Programs will be designed based on YOU and your goals and the equipment you have available to you.

You will receive nutritional assistance, feedback, access to the online training site and forum, progress tracking and unlimited communication with me.

CLICK HERE for more information or shoot me an email/comment.  The prices are awesome and I can guarantee there will be none of this..

;) You know how I roll.  If you do purchase a program, just make sure to request me as your trainer.

Now for the goodies..

Cinnamon Vanilla Almond Butter

Ingredients;

• 2 cups of almonds
• sea salt (to taste)
• 2 tbsp vanilla (may need more, up to you!)
• cinnamon (to taste)

Directions;

• Pre-heat oven to 350, toss the almonds on a baking sheet for 10-12 minutes.
• Once almonds have roasted, place them in a food processor and chop away. (I used the regular metal blade on mine and just left it running).
• Add in salt, cinnamon and vanilla as you go and add more as needed.
• LICK SPOON :)

This was so easy to make and didn’t take long at all.  If it seems like your almonds are never going to get smooth and oily, just keep going! The oil will come out of them.  If they don’t for some reason, try adding in some melted coconut oil.

Broccoli, Egg and Sausage Breakfast Bake

Ok this is totally one of those things that doesn’t look very appealing in the picture, but trust me it’s good! This is also extremely easy to make and great if you don’t have much time in the morning/whenever you want to chow..

Ingredients (1-2 servings);

• 1lb bag of frozen veggies (I used a broccoli, cauliflower and carrot medley)
• 2 fresh or homemade sausages, precooked and chopped into bite size pieces (NOT the crap out of a package or from the frozen food aisle..)
• 2-4 eggs (I only used 2 because I ate this as one serving..)
• 1-2 tbsp coconut oil
• Salt/pepper to taste

Directions;

• Melt coconut oil in a large pan
• Add in veggies, salt, pepper
• After the veggies have cooked, toss in the sausage cubes, stir.
• After a couple minutes, crack the eggs into the mix and stir until the eggs have scrambled and cooked.

Another awesome concoction I’ve added to my staple meals is THIS Balsamic Winter Bake from Paleomg.

It is just an incredible mess of deliciousness.  Apologies for the phone pic!

Speaking of deliciousness, last night Steve and I went to to this hoppin’ joint to celebrate a late Valentine’s Day and our 3.5 years anniversary (BARF).  We spent almost two hours there.  How it works is you get a plate and as long as you’re there the waiters/waitresses bring different meats around to every table on big skewers off the rotisserie and cut you slices and you eat and eat and eat.

There were 15 different meats last night. And we sampled them all.  We tried: thte prime rib, top sirloin, new york strip, garlic steak, teriyaki steak, chicken sausage, pork sausage, pork ribs, chicken wings and *my favorite* parmesan crusted pork.  I know I’m missing some, but it was all such a savory blur :). Every cut of meat was so incredible. It was a nice little feast.

I’ll be doing a bit of work on the site this week and if anyone has anything they want to hear me ramble about in a post give me a shout! Hope you all had lovely weekends, let me know if you try out the recipes!

As difficult as it is starting over, it is so worth it to be at such a great studio with other really great, motivated trainers and such a major opportunity to grow.  Complete 180 from where I was before, which is scary to think about and makes me wish I had left their sooner since it set me back SO much. BUT I’M FIRED UP AND READY TO GO.  The future holds awesome things, provided I work hard. And I’m excited.

…Anyways. In relation to the title of this gem…I’ve written about posture before and common postural issues..

Breaking bad posture can certainly be challenging, but the benefits are positively worth it:

• Good posture helps your muscles to work more efficiently and fatigue slower.  This obviously carries over to the weight room.  For example, when doing a standing cable row, if you are hunched forward and allowing your shoulders to internally rotate instead of standing straight with your chest tall and your shoulder blades pulled back, you’re not going to be able to properly engage and work the upper back muscles.
• Good posture puts less strain on your muscles. We’re working against gravity here..
• Good posture means less of that back/neck pain and headaches that everyone is always complaining about!
• Good posture will improve your image.  The Quasimodo look is not good for anyone.  It makes you look weak and frankly, the image isn’t too far off.  Your poor posture is weakening your muscles.  NO BUENO.
• Good posture will make you more confident.  I’ve become very aware of people’s posture while out in public (it’s kind of hard not to at this point, it’s in my nature.  I people watch.  And judge.  Sorry.) When you stand up tall and straight you appear confident, you will also FEEL confident.  When you feel confident you’ll BE confident. Seriously, try it.  Increased confidence=increased badassery. It’s a proven fact, ask the experts. CHEST UP, WALK LIKE A BOSS.

I have yet to come across someone who has immaculate posture at all times (in real life anyways. Tony Gentilcore’s posture in his videos is fierce enough to bring the freakin’ rain. Get on that level).  We all slouch, I catch myself doing it constantly, but I’ve become entirely MORE aware of it.  When I don’t practice good posture I can feel it immediately and it hits me with a vengeance.  So lately, I’ve been sitting on a stability ball whenever I sit at home.

I was pretty reluctant to try this at first because it just made me think of silly hippies bouncing around on pink balls eating soy burgers. Do not want. But I gave in.

You know the kind I mean.

