Well, I think outside of announcing I am competing, I think this post has gotten the most comments ever! :) Yeah! I LIKE it.
Most of your questions/comments surround the following questions Cynthia asked in her comment so let me clarify. :)
Q: Can you clarify why you were doing that much cardio that far out?
A: I did two shows back to back - one in early June and one six weeks later. So the 12 weeks I was doing was in between the two shows (6 weeks) and 6 weeks prior to (so not far off of what you guys were doing).
Q: Was it your diet?
A: No, my diet was good - I was carb cycling and started at 1800, then went to around 1500 calories about 6 weeks out (from the first show) and then 4 weeks out I was down to around 1200.
Q: Was it that you had adapted?
A: Might have been.
Q: Were you in starvation mode?
A: I am assuming during the last four weeks I was....tired, crabby, cranky and poopy.
Q: Were you instructed to do it?
A: I, like many of you, read a ton for about three years before I started competing. Oxygen used to print training routines and diets for any competitor they featured. So, I literally have pages and pages of what Jenny Lynn, Jenny Hendershott, Gina Aliotti, Mary Lado, Davina Medina, etc. While I didn't hire a trainer, I did a bunch of research and I based my training around my progress and biofeedback.
Ok, so all that being said...the one thing I want to point out is that I don't know what would have happened if I would have done it ANOTHER way. That's the rub right - what would have happened if I WOULDN"T have trained that way. For me, I added the additional cardio when I still wasn't seeing the results I wanted to see. Part of it is hard b/c you have to TRUST it will happen. You just never know. :)
In fact you never know WHAT life will bring you.
I think doing two shows back to back like that was a bad idea. I was over trained and it affected so much of my daily life.
More later. BIG VLOG to come tomorrow. :) Stop back in - it will be a REALLY good one. I promise.
Jess
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Thursday, November 6, 2008
The Cardio Question
We are having QUITE a discussion around extreme cardio and I just wanted to post an official blog on the subject and my thoughts. :)
First of all, I speak about cardio from my own personal experience and come from a place of love and concern for my fellow athlete's/competitors/women who love iron. :) I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings or talk down to anyone. I want to share the information and knowledge that I have from my experience and my years of training along with what I have learned from the hours and hours of reading and sharing others experiences.
Please, please, please know that this is my opinion from my experiences and knowledge coming from a place of love. Did I say that already?? :)
I did the two hours of cardio. I did it for 14 weeks and did two back to back competitions. And then I pretty much stopped working out consistently, completely fell off a consistent eating plan and was sick for about 6 months. Literally. I lost my desire to workout and I struggled with intensity.
Now, did I have other things going on in my life like a very rigorous work schedule? YES! Wedding? YES! But, I feel strongly that the 3 hours a day of training (cardio and lifting) and then another hour of food prep put me in a place of extreme over training - mentally and physically.
Further, I was TRAINING my body to store fat once I went back to a normal life. Training it - think about it - your body is surviving on like 1100 calories a day and you are doing tons of cardio and then you start eating normally and training regularly and your body is freaking out - thinking it has to store up for the next starvation so pack it on, pack it on, pack it on.
And it took ME (again this is my story and my perspective) a long time to get back into it. In fact, at one point I said I would never compete again and even said I regretted it. Now I am in a wonderful place.....I know what I need to eat. I know how I need to train. I know I need to dial it in at certain intervals out from the contest. I know I can do it with mental and physical commitment but NOT 2 hours of cardio a day.
And you know what - AFTER this next competition I KNOW what to expect and my body will adjust - not drastically like the last time.
So, that is why I feel the way I do. That COMBINED with tons of articles and scientific info about how your body responds to extreme dieting and cardio. Show me scientific data that supports the long term benefits of 2 hours a day cardio on low calories? Your not going to find it. What you will find is scientific, imperial and experience (lots of competitors) based data that says High Intensity Interval training for 30 minutes and intense weight training workouts and a consistent diet (even adding re-feeds) over a long period of time allow you to achieve your goals AND not rebound.
