Lindsay's Ramblings

Workouts were good this week. Next week I'm going to stick with this same split, and then vacation will be sort of a deload week the following week. After that I plan on going back to my upper/lower split. MONDAY UPPER BODY PULL + GLUTES This workout was pretty good. Wanted to go heavy on cleans since I haven't done more than 115 in a while. Then did heavy pullups paired with handstand pushups. Heavy rows were next, then some lat pulldowns and rear delt work, abs, and glutes.  I really felt the pull-throughs in my glutes more than ever. 1) Cleans: 95x3/115x3/125x2/125x2 2)Pullups(neutral): 25x3/35x3x3 2b)Handstand pushups: 4x6 3)1 arm dumbbell rows: 55x6/65x6/7/7 4)Lat pulldowns: 10/8/10/10 5a)TRX face pull to external rotation: 4x12 5b)TRX pikes: 4x12 Glutes: Cable pullthroughs x12 Band walks x15 Band hip thrusts x15 4x Lsit: 4x15 seconds WEDNESDAY LOWER BODY I just had to get some heavy-ish weight on my back this week, so I worked up to a few sets with 175...

Next to our health, time is the most precious thing we have of earthly measure.  So the questions remain to be asked: How much time do you spend looking in the mirror, as opposed to looking into the mirror of God's Word? How much time do you spend reading labels, as opposed to reading God's names for you, found in His word? How much time do you spend weighing your body instead of weighing your heart against the Word of God? How much time do you spend seeking comfort in food, rather than seeking the God of all comfort, who is found in His Word? How much time do you spend seeking control in your fitness level, rather than seeking the God who is in control and is found in His Word? It is possible to be physically fit and spiritually anorexic , because of our low intake of God's Word. There is no supplement for God's love and truth that is found -- you guessed it -- in His Word. LIFE POINT: MAKE THE TIME to e...

Hope you're all enjoying your weekend! Yesterday was a beautiful day here in Kentucky! Sunny and 70. It was absolutely wonderful . We went to try out a new bakery in Southern Indiana for donuts yesterday...and oh, my. Yeah...we'll definitely be going back, even though it's a bit of a drive. SO worth it! On to the workouts! MONDAY UPPER BODY PULL Nothing much to say about this workout. Cleans and T-bar rows felt really heavy for some reason. My upper back was actually sore from something I did Saturday, but I'm not sure what! 1)Hang cleans: 115x3x3 2)Ring pullups: 10lbs x40 total reps 3)T-bar rows: 55x3x8 4)Seated single arm cable row: 3x10 5a)Face pulls: 4x15 5b)Reverse crunch on bench: 4x12 6a)Band glute bridge: 3x25 w/upper elevated, lower elevated, then feet flat 6b)Band walks: 3x12/leg WEDNESDAY LOWER BODY This was a good workout. I decided to do pause squats and experiment with doing them low bar, which I've never done. They actually fel...

A few weeks ago I got the idea to put together a prayer journal/binder. I believe in the power of prayer, and I believe that as Christians, we should be devoting ourselves to prayer. Not just when we need help, not just a quick prayer as we fall asleep-but really spending time talking to God and praying for not just ourselves, but our family, our friends, our co-workers, our husbands, our country, etc. The thing is, there is no right or wrong way to pray. You can just sit down and talk to God about what is on your heart. You can talk to Him throughout the day. Or you can do something like I've done here, where you have planned days when you pray for certain people/things on different days throughout the week. I used to just pray for all of these things in one day, but I've been doing this for a couple weeks now, and I really enjoy it.  So what I did for my prayer "journal" was use a 3 ring binder, which I already had on hand. Then I just bought some loose-lea...

I haven't done this in a while, so here ya go! Food police/Paleo/Clean eaters-look away!  Meal 1  8:00 Pre-workout  3/4 cup oats(pre-cooked) + half banana, 1 scoop MuscleTech whey protein, 1 spoonful natural peanut butter Meal 2 11:45 Post workout 1 scoop MuscleTech Iso-whey protein w/cashew milk, 2 cups Ice cream pebbles with cashew milk Meal 3 Lunch 2 Vans Gluten free blueberry waffles with Walden farm's syrup, 2 eggs, 2 whites scrambled with mozarella cheese Meal 4 Afternoon snack 3-ish oz chicken, 1 small Fuji apple, 1/2 cup green beans(just because I had some leftover) Meal 5 Dinner 4-ish oz mixed lean turkey and lean beef, 1 cup rice, 2 spoons salsa Meal 6 Bedtime snack 3/4 cup 2% cottage cheese, 1 rice cake, 2 spoonfuls of natural peanut butter I've been trying to get my leg day calories to around 2500, but I'm not currently tracking so it may be a little under that. I try to just increase my portio...