I now sit on the ball while on the computer and while eating meals at the kitchen table. I’m sure I look absolutely insane (what else is new) ripping into a steak while sitting on one of these things but after only a few days I felt a considerable difference.  Reduced back pain and I stand up much taller while off the ball, without having to think about it. Can’t go wrong with that.

If you’re looking to improve posture and/or lower back pain, the best thing you can do is stand up and move around.  Stand. Walk. Stretch.  Since most of us can’t avoid sitting certain times during the day, sitting on a ball is an excellent tool to add to your postural toolbox.

Before you start utilizing a ball, here are some things to consider:

• You’re just as likely to slouch while sitting on a ball as you are in a chair.  Be careful.  It’s actually worse to slouch while on the ball because you are without the back support that a chair can provide.  The ball is simply something to help you become more focused on proper spinal alignment.
• Make sure you have the correct size ball.  When you sit on it your knees should be bent at 90 degrees so that your thighs are parallel to the ground.  If your ball isn’t the right size it could affect your posture on the ball as well as balance and safety.  Also make sure your ball is properly inflated.
• Proper position for sitting on the ball: sit up nice and tall, puff your chest out and pull your shoulder blades down and back..maintain a natural curve in your lower back..but don’t over do this curve (you shouldn’t be in pain holding this position).  Slightly tuck your chin and keep your neck neutral, if you’re sitting at a computer, make sure the screen is right at eye-level and keep your elbows tucked at your sides.
• Unless you’re very deconditioned, sitting on the ball isn’t a sufficient enough ‘core’ workout.  It will certainly activate your core muscles and help you become better at engaging them, but there are better ways to skin that cat and this should not count as your ‘workout’ for the day.  I like to suggest to set a timer for every 15-20 minutes and get up and move around.  If you’re sitting on a ball, during this ‘break’ you can use your ball for planks, back extensions, quadruped extensions or dead bugs in order to get a better core strengthening workout.  Notice: I didn’t suggest ball crunches.  We’re trying to PREVENT excessive spinal flexion here, not encourage it..
• ….Set a timer to remind yourself to get up every 15 or 20 minutes to keep your blood flowing and your muscles ‘awake’.  Your muscles will fatigue after sitting for awhile, especially on the ball.  Prolonged sitting will also decrease blood flow to your muscles, which tires your muscles as well and results in more slouching!  Getting up and walking around will increase blood flow and will leave you and your muscles a bit more energized.
• Be careful if you don’t have good balance!  If you’re confident enough in your balance to use the ball but are still looking to improve, try some simple balance exercises while you’re sitting on it: (Always sit in “proper position” while doing these) first try sitting with your feet closer together at the base of the ball.  Next, lift one leg up and try to hold this position and repeat with as little assistance as possible or try it with your arms out in front of you.  Also, try shifting your position, move from side to side or back and forth.  BE CAREFUL.
• When just starting out, only use the ball for 10 minutes at a time, as maintaining proper position will fatigue your lower back muscles.

In addition, simple ways for improving your posture via training are..

• Do mobility drills..preferably daily (these may seem difficult at first, but you WILL improve!). Emphasis on thoracic spine, hips and shoulders.  Add these into your warm-up or in between sets if you’re crunched for time.
• Foam roll and stretch. If you’re not already doing these things, we need to have a serious talk.
• Pull more than you push.  Try a 3:1 or 2:1 pull to push ratio in your program.
• Incorporate some direct rotator cuff exercises into your routine.
• Do more single leg and single arm work.  These are good for the soul ;)

Moral of the story: improved posture leads to improved ferocity in life and under the bar.

Hope all is well with everyone <3 I WILL be posting again within the next couple days since I’ll have a bit more free time and inspiration :)

HI!! PLEASE FORGIVE ME<33 for not posting, commenting or replying to any comments in the past couple weeks :( I’ve been a wee bit strung out!!

The week before last I went on five job interviews in four days on top of still working and trying to keep my life together. It was a pretty stressful week, but I won’t go into details.  I will still be working as a trainer, but I’m trying to find a different (better) studio to train at…which at this point is getting harder than trying to nail jelly to a tree.  I got offered jobs at a couple places but I don’t really feel that I ‘click’ with some of them.

My brain has felt like mush and I’ve had some incredible learning experiences in the past couple weeks and it has definitely given me a bit of a new perspective on training.

Anyways! Here are the recipes I promised.  As always, these are really simple..and paleo-friendly :)

STUFFED ACORN SQUASH

Ingredients:

• 1lb ground beef (or sausage!)
• 2 acorn squashes
• Coconut oil
• 1 Onion (chopped)
• 1 Green pepper (chopped)
• Carrots (I used about 3/4 bag of baby carrots, pre-cooked)
• 1 Apple (chopped)
• 1/4 cup pecans (chopped and toasted-optional)
• Sage, Thyme, Salt, Pepper (Sorry, I didn’t do measurements :(!)

Directions:

Cut squashes in half lengthwise and preheat oven to 400.  Scoop seeds/bullshit out of the squash and place squash cut side down in a baking dish and fill with 1/4″ of water.  Cook for about 30 mins.  While it’s cooking, melt coconut oil in a large pan and saute the beef until almost done, set aside.  Melt some more coconut oil in the pan and add chop veggies.  When the veggies are done cooking, stir beef back into the pan, along with the pecans and seasonings.  Cook for a couple minutes and remove from heat.  When the squashes have finished cooking, dump the water out of the pan and scoop beef/veggie mixture into the squashes’ “cup holes”. They will be overflowing :).  Toss back in the oven for another 10 mins. DONE.

