Bloody Hell...what did I do now?

One of those things...

2012-01-06T20:42:00.000Z

I really need to get cracking on this personal training thing. It is all nice and well to be able to get to the exams with a flexible schedule, but that means one has to find the determination within.

During the past 3 month I had the opportunity to part time volunteer in a gym and I learned an awful lot, although it raised a lot of questions as well.

What do I want to achieve with a client? Should I give the clients what they want, although I know it will make them fail in the long run? How much of the success lies in ‘the trainer being an appointment that needs keeping’ rather then the trainer itself? How much of the teaching should go into ‘help them finding the determination within’ as opposed to pure training technique.

Especially at the start of the New Year I read it a lot on facebook: ‘I had my first personal trainer session, it was fantastic; I almost threw up!’ Powering out gives instant gratification but this training style can’t usually be maintained for good.

For how long will one be able and willing to pay for a trainer and hence for the appointment in the calendar. A holiday usually is an all too welcome excuse for a break, and after the appointments slip. By then one has had a bit of success and the ‘urge to do something’ is gone. From then on it goes downhill until next year.

Maybe my idea of training people in a way that they learn how to get themselves out of a dip is a bit naive, and it sort of renders my job ad absurdum, as those people won’t come back next year to pay me. Future will tell if I can make a business that way. For now I have to get the stupid exams out of the way... could do with a bit of personal training for that!

A Challenge of some sort

2011-12-26T09:38:00.000Z

This time it's not the muscles... it's the head. And what a challenge THAT is!

When I eventually got me degree in computer science I promised myself to never EVER do an exam again. Well, here I am... having enrolled into personal trainer school and chickening out whenever I can. So far I can claim that I learned the practical side of it by volunteering in the gym... and I did learn an awful lot, but now I really have to sit down and hammer weird names of bones and muscles into my head. I have to do two courses, a quarter of a year each, and one quarter already has passed... ouch!

It's a weird thing that in the mornings I am determined to get everything done by end March and in the evenings I am never quite sure as another day has passed without feeling successful... Maybe I should not talk so much about my plans as Derek Sivers in his TED talk suggests.

Determination and guts is not the only thing needed, a bit of brain would be nice, too. I never was good in learning stuff by heart, but man: having an old brain sucks! There are quite a many books about how to utilise your brain better to learn more efficiently like Tony Buzan's mind mapping... Crux is: I don't have enough time left to learn how to learn... It would be nice to get the exam done before I fall into complete senile dementia and the subject being personal trainer kind of implies the availability of some sort of physical capability, too.

So darlings, would you please again cross your fingers for me and wish me luck for the new year. I might go a bit silent on Facebook and the blogs, but I surely will read and appreciate your messages.

Thanks a bunch and always yours
Rika
xx

a little wrap up!

2011-06-15T21:24:00.000+01:00

Hi Dears,

just to let you know that I had an article published in our company online magazine about my competition. In there I am asking people to become my guinea pigs for learning how to train people. In a few weeks time my training to become Personal Trainer will start and I will need practice, won't I?

So I had to get official permission from the gym board to do such a thing and they not only agreed, but asked me to provide a poster. Yay!

In doing so I have been digging through some pictures and I thought I share the outcome with you.

So firstly here is a proper picture of my trophy

Then there is me fat and frumpy in 2004, featuring a size 12 upper and 14-16 bottom

These jeans are rather fortunate, even, as they are very very stretchy thick fabric, keeping things in nicely in place

And then there is me in 2011

... am now starting to look forward to November, for the N.A.B.B.A Novice Finals

But first things first: I had fantastic feedback from the article and may have found two clients already, and in a good weeks time I am off to my dream holiday in Sumatra, which is a bit of a challenge in itself - spiders, insects... and such.

So see you then around mid July with updates on my training, the school and what else might crop up!

Ta ta!

It's over... for now!

2011-06-08T08:15:00.000+01:00

Oh my goodness me, what a day that was. So, during the 5th of June 2011, I actually was quite cool. We collected my fan club and made our way to Great Yarmouth, a one and a half hours, with two cars. The driving was fun and went well and leisurely dressed with a bag full of shoes, makeup, towels and bikini I arrived well in time before the show started.

yep, didn't forget to put the bikini on

After all the make-up tests I had decided to finish my face and hair but would leave the body untanned to avoid patches from clothes rubbing it off. The fake tan description said put it on an hour before, on arrival we were told: 'You can get into the changing room 20 minutes before, plenty of time!' Duh?

So my dear makeup girl Imola and I found ourselves in the freezing cold ladies toilet to paint a lady with something that looks like shoe polish.And then things went very quickly.

We were called into the wardrobe and it turned out that I was the only contestant in my category, as was the lady in the toned figure class. We were happy to find out that we knew each other from the gym I had been working out previously, and hence the atmosphere was rather chatty; still not nervous. Tan looked good, bikini got glued to the rear, and off we went back stage, me with Imola in tow who was holding my shoes.

With a quick run through I still was quite calm until the toned figure started her bit... Panic kicking in!

All of a sudden my name was called, and I felt moving like a robot, the music started, I remember the first few moves and then it all became a bit of an outer body experience. I thought I had messed it up, having trouble remembering what's next at least on three occasions.

Luckily my fan club as well as the video confirmed that this wasn't the case. Nevertheless, my first reaction when coming off stage: 'Never, ever again!' Whereas my toned show mate was all cheery and wanted to go back on stage instantly... hmmmm?!?

Despite lack of competitors I had to do the compulsory poses... in heels! Should have practiced that a bit. I love my heels and can walk them very well, but posing in heels I find a bit surreal and very wobbly.

However, I received my trophy from the lady who won last year and who I had feared so much. Gosh was I glad that I didn't have to compete with her, but it was nice that she did the presentation. Eventually I could relax a bit and I started to enjoy the show.

We all were a bit exhausted, so we didn't wait for the show to end and made our way home, but not without a stop-over at a restaurant. A bit of an after party was well deserved and after an entire day of plain rice and water the pasta dish was quite a treat.


Back at the changing room

Miss Toned and Miss Trained Figure

I stayed true to my 'Never, ever again!" exclamation until I had a closer look at the sheet of paper that goes with the trophy. An invite to the N.A.B.B.A (the official amateur association) Novice National Finals in November in Birmingham...

I mean, ... I am almost there... a lot of the work is done already... and 5 month time...

... and so the story goes on!

I will compete again. I will be more confident in my routine, and I eventually will have my legs!

Until then: 'Happy lifting!'

Enjoy the show!

Please find more pictures at my Picasa Web

It's Time!

2011-06-03T20:13:00.000+01:00

Wish me luck, dear friends! I will need it! You all have been a wonderful support and encouragement. Only less then 48 hours to go and I am feeling in a weird state of nervousness, wanting to be on this stage, and wanting to get it done and over with. I have done everything I could do, the shape won't change anymore and I will have to live with those last wobbles, and I have practiced my posing as much as I could. I still see a thousand and one flaws in this last video, but I am hoping that Adrenalin will do the rest. So here are the last 5 takes of 'Thus spoke Zarathustra'... I have a hunch that after Sunday I do not wish to hear it ever again...

Stay tuned for the report of the event!

Ta ta!

The Last...

2011-05-27T18:40:00.000+01:00

Yep, the countdown is on! Today was the last 'chest and back' day, tomorrow will be the last leg day before the competition, and now the focus has completely moved to 'POSING'.

Two days ago it was the first time that I felt I nailed it, didn't forget anything and was pretty well timed to the music.Hubby saw it and was impressed, so 'YAY!'

But still a lot to do. Today my friend Imola saw it for the first time and approved of it... although she mentioned that I do look a bit grumpy... Acknowledged! Although I don't want to smile, I surely don't want to look grumpy.

And I took the video camera for the first time. I have to see myself from the back, and I have to practice different directions of the room. That is so weird, as soon as I am turning round I keep forgetting my routine. It now is essential that I learn and feel it from my point on stage and not from what I see in the mirror and the context of the room. Due to lack of trainer, I have a hunch that the camera will be my best friend during the next week.

Here is my first video. It was meant to happen a bit differently, though. I had brought a bikini and decided to set up the camera first before changing. By the time that was done I was so knackered that I couldn't get the routine straight anymore.

The footage is good enough, though, to see where all the major flaws are. There is definitely attitude and confidence missing; because I am usually controlling myself in the mirror I am not always posing into the optimal direction because I am trying to get a good look rather then to feel (especially on the triceps, which is one of my best muscles); some arm and hand positions are not well aligned; I have to calm it down, there is too much wiggling going on, and legs definitely need work but I will focus on those when I will have footage in a bikini.

Oh my, one week to go. But as I said before, a week ago I could hardly remember the moves, and now I at least know how to train. Wish me luck!

PS: I am doing this challenge as a fund raiser for my favourite charity Orangutan Land Trust. Please consider sponsoring me for 1 year of hard work, sweat and worries - well, and maybe for seeing me on stage in a bikini with horrible sticky fake tan and oil, trying to remember my routine. And here is a currency converter for all my non-UK friends ;o)

Less than 3 weeks now!

2011-05-18T08:11:00.000+01:00

Oh it's so weird! Eventually I dared measuring myself after realising that my weight had gone down by a good kilo. Well, I seem to have got leaner, except the darn ankles. I actually lost around the biceps although it looks bigger now. All very confusing - I think I will just stop measuring.

At least I did the photo test for the fake tan. Don't laugh please! My nose looks like a sad dog nose. Never put fake tan on in artificial light, and never rush it. I am expecting to get more pictures, but for now those two have to do.

Since we took them the legs actually got a bit leaner... oh well! I was such a harsh critic of others... I will have to take quite a big dose of my own medicine.

The pics are deliberately taken from below as this is where the people will be - oh my!

The difference is actually amazing, now I have to work on hair and makeup

Still working on the posing routine... can't memorise the darn thing to safe my life... So not at a stage to tape it yet, but practicing every day now. Hoping to have something by the weekend...hopefully... cross fingers... break a leg... somebody has a penny and a four leaf clover...?

Gotta go practice now!
Ta ta

Oh... My... Goodness!

2011-05-02T23:52:00.000+01:00

Firstly a 'Hello' to everybody! I am hoping that you all had a good Easter and spring break. At least England had a lot of free days thanks to the royal wedding. It is back to work now and thus I am duly sitting at my computer reporting the latest developments. So this is where we are at less than 5 weeks to go:

Training: Not as good as I had hoped. Due to dodgy knees and a bad cold the bottom bit is still lacking development. Well, and then I have to admit that I got weak. When I realised that I wouldn't get into the shape that I had hoped for, I let the nutrition part of things slack as well during the holidays.We were out and about every day, shopping, meeting people, and I find it hard to keep up the regime at the best of times, with a dispirited mind the cakes and paninis at Cafe Neros were just too tempting. So now it's back to the gym with a huff and a puff. Let's see what can still be achieved in 5 weeks!

Bikini: Yay! Reconsidered from black to emerald green crushed velvet after I saw the fabric samples which Tracey of Fit for U Bikinis sent me. We are now discussing design of the crystals and I still have to send her the measurements, but I am well on my way.

Tan: That is one part which caused the title of this blog. I ordered tan, glaze (to make it all shiny) and bikini glue from Tracey, and with a bit of luck I will have photo shoot this week to try it out. This stuff is seriously scary! ... and you read correctly: Bikini glue. While in 'Miss Congeniality' Michael Caine was allowed to spray Sandra Bullock's buttocks with hairspray to stop the bikini from riding up, I will be using a much more professional remedy. Cross fingers it works!