Happy Monday! Hope ya'll had a great weekend! Matt and I went out yesterday for Valentine's Day and to celebrate our 10 year engagement anniversary. :) We went to a steakhouse that has absolutely delicious steaks. We were both going to get the brownie for dessert, but they only had one left, so we split that and also a slice of cheesecake. It was sooo good. We had a long drive home because it had been snowing a LOT and the roads were awful. So anyways....on to the workouts from last week. Sorry, no description for the workouts, because I'm too lazy. Everything was pretty good though. Had some back pain that started Wednesday, but I had a wonderful massage on Thursday that really helped. I did take it easy on Saturday and skipped deadlifts just to be safe. Feels fine now, so I should be good to go for this week! MONDAY UPPER BODY PULL 1)Barbell snatches: 65x3/75x3/85x3/3/2/1 2)Pendlay row: 95x5/115x4x5 3)Cluster pullups(wide neutral grip) 2-2-2-2 x3 4)Cabl...

So I was trying on bathing suits the other day and I got a little down on myself for the first time in quite a while. I felt thick waisted...and flat chested...and just not so happy with the way I looked. (Well, okay, I do have to admit that I was kind of admiring my back and booty gains sooo, there's that.)  It's definitely not a normal thing for me to get down about my looks, and that's mostly because I don't take progress pictures anymore, and I don't stand in the mirror and critique myself like I used to. I focus on being healthy, strong, and feeling good and try not to worry about what my abs look like.  BUT I want you all to know that occasionally, I DO still struggle with body image. I'm not perfect. I'm not 100% confident all the time. I don't and never WILL have the perfect body. None of us will. And guess what? Even if you do reach your physique goals and look AMAZING to everyone else...you will still find something you don't like abou...

MONDAY UPPER BODY PULL+GLUTES This was a fun workout since I added in cleans and Pendley rows again. Also throwing in the handstand pushups makes it not so boring for me. I just have a hard time doing all the same muscle group! Increased weight on the pullups and also did them after rows and handstand pushups. The 30 reps of hanging leg raises was killer. My abs burn SO bad on those! 1)Cleans: 95x5/115x3x3 2a)Pendley row: 115x4x5 2b)Handstand pushups: 5x5 3)Pullups clusters: 17.5lbs x 2-2-2-2 (x3) 4)Wide cable row: 4x8-10 5)Face pulls: 3x12-15 6a)Back extensions: 35x3x12/0x12 6b)Band walks: 4x12/leg 7)Hanging leg raise: rest pause to 30 reps WEDNESDAY LOWER BODY Today was supposed to be a deload for squats, but honestly, the weights have been so light, I didn't feel it was necessary. So I did pause squats with the same weight I used last week for 4 sets of 8. They felt pretty good, but pause squats are really tough for me. Then I tried RDLs with the trap bar for the f...

Fad diets may seem like a good idea for the short-term, but the long-term implications are undesirable. Fad diets are impossible to follow forever. Your body will always win out over willpower. Humans have evolved over thousands of years, and the body is smarter than your quick-fixes. Follow a fad diet if you want quick weight loss, but only wish to gain it back, and feel worse in the end. -JC Deen

I don't know when the "thing" in fitness became to absolutely demolish yourself in the gym with circuit training and metabolic conditioning workouts. I see it all the time, even more so with women-they grab a light set of weights or medicine ball and proceed to do a non-stop circuit of exercises without any rests or challenging weights. I guess with the rise and popularity of CrossFit, people think that keeping your heart rate elevated the whole workout and leaving the gym drenched in sweat in the best way to train these days. And while I don't believe this is necessarily a "bad" or wrong way to train, I just don't feel that it's the best or only way to train to get results. You see, it is actually okay to BREATHE during your workouts. You don't have to be afraid of resting a couple minutes between sets and letting your heart rate come down. You don't HAVE to kill yourself in order to have an effective workout. One of the best ways ...