5 Core Exercises to build your workout around!

I often am asked to make training programs for people or assess what they are currently doing to make their workouts better in the gym. I figured I would write out what I ususally recommend for those that like to be in control of their programming and workouts, but need a bit of guidance.

I like to think that I'm in control of a lot of situations... especially my workouts! There are times that I love getting locked into a great training program that I've planned for 6 or 8 weeks of deliberate training. Other times, I like to walk into the gym and do whatever exercises come to mind that day. Admittedly I get better results when I've programmed out for several weeks it feels good to just go with the flow sometimes. Whatever your mode of operation is, one thing is certain, you need these 5 exercises to see any sizable gains in your training and body! Here's a quick reference of the 5 core movements that you need to build your workout around

1. Squat! How could any other exercise be at #1! The squat recruits an insane amount of muscle mass which will torch calories.
2. Bench press- lots of ladies will shy away from the bench press because females are naturally not as strong as our male counterparts in the upper body. All the more reason to work on it right!?
3. Deadlift- Ok, so I would love to see women across America pulling some heavy deadlifts. Truth is, they are hard to execute properly, and there are a lot of variations that will develop your hamstrings. This exercise is especially important for women, plus it will give you backside a nice lift! Don't neglect the hamstrings...ever!
4. Pull-up or row- lets face it, pull-ups are ROUGH! But again, there are so many variations to the pull up that can get your the pull that you need in your workout. When in doubt, always find a rowing exercise for your workout. It will pull your shoulders out of a rounded position and help you stand straighter and taller.
5. HIIT!!! That stands for High Intensity Interval Training! - There are several ways to incorporate HIIT into your workouts. You can run hills, flip tires, use the sledge hammer (my personal favorite), run sprints, run bleachers... the possibilities are endless. Just remember HIIT is ALL OUT! For a short burst, then double that time and recover. Save nothing. Take no prisoners. Do it for 20 minutes and you are DONE!! The best way to portion your time is a 2:1 ratio. that means something like 1 minute of rest followed by 30 second of all out,... repeat. Do HIIT on your days off from lifting or at the end of your workouts.


Now what? Well now that you have the information. Build your own program around these principles. I like to call this the push-pull workout. You need a push for your upper and lower body (squat= lower body push, Bench press= upper body push) then you need an upper and lower body pull (deadlift or hamstring exercise=lower body pull, pull-up or row=upper body pull). It's up to you now to vary those exercises and create your own little workout menu! Here are some ideas, try single arm variations of these exercises, try switching from dumbbell to barbell exercises or vice versa. You can even use kettlebells, or ropes to get these movements. I've done an entire pulling workout with a rope and a sled before, great recipe if you're bored in your workout!

Here are some examples with the deadlift, starting with a traditional deadlift.

 

 

 

Here is the single leg variation for the exercise, be sure to keep the shoulder blades squeezed and knee slightly bent. 

 

 

single arm row, a variation for an upper body pull



 Squat

 

 Single arm bench press for an upper body push

 

 

 

There are your 5 Core movements! As I said, use these as your backbone, keep them in your program consistently but vary the selection and intensity every 3-4 weeks. 

SURPRISE! You can do pull-ups too!

SURPRISE You can do pull-ups too! 

 I was surprised to get an email from my ROCKIN awesome Cousin, Mallory Peveto yesterday on her recent pull-up accomplishemnts!

She scored a whopping 50 consectutively in a recent workout!! What a huge feat!



Nice Job Girl!!

This reminded me of my own struggles with pull-ups and how I eventually conquered my pull-up predicament! I mean... who doesn't want "I can do X- amount of pull-ups" on their resume?! If you don't want that on your resume maybe you aren't at the right site ;). I worked with a strenght coach a few years back that was adament about getting me pull-up worthy, and I must say he did it! The great part of how he taught me was that I only did eccentric pull-ups or "negatives" for 4 weeks... after 4 weeks of HARD work he said, ok, now do a pull up. SURPRISE--I jumped up to the pull-up bar and cranked out 3 in a row!! That's 3 in a row from maybe one on a good day! Pretty proud  moment for this girl! Let me show you how...and a surprise pull-up may be in your furture!

Here are a few tricks of the trade to get you to your first proper pull-up!

