My Trainer:
After a “scheduling conflict” yesterday, Tara and I had our only workout today until she returns to London on June 20th.
I’m not worried about Tara while she’s away – she’s really active and I can’t picture too many days of her not working out with friends, family, or catching a Group-Ex class somewhere. This morning she mentioned her gym(s) of preference in the area, but what I found funny was she picks the gyms where the fewest people recognize her … quite hard when you’re a huge GoodLife celebrity like Tara! Turns out even the most social of us (everyone knows Tara and she knows just about everyone), like to just put the head phones in and clamp down sometimes, no small talk.
Her workout this morning consisted of only big lifts as her accumulation phase is ending and she’s prepping for our first strength phase. Her Deadlifts were followed by Walking Lunges, Sternum (Supinated) Lat Pulldowns, Incline (Neutral Grip) Dumbbell Chest Press, and (toes in) Prone Leg Curl. I was really impressed with her ability to come through on reps. She put about 2 reps on every single set she did from last workout – AMAZING! I included a great article about “The 2% Rule of Progress” that every Trainer (in my opinion) should be following closely. It mostly speaks to not working backwards and working out only when you are getting stronger … definitely worth a good read.
Today stood out for a couple of more reasons. Tara and I did weigh ins/caliper readings today, and will continue to do them regularly every single week. As a Trainer I love this because it helps with accountability. If the fat on my body was (literally) being pinched and measured to within 0.2 mm every Monday, that would help me eat a little better on the weekend … just sayin’. Also, in her chest press today was the first time she went to “failure” in a set. I feel a little nerdy saying “went to failure” – like one of those mega intense, yet at the same time very lame, muscle magazine blurbs – but it’s simply that she pushed up and the weights went down. She was bummed (she’s pretty hard on herself and expects a lot from herself) to only get 8 reps, but I explained that reps should (almost always) be in a range. For example 8-10 reps, or 12-15 reps, etc. We’ve been through this before, but the reasoning is simple. If you only count reps, and your tempo is far too fast like just about everyone else in the gym, your Time Under Tension falls short. Your muscle, of course, responds to the time they are under tension, not what you can count to. So, when we set out to lift 8-10 reps, and she is out at 8 reps, that still means a good set! If she hits 10 reps every time, every workout, it becomes obvious she can be pushed a little more.
So, off Tara goes on her own little adventures until we meet up again after the 20th. I know she’ll keep busy and not get lazy with exercise, and I also have a lot of belief in her as far as her ability to eat and drink well in that time. Even if I didn’t, she knows she’s walking into her next workout to face a stainless steel apparatus designed to pinch!
Here is the link to the article: http://www.charlespoliquin.com/ArticlesMultimedia/Articles/Article/430/The_2_Percent_Rule_of_Progress.aspx
Me+:
Oh hello. I bet you are wondering..what's going on? The format of this blog is as follows: I comment and THEN my trainer comments...not the other way around. Well we just rocked your world!!!
Anyways, Kyle did a great job of breaking down this workout...usually that's my job. I think Kyle mentioned something about "failure". I asked him why girls need big chest muscles anyways or "pecs"...the only reasonable explantion I could come up with was that so we can give better hugs. The next time you see me we will have to test out that theory.
I am using 35lb dumbells for 8-10 reps on my chest press, that's a lot, I think. Considering other girls I see in the gym are mostly on the ellipticals. (not judging). I know I would NEVER do half of the things I do with Kyle on my own and I would probably end up on an elliptical half the time anyways.
I have had a busy few days at work (performance review time) so I am only sitting down to write about our workout now.
Here are my working weights:
trap bar deadlift 95 lbs 10 reps 7 setswalking lunges 40 lb bar 10 reps 6 setslat pull down 70lbs 10 reps 4 setschest press 35 lbs dumbells 8 reps 3 setsleg curl 85 lbs 8 reps 3sets
Food Journal (Tuesday June 12th)
7:30am 2 eggs & walnuts
10:00am belly shake (protein, veg greens, spinach, broccoli, berries & water)
1:30pm Spinach salad with salmon
4:00pm lara bar, apple, rice cakes
5:00pm vitamin water + water added to it
7:30pm beef, broccoli & brown rice, green tea
Also, in case this whole "time under tension" business is news to you, don't worry it was a little bit new to me as well. If anyone wants some more information let me know and I will ask Kyle for a recommended read.
I hope everyone was able to enjoy this beautiful day. I was a lover of life today. I was visiting some of our upcoming new locations at work and was able to complete some great reviews with my team. Muah!
Happy Reading,
Me + My Trainer