Eat them with butter.

I’m not really down with ‘paleo brownies’ or ‘paleo cupcakes’ or whatever.  I mean shit, I don’t mind eating them, but these are not things that should be eaten on a regular basis, ya know?  I mean what’s next, ‘paleo happy meals?’  But I digress.  I made this fudge as a Christmas present for Steve’s mom and it was a hit! ABSOLUTELY RICH AND DELICIOUS.

COCONUTTY PALEO FUDGE

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup of almond butter
• 1/2 cup of shredded, unsweetened coconut
• 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup ‘paleo-friendly’ chocolate chips (Enjoy Life brand )
• 1/4 cup honey

Directions:

Place nut butter, coconut oil and honey in a microwave safe bowl and heat for 1 minute.  Remove and add cocoa powder, stir.  Next, mix in coconut really well.  Last but not least, sprinkle in the chocolate chips.  Line a 9×9 baking pan with wax paper and pour the mixture into pan.  Place it in the fridge for a few hours until it hardens..then eat!

**This has to be kept refrigerated or else it will melt!

Other than that, I seem to have gotten a case of program ADD.  Surprise. I stopped doing the oly lifting program I started with after Christmas.  I missed straight up heavy strength training too much so I’ve come up with a new program to follow.  I’ll be finding ways to incorporate in some oly lifts for shits and giggles.

I figured I’d share my last olympic lift day where I worked up to heavy singles (80-90%) of the snatch and clean and jerk and then 2 x heavy single of the front squat.  I struggled with snatches through the entire program so I’d been keeping them relatively light while my form was still raunchy.

Yes I’m wearing winter gloves in these, it’s like 20 degrees up in that mother!

Snatch @ 58lbs. This was a warm up set @ 53.

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Clean and Jerk @ 78lbs (lol failed first attempt)

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Front Squat @ 103lbs

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Don’t act like you’re not impressed by my highly sophisticated music choices.

That’s all for now.  I have a couple clients in the morning, but I will be spending the rest of the day glued to my google reader and catching up.

Stuff To Read:

• 10 Good Reasons Why Women Should Stay Away From Weights
• Complete Guide To Fats And Oils
• 10 Ways To Mess Up Your Training Goals
• Get Out Of Food Jail – Tips/Tricks From Top Paleo Chefs
• Screw The Scale, Give Me A Barbell By Dana

If your gym time consists of trying to ram every exercise you can think of for whatever body part you are training that day with what I assume is half-ass, sloppy form, then you are just ‘working out’…among other things, like asking for all sorts of injuries and imbalances and lookin’ like a damn fool.

A session consisting of sets of 4 or 5 exercises performed carefully, with good form is 110% more effective than a mishmash of leg presses, leg extensions (*cringe*), lunges, squats, calf raises, leg curls or whatever other shit people do in gyms ‘for the heck of it’ or just to really FEEL THE BURN, MAN.

Which do you think is going to make you more of a savage life-slaying badass..spending 20 minutes with your ass plopped on a hip abductor machine or spending 20 minutes perfecting your heavy ass to ground squats?

Homegirl did not get that booty while reading cosmo sitting on a machine..

Training is a process and every process takes time. It’s very important for clients to understand this.  And I’ve seen on WAY too many occasions than I’d like to, mostly in real life, of not only trainees misunderstanding this, but trainers as well.  Progress takes planning, lots of thought and time.

Can I hop on the ‘certified does not mean qualified’ wagon here for a second?  There are tons of “trainers” who become certified because they “like working out” or think they are experts because they go to the gym a few times a week, read bodybuilding.com forums and can make totally awesome protein shakes, bro, but don’t really understand how much science there is behind ‘working out’.

I’m going to be honest..my personal trainer certification class was only a month long and I’m pretty sure that my Grandma could have passed both certification tests with flying colors..so it’s no wonder there are so many less than par trainers out there.  It also taught me nothing about programming.

Not saying that I’m an expert BY ANY MEANS.  I have a very long way to go and tons more to learn.  I just only passed my one year mark as a trainer and I’ve spent the past year balls deep in every bit of information I could soak into my brain.  (It’s mind-blowing how much I’ve learned this past year and I can’t wait to see where this year takes me..).

I put so much effort into designing programs for clients and treating each client like they are my only client.  So it kills me when I see other trainers not taking their jobs seriously and just throwing random workouts that they put together three minutes prior to their session to really ‘kill their clients’ and use ‘muscle confusion’ …and then use that same workout for five other clients throughout the day..or when I see other trainers doing initial consults involving showing their potential client how to use the leg extension and elliptical machines and high rep bicep curls..without doing any sort of assessments or explaining anything.  Doing this is just setting the client up for disaster.

I wish I was making this shit up..but I, believe it or not, see it everyday, unfortunately.  Making certain exercises more challenging just for shits and giggles or to keep clients entertained (ie bicep curls on a bosu ball..on one leg) from session to session is ridiculous.  I am not hired to be a client’s entertainment or ‘hire-a-buddy’ or to train you to do ‘fancy’ exercises fit for a circus act. I’m hired to make you healthier and better at life.