You wan to be sure that you are fairly warm before jumping straight into a pull-up. Doing a full pull-up uses some large muscle groups as well as some smaller muscles for assistance. You'll want to properly warm up your shoulders and back before starting. I like doing some light rows as well as 

bent over raises, and fully extended planks at the least before beginning.  

The first thing to master is the isometric hang. The hang takes some grip strength and will also help you to turn on your back muscles that my have been snoozing! Be sure to squeeze your shoulder blades together and try to hang at the top of your pull up for 5-10 seconds at at time. You can have a friend or trainer push up until your chin is above the bar,(check out the picture below) then squeeze tight and hold. Try this exercise 2x a week (for 2 sets of 5-8 repetitions of 5-10 seconds) until you feel comfortable moving to the next progression.

Next progression is an eccentric pull-up. What is an eccentric you may ask? Eccentric is the action of muscle lengthening. It is the opposite of concentric muscular contraction. For example, in a barbell curl, when you pull the weight towards your body your bicep is contracting, this is called a concentric muscle action or contraction phase. When you lower the bar back towards the floor, you are experiencing the eccentric phase of the muscle action. WARNING!! Eccentric causes the most muscle damage, and will make you VERY sore! However, it's gonna get you strong...fast in regard to the pull up! Here's how you crank it!

1. start with your chin above the bar, this is where a training partner or trainer comes in nicely as you will see with my lovely assistant Kyle. If you don't have a partner, you can use a plyo box to get above the bar.

2. Once above the bar, ever-so-slooowly(while squeezing your back and tucking your elbows) lower yourself to the bottom of the pull up position.

beginning of the movement

Middle of the movement



Almost to the finish! Get to the very bottom of the pull-up before re-starting!

3. Once at the bottom of the pull up position, re-start the movement by either using your partner to help push you to the top of the movement or your plyo-box for assistance getting to the top.

-It's important to take your time on the movement and try to take as long as possible to get to the bottom of your pull-up position.(try to take 5 seconds to get to the bottom) try to start at 3 sets of 5 repetitions once a week and see how your strength does.

-Don't be surprised if you are REALLY sore the next day! The eccentric phase causes a lot of muscle damage, but will also cause you to have very quick results on your strength increases!

-Lastly, if you would like to make this movement harder, simply add weight. I normally use a weight belt and hang a 25 lb plate to make the movement even harder. You can also have someone place a dumbbell between your ankles as pictured for extra weight.

Place a dumbbell between you ankles if needed for extra weight.



My last tip for getting pull-up savvy is to try a kipping pull-up. It's a pendulum-type movement used in gymnastics and may help to get you some strength. Although the kipping pull up actually uses momentum to get through the tough parts of the pull-up, it can increase your pulling strength! There are tons of resources on the web to check out kipping pull ups

5 Things you can learn from a Bodybuilder and Figure Athlete

5 Things you can learn from a Bodybuilder and Figure Athlete

 

 

 

 

The 2012 Olympia was held this weekend in Las Vegas, and in honor of all the hard work and sculpted bodies in attendance, I thought I would dedicate my first post to the sport. Let's face it, there's a lot to learn about health and fitness. There are articles, blogs, magazines, your friends and that infamous guy at the gym with 12-inch biceps that always wants to tell you "what he does". When it comes down to it, there is a lot of bad advice out there, and a lot of extreme behaviors in the body building community. Bodybuilding, however does take a lot of planning, discipline, grit, and motivation that I think we could all use! Here are a few notes that we could all take from bodybuilders in creating our own masterpiece!

 

1. Have a plan- What's your plan? No seriously, write it down. Put it somewhere, make is specific, make it realistic, and put a time goal with it. Bodybuilders are always ___ many weeks out from something. Make a goal for yourself and give yourself a set amount of time to do it. This way you have something that you are working towards every day. Not a distant grasp at "I want to lose 5 lbs" how about "I want to lose 5lbs in 30 days" there! Now there is a specific time goal, so you've given yourself direction and intention. Next, write down the how. How are you going to make that happen? Increase your cardio? Decrease your calories? Start resistance training on a regular basis? Whatever it is figure it out and plan out how you'll do accomplish this... now you have a destination AND a vehicle! Psh you're practically there already!

