First 5K In a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG Time

Just finished my first 5k in a long, long time. And since my running has SUCKED I was happy to pull off a 25:15. My hubby did AWESOME and finished 21:23!!! He is such a fantastic athlete - so proud. I also had the pleasure of running side by side with my friend Amber who has only done one other 5k and did great! Congrats Amber - you are awesome! The course also started on a hill and ended on a hill and had lots of other hills in between. :) The speed work I did this week and just general training had to help...and I was out there with my DH who I know was happy to see me cross the finish line. :) It felt good to dig deep.

I worked shoulders last night - I have decided that if me and the DH stay home at night I will put in some kind of lifting/MET training workout. I need to utilize my time better and make sure to get a good pump every day. Friday was CRAZY at work. My eats were awful. I didn't even have time to pee!! To pee people!! Which was pretty funny because like every half hour I said I gotta go to the bathroom and never did. :) But it was ok because I was so slammed I never went to fill up my water bottle.

And here is how awesome I ate on Friday (insert HUGE sarcastic tone here)...had my shake, had a 1/2 cup of Fiber one with protein milk and then didn't have anything else but two bites of a Trioplex bar and a mini Reese's PB cup until 6pm when I had an apple and some chicken breast on the way home. Then I had a turkey burger and rice cake post workout and downed a little protein before bed. But overall, bad timing and bad overall food consumption.

I am still updating my food log - hoping it is interesting to someone out there. :)

My vlogging has been terrible - I gotta apologize. I promise one this weekend. :)
Have a great weekend everyone!!
Jess

A+J Kicking Sunday's BOOTAY & Finishing the Fight

First and foremost, Amber and I had PLANNED on doing legs but as most of you know my foot is kind of gimpy still and I wanted to take it easy so we ended up doing bi's and tri's and cardio. As you will see, we still ROCKED it!

• Warm up on step mill - level 9/10 for 10 minutes
• Barbell curl w/2.5lbs on each side (bar weighs 45lbs) - 4 sets of 10-12 supersetted with:
• Tricep pushdowns w/60-65lb - 4 sets of 15 w/added drop sets at 30 lbs for 8-10 reps
• Preacher curl w/10lbs on each side - bar weighs 25lbs so 45lbs total - 4 sets of 15 supersetted with:
• Skull crushers w/curly bar (25lbs) plus 2 10lb plates - 4 sets of 15 w/chest press burnouts at end
• Standing cable bicep curls behind the head w/60lbs for 10 reps & 40lbs for 10 reps - 4 sets of 20 total reps supersetted with:
• Bench tricep dips with feet up - 4 sets of 25reps
  

Then moved to cardio and did:

• Step mill for 20 minutes at level 9-10 - alternating single steps, double steps, side steps
• Arc trainer for 20 minutes starting at level 21 (?) and 3 incline and increasing resistance by 2 each minute and incline 2 every 5 minutes

Abs:

• 10 full sit ups w/25 mini crunches (shoulders never touch floor)
• 10 full sit ups w/35 mini crunches
• 10 full sit ups w/45 mini crunches
• 10 full sit ups w/45 mini crunches

Final cardio finish was 20 minutes on the nordic track treadmill.

• 5 minutes at 12% incline and 4.2 MPH forward walking
• 5 minutes at 15% incline and 2.0 MPH backwards walking with hands on bars close the the front electronics panel of treadmill in low squad duck walk
• 5 minutes at 15% incline and 4.2 MPH forward walking
• 5 minutes at 15% incline and 4.2 MPH backwards walking (like described above)

I burned 1385 calories total and Amber burned like 1290 or 1300 or something...point being for the FIRST time I actually burned more calories than her. WOO HOO! I guess that is what happens when you take off a couple weeks. I told her I was going to start getting sick every other week just so I could burn more calories than her! :)

As for Finishing the Fight....Debbie added a post the other day about the phrase "Finish the Fight". Her main message is to simply finish what you start. Probably something we should ALL remember as we start to reach one month in on our new year's resolutions. I LOVE this idea - we all should remember this because it not only pertains to our workouts but ALSO how we treat others, how we honor our commitments to people and how we see things through to the end and honor OURSELVES.

Jessica -signing out after Finishing the Fight! :)

Debbie Reunion....Sitting Down YEEEEEEOUCH!!!!