Posing routine: This is the other title reference. The music I chose is very dramatic and worthy an Arnold Schwarzenegger, while I am only a rather tiny lady... oh well. I am going to use the theme of '2001: A Space Odyssey' (trailer from approx. 2:08), I have mapped poses to it and now I have to learn it... It's still all over the place, but today I did the first proper session to memorise the movements - will hopefully post photos/video soon.

Fund raising: Another Yay! I have set up my fundraising page for Orangutan Land Trust. I would very much appreciate if you would sponsor me for my challenge. Some of my photographer friends already confirmed that they will come at take pictures, so there will definitely be pictures of me on stage in this horrible brown colour to prove that I really did it! Or you just come to Great Yarmouth and see for yourself. The fundraising page is absolutely safe as provided by BT and the page and charity registration there is completely free, so every penny goes to the charity.

What after...?

I decided to enroll in courses to become a personal trainer. Yep! I eventually came round to it again. I had considered it about four years ago already, but somehow couldn't see myself begging gym owners to allow me to train my clients at their facilities and giving them up to 50% of my income. I am now planning to just do my own thing. Not sure how that business will look like in detail, but I have a plan! First things first, though: With a bit of luck I can get a place in a school at my home town from September on. Will keep you posted.

That's it for now. I am wishing you a good work week with a lot of sunshine!

Ta ta

Bikini Decission Taken

2011-04-07T06:43:00.001+01:00

I got the following feedback from my bikini poll

Dark green velvet:

2 'possible maybe, don't know, can't really tell'
1 'definitely not'

Black velvet:

1 definitely, plain
1 definitely, sparkly

Since the sparkly supporter is paying and I like sparkly, too, I will go for black velvet with sparkles!

And I will order a bottle of fake tan for practice... ojojojoj... black and orange with sparkles ... what a sight that must be!

All that is missing then is the posing routine... unfortunately can't buy that...

Bikini Decission Needed

2011-04-04T06:40:00.000+01:00

Time is flying and I need to order my bikini. There are not too many options, and since I might only be doing this once I wasn't keen on paying too much money. To my delight 'Fit for U Bikinis' has a standard model on offer which cost only 40 quid. And then the sizing page didn't work.

Finding myself in a mode of desperation by now, I decided to write an email and pointing out the fault... and... oh well, as I am on it... I might want to ask for the cost of a bikini with a bit of a sparkle as well. Turns out that it is affordable and really rather pretty.


pix courtesy to Tracey, Fit for U Bikinis without deco - pretty

... and with deco
- very pretty -

It makes quite a difference. With the sparkle it feels more like a stage costume rather than a bikini, but that might just be me.

So, Dears!

It is decided that this woman is going to get herself some crystals for the show. It is a once in a lifetime event after all, lets just have it with a nice, big Bang!

Now the question of colour arises. I instantly fell in love with the blue pictures Tracy sent me. So vibrant and elegant. But I have to be reasonable - blue is the colour that suits me least. On the other hand I will be fake tanned like hell, so skin tone will not make any difference.

One should not forget however, that I own a head full of rather fiercly red hair which might go well with green velvet. Unfortunately on the screen, the sample colour of the website looks rather dark, and green in general is not a vibrant colour unless it is of the 'swimming pool lining' variety.

I am confused!

I am herewith summoning my supporters for advice. Shall I use velvet or some other material? Which colour is best? Tell me, tell me... !

Now I have to go and measure myself .

Ta ta!

New Pix

2011-03-22T08:50:00.000Z

Eventually, I have a few new pictures. I had another photo shoot in which Barry, the photographer, wanted to do a few experiments with the light. It then turned out that my back is rather well suited for this purpose and thus I came to get hold of some new shots. I am hoping to do another proper Bodybuilding shoot some time in April, but for now have a look at the 'artistic' stuff.

By: Barry 'Baz' Crabtree

More Pictures of the shoot:

My Picasaweb

Awww.... Happy Bunny

2011-02-25T10:03:00.001Z

Just to let you know that I had a fantastic workout this morning despite having been grumpy since a few days. Had skipped shoulders and arms this week due to migraine and still feeling under the weather the legs went down swimmingly today. Yuppie!

Additionally I am getting nicely lean now and am closer to 'My Legs' than I ever was. So yes! It's going well.

Have a photo shoot lined up for 25th March. Let's see how much leg I dare revealing by then.

Wishing you a lovely weekend
Ta ta

So disappointed!

2011-02-01T06:32:00.000Z

I know, I know, I know! I preached it myself: Do not rely on scales and measurements, yeah, yeah...

It's all true, I shouldn't! But with the competition only 17 weeks ago I am getting kinda nervous, and it would be oh so wonderful if there were just anything confirming that I am getting somewhere. My most recent measurements however told me that I am not!

Well, I had a bit of a rough spot before and around Christmas, but I had hoped that I would be at least back to the stage where I was at my leanest, at least according to those darn measurements. I actually felt quite good before I stood on this darn scale. I know that my legs are getting stronger and the gluts are kicking in a bit as well. I am working hard to get the shoulder mass back and most importantly:

Gym is fun again, and

food is not a real problem!

So here's to my new training plan - 4 splits, and training mostly in the mornings... if that doesn't work!?! And since 1st January, 00:01, I did not have sugary food, white bread or alcohol. I can see the fat falling off me, and I am not missing anything. It's just that I had hoped to get a bit further. Well, I have done that math before: 1kg fat = 7000 cals = 3 weeks if saved about 300cals per day. 17 weeks left = a bit short of a stone. There I am, rather perfect actually!

Now I have to focus on finding a bikini and learning a bit more about the tanning stuff. I don't want to be too shiny. Oh well, and then there is this tiny matter of posing. I actually found a quite interesting site for the compulsory poses. It's all male stuff, but I tried a few things and figured that I actually look better in those rather then trying to make it look more female. I can't deny the fact that I have short legs, so no point in desperately looking elegant, not happening anyway.

So that's all I have for now: At least I gave myself a little boost. And I am telling you: Stay away from the scales... they are evil!

Food things

2011-01-26T08:39:00.015Z

Three and a half weeks without alcohol, sugar and white bread: I am feeling very smug. And I actually can be, I can see the fat peeling off. I definitely am back to the best phase that I had before Christmas.

So it actually only is starting now. And there is the first hicki: I am getting a bit bored with my food! Because I wanted to get back to my starting point quickly I stayed with the foods of which I know the calories and then tried to balance around 1800 cals. It worked perfectly fine, but it means:

my own bread - which is nice as it has a lot of nuts and seeds,
mince meat loaf,
eggs, and
bananas,
topped up with the occasional voluptuous lettuce, the pasta version
Well, and the infamous protein shakes

That's it!

It is a good diet, it has everything I need, but a bit boring so I have been browsing through my recipes and found the Weird Cheesecake, a brilliant protein bomb and simple to make. No idea why I forgot about it. So that is my new favourite for now.

Now I am looking forward to Saturday. The day of truth: 4 weeks in and measurements are to be taken.

Until then: Happy lifting!

Best workouts happen in the brain

2011-01-17T06:54:00.000Z

What a wonderful mooorning... what a beautiful daaahahaay! This is me trying to sing...

I am a happy bunny because I eventually turned a corner. When I was in the gym I had a floating moment... which actually shouldn't happen there..., but this time I started thinking about my workout schedule and realised that I am still attached to other people instead of doing my thing. I had fixed my gym times but very much in accordance to constraints which were not mine.

I like to work out in the mornings but that is when I go to work, I do not like to work out in the evenings, but that is when my training partner goes. In this case partner is husband and we are not training together to focus on my goal but to do something together. Sorry hubby, for the next four and a half month we will have to find something else. Training wise I am out. If I need a spotter, I will find one.

And work: I am working flexible hours anyway. I can work out in the mornings and work in the afternoons and even the evenings.

During this gym session I decided that nothing is more important than my training and until the competition I will train in the mornings. If people want to join me: Fine! If not: Fine, too!

Be prepared for regular updates now. ASN, the guys organising the competition have started sending out newsletters with info about Protein intake, fat loss, and so on. Should you be interested, have a look at their website and sign up for the newsletters. I now will work my way through those and I will make myself a plan for those good 4 month.

Happy lifting!

20 weeks to go!

2011-01-17T06:47:00.000Z

After a sluggish Christmas break I am starting to organinse my Bodybuilding lifestyle.

Bang on 1/1/11 00:01 I stopped alcohol, sweets and white bread.
By 14th I had two full weeks of workout and it had gone well although I still didn't have the 'killer instincts' back.

Now it's time to crank it up and this is how I intend to get the shape I want.

Weeks	W/C	Training	Notes
20	17/01	heavy
19	24/01	heavy
18	31/01	heavy
17	07/02	light +cardio
16	14/02	light +cardio
15	21/02	heavy
14	28/02	heavy
13	07/03	heavy
12	14/03	heavy
11	21/03	week off
10	28/03	heavy
9	04/04	heavy
8	11/04	heavy
7	18/04	light +cardio
6	25/04	heavy
5	02/05	heavy
4	09/05	heavy
3	16/05	light +cardio
3	23/05	light + cardio
1	30/05	light

Show time!

Overtrained

2011-01-05T06:46:00.000Z

Oh my goodness! Who would have thought that with just three sessions per week and a bit of cardio one could overtrain.

Well, I had been training with rather heavy weights quite intensely, but each muscle only once a week. I didn't think it possible that way, today however I got proof. Let me turn the story back a bit, though.

I had encountered the phenomenon of overtraining before: at that time I was training heaviest weights, in 3-5 sets with less than 8 reps each, twice a week. Then I learned about High Intensity Training, where each muscle is only trained once the week, the weight is reduced to about 70 %, the sets reduced to maximum of 2, repetitions raised to 10-12, the exercise executed very slowly and possibly weights are ripped at the end or half reps are done. It kicked in like mad, the number of injuries went down and I looked better than ever.

I however didn't have an aim at that time and so I always had phases when I trained less intense or took breaks altogether, hence I never had problems. Now I had decided to do the competition and religiously went to the gym week after week. Then I realised that I got a persistent muscle ache from the slightest endurance session, I felt tired, I couldn't concentrate and the muscles felt flat. Those were exactly the same symptoms as last time, but I still thought that it could not be and that I maybe coming down with something.

Well, eventually I caught a cold and took a break, but the next session still felt not right. And now we had the Christmas break. I felt rather grumpy about all the days the gym was closed, it however turned out to be the best thing that could happen to me. The reduced training during the weeks before and now another two weeks off gave proof that the reason for the whole moaning was overtraining.

Today I went back to the gym for the first time. And although I still feel some leftovers of the cold I had a really good training session. Got through the whole thing without feeling hungry or sleepy, although the gym was stuffed and oxygen scarce. I lifted max weight with max reps and it felt good. And then I remembered a blog about overtraining which I had read some years ago, confirming all the symptoms.

So it seems that I am back now, and it seems that I have to organise my training and my sleep even better. I will have to take down times with smaller weights and just pumping some reps, without actually exhausting the muscle and I will have to use those down times for posing training.

The task now is to count backwards from the 5th June - Competition Day - and to make a proper plan. Yay! I get to write another list.

Will keep you posted!

Now I have to!

2010-12-09T07:33:00.000Z

I got the entry form for the Anglian Bodybuilding Championships, it'll go into the mail today.

Oh my goodness, I don't think it already has sunk in entirely. Although I had an inspired training session yesterday. Eventually! I can't believe that I was so down lately. I am just hoping the inspiration stays.

And here is the proof!


... and no! I am not giving you my address and telephone number...

Pics, pics, pics, ...

