It's Ok to Cheat! A little...

Hey all,

Hope everyone's week is going well! It's almost FRIDAY, whoop whoop! In inspiration of a dear friend of mine I thought that I would touch on a subject that many do not either grasp the concept or are afraid to try. I'm talking about the glorious CHEAT MEAL!

Now notice I said meal, NOT day! This is important to note, you do not want to ruin your progress by losing it. A whole day can turn into two, which can turn into a month and so forth. One meal, and you can have up to two a week. That's a pretty good deal right?

You get to eat healthy, making your body happy and you get to also eat whatever the hell you want 2x a week!

Whey you are trying to lose weight modifications are important to your succsess. Jus like adding more weight or changing up the reps, you need to change up your eating habits as well. Yes, sometimes our plans suck, but they are only for such a small period of time. 

I decided a month ago that I wanted to try and get back into my competition shape. I have been eating clean. My diet mostly consisting of good fats, protein, and veggies. Everything else is off limits. Yes, it is easy for these things to become habit, and not even think about what I can't eat. However, I do have a sweet tooth and find myself getting those cravings. It is ok though, because I have cheat meals to look forward too. This actually helps curve my craving because I know I'll get it later, and that's what I tell myself. 

Now I want to make myself clear, if you are just starting out and you have a big goal, anywhere between 20+ lbs. You don't want to start off with cheat meals in your diet, they will come later. Give yourself about a month to get into the groove of things, set up a routine, and let it become a habit before you start. 

I know you are worried you will bounce back to those habits, but trust me once that meal is over you will feel so gross. You will tell yourself you don't want to eat like that again, but we all know you will (it's ok, it's normal!) 

Now let me tell you a little more about this cheat meal. It should break all of your diet rules, DON'T HOLD BACK! Remember though you only get 1 meal, don't binge eat 10,000 calories. If you want some ice cream have a bowl, not the whole tub. If you want some pizza have a slice or two, not all 12 slices. You can have 1 to 2 a week but keep them at least 3 days apart.

The science behind it, is that when you restrict yourself with a "diet" for a period of time, you can end up feeling fatigued or run down. This is because of the low glycogen levels in your muscles. Glycogen gives your body energy. A cheat meal replenishes those levels. This helps your body refuel. 

Also, we have talked about when you are overly restrictive on your calorie intake your body can go into starvation mode, thus decreasing your weight loss over time. The cheat meal shocks your metabolism and sets it into turbo mode. 

So go ahead and eat that cake, pizza, or nachos you've been craving it's ok!! 

I hope you that you enjoyed this weeks article!! Until next week! 

Pistols....Out! 

xo

Speed Demon Workout!

Hello everyone,

Hope you all had a great, healthy weekend! This weeks workout is a total body workout, from head to toe. The goal is to keep it low weight, high rep. I will have you go 2 sets of 20 reps for all the exercises.  You can do the workout between 3 and 4 times. 

Equipment:

• Dumbbells or Kettelbells
• Matt ( if desired, not needed) 

Workout: 

• Dumbbell Squat, Bicep Curl, to Shoulder Press
•  Make sure you are sitting in those heels
• Do not shrug your shoulders when you bicep curl, pull your shoulder blades down into your back
• On the press rotate for the curl into the press, elbows come out to a ninety degree angel, wrist on top of elbows. Don't let the weights hit at the top. 

• Hamstring Bridge With Chest Press
• Make sure you squeeze your glutes at the top 
• Pull your navel into your spin the whole time 
• Elbows are at ninety degrees
• Wrists and Elbows are in line with one another 
• Squeeze your pecs at the top 

• Forward Lunge with Lateral Shoulder Raise 
• Make sure you tilt your pelvis forward in the lunge
• you should feel a pull in your hip flexor
• Make sure your knee does not travel past your toe
• On the lateral raises if you can not bring your arms all the way up, that is ok, just bring them as high as you can without bending your elbows. 