As most of you know Debbie was on vacation over Christmas and the first week of January and then I was sick so it had been almost a full month since I had worked out with Debbie and a couple weeks since I had an good intense workout because of bronchitis and various sickness. Anyhoozle, I hit it on Monday morning with Debbie and let me tell you it was BRUTAL.

Because Amber and I had done SOME leg stuff on Saturday my legs were still pretty stiff. Well, let me tell you, the pain I felt from Saturday was NOTHING like what I feel today. I am going to attempt to remember the workout but it is kind of like having a traumatic experience - you put it out of your head as quick as you can. :)

• 5 minute run warm up
• Started with a set of abs on the decline ab bench - 15 twists to one side, 15 in the middle and 15 twits to the other side.
• Hack squats w/50lbs - 5 sets of 20 w/30 second rests in between
• Jump rope for 1 minute
• Walk a lap (Debbie DID go easy on me here with allowing me to walk)
• Hack squats w/70lbs - 5 sets of 15 w/30 second rests in between
• Jump rope for 1 minute
• Walk a lap
• Hack squats w/90lbs - 4 sets of 8-10
• Jump rope for 1 minute
• Walk a lap
• Medicine ball squat and shoulder raises (one with right arm, one to the center both arms, one with left arm, one to the center with both arms) 4=1 to 10 (SUPER HIGH HEART RATE!)
• Sled press - 4 plates each side, 20 reps; 3 plates each side, 20 reps; 2 plates each side, 20 reps; 1 plate each side, 20 reps
• Medicine ball squat and shoulder raises (two w/right arm, two to the center, two w/left arm, two to the center) 8=1 to 10
• Tight lunges half lap w/15 lb dumbbells
• Quad extensions w/50lbs - 3 sets of 20
• Box jumps - 20 inches - 4 sets of 10 - deep squats on the jump off
• Walk a lap
• 10 sets of stairs
• Backward tight lunges half lap w/15 lb dumbbells
• Box jumps - 23 inches - 3 sets of 10 - deep squats on the jump off

Holy crap. 1085 calories in an hour and 45 mins. Crazy pain.

Today I am struggling walking...sitting....sleeping....moving. But I know it is where I need to go to reach my goals so I am happy with the pain. Well....maybe not happy but I know it is what I need to do to achieve my goals.

I am out of town for work so I won't be able to workout with Debbie again until Friday. And I am going to try to workout in the morning but it will be EARLY. Like 4am. :(

Feeling the love come back for taking care of me! So you take care of you.
Jess

Back At It.....Long Way to Go!

Met Amber at the gym today for my first official workout after my brief hiatus. :) I could definitely tell I've been off...for awhile. It is amazing what two weeks off can do to your cardio...more on that in a little bit but let me just tell you I was FRUS-TRA-TED. Big time.

Here was our workout:

Set 1:
5 minute run to warm up
20 barbell squats (Jessica 50lbs/Amber 40lbs)
15 reverse lunges (ea. leg) using same weight as above
15 Overhead dumbbell shoulder presses (Jessica - 20lbs) while Amber did bicep curls w/15's
10 close grip push ups
4x through

Set 2:
20 Sumo Squats (Jessica 50lb dumbbell, Amber 60)
15 Deadlifts (Jessica 80lbs, Amber 60lbs) (my heart rate after these two: 160!!!!!)
15 Skull crushers w/30 lbs curly bar followed by 10 chest presses
15 Lateral Raises (Jessica w/12lbs) while Amber did 40lb dumbbell curls
4x through

Abs:
10 3 count bob and weave sit ups
15 hip thrusts
1 crunch + 1 sit up....2 crunches + 2 sit ups...3...through 10
1 minute Core Plank
In and Outs (15)
1 minute Core Plank
In and Outs (15)

Ok, a couple of comments....I really struggled with my heart rate. I was consistently 10 BPM over Amber after each exercise. Normally I am 10 BPM LOWER than Amber (she is a little hummingbird) and I had to sit down a couple times because of light headed-ness. Very frustrating.

The GOOD news is that I got in there and had a great first day back workout. While I am frustrated, I didn't lose a lot of strength. Most of what I lost was just cardio and stamina - my strength was still pretty good. Thank goodness Amber had already done a workout in the morning and so she was pretty tired as well. We actually referred to our workout today as a "guy workout". Sorry boys...but its true! :)

I am going to try to ride the bike for a bit tonight and get in some long cardio tomorrow....I am a little nervous about working out with Debbie on Monday but I saw her today and she could tell I was definitely not "feeling it". :) She looks fantastic, as always! And such a ball of white light. Her energy is so pure and she is so motivating!