2010-11-05T16:28:00.019Z

Eventually I have a few new pictures for you. I had a bit of a dreadful time. It's more than a week now since my last post about the back ache, and eventually it is getting better. I did a bit of light training just to see the extent of the damage, and I seem to have got lucky with something cold inflicted rather than a real injury. So tonight and tomorrow I will still be a bit careful but I hope to be able to pick it up again to the normal standards by next week.

At least I took my chances with my dear photographer friend Matt. This was our first shoot and it was a warm-up, so to say. Hence I couldn't go full power with the weights anyway. One has to find a rhythm and the light weights suited me just fine. A great pay-off for light training!

So those are not training photos, or real progress photos, but I think he captured ME quite well. It turned out that we are a really good team and that I am feeling quite at ease with him. This way the pictures which show me in exercise are not staged. This is how I truly look like when I am training on my own.

Neck Press

... prepare ...

... ready ...

... lift!

Cable Fly - one of my favourites!

Squats, ...
oh well... still need a lot of work!

... a bit of biceps for the fun of it ...

... and the whole package, still in need for posing practice!

I hope you enjoyed the update. I definitely will have more shoots with Matt in the nearer future, so stay tuned!

BTW: I have a whole series of blogs running now under the name of Incredible Ladies Project, still not a feminist thing, just everything seen from a female point of view as I am pretty much undeniably female... The ILP homepage has a twitter feed running now via which I am announcing new publications that happened on the blogs. If you would like to get a more selective notification there is still the option of subscribing to individual blogs via the RSS feed.

All I'm saying is: Incredible Ladies ... and Rika... are back!

No news is bad news

2010-10-27T06:36:00.003+01:00

Oh this is so annoying! I strained my back... in my sleep!

... and now I am feeling a bit like a zombie, because it wakes me at night. It is one of those pains one can't locate really well, or which can be soothed by adopting a certain posture. It comes and goes as it pleases. So I cautiosly skipped the last two training sessions and haven't been walking either, since I am really feeling under the weather.

But it's not all bad news:
Diet seems to be ok. I am feeling so much leaner now and when due to the colder weather I got one of my sleek turtlenecks out of the wardrobe yesterday, I was so happy to see that the muscles nicely show underneath.

Well, and now that I have all the blogs for ILP are in place and a writing routine is kicking in again I will be focussing on this one again, as well. My list of supporters is growing, so again: let me know if you would like to be on there!

And yes! With a bit of luck I will have pictures soon. Big Matt - the one from the supporters list - eventually as moved passed his autumnal fishing phase and has come back to photography and this Friday we want to meet in the gym to snap a few pictures. I think he may be using a bit smaller camera though...

So that is it for today, I will keep myself under the radar training wise until Friday hoping that the back will be fine by then, and cross fingers that I will be back with a few photos!

It's been a while...

2010-09-25T20:00:00.002+01:00

Eventually, I am back... almost a month has passed that I have been updating the blog. Well, I actually wanted to save you my constant moaning.

It is unbelievable: Since I decided to do this bodybuilding competition I have had more disruptions, invitations, and temptations than during the previous 5 years. I have been in restaurants almost every week, and once I start eating comfort food I am doomed. I have never felt more of a food addict like at the moment.

However, with a bit of luck I am back. I at least have trained well and I am getting stronger. A lot of the exercises feel more controlled, I could raise the number of repitions and in some even the weight. And the rear is definitely growing.

So yes, I will not give up! Even if I have periods during which I am not good with the food or the fat burning exercises like walking, I do not neglect the weight training and am feeling good there.

Will be back more often now and put on further videos. Those actually have been proven very helpful. I got a good comment on the shoulder exercises and will follow that advice.

Off I go into the stretch towards Christmas. No excuses!
See you around...
xx

Oh, all this going out....

2010-09-01T06:15:00.006+01:00

Going out again tomorrow!

This really is a big hiccup - sports project, being determined and wanting to keep your friends... or making new ones for that matter.

I am getting better in not even wanting the little things one grabs on the site when making a trip to somewhere. I can resist the ice cream man in the street, and the waffles. But the social meetings are something one has to practice, apparently.

At home I prepare portions about which I have a rough idea how much it will cost me, in a restaurant I have no clue; but not eating is not an option either people don't feel comfortable when being watched eating. I have a theory that a lot of food sharing from ones own plate happens not because one is full, but because one hates that the other one being finished and now watching.

However, I am starting to develop some rules now - as soon as I have rules to stick with things become easy, e.g:

A bit of cake - very very difficult! Which cake, how much, greed, timing, easily nibbled on the side... grrr

No cakes - easy! Don't think about it, if you think about it say a definite 'No' and the thought goes

So now the tasks are:

to make sure that I know in the mornings so that I can plan the food for the rest of the day,
to find good restaurants, and
do the suggesting and booking myself.

Well, first one has to determine what a 'good' restaurant is. It cooks with little salt, has different sizes in portion and allows ordering separate things rather then one dish on a platter.

In the close proximity where one lives one always will find one or two restaurants in which one can stick to a particular dish. I used to always eat the Ceasar salad at our favourite Italian. But what if one is someplace else. Then one needs a particular style of food or a chain.

Last week I found out that Nandos is great. Firstly it is very plain food, you pop the sauces from a bottle. It is mainly chicken and it comes in different sizes and one can add a selection of side orders in two sizes. Perfect!

Tapas is good as well. One orders little portions of things, usually 3-4 per person and then it is all shared. Usually I don't particularly like that because people keep ordering things I don't like and then eat what I ordered. But that is sort of the point now. And Tapas is very much in fashion and Moorish and Spanish places are on the 'Up'.

And then of course there are some rules:
No starter, I will not even go there a little bit, not even a salad, not even shared. Be honest: One usually is already full after the starters. And given that my usual dinner has something around 600 cals, an amount that makes me happy and feel good... a starter would do! But then the whole watching people eat thing is happening again. Not eating starter is more approved. They are all so hungry that they don't care.

No desert! Again, I will not even be thinking about it. And again it is the watching people eat thing. Apparently the fuller they get the less they like being watched. I noticed that once one declines having desert all the others do as well. So I have coffee! Luckily it doesn't affect me at night. Propblem solved!?!

Now I will have to fight off all the well meaning people asking me if I want to try; 'Really, it's really nice, you should try a bit, that bit won't hurt you, it's a lot I have here, you can try!' NO! I don't want to! If you feel guilty about stuffing your face with sweets, then deal with it, but don't blame it on me! If I wanted I would have ordered myself! I AM NOT HAVING IT!

Holiday's Over

2010-08-31T06:16:00.002+01:00

The holidays are over, back to normal now. Well, it's only 6 hours 15 minutes in and I am not feeling entirely back. Got up at 5:40 and now waiting for the cappuccino to kick in.

This hols showed me that there is a need to consolidate lives: There is still my normal daily life with work, household, friends, going out and hobbies, and separate from that there is my bodybuilding life. The task of the next couple of month will be to bring those two together. The other things have to bend to the bodybuilding regime, otherwise I won't be successful.

It is a bit easier here in England because my friends support the bodybuilding stuff. Back in Germany I got so many raised fingers: "But not too much, girl!" I didn't even get to telling my family that I want to compete. That really brought the mood levels down. I had been quite excited to meet them and to collect my praise... silly! Still making myself dependent on the opinion of others and let them bring me down. But I guess a lot of you might know this feeling with family...

Then I had a lot of dust biting in bringing my house up to scratch. There is not a single shelf I didn't touch. Meaning the house is clean and I have the dust sniffles. There was a bit of cold at the beginning but now it definitely is allergies. In a nutshell: Holidays was not really relaxing, still feeling a bit under the weather, but it was very successful in a way that I have peace of mind with the house work now, and it was very unsuccessful in terms of training, indeed. Hence there is a lot to learn from this break!

At least I had a good session on Saturday and when going out with friends for dinner on Sunday, I did well with the food. So it seems that I am getting back on track, and am looking forward to having my routine back.

Today is shoulder, abs, arms day and we will see how that goes. I am thinking a lot about how to fine tune my training, still shifting the exercises a bit, but I'm almost there. I guess by end of September I will know if it is all working well and nailing it down in order to be prepared for the Christmas season with all its temptations.

Oh that’s not good, is it?

2010-08-24T19:22:00.000+01:00

I am starting to believe that holidays are overrated; at least what certain projects are concerned.

Thing is that I am not doing my thing at the moment. Eventually I have been travelling for a long weekend, to which I have been looking forward, and brought me as a gift a lot of clothes and a cold. The clothes are really lovely the cold really goes on my nerves. Airplanes, air-cons, shopping malls, ... all things to catch such a bugger and it is dragging on since more than a week now.

Next thing is meeting people. During holidays one has to catch up with all the social meetings which have been neglected before. Not that I wouldn’t like to see all those people, it’s just that the only occupation while seeing them is eating – a lot! I guess I tripled the calorie intake during those three days making it a weeks worth of food.

Admittedly I could have cut short on what was on offer, but there were a few things which I had promised myself due to the fact that I was in Germany, like the cakes, and in restaurants the portions are just so big. I already have become better in leaving leftovers, but I am far from what is needed and for me that always will be a challenge in itself.

Additionally the people I have been meeting are not interested in my project, some even oppose to it. So the thing that I enjoy, that is on my mind continuously, and that I am proud of, I had to hide away or play down.

And you know what? After a short while one is starting to believe what one is telling those people. It really brings the motivation levels down. The first training after I came back went badly, so I had hoped to meet my friend in the gym on Saturday; this usually lifts me up. Although the cold showed first signs, a light training and a bit of motivation would have done me good. But due to holiday we went to London on Saturday. Don’t get me wrong, I had a lovely day, any other day than Saturday however, would have been better. I didn’t feel like bringing the training forward and hence planned for catching up on Monday, but didn’t feel like it either, when the day came, and today – Tuesday – I went down with heavy sneezing entirely.

I have not been more demoralised in a long time and am now looking forward to my work routine. Please cross fingers for me that things will fall back into place from next Monday on!

Yay! This was a good week :o))

2010-07-31T17:46:00.008+01:00

After all that moaning and groaning of the past weeks I eventually can report that the last week was a good one.

At first I was unsure because I just couldn't get some powerwalking in, but when I mounted on the scale this morning it was:

65 kg!

This is almost a kg down and that despite the ice cream binge last month. I am pleased!

Training went well, and today I deadlifted 85kg which is 20kg! more than I weigh and 5 kg more than last time... and it felt good, and safe and I could do 6 and 5 reps. Utterly pleased with that!

And I eventually am a bit creative as well and wrote another colum. This time on finding focus to eventually being able to not slip into those moody places again.

So now I am looking forward to a good time with holidays (at home and with a lot of training) ahead of me.

... a quick quickie

2010-07-27T07:18:00.002+01:00

... nothing but panic! Had a bad month, hormones all over the place, grumpy, greedy, lazy. Feeling awful!

At least the greed is gone and I can easily live without sweets, still a bit grumpy and tired, and now the date is out! Whenever I think of it I feel like getting the runs. Ordered the entry form yesterday, nevertheless.

... and I may have got an idea what sort of music I would like. The biggest challenge of all, to make an amusical person pose to music with precision.

Bloody hell...

Oh my goodness... we have a date!

2010-07-26T07:27:00.002+01:00

Just googled the Anglian Bodybuilding Championships and found that the new poster is out!

We are on:

5th June 2011

Panic kicking in!

Hmm?!?

2010-07-13T11:13:00.003+01:00

I didn't write anything for a while because I wasn't really sure what to tell you. Routine has kicked in now - as I had wished for - and hence nothing really has happened.