That's all I got. I hope those of you who have an opinion chime in....to each their own I ALWAYS say and I feel that way as well. Everyone has to go on their own journey and I hope each of you finds the journey that is healthiest and happiest.
Peace.
Jess
First of all, I speak about cardio from my own personal experience and come from a place of love and concern for my fellow athlete's/competitors/women who love iron. :) I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings or talk down to anyone. I want to share the information and knowledge that I have from my experience and my years of training along with what I have learned from the hours and hours of reading and sharing others experiences.
Please, please, please know that this is my opinion from my experiences and knowledge coming from a place of love. Did I say that already?? :)
I did the two hours of cardio. I did it for 14 weeks and did two back to back competitions. And then I pretty much stopped working out consistently, completely fell off a consistent eating plan and was sick for about 6 months. Literally. I lost my desire to workout and I struggled with intensity.
Now, did I have other things going on in my life like a very rigorous work schedule? YES! Wedding? YES! But, I feel strongly that the 3 hours a day of training (cardio and lifting) and then another hour of food prep put me in a place of extreme over training - mentally and physically.
Further, I was TRAINING my body to store fat once I went back to a normal life. Training it - think about it - your body is surviving on like 1100 calories a day and you are doing tons of cardio and then you start eating normally and training regularly and your body is freaking out - thinking it has to store up for the next starvation so pack it on, pack it on, pack it on.
And it took ME (again this is my story and my perspective) a long time to get back into it. In fact, at one point I said I would never compete again and even said I regretted it. Now I am in a wonderful place.....I know what I need to eat. I know how I need to train. I know I need to dial it in at certain intervals out from the contest. I know I can do it with mental and physical commitment but NOT 2 hours of cardio a day.
And you know what - AFTER this next competition I KNOW what to expect and my body will adjust - not drastically like the last time.
So, that is why I feel the way I do. That COMBINED with tons of articles and scientific info about how your body responds to extreme dieting and cardio. Show me scientific data that supports the long term benefits of 2 hours a day cardio on low calories? Your not going to find it. What you will find is scientific, imperial and experience (lots of competitors) based data that says High Intensity Interval training for 30 minutes and intense weight training workouts and a consistent diet (even adding re-feeds) over a long period of time allow you to achieve your goals AND not rebound.
That's all I got. I hope those of you who have an opinion chime in....to each their own I ALWAYS say and I feel that way as well. Everyone has to go on their own journey and I hope each of you finds the journey that is healthiest and happiest.
Peace.
Jess
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Adjustments
Hey y'all!
Poppin in on hump day to apologize for my MIA status. :) Have had a lot of things going on at work that have kept me tied up and have been keeping my efforts focused on eating right and getting my workouts in....those are key to achieving my goals.
A lot of the blogs I follow have been focusing on goal setting and I wanted to share with you one of the systems that works for me and perhaps it will translate to something that works for you as well. I do love the fact that we all support and help each other. I couldn't do it without you guys!
So, here is what I do...I set my goals - and I make sure I have a clear understanding of what those goals are at different milestones. Then on Sunday's (or Monday's) I fill out my Weekly Compass which is a proprietary tool Franklin Covey uses but it is basically a 8.5x3.5 inch card that has seven roles listed out and the big rocks you want to achieve every week. That probably sounds like Spanish to you (the big rocks part) but here is how it works. If you want to fill up a jar with rocks, you would start with big rocks and then fill in with little rocks right? Otherwise you have to throw in a bunch of little rocks which takes twice as long. So, you set your goals and then WEEKLY you review your goals and make sure each week you are achieving a goal toward your bigger goals.
THEN (and here is where it gets REALLY important), you must review your weekly goals when you plan your day. Make sure that every day you are doing something that will allow you to reach your weekly goals which should all roll up to your overall goals. Here is what it looks like:
The Compass card breaks your "big rocks" down by life role. So, for example, my roles are the following (with weekly goal examples):
Reach for it. Plan for it.
MAKE IT HAPPEN!