Have a great weekend everyone! Keep on keeping on and remember, every day you do something for your health is a day you choose to make your life better! :)
Jess

1300 + Calorie Workout and Burning the Quads!!

Happy Sunday all!

Amber and I had another fantastic workout today. It is absolutely beautiful (70 degrees and sunny) so we met at the lake and ran 5.5 miles at a decent fat burning pace...because we both ran on an empty stomach we knew we needed to replenish protein and get some simple carbs in our system to fuel us through the weight workout were were about to embark on...after refueling we did the following ab challenge - let me just tell you...CRAZY OW!

• Medicine Ball Sit-ups (Unassisted)- 25 times/Explosive on the UP- 10 second count on the DOWN/Keep M.B. on your chest AT ALL TIMES
• Hanging Bent Leg Raises- 3x15/Rest 10 seconds between sets/DO NOT SWING
• Plate Standups/25 times/DO NOT MOVE YOUR FEET/Tempo- Moderate Pace/The lighter the plate the harder the exercise...CHALLENGE/PUSH!
• Side Core Plank- Hold 30 seconds/25 Ups and Downs/Do one side at a time
• Hanging Straight Leg Raises- 3x15/Rest 10 seconds between sets/DO NOT SWING
• Plate Stand-ups + Sit-ups/(2=1) 35 times/DO NOT MOVE YOUR FEET/Tempo- Moderate Pace/The lighter the plate the harder the exercise...CHALLENGE YOURSELF
• Side Core Plank- Hold 1 minute/35 Ups and Downs/Do one side at a time

After cramping from the ab workout, we did the Chest/Bicep/Shoulder challenge that I posted on Day 5 - Staycation (see December blog list for more details)...the only thing we modified was the we added quad extension peek-a-boo's after our last upper body move before the cardio blast....which by the way, after running almost 6 miles we were OUT on the sprinting a lap in under 28 seconds - sorry Debbie but we had to just jog two laps on all four sets but the first and we just did one.

So, you ask, after yesterday's GRUELLING leg workout would we do MORE quads...well, Amber and I were really feeling our glutes were smoked but our quads...not so much. We were cramping in the butt-al region but quads felt pretty good so we added in that set of peek-a-boos. LET ME TELL YOU the reason we didn't feel out quads was because our a$$ was so smoked but our quads were also toast - our glute pain just covered it up! :) I would say there was a degree of regret about doing quad extensions today but overall great workout.

Yours truly - 1300 calories...Amber (a.k.a The Hummingbird) 1500.

I also decided to stop focusing on weight and start focusing on inches. Losing inches in certain places and adding in others. Why focus on anything else???

Jessica

Day 9 - Staycation : The Burpee Challenge and Then Some

I have to admit, I am becoming sad that the end of my staycation is near. :( It has been so wonderful and I am loving every minute of it but really want to relish the next few days (2 is all I have left!! RATS!!!). That means two more days of killer workouts and getting a few more house projects done and working some to prepare for the madness.

Anyhoo, todays workout was pretty light...we had a bunch of running to do today in preparation for the big new years party coming up tomorrow night. But, I still got in a pretty good little workout and here it is:

10 min bike warm up at 150 bpm on heart rate...then I moved to Debbie's challenge from today (THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR POSTING THESE CHALLENGES DEBBIE! THEY RULE). I only did parts of the challenge (there are 11 total challenge items) but I am going to try to do the whole thing tomorrow at the gym.
1) Push-ups- How many push-ups can you do without stopping? I did 48 without stopping.
2) DB Walking Lunges- 2 laps around the track without stopping - since I don't have a track at home :) I did 80 walking lunges without stopping with 10 lb dumb bells.
3) Sit-ups-100x/Push-ups-100x- Must complete this in under 5 minutes. I did not do this in under 5 minutes - took me 6 1/2.
4) DB Shoulder Press- 50 times - I did 38 with 10lbs and then dropped to 8 for the last 12.

5) DB Bicep Curls- 50 times - I did this with 10lbs.
6) DB Lying Tricep Extensions- 50 times - I did this with 8lbs.