A good week ago on a Saturday I woke up and felt... successful. And as it was Saturday, the day when I usually do some measuring I enthusiastically threw myself into the full program: used my scale, used the device at the gym, used the measuring tape, gathered it all together, logged into the blog... and NOT A SINGLE THING HAD CHANGED. How can I feel stronger, leaner, my clothes fit differently and neither the sizes nor the percentages have changed?

Thus disillusioned I felt a cold cropping up on top of it all, still keeping it at bay but I am really rather tired. Fatigue makes me peckish, so apart from the fact that I now fell into a burger and ice-cream addiction there is not a lot to tell. At least I am not getting fatter again.

Well, and I definitely do get bigger. A top that I haven't worn for some time fits all of a sudden quite tightly around the chest, and trousers which used to slip now sit nicely on some growing glutes. It all just goes so slowly... patience is a virtue I do not have, I guess.

I am however proud of myself in regard to gym. I didn't skip a single session however tired I was, and I am working hard and enjoying it. The powerwalking on the treadmill is now incorporated into the Monday training and I am trying to fit in an additional session per week. Skipping the rowing marathon and gaining the time for other stuff was a very good decision.

And I am now starting to build some sort of a scene at my gym. Just asked a guy about his training and got really good info on calf training, resulting in me having to add another exercise. So I will now see to get the leg training on here next. It's summer break soon and the gym will empty, that always works well for shooting movies.

So that's it: Eating too much red meat and sugar, doing good training, and still having to crack the posing. We got a new iPad now and hubby put all the music on there. This is a decent device for playing music around the house and for me to hopefully find something I like.

Nothing much to report really... apparently we have reached the boring part of it all, now that the first excitement has settled.

Shoulder Cable Reverse Fly

2010-07-04T10:43:00.003+01:00

... and the last exercise for the shoulders is for the rear head!

Some more information on shoulder training you can find in the Incredible Ladies Sport section.

... and a change!

2010-06-30T08:34:00.002+01:00

This very morning I decided to do the indoor rowing marathon AFTER the bodybuilding championship.

I had planned for the marathon well before the idea of the championship cropped into my mind, and initially I thought I would need the rowing training to help me get rid of the fat depods - hence I never questioned my decision wanting to do the rowing this October.

Now, 10 weeks into the bodybuilding training I am realising that it will not work this way round. In my mind the focus is on the championship, I just can't think of anything else. I do some rowing, but not enough to train for a marathon, and it is impossible to do this while keeping the focus on the weights at the same time.

My progress on the muscle front is so brilliant and I am feeling so good with it that I am not willing to interreupt it. Additionally my focus within this project has changed a bit. Whereas at the beginning it was all about 'going there and having some fun' and 'just wanting to have done it once in a life' I now am going there for the 'kill' - I want to win this!

I have seen the competition and I know that I can do it, or that I can get pretty close. If this lady is competing next year, then I want to give her a hard time - in the best possible way!

... and to get there I definitely will need these 11 month without any distractions.

So decided it is: I will swap the two events. I will do the competition first and then do the marathon next year. Life won't stop in it's tracks by next June and one will need a new focal point for 'after' anyway.

Since it is decided I feel relieved and free - hence the decision is a good one!

Just a quickie - Something 65...

2010-06-30T07:08:00.002+01:00

Yippie, this morning I have seen a '5' coming after the '6' on my scale. It is 65.9 kg but still, it is showing. That makes a loss of 2.5 kg in two and a half month and given that I am aiming for a kilo loss per month that is bang on target.

Then I am going to have another photo shoot next week with a new photographer, weather permitting as it is an outdoor shoot, and I am just about to arrange for another one with ChrisW in three month time.

Weather is good, so I will be working a bit more on my tan, and training is fun and kicking in.

Shoulder Cable Fly, one arm - 2010

2010-06-23T22:12:00.004+01:00

The 4th exercise is targeting the middle head of the shoulders as well.

Actually I think the official name is lateral lift. These names are really confusing and I never really know if it is lifting or flying that I do. However, I know how to execute the exercise so that it works for me!

This lateral lift comes in a two arm version as well, but that means that the cables have to cross in front of the body. That means that they either tend to tuck in the clothes when one is as upright as one would like to be for a good execution, or one has to bend forward a bit and then the movement feels awkward for me. So I rather invest twice the time and do the shoulders separately.

Again, the shoulders are kept down, there is no neck clenching.

Some more information on shoulder training you can find in the Incredible Ladies Sport section.

Shoulder Dumbbell Fly, seated - 2010

2010-06-23T21:58:00.004+01:00

The 3rd shoulder exercise targets the middle head of the shoulders.

This exercise is usually executed while standing, I used to do it that way. Then a lot more weight can be used and it looks rather impressive, but it is all too tempting to use the momentum of the down movement to get the weight up again.

When I tried Oaks Gym - where all the big boys are training - I didn't find small enough weights and had to do the standing version. Result: Horrible muscle ache in the neck and none in the shoulders the next day. That means that with too much weight and using the momentum of the swinging weight there is no real focus on the target muscle. Additionally I am not keen to get a bigger neck than I already have, hence I am doing the not so impressive version which fully targets the middle head of the shoulder.

Additionally I would like to stress that in all shoulder exercises, the neck is actually never clenched, meaning that the shoulders are kept down even in the lift.

Some more information on shoulder training you can find in the Incredible Ladies Sport section.

Diary 19/06/10 - The new leg training...

2010-06-19T10:14:00.005+01:00

... and it is a good one! After all the amendments I had made, today was the first time that I worked through the whole thing in the right order- or at least through what I thought the right order should be - and I could not run to my car despite rather heavy rain: That is what I call muscle exhaustion.

Squat, deadlift & Co
I had added deadlifts a while ago, but had put them at the end of the training, with the idea in mind that after the leg press, which was the main leg exercise and came first, I would be too exhausted to do deadlifts straight away. So doing all the other stuff inbetween would give the main muscle some rest before it gets involved in the next exercise. This allows it to survive longer and hence all the supportive muscles get the opportunity to be trained very well. Not a bad idea and it generally works for all exercises that involve muscle groups rather then isolated muscles, like bench press, deadlifts, squats.

Right now this theory has one flaw, though: My main muscle, the glutes, are weak. So my worry should not lie with the smaller supportive muscles but with the main one. And that means to kill it well and good!

So today I set out to do just that. Last week already I had decided to add squats to the program as well, as there is nothing better to build glutes than squats.

Squats as well as deadlifts are exercises which cannot be done to full exhaustion of the muscle, though; one needs to stay in control of the weight in order to not topple over or to get injured. The idea now was to do the exhausting and control demanding exercises at the beginning and use the machines to finish it off.

Thus squats came first... still only 30kg, but felt good and controlled... and then deadlifts. The efficiency of the squats showed instantly as I had to reduce the weight of the deadlifts from 80 to 70kg and if felt really, really heavy.

But good! That's what we want, we want those glutes to give in and not being able to move anymore. Given that, the weight of the deadlift doesn't matter as long as the target muscle is hit!

Next the leg press on my usual machine (cable). Had to reduce the weight by 1 1/2 plates and it was awfully heavy. That firstly shows that so far the leg press did a good job by hitting the right muscle, and that secondly it is a great tool to finish off what the squats and the deadlifts had started. I never felt wobblier on my legs when clambering from that thing.

After that all the other exercises followed: Leg extension were affacted and I needed to reduce weight; hamstring curl was amazingly good, pobably by then there was enough resting time between the deadlifts and those curls; then came calves and adductor and abductor muscles on the machine.

And now I am pretty happy that I can sit here and write, although I should be in the garden weeding... I just don't feel like bending over right now.

Just a quickie!

2010-06-17T20:18:00.005+01:00

Just came back from a great chest/back session and feeling confident again! Needed that!

After all the video editing yesterday of last week's competition it slowly had trickled in what I have let myself into. I am too chunky for the fitness/toned competition already, but still far off the physique/trained competition. This woman is really good and ripped, she was in the competition at least twice and is experienced... Well, I know what I have to do, but still: This morning I woke up and felt rather nervous for no particular reason.

I have to start on the posing now. I don't want that dancy stuff, I have a melody in my mind and don't know what it is... and I can't sing, bummer!

So for now I am sorted. A good training did the trick. The week off did me good and I am definitely getting stronger. Did 50kg bench, 10 and 8 reps and it felt very controlled - good one! Saturday is legs - can't wait! Hope fat will go down soon. Haven't measured in two weeks due to too much of the wrong food for b-day treats. I am so happy that now routine is kicking in again. Spontaneity is overrated!

Anglian Boydbuilding Championship 2010

2010-06-16T17:57:00.002+01:00

Great Yarmouth, 6th June 2010

There we were, at the typically English seaside town of Great Yarmouth on a typical English day in June, on the Britannia Peer waiting for the show to start. The trip from Ipswich was something like an hours drive, the show starting at 4PM and entry at 3PM - so nothing to worry about for next year when I want to be here not to watch, but to compete!

The event is sponsored by ASN, a local supplier of all sorts of protein powders and supplements which one can't get around if doing this sport seriously.

Especially protein is important and there is not enough chicken, cottage cheese and beans around to compliment the need; the more that there are amino acids as building blocks of natural proteins which are not good for the body in big amounts, and these powders don't have those.

Since IL is supporting local business I can live with taking part in an event that is organised by somebody selling that stuff, and Bob Lockwood, the owner, is a really nice chap and working hard to pull off this event year after year which shows an amazing quality of muscle athletes.

located in Bury St. Edmunds

Well, and Bodybuilding is not a mainstream sport, this is how all the events are sponsored all over the world to make it happen at all.

So by 4PM there were

quite a few people in their chairs

A nice young gentleman, selling ASN products,
the white chocolate bars are really yummy!

A stage

and trophies and medals.

And those are the ones I am after next year!

Unfortunately I cannot cover the whole show, but there are pictures of the various competitions on the ASN website, like 'people who never competed before', 'young people,' 'over 50s' - very impressive results and great inspiration, 'over 40s' and the 'big boys' as I like to call them.

So here I will focus on a fun part during which the audience is asked to show off best upper body, and the ladies competitions of course.

Best Upper Body Contest

The 'Best Upper' was rather special because two little boys were competing with some really big boys, and as they didn't have a clue what to do they followed the lead of the muscle man.

Bob Lockwood moderating the competition

of course this gentleman didn't stand a chance against the two!

Comparison line-up!

Guess who...

... will win?

It's a tie - Bless!

The Procedures

There is a two minute posing show to be performed, then usually a relaxed pose from each side, then the compulsory poses are requested, and when there are many competitors they have to show those in smaller groups for better comparison - there was one bloke who had to go through it 4 times, he was close to fainting.

This didn't happen to the ladies as there was only very little competition.

The Ladies!

Now! I have to explain that there are two different types of ladies competition. The general terms are 'Fitness Category' and 'Physique Category'.

Fitness was called 'Toned Figure' and Physique was called 'Trained Figure'. I guess I won't have to explain the difference a lot, the movies are talking for themselves.

A lot of eye candy, but not what I am up against next year!

THIS is the challenge I am facing!

She won by default as there were no other competitors.

I must be mad!

Diary 13/06/10 - A week off

2010-06-13T17:38:00.016+01:00

I took a week off and I think it did me some good. Too much was going on, with the trip to Great Yarmouth last Sunday, my photoshoot on Wednesday, B-day and resulting trip for shopping on Saturday... So I thought: Well, instead of training half heartedly, give yourself a rest with prospect of training even better the week after and really enjoying the stuff that was on this week.