 

2. Habitual- Bodybuilders are creatures of habit to the core. They eat the same things day in and day out and they plan every meal. Ok ok...before you lose your mind completely, I'm not going to tell you that you should eat chicken and rice every day. However, I will say that taking a little time each week to plan your meals will go a long way in helping you to stay on track with your goals. I like to cook all of my food for the week on Sunday afternoons. I portion it all out and put it in containers so that I can have lunch at work or on the go and don't have to rely on fast food or... anybody else, for my nutrient intake. I like to know that I'm in control of my food if nothing else for the day. I've got that on lock!

 

3. Make an exercise plan. Research and find a progressive plan to meet your needs. If you need help with that you can contact me at mandywray@rocketmail.com and I can help you come up with a plan to reach your goals. Whether you research online or find something in social media...whatever you decide, make sure it is progressive and purposeful. Don't just show up and do whatever comes to mind. You have a goal. you have a purpose. Be intentional!

 

4. Hit the gym daily! Have you seen the sweat daily video yet? I posted it on the Iron Lily Fit facebook page, go check it out and get some free motivation. Give yourself a reason to get to the gym every day and don't make excuses. John Berrardi, of Precision Nutrition recommends to schedule a photo shoot or buy youself a new pair of jeans to fit into. Give yourself a visual goal with your date so that you are now looking at something bigger than just your own mental drive. Which brings me to my last point.

 

5. Build a community- Bodybuilders are notorious for building a core community that can rally around them. Dieting is hard! And building a group of people who you trust to help you when you are feeling weak or when you feel like giving up will go a long way in helping your to shoot for success in your weight loss or performance goals.

 

So there are the top 5 tips that you can take from the bodybuilding community and apply to your training.

 

 That takes a lot more than just showing up!!

 

 

Training for the WHOLE body

I often catch myself stuck in a rut. This could be the intersection of several factors; thoughts, work, emotions, and absolutely my training routine. When I inevitably come to this realization I often change everything in my life and re-assess. Healthy or not, it's a good catalyst for adaptation in and out of the weight room. This realization and subsequent action has caused me to change my training routine a bit and focus more on whole body development.

So what does whole body development mean anyway? Let's take the preacher curl for example. It's a seated isolation exercise. The only thing "allowed" to do work are your biceps... That's all well and good, but what about the rest of your body. I'm all about getting a BANG for your buck, so lets talk about how.

Number one.. STAND UP! Stop sitting down and doing exercises. The reasoning behind this is twofold, first of all, you are missing out on the activation of key stabilizer muscles in your legs, hips, lower back and midsection, aka the ever-so-trendy "core". Next, you are missing out on some serious calorie burnage! The more muscle mass you activate during an exercise bout, the more calories you burn.
Here's another blow your mind moment, you don't have to do curls to train biceps. Although this small little muscle group look great, bustin out of your t-shirt, there's no need to isolate!!! Heavy rows and supinated grip pull ups can hit those guns just as easily!

More standing and whole body strength to come-

Spring Break and Fear Factors

Spring break is alomost here! For Oklahoma anyway, that means that most girls (and guys for that matter) are in the gym for hours at a time, and starving themselves to death in persuit of a beach body for spring break. Hate to bust all your sweat-suit wearing chops, but it's too late! Yep. Truth.
Fact one, the gains that you are seeing from the scale in the past few weeks of eating bite-sized portions and running yourself to China on the treadmill and stepmill are likely not from fat, rather dehydration and loss of your body's energy storages. The only way to sustainable weight loss is a progressive program and a commitment to health! Yo-yo diets can hurt your metabolism in the long run, potentially  teaching your body to package up energy in the food that you eat in fat or adipose storages. I can't think of many people who would like to teach their body to store fat can you!?


Important things happen when you eat; your body uses the energy from food to repair tissues and create more energy. It fuels metabolic processes and anabolic processes that are needed to keep your immune system functioning, your bones, skeletal muscle and hearth healthy. Vitamins and minerals in the foods that you eat scavenge free radicals and that build up in your body in response to exercies, stress and your enviornment. The ingestion of food also keeps your metabolism running...period. When you take food away, in excess it will slow the rate of your metabolism to a crawl and believe me turning that engine back on is tricky! One other biggie, resistance training will build muscle that will rev up your metabolism!


Here is my take home; To get that spring break body, start early! Progress yourself into exercise slowly and look at the composition of your food. How many calories are you eating, how often are you eating, and what macronutrients are you consuming? The how much, how often and what are important questions. (Never drop below 1200 calories period) Slowly take out high sugar and high fat foods and replace them with fruits and vegetables. Have several sources of high quality protein in your diet (check out the ironlilyfit diet) Resistance train... yep. do it, more to come on this soon!