• X-men Mountain Climbers 
• Make sure you keep your hips down in the plank
• Keep your body off of the floor 
• Drive the opposite knee to opposite elbow

• Tricep Push-ups
• Start on your knees then work your way up to regular
• you can also start at an incline or on the wall as well! 
• Make sure you drive your elbows straight back
• They should run across your torso

That's your workout for the week. Kill it! Until Thursday, have a great week. Remember you are only as strong as YOU think YOU are. Keep going, don't give up, and you will see those results you want. I believe in you, it just takes time! 

Pistols...Out!

XO

Are You Catching Enough ZZZ's

Hey all!!

Hope everyone is still keeping up with those fitness goals, you are only as strong as YOU think you are! I would like to give a couple shout outs before I get in to todays topics!

I would like to commend Allycia Wade a beautiful mother who has found the strength to get back at it!! Good job girl, you get it. I am so proud of you, if you have time for fitness and health no one else has any excuses.

Elena Crespin, you are a beautiful women who has such a kind heart. She has found inspiration and as began to transform her body, so she is even more banging then she already is!! You go girl, I got your back!

Ryan Barre he is a great guy with a great heart. He has been challenging himself and getting back at it! Keep up the good work, you'll get those results you want.

Mike Hufford is a good friend of mine. He already kills it at the gym, but has helped and supported me along the way. He is also pursuing a path in the health and fitness world!! Keep on, keeping on. I support you Mike.

Lastly, I would like to thank everyone out there who is reading my blog, reposting, and forwarding my link to others. You have no idea how much it means to me, and how much I appreciate everything you guys do for me. You are all amazing and I'm so honored and touched that I am able to help you, motivate you, and educate you! Thank you!

Ok now let's talk about getting those ZZZ's and why they are so important. Sleep plays a major role in our fitness goals believe it or not. If you are not getting enough, this could keep those pounds from coming off.

The recommended number of hours is 8, no more, no less. The question is why?

Well sleep affects the levels of some hormones in your body, two in particular. Lepitn and Ghrelin these hormones play and important role in stimulating and suppressing your appetite. Your body's fat produces Leptin, which is responsible for suppressing hunger. Ghrelin on the other hand is released by your stomach, which stimulates appetite. If you are not getting enough sleep then the hormone levels lower, resulting in an increase of appetite. If you get to much this decreases your hunger, which most would think is good right?

NO, remember you need to fuel your body with enough food and nutrients, and at the right times. You want to make sure your body is consuming enough fuel to keep itself going. You do not want to put your body in starvation mode and hold on to that fat! Set that alarm clock!

For my muscle builders: after waking up your pituitary gland secretes growth hormones. They are known for aiding in building muscles. The more muscle, the more your body burns that unwanted fat! YAY!!!

Ok, overall you need to let your body rest and recover! Exercising regularly is great, but you tire your body by doing so. If you have a lack of sleep you can actually do more harm then good, injuries and illnesses. Ultimately setting you back. You need to at least have one recovery day where you do NOTHING!!! this will allow your body to heal compeltely. Also, while you are sleeping your body is healing as well. When you don't get enough and you are fatigued, your performance will drop and you will take longer to recover.

GET THAT BEAUTY SLEEP!! It is important to your overall fitness goals!! If you haven't been losing that weight sleep those 8 hours and see what happens.

I hope you like this weeks topic. Until next time...

Pistols... Out!
XO

Ab-tastic!

Alright crew!

Another week, another workout. It has been a while since we touched on those abs, so I thought it was time we give them a little focus. Here are 5 killer ab workouts.

I recommend doing these after your workout, since you use your core for pretty much every exercise. You wouldn't want to burn out your main stabilizer muscle before you even start your workout.

Ready... set... let's go!

• Captains Chair Knee Ups: 
• 4 sets until exertion 

• Rotational  Forearm Planks
• 4 sets x 45 seconds eat
• You will be in a regular plank, but you will alternate dropping your hips to the left and right side. 
• Make sure to squeeze your glutes, pull your navel into your spin, and keep your hips down. 
• You want your spin to be straight when you come to center 
• I wasn't able to find a pic, sorry about that! 