Great Yarmouth was fantastic and I will cover it in a separate blog post, and the photo shoot was... Wow! One of the pix is 'picture of the week' on IL this week, and a few B&W experiments came out quite nicely. Well I posted them here, you probably would want to make up your own mind, let me know what you think!

Those photo shoots are just great to help seeing instantly what is already in place and where work still needs to be done.

Obviously there is still fat to be lost, but there is no point of going too far straight away when there is still a year to go. The back is not too bad, but it becomes obvious that the rear head of the shoulders still needs some development, and it wouldn't hurt to get some development on the middle head as well.

Arms are still a bit chubby, so a bit of mass to compensate for the volume when the fat goes would be nice as well.

I quite like the proportions, though. Volume wise I think I am not too far off, I just need to replace the soft stuff with the hard one.

Having said that: I am now very inspired to go back into the gym. One week of holiday is long enough, the more that those occasions go along with all sorts of the wrong food as well. All I want now is to fall back into my routine, and being able to enjoy the gym.

Great Yarmouth was a wonderful inspiration for the posing training, so off I go into the next phase!

Yippie!

Pictures by Babul Bhatt

Diary 05/06/10 - No way around squats

2010-06-05T18:36:00.009+01:00

For starters: There are no measurements today! Reason being that nothing has changed, and things might even have gone depressingly worse. So I didn't even go on a scale.

Oh that darn second half!

This basically confirms parts of which I mentioned in the ‘It’s a female thing article’: Don’t be too hard on yourself in the second half of the cycle. Since I am eating below the calorie allowance for such a long time now, and observing myself like a lab rat, I can even see the subtle difference hormones make.

At a doctors check-up I was once asked whether or not I feel bloated during that time and I said ‘yes’. But to be honest: I felt bloated quite often back then, could have been caused by all sorts of things. Now my food is stripped down to the things I like and which I feel good with and I can instantly see the impact when something changes. The other day we had an old friend over from Germany, I had three days with proper meals at night including pizza and sweets and I felt like a blob - and I didn’t even go beyond my calorie allowance. It’s the salt and the sugar which are my enemies.

And now I can feel the changes in hormones more clearly than ever. I didn’t even know when I was due and all of a sudden I was much hungrier; not peckish, really really hungry. I could juuuust survive on my allowance and one day I had to go beyond. And it is carbos I am after, some egg or meat won't do, it has to be bread or pasta.

So what are the choices? I either don’t eat, am grumpy and perform badly in the gym, or I have my food and am fine. This week I opted for the latter. Additionally I can’t get myself to endurance training. It’s horrible! I find all sorts of excuses not to do it and if I eventually am on the rower I don't feel like sweating but 'breaking into sweat', which is a completely different matter and rather feels like hot flushing. The instant I am through with that crap I am fine again.

Hence no measurements this week and the decision not beat me up in the month to follow, but just to plan ahead and not to neglect the rowing during the first half.

It is amazing however, how well weight training goes. I had great workouts and the warm weather is supporting me wonderfully. I love weight training when it is hot.

Yesterday I have been laying carpet all day and couldn't make it to the gym, so I decided to do it all in one go this morning: Chest, back AND legs! And I did it! I even shot some videos of chest and back until the gym got too full, and then I concentrated on that silly buttocks of mine.

Picture is from 2007 as demonstration for IL site

In the Exercises file I already had mentioned that I might integrate squats again. Today I gave it a shot. I have a bit dodgy knees from heavy squats when I was younger and so I didn't do them in a long, long time. I however know that they are the best exercise ever to grow a nice round rear - what can I say: All those leg presses seem to have done some good. I already have some basic strength and 30kg felt rather good. It is a patheticly low weight, but it is a start. I however can already tell that they will do the trick, I found fibres I haven't used in a while and I am now looking forward to a nice muscle ache tomorrow.

And speaking of tomorrow: It is the day of this year's Anglian Bodybuilding Championship and we will go to Great Yarmouth. I am very excited about this and can't wait to get the vibe of the event. I am hoping to have some nice pix tomorrow and maybe even a movie!

Until then, keep it strong!

Shoulder Barbell Press, seated - 2010

2010-06-02T20:33:00.011+01:00

The 2nd shoulder exercise, targeting the same muscle as the first. Enjoy!

Some more information on shoulder training you can find in the Incredible Ladies Sport section.

ABS Basic Crunch -2010

2010-05-31T18:42:00.004+01:00

This video was created quite a while ago and I am doing the 'advanced' part of it (from minute 6). This fisishes off the upper abdominals after having done cable crunches and is to put a focus on the lower abdominals as well.

Shoulder Dumbell Press seated - 2010

2010-05-31T18:11:00.009+01:00

The 1st of 5 shoulder exercises. This one is targeting the front head of the shoulders. Have fun!

Some more information on shoulder training you can find in the Incredible Ladies Sport section.

Diary 29/05/10 - A Week Out Of Kilter

2010-05-29T10:30:00.004+01:00

This was an almost surreal week. Nothing really dramatic or exhausting happened, just that little bit the brings things out of focus. First a young friend was moving house and I helped on Tuesday and at the same time an old friend from Germany came to visit for 3 nights. He did not even stay at our house, but it was nice to sit and chat and of course there was late night food for three days in a row. Although I tried to be as reasonable as possible with my food intake during the day, I guess I over ate by about 300 cal per day.

That basically rendered the efforts of the week before useless... as shown in the measurements

All that is not a problem when one just wants to stay fit and keep the balance, but given that I only have 52 more weeks to my challange, I shouldn't do that too often. People in my close proximity might want to prepare themselves to having an utter killjoy in their midst.

Additionally it didn't do me any good. By Thursday I was so tired that I skipped chest and back training, and throughout the week I didn't row a single time. I feel bloated and drab...

Grrr!

Well, trying to buy jeans yesterday didn't help either. I don't know what Gap&Co mean by 'curvy' but surely not the shape I am featuring.

So on the verge of sliding into depression I decided this morning to not let that happen, went to the gym, was tired like hell, hence didn't take the vido camera to avoid distraction (sorry, will do on Monday) and just pulled through!

Did the full training, didn't particularly like it, did the full reps and weights, still didn't feel great, but DID IT!

That's what I like about weights: I still can do it when I am not at my best. I was so short of breath that I could hardly get through my rowing warmup. No way I could have done endurance stuff. But especialy leg exercises seem to be always possible!

So now I am still tired, hence the not very inspired writing style (again I am sorry), but very proud of myself. Tomorrow is walking if it's not raining, rowing afterwards and Monday back to the gym for shoulders, ABS and arms; and I am hoping to be able to eventually shoot a few videos.

Until then, have a great long weekend!

Diary 22/05/10 - Now I know!

2010-05-22T14:08:00.006+01:00

I just filled in the new measurements and only very little has changed there, but boy have things changed!

Firstly, it seems that already a small variation in measurable proportion can change the looks quite a bit, and it surely can change the way one feels. If you see a woman walking the street holding her hands on her rear, it might be me. Since a couple of days it is just very interesting to feel, and if I wouldn't know better, I would confidently say: This is not my bum!

Secondly, I am getting stronger. Today I cranked deadlifts up to 80kg in the second set and still could do 6 reps. I am very pleased with that. Especially since the last time the neck muscles were a bit twitchy. But this time all the smaller muscles held up nicely.

And this time I got my dear friend and Saturday training partner Imola to take some pix with the mobile - so please forgive the poor quality, but I was so proud of my first try with the 80, I just had to get that documented:

Can't wait for the next session on Monday now: Arms, ABS and Shoulders!

So given all that I now know that in a years time I will be 'THERE'.

A couple of weeks ago I was still a bit nervous about how the skin is reacting to weight loss, and how the training might go. I had counted weeks I had left until competition and 54 sounded such a small number. Then the previous week already went really good, and this week the trend continued. I am only 7 weeks in and I would estimate that I could already show myself in another 8 weeks time without being embarrassed if that trend continues. So all of a sudden 54 sounds pretty good to me!

YaY!

Amendments

2010-05-18T06:43:00.003+01:00

Yesterday was the dreaded Monday session for which I had to dash into town right after work to train at the 'big boys' gym and then having ballet lessons after.

The training was not too bad, I however did the same training in my usual gym the week before and it was much more efficient. The more I looked around at oaks I have to say that although most of the equipment is very functional, it is outdated as well. They only rarely use cable machines and hence they are the old, not height adjustable ones. Additionally the dumbbells are all on the heavy side, hence I had to adjust some exercises. The weight labels are half scratched off or non existant, so one has to do a good guess what weight one is using.

Given that I have to pay £3 for the training and £4 for the parking, on top of the time I have to invest I decided to not go there regularly.

And! I felt darn confident!

During the first session two weeks ago I felt like having been shifted to the bottom of the class, but yesterday, with a bit of fat lost and muscles gained... yes, I will take photos soon! ... I found myself actually really rather gorgeous looking. I now feel that I can do this without a 'scene' close by. I eventually found a good posing site on the internet and just will take it from there. The guys at Oaks only knew about male posing anyway and I don't think there are more women in Ipswich preparing for competition.

So let's see what an independant gal can do!

Regarding ballet: It always was annoying that admission works on fist come first serve basis. Class is at 6 PM, booking opens at 5 PM and by 5:30 it may already be booked out. There is no point of driving to town and then not getting into the class. So when I went before I made sure to arrive bang 5, book myself in and then read. It's not even close enough to town centre to run some errands. So I am wasting an hour of my time waiting for class to start.

I know that ballet would be beneficial for the ol' bones, but it is a bit like eating seaweed - it's healthy but I hate it, hence I'm not eating it. So I decided to skip ballet for now and do the posing training instead.

That bit out of the way I am now looking forward to the rest of the week!

Diary 14/05/10 - It's kicking in!

2010-05-15T21:33:00.002+01:00

Today for the first time I had measurements which showed a trend into the right direction. All still very subtle, but at least something. I did need some reassurance!

I desperately needed some trousers and went shopping yesterday. I was shocked to find that I need size 14 very stretchy ones to fit the legs in. I actually had thought that I had become quite a bit leaner, but thanks to the measures I can tell that I must have grown some muscles.

I am just so amazed. I am only doing this since 6 weeks, I didn't think that it would work so well. I am feeling stronger in most of the exercises, though. Raised the deadlifts to 75kg today and felt really good. That takes away a bit of the anger regarding the pant size, but raises the question where I will find something to wear in the future...

Another thrilling aspect is that I have to start being more careful with my food. Until today I just reduced my normal diet to amounts around 1800 cal per day in order to reduce fat. And usually I don't eat before I go to the morning gym sessions. Today however I was so hungry that I had a cheese bread and a banana and still was hungry throughout the session. Especially with leg exercises that takes a bit of the oomph away.

I will still try to stay on a bit less than 2000 cal per day but only as long as it doesn't affect the training. I am hoping anyway that I will burn off a bit of fat with my rowing sessions. Last week I rowed twice for 5k... that's not massive but it's a start.

Please cross fingers I will make it through a proper training week according to schedule next week. Last Monday a migraine killed my efforts. I am getting almost geeky about eating and drinking enough fluids now and even my sleeping routine is getting adjusted... hence me finishing this now as it is almost 10PM already and tomorrow at 8 AM it's walking and rowing on the agenda.

Sorry for this being a rather dry report. So far there wasn't anything yet to take photos of, and the gym is still too busy to film the exercises. This will have to wait to the summer break.
Night night now. This lady needs her beauty sleep!

67.6

2010-05-14T07:20:00.003+01:00

What the h...,

Is 67.6 my lucky number? That was the weight I had two weeks ago. And yes! I have been training hard. And yes! I had a party inbetween! And yes! I know I am not supposed to believe what scales are telling me, but it would be just so nice to see improvement in measurements.

