Lindsay's Ramblings

1.Lift heavy Just do it. 2.Train like an athlete Power, strength, and speed-work on it. 3.Deadlift Because picking up heavy stuff is fun. 4.Squat Barbell, goblet squat, bodyweight squat, whatever-just do your squats. 5. Do finishers after your strength training Finish off your workout with 5-10 minutes of intense, short burst exercises like jump rope, sprints, battle ropes, or kettlebell swings. 6.Don't diet Eat to fuel your workouts! 7.Eat protein every meal That is, if you want to build muscle and lose fat. 8.Stop trying to "tone"-train to GROW Toning=building muscle and losing fat. That's all. 9.Go for a walk outside every day It's just good for the soul. 10. Don't neglect mobility work Unless you don't want to move well. 11.Do handstands Because they're cool and impressive. 12.Eat carbs Carbs=muscle, energy, and strength. Eat them. 13.Sprint For muscle buildin...

Happy Monday!  We had another beautiful weekend in Kentucky. We spent yesterday cruising in the Jeep, checking out a new local park, and then relaxing in the hammock after dinner on the deck. Perfect day! Workouts were good this week. This coming week will be a little different because I am possibly going to do a CrossFit competition next month!!! It's with a partner, and it'll be scaled, but I think I'm still probably crazy to consider it!! MONDAY UPPER BODY +GLUTES This was a fun workout that I just made up on the fly. ;) 1)Hang power cleans: 115x3x3/125x1/125x1 2a)Wide neutral grip pullups: 10x5/25x3x3 2b)Handstand pushups: 6/6/5/5 3a)Seated cable row: 100x8/8/110x8/8 3b)1 arm standing DB press: 35x7/8/8 4a)Modified dragonfly: 3x8 4b)EZ bar curls: 2x8/hammer curls 1x12 5a)Kettlebell swings: 70x3x10 5b)Pull-aparts: 4x20 6)Band walks: 3x12/leg WEDNESDAY LOWER BODY-QUAD FOCUS Finally back to where I was pre-vacation and food poisoning! Squats ...

Summer is right around the corner, which means tank top season! For some, that's great news...but for others...not so much. I know that many women don't look forward to wearing tank tops because they're self conscious about way their arms look. Every woman wants to have lean, toned arms. That's why you'll so often see women in the gym doing endless tricep kickbacks with 5 pound weights trying to work off the back of the arm "jiggle". The thing is, that just doesn't work. If you want awesome arms to show off in a tank top, endless reps of bicep curls and tricep extensions with 5 pound weights isn't gonna cut it. You need to lift heavy. Anyone you see with super defined arms has spent time with the weights-and I don't mean the pink ones. You will get MUCH more bang for your buck by focusing on heavy, compound rowing and pressing movements than you will from isolating the biceps and triceps with a bunch of light weight exercises. All ro...

We had such an awesome weekend here in Kentucky!  Like, seriously, the most perfect weather! There was not a cloud in the sky all weekend. This is what I've been waiting for! What could be better than sunshine and ice cream? :) Workouts were good this week. I'm kind of having fun not following a pre-thought out plan and just making it up as I go! I do want to do a strength focus soon, but right now I'm enjoying the freedom! MONDAY UPPER BODY 1)Barbell hang power snatch: 73x3/83x2/88x2/88x2 2a)Seated dumbbell overhead press: 35x8/40x8/7/7/7 2b)Wide grip fat bar pullups: 6x6 3a)Single arm ring row: 3x10 3b)Ring dips: 3x8 4a)Kettlebell rope curl: 35x12/10/10 4b)Ball pikes: 15/15/12/12 5a)Pull-aparts: 4x20 5b)Kettlebell swings: 60x4x10 5c)Band walks: 3x12/leg WEDNESDAY LOWER BODY This was more of a quad focused workout, but interestingly enough, my glutes were sore the next day lol. I was going to start doing higher rep squats, but as soon...