• Reverse Crunches
• 4 x 20
• The thing to remember with these is that you are trying to pull your glutes off the ground with your lower abs
• Don't let your back or your legs help you
• You won't move very much but you should feel it in those lower abs.

• Runners
• 3x30 sec 
• These are very similar to bicycles
• The difference, is instead of peddling with your elbows you are reaching for the inside of your foot, when your elbow would be coming to your knee. 
• I wasn't able to find a pic, sorry about that. 

• Toe Touches 
• 4x20 
• If you can't straighten your legs it is ok to bend them 90 degrees 

There is your ab workout for the week!!! I hope you enjoy it. I will work on starting to take my own pictures for the blog, so I do not run into this problem of not having them. I apologize about that, but appreciate your support. Keep on keeping on! Until Thursday, have a great week. 

Pistols...Out! 

XO

I Burn Calories Just Sitting Around.....

Happy Valentines Day Everyone!

This week I'm going to give you some insight on your own body. Not many people know that they burn calories just sitting. When you think about it though, it makes sense. Internally we are working a way digesting food, blinking, thinking (yes, thinking burns calories), breathing, etc. This is called your resting metabolic rate (RMR).

You also, have a basal metabolic rate (BMR), which is very similar to RMR and often times they are used interchangeably. Below are the definitions of the two, the difference is minuet, but there is a difference.

• BMR- measurements are typically taken in a darkened room upon waking after 8 hours of sleep and 12 hours of fasting. This is to ensure that the digestive system is inactive. As well as that the subject is resting in a reclining position. 

• RMR- measurements are typically taken under less restricted conditions that RMR, and do not require that the subject spend the night sleeping in a test facility. 

RMR, is an equation that you can do on your own. If you would like to know your BMR you would have to go to a lab. There is a estimated equation, but there is an error factor which can be higher or lower. It is safe to stick with the RMR equation.

The question however, is how many calories do YOU burn while sitting around. You are on the edge of your seat now, just waiting to calculate aren't you? Ok here it is....

Mufflin equation for RMR:

• Men: (10 x w) + (6.25 x h) - (5 x a) + 5
• Women: (10 x w) + (6.25 x h) - (5 x a) -161

w= weight in Kg

• lbs / 2.2 = Kg

h= height in cm

• in x 2.54= cm

a= age

Now, the thing to remember is that you are burning that on top of what you are doing, walking around, biking, standing, laundry, etc. If you are working out very hard too, and not eating enough calories, then you will put your body in starvation mode (which we previously touched on). Your body then will hold on to that fat. 

The trick is to track what is coming in and what is going out! That way you know! Here is a link so you can figure out just how many calories you need.

Calorie Calculator   

I hope this was helpful and you utilize this information for your success!! Also, if you have any questions, comments, or have a topic you wold like me to discuss let me know! 

Happy Valentines Day, I love you all!! Thank you for your support. 

Pistols..Out

Xo

I'm Brining Sexy BACK!!

Hey all!!

This weeks workout is all about the back. Everyone likes a nice toned back, and everyone wants to get rid of those love handles. Here are a couple exercises that can help you out with both.

This week you will either need to be in a gym, have dumbbells and a barbell, as well as someplace to do pull-ups.

I also want to note, to remember to keep those abs engaged in everything you are doing. Bring that navel to your spine.

Alright, let's get started!

• Pull-ups or Assisted Pull-ups
• 3x failure
• Depending on where you are and the equipment available 
• Most gyms should have a pull-up machine that offers assistance
• You can also use a thick band
• place on foot on the band and the other off, the resistance with help you pull yourself up. 

• Barbell Bent-over Rows
• 3x12
• Make sure that your back is flat

• Standing Back Fly
• 4x10
• Make sure your back is flat

• Single Arm Row
• Make sure your back is flat
• 3x10

• Reverse Grip Lat Pull-downs 
• 3x12
• Body should be leaning 45 degrees 
• Bring bar all the way to your chest

Make sure you get enough protein right after, stretch, and foam roll your back!!! Enjoy, and until next time, Keep Kicking Butt!!