THEN I did the burpee challenge....which is how fast you can do 100 burpees. Let me just tell you I almost had to call an ambulance. I did it in 9 minutes and 2 seconds. And it was brutal. My heart rate was at about 170 the whole time.

The whole workout took me about 65 minutes and I burned 470 calories.

These challenges have been fun and....ironically, challenging. :) But they are great in terms of pushing you harder. I can't wait to do the burpee challenge next time and decrease my time. Amber is a bad ass for doing it in 7 mins and 30 seconds. Insane.

Eats are pretty good - a little high on carbs today but I don't feel overly guilty about it. The key will be to continue to this level of intensity when I go back to work! :)

One more day left in 2007!! Enjoy it!
Jess

Day 8 - Staycation: 2-a-Day Day

Greetings from the land of staycation!

Still enjoying things immensley. My best friend Leanne came in from North Carolina to see me with her BEAUTIFUL daughter Victoria. She is so wonderful!

Anyhoo, I had wanted to team up with Amber for another workout but with all the errands I had to run before the girls came to town, I couldn't pull away to add the 50 minutes to the gym....BUT before I picked them up at the airport I did the following at home and for those of you who don't know, I have an awesome home gym...smith rack, Olympic bar w/ Olympic weight set, cable pulley system, etc. It rocks. And I have a pull up bar.

15 minutes on the bike w/intervals followed by Debbie challenge below (copied from Debbie's blog):

ROUND ONE:
Unassisted Pull-ups- Males- 10x/women- 5x (total sets 5/rest only 10-15 seconds between sets)
****FOR EVERY PULL-UP MISSED, YOU MUST RUN 1 LAP TIMED(For example, after your 5th set/men should have 50 total and women should have 25 total. Sooooooo say that Juan had a total of 35 pull-ups at the end of his 5th set-HE OWES ME 15 LAPS TIMED (Try to shoot for each lap falling between 30-38 seconds! And the same goes for the women.
Rest 45 seconds after you have completed this round and any running if necessary!

I made it to 21 pull ups so I had to do 4 laps - did them on the treadmill but made it in my alloted times.

ROUND TWO:
Wide Pull-downs- 12 times (50 lbs)
Barbell Standing Shoulder Press to the Front- 12 times
Standing Bent-Over DB Flye- 12 times
Close-Grip Pull-downs- 12 times
M.B. Squat Jump Toss- 25 times

ROUND THREE:
Wide Reverse Pull-downs- 12 times
Barbell Shoulder Press to the Front (on your knees/**BE CAREFUL NOT TO HURT YOUR BACK/WEIGHT SHOULD BE MODERATE/POWER COMES FROM CORE)- 12 times
Sitting Bent-Over DB Flye- 12 times
Close-Grip Reverse Pull-downs- 12 times
M.B. Squat Jump Toss- 35 times (challenge yourself with the medicine ball that you choose)

ROUND FOUR:
Barbell Bent-Over Row (palms-down)- 12 times
DB Front Raises to empty the cans (palms down)- 12 times
Barbell Bent-Over Row (palms-up)- 12 times
DB Front Raise to empty the cans (palms up)- 12 times
M.B. Squat Jump Toss- 45 times (same as round #3)

ROUND FIVE:
Chin-up Pull-Up Hold- **goal is to hold yourself from falling for 20-30 seconds
Unassisted Dips- 10-12 times
Standing Rope Pull-downs- 15 times (moderate weight)
Chin-up Pull-Up Hold- **goal is to hold yourself from falling for 25-30 seconds
Unassisted Dips- 10-12 times
On Knees Behind the Back Rope Overhead Extension- 15 times (moderate weight)
Chin-up Hold- **goal is to hold yourself from falling for 30 seconds
Unassisted Dips- 10-12 times
Diverbomber Push-ups- 10 times + Low to the Floor Mountain Climbers- 30 seconds
*Repeat Diverbombers and Low Mountain Climbers for a total of 4 sets

Followed this by a 20 minute ab workout I have on DVD that is super touch. Cramped up half way through and had to rest for 45 seconds.

Then I did 3 rounds of conditioning drill #1 which is the following...30 seconds of each, no rest:

Burpees
Mtn Climbers
Split Jump Lunges
Mtn Climbers
Split Jump Lunges
Burpess

After that, I was done - 850 calories in 1.5 hours.

