Haters

Whatever your passion is, there will be haters. My two passions are art and fitness, and you better believe I have haters of both. Haters are jealous of your conviction, your happiness and your victories and so their only joy comes from trying to bring you down. Haters will trash-talk whatever you love to try and convince you to hate it too. Misery loves company.

But you don't have to listen to the haters. You don't have to let them make you feel foolish for loving what you love. If they hurt you or make you angry, use that to fuel your passion and work at it harder than you would have otherwise. Lift a heavier weight, do more reps, or run one more mile. If they tell you that you can't, prove them wrong by taking on a challenging art project and nailing it! You can choose to wallow, or choose to soar. No one has the power to offend you; you have the power to choose to be offended.

On a lighter note, you will also have a ton of supporters! Your supporters will outnumber your haters by 100 to 1. These are your true friends who truly love you and wish you success in all your efforts, no matter what you're doing. Even if they don't share your passion, they will cheer you on. So I'd like to take this opportunity to say that I apprieciate so much all your support and love and it really makes me want to push harder when I'm at the gym so I don't let you or me down! And when I'm having a hard day, when all I want to do is eat mint chocolate ice cream and stay home in bed and pout about how much my body aches, your support gets me off my butt and moving and I cannot say thank you enough.

Love,
Mandee

P.S. Here's a picture that really doesn't have a lot to do with this post, but it makes me happy.

Gym Memberships

I have a secret to share with you... Gym memberships are totally negotiable. There is no reason to pay more than $25/ month per person. Here are a few tips:

1. Go on the last day of the month. These guys want to make their quotas, so you'll get a better deal on this day than on any other day.
2. Try to pay as much up front as you can, if not all. If you can pay for a whole year up front, or in only two payments instead of month to month, you'll get a better deal.
3. If you know you'll be absolutely committed, then don't be afraid of a contract. Most gyms can make exceptions on your contract if you have a major life event that prevents you from going like moving away, or having a baby. You can put you membership on hold and unfreeze it anytime you want for a small fee. If you're afraid of the comittment, look for a gym that does not use contracts... but let's be honest... maybe commitment is what you need to get yourself there!
4. Don't commit to ANYTHING if you're not comfortable with what you're getting for your money. Period. Don't be afraid to ask for a better deal or walk away.
5. Get your booty over to my girl, JEWELS HAMILTON at Gold's Gym Sugarhouse and she'll hook you up!

I'm at Gold's and I usually go to the West Valley location because it's close to home and directly on the way from work, but I also like to bounce around from gym to gym around the valley to meet friends and have some variety in scenery. And I'm ALWAYS looking for buddies who are willing to push themselves and do some serious work, as opposed to goofing off and socializing at the gym. So if you want to come with me, please do!!

Love,
Mandee

Train like a man

I spent an hour and a half training only 3 muscle groups today, and all of that time was spent in the free weights and cable areas... Surrounded by meatheaded men. It's not like there was a shortage of women in the gym. Where were they? On the cardio machines, killing themselves unnecessarily! Why?
Women are notoriously petrified of lifting weights, thinking they will "bulk up" and look like a man. I'd like to set the record straight. This is impossible, no matter how hard you lift. The reason is simple. Testosterone loves muscle and estrogen loves fat. But this is good news! The only way a woman can bulk up is by taking a testosterone supplement (aka steroids). Your estrogen will keep you looking feminine, don't worry!
There's a reason this blog is named the way it is. Lifting makes me feel strong, powerful and sexy. I love feeling as though i could kick some serious ass if someone were crazy enough to try and attack me. There's no reason to be afraid of the weights. They are the only way to sculpt the tight, lean curves every woman wants.
Do these look like the muscles of a man?

Stacking

I usually reserve Saturdays for my toughest workout of the week and spend 3 or more hours at the gym paying special, individual attention to each muscle group. Today I didn't have that kind of time so I went back to an abandoned calorie-scorching technique called stacking.

Stacking is where you do two or more lifts at the same time, thus burning twice the calories and working more muscles in less time. Today I needed to maximize my time, but still do the same amount of work.

Stack 1
Lunge with Arnold press.
Start by staggering your feet so one is in front and one is in back. Hold dumbbells with elbows bent and palms facing you.
Next, dip to the ground so that your back knee is a half inch from the ground and your front leg forms a 90 degree angle, making sure to keep the front knee directly over the ankle; do not let it extend in front of the ankle. You'll injure your knee so fast by doing that, and an injury can halt your training and be so frustrating!
At the same time you dip, raise the dumbbells above your head, straightening your arms and rotating the palms to face away from you.
Return to start, and repeat reps to finish the set.

Stack 2
Lunge with biceps curl
When you finish stack 1 on your first leg, switch legs and prepare for stack 2.
Lunge the same way, but on the other lead. Hold dumbbells with arms straight down by sides, palms facing out.
As you dip into the lunge, curl the dumbbells and return to start, repeat to the end of your rep set.

And now you've done 3 exercises in the same time it would have taken to do just the lunge set. This will get you sweating fast and your heart pounding, I promise!

Enjoy!

Day 3

I am so sore. I followed my workout plan I got from bodybuilding.com for upper body. Yesterday it didn't feel like I did much, but today it is very hard to move! I'm having trouble following the diet plan. There's a lot of eggs and tons of chicken. First, I hate eggs. Second, the plan calls for so much food I don't think I could eat that much in one day!

Day one of competition training

Day one:
Took measurements, body fat %, before photos, 1 rep max and starting weight. Im going to be down to a size 4, and 16% body fat by the end of march. Please help me stay motivated! See my body space profile for all my stats at www.bodybuiling.com/merryjayne25.
Thanks for the support!