If you want otherwise, go pop in a Jillian Michael’s dvd, grab a fat free yogurt and forget my name.

So, here is what I go through in order to create safe, effective programs for clients.

Every program should consist of mobility and flexibility work, strength training and some form of conditioning.

The volume and type of each depends on the client.  In order to determine this, I run a series of assessments during my initial consult with them.  The most important assessment I do is the ‘Overhead Squat Test’ using a pvc pipe.  I also test shoulder, thoracic and hip mobility, upper body strength and cardiovascular performance.  I take a ton of notes on each test.

I also ask them tons of questions.  Then I go home, review my notes and get to writing.

The most important phrase I remember when designing programs is “train movements, not muscles.”  A 200lb woman (or any woman for that matter) does NOT need to be doing tricep extensions or chest flyes.  What she does need to be doing is basic, compound movements, on a regular basis.

My clients see me only 2x a week for an hour at a time, therefore I need to be completely on my A game when designing something effective for them.

• Every session starts with a warm-up..first some kind of general movement such as jump rope, jumping jax, shuffles, high knees, or just jogging depending on the the client, etc.  Then we work on mobility and dynamic stretching and finish with movements specific to the workout we’re doing that day. (This usually takes 10-15 minutes)
• Next is strength training.  The biggest, most demanding movements are first.  Think deadlifts or squats..in whatever form, be it with kettlebells, a bar, dumb bells or even just body weight, depending on the client.
• The rest of the movements include (depending on the day/workout) horizontal pushing and pulling, vertical pushing and pulling, an upper or lower body unilateral movement and some sort of core work (think pallof presses, all forms of planks, farmers/waiters carries, cable chops, etc.) None of these involve machines, except for the cable machine (that should go without saying, though) and I make sure their program hits each type of movement.
• The session may end with some kind of quick conditioning (>10mins), this could involve sprints, kettlebell swings, burpees, tabatas.. (again depending on the day/client, obviously I would not have a severely overweight trainee performing burpees, etc)…then we finish with 5-10 minutes of stretching.

What exercises I choose and the number of sets/reps all depend on the result of the client’s assessment and their goals.  This is just a BASIC overview of a session with a general client and obviously there’s a bit more that goes into it, but you get the idea.

So, if you decide to hire a trainer, make sure you do your research first.  Ask them about their philosophies and background, make sure they have your best interests in mind, are passionate about what they do and plan on continuing their education.  And don’t be afraid to ask them just as many questions as they ask you..

Here’s a great piece by Eric Cressey. “5 Coaching Tips for the Up and Coming Fitness Professional”

Next post will be recipes, I PROMISE! I’m off to update the training log :)

Before the holidays I was just jumping around doing whatever I felt for workouts without following any particular program..and I was doing that for months while doing crossfit.  Now that I’ve stopped crossfit (long story) I really needed to stop bouncing around and bullshitting like that.  I get real paranoid about creating imbalances and weaknesses, plus I plateaued on a few lifts.

The real problem was that I seriously lost motivation.  I DREADED going to the gym.  And I hated every minute being there..to the point where I started taking more ‘off’ days than usual.

My gym was a cruddy 24 hour place with a 945:1 douche bag to squat rack ratio.  I’ll save y’all the details, but the equipment sucked and the people that go there sucked.  I got REAL sick of having to wait for some jackass to finish his 67th set of ‘swinging’ curls in order to do a set of squats or jerks.  Plus all the bars were shot and all their bearings were so bad that the thought of doing oly lifts there is terrifying.

ANYWAYS, Santa Steve (ahahah that sounds totally creepy), came through and hooked me up with some bumper plates for xmas, to go with the Rogue bar I had.  I had collected a bunch of other equipment over the last couple months and was finally able to put together my home gym out in my garage.

RIGGED up squat rack haha.  It’s a bit sketchy but it’s the perfect height for me and it works until I can get a legit one.  I also get great use out of the pull-up bars obviously.

Jungle Gym has a home.  It’s secure, but I still feel like I’m going to collapse the roof.

Total equipment list: Rogue 33lb women’s oly bar, bumper plates (2x10lbs, 2x25lbs, 2x45lbs), steel plates (2x10lbs, 2x5lbs, 2×2.5lbs), 50lb (adjustable) sandbag, 20 and 35lb kettlebells, jump rope, tractor tire, foam roller and pvc pipe for warm-ups/mobility, pull-up bar/roman chair, jungle gym xt.

Wish list: 24″ box for box jumps, floor mats/better platform set up and a decent radio haha.  I pretty much have all I need to get in a serious workout.

Needless to say, I have my motivation back (and then some!) and I’m having a BLAST working out at home and playing with the bumper plates.  The convenience factor is boss.  Even though it’s like 30 degrees out there (although I do use a propane heater and layer on clothes), I pretty much roll out of bed and go lift.

It’s a beautiful thing.

So how about some videos?!  I seriously apologize for my appearance in these, like I said…roll out of bed and lift, plus it’s freezing. hahaha.

Really need to work on tucking my chin a bit on those. Big time, haha.

Apologies for the music on that one.  The radio was right next to the camera and that song is obnoxious.

My snatches don’t look that acceptable when I add when to them. lol.

