Pantie Problems

Being comfortable while working out doesn't stop at good shoes it goes as far as having good panties! I have talked to a lot of women and one of the biggest annoyances they said they have with working out is their underwear. I take my down stairs comfort very seriously while working out. There is nothing more unattractive and annoying than having to pick a wedgie and readjust yourself at the gym.   

Here are a my favorite brands for the best comfort:

Pink No Show Yoga Thongs. Very comfortable and the material is great for hard sweaty workouts. Also because they are made for yoga they material is very flexable. I fit into both mediums and  smalls. 

Underarmour makes some amazing underwear for working out I have 6 pairs of their Dri-fit thongs. They are by far my favorite and most comfortable underwear for all occasions. I have never tried the boy shorts of the bikini bottoms but my friend owns some and she says that they are just as amazing. The thongs are one size fits all. I am normally very skeptical about these kinds of szes but they fit me very well! 

Also try the Victorias Secret VXS Thons I am told that they are perfect for any sort of work out. 

Comfort and exercise go hand in hand. 

-Sonya

Bulky Business

Here is the deal people, gaining weight the right way is a lot more difficult that it sounds. Especially when you don't have a whole lot of time and have a fast metabolism. The key to weight gain is to get lots of exercise and eat lots and lots and lots of food. 

As a collegiate athlete there are lots of products that we are not allowed to take because the NCAA bans them, therefore I take a more natural approach to gaining weight. The best way to do this is to start by constantly eating. You need to be taking in more calories than you are burning off. Remember to eat healthy food though, stuff that is high in protein and low in fats. All fats aren't all bad though. Your body needs fats to recover so there is no need to try and eliminate them completely.

Now that we have covered the eating it's time to get going on the working out. I recommend alternating between one hour and two hours of working out a day. I have been doing some research online and I also gotten verification from my weight lifting coach here at Rutgers. Everything that I have read says that after about an hour of lifting your body no longer responds to the workouts. This has to do with the phenomenon of muscle memory, which I talked briefly about in one of my previous posts. So how do you get a good two hour workout you ask? Anaerobic workouts. 
An anaerobic workout refers to any sort of exercise that does not require oxygen. This includes weightlifting, sprinting, plyometircs, anything that involves explosive activity done in short bursts. The reason that these types of exercises are good for gaining weight is because you burn less calories while performing anaerobic exercise than you would while doing an aerobic workout. 
To be able to accomplish the task of getting a good two hour workout in one should combine two or more anaerobic type workouts. Here is an example of my weekly exercise pattern focusing (but not only) on anaerobic exercise. 

Monday: 9-10am lower body weights. 
                  5-6pm Sprinting (generally repeat 200's or a latter) 
Tuesday: 5-7pm Pole Vault practice and Plyometric box jumps/bounding (these types of             
                  workouts are for explosion) 
Wednesday: 9-10am upper body weights. 
                       5-6pm Medball circuit combined with 30-60m sprints
Thursday: 5-7pm Pole Vault practice and a core circuit (this will encompass a variety of
                    abs, legs and arms)
Friday: 9-10am Combination upper/lower body weights (different from rest of week)
              5-6pm Hills or relaxed 400's 
Saturday: Easy 20-30 min jog (this helps release built up lactic acid in the muscles) 
Sunday: rest! (Yay!)

Keep in mind that this is not set in stone, and the workouts vary from week to week. 
If you have any questions or need examples of any of these types of exercises let me know! 
Hope this helps you gain that muscle weight! 
Oh just to let my followers know I have gained 3 pounds! I need to work on eating more, so that is my short term goal for the next couple of weeks.

Fulfilling your goals is sweeter than candy.

-Sonya

Starting Fresh

First off I would like to apologize for not posting in such a long time I was taking the semester off from school. What with working everyday and trying to save money and make the move from Kansas to New Jersey, I didn't have a whole lot of time to devote to writing which actually made me really sad. So I am so sorry for neglecting all of you! Now that I am all moved in and settled at Rutgers I have more time to dedicate to this blog. 

Ever since I can remember I always had a set time and place to work out, and a coach to write the workouts for me. This was something that I definitely took for granted. I never realized how difficult it could be to get a quality workout in without everything I previously mentioned. While I was taking the semester off it got difficult to motivate myself to go get my daily workout in. 

If you're like me then your not the biggest fan of waking up before the sun comes up. I started by getting up and working out before going to work. It worked for a while but then I decided I would rather sleep as long as possible before going to work. So then I thought going to the gym on my break would be good. Which I really enjoyed, however I always felt like I was rushing myself through my workouts and not really improving my weights. Finally, I decided to just go workout once I got off from my shift, but most of the time the gym I belonged to was already closed. And it was dark outside which made it difficult to run on the track. 