Then tonight - I did an hour workout which was 10 sets of 10 bicep curls with the same burpee challenge above in between sets. I did the challenge 5x through and then rode the bike in intervals between the other 5 sets of biceps. 500 calories.

Good workout today! Man, if I could just pay for this!! :)

More later...pic of me and hubby going to this snotty event in a few!

Be strong...the holidays can be stressful - use your energy to rock the body! ;)

Jess

Day 6 - Staycation: Team J & A RULE!

It's official...Amber makes an awesome workout partner and I only hope I provide her the same sense of accomplishment and desire to push harder in each and every workout. We had another great workout today! Awesome in fact.

Here is how we rocked it....first of all, it was leg day and for legs, I watched Charles Glass put Jenny Lynn through a brutal leg workout during pre-contest Olympia. I caught it on Bodybuilding.com's Fit Show. I watched the whole episode and wrote down the workout. Because Amber and I couldn't do the workout together we split it into two super sets and then traded.

Amber warmed up with a 15 minute run before I got there...I did 5 minutes on the step mill.

Then we did the following (I started with Set 1, Amber started with Set 2):

Set 1 – 4x through 20 reps each unless otherwise specified, no rest between exercises except to set up with a 45 second rest after each set.

Close leg sled press with 2 45lb plates each side.

Hack squat with toes pointed out - 25lbs each side.

Straight leg, feet together deadlift - 60 lbs.

Pile squat to midway point with heels on 5lb plates (35 lb dumbbell)

In between this set and next, I did 2 sets of 20 jump squats. Amber ran a lap and did 10 jump squats at each corner twice.

Set 2 – 4x through, no rest between exercises except to set up with a 45 second rest after each set.

Sumo squat on horizontal leg press with 60lbs. 15 reps.

Single leg lying leg press w/30lbs. 15 reps each leg.

Butt blaster, 50lbs, 15x each leg.

Hamstring curl - 3 position peek-a-boo's; 50lbs. 3 = 1 to 15 reps.

Smith rack deep sumo squat w/25lbs (?) each side (total of 50lbs). 20 reps.

After we had both finished both super sets (REMEMBER - each set was 4X's through!!!! WHEW), we did the step mill on level 10 for 10 minutes.

Then we did an awesome set of abs...about 15 different sets of lots of variations including lots of 30-60 second duration exercises....pretty brutal!

It was an hour and 50 minute workout and I burned 11oo calories....Amber burned 1350 (I think).

The only thing we will change for next time is to change up the exercises so the single leg movements are interspersed with the compound leg movements....the first set was definitely harder than the second and I think it we split the exercises better it will give a better overall burn.

We were going to do the Burpee Challenge but we didn't have time -the BOYS thwarted us! :)

Great workout and my legs are smoked! Amber, I hope you are feeling it too!

Oh, and I rode bike for 45 minute intervals this morning - burned about 500 calories so a pretty kick butt day for calorie burn!!

Have I mentioned how much I love the staycation??? :)

Ok Debbie, we're gonna hit the Back/Shoulder/Tricep Challenge tomorrow. We are feelin it even while you are away!

Jessica

Day 5 - Staycation: Amber + Jessica = Awesome Worktout!

I didn't get my post Christmas dinner run or abs in last night...but we knew that was going to happen didn't we? :)

But today...oh, today is another day!

Met Amber at the gym, both of us armed with our trusty workout printouts. Here is what we did:

Duration: 1hr 50 mins
Calories burned: 900! for me and 1100 for Amber

Warm up: Amber and I ran 3 laps (she had already put in 7 so she way had me beat)

Then, we did Debbie's Chest/Shoulder/Bi's Challenge below:

Do Not Rest Between Exercises/Challenge Yourself Always/Choose Challenging Weight For Each Exercise

Weights listed are noted if we did different weights.

ROUND ONE:

Lying Flat Bench DB Chest Press- 12 times, 25 lbs

Barbell Upright Row- 12 times, 80lbs on cable machine, Amber 40lb straight bar

Push-Ups- 20 times

Standing Barbell Curls- 12 times; 20lbs

One Lap Sprint- Under 28 seconds (check and WHEW!)

Rest 45 seconds and move on to the next round!