My shape is clearly showing me that I am getting leaner... But how much leaner? Is it good enough? Could I do more? When will be the moment of truth, telling me that I am running out of time and that I should have done more, earlier?

Ohoh,getting really impatient now, don't I?

Was it me who said that 'patience is key'? Hmmm.
The other thing is that all my clothes are breaking down. I don't have anything to wear. My mix and match wordrobe theory is not working anymore because key items have gone from my wardrobe and I can't buy new ones because I don't know where my shape will be taking me.

I know! Those are lovely problems to have. So I will enjoy them a bit more, and will do a bit of measuring tomorrow when I go to the gym where they have this hand held bodyfat thingy.

Tata for now...

... and another quickie

2010-05-12T06:49:00.007+01:00

Still not entirely on track, but getting there slowly.

After the big dinner party which went well and was great fun, I broke down a bit during the weekend and by Sunday a proper migrane had developed. I nevertheless did the Sunday walking and the rowing (5k), but had to skip the gym and ballet on Monday.

Those were the things I was so keen to do. It's always a bit tricky to get the hang of a new gym and I wanted to get it done and over with, the more that due to the new split I hadn't done arms and shoulders in a while.

So! Me, good girl, at least went to my usual gym yesterday (Tuesday) and caught up on the training. Turns out that the new split is a great idea. I came to re-arrange my training only because I wanted to go to the other gym for one session a week, and now it shows that it is very benefitial for the training as well.

I used to do arm after chest and back and it seems that those exercises tired the arms more than I thought. My arm training yesterday was much better. The same for shoulders. After having done legs I usually was too tired to put real effort into them. Yesterday I did more exercises to catch those little buggers from every angle and it feels really good.

So this is all very promising!

Additionally I keep losing fat. Yesterday hubby said that especially during the past two weeks my shape has shifted quite a bit. I was so concerned because my pants are still too tight, but it seems that the training is kicking in and my approach of 'slow motion training' is much more efficient than I thought.

Hence I am very hopeful for the future and am now starting to prepare for a photoshoot with a friend... hair and make-up need to be tackled!

Just a quickie!

2010-05-05T18:44:00.005+01:00

I am starting to get the hang of my new schedule which includes the day job, the nitty gritty bits, the rowing and the gym work, but still didn't have an single week yet, during which I could stick to it entirely. There is always something else barging in and I am beginning to understand how life is changing if one really goes for for a challenge. Training definitely is kicking in! I am feeling stronger, and one can see little changes already. Apparently things are changing in the head as well: Yesterday night we went out with friends, I had starter and main dish, all reasonable stuff, and then I thought: 'C'mon, it's early days of the project still a lot of time to go, get a desert.'

I have to say: It didn't taste as good as I remembered it! This is confirming my ' sugar experiment' theorie and I will steer clear of sweets in the future. It's just not worth it. Since I have been working on my splits for the muscle groups I found a great website, explaining all the exercises and according muscles with little videos. From that I got a few good hints and I am going to add a few more exercises and might shove a few things around again.

So next week is the first week with no additional appointment, no bank holiday, no nothing - just plain days of the week. Oh please, dear muscle Gods… let it be happening and let me get into rhythm!

It’s A Female Thing

2010-05-03T20:29:00.020+01:00

At least here in the West we women live in the most emancipated way ever; but there is a drawback: The phrase ‘Women can do the same things as men’ is often misunderstood as ‘Women should do things the same way as men’.

And there are weird contradictions: In the business world we are told that we should wear suits and use male strategies to get to the top - and we are buying into it, and in the gym we are told we should use flimsy weights and do a lot of balancing work, as opposed to men – and we are buying into it, too.

We should develop more self esteem and find our own ways of doing things. We should accept that men and women approach things differently and that this is a good thing, because it adds a different angle to an issue. We only will get the best out of life if girls and guys work together!

I am not a successful business woman, so I can’t speak for those, but I am pretty good in the gym and hence I feel obliged to set a few things straight:

For the girls to consider getting the one or the other muscle themselves, and
For my dear male readers to understand their female partners a bit better.

Why Muscles for Ladies?

I have been writing a lot already why muscles are a beneficial thing for women and here I only will give you the headlines, you can find the whole article on Incredible Ladies:

Body and Mind Benefits

Muscles Reduce Aches of All Sorts
Muscles Reduce Osteoporosis
Strong Muscles – Strong Mind

Fashion and Beauty Benefits - Muscles Give Shape
Lifestyle Benefits - Muscles Make Strong
Nutrition Benefits – Muscles Increase Metabolic Rate

Where we are different

Testosterone
The one thing that governs all our performances in any sport is that we have less Testosterone than men. All of the below are statistical statements, as one always can find individuals where the reality is the other way round. In average however we are not:

as intuitively aggressive in game sports as men, but we can beat the guys with determination, which actually is a more controlled way to achieve a goal.
we are not as strong, in some sports we are almost able to compete on an endurance level, though.
and with the ‘not as strong’ comes ‘our muscles are smaller and they don’t build up as easily’.

In regard to the latter: Can somebody please explain to me why women should train less, or any different from the guys, given the fact that they build muscles less easily? That is like telling an anorexic not to too eat too much in order to not get fat. Trainers in gyms are too keen to try giving women what they want, instead of giving them what they need. We actually have to train much HARDER in order to achieve similar results to men.

Oestrogen
Ahhh, see! That is the thing nobody is talking about, really. Oh well, on female beauty and health sites - sometimes - but not in the open and not in an environment where blokes are listening in. I am rather blunt in those things and addressed a few of the more harmless issues with one of the trainers in the gym. Sooo cute! One could tell he was interested, but he fell from one blush into the other, poor thing.

So guys, here is first hand female info for you to read in your den – no need to blush! It might however help you to understand your ladies a bit better.

The cycle
Everybody knows we have them and almost everybody knows that at times we become bitchy, and a lot of people think it’s just made up to get what we want.

Well, that all might be true in some cases... there however are more severe implications. Trouble is that hormone levels are a very individual thing, and hence it is hard to point the finger onto it and find a fix. What doctors are measuring are ranges, indicating normal or not normal. Within the normal range the effect on individual women can be devastatingly different. Same amounts of hormones can leave one completely unaffected while the other one is thrown into depression, which is barging into her life with a whole conglomerate of physical and psychological symptoms month after month. That’s why it is called a syndrome (accumulation of various symptoms):

PMS – Pre Menstrual Syndrome

I had times where I felt like two different people within those 4 weeks. The first two weeks are cheery and fine, during the second half a big cloud is following me wherever I go and even things I love doing are no real fun. And of course this has an impact on the quality of my training.

There is no one remedy, but there are things one can try, hoping that they will work. Here are my tips:

Observe yourself! Knowing allows for work-arounds. I got so good in detecting changes in hormone levels that I now can almost put my finger on a certain hour of a day. My brain feels mushy, I am losing focus and the thoughts are floating rather randomly without ever finding a way into real life and effecting my actions, short term memory is non-existent and I am horribly clumsy. The drive for doing things is changing, the feeling for hunger and appetite becomes inseparable and I am getting greedy, and I am feeling physically weaker.

Tell you closest people! Once you are starting to figure out what is happening give your closest environment a warning. In the meantime they are used to me lifting two fingers and grinning a ‘grrrrrr grin’. They firstly won’t be hard on you anymore and it is a relief to not be alone. And they can help shelter you against the outside world towards which one wouldn’t like to explain. For me it was just wonderful to have that pressure off my chest.
Condition yourself! I so often found myself ranting in the kitchen about why I ALWAYS have to do things myself, NOTHING is done right,... and it was all about things which at other times would not have bothered me at all. The target usually was dear hubby, the person closest and easiest to reach, but the only person who actually could help to find relief. One is very much in danger to get into a vicious cycle. In my early years I actually shouted at him, later I was just ranting to myself, and now that I know, I take it as a signal and my mantra has become: ’Shut up Rika, it’s just the hormones, another X days and it’s over’. And it always is!
Find workarounds! I have lists and notes everywhere during phase two. The important thing is to tidy those up during phase one otherwise it’s getting really messy.
Don't start something new induring phase two, if you can help it. Especially not losing weight!
Try a dairy (calcium) rich diet! The BBC series ‘The Truth about Food’ looked into a connection between Calcium and PMS, and for some of the test group it made significant changes. I am now taking Calcium+VitD supplement pills. Have a look at the video.

In the video they are frequently mentioning oily fish so ...

Try Omega 3! During the same series the connection between Omega 3 and stress was investigated. Have a look at the video. And of course I have the pills in my cupboard, now. I never felt that layed back in my life ever before.

There are many more very interesting articles and videos and some of them are real eye-openers.

Try Bodybuilding! An article in the German journal GEO (07/09) is depicting a newly discovered feedback mechanism between brain and muscles. So far it was thought that the brain gives a signal to the muscles via chemical transmitters and that then the addressed muscle moves. It now becomes apparent that on moving the muscle, certain chemicals are produced which go back to the brain and cause the initiation of all sorts of processes which influence every organ in the body. Scientists are now hoping that understanding those mechanisms will help to heal or at least stabilise conditions as severe as Alzheimer disease. This is research in very early stages, it however is established:

that there is a feedback loop back from the muscles to the rest of the body which has a bigger impact than ever thought, and
that endurance training doesn’t do it as much as resistance training

Even if one is not suffering from PMS, the changes in hormone levels are happening and do affect the body in more subtle or not so subtle ways.

Menstruation

Again it is a very individual thing. There is no point of fretting about why one girlfriend is a killjoy while the best mate’s girlfriend is as chirpy as a bird. Some women can hardly stand upright while others don’t have cramps at all and go straight into the good mood phase. And then there is the handling of those few days itself.

The props a women needs: Gym work – and basically every activity - becomes a nuisance whether one has cramps or not. It’s just awful to feel like wearing a nappy while moving about like a toddler. So press on towels are hardly an option. But not everybody is comfortable with using tampons.

I am pretty sure that especially in cultures where virginity is associated with an intact hymen, the use of a tampon is usually not an option. Although the rupture of the hymen can have many causes, and although usually the tampon should not do any harm if the size and technique is right – there nevertheless is a risk.

Women who have a bit of a lubrication problem and are on the dry side anyway will feel that tampons worsen the problem. The remedy there: Don’t remove it too early, and let it soak full. Works wonders!

And as for the guys: Accept the excuses your lady is having during those days and just be a bit patient. She might say that she can’t play tennis due to a twisted ankle and then shows up in heels for dinner. It’s not always easy to explain those things face to face, especially when the relationship is young. So we tend to make up all sorts of stuff that sounds less gooey. If you really like her and want to help, start counting weeks.

Whoops, someone is not watertight
This was such a taboo subject, even women only talk about it only to very good female friends. Only recently it is addressed more in the media, and it seems that only women who have a baby, or are really old are allowed to leak. They have a medical condition to offer (yes, age seems to be a medical condition these days), so they are excused. The rest of us will get told off by the GP for not taking care of our pelvis muscles and are basically accused of being slackers. Well and that is just not true.

I once got an instruction on testing how waterproof a person is: Drink a couple of glasses of water, wait for half and hour, stand in the bathtub with legs spread and cough as hard as you can!

Duh... I would not have stood that test in my early teens and I was very sportive back then, able to master all sorts of skipping games – not anymore.

Ladies: Don’t let anyone blame you. Sh... happens!

Guys and trainers: Be aware of the problem and help your lady/client to work around it. We cannot trampoline, we cannot skip, and lunges or rattle plate machines may pose a threat to our structural stability.

