Hello legs, it was nice to have you shaking at the end of a workout again

First thing's first I'm the realest. So I'll talk food before launching into today's workouts. For the record, if I don't post a workout for a day, it's usually because it's a repeat of something that is already on my blog thus it feels unnecessarily to retype and repost them.

FOOD. I did meal prep last night, Sunday funday and all. I'm kind of sticking to basics of chicken, rice, and some sort of veggie or fruit. Grilled chicken was real simple. Threw some lemon juice on and then sprinkled them with oregano while they were grilling. Sweet potatoes are pretty damn tasty. Cut them however you please, I opted for slices. Each sweet potato gets it's own tin foil pouch to be thrown on the grill. Once cut place in tin foil pouch and add some butter (next time I'm going to try it with coconut oil instead) and this simple seasoning mix I found online. For two sweet potatoes here's the recipe: 2 Tablespoons of brown sugar, 1 tsp of ground cumin, 1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper (or more based on taste preference), and salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle this mix on top, seal up the tin foil pouch and toss on the grill for 20-30 minutes moving around every 10 minutes or so. Cilantro lime rice (yeah, that's the stuff they serve at Chipotle). Make rice as normal, I have been using brown basmati rice and cooking it in vegetable broth instead of water for more flavor. Upon being cooked, (adjust amounts according to taste preferences) I squeezed the juice of one lime over rice and stir in 1/4 cup of freshly cut cilantro. Oh, and I made 1 cup of uncooked rice.

WORKOUTS.

  AM cardio today had me dripping in sweat with this heat. It's simple but still challenging. 16 x 100 m sprints with about 35 seconds rest between sprints. To make the workout a bit easier you can break it into 4 sets of 4 x 100 meter sprints and add an additional rest period between sets.

Leg Day :D
Leg curl machine 3 x 15 (1:00)
Leg extension machine 3 x 15 (1:00)
Squat jumps with kickback backwards each leg and then laterally each leg. 3 x 10 (2:00)
Barbell backwards lunge 3 x 20 each leg (do all reps on one leg before switching) (1:30)
Back squat 3 sets of: 10 reps narrow stance, 10 reps medium stance, and 10 reps wide or sumo stance (1:30)
Donkey kickbacks with imaginary hurdle behind you (again, I use a free bench for a literal hurtle to be lifting my leg back and forth over) 2 x 15 (1:00)

LEG DAY (AND I TRIED A YOGA CLASS!!)

I promise I meant to put something up sooner. But in all honesty it would have been me reposting workouts that are already on my blog for the most part. Although I did try a slow burn vinyasa yoga class the other day with a coworker. The class was awesome! And I had never taken any yoga class before or attempted any yoga before but parts of it challenged me. Primarily the balance and coordination involved (not exactly among my strong points). I'm definitely going to look into taking some more yoga classes in the future!

Today I did throw some weights into my leg day since I am allowed to do lighter weights with higher reps so I believe that what I opted for today is within those parameters. I'm not posting how much weight I use because what works for me is irrelevant when determining what weights work for you.

Leg curls 3x15 (:45)
Leg extension 3 x 15 (:45)
Back squat 4 x 12 (1:00)
In --> Out, squat, jump, kickback, in (repeat) 4 x 10 (1:30)
Superset (1:00 rest)
Pulse Bulgarian Squat 3 x 20 each leg
Single leg glute-ham bridge 3 x 12
Donkey kicks with object behind you (I used a flat bench near the free weights) 3 x 10 each leg (1:00)
Split Squat jumps 3 x 20 (1:30)
Squats on a flipped over half bosu ball 1 x 40, 1 x 50 (1:00)

I mean I was dripping in sweat with all of that jumping..

Leg day :D :D :D :D Which keeping it honest, after hearing that I couldn't lift the thought of losing leg day was devastating. So I've done what I can to find ways to maintain leg days in my life because of the love and passion I have for them. Workout from today is below:

 (Among my current favorites)[ Feet in --> out --> squat --> jump --> squat --> feet together --> repeat 4 x 10 (1:30)
{Superset} (1:00)
[pulse Bulgarian squats (FEEL THE BURN) 4 x 20
[single leg glute-ham bridge 4 x 12
[split squat jumps 3 x 20 (2:00)
Donkey kicks with imaginary hurdle 3 x 10 (1:00)
[Straddle a bench --> place hands on one end of bench --> jump feet towards your midline and up onto the bench --> jump feet back out and down --> repeat 3 x 15 (1:00)
[Weighted calf raises on smith machine 3 x 45 (1:00) (15 toes pointed out, 15 toes pointed in, 15 toes pointed forward)

Seriously, Try This Workout --> Have Trouble Walking in a Few Hours

But before sharing this workout, here's my current playlist. It should last at least through this week ;)
Talk That Talk : Rihanna
Addicted to You : Avicii
You Make Me : Avicii
I Could Be the One : Avicii
Flashback : Calvin Harris
We'll Be Coming Back : Calvin Harris
Rather Be : Clean Bandit
Impossible is Nothing : Iggy Azalea
Thinking About You : Calvin Harris