Hope this helps! Jess
P.S. I found this article on the big rocks concept this morning and wanted to post as part of this blog. Here is a great explanation of why you need to have your big rocks figured out FIRST before you start going through the details of your day. :)
“Scheduling is how we manifest our intent on the world”
- Stephen Covey
Those of you familiar with Stephen Covey’s great read, “First Things First” will recognize the reference to placing your big rocks first. The story goes:
I attended a seminar once where the instructor was lecturing on time. At one point, he said, “Okay, it’s time for a quiz.” He reached under the table and pulled out a wide-mouth gallon jar. He set it on the table next to a platter with some fist sized rocks on it. “How many of these rocks do you think we can get in the jar?” he asked.
After we made our guess, he said, “Okay, let’s find out.” He set one rock in the jar… then another….then another. I don’t remember how many he got in, but he got the jar full. Then he asked “is the jar full?”
Everybody looked at the rocks and said “yes”.
Then he said, “Ahhh”. He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. Then he dumped some gravel in and shook the jar and the gravel went in the little spaces left by the big rocks. Then he grinned and asked once more “Is the jar full?”
By this time we were onto him. “Probably not,” we said.
“Good!” He replied. And he reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in and it went in all the little spaces left by the rocks and gravel. Once more, he looked at us and said, “Is the jar full?”
“No!” we all roared.
He said, “Good!” and he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in. He got something like a quart of water in that jar. Then he said, “Well, what’s the point?”
Somebody said, “Well, there are gaps, and if you really work at it, you can always fit more into your life.”
“No,” he said, “that’s not the point. The point is if you hadn’t put the big rocks in first would you ever have gotten any of them in?”
Poppin in on hump day to apologize for my MIA status. :) Have had a lot of things going on at work that have kept me tied up and have been keeping my efforts focused on eating right and getting my workouts in....those are key to achieving my goals.
A lot of the blogs I follow have been focusing on goal setting and I wanted to share with you one of the systems that works for me and perhaps it will translate to something that works for you as well. I do love the fact that we all support and help each other. I couldn't do it without you guys!
So, here is what I do...I set my goals - and I make sure I have a clear understanding of what those goals are at different milestones. Then on Sunday's (or Monday's) I fill out my Weekly Compass which is a proprietary tool Franklin Covey uses but it is basically a 8.5x3.5 inch card that has seven roles listed out and the big rocks you want to achieve every week. That probably sounds like Spanish to you (the big rocks part) but here is how it works. If you want to fill up a jar with rocks, you would start with big rocks and then fill in with little rocks right? Otherwise you have to throw in a bunch of little rocks which takes twice as long. So, you set your goals and then WEEKLY you review your goals and make sure each week you are achieving a goal toward your bigger goals.
THEN (and here is where it gets REALLY important), you must review your weekly goals when you plan your day. Make sure that every day you are doing something that will allow you to reach your weekly goals which should all roll up to your overall goals. Here is what it looks like:
The Compass card breaks your "big rocks" down by life role. So, for example, my roles are the following (with weekly goal examples):
- Wife - date night, hall closet project
- Competitor - 90% meal compliance, 100% workout compliance, research new suit options
- Account Director/Leader - blah, blah, blah
- Manager - blah, blah, blah
- Team Leader - blah, blah, blah
- Dr. Me - Make eye appt, make OB/GYN appt
Reach for it. Plan for it.
MAKE IT HAPPEN!
Hope this helps! Jess
P.S. I found this article on the big rocks concept this morning and wanted to post as part of this blog. Here is a great explanation of why you need to have your big rocks figured out FIRST before you start going through the details of your day. :)
“Scheduling is how we manifest our intent on the world”
- Stephen Covey
Those of you familiar with Stephen Covey’s great read, “First Things First” will recognize the reference to placing your big rocks first. The story goes:
I attended a seminar once where the instructor was lecturing on time. At one point, he said, “Okay, it’s time for a quiz.” He reached under the table and pulled out a wide-mouth gallon jar. He set it on the table next to a platter with some fist sized rocks on it. “How many of these rocks do you think we can get in the jar?” he asked.