ROUND TWO: *Try to increase the weight from the previous round

Lying Flat Bench DB Chest Press- 10 times, 30lbs

Barbell Upright Row- 10 times, I did 6o lb bar for 5 reps, then did Olympic bar, Amber - 85lbs on cable row

Standing Cable Flye- 20 times; 30lbs

Push-ups- 10 times

Barbell Curls on the Preacher Curl- 10 times; 45lbs; Amber 30

Two Lap Sprint- Under 58 seconds (check and double whew)

Rest 45 seconds and then move on to the next round!

ROUND THREE:

Incline Bench DB Chest Press- 12 times; I did 65 lbs; Amber 30lbs dumb bells

Standing Side Lateral Shoulder Raises- 12 times; 12lbs

Push-ups with feet elevated from the floor- 20 times

Standing Barbell Curls with back pressed against the wall or the green bar- 15 times; 15lbs

Windjammer Race- 2 min/Level 7-9 (Holy Crap)

Rest 1 minute and then move on to the next round!

ROUND FOUR: *Try to increase your weight from the previous round

Incline Bench DB Chest Press- 10 times; I did 65lbs; Amber 30lbs dumb bells

Standing Side Lateral Shoulder Raises- 10 times; 12lbs

Sitting Cable Flye in high position- 20 times

Push-ups with feet elevated from the floor- 10 times

Sitting DB Curls with back pressed against the wall or the green bar- 15 times; 15lbs

Windjammer Race- 4 min/Level 7-9 (Thew up in my mouth a couple times and we only did level 6)

After that grueling workout, we did an awesome set of abs (I may get some of this wrong - just using my good ole memory):

The following number of reps of all of the following exercises: 12, 12, and 15
Situps/crunches on swiss ball/reverse crunches/bicycles on butt/around the worlds on swiss ball - each side = 1 rep/sit up with medicine ball twist/situps/reverse crunch

OUCH!

Then we did the following lunge workout:

10 traveling burpees followed by walking lunges with a 3 count pulse 1/2 way around track; 10 traveling burpess followed by walking lunges with 3 count pulse for reminder of track. Ouch.

BUT WE DIDN'T STOP THERE!! We did Round 1 & 2 of above AGAIN! :) It was awesome!

So, take THAT Christmas dinner! And GREAT WORKOUT Amber! Thanks for pushing me today chica! And Debbie - do we make you proud or what???

Man...I dig the staycation....life is good. :)
Take care and enjoy!
Jess

Day 2 - Staycation: Debbie's Challenges

Happy Staycation my fellow bloggers! Ah, another glorious day! Fantastical, in fact Woke up late (again, with not ONE regret), had coffee on the couch with my husband (my #1 fav thing in the whole world to do - well, maybe #2 :)), rode my bike for an hour and burned a whopping 600 calories. Then proceeded to do some shopping and wrapping and cleaning and eating...a little reading, a little relaxing. AHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Can you hear my mental being improving???? :)

For my workout today (in addition to my bike this morning)...I decided to done one of Debbie's conditioning drills in between my shoulder workout. It looked like this:

I did the following workout and super setted in Debbie's Conditioning Drill #1 (see drill directly after seated shoulder press). FOR THE RECORD, I ADDED THE 30 SECOND REST IN BETWEEN - Debbie's directive is actually NO REST with a 30 second rest between circuits but I didn't want to throw up today so I added the 30 second rest. Debbie, next time I will only rest 20 seconds and then 15...etc. Check it but be warned - you may break into a sweat just READING it. :) I burned 900 calories in 1 hour and 40 minutes. WHEW!

Seated Smith Shoulder Press 50lbs x 12
Burpees x 30 seconds, rest 30 seconds
Mountain Climbers x 30 seconds, rest 30 seconds
Split Squat Jumps x 30 seconds, rest 30 seconds
Mountain Climbers x 30 seconds, rest 30 seconds
Split Squat Jumps x 30 seconds, rest 30 seconds
Burpees x 30 seconds, rest 30 seconds
Repeat 3x through for a total of 4 sets

Seated Lateral Raise w/12lbs x 12
Repeat drill above 1x to total conditioning drill is 5x through.

Seated Lateral Raise w/12lbs x 12
Supersetted with jump squats 10x and jump reverse pull ups 5x
Repeat 3x for a total of 4 sets.

