12-11 WEEKS OUT! Introducing cardio after a solid 5 months of weight training!

As some of you might know, and I think I can speak on behalf of a lot of people that cardio is not something I get a lot of enjoyment out of. I would definitely rather be in the weights section than running on a treadmill or sitting on a bike and youtubing stupid things because of boredom! After 5 months of doing a really good job avoiding it (doing absolutely none) I finally began my cardio and started by high intensity training. Like I said in my first blog I wanted to wait till the 12 week mark to begin cardio.

My focus now with all my training is to still keep a heavy resistance with my weight training but also aiming to keep my heart rate at around 130bpm so I stay in the ‘fat burning’ zone throughout my whole session, so this means minimal rest periods. I’m doing this by super-setting most of my exercises so there is no rest in-between. In between each super set I will also be skipping for one minute at a time and then continue with the next super set. Going from no cardio to this type of training was definitely a change for me and I think I may have even thrown up a little in my mouth while I was skipping during an intense leg session with no rest periods… but what doesn’t break you only makes you stronger.. or leaner?? Well, I hope sure do so!

Below is example of my training for the first week back of my high intensity training sessions (5 sessions/week):

Monday: Rest

Tuesday: Back and bicep super-sets

Wednesday: I love high intensity leg sessions – skip in between sets or if heart rate slows down

Thursday: Shoulders/abs (super-set), Calves (skipping in-between sets)

Friday: Chest and triceps super-set

Saturday: Focus on abs with a full body workout

Sunday: Rest

CARDIO:

Warm up – 10 minutes cardio (cross trainer/bike) for each session
One minute skipping during each super set
20 minutes after each session

My diet hasn’t changed from my previous blogs; I’m still getting my energy from essential fats and loving it! I’m still drinking my ‘dirty sock water’ (GPLC, L-Carnitine tartrate, Acetyl-carnitine with Vital Greens, shown in the photos) before breakfast and eating the same amount of food (eating 5-6 times a day). The kids at school are amazed with the size of my lunch box and the other teachers are constantly watching me eat while I do my lesson plans and mark students assignments. The teachers also believe that I don’t eat ‘normal’ food but I personally think they’re the ones who aren’t eating ‘normal’. So far I have managed to avoid numerous offers of hot cross buns, pull-apart breads, cheese cake and cupcakes. Surprisingly I haven’t even had the temptation to eat these foods and that’s what I love about my diet - I stay fuller for longer which helps to avoid binging or giving into temptations. I’m not going to pretend that I never get temptations - we are only human to want things we can’t have! If I do ever get the urge for something tasty I just get my ‘fix’ from peanut butter and always remember the saying that “nothing tastes as good as lean feels”.

My supplement regime is still the same as my last blogs; however Luke has added in a few more supplement and vitamins from the Poliquin range (shown in the photos).

The supplements I use at the moment are now:

Same as previous weeks:

Zinc (Poliquin): 3 times a day (because I’m low in zinc)
Magnesium (Poliquin): With my last 2 meals
Fish oil: With every meal
Multivitamins: 2 times a day

Additional supps:

DIM 2.0 (Poliquin): 3 times a day
Calcium D-Glucarate (Poliquin): 3 times a day
Digest force 2.0 (Poliquin): With every meal for healthy digestion with a high protein diet
Multi-Intense (Poliquin): 3 times a day
Inner health plus: once a day

I’m using extend by scivation with my L-Carnitine mix and glutamine during for my intra workout drink and for my post workout I use 40g WPI, 30g maltodextrine/dextrose and glutamine.

Yes, if you’re thinking that I’m a walking/talking supplement machine at the moment, I am! But Luke’s a great coach and if he believes I need it all then I do J

At the end of week 12 I saw Luke for another Biosignature assessment and have dropped my weight slightly, maintained muscle mass and decreased body fat. Luke and I got talking about how much cardio I should be doing and he also added glycine to my post workout drink, added fibre to my diet and also added lemon and water after I wake up in the morning.

In regards to posing, I’ve been practicing as much as I can and I feel sorry for my man because every couple of hours I’m screaming out “look babe, am I doing it?” haha! I also just got my heels from Dana Carmount Bikini’s and absolutely love them. If you’re interested to know what I plan on doing for my posing suit – because I originally was doing sports model, I had my sports bikini all ordered and ready to be shipped off to me. Luckily I asked the guy who was designing it if the bikini could be converted into a figure suit before he posted it from the sates. Phew! So I’m pretty excited to get that in the mail and I’ll be sure to post some photos and give you ladies (or males) all the details of the designer when it gets closer to the comp.