Personal Training
Today was f-AB-ulous
Hey hey hey! How are you guys? Happy HUMP day. I will always remember that Glee episode…so sad its over!
Last night I had the BEST dinner at my parents house. My mom is the best cook, but I have to say that I prepared and helped with most of this dinner as well.
I picked up some new blue corn Food Should Taste Good chips–My first time trying these. They were DELICIOUS and so addicting. First of all, I love blue corn chips, I love that these are all natural. They are a perfect combination of salty, crunchy and full of blue corn flavor. I had to have the bag taken away!
We sat on the porch to a beautiful set table (thanks mom!)
Grilled corn in the husk (the best in my opinion!)
Big salad with baby romaine, parmesan, tomatoes, cucumber, pecans and orange maple salad dressing
Roasted fingerling potatoes and roasted onion/mushroom/squash
And beautifully grilled ginger salmon
Dessert was cookies n cream (stonyfield) frozen yogurt and a whole wheat biscuit, since they did taste dessert-y
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Today, I woke up and hit the pavement for a 2 mile walk before anything. I love moving first thing in the morning, whether its a full on workout, or just a nice easy 1 or 2 mile walk…it sets the tone for the rest of the day!
Not to mention it gets me mouthwatering for this!
- 1/2 C oats
- 1/2 C almond milk & 1 C water
- 1/2 T flaxseed
- 2 egg whites beaten in
- 1/2 banana
- cinnamon/nutmeg
- strawberries/blueberries
- Maranatha creamy PB
Great walk and great breakfast go hand in hand.
It was steamin’
Lunch was an open faced sandwich on Ezekial bread with 1 Laughing Cow wedge, romaine, sprouts and a Food For Life Veggie burger
I had some veggies on the side in salad form. I love rustic chopped veggies nice and big in the salads! I made a homemade dressing with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, dijon and a touch of honey
Insanity happened after I digested. I am almost done with the program and honestly…I feel a bit lost as to where to go from here, which sounds so strange because I am a trainer! I love the program and don’t want to stop it! I was reading some forums, and many people said that they just started the whole thing over again. Others said that they kept doing the workouts, but supplemented weight training in as well, so they werent doing the workouts everyday…I haven’t decided what I want to do. I do know that I miss weight training so I will definately get back to that, but I also feel like I will never get such an amazing full body cardio workout in such little time…ahhh decisons
Afterwards I was ready to attack some hardboiled eggs for the protein, hoping the shells would slide right off
I won.
About an hour and a half later I had an unpictured apple and greek yogurt with kashi and some roasted almonds
Dinner was what looked like a mish mosh of things. This was leftover Falafels, roasted broc covered in nooch and some millet
I love these.
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ABDOMINAL INFO–A Must read!!!
There are many controversial myths and conversations I hear daily about working the abdominal muscles. I just want to talk about the ABS for a little bit and share some exercises with you all to get the most out of your core workouts. I am sure you have all heard of the myth of spot reduction to work the abs, which hard to believe is not completely false.
You can work your abs hard hard, hard, everyday if you wanted (although I would never recommended that because the abs are a muscle just like any other, and they need rest), but if you still have a layer of fat, you will never be able to see the muscle. So, from a visual sense you must use proper diet & some cardio to actually be able to see your abs, which is a whole other story!
The technical name for the abs is Rectus Abdominis. It’s basically the “core” of your body and you could not really function without this muscle. The Rectus Abdominis is ONE single muscle that attaches from along the rib cage down to the pelvis bone.
However, there are two other muscle groups that complete the abdominals:
- Transverse Abdominus
- External and Internal Obliques
These two muscles are not the visible portions of the abs that make up the “six pack” The Transverse Abdominus acts as a natural weight belt, keeping your insides in; and the Internal and External Obliques work to rotate the torso, and stabilize the abdomen essential for trunk stability.
Since the Rectus Abdominis is one muscle it is physiologically impossible to work different parts of the abs. You often hear people say things like “I need to work my lower abs the most” the truth is, when you train your abs, you train the entire muscle. This doesn’t mean you should not incorporate a wide variety of abdominal exercises (crunches, leg raises, trunk rotation, etc.) into your abs training; I just wanted to share that you cannot work one part of your abs. The lower area of the abs is a common problem in regards to excess fat storage for most people, and most of my clients always see this part as their ‘trouble spot’. The problem here is really in the excess body fat, not the abs directly, This ,again this requires dietary changes and not specific exercises
I am sure you have all said “well I feel this exercise more in my lower abs” What is happening is that you are feeling something work in a specific area, thinking it will grow more. It is possible that because of the angle, more stress is put on a specific area of the muscle, causing micro trauma (small tears) in that specific area, however, this doesn’t mean anything in regards to muscle growth and development.
- Some muscles do have separate heads and attachments such as the triceps. The Triceps have TRI (3) heads, so it is possible to work different parts of the triceps, but the Rectus Abdominis is ONE muscle and will grow as one unit
- Ab training is very necessary because weak abs can contribute to lower back problems; the abdominal muscles help to improve the Erector Spinae by improving the mechanical positioning of the pelvis when it’s tilted forward. When the abs are weak, muscles can pull on spine during some hip flexor activities, which in turn can cause injury.
- Weak abs can also be the cause of chronic low back pain, and can be responsible for incorrect posture. No matter what your goals are, general fitness, muscle growth or muscular endurance, it is very important to have strong abdominals to help prevent injury and increase functionality.
People often ask “How often should I work my abs?”
- What I tell people is that the abdominals are a muscle just like any other and they require recovery just like any other muscle. With this said, the abs do recover relatively quickly compared to other muscles due to their fiber type. If you’re training your abs from an injury prevention perspective then you could train them 3-4 days per week using light loads. If your goal is to develop your abs either for bodybuilding or sport performance, then you should only train them 2-3 days per week using more advanced techniques.
When to train the abs?
- This is really a personal decision. You could train them at the beginning of your workout if you really want to make your ab training a priority. If you want to fatigue the abdominals, then you could save them until the end of your workout. Abs play a major role in stabilization which mean they could interfere in working your hardest during some compound lifts such as squats or dead lifts.
Bottom line, do what works for you. If you like working your abs first thing, then keep them at the beginning of your workout, if you like to end your workout with abs, then do that! Personally, I like to add abs right in my circuits of weight training, that way I am constantly moving, working and it also helps me keep my abs engaged during my weight training moves. Since I am not heavy lifting, this is not getting in the way of some of my more compound moves
- Do you like chips? What is your favorite kind or flavor? Mine are tortilla chips by FAR
- Have you ever ended training for something (race etc) or finished a workout program and felt that you just wanted to keep going?!?!
- New music? I need some new tunes to put on my ipod!