What I am getting at is that I understand that it can be difficult to find time and motivation to work out. My advice for my readers is this: Find a gym close to home or work and go directly before or after. For track work generally middle school and high school tracks are open 24/7 and open to the public, some of them even have lights that the school leaves on. (Unfortunately this is not always the case with colligate tracks.) Write out your weekly schedule and find times that are best for you to get in a good workout. Set a goal for yourself! Write it on a large piece of paper and put it on your bedroom wall, so that you can read it everyday. Take pictures so that you can see all your hard work paying off. This is a great way to help motivate yourself! I could never get myself motivated to work out unless I had a goal. 

Since last May I have lost 17 pounds of muscle! Eek! This is bad. I lost all my definition and I am probably the tiniest girl on the Rutgers Track team. Here is my goal for this semester. I want to gain 15 pounds by the end of May. Right now I weigh 115. I want to keep you all updated on my progress and in turn I want to hear your health goals and your progress! They don't just have to deal with weight either. They can be physical, mental, or nutritional. Even if your goal is to get more sleep or not smoke as much or even quit! I want to hear about it! I want to help keep you motivated as well as having you motivate me! We can do this together.

Get up and keep moving forward. 

-Sonya

Bootylicious

It has been a while since I last posted, and I apologize. Things have been a little crazy with transferring to Rutgers and work and all, but luckily I am getting back in the swing of things. 
I wanted to do a post mainly for the ladies. This post does not exclude the guys by all means, but I feel like having a nice looking backside isn't a mans first priority. 
Your gluteus maximus is the largest muscle in your body, therefore it puts off the most amount of force and it is one we are constantly using. Whether we are using it to stand, run, or sit we like to know that it looks good while we are "working it". 
Here are a couple of ideas to help shape up the booty without the gym. 

Single leg squats done in sets of ten. You want to try and keep you front knee from leaning over your toes and drop down to a 90 degree angle. I could have dropped down a little bit farther. This can also be done with dumbbells in each hand. If you don't have any at home try holding a jug of milk or a laundry detergent container. 

Box squat (another form of a single leg squat) should NOT be done on the edge of a bed like shown. These should be performed on a sturdy surface, such as a coffee table. The idea is to squat down as low as possible. The lower you drop the more this will target your butt as apposed to your quads. I have seen people go as far as touching their butt to their heel and coming back up. It is best to face the wall when starting out so that you have something to steady yourself with. These can also be done with weights. I do mine in sets of 5. 

Glute Bridges can be done in two ways. First you can simply drive your heels into the ground and hold the position seen in the second picture or by dropping your butt to the ground and pushing back up as high as possible. You can also hold a barbell or dumbbells on your hip bones while you do this.  

Single Leg Glute Bridge basically the same thing as above only with one leg in the air. 

Lunges are so great because there are so many ways to perform them. Here are a few things to think about when doing lunges. One: never put your knee on the ground doing so lets your glute muscles relax and defeats the purpose of the exercise. Two: you don't want your front knee to go over your toes it can be very hard on your knees. Three: when doing a walking lunge people tend to want to push off of their back leg which causes them to glide through to the next step instead of using your glute muscles. When standing from the lunge position you should always drive your front heel into the ground and almost solely use your front leg to stand. 
As far as versatility you can lunge down and hold that position like in the picture. You can jump up and switch legs, and even treat it as a single leg squat and do reps. 
One last thing about lunges; I see a lot of people at the gym doing walking lunges with dumbbells at their side. When they go to stand up they swing the dumbbells forward and use that momentum to help them stand. This is very bad; it puts you in a bad position and you use more shoulder muscles then leg muscles. Try instead putting a barbell across your shoulders; doing so forces you to stay in position and really drive with the legs. If done correctly this will have your booty burning for days. 

Well I hope that this helps you get the lift you have always wanted! If you want to know about any other muscle group or just plain health questions give me a holler! 

Drive through the pain. 

-Sonya

Muscular Strength

A friend of mine had asked me about muscle growth the other day. He said that he had upped the amount of weight at the gym and still hasn't gained any on his body. He wanted to know how long it takes for muscles to grow. Well Chris here is your answer. 
The muscular system is extremely complex, we have muscles everywhere in our bodies. Just to give a few examples, we have a tiny muscle called the Arrector pili in the middle layer of our skin, one can only guess that it is used to raise the hairs on our body. This is the muscles only purpose. We also have muscles in the iris of our eyes and even in our blood cell walls. 
But enough about microscopic muscles lets get back to the big guns. Muscle hypertrophy (muscle growth) varies from person to person. This is because no one is built the same. Some people produce more amino acids, protein builders, than others. But don't fret this has a lot to do with the kinda of foods we eat. The more protein a person eats the faster a muscle will grow. Plus, protein helps fight off fatigue. To get the full effect of protein you should try to consume roughly 20 grams of it within 30 minutes of completing your workout. Two protein bars or a glass of chocolate milk and a peanut butter sandwich should do the trick.  
As we get older it is more difficult to build muscles, because our bodies stop naturally growing in our late teens and early twenties. Therefore one must know how to work their muscles in order to gain mass. Muscle memory is a term used when you do something so much that is just becomes automatic to your body. We see this a lot in sports, when the pros make things look easy and natural. This can also happen when you are in the gym lifting. Your muscles will become accustomed to doing the same lifts, and the lift will stop affecting muscle hypertrophy. You need variety in your workouts. Don't do bench press every time you lift upper body. Try it instead with just dumbbells, or do reverse bench press. If you get to the point where you can do 15 reps without getting tired the wight is too light (for muscular strength that is).
If you start to increase your weights and you don't see a noticeable difference after the first couple weeks don't be alarmed. Muscles grow slowly. On average it takes about two weeks for a workout to affect your muscles, sometimes longer. This all depends on your food intake, and what you do the day after. 
Muscles can be complicated. If you need some advice on alternative workouts or eating habits for gaining weight just post a comment! I will be happy to help in anyway that I can! 

