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