After we made our guess, he said, “Okay, let’s find out.” He set one rock in the jar… then another….then another. I don’t remember how many he got in, but he got the jar full. Then he asked “is the jar full?”
Everybody looked at the rocks and said “yes”.
Then he said, “Ahhh”. He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. Then he dumped some gravel in and shook the jar and the gravel went in the little spaces left by the big rocks. Then he grinned and asked once more “Is the jar full?”
By this time we were onto him. “Probably not,” we said.
“Good!” He replied. And he reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in and it went in all the little spaces left by the rocks and gravel. Once more, he looked at us and said, “Is the jar full?”
“No!” we all roared.
He said, “Good!” and he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in. He got something like a quart of water in that jar. Then he said, “Well, what’s the point?”
Somebody said, “Well, there are gaps, and if you really work at it, you can always fit more into your life.”
“No,” he said, “that’s not the point. The point is if you hadn’t put the big rocks in first would you ever have gotten any of them in?”
Monday, November 3, 2008
Two Great Recipies with a Small Twist
Amber and I made BOTH of these recipies on Saturday and we HIGHLY recommend them. By the way, my new favorite fake mashed potato recipe is mashed sweet potato and brocoli mashed up together with salt and pepepr! Yummy!
And I can personally attest that BOTH of these are awesome! And good for you!
Shepherd's Pie
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 large sweet potato - peeled and boiled
- One large head of broccoli, boiled until soft
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 pounds ground turkey
- 1 large carrot, shredded
- 1 (4.5 ounce) can sliced mushrooms
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
- 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon powder
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- salt to taste
- ground black pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS:
- Mash sweet potato with broccoli, butter or margarine and milk. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
- Saute onion in olive oil until soft. Stir in ground turkey, carrot, mushrooms, parsley, thyme, garlic, and chicken bouillon. Salt and pepper to taste. Cook and stir until meat is broken up and cooked through. Drain. Stir in flour.
- Transfer meat mixture to a deep dish pie pan or casserole. Spread potato/broccoli mixture over meat like a topping crust and then spread Parmesan cheese on top.
- Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 30 minutes, or until top is lightly browned.
Nutrition (approx 8 servings):
Calories: 268
Total Fat: 8g
Cholesterol: 43mg
Sodium: 212mg
Total Carbs: 24g
Dietary Fiber: 3.4g
Protein: 25g
Ingredients:
- 1.5 cups rolled oats, dry, uncooked (Old fashioned, not quick oats)
- .5 cup Fiber One
- 3/4 cup trail mix with the following: Sunflower seeds, raisins, cashews, almonds, pumpkin seeds
- 1/4 cup Chips, chocolate, semisweet, large
- 4 scoops Cytosport Cookie's N' Cream protein powder
- 1/2 tsp Salt, table, 1/5 oz per teaspoon
- 1/4 tsp Vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp sugar free Maple Syrup
Directions:
- In a large bowl combine the oats, trail mix, chocolate chips, and whey.
- Add the syrup, vanilla, and salt. Stir until everything is thoroughly mixed. At first, it will seem too dry, but continue stirring and it will eventually blend.
- Spray two non-stick 12-compartment muffin tins with cooking spray, then press the mixture into the bottom of each cup firmly. Alternately, spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray, then drop 24 equal blobs of the mixture onto the sheet, squashing each down slightly into a cookie-like thickness.
- Bake at 350 degrees F for 6 minutes.
140 Calories
5 g. fat
15.5g carb
3.2 g fiber
11g protein
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Need a Wheelchair
Seriously, I need a wheelchair big time.
Amber and I had a BRUTAL leg workout this morning. Just so you can get a sense of how painful and challenging it was I am posting it for you below.
Right now, my legs feel like this:
But this hard work should result in this:
:)
Here is what we did.... Jogged for 10 minutes for a warm up and then did the following four sets, four times through (workout took us about 2 hours total) - OWWWW!
Did I mention we did each set of four exercise FOUR times??? It was awesome. Loved it.