Stay positive. 

-Sonya

Getting Started

I was talking to my boyfriends mom the other day and she said she hadn't done any physical activity in a long time. 
"I sat down to stretch and even that was difficult!" she had told me.

My mom said something along the same lines to me a while ago. 

"I went for a 30 minute bike ride and I came back and was so sore for days after. It just made me not want to go out and ride my bike again." 
I get the feeling that this is the case for a lot of people, younger and older, and when everything doesn't start clicking right away they just stop. 
Here are a couple of ways to slowly get back into fitness minimizing the amount of pain. You are going to be sore that can't be avoided but hopefully this helps it to be more tolerable.
Walking is a great way to get back into shape if you haven't worked out is a while. Take a 30 minute walk every day just to get your muscles used to doing physical activity again. After you have done that for a couple of weeks try upping your pace and holding it for the duration of the walk. Get to the point where you are walking swiftly for 30 minutes instead of just leisurely. You will be surprised at how much simply walking can do for you. 
You are going to be sore and stretching for about 20 minutes after your work out can help. I wrote an earlier post about the different types of stretches and when to do them. If you need some advice an stretching check it out! Or just leave a comment for me. 
If you are not big on jogging try swimming! Swimmers experience the least amount of injury because there is barely any pressure on your bones when you are in the water. Do the same thing with swimming as you would walking. Swim casually for about 30 minutes then work your way up! 
Working out is all about knowing where to start, and working your way up to harder things. If you are are older and want to try some of the work outs I have previously posted on here try doing them at a slower pace or a jog! That would be another good way to get into working out again. 
Fitness is something that never goes away. It keeps your body healthy and you can feel it into your old age. My grandpa is 92 years old and he walks at least 3 miles daily. His doctor even said that he is healthier than a lot of young people. He doesn't really eat anything special, and he loves a glass of scotch with a cigar whenever he can. Fitness really helps; you just have to know where to start!
Leave me some comments! 

Failing is the first step to success. 

-Sonya 

I Need a Massage

So the past couple of days have been kind of rough. What with finding time to get a workout in and working practically all day every day I haven't had a whole lot of time to just unwind, or get rid of some soreness. Good news is that I have found a couple ways to get rid of some soreness and stress in a decent amount of time. 

Lets be honest most of us don't have the time to take a full body ice bath after a workout every day. Filling up the bath with cold water and putting ice in it, then actually laying in it for 15 or 20 minutes just isn't going to happen. Instead after a workout take a cold shower! We generally take 10-15 minute showers anyway why not turn it into a rehab as well? The reason we are told to put ice onto a sore spot or a swollen area is because the ice makes our blood thin and it moves more easily through the swollen area. Which means more white blood cells to help with repairs! 

Feet sore and no one wants to touch them? Sit in a chair and place a tennis ball under your foot then simply move your foot back and forth over the ball. This makes for a great arch massage. It feels amazing and you can do it if no one else wants to give you one! You can even do this at the office! If you want a deeper massage use a denser ball. 

Foam rollers are kind of the same concept. Only you can use them on your whole body. I highly recommend investing in one. They are fantastic!

We have all heard about how yoga is a great way to relax and release some stress, which is very true. But not everyone can afford the classes let alone have the time to attend them. So here is what you can do instead. In a dark quiet room lay on the floor facing up. Close your eyes and while breathing deeply and steadily flex your muscles one at a time. Start by clenching your fists and toes then flex your calves and biceps. Work from your extremities inward. Lastly scrunch up your face. While your whole body is flexed and tight take two deep breathes and begin to slowly relax your body in the same fashion. As you release your tension really focus on deep breathing and feeling your stress exit the body. This is one of the simplest forms of yoga and it takes a total of 30 seconds. If you want to give it an extra little boost light a mint or jasmine candle. Both of these sents are said to help relieve stress. 

You can also do this in a warm or cold bath too. It works wonders! 

Try some of these tricks this week and let me know what you think!

Eliminate unnecessary stress.

-Sonya