EPO-whaaa?

Today I want to talk about a little thing called EPOC! This little word is otherwise known as Exercise Post Oxygen Consumption. So what does that mean? When you exercise you create an oxygen debt... This oxygen debt will increase as exercise intensity increases. Your body needs more oxygen, so you start to huff and puff to deliver that much needed oxygen to working muscles (through the blood stream of course). OK now that we have that, let's plug it into the big picture. Think about a long distance run, or the girl at the gym lifting 3lb dumbbells. Are they breathing hard? N to tha O!!! Now, think about 100m sprints, or carrying ALL your groceries in the house at once. When you are finished, your breathing is shallow, your muscles burn a little bit, and depending on how hard your worked, you may be gasping for air. So do that several times over, and you have continually created an oxygen debt that you body must catch up to in order to return to normal. (EPOC from Med and EX in Sports Science ) Brief breakdown, they tested female subjects at either low intensity or high intensity for two sets of resistance exercises. They then took a whole host of tests post training on each of the groups to measure EPOC. Those that trained with higher intensity had greater EPOC, therefore continued to burn calories after the exercse session was over! So let me get to my point... stop slugging around! If you are gonna go to the gym, add some intensity to your workout! Push a little harder, breathe hard!! If you do, you'll continue to burn after you have left the gym...if you don't, great news is you still burned calories, and you are much better off than if you didn't go!!

Fast Food January

According to a USA today article January is the month for fast food bargins. But don't be fooled, here are some tips to help you stay away from the quick fix trap.


1. keep snacks on hand or know where you can go to get that quick fix if you feel starved (I like clif bar's "builder" bar it has more protein than its carb ritch sister the clif bar)
2. Eat every 3-4 hours. If you are keeping an eating schedule you can plan for your next hunger strike.
3. Cut the sodas yep...even the diet sodas. Research has shown that even the artifically flavored sodas may spike your insulin levels. This will then cause a drop in insulin, causing you to feel hungry. These sodas are also empty calories (or non calories) and will not fill you up. Try water or green or flavored tea instead.

4. Pack some fiber and protein in that lunch box. Snacks including nuts, and fruits or vegetables work great for energy on the go and will keep you fuller than a carb ritch snack (which is what you would get in the drive through)
5. quick tip: some days I grab an empty shaker cup or water bottle and drop a scoop of protein in it... then when the hunger arrives, just add water! BOOM! quick protein packed snack to get you through until food can be consumed.

-- Good luck this week!

Iron Lily Fit Diet!-New Year Diet

I hate the word diet don't you. It seems so...girl-ish. "I'll have a salad and a diet water please" ha! At the start of the new year everybody is looking for the fastest way to weight loss. (I hear that Wal-Mart has a special on the HCG diet...DON'T YOU DARE...step away from the artificial hormones. ugh honestly.) 


Here is the Iron Lily fit way to eat and get fit for the new year start with the good stuff and the stuff that you love! 
1) Make a list of your favorite vegetables (more later on how to change your mind if you don't like fruits and veggies), your favorite fruits and your favorite meats. 


2) Now... take out the junk that is clogging your arteries, your GI tract and your LIFE! That means out with the refined sugar, out with the high fructose corn syrup, and out with the packaged and highly processed foods in your diet. Processed is bread, pasta, sugar, and packaged goods. My favorite thing to do is pick up a box or package and try to pronounce the ingredients. Ha!! If you don't know what it is... odds are your GI doesn't either, and it's only going to cause extra calories and a tax on your stomach to get that junk outta there! Our bodies are designed for fresh ingredients, but our mouths are spoiled to the taste of refined and processed foods. Do your best to just be aware for now of what you are eating from the ground, or from a package, and start to phase it out!


3) What about dairy? Milk has so many natural benefits. It's a great source of vitamins and protein! Have a glass of milk with breakfast or lunch, keep the portions in check though. My suggestion is no more than 16 oz of your favorite kind of milk, skim, whole or 2% drink up baby! Yogurt can also give you a little protein and an energizing snack. careful though, lots of brands pack in the sugar to draw you to the flavor. Try the natural greek yogurts and take a little look at the back to be sure there is no more than 10 or 15g of sugar per serving. On to one of my favorites, cheese! Allow yourself a little, but measure it out and allow yourself no more than a couple of ounces a day until you start hitting your goals. 