Bent Over Dumbell Raise (rear delt focus) 12lbs x12
Supersetted with jump squats 10x and jump reverse pull ups 5x
Repeat 2x for a total of 3 sets

Front raises 10lbs x 12
Jump squats 10x
Repeat 3x for a total of 4 sets

Followed that with Debbie's ab challenge #1:

NO REST Between Exercises/Keep hands on your head at ALL TIMES when you perform each Sit-up/Keep your legs bent on all Sit-ups/Watch your form and make sure you engage your belly button AT ALL TIMES/Control your motion and DO NOT USE MOMENTUM!
Unassisted Sit-ups- 10x/Hold #10 at the Halfway Mark for 20sec
Core Plank- 30 seconds
Unassisted Sit-ups- 15x/Hold #15 at the Halfway Mark for 20sec
Core Plank- 1 minute
Unassisted Sit-ups- 20x/Hold #20 at the Halfway Mark for 20sec
Core Plank- 1 minute 30 sec
Unassisted Sit-ups- 25x/Hold #25 at the Halfway Mark for 20sec
Core Plank- 2 minutes

Then I walked Pablo around the neighborhood (about a 1/2 mile) and did alternating low shuffles (10 x each side) and then 20 walking lunges) and repeated that 4x for a total of 5x through.

As I said, 900 calories in 1hour and 40 minutes. Good stuff. I feel awesome! Loved it!!

Did great today with food, water and supplements. I gotta tell ya, feel like a new person.

Hope you are having a wonderful Christmas Eve Eve and giving thanks for all those things in your life that you are blessed with!
Jess

Addiction

It's official...I have an addiction! My whole life I have made it without one....an addiction that is. I don't smoke, drink occasionally and have never done drugs. I drink a couple cups of coffee a day but that is all...just a couple cups and sometimes on the weekends I can go the whole time without a cup at all. Clearly, I have no addictions.

Thursday I had my third training session with Debbie - which was two hours or torture...but awesome torture...and I had a thought at the end of it - I MAY be addicted to her training sessions/training style! No joke. She is amazing. Non-stop - constant muscle fatigue. Yes, it's official. And even though I have to get up at 4am to do it - and I am exhausted by the end of the day - it is TOTALLY worth it. Thursday's workout was a shoulder/hamstring emphasis with abs, burpees and push up sprints. No ladder drill for me...thank goodness. Almost 1000 glorious calories over two hours!

Working out with Debbie has officially become an addiction. And Debbie, I thank you for that!

Sorry for the time between posts...this week was crazy busy with work. More 14-16 hour days. Yuck. This typically means I am only getting 5 or 6 hours sleep at most. This week is another one that put me into a really tough position with my workouts and my sleep. I only worked out with Debbie twice and got in a couple weak cardio sessions in between. I cannot wait for next week to end....after that I will have a full 11 days off....I have so much planned but basically will replicate a Debbie workout every day. Amber and I have committed to pushing each other during workouts and I have a couple mini-goals in mind.

We are in Iowa right now with my family and just got through sledding down a big ass hill! Good, good times. I am so totally in love with my husband at the moment for spending this time with me.

Remember that for each and every workout you are making a choice to improve your health and wellness. You are making a choice to improve your body and your health and lengthen your life. You are showing those around you that you are capable of more!! Your mind if your only limit and it can be limitless - if you let it.

I made a decision on Friday that I want to start affecting those around me at work and in my life with health and fitness. I want to share my knowledge, learnings and enthusiasm for fitness with others. It is my passion and my love - I want to share it with others!

Have a great weekend all!
Jessica

Workout #2 w/Debbie (AKA Bealzebub)

Happy Monday!

Today was workout # 2 with Debbie....FANTASTIC! I think I actually told her that she was the devil at one point...but I meant it in a loving way! ;) Amber, thanks for getting me through that last set of jump squats and holds. I think I definitely had tears in my eyes during those last few holds. OW, OW, OW! Debbie, you are the BOMB! I can feel my legs and my body stiffening already and I LOVE IT! That feeling of KNOWING you are changing your body is amazing. What a feeling to have so much control over your own physicality!! And Debbie is such a great trainer - truly - she could train next to Charles Glass (the baddest trainer on the planet) and hold her own! She rocks.