Other than that, the holidays sucked.  Just being honest. I lack in the family department so it’s not exactly the happiest season for me and I’m glad it’s over for another year. I did treat myself to keratin treatment the day after xmas, though, I needed it (totally irrelevant to my blog..but oh well).

My hairs are smooth as fack now.

Anyways, I just wanted to make a quick post.  I’ll post again this week with recipes for both of these bad boys:

:D I hope you all had lovely holidays <3

1) Rogue Bella Women’s Oly Bar

I currently have one these bad boys (girls?) sitting in my living room, waiting for Santa to bring me some bumper plates.  I’ve used this bar millions of times at Crossfit and I highly recommend it. It just…feels right. And it’s beautiful.  I can’t wait to throw this around in my garage.

2) Pendlay Lifting Shoes

Girls love shoes.  Especially shoes that make them even more of a boss under the bar.

3) Socks and More Socks

Those were definitely on my list, well it was a toss up between the ‘badass’ ones and the ‘meat’ ones.  I’m a sock fiend (I have a strange obsession with big, ugly, wool socks…).  Under or over pants, especially in the winter, it’s like having two pairs of pants on, kind of.  Plus they’re just fun, protect your shins..and I enjoy looking ridiculous wearing them.

4) Jungle Gym XT Suspension Trainer

Suspension training is awesome on every level and is great to assist heavy barbell training, especially to step up your unilateral exercises.  I have a Jungle Gym XT, but I have lots of experience working with the TRX we have at work.  I chose the Jungle Gym over the TRX because the straps can be detached and used seperately like gymnastics rings and the hand/foot straps are sturdier than the TRX. (I am by NO means hatin’ on the TRX, I think the TRX is just as awesome, I just personally wanted the extra benefits of the JG). This can hook to doors, poles, hooks, whatever and can be used wherever! Win win.

5) Kettlebells

Kettlebells are ruthless when you use them properly.  Plus, by learning proper hip hinging with kettlebell swings you will become even more beast at deadlifts. (Expect a post on this soon!!)

6) Meat!!!

Grass-fed beef.  Enough said.  Somebody please buy me lots of this.

7) Lifefactory Glass Water Bottle

BPA free and all that jazz! Glass water bottles are way easier to clean than plastic and last longer.

8) Paleo Cookbooks

9) A Massage!

Sometimes you just want to tell your foam roller to piss off and let someone else do it for ya.  After beating the crap out of yourself at the gym for days on end, a massage is what the heck is up.

10) Callus Remover

Despite what the internet tells you, warty-lookin’ and torn hands aren’t always cool.

11) Pick Up The Bar Tank

12) Kitchen Tools!

Ok so technically it’s never a good idea to buy your lady any sort of kitchen appliances as gifts (unless she asks..), but there are exceptions..how about a dehydrator or a SousVide?! I’ve never used a SousVide before, but apparently they make miracles happen (and I’d LOVE to try one..).

Other kitchen ideas: food processor, stick blender, meat slicer, knife set, julienne peeler (for making zucchini spaghetti!)

13) Goodies from Netrition.com

This is where I order all of my ‘health’ foods/supplements.  I recommend: Nutiva Extra Virgin Coconut Oil, Nordic Naturals Fish Oil (They have flavored gel caps and as gross as that sounds they are surprisingly good!), coconut and/or almond flour, BCAAs, protein powder.

14) Saber Tooth Tiger Skull with 24-Carat Gold Plated Teeth

Let’s be honest here, we all want need one of these.

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Also, there are some lovely ideas for healthy homemade gifts here! Elite FTS also has an awesome gift list section.  What’s on your wish list??

Since this post was kind of short, I’ll leave you with some extras…

Pointless video of my last set of deadlifts @ 165lbs from a few days ago.  Sorry it only shows 2 reps, FRIED.

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Why You Got Fat:

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Why Calorie Counts Are All Wrong

10 Reasons I’m Sour On Soy

Psychology For The Strength Athlete

I’ve got some gems to share today though, let me tell you.  All videos.  I’ll share the ones where I’m actually doing something somewhat respectable first before I get to the goodies.

I had absolutely no desire to go to the gym this morning and wanted everything to do with having a lazy Sunday, so I decided to mix it up and do a real quick work out in my creepy as hell texas chainsaw massacre-esque basement with my sandbag and jungle gym xt (just got this last week!).  Pardon my I-just-woke-up appearance and my…goofball self.

Steve and I both did 3 rounds of 10 reverse lunges (per leg, 50lb sandbag), 10 push ups and 10 inverted rows.

Take 1: Here I ended up ripping my necklace off via sandbag clean (you can hear it clank onto the ground) before starting the lunges…and then my camera stopped recording by itself..herp derp.

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Take 2: After I finished the first round, a little winded, and really need to work on my push-up form..

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The lunges were kind of brutal, I’d much prefer doing my regular barbell lunges with 2x that weight!  Oh and in case you were wondering, half of my warm-up was booty dancing to the hot jamz playing in the background.

While I was at it I shot a quick video of rear delt flyes on the jungle gym as a helpful exercise for upper back strength to go along with my last post on internal rotation…

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Obviously not a flattering angle for me hahaha, but it’s all good.  To add on to that though, whenever using a TRX or Jungle Gym you want to maintain a neutral spine and brace your abs as you would with any other exercise.  Keep the tension on your upper back throughout the concentric and eccentric phases of the exercise.  Imagine a pencil between your shoulder blades and squeeze it!