Gonna post a vlog later so look for it! Hope you guys are having a GREAT weekend!
Jess
Amber and I had a BRUTAL leg workout this morning. Just so you can get a sense of how painful and challenging it was I am posting it for you below.
Right now, my legs feel like this:
But this hard work should result in this:
:)
Here is what we did.... Jogged for 10 minutes for a warm up and then did the following four sets, four times through (workout took us about 2 hours total) - OWWWW!
- One legged burpees - 10 each leg
- Step ups - 30 each leg - no weight - for speed
- Hill repeat (and if you haven't heard me talk about Amber's hill, it is like suicide hill - the grade is like 40% and it is about 1/8 of a mile)
- Inch worm superman holds (5 second hold)
- Deep squats with EZ bar and 30lbs (55 total) - 25 squats
- Step ups with weight (15lbs) - 20
- Romanian lunges - 20lb Kettlebells in each hand - 15 total
- Hill repeat
- Stiff legged deadlifts (same EZ bar weight) - 20 reps
- Lying leg curls with stability ball - 20 reps
- One legged reaching lunges w/15lb dumbbell - 20 reps each leg
- Side lunges - 25 each leg down the hill Walking lunges up the hill (about 40 lunges each leg)
- Split lunges with 20lb kettlebell - 15 reps
- Sumo squats with EZ bar - 15 reps
- Single leg deadlifts - no weight - focusing on glute - 15 reps
- Lying side leg lifts - 15 each leg
Did I mention we did each set of four exercise FOUR times??? It was awesome. Loved it.
Gonna post a vlog later so look for it! Hope you guys are having a GREAT weekend!
Jess
Friday, October 31, 2008
Happy Halloween and Going with the Flow
Happy Halloween everyone!
Very quick post - no pics or anything! :) Had a really rough couple of days with long work days and so took yesterday off. This means Thursday is my off day and so I need to redo my schedule.
I will need to do light arms, light back and chest tomorrow with HIIT session and then Sunday plyo legs.
Look for a new vlog soon!
Jess
Very quick post - no pics or anything! :) Had a really rough couple of days with long work days and so took yesterday off. This means Thursday is my off day and so I need to redo my schedule.
I will need to do light arms, light back and chest tomorrow with HIIT session and then Sunday plyo legs.
Look for a new vlog soon!
Jess
Three Minute Inspiration!
Hey y'all!
So, we all know Cynthia, Visionquester, is awesome and a bad ass. We all know it - just look at her pics from competition. But if you really want to see some bad ass sh## check out this video and then vote for her! She rocks and if you need a video to watch to get motivated to workout - this is your video. :)
Please click the link on the right hand side above my picture and vote for her on Bodybuilding.com as a spokesmodel. She has it all: humility, heart, passion, honesty, everything and IMHO deserves our votes.
Oh, and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
Jess
So, we all know Cynthia, Visionquester, is awesome and a bad ass. We all know it - just look at her pics from competition. But if you really want to see some bad ass sh## check out this video and then vote for her! She rocks and if you need a video to watch to get motivated to workout - this is your video. :)
Please click the link on the right hand side above my picture and vote for her on Bodybuilding.com as a spokesmodel. She has it all: humility, heart, passion, honesty, everything and IMHO deserves our votes.
Oh, and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
Jess
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Vlog!!! All Hail Cynthia and Kelly - Queen Vloggers
All right ladies, I can't even get CLOSE to you guys for vlogging awesomeness but wanted to drop it in anyway!And major apologies for my hair and the bad lighting - sometimes the love of my life is so comfortable he doesn't want to help adjust hair or lighting - next time I promise to look cuter! And give you a bicep shot! :)
I had a VERY long day at work today but ate great and got in my workouts! Yeah! Hammies this morning and light shoulders/heavy arms tonight.
I love the new heavy lifting schedule! :) Thanks to all my followers! Fikenator has joined the Juice Squeezing revolution!
Love you guys! Duh.
Jess
I had a VERY long day at work today but ate great and got in my workouts! Yeah! Hammies this morning and light shoulders/heavy arms tonight.
