricking yourself into lifting more matter?  Because you need to lift heavier if your goal is to make size or strength gains.

Ladies, I’m talking to you, too.  You’re going to need to lift more than just the 5 lb. dumbbells in the gym if your goal is to make physique gains. , e. g., strong glutes or abs, etc.  Dont worry, you won’t become an amazon by lifting heavy weights.  THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE.  The large women you see are all on various forms of supplementation.

You can perform single or multiple ‘waves’.  Ill share with you an example of wave loading I did the other night for back – with one arm dumbbell rows.  Wave loading is taxing.  I wouldn’t do these for each exercise in a workout.  They could probably be done a few times per week.  More than this might be overtraining, so use them thoughtfully and sporadically.

I did 2 waves (multiple waves) of 4 sets each for 8 total sets of this particular exercise; within these ‘waves, I performed 5 reps, then 4, then 3, then 2, for both waves.  I took about a minute break in between each set.  I took a 2-3 minute break in between waves 1 and 2.  The second wave consisted of the same sets/reps, but in the second wave, I increased the weights  by about 5-10 pounds compared to previous wave.  It’s a bit confusing; please see my example that follows.  Let me know if any questions or how it works for you!

One Arm Dumbbell Rows done via Wave Loading -

Wave 1:

1st set – 5 reps – 60 lb. dumbbells

2nd set – 4 reps – 70 lb. dumbbells

3rd set – 3 reps – 80 lb. dumbbells

4th (final set for wave 1) – 2 reps – 90 lb. dumbbells

Wave 2:

1st set – 5 reps – 65 lb. dumbbells  (IMPORTANT NOTE: Because my last set was 9o pounds, even though I increased the weight this set as compared to the 1st set of wave one, this is going to feel relatively light in comparison.  This is the concept of neural disinhibition (Ian King; see attached link).

2nd set – 4 reps – 80 lb. dumbbells

3rd set – 3 reps – 90 lb. dumbbells

4th and final set for first wave – 2 reps – 100 lb. dumbbells

Check out wave loading for yourself and let us know what you think.  I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised with the results.

http://www.tmuscle.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance/the_wave_loading_manifesto;jsessionid=F2AC668E1AAB30D543434AD579176F97.hydra

As an Italian-American, I grew up with and was inspired by the story of Rocky – a scrappy, hungry fighter with an indomitable spirit. Many of us have drawn inspiration from the character. For me (and many others), the key learning was that anything can be accomplished if the will to do something is strong enough. Any roadblock can be overcome, any hurdle can be gotten past if the if the force of character and the desire is great enough. Sometimes, it’s simply a matter of getting out of our own way to ‘get ahead’. What and who has inspired you?

How to perform:

• Setup in power rack and place the barbell on your upper back.
• Stand with a comfortable shoulder width stance.
• Get yourself into a tight position (shoulders back, chest up and high, breathe air into your abdomen, etc.).
• Bend your knees slightly; whatever bend you choose, maintain this bend throughout each lift (as if the knees are locked in this position).
• Push your hips backwards as if youre trying to touch your butt to farthest point behind you.  Think of it as hinging at your hips.
• Descend under control.  When first doing this lift, START OFF LIGHT.  Try just the bar, for starters.
• Keep an arched back throughout the movement, do not allow your back to round.
• Go down to about parallel or slightly above.
• To return to an upright position, concentrate on pulling your hips forward to the original starting point.

http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/ErectorSpinae/BBBentKneeGoodMorning.html

I train the posterior chain specifically (low back, hamstrings, glutes) once per week and then later in the week, I either have a track session (sprinting, hill climbing, etc.) or a more quad dominant workout (squats, leg presses, etc.).  

I’d suggest that you, too, put some special focus on training your posterior chain and that you thoughtfully select exercises that will help you carry out your goals.  As I’ve discussed on this blog several times, the right core exercises to develop a strong, sculpted physique are the ones that are the most basic, e.g., squats, deadlifts, lunges, etc. 

Follows is a sample routine you could follow for posterior chain and general leg conditioning.  My glutes rarely get sore and I am still feeling this workout several days later.  Have fun with it!