Alright enough of the serious shit.  Before the little workout I wanted to do some ‘skill’ work and try assisted handstands with the jungle gym.  As seen here:

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BAD IDEA.  Brace yourself and I don’t suggest trying this at home/by yourself…but you can sure enjoy watching me attempt it (make sure you catch the strap whacking me in the head at the end).

Warning: I’m not responsible for any IQ points or street cred you may lose after watching these videos.

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lol @ my extreme butt wiggling, absolutely atrocious form and the fact that my boyfriend looks like he should be named Mohammed.

Second attempt:

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A teeny bit better, at least I kept my feet together more..until my legs bent backwards. Thanks, Steve, for telling me I could go furthur.

Yeaaah I don’t take myself too seriously..and as goofy and clumsy as I am, I’m still WAY better than this:

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;) Enjoy the rest of your weekends, I’m out!

So I want to talk about shoulders.

..Not that kind of shoulder though, unfortunately.  Although, I could talk for days about meat..

Speaking of meat, you’ve seen those dudebros in the gym who bench and curl everday like their lives depend on it, right?  You know, these guys..

They like to train their ‘beach muscles’.  It slays me to watch these dudes huff and puff and sway back and forth doing little bicep curls while I’m 5 feet away doin’ work box squatting 1.5x my own weight….and I get the strange looks.  The gym is a glorious place.

But anyways..if you look around, ever notice peoples’ (especially our beloved beach muscle bros’) postures?

Palms back. Thank you, google, for bringing the 'lolz' with this gem.

Now, this type of dude may be god’s gift to the average broad, but I can totally see through his obnoxiously tight chest, internally rotated shoulders and weak back and uh….do not want.  I like my bros well-balanced…and bicep curls are a total turn-off.

Sarcasm and bullshitting aside, this post is about posture, mostly the upper body’s role, as the upper back is the second biggest culprit of poor posture (Second to the hip flexors), but I also want to talk about the chest and shoulders.

The muscles of the chest become tight and short which in turns weakens and lengthens the upper back muscles and pulls your shoulders and arms inward.  This makes you look like Quasimodo.

Not a good look.

This mess is a combo of internal rotation and slight kyphosis (rounding of the thoracic spine, which gives the back that hunch look) and believe it or not, most of us suffer from this issue, just not to a Quasimodo degree.

Enter: The Pencil Test. Very simple. (And no I’m not talking about that pencil test..you know, the boobs one..)

Grab two pencils, or pencil like objects.  I used kitchen knives in the pictures..because I’m total warrior status over here.  Stand in front of a mirror and hold one pencil in each fist and relax your arms down at your sides. 

*It’s very important to drop your arms and relax while doing this and not force a ‘perfect’ posture.  Stand how you would normally.*

If your pencils point straight forward like this, congrats.  You’re good to go and have no internal rotation and are a rare form.

If they point slightly inward like this..then you have internal rotation. Keep reading!

If they point towards each other like this, where your palms are facing backwards..woah buddy.  You’ve got some work to do!

So how does this happen?  Here in America we like to sit on our booties and are basically a ‘chair bound’ culture.  We like to have things handed to us at our convenience rather than put in effort to move around do things ourselves (uh, drive thru cigarette windows..wtf?).  We also (not me) love technology (I can barely figure out how to check my voicemail).  So we spend a lot of time sitting, hunched over desks, computers, video game consoles, cell phones, steering wheels..did I miss anything?  This wreaks more havoc on our bodies more than most will ever know.

Even after just 20 minutes of sitting our muscles begin to tighten, shorten, become fatigued and over time ‘freeze’ in that position.  Then we look like primates.  Just think about the amount of gravity pulling your body forward as you sit hunched over.  This is why it’s so important to git up off yo’ ass every once in a while and move around/stretch for a bit before continuing to embark on your long adventure of sitting.

Not all of us sit around like lumps, though.  Those of us who like to throw heavy shit around on a near daily basis can also run into this problem.  Tight muscles and overworking your chest, lats and biceps or your ‘beach muscles’ can totally butcher your posture and easily lead to internal rotation.  (and I’m pretty sure the beach hotties are not DTF if you look like a hybrid of Quasimodo and a Gorilla with or without a six pack..Sorry).

If your training program emphasizes movements like the bench press, lat pulldown and even leg extensions (you shouldn’t even be doing these in the first place..) you’re only helping your inner Quasimodo.  By overworking your anterior chain muscles, the muscles of your posterior chain become stretched out and loose, which is just a fancy way of saying weak and shitty at doing their jobs.

These kinds of programs are also, obviously, notorious for leading to muscular and postural imbalances as is the sedentary lifestyle of our culture.  These imbalances can really screw with your kinetic chains and the mobility and stability of your joints.  When ‘stability’ joints become weaker and less stable, the other joints around them must stiffen in order to compensate for the weaker joint.  Same deal with ‘mobility’ joints.

So, when you get weak/loose muscles on one side of a joint and tight/short muscles on the other..BAM…imbalanced joint.  That just sounds uncomfortable, right?  This is what happens to your shoulders in a tight chest, loose back situation.

Fix It:

If you fall into the ‘likes to throw heavy shit around’ category and you didn’t pass the pencil test, here’s some tweaks you can make to your current program.