Now for the workout, it gets the full body so if you're at all like me, your back will be nice and sore too.
I get ideas for my workouts from Devoné Martin (@dev1fit on Instagram) and Zoe Rodriguez (@zoelivelovelift on Instagram)

in-->out, squat jump squat, right leg kickback, left leg kickback 3 x 20 (2:00)
superset:
pulse lunge 4x20
single leg glute-ham bridges 4x12
(1:00 rest)
split squat jumps 3x20 (2:00)
donkey kicks with leg extended the whole time and then moving it from one side of the body to other as if over a high hurtle that has been placed behind you 3x10 each leg (1:00)
---------------------------------------
assisted pull-ups 4x8 (1:00)
push ups with knee to elbow while in the "down" position 3x10 (1:00)
tricep dips on bench with "jump" during the up part of the movement 3x10 (1:00)
assisted chin-ups 4x8 (1:00)

Above is from Tuesday's workout, finished up with HIIT on the elliptical.
Below is today (HIIT and abs)

Warm up of some form
20:00 on the stair master :30/:30 split

Tabata ab workout. Tabata being :20 seconds of work, :10 seconds of rest. Repeated for 4 minutes total. That is then one round.

Round 1:
circle crunches (left)
circle crunches (right)
straight arm crunches with weight
leg lifts

Round 2:
side plank with weight and arm raise (right)
side plank with weight and arm raise (left)
Russian twists with weight
heel touches

Round 3:
elbow plank
straight arm plank lifting one hand to opposite shoulder and then switching

Home from vacation!!

I returned from paradise, if you will, late Saturday afternoon. From there I spent the evening in the cities with some friends. Then came Sunday, which wasn't so much a Sunday Funday since I worked from 9:00 in the morning until about 11:30 at night. Shortly after arriving  home I was passed out and happily asleep. 

So now we're at Monday. I had the intentions of being super productive but then as I was looking at my schedule for the week I saw the 1:00 appointment I had today. That quickly took priority to everything else and has put me where I currently am: done with my biometrics appointment, needing to gather all my visa application materials, sitting and enjoying Jimmy John's before work at 4:00.  In other words I might get my intended post up later tonight otherwise tomorrow it is! 

Day 6 of vacation and driving home

Day 6 was a HIIT/ cardio day. Here's the workout:

Warm up: jog 5:00

5 rounds of the following:

:30 sprint

3:00 jog

:30 sprint

1:00 walk 

 Try this outdoors in the sun! ☀️😱💦

Day 7 is currently being spent driving the roughly 6.5 hours home 🙈 thus it's a rest day. 

Day 5 of vacation and coinciding workout playlist

My musical selections for today's workout come primarily from my days of being a freshman in high school / the more alternative spectrum of what I can workout with. 

Last Night : The Strokes 

First Dance : Never Shout Never

Animal : Neon Trees 

Misery Business : Paramore 

Little Razorblade : The Pink Spiders 

Hum Hallelujah : Fall Out Boy 

Ocean Avenue : Yellowcard 

Candle : The White Tie Affair

Gold On the Ceiling : The a Black Keys

Modern Swinger : The Pink Spiders 

Take It Home : The White Tie Affair 

Chop and Change : The Black Keys 

Normally I don't feel sore until the next day but I'm feeling this one already 😬

Workout ideas taken from Devone Martin (@dev1fit on Instagram) and Zoe Rodriguez (@zoelivelovelift on Instagram) seriously both are great pages to follow for motivation! 

Workout: 

Squat jumps with kickbacks 3 x 20 

      Start with feet together, jump out to whatever is comfortable, squat, jump, land in squat position,stand up, kick right leg straight back, then left, feet together. That's one rep. 

Superset 1:00 rest

Pulse lunges 4 x 20 ea.

Single leg glute-ham bridge 4 x 12 ea. 

tricep dips on bench with sort of a "jump" on the way up 3 x 10 

Split squat jumps 3 x 16 

Modified shoulder push ups using a bench 3 x 8 

Push ups bringing knee to elbow while in down / bent position 4 x 10

Donkey kicks position then extend leg so that it's straight and bring outside body line then to opposite side of body as if over a hurdle. That is one rep. Do all 10 with one leg before switching. 

Days 3 and 4 of Vacation; and Coconut Oil

Day 3:
I took my workout from one of my Instagram idols (yes, those are a thing in my world). You can find the workout on @censkiii 's account. My last blog post provides an image of what to look for on her page.
After doing that workout I did the following
superset (2 sets x max reps)
squat with alternating leg kick backs
two leg glute-ham bridges, followed by one leg glute-ham bridges
superset (2x10)
shoulder push ups
tricep dips with alternating leg raises

Day 4:
HIIT cardio
And we're back to my beloved jump rope
30:00 minutes of a :45/:30 split

Coconut oil:
I've been trying to incorporate this stuff into my diet when I can. I find it easy to mix into hot oatmeal or spread onto toast (before adding peanut butter of course! ;) ) I've read a lot of articles about the benefits of coconut oil, feel free to research yourself but a few links to articles are posted below:
http://authoritynutrition.com/top-10-evidence-based-health-benefits-of-coconut-oil/
Here's just a bunch of great uses for it :D
Wish I had access to more than just the abstract but....