Pistols..Out!

XO

Fats, Fats! Read all about it!

Hey all,

This week we are going to talk about the difference between Saturated and Unsaturated fats! Which ones you want to incorporate in your diet and which ones you want to try to avoid. This information can easily be found on nutrition labels.

Let's get started:

• Saturated fats:
•  It is called saturated fat, because of the number of hydrogen bounds in this fatty acid molecule
•  All of the bounds are full. 
• They help with the absorption of fat soluble vitamins
• A,D,E,K
• The human body can make these saturated fats as needed 
• Raise both LDL and HDL cholesterol
• A.K.A.- Bad and Good Cholesterol (we will save this topic for another day.) 

• Unsaturated Fats: 
• All the hydrogen bounds are not full
• Derived from:
•  Plant
•  Animal sources
• Fish
• Sources that are liquid at room temperature
• Contribute to reduced Cholesterol levels 
• Raise (HDL) Good cholesterol levels 
• Lower (LDL) Bad cholesterol levels 

Ok now that you have a general idea of what these fats are and where they come from, let's look at the structures. 

Ok, we can see here that all the bonds are formed in the Saturated molecule, and we have one double bond in the Unsaturated, as talked about above. 

If you will, think of Saturated fatty acids as bricks. They fit nicely and evenly on top of one another making a dense and compact structure. Think of Unsaturated fatty acids as puzzle pieces fitting together, and filling in those extra places, taking up less room. 

Let's put this information to use! So, it takes more energy (higher temperature) to separate more tightly packed molecules. Therefore you have to workout longer, harder, and increase that core temperature even more so, to burn that Saturated fat vs. Unsaturated. Making it a lot harder to burn that fat away. 

Try to keep it natural, good healthy Unsaturated fats. Liquid at room temperature. Avoid those Saturated unhealthy fatty acids, let your body make those. 

Hope you guys enjoyed this weeks topic. Have a great weekend and keep working hard you'll reach that goal. Remember good things take time! 

Pistols....Out

Xo

So Much Pressure, So Much Heat!

Hiiiiiiiii all!!

Hope you guys had a great super bowl Sunday and are ready to get back in gear. This weeks workout is all about that cardio!! Heatin' up that body and burning those calories. We will be using only body weight so you can do this pretty much anywhere!!!

Alright so the basics for this workout:

• 3-5 rounds
• 1 min on
• 15-25 seconds off
• Equipment needed: 
• Your beautiful self! 

As always make sure you are always engaging those abs, back is flat/straight, make sure those knees don't travel over those toes, don't lock your knees out, and when we are doing squats we are sitting back in those heels!!! 

Ok let's get started!!! 

• Squat Jumps ( Soft lading! Try not to make a sound, slow deceleration!)

• Wide Push-ups

If you can find a bench, chair, bed, etc....

• Frog jumps ( Sit back in those heels and push off of your toes) 

• Inchworm 
• Make sure that you don't let your hands or feet leave the ground
• Also that you keep your knees straight for this exercise, this helps to stretch the hamstrings
• To make it harder you can add a push-up in between
• To progress from that incoporate a pyrimind series starting with 1 push-up going up to 5 and then back down to 1

• Ice Skaters

• Suicide planks 
• 30 seconds coming up and down on the right
• 30 seconds coming up and down on the left

• Kick Backs Pulsating 
• 30 seconds on the right
• 30 seconds on the left 

•  Knee Tuck Jumps

Go kill it!!!

Stay tuned for Thursdays blog, this week will be more interesting then last weeks!! Promise!!! 

Also, if you need a new workout mix check out: 

Sk0step's Workout Mix

As always your support is much appreciated!!! If you like my blog, feel free to check out my Facebook page at: 

Smash It Training

Thanks guys!! Enjoy the workout and I'll talk to you on Thursday!!! 

Pistols.. Out!

Xo