Again: The second half!

There is one thing, though: Remember that I mentioned before that I am feeling weaker during the second half? I found that not just the muscles involved in holding water, but any muscle tone is less intense during that period of time. So this problem DOES have to do with the darn hormone levels.

On the other hand it IS true that training the pelvis muscles can help to a degree. So knowing your cycle opens opportunities to find a remedy. All those core muscle exercises on a swiss balll are well and nice, but the idea I am following up on at the moment is a bit more drastic.

The theory is that the exercise that is likely to cause leakage is likely to be able to train exactly those muscles as apparently it is putting a lot of strain on it. So I am doing the exercise during the first half testing it to the very limits, hoping that after a while the muscles will be so trained enough to be able to do it in the second half as well – at least with less weight – and that should then be good enough for daily life situations.

My target exercise is deadlifts I found out, that I can do them in the first half of the cycle – given that I pay the bathroom a visit before – and now I am hoping that using that slot for rigorous training will strengthen the whole area, resolving the problem. Will keep you posted on that one!

All the above are the things I know about from my own experience, I however am sure that there are many more issues. If you would like me to address those I am very happy to do so. Just write me and email to rika @ incredible-ladies . com
I will keep your details completely confidential and will only write about the problem itself.

Have a great week!
Always yours,
Rika

Just a quickie!

2010-04-28T06:34:00.002+01:00

I am so proud of myself. This morning I had the first substancial weight loss. I am now on:

67.6 Kg

Yay!I weighed for the first time on 11th April with 69.3 kg (153 lb) and now two and a half weeks later it is a good 3 pound less - that is massive. Well, I have been saving about 300 cal per day and have been training most of the days, so I guess an average of 500 cals per day is realistic, let's round that to 3000 per week, that would make a kilo of fat in good two weeks and then there is always a bit of water coming and going, and today it definitely was going :o))

The other thing I am proud of is me deadlifting yesterday. On Incredible Ladies Claire is showing how to do it. I love deadlifts, but the question always is whether or not the pelvis muscles will keep tight. Having had problems in that department before I didn't do them anymore. But yesterday, despite being horribly tired initially, I got so hyped up by the training that I gave it a shot at the end of the session and did 3 sets!
2 x 60kg with 10 and 8 reps and the 1 set with 70! kg for 5 reps.
Yippie, Rika is back in business!
:o))

Diary 24/04/10 - Building a Scene

2010-04-25T21:33:00.006+01:00

This was a very interesting week. Training was good and I keep losing fat, although the scale is rather reluctant to show it. Even the bodyfat measuring devices which I have at my disposal deliver values which are all over the place.

The interesting bit was me checking out Oaks Fitness, a very old school gym in Ipswich. Nothing shiny just straight forward iron, and really nice blokes there. Had a great workout, the guys showed me around and spottet - wonderful! The best training I had in a long time. Well, and I think I manged to not embarrass myself.

I talked a bit to one of the big boys and got some really good tips on how to change the split for my training, checked it with hubby and I think I am on my way to develop a really good training plan which will allow for training with my dearest, training at Oaks and fitting in ballet and rowing as well. Will post as soon as I have sorted it completely.

Best of all: This was a brilliant reality check!

See, in the other gym I am the musclyest girl and people either hate me (well at least the muscles) or they love it and they think that I am basically top of the class and already ready to go into competition. I know that this is not true, but where AM I exactly standing. Today I all of a sudden felt a bit like the new kid at school, I was sort of OK but nothing special. The good thing was that this didn't feel depressing at all. It was more reassuring and defining the amount of work that lies ahead. It is always good to know the details of a task.

And hence I am a happy bunny :o))

So that was the real BB scene and then I found a virtual one as well and instantly built me a profile on Bodybuilding.com . Thus settled in all the worlds, I am now closing the day. The lady is a bit knackered now - yesterday legs and shoulders, today chest and back, I need my sleep.

So off we go into a new week tomorrow,
wishing you a fun and successful one!
Rika

A quickie!

2010-04-20T06:54:00.002+01:00

That was a rather sportless weekend and I feel the urge to train! I am so happy about this, as usually I tend to slag down even more after resting. So wanting to drag my sad body into the gym is such a big change to the positive.

Saturday was a very pleasant and planned day off, resulting in spending a lot of money on new China in Cambridge. Sunday morning I did a bit of powerwalking with my friend - wonderful weather and with dumbbells - warmed up nicely and we walked definitely faster than usual - and yesterday, Monday, again I didn't make it to ballet. I did get a lot of work done, though. So that is good for peace of mind, but still: The need for stretching and balancing sessions seems to not have hit home yet.

I however have planned and thought about articles and movies I want to do here. So there are some things in the pipeline, one of which depicting an issue that will crop up more than once. It's all those female things, which become even more obvious in a rather oldish female.

One area where hormones play a big role in, is weight loss and performance alltogether. So since I am in the first - good - half of the cycle now (Yippie!) I am looking forward to almost two weeks of weight loss bliss and great training.

Tomorrow is Incredible Ladies update day and then I will focus on this place again.

Ta ta

Diary 16/0410 - Another week gone by

2010-04-16T07:32:00.008+01:00

Well, almost.

Feeling so much slimmer already, although the scale is all over the place. Didn't go to bed hungry last night, but was within the calory limit for the day and had 400g more than at the first assessment 5 days ago. I can only assume that this is water.

See, we have this terrific chicken soup recipe and I really do claim that since we are eating it on a regular basis we have less colds. It however has a bit more salt than the usual stuff I would eat for dinner - if I would have a dinner. Well, salt is part of the therapie, since neither bacteria, virus or fungus like salt. So this is one of the dishes I add salt in preparation - I for example don't salt the bread I bake.

My point is: Salt is attracting a lot of water, and water shows on the scale. The other day I found something in my patio to proof my point on how powerful this effect is. I had used little heaps of salt on the weeds, and in the morning I found wet patches around them. It had not been raining, only the humidiy of the night had been drawn to the salt, the rest of the patio was completely dry.

And to prove that this was not a weird flaw or the cat had weed there: here are some more of those patches.

So that is why I am not a particular friend of scales and I guess I better use them only every other week, hoping that by then the effect of wheight loss will override the effect of salt in the food and at least a trend becomes visible.

The other thing is that I didn't manage to get the rowing into the training this week. That makes me a bit cranky as this means the June date for the rowing marathon is definitely off. I will look for a date and location in October - any ideas for great venues to do such a thing?

I did a lot of gardening, though (4 hours yesterday) - that should count for something! And the garden is starting to look really nice now. Well the string is a bit weird, but that is needed to keep the heron away from the pond, no idea if it works, though.

What is good, though: Routine is kicking in. Probably it is not necessary to get everything in place straight away. I have my food regime in place and the weight training is going well and is fun since two weeks now. I will see to find a routine with the ballet and the rowing from next week on.

Tomorrow I am going to Cambridge, yay! So no update then. And after that I will have another hiccup to face: Before I started this challenge I had agreed to host a food tasting dinner. Great, I will have to try some recipes before to avoid disaster on the evening. Will have to see how that fits into my food regime. Well, I might discover some nice suitable recipes, and should that happen I will of course post them :o))

Have a lovely, sunny weekend!

Diary 14/04/10 - Getting there

2010-04-14T07:23:00.004+01:00

Had a great chest training session yesterday night, although I was in the garden for three hours in the afternoon. Really getting the hang of the training now. So:

Training: Going really well, enjoying it, looking forward to gym even if I am tired and still have great sessions. Very happy!

Today is rowing day... ooof, will have to see haw that goes

Weight: Going well as well. Weight 68.3 yesterday, almost a kilo less... what actually can't be pure fat as one cannot save 7000 calories in two days. But whatever it is: It feels good and I certainly am starting to look better. Pants are slipping again :o))

Since it actually is rubbish to just use a scale when training and dieting at the same time I found me two different bodyfat measuring devices. These things are all rather inaccurate, my idea now is to create a spreadsheet with the measurment been taken by using both at the same time. It should at least show trends in each line of measurement and the truth may lie somewhere between the two. Will post the shpreadsheet soon and then update... not sure... probably weekly.

One of theses contraptions is a scale which I have at home. It takes into account whether or not somebody is trained or not, what is nice and I think makes it more accurate, but one has to be stipped. The other one is a handheld thing which the guys in the gym have. Which brings me to my:

Supporters: Yesterday I told the guys in the gym that I am definitely going for it and they got all excited and very supportive. It feels as if I am building a little fan club now. I never have done something like that, but I have supported others in their projects. I was never able to comprehend though, how by just telling them that I appreciate their efforts, I can make a big difference for them. I now understand. Just to see laughing faces, to get a thumbs up at Facebook or a post, is lifting the spirit so much. It feels like a safety net, a cosy and warm place to be - just wonderful! Thank you all!!

And I think the mood in the gym is changing around me. It is a little gym at work and people go there after office hours to get a quick session in. Usually there is not an iron shattering, huff & puff atmosphere. Now I am training harder and this is not always a silent thing. So am I getting more looks, but from the grin in people's faces I can see that the gym guys had started spreading the word. We will see, my little gym might become an iron den in the near future.

Still difficult: Time management.
Especially when to eat. Since I am a bit hungry all the time it is essential that I get the feeding in at the best time before training. I am getting better to get that timed on the weight exercises, but I have to experiment a bit more for the rowing.

And I have to plan ahead with the food so much. E.g. I cannot go to a restaurant short notice, I need to know the day before to be able to either put another light training session in, or to save up some calories throughout the day.

Some people say: Oh you can slip one day... you'll catch up the next. Well, thing is that I am very motivated at the moment and stepping back is not helping to keep the momentum going - I know myself all too well. I have been slipping for two month gaining almost a stone... It is so much easier to eat 500 cal on top in one single meal, than to lose them in one day... So I will be persistent until I have lost the fat I wanted to lose!

I still didn't get the ballet session in... this time it was the car that needed service... Hmmm, it doesn't have high priority but I really would like to get started. At least I managed to incorporate a bit of stretching, but not as much as I would like.

The same with the posing. I didn't get round yet to check out that other gym. Hoping to do that this weekend.
___

Now I am getting really hungry and it's time for my protein shake :o))

Catch you later!

The Tasks And The Plan

2010-04-12T21:40:00.000+01:00

The Tasks are clear:

Lose fat,
gain muscle,
learn how to pose.

The plan for losing fat
Doing an indoor rowing marathon this year in end June or October – need to explore those options – and using this for a lot of cardio/endurance work to lose the fat. This is in planning for a while already and I think it will nicely accommodate my needs for the championship.

For starters I would like to lose something like a stone (a good 6 kg) of fat. That should give me at least a rough idea what sort of muscles I actually have around my legs. Well, and the upper should look rather neat by then. I may risk losing a bit of muscle mass as well due to the forced endurance effort, but I have enough time to build up afterwards. For now it is important to actually be able to see the muscles, so that I then can make a plan on where to focus the weight work on.

Timing:
Monday, Wednesday, Thursday morning rowing, and Sunday power walking
I still have to figure out the details of the rowing training. But those are the only days which make sense. Power walking is something I do with a friend who has rather short legs and basically is her training in which I join in. It is a light session which gives a bit of kick to the calves and is relaxed movement of the muscles in fresh air.

The plan for gaining/keeping muscle – before marathon
Doing BB as I did before. I am training on a 2-split, meaning each muscle is trained once per week. I usually start with a 5 minute indoor rower warm up, and need one and a half hours to get through a program.