• Step away from the bench press (and variations) for a few weeks.  This is feeding your forward, rounded shoulders.  Also steer clear of bicep work, chest flyes, chin ups (and anything else where your palms are facing each other), front raises, etc.
• Focus on strengthening your back.  2-3x as much as your anterior.  Rows are your best friend.  Especially overhand rows, in the form of seated rows, inverted rows and bent over rows.  The more in balance your back and chest become, the stronger you will become in both pulling and pushing movements.
• Stretch the heck out of your chest, biceps, shoulders and lats and foam roll. Watch this and this.  Seriously.
• Become more conscious of your posture! When you feel yourself starting to slouch..chest up, shoulders back! (My most overused phrase at work…). Also try squeezing your shoulder blades together throughout the day to help activate them and wake them up.  Just make sure all the movement is coming from your shoulders and not your arms and that your head and shoulders stay in good alignment with your pelvis.
• Give these a shot: Cuban Presses (go easy on these, 2-3 sets 12-15 reps), Face Pulls or Band Pull-Aparts, L-Lateral Raises, Cable External Rotations and you best be working your posterior chain (Hello squats and deadlifts, if you don’t already do these then you and I have some serious beef).

Capeesh??

Now I will bore you even further with Erika talk about food and PRs.

Thanksgiving…was lovely.  Saturday night we had a shindig at Steve’s house, kind of a potluck deal where everyone brings something and we all feast.  And feast is an understatement of what I did :) Three full plates of food in my belly.  I managed to stay paleo and didn’t feel one bit deprived..shit, I could barely breathe I ate so much. How could anyone feel deprived at a bacon themed thanksgiving?! (No one else eats Paleo, btw).

I brought my baconfied brussells sprouts and homemade paleo stuffing.

I ate my leftover stuffing as breakfast

Steve stuffed the turkey with bacon like I did here with chicken and it was beyond delicious.  And juicy.  T-Day aside, I’ve been lazy this week and eating a lot of sausage for breakfast and I JUST finished off the leftover brussels sprouts.

Sausage and veggies is such a good go-to meal.  I usually swap out the brussels sprouts for broccoli or cauliflower ‘rice’.

PRs..Snagged two of ‘em this week.  95lb bench press (after benching for the first time in 3 months) and 170lb deadlift.  So uhh, I’m pooped and resting today and probably tomorrow 8)

I have a busy afternoon/night now…meeting, clients and bootcamp! Talk to you guys later! (I have a handful of comments to get back to later too!)

PaleoDietLifeStyle.com

The Food Lover’s Primal Palate

Everyday Paleo

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Balanced Bites

Nom Nom Paleo

I’m very excited.  Tomorrow I’m making my favorite roasted veggie dish (butternut squash, carrots, sweet potatoes, celery, onions) as a side for Thanksgiving at my Aunt’s house and on Saturday we’re having a bacon themed T-day party at Steve’s house with all of our friends where I’ll be making grain free pork sausage stuffing (I got my hands on fancy homemade italian sausage..oh lawd it smells soo good) and roasted brussells sprouts with bacon.  Enter: Feast Mode.

In other good news, I got my deadlifts back! I didn’t post about this, but I lost a bit of strength on deadlifts after neglecting them for awhile (this should be a deadly sin) and I was real crushed about it..but I womaned up and gave ‘em another shot yesterday after a couple weeks and I’m back up to 1.5x body weight.  So between that, being 10lbs away from my back squat goal and hitting push press and push jerk PRs…I’m pretty content training-wise.

I’ve also been trying to work on a lot on random body weight stuff because being able to truly control and handle your own bodyweight is seriously badass.

Am I right? (Ok set aside his creepy lanky-and bendy-ness and it’s pretty serious).

Yeah.  I’m taking it slow (lol), this is what I worked on yesterday, Handstand Taps:

I recorded that gem after my deadlift workout, hence why I look like all sorts of a hot mess.

Other than that I have nothing productive to say :D I hope everyone has an awesome Thanksgiving!

Stuff To Read;

The Food Industry’s A-Z of Toxic Ingredients to Avoid

I Smell Bacon! -While on the topic, important read.

How To Have An Awesome Deadlift Workout -Nia Shanks. I love this woman’s brain.

The Metabolic Swing – Improving your hip hinge.  I love this article.

????

Are they out of their fucking minds? Or just whipped by the dollar sign?

All of the above..and I’m totally calling NO BALLS on Congress for not being able to stand up to Big Food and lobbyists and for further compromising American’s health in order to benefit their financial and political interests.

Enter: the furthering of the pussification of America.

1/3 of American children are overweight/obese, but you don’t even need a statistic to tell you that, just step outside and look. 80% of overweight kids are likely to become obese adults (source: CDC) …who cost society nearly $100 billion a year.  This is so beyond disgusting.

So who’s really behind this bullshit?  Schwan and ConAgra, two large food companies, who obviously wouldn’t benefit financially if schools were to only serve, fresh whole foods, like fruits and vegetables to kids instead of frozen, processed foods.