4) eat every 3-4 hours something lean and something mean. That simply means keeping your metabolism fueled with a lean protein and a vegetable every 3 to 4 hours. 4-6 ounces of chicken breast and 1cup of spinach with an olive oil based dressing, some sliced cherry tomatoes, 1/4 avocado and a few sprinkles of mozzarella cheese is a great lunch. And because you know you're gonna eat again in just a few hours, you know that there is no need to stuff yourself. Next try a greek yogurt, and an apple (your yogurt contains that protein you need (lean) and your apple contains a jolt of carbs and fiber (mean) to keep that metabolism pumping. 


-Ooops that's it! 


Okay, easier said than done right? I know you have a schedule, you have cravings, and you have attachments to that food that you love so dearly! Here are some tips, keep in mind; this may be a slow process for some of you, and it may be a dive in head first and hold your nose attempt for the rest. Either way you approach it... remember this needs to be a change you can get used to, not something that will drop the weight followed by a binge beyond all binges.


-Eat food that is as close to the ground as you can get FIRST. Your vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds and so fourth. Load up on vegetables that are dark and leafy. Kale, spinach, colorful peppers, asparagus, squash, tomatoes. Getting the picture? Try to buy them fresh and incorporate them into everything you eat. This ensures that you are getting all the natural nutrients that God intended for our bodies. Not the canned and preserved versions that can be packed with preservatives that can effect your waistline. 


-Next try lean meats- I know you've heard it before, but TRY it! Turkey instead of beef and pork, chicken, (eggs included-whole egg) fish, (like salmon, tilapia, and orange roughy). Don't worry those of you who have a meat eater at home, serve up that beef twice a week in lean cuts. 


-Use a food journal or an app like lose it (free app for your smart phone) or calorie counter.com. look at how much you are intaking a day and try to drop out to between 1200 and 1800 a day! ** don't drop below 1200 for any reason. This will cause a slow in your metabolism and make it even harder to lose weight eventually. Trust me. ;) 


- Send me your questions or photos of before and lets work to an after! I'm here for you! 


**** Most importantly**** Stop eating out! you heard me! Plan ahead- get some snacks like nuts and celery with peanut butter, fresh strawberries and yogurts(greek preferably and less than 10g of sugar per serving)  to snack on so that you don't get STARVED! I keep a tiny lunch box cooler around that I pack if I'm out running errands or at school all day with my meals for the day, and snacks also an emergency stash if I get caught off my own schedule. 


This is my snack box that I use for most days... most days I need a bigger one!! 


Send me your goals and questions!!! 

Fitness NOW

I always have a hard time with my goals this time of year. I always find myself with conflicting goals. One day I'll think "I'll do a powerlifting competition this year" then the next I'll want to do a half marathon(which I am half-heartedly training for now). conceivably I could do it all!! And why not! It just takes a commitment... Maybe that's the problem. Here's how I overcome this little internal battle... Weekly goals, and I don't allow myself to worry about next week or next month when my diet and exercises regimen will be sabotaged... I tuck my chin and start walking. So here is the goal for the week. Baby steps! We all know that the HEALTHY sustainable weightless is no more than 2lbs a week.(no matter what your trainer says) The next thing that you must know is that you won't continue to do something that you absolutely hate! Step away from the green grass tasting shake that swears to take 20 lbs off by Christmas. Start with ONE activity goal and ONE nutrition goal for a week or 2 weeks. Here's an example. Nutrition goal: swap the chips for a fruit or veggie. Activity goal 30 min of planned movement a day. That can be popping in a home exercise video, using the gym membership you bought last year, or playing with your kids (or in my case dogs!) at the park! Make some goals and work through then today. Don't wait until the new year, don't wait until Monday... Just do it. Don't give yourself the opportunity to talk yourself out of what you want to do! Next week or two, make some more baby steps!

Part Two

The second thing is not so easy for me to fix, but it's a necessity. It’s called my wardrobe. My daily clothing is comprised of whatever dry-fit pants and top I can throw together, followed by a mess of hair that is oftentimes hidden under a hat, and normally black (ninja style). Grad school is partially to blame for my dress code apathy, I dress up when I lecture, but when I’m hidden in an office all day like a typing-trollKendi's daily fashon blog, I can’t seem to find the motivation to put on a pair of jeans, much less put effort into a whole outfit!