Timing:
Tuesdays - Split 1
Chest/back/arms (bench, incline bench, pull over, cable fly, row, pull down neck, triceps cable, biceps machine)
Friday - Split 2
Leg/ABS/Shoulder (leg press, extension, curl, calves seated, ABS cable, leg raises, hyperextensions, dumbbell press, barbell neck press, cable lateral lift, reverse cable fly).

The plan for gaining muscle – after marathon
Cutting down on massive endurance work and cranking up the training intensity/frequency. I may skip rowing training entirely for a while, adding posing training. At a later stage the rowing may come back to help burn excess fat. I am plannig to go three times a week for weights instead of two, changing either the split (more likely) or the frequency.

In changing the split I may do:

legs/and arms in one session,
ABS and Shoulders in another, and
chest/back in a third,

adding more exercises to each muscle group.

In changing the frequency I will train 3 times a week with one week legs twice and chest once, and the other week the chest twice and legs once.

I used to train four times a week and I hit the overtraining barrier rather quickly. So I need to avoid that. I will pick up a lot of information as I go along, though. Hence I will just see how it goes and adapt accordingly.

The plan for learning how to pose

Taking up ballet classes again (once a week) for flexibility, balance and posture
Adding a proper stretching session
Checking out a gym in town where at least one of the trainers is competing and hence might be able to help with posing and other questions,

I have a half hour stretching routine which I want to integrate straight away. If I were only to do weights I actually wouldn’t need the stretching so much, as usually every exercise that flexes has a counter exercise that stretches. But with all the endurance work that contradicts the weight exercises I need to take care of flexibility. I hope it will pay off in the end when the posing training will start in ernest.

Timing:
Ballet on Monday, Stretch on Thursday

Well, and in this blog I will write it all down... the changes, the measurments, the assessments, the hiccups...

Meet My Wonderful Supporters

2010-04-11T18:03:00.019+01:00

Now updated version in the tab bar at the top of the blog

I am the luckiest women in the world!

I had such a wonderful feedback when I announced my idea. First and foremost of course there is:

Dear Hubby - Detlef
Well I would have understood if he would have asked me if I'd gone nuts, but his response was: 'Brilliant, then let's go to Great Yarmouth this year and check it out, and then you have a year to prepare in ernest... and then you'll win it!'
Whoops! We'll see about that, but that probably is the attitude one should adopt and I am working on that.

After I had uploaded the assessment video I got the loveliest email from a subsciber:

Marvin
He was the first to respond and to offer me support with the words ' I would be proud to be one of your supporters at your first contest.'
I am honoured to have Marvin as supporter, and it is people like him who will keep me pushing the envelope!

You know, they say you can't make real friends on sites like Facebook and Myspace. I found wonderful people there, every single one unique and able to cheer me up in their very own ways.

Mick O'brien - The Cosmic Gypsie
He already supported me with sales of his CDs when I did Race for Life and he is a wonderful artist and musician. He seems to know me rather well; when he heard about my new challenge he lovingly called me a nutter and then dedicated the following poem, which I just love:

FIREFLY

Burn bright in free flight, firefly
as self belief's incandescent light
illuminates your way
float free, firefly
facilitate fantasies as yet unthought
let naught encumber you
as you prance and dance in
the flames of self belief

Mick O’Brien …

Thank you Mick I hope I will be throwing sparks in 60 weeks time!

And then there is the 'nice guy' who hates to be called like that ;o)) So I just call him:

Bijou Tucker
It is his stage name and I am using it because this is the one of his many skills which will be essential to help make this challenge a success. He has been writing for a Bodybuilding magazine on female Bodybuilding - so he knows the scene - and he is a theatre person. And his instant response to this blog was: '...I hope I can be a constant voice of encouragement as you go for this...'

Thank you Terry - you are wonderful!

Massimo
My dear Italian friend. I will keep you in mind in documenting my journey. To have you on this list is a great pleasure!

Joey
Joey is a competing bodybuilder and personal trainer who unfortunately lives in the US. He wrote me a lovely message on YouTube and offered help and advice - well and gave me a lovely compliment :o)) Thank you Joey, your support is very much appreciated!

Fernando Vazquez Jr.
A dear MySpace and Facebook friend who always has a kind word and a lovely comment for me. It's good to have you on board Fernando!

Jason Brower
My Bohemian man from across the Atlantic. Luckily he is a night owl so when I am enjoying my morning coffee he usually is only just winding down from his days achievements and is always happy to have a little chat about music, bodybuilding, photography, the world, the sky and most of all: Dreams that need to be fulfilled. Hence is a great source of inspiration and a good friend. Hope you will get famous soon so I can see you play in London, dear friend!

Big Matt
Fisherman and photographer. Oh this man has so much energy and enthusiasm, I can't imagine him sitting there and patiently waiting for fish to pass by snapping for his rod. But then: He loves fly fishing, which as I understand is the more active variety of the sport. As for his photography: I love his photos and his approach of no use of photoshop. And since he lives in my neck of the woods he will be supplying the one or the other snap for this blog.

Thanks for being there whenever an uplift is needed, big boy!

So my dear friends: Want to become part of my official support team? Oh that would be so great to have you on here! Send me a comment or a post either here, on MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, or send me a DM (safe bet) or @reply on Twitter and I'll add you here.

Love you all!

A First Assessment - Body Weight

2010-04-11T08:51:00.000+01:00

Oh my goodness, I had forgotten to get on the scale for the first assessment and did it this morning. At a size of 1.64 m (5.4') I used to weigh around 65 kg (143 lb), I knew I had gained quite a bit over the past couple of month, but I didn't think that it was THAT bad. Although I already lost a bit during last week - part of it surely was water - I am weighed in at

69.3 kg (153 lb)

That must have been at least 70 kg last week. How this could happen?
Sneakily!

Well, don't go on a scale often because it can become an unhealthy obsession. I definitely was suffering a lack of iron which made me all sluggish and peckish, then I had a few issues with living the lifestyle that actually suits me, and then there was a good thing backfiring: Thanks to the muscles I already have, I still looked really rather good despite having gained fat.

So now that I am back on track I am hoping to see progress quickly. Let's aim for 64 kg for the next video assessment.

Diary 10/04/10 - One Week In

2010-04-10T11:06:00.000+01:00

So one week ago I took the decision to compete in a bodybuilding championship in 2011 and it is time to have a look what has happened so far.

The first assessment is done.
I sorted my diet for now, which is basically sticking with the food that I know the calories of, having my protein shakes regularly (once in the morning and on training days in the evening as well), and
I am training regularly and hard

I had picked up the training a week before already and I can tell that it is kicking in. The muscles feel denser and more in control when lifting. Additionally I am not getting muscle aches anymore. I had a great leg/ABS/shoulder workout yesterday and I feel a bit tender today, but no aches.

Well and the reduced calories show as well - I try to stick with 1800 per day. The tummy is not bulging anymore and the pants are not as tight. I know, that part of it is water that has gone and which might to a degree come back, but it feels great nevertheless.

The biggest change though, is the lack of hunger.

The first two days I had about half of my calories by 11AM already - well, I am getting up at six, but that is no real excuse, because today I only had a protein shake and a cappuccino (worth 300 cals) then went food shopping, had breakfast at 10:30 with another 400 cals (not even being that hungry) and now I don't expect to become hungry again before 1PM.

I have to say: That saves a lot of money as well.

So far: 1st week is a full success!

60 more to go...

More info on training: Shoulders, Legs

A First Assessment

2010-04-09T16:44:00.000+01:00

Bloody Hell...

2010-04-07T17:54:00.001+01:00

Bloody Hell, it seemed such a good idea yesterday. Today is the day after, every muscle is aching and I have another one and a half years of days like this ahead of me.

A quick recap on who I am - the more elaborate story you can read on my personal blog:

Me, Rika, born in June 1961 and thus age 48,
started training with weights when I met hubby to be in 1882,
had a phase some time around ’86 when things went bumpy at university and I thought that I should become a real bodybuilder/trainer instead of a computer scientist,
although at the moment I am neither, I dug my way through university, trained on and off, and settled into a comfortable life after the exam,
moved from Germany to England, got house, cats and garden, and became fat while training was more often ‘off’ than ‘on’,
got severe back pain and migraines and all of a sudden the comfortable life was a bad life,
went back to the gym regularly from early 2005, age 43, and
started the Incredible Ladies website as a record of this experience in June 2007 at age 46.

Apparently I am feeling too well now, because yesterday I decided to start a journey paved with pain and sweat: I am going to compete in a Bodybuilding contest in 2011.

Why now?

Well, do the math: firstly I am going to be 50 in 2011, and secondly this idea is bugging me since 35 years and if I don’t do it now, that might well mean ‘never’. I came across this competition for the first time shortly after having started training regularly again, and I have to admit: Even I thought that those competitions have a bit of a dodgy, door bouncer atmosphere about them. Bodybuilding is not a really mainstream sport, is it? And what we see on the telly, on how professional female bodybuilders have to make a living because there is almost no sponsorship in this sport, is not helping either. So hubby and I went to see the show armed with prejudice and mixed feelings: Does one really want to belong to this sort of scene?

But see, one should not judge without having seen it: when we got there we were amazed how professional and fantastically skilled these people were. Nothing dodgy, no door bouncer atmosphere whatsoever, and they put on a great show, it was entertaining and inspiring... and I felt that I could have competed with the lady who came least – well, there were only four ladies anyway. Isn’t it sad that a sport that has so many benefits, especially for women, is not kicking in? It did for the guys. These days almost every guy tries to put on a bit of muscle in the gym, or at least is flirting with the idea.

C’mon guys – don’t lie to mummy! While you are sweating on the treadmill you must be thinking of the one or the other muscle when a well trained guy is passing you by.

For women however, it is out of the question. Oh yes, I see them with 1 kg dumbbells doing a bit of triceps on a stabilizing ball – that is NOT bodybuilding. That is rubbish. Well it is a start... but I so rarely see it taken to the next level. These ladies just vanish from the gym because they never experience the full power this training could give them. Oh I have written piles of pamphlets about why muscles are a good thing. But honestly: Nobody wants to read or hear it!

OK, I am ranting again: So back to my plan. Back then in 2005 the competition bug bit me the second time in my life, but just briefly: I wasn’t confident enough and scared of thousands of things, mainly embarrassment.

And then only two weeks ago the bug bit me again – all good things come in three, apparently – at the whiteboard of my gym there was an advert for a bodybuilding championship - hanging there very innocently. Whoof... this time it hit right into the stomach: I want to do this!

While the stomach was recovering, my brain tried to understand: “No you don’t! You might want to visit it again, but you DO NOT WANT TO COMPETE! You are scared of competitions”.

‘No I’m not! Not anymore, and if I do it next year then I can do it for my 50th and hence I can’t actually lose. It will be fun, and I always wanted to be on a stage and bodybuilding is the only thing I am good at, and hence I am going to do it!’

I checked with the trainers if they would know somebody in the region who could teach me how to pose. I know how to train, but I don’t have a clue how to put on a show. When I got the address of a gym where the head trainer is competing I had to come out of the closet: I just had to tell hubby. And you know what: He loves this idea!

And then we made a deal. This will not be like any other of my projects during which I work, and do, and document, and then see how it goes, and THEN might decide whether or not I will take on the challenge.

This time I will not play it safe. It will be a commitment from the beginning. I herewith declare: If this show is on in 2011, and if I will be fit enough to crawl onto that stage, then I will compete. No matter how I look. I may not be able to get rid of lose skin, I may... oh don’t get me started:

I will look my best, promised!

And with this blog I am inviting you to join me in this journey. Ideas and comments welcome: I will need any help I can get! Oh well, and maybe I see you in mid 2011 in Great Yarmouth!