I love the new heavy lifting schedule! :) Thanks to all my followers! Fikenator has joined the Juice Squeezing revolution!
Love you guys! Duh.
Jess
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Weekly Recap and WOW!
Hey y'all! I have a LOT to say this evening so I am going to get right to it!
First of all, I love the new follower feature on blogger - it is awesome! I follow my peeps and they follow me. :) Fun times.
Had a GREAT workout tonight - did back. Awesome. My leggies are still a little sore so hammies and an HIIT workout in the morning. It is really weird doing heavy lifting instead of the hard core super intense more cardio focused workouts I have been doing. So I KILL IT with heavy weight and then that's it...I am done. I love this. I eat, get in the hot tub, and sleep. Good times.
Back workout was four exercises 3-4 sets, 6-8 reps - HEAVY and then final exercise (5th one) was German Volume Training (GVT) so 10 sets of 10 at 70 lbs lat pull down. It was awesomeness. Exercises were: deadlifts, rows, seated cable rows, one arm reverse grip pull down.
Below is a summary for my workouts last week...I am going to keep rocking it this week and will keep you guys posted. Food has been perfect....which is kick ass. I have some all day meetings tomorrow and Thursday but preparation is key so I have to make sure I have all my meals on me and prepared.
Have a great week everyone!
Week of October 20th
Monday: Day Off - WHEW!
Tuesday: Leg circuits and 20 minute jog - 85 total minutes
Wednesday: Off (business clients in town)
Thursday: Heavy lift shoulders - 20 minute jog.
Friday: Off - workout clothes left at home
Saturday: 5K - 25 minutes (massive asthma attack :()
Sunday: BRUTAL 2 hour leg workout with Amber - WHOA!
Jess
Monday, October 27, 2008
Breaking News! News Alert!
News Alert: Northwest Arkansas
The sound of a bomb was just heard in Northwest Arkansas. The location of the suspected detonation was in the home of Jessica Hendrix. Bomb forensics were able to locate the exact location of the detonation to the deltoid region of Jessica's shoulders.
BAM! Blew up! Wow. :)
A couple things: It is wierd to do shoulders and do low weights, heavy weight - I am so used to the opposite. Plus, while my heart rate went up - it didn't really do anything crazy and I am not doing any cardio so just chillin - letting the muscle recover.
And for my post workout meal - homemade lasagna - and it is gonna be TIGHT. Yummy. And good for me - 100% whole wheat noodles, 98% lean ground beef - yummy.
I wanted to post a better back picture for you guys - I totally jacked up my posing at the Missouri show so my back looks wacked and I wanted you guys to see a better view. This was me 2 weeks out from the Missouri show. I need to make sure I nail the back pose. :)
Have a great week y'all! I will be updating you on progress with my first week with the new training schedule.
Jess
P.S. I just ate the lasagna and I have to tell you it was GOOD! And good for me! Post workout meal - CHECK!
The sound of a bomb was just heard in Northwest Arkansas. The location of the suspected detonation was in the home of Jessica Hendrix. Bomb forensics were able to locate the exact location of the detonation to the deltoid region of Jessica's shoulders.
BAM! Blew up! Wow. :)
A couple things: It is wierd to do shoulders and do low weights, heavy weight - I am so used to the opposite. Plus, while my heart rate went up - it didn't really do anything crazy and I am not doing any cardio so just chillin - letting the muscle recover.
And for my post workout meal - homemade lasagna - and it is gonna be TIGHT. Yummy. And good for me - 100% whole wheat noodles, 98% lean ground beef - yummy.
I wanted to post a better back picture for you guys - I totally jacked up my posing at the Missouri show so my back looks wacked and I wanted you guys to see a better view. This was me 2 weeks out from the Missouri show. I need to make sure I nail the back pose. :)
Have a great week y'all! I will be updating you on progress with my first week with the new training schedule.
Jess
P.S. I just ate the lasagna and I have to tell you it was GOOD! And good for me! Post workout meal - CHECK!
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