• Stiff Legged Deadlift – 6 sets of 6 repetitions; heavy weight.  You can use either dumbbells or a barbell.  I was using 100-pound dumbbells with wrist straps.

These should be a standard in your arsenal of exercises.  This is an outstanding lift.  This exercise develops an exceptionally strong lower back.  One of my first trainers had me do this regularly and my hamstrings responded very quickly to this exercise.  If genetics are on your side, you’ll get nice, round hammies from this lift.  If you are not already doing this one, try it out for yourself.  “Stiff-leg” is a bit of a misnomer.  Keep the knees slightly bent.

http://www.stumptuous.com/dork-diva-deadlift-and-stiff-legged-deadlift

• Pull-Throughs - 4 sets of 12 reps; moderate to heavy weight.

I can almost promise you – you will love these.  They are fun and different and you will get great results from them.  I’m including a video here which will depict how to do these.  In the clip, they use a special machine.  Just grab one of the ropes and go to the cable area.  Put the pulley at the lowest rung and attach the rope to the machine.  Do them from there.  I used the full stack of weights.  Do what you can based on your abilities.   

•  Leg Presses – 3 sets of 12 – done using the 2/1 technique; moderate weight – lift with two legs and lower slowly with only one.   Place your feet at midpoint of platform.

Because you’ll be doing this 2/1 style, be sure to choose a weight that’s heavier than you would normally do for just one leg.  I used 2-45 lb. plates on each side .  As you descend with the weight, use your free leg to hover near the platform in the event you need to help get the weight back up.  Warning: You will be sore from these and they are relatively taxing.  Humm.. in my book, not a bad thing.

• Calf Press – 3 sets of 50 (20 slow presses followed immediately by 30 fast; moderate weight - done at base of the leg press machine; heels should hang off the edge at the bottom of the platform.  Keep legs straight but don’t lock them out. 
• Adductor Machine – 4 sets of 12-15; moderate to heavy weight.  I think everyone knows how to do these.

Now, get out there and hit the gym!

I find all sorts of new and cool stuff to do at the track. If your track is anything like mine, there’s all sorts of equipment lying around which you could use and include in your workout.  Ours has logs we can drag, tires we can flip and stadium steps we can sprint.  What cool stuff does your track have?  What interesting exercises have you done there?  Let us know!

Sharing with you here an amalgam of some of our recent workouts/exercises at our local track.   

High Knees/Sprint Combo – I found this somewhere on the internet and thought it looked like fun.  We did these today at the track.  They were harder than they look.  I modified slightly from what you see here in the video.  I’ve included a video clip and a caption on how we did them.

• High knees done in a stationary way for a count of 10 followed by a sprint to the 10-yard line, followed by another set of high knees followed by a 10-yard sprint.  Do this for 60 yards total.  Get your knees up as high as you can.  High knees means HIGH KNEES!  Take a moment or so once you’ve gotten to the 60-yard line to catch your breath.  Then, do it again, but this time, do it backwards.  High knees for a count of 10 and then run backwards 10 yards and so on until you’ve gotten back to the original 10-yard line. 

Bunny Hops up Stadium Steps - hop up with both legs 2 steps at a time.  Use your arms to propel you forward and upward.  The guys in this video are INTENSE.  They do these hops at the start of the video.

Bear Crawls with Weighted Sled -  do bear crawls across a length of the football field.  In our case, we attached a 100+ pound weighted sled to our waist.  This same sled in our workout today we attached at the waist and pulled up a mid-size hill.  We also dragged it down and back the full length of the soccer field.  If you don’t have your own sled, and many won’t, get creative.  Try attaching a harness to a log or a tire and dragging these. I include a link with a picture of a homemade device.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b287/pdellorto/Shooto/Workout/strongman003s.jpg

 http://www.fitstep.com/Advanced/Anatomy/Back.htm

I wanted to share my routine from the other night – a heavy training session for back focused on developing both strength and size (building strength typically involves performing fewer reps, say 1-5, while building size typically involves a greater number, say 8-12). 

I also tend to split up “upper back” from “lower back”, so I perform bent over rows, cable rows, etc. on one night and on a separate night perform more low back/ hip extension-type activities, such as the deadlift, good mornings, pull throughs, etc.