Lets take a look at the puree of bullshit ConAgra calls a pizza crust:

Enriched wheat flour (bleached wheat flour, malted barley flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), water, soybean oil, dextrose, baking powder (sodium bicarbonate, sodium aluminum sulfate, cornstarch, monocalcium phosphate, calcium sulfate), yeasts (yeast, starch, sorbitan monostearate, ascorbic acid), salt, dough conditioners (wheat flour, salt, soy oil, L-cysteine, ascorbic acid, fungal enzyme), wheat gluten, soy flour.

It’s also topped with a delectable ‘mozzarella cheese substitute,’ sell out-sauce, and a dash of corruption. Hey now.

A serving clocks in with 42g of carbs and 940mg of sodium.  Looking at those ingredients, this is barely a food, never mind an actual vegetable, but according to these flaming assbags, the less than half a cup of tomato paste that’s contained in the pizza sauce can count as a vegetable.  Um, last time I checked tomatoes were fruits and the amount of sugar in conventional sauces are damn near dessert-status…

Some are even calling this out as a ‘national security issue’ because obesity has become the lead disqualifying medical factor in military services.  This is also dangerous in terms of developing kids’ palate/preference for certain foods.  (Scary stuff).  The food industry has manipulated not just kids, but everyone who buys into it into increasing their taste for sugary, salty, nutrition-void foods.  Of course after eating all that sugared up, ‘added flavor’ shit real foods are going to seem bland and unappetizing (for the average American anyway..)

“Our concern is that the standards would force companies in many respects to change their products in a way that would make them unpalatable to students” -Corey Henry, douchebag, ‘scuse me, spokesman for the American Frozen Food Institute.

Congress also voted against limitations that weaken sodium restrictions and keep starchy vegetables, aka french fries, to two servings per week.

Industry, Industry, Industry.  That’s what this is.  WEAK SHIT, Congress.

Want to know how else the government is totally screwing your health?  How about the big push for ‘healthy whole grains?’

The government subsidizes the shit out of corn farmers, of course they’re going to promote grains like crazy.  (I can’t believe I fell for this for so many years). Grains are also extremely cheap to produce, have a long shelf life and sell very well overseas.  So of course our government is going to talk them up to be the healthiest thing around and suggest we eat 6-11 servings per day! $$$ Cha-ching!

We humans, have yet to adapt to eating grains, we’ve only been consuming them for 3% of our existence.  Grains are a total neolithic food that believe it or not, give us no health benefits and therefore no reason to eat them.  Oh but what about the fiber and vitamins?! ..Go eat a salad, some eggs, fruit and meat. BAM, there ya go.  Do you really think grains can beat veggies nutrient-wise?

I’ve spent a lot of time in the past few months researching the toxic effects of grains and it’s quite terrifying.  No wonder I found myself keeling over, crying in pain and sprawled on several doctor’s tables every other week suffering such severe abdominal pain I could barely breathe.  (I was given blood tests, abdominal scans, exams..nobody could find anything wrong with me..) I cut out grains and VOILA..no pain, no bloating and no more nasty grainfarts.  (Steve is pretty stoked about that last one.  Nothing like a girlfriend who can dutch oven 10xbetter than you.)

Let’s back this up.  These toxins I’m talking about are Lectins, Phytates and Gluten.

Lectins in grains damage the gut lining and increase inflammation.  Not only does this lead to increases in autoimmune and other diseases, but also a damaged gut will have difficulty absorbing nutrients.  Lectins also screw with leptin and cause leptin resistance.  You do not want this. (Leptin is the lovely hormone  that controls your hunger signals).  Lectin will cause your hunger signal to be suppressed which results in you eating when you are not truly hungry/when your body has already had enough calories.

Phytates exhibit an anti-nutrient effect.  Kiss all those vitamins from those healthy whole grains goodbye!  Phytates bond to certain minerals such as Calcium, Zinc and Magnesium making them very difficult, if not impossible to absorb.  This opens up the potential for nutritient deficiencies, especially in vegetarians.  Hello anemia, good-bye bone health. (Note: Much lower levels of phytates are also found in some nuts and seeds).

Gluten and other immunoreactive proteins contain the amino acid proline.  Proline gives your digestion a real run for it’s money, meaning it’s very difficult to break down.  Gluten triggers an immune response in the body causing not only digestive issues but also other random symptoms like joint pain and fatigue.  It can also disguise itself as other proteins and bust it’s way into your cells, tear shit up, and cause you to develop autoimmune diseases.  Almost 1/3 of our population already shows low level chronic inflammation as a result of gluten.

These antinutrients and toxins are grains’ chemical defense methods against consumption.  In other words, evolution telling you not to eat them ;)

Don’t even get me started on the government and high fructose corn syrup, low-fat diets, soy and how all of this has contributed to the obesity epidemic and the amount of disease in our country..

“Efforts to halt and reverse current obesity trends are unlikely to succeed without the participation and collaboration of governments, non-governmental organizations, industry, educators, and individuals. For example, current agricultural and public health policy is not coordinated—we heavily subsidize the growth of foods (e.g., corn, soy) that in their processed forms (e.g., high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated corn and soybean oils, grain-fed cattle) are known contributors to obesity and associated chronic diseases, including cancer.” (National Cancer Institute 2006-2007)

So, what was the point of this post?

Use your head and be smart.  Learn exactly what you’re eating and WHY you’re eating it.  Do research and don’t trust anyone, especially Big Food, to tell you what to eat or you’ll risk becoming a statistic…all while making them a nice hefty profit.