Lindsay's Ramblings

Just a collection of some of my thoughts and insights on fitness and nutrition(mostly via Facebook posts): *No matter what nutrition protocol you follow, we can all agree that we need to be eating plenty of veggies and unprocessed, nutrient-dense foods. I mean, come on, that's common sense. But all the rest-how many meals you eat per day, what foods you choose to eat or not eat, whether you eat high carb or high fat, track macros or don't track -that's all individual preference. NO ONE WAY works for everyone . Find your thing. Find what makes you happy and healthy. Find what you can stick with FOREVER. *There are so many health benefits to lifting weights. Muscles are just an added bonus. *There have been and will be many fad workouts that come and go. But one thing you can be sure of is that strength training is here to stay. *My nutrition and fitness philosophy is this: eat however the heck you wanna eat, and do exercise that you enjoy. If you are getting the r...

Workouts were good this week. Added a little weight to each lift or tried to do an extra rep on at least one set, but still keeping things submax. Squats are still feeling iffy on my hip flexor, but at least they felt a little stronger this week. If it gets worse, I'm going to have to lay off of squats...but as of now it's not as bad as it was a few weeks ago, so I'm hoping it will continue to get better! MONDAY UPPER BODY HEAVY 1)Bench press: 110x3x5 (about 80% of max) 2a)Pullups(wide, neutral grip): 0x6/15x3x6 2b)Push press: 100x3x5 3)Pendley row: 105x4x5 4)Dips: 15x2x10 5)Reverse crunch: 15/12/Hanging leg raise: 2x8 6a)Offset Farmer's walks: 70/50 lbs x 4x 30ish seconds 6b)Single leg hip thrusts: 3x10 WEDNESDAY LOWER BODY HEAVY 1)Power cleans 105x3x5 2)Deadlifts: 200x5x3 (75%)-beltless and double overhand 3)Barbell step ups(single leg): 65x3x8 4a)Glute ham raise: 25x3x6 4b)Ab rollouts on toes to wall: 4x8 5)Reverse sled drags: 280x4x15ish seconds 6...

January really is the worst month ever. It's not only super depressing because the holidays have passed, but it's also cold and dreary allll the time. I don't think we've seen the sun in here Kentucky for two weeks straight! As someone who LOVES to be outside and NEEDS to feel the sun on my skin on a regular basis, winter is really hard for me. But I've learned that instead of being sad and depressed about it, we can choose to make the best of it. Winter will never be my favorite time of the year, BUT there are some things you can do to make it more tolerable. Here are a few things that help me: 1)Read books Since you're cooped up inside more in the winter, it's a great time to read some books. I go to the library about once a month stock up on a few books to read. I love fiction, especially mystery novels, but I also try to read a non-fiction Christian based book once every couple months as well. I love curling up on the couch on a cold winter day wi...

I was talking with one of my personal training clients the other day, and that conversation inspired me to write this post. People are often surprised to hear that the majority of people I train are in the 55-70 age range. I don't know why, but I just seem to "connect" well with older women, and over the years I've really grown to enjoy training them the most. I think one of the reasons is because with younger women, they usually just want weight loss, or a flatter stomach, or to get more "toned". Nothing wrong with any of those things, but they aren't really in the place in their lives where they're thinking about health or their future quality of life -they just want to look better. Now, of course, this isn't always the case, but it is what I've found to be true of most of the younger women I've trained. Older women, however, often come to me with the initial goal of wanting to lose weight, but because they are at a different stag...

So I think I've settled on a training plan for the next couple months. It's nothing crazy, just going back to a heavy upper and lower day with reps in the 3-8 range, and then a hypertrophy upper and lower day with reps in the 8-12 range.  Right now my focus is on increasing bench press and deadlifts. Also upping my calories, as I'm really going to try to put on a few pounds! The holidays got me off my regular eating schedule, so I actually lost a couple pounds. :/ I seriously don't know why, but when it has come to writing workouts for myself, I just suddenly went brain dead. Like every time I went to write one out, I just got anxiety and couldn't do it. It's the strangest thing. Actually, I really just think it's because I have all these workouts that I've printed out, and it was just too much to choose from.  I've considered doing 531 or Uncaged again, PHUL, PHAT, Layne Norton's PH3, Tony Venuto's TNB-28, and many more...But I'd fin...

Happy Hump Day! I thought I'd do a January "Currently", since I didn't do one for December. Soooo, here goes.... I'm currently: Eating- This absolutely delicious creation: I call it Hamburger Helper, because to me that's what it tastes like. I grew up on Hamburger Helper, and I don't know about you all, but I freaking love it. So for this I just use taco seasoned lean beef(I use a low sodium packet from McCormick), spaghetti sauce(no sugar added tomato & basil), and macaroni. That's it! And it's amazing. Feeling- A little bummed lately with Christmas being over, family drama, and the dreary weather. But that's the norm for me the first couple weeks of January. I'll get over it. At least Spring will be here in a couple of months! Wanting- To be here again soon. No, NEEDING to be here again soon! As I write this, it is currently 9 degrees. NINE DEGREES. Maybe, just MAYBE there will be a beach trip in my future?? ...

It amazes me how many people out there  still  believe in spot reduction-the idea that doing an exercise that targets a specific area of your body will burn fat off of that area. I just wish I could tell them:  if your goal is fat loss, it's not going to work .  Stop wasting your time! Actually, that's exactly what I tell my personal training clients. I  never  have my clients do crunches, with the exception of reverse crunches occasionally. Why? Well, because they are not effective, especially when it comes to burning belly fat.  NO amount of crunches will give you a flat stomach . It just WON'T work. But what about strengthening the core? Well, in my opinion, there are much more effective exercises to use for that than crunches. Crunches come in very LAST PLACE in strategies for getting a flat stomach or revealing 6 pack abs. Since you can't target where you lose fat, it's simply a matter of losing body fat all over. And losing body fat mostly c...

Happy New Year! Our exciting New Year's plans were church, dinner at Cheddars, and then bumming it on the couch. Honestly, there's no place I would have rather been, and I barely even made it to midnight. Today has just been a lazy day. Well, I did go for a walk, prep some food, and do some laundry. ;) I've decided that it's long overdue, so I'm taking a deload week next week. Debating whether or not to even go to the gym, but I'm leaning towards not. It's been a while since I've done a full week off, and I know my body and when it's needed. At this point, it's more of a psychological break. I have to figure out my goals and what I want to do with my workouts. Plus I like what it symbolizes-letting workouts take a back seat and instead setting my mind and priorities on God and his plans for me for the year. Remember, taking deloads or complete off weeks is totally okay, necessary, and beneficial. Don't be afraid-you won't get fa...