• One Arm Dumbbell Rows – done heavy for 8 sets of 3 each.  While only 3 reps/set, these should be very taxing to complete.  On my every set, I went heavy enough such that my training partner had to spot my final rep.   I used 80 pound dumbbells.  I focused on pulling as much as possible with my back versus my bicep.  I do this by visualizing my shoulder blade drawing back in towards my spinal column and not heaving the weight up with my arm.  I timed these – only 1 minute break total in between sets.   
• Heavy barbell shrugs - 4 sets of 6 each.  I used over 300 pounds (including bar).  Use wrist straps if needed; pause momentarily at the top of the movement.  
• Pull-ups - 4 sets of 12 each.  Do as many as you can on your own and enlist the help of a partner to get the full 12.  Pause briefly at the top and come down under control. 
• Bicep curls – 3 sets of 12.  Done at the cable machine with a straight bar.  The biceps do need some solo work.  I do these on a separate night, too.

If you do these exercises right and keep the rest periods to a minimum, you will be spent at the end of this workout.  Do these types of simple, basic exercises consistently and regularly and you will see positive changes in your back – enjoy!

Where does your journey take you?….

As you set out for Ithaka
hope the voyage is a long one,
full of adventure, full of discovery.
Laistrygonians and Cyclops,
angry Poseidon—don’t be afraid of them:
you’ll never find things like that on your way
as long as you keep your thoughts raised high,
as long as a rare excitement
stirs your spirit and your body.
Laistrygonians and Cyclops,
wild Poseidon—you won’t encounter them
unless you bring them along inside your soul,
unless your soul sets them up in front of you.
 
Hope the voyage is a long one.
May there be many a summer morning when,
with what pleasure, what joy,
you come into harbors seen for the first time;
may you stop at Phoenician trading stations
to buy fine things,
mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
sensual perfume of every kind—
as many sensual perfumes as you can;
and may you visit many Egyptian cities
to gather stores of knowledge from their scholars.
 
Keep Ithaka always in your mind.
Arriving there is what you are destined for.
But do not hurry the journey at all.
Better if it lasts for years,
so you are old by the time you reach the island,
wealthy with all you have gained on the way,
not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.
 
Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey.
Without her you would not have set out.
She has nothing left to give you now.
 
And if you find her poor, Ithaka won’t have fooled you.
Wise as you will have become, so full of experience,
you will have understood by then what these Ithakas mean. 

- C.P. Cavafy

http://ironman.com/events/ironman/worldchampionship/kona2009/chrissie-wellington-wins-her-third-ford-ironman-world-championship-in-record-setting-time
 

After reading recently a post from a competitive powerlifter who does monthly ‘deloads’ (one deload week/month), which I’ll define as doing more moderate versus heavy weights and fewer compound movements (i.e., allowing the body to ‘recover’ once in a while), I decided to try this out.  I’ve been doing my own deload this week.  For the most part, I’ve taken no lifts to failure (I’ve been able to complete all reps in a given set) and I’ve primarily performed “accessory” exercises.  These I’ll define as non-core lifts, with core lifts being squats, deadlifts, bench press, etc.  In the past, I wasn’t regularly factoring in week long sessions such as this. I was normally pushing hard, all of the time.

http://theironedge.blogspot.com/2008/08/deloading.html

Tonight’s accessory workout was for triceps and deltoids – anterior/lateral/posterior -

Superset moderate weight (do both of following exercises back to back with no break in between) -

• Tricep rope pressdowns (3 working sets, 10 reps/set)
• Tricep pushdowns with rope, done overhead, facing away from cable/machine (3 working sets, 10 reps/set)

Straight sets, moderate weight -

• Bent over rear delts at the Smith Machine (3 working sets, 10 reps/set)

 http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/DeltoidPosterior/SMRearDeltRow.html

• Barbell front raises for anterior delts (3 working sets, 10 reps/set)

Superset moderate weight (do both of following exercises back to back with no break in between) -

• Cable upright rows for lateral delts (3 working sets, 10 reps/set)
• Ab wheel (3 working sets, 20 reps/set)

If you push yourself hard all of the time, consider devoting a defined period to laying off on the heavy weights or training.  Your body and physique will thank you in the long run.