Steam rooms!

I've been wanting to write a post on steam rooms for the past few days to explain the benefits of it and how it has helped me! The past few workouts I've done, I've been going in to the steam room for 20-30 minutes. I feel the benefits for me are:

- much much much softer and clearer skin

- helps me relax and my muscles relax

- helps me recover faster so I can work out sooner 

- just in general a really good addition at the end of any workout

So I can actually see and feel benefits from it already after only a few times of doing it, if I make it part of my routine I know how much it's going to benefit me! 

There's also toooooons of scientific research on how it benefits you after exercise and including some of the above, it helps you lose water weight so you can actually lose weight from doing it (because you sweat so much) and its a natural form of detox, sweating away the toxins from your body.

So it's relaxing, helps you lose weight and clears your skin? There's literally no reason why I shouldn't be doing it and I really wanted to share this with you guys so you can feel the benefits too! 

I truly believe this is gonna push me towards my goals even further now and I wanna share that with you guys :) SO GO TO A STEAM ROOM!! It's soooo nice

LEEEEEGS

LEEEEEEEEEEEEEGS!!!

A few people are asking me what leg workout I do so here is the leg training I do. I only do this once a week at the moment, my strength training is split in to three days and the rest of the days I do cardio classes because I fucking love cardio. Also, as you can see I super set some of my exercises (doing exercises in between sets) and this is aimed to make it a cardio workout as well as strength, keeping the heart rate up!  Anyway, here is my legs and abs workout I did today:

Leg press: 4 sets, 12 reps, 280lbs

Squat: 4 sets, 12 reps, 12kg kettle bell; in between each set, 12 squat jumps with 4kg dumb bell

Lunge: 4 sets, 12 reps, 4kg kettle bell; extend kettle bell above head as you lunge. In between each set, 12 pulse lunges with 4kg kettle bell each side

Donkey kicks: 4 sets, 12 reps. In between each set, 30 mountain climbers

Abs:

Crunches: 4 sets, 12 reps with 8kg medicine ball. In between each set, 4 reps of crossover crunches also with medicine ball.

2nd set of crunches; for my second set of abs I do a consistent workout, slowly lowering my reps each set. So here's what I did:

20 crunches, 20 pulse crunches then 20 second hold (no rest in between each exercise on each set)

15 crunches, 15 pulse crunches then 15 sec hold

10 crunches, 10 pulse crunches then 10 sec hold

5 crunches, 5 pulse crunches then 5 sec hold!

And there you have it, my legs and abs day!! This has been posted on my blog so click the link in my bio to copy this regime if you wanna use it 😘 hope this helps! 

August goals!

AUGUST!

- 100g of protein every day!

- 1500 calories on no workout days

- 1700 calories on workout days (extra 200 calories from fruit/carbs)

- a cheat meal every two weeks with 500 calorie deficit two days within the two weeks

- all good fats. No sats or trans fats.

- cardio 4-5 times a week (SWITCH IT UP!!)

- strength twice a week

- 1-2 body pump a week

- two days 1000 calorie burn

TONING STRENGTH TRAINING PROGRAMME

This programme is made for toning and lowering body fat percentage whilst increasing your strength. It is split into two days; upper and lower body with some abs on each day. My trainer made this specifically for me so make sure you tailor it to your needs if you want to try it. This is not for the faint hearted, I’ve done it and it’s tough and you will have to push yourself to finish the full 12 reps.

DAY 1 (Upper body):

Exercise	Sets	Reps	Weight	Comment
Bicep Curl	3	12	6kg dumbbell	1 full then 1 half way = 1 rep
Tricep Overhead	5	5 and then 5 sec hold	8kg kettlebell	10 secs in between each rep
Chest Press	3	12	7.5kg (machine)	SUPERSET: In between each set, upright row with 8kg kettle bell for 30 secs each side
Incline Chest Press	3	12	5kg (machine)	SUPERSET: In between each set, a 2 handled 8kg kettle bell swing
Lateral Raise	5	5 and then 5 sec hold	4kg kettlebell	10 secs in between each rep
Front Raises	5	5 and then 5 sec hold	4kg kettlebell	10 secs in between each rep
Shoulder Press	5	5 and then 5 sec hold	4kg kettlebell	10 secs in between each rep
Reverse Fly’s	3	12	4kg dumbbell	Standing
Dumbbell Row	3	12	8kg dumbbell	As if you’re holding a bar