This dehelimma was brought to my attention by my loving best friend as she said “when are you going to stop dressing like a boy!” followed by a suggestion to look at some fashon bloggers sites. She’s right. I’m 27, I remember my first year out of undergrad…(ah so long ago) I had the clothes, and loved getting up and getting dressed in the morning. Now… not my favorite thing. Maybe it’s due to lack of exciting closet stimulus. Once again, planning, effort, and a ninja KICK out of my comfort zone. It's important to me to look like me, but maybe a put together me will go a little further than a sloppy, just rolled out of bed/workout me.

Special thanks to my office-mate, for the excellent photography, and to kendieveryday.blogspot.com(here it is) for some help in transforming this "boy dresser" into a big girl, and to my BFF, speakin the truth(don't we all need that)... now for ACTION!

That's the daily look, notice the model pose. mmhmmmm.

plan FOR action part one;

“There are risks and costs to action. But they are far less than the long range risks of comfortable inaction.” -JFK

 

Was JFK an Exercise Physiologist too? I found this quote today, and it reminded me of so many things that are comfortable to me right now. 2 in particular that have GOT to change. I'm a creature of habit. Part one, the “diet”

I'm in an eating schedule at the moment, and a very regimented one in fact. I eat juuuust about the same thing every day. (Ok, that's not a terrible thing.) The problem is that I'm NOT following my own advice. I'm eating things out of packages during the day and polishing off my nights with a quick fix, whatever-I-can-throw-together-dinner. (here comes the revelation)

I'm COMPLACENT! I've fallen into a habit of eating the same thing, and getting the same results, even though my dinners aren't McDonalds and my lunches aren't from the vending machine, they sure aren't fresh and fueling my body with nutrients. My remedy. Plan. Plan. Plan! First I have to get myself up and off to the farmers market on Saturdays and find the colors! The more colors that are in your diet, the more nutrients you'll have more on this color phenom in part 2) Then to some recipes; here is one quick fix!

Spaghetti Squash

1 medium spaghetti squash

1-2 tsp EVOO

1-2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp chili flakes

2 Tbs thinly sliced mint

1 Tbs basil

1 Tbs shaved or grated parmesan Reggiano Chesse

First, cut squash into quarters and scoop out seeds. Bring 2 inches of water to a boil in a large, shallow pan. Add squash cut-side down and cook over medium heat for 20 min or until it's fork-tender. Next, scrape out the flesh so it resembles spagetti and drizzle with olive oil. Combine salt, pepper, chili flakes, mint, basil and cheese, and sprinkle over squash. SERVE AND ENJOY!

Nutrition facts: 50 calories, 3g protein, 6g carbs, 4g sugar, 2.5g fiber, 121 mg sodium. (Compliments of Muscle & Fitness Hers july/august 2009)

·         A little added info for ya, squash is contains vitamain A, C and a little kick of fiber, and is a great alternative to it’s pasta comparison (play away)

This is my first endeavor in purposefully turning my world upside down within the next couple of weeks is completely attainable. Nutrition is what I love… and I tend to think I’m good at it. The second however… not so easy

the joUrney

Here we go... a journey of sorts. Aren't most things in life just that though? This is somethign I've always wanted to do.
This is intended to be an expression of two sides of me. Two conflicting and distinctive parts of my personality that play out on a day to day basis. It's in the name Iron-Lily. I believe that being a woman is complex. It's necessary to have the perfect balance of femininity and strength. However achieving both of those things is a little daunting, too strong, and you come across as overpowering, or controlling. Too little and you are a meek-and-mild doormat to the world. When I think of femininity, I think of two things. A bombshell Victoria's secret model, and pink dresses, flowers and butterflies. I'm neither of those things, so the feminine mystique is somewhat perplexing to me as well! I like to think of the balance of these things from the 1940's picture of "Rosie the Riveter" rolling up that sleeve to get the job done! Just look at the photo! How could you NOT want to be her! She's beautiful, she's strong, she's feminine, and I kinda get the hint that she could mess you up! So that's me, that's what this blog is all about; get fit, be strong, and be... well a GIRL!


You'll find some nutrition, training, and a whole lot of encouragement here, I WANT you to pick up the iron, (the kind at the gym) get strong, and still be beautiful and delicate when you need to be. Let's do this.