I downloaded an ebook today (free) called the Ultimate Diet 2.0 which is the program developed by some of the first bodybuilders that figured out how to use ketosis cycles to shed more fat and preserve lean muscle through many months of manipulation and experimentation. I am going to read it tonight - I am sure it will be like most other eating plans that I read about - a lot of the same information rehashed - but maybe there will be a few nuggets of information I can work into my own eating plan. Today was my first day eating more fat - it was actually hard to do - mentally and physically but I want to give this increased fat thing a try to see how my body responds. I nailed my supplements as well! Woo hoo!

I also had a realization today that my friend Amber is a bad ass! She trains with Debbie 3x a week! I can only hope to reach that level of training at some point in the future!

Until next time!
Jessica

Awesome: Not Moving....Not Awesome: Going Down Stairs

After reading Em's post about Awesome/Not-Awesome, I vowed to do my own awesome/not awesome post and after being tortured by Debbie, I realized this is the PERFECT time for awesome/not awesome.

Awesome: Sitting very still - literally, not moving a muscle.
Not awesome: Walking down stairs and looking like a robot b/c I can't bend my legs.

Awesome: Knowing that I am changing my body with workouts like I had on Tuesday!
Not awesome: Avoiding certain physical activities with my hubby b/c of how bad my legs hurt.

Awesome: Feeling like 40 weeks is PLENTY of time.
Not awesome: The dog jumping into my lap and me screaming out in pain as his paws dug into my thighs.

Enough of awesome/not awesome. You get the idea.

I am so excited to workout with Debbie...she is amazing. Working with her makes me think of one of the most profound things I read in Seven Habits of Highly Effective people. Stephen (Covey) was talking about planning and patience and used farming as a great analogy for planning and long term goal setting. Farmers know it would be futile to try to move a crop along faster than what nature allows...they know that in order to have a crop in the fall, they must plant in the spring - no exceptions.

Preparing for a competition is very similar to planting a crop and farming...the work takes place long before the crop is harvested and that is the most important part of the whole process - the long hours of working out, cardio and eating right...it will all result in a great stage package (crop). I must have patience and I must plan.

Next workout with Debbie - 5:15Am tomorrow. Listen carefully (you may hear me scream :)).

Jessica

"Are You Feeling This?"

"Are you feeling this?" Those are the four words I heard THROUGHOUT my training session today with Debbie....and my response: "Are you crazy?? Hells yeah I am feeling this!" - always with a smile on my face.

First of all, she is awesome! Awesome, awesome! I will detail out for everyone the workout she had me do today which involved lots of burpees, lots of lunges and lots of pain. :) But it was great...so great that this is all the energy I have at the moment...I gotta get some much needed rest. I can tell you that when I try to sit down tomorrow (yes, even on the toilet) I will be yelling "Ouch, ouch, ouch". Lots of leg work...YEOCH!

I can tell you that my goal of increasing my workout intensity has already been achieved! :) And as I was going through the workout, I see the end of my 40 weeks being in the best shape of my life and walking on that stage bigger, more conditioned and a better all around athlete!

Almost happy hump day!
Jess

Fitness Love Letter to Debbie

Debbie,

After much fear and trepidation, I am contacting you to formally request that you get my a&& into shape.

If you are on my blog read the post directly below this that summarizes my 42 week plan you will have a good idea of what I need you for...basically just getting in the best shape of my life and going to a figure national show in Sept in New York. I want to rock the house! And it is with your help I know I will do it!

I am thinking Wednesday and Friday this coming week if I can bum along with Ambers group at 5am...and if you want us to just have a one on one session prior to that is cool too! Amber has a real good sense of where I am....we have worked out a handful of times over the last few weeks. Just let me know. I am just so excited to be given this opportunity and let me say, you are the bomb!

Can't wait!!!
Jess

Note to those who are not Debbie:

Debbie is the baddest personal trainer at our gym and dare I say all of NW Arkansas. Heck, I would even go so far as to say in all of Arkansas. Anyhoo, she is amazing - her body reflects that she knows what she is doing and she would whoop most people on stage even at the national level. NO JOKE! I won a lot of personal training sessions with her last month and I am so pumped about working out with her!!! Amazing! If she will let me, I will take a pic of her bad ass kicking my butt! :) Anyhoo, I have no doubt my body will transform b/c or working out with her which is motivating me to take before pictures (insert peer pressure comment here).
Hope everyone had a great weekend!!! Rock it!!
Jess