Abs – do 3 sets of each exercise with 15 reps in each holding a 6kg dumbbell for each exercise:

·      Basic crunches

·      Crunch crossover

·      Dead bug

·      Russian twists

DAY 2 (lower body):

Exercise	Sets	Reps	Weight	Comment
Leg Press	3	12	25kg (machine)	SUPERSET: In between each set, 12 full range lunges and 12 bottom ½ pulses right and left holding two 8kg kettle bells.
Squat	3	12	4kg	SUPERSET: In between each set, 12 squat jumps with 4kg kettle bell
Lunge	3	12	4kg kettle bell	Extend kettle bell above head as you lunge

Abs – do 3 sets of each exercise with 15 reps:

·      Side bends

·      Plank on medicine ball

·      Plank jumps on medicine ball

·      Plank runs (mountain climbers) on medicine ball

Strength training program June - January

Strength training June 2013

Day 1 - upper body!

1. Bicep curl: 3 sets, 12 reps, 6kg dumbbell; 1 full then 1 halfway = 1 rep

2. Triceps overhead: 5 sets, 5 and then 5 sec hold, 8kg kettle bell

3. Chest press: 3 sets, 12 reps, 7.5kg; in between each set, upright row with 8kg kettle bell for 30 secs each side

4. Incline chest press: 3 sets, 12 reps, 5kg; in between each set, a 2 handled 8kg kettle bell swing

5. Lateral raise: 5 sets, 5 and then 5 sec hold, 4kg kettle bell

6. Front raise: 5 sets, 5 and then 5 sec hold, 4kg kettle bell

7. Shoulder press: 5 sets, 5 and then 5 sec hold, 4kg kettle bell

8. Reverse flys: 3 sets, 12 reps, 4kg dumbbell

9. Dumbbell row: 3 sets, 12 reps, 8kg dumbbell

Abs (3 sets of 15 reps with 6kg dumbbell for each exercise):

Basic crunch

Crossover crunch

Dead bug

Russian twists

Day 2 - lower body!

1. Leg press: 3 sets, 12 reps, 25kg; in between each set, 12 full range lunges then 12 bottom half lunge pulses right and left holding two 8kg kettle bells

2. Squat: 3 sets, 12 reps, 4kg; in between each set, 12 squat jumps with 4kg dumb bell

3. Lunge: 3 sets, 12 reps, 4kg kettle bell; extend kettle bell above head as you lunge

Abs (do 3 sets of each exercise with 15 reps):

Side bends

Plank on medicine ball

Plank jumps on medicine ball

Plank runs on medicine ball

Peanut butter and mixed fruit energy bar recipe

Will eat these pre workout or on the go! 

Ingredients: 

1 cup/110g rolled oats

6 tablespoons natural honey

4 teaspoons brown sugar

5ml walnut oil

Pinch of cinnamon

1/4 cup chopped dates

1/4 cup dried fruit

50g crunchy peanut butter

50g dark chocolate

Preparation:

1. Combine honey, brown sugar, peanut butter, cinnamon and walnut oil in pan and heat on low for 3-5 minutes.

2. Combine oats, dates and dried fruit in a large mixing bowl.

3. Add the contents of the heated pan slowly to the oats etc and mix until sticky.

4. Spread evenly in a pan of some sort.

5. Heat dark chocolate in pan until fully melted and then spread/dribble on top of spreaded mixture.

6. Chill in fridge for two hours.

7. Slice into 8 servings. 

Macronutrients:

Calories - 202

Carbs - 30g

Fat - 6g

Protein - 4g

Sugar - 22g

Peanut butter chocolate protein bars

Peanut butter chocolate protein bars

Ingredients:

40g crunchy peanut butter

4 scoops chocolate whey protein powder

200ml unsweetened almond milk

3 egg whites

40g Quaker oats

Preparation:

Mix peanut butter, milk and egg whites in a mixing bowl until creamy.

Add protein powder and oats and mix until shown as in third picture.

Place in a greased pan.

Freeze for an hour and then keep in fridge.