HAPPY FRIDAY y'all! Hope you've all had a great week so far! I'm super happy because finally, FINALLY, the weather is getting warmer! This weekend is supposed to be beautiful, and I am so looking forward to it. Today I was able to be outside in SHORTS and soak up some much needed Vitamin D. ☼☼☼ I recently discovered this Oikos Triple Zero yogurt, and I am in love! ♥♥  I HATE plain Greek yogurt. Like, it is nasty . But this is good stuff and will definitely be a new staple in my diet! So far, I've only tried the banana, but I have strawberry to try next. If you've tried it, what's your favorite flavor? I just finished this book and thought it was really good!  Have you read any good books lately? So I saw this at Kroger on sale... and I just couldn't pass it by.  Another cereal to add to my post workout collection! Not sure it can beat Honeycomb or Honey Bunches of Oats, but I can't wait to try it and see. :)  ...

There is nothing wrong with being strict and disciplined with your nutrition, especially if you have a very specific goal...that is, UNTIL it gets to the point where it consumes your life, becomes all you think about, causes you stress and anxiety, and takes away from you living life to the fullest. Tr aining and nutrition should enhance your life, NOT make you miserable. You hear the term "balance" a lot lately, and the thing is, bala nce means something different for everyone .  For some people, it's eating intuitively, not following a plan. For others, it's including daily treats to fit within their macros. And for some, it's just realizing that they can eat something besides chicken and egg whites every meal. What does it mean for  ME ? Well, it means NOT tracking every morsel of food I eat; it means not constantly worrying about everything I eat being "bad" for me; it means eating processed foods(gasp!) occasionally(cereal!); it means going out o...

"The optimal diet is  one that maximizes satiation (reduces hunger) and satisfaction (reduces cravings) with the least amount of calories and the most convenience possible. This is going to be different for everyone. Following Diane's Detox Diet or Kyle's Keto Program or Pauly's Paleo Plan or Bob's Bone Broth Cleanse are the exact wrong approach. Create a diet that works for you, taste good to you and fills you up. One that does not deprive or over indulge. That approach works but it wont be found in some one-size-fits-all bullshit approach...only you can create it for you." -Metabolic Effect-

Happy Sunday! Yesterday I had an amazing massage, then church, and then pizza for our treat meal.  It was sooo good! Workouts were fun this week. I feel like I'm getting my strength back finally. I'm thinking about what I want to do with my workouts from here on out.... I like what I'm doing, but I would like to follow a program and focus on strength again at some point. I'm thinking I may also try splitting leg days into quad days and ham/glute days for a little while just for something different. Also want to try keeping reps a little higher for squats. I really hate doing more than 8 reps....but that could be what I need to get them to grow. I need to stop being a wimp and just do the reps! It's so hard not to want to go heavy though! Anyways, here's what I did last week: MONDAY UPPER BODY Worked on some snatches to start this workout, and they felt pretty good. The ring dips were super hard, but I feel them SO much more in my pecs than...

When you first begin lifting weights, your focus should be on progressively overloading the muscles using the  basic, compound lifts . There is really no need to get all “fancy” with exercises, advanced techniques or repetition ranges.  Basically,  as you get stronger, just keep adding more weight to the bar. The longer you’ve been training, however,  there will come a point when just adding more weight ain’t gonna cut it. You may hit a plateau and notice that the strength and muscle gains come much more slowly than they did in the beginning. This is when you know it’s time to get a little more strategic and begin incorporating the use of more advanced lifting techniques into your training to take it to the next level. If you are looking to add some intensity to your workouts, here are five techniques to try: Rest pause: On your last working set, perform as many reps as you can just short of failure. Rest for 10-20 seconds, then perform as many more reps as ...

Hope you're all having a great weekend!  Yesterday Matt and I went to Bernheim to hike. It was the perfect day-a little windy, but not too hot, not too cold. I just love hiking and being outdoors! I grew up on 5 acres with woods right behind my house,  so I  was always playing outside and running around in the woods.  Then we got some donuts for our treat meal post-hike! It's okay to drool. ;) On to the workouts.... MONDAY UPPER BODY Pullups felt weak today, but overhead presses felt really good. I'm glad to be back to doing farmer's walks again. I think I'm going to take out the glute circuit on upper body days and just do some band walks in between farmer's walks from now on, but we'll see!  I think I'll just do whatever I feel like doing that day. 1)Barbell hang power snatch: 65x5/75x3/80x3/3/85x2/2 2a)Pullups(wide neutral grip): 15x2x5/0x8 2b)DB seated overhead press: 35x8/40x7/7/6 3a)1 arm DB row: 55x8/65x6/55x8 3b)...