Amore's Log

[caligirl]

Hi Amore!
good to see your trainer has helped you so much! I have some unsolicited advice for you. Ask him for a copy ( if he has not already offered it to you) of your initial fitness assessment, that should have been performed by him and a copy of each training log including exercises, sets, reps written clearly so you can understand them in the future. (can be done weekly). Tell him you need these for your own personal records. You can refer to them in the future if you fall off the wagon. Additionally it is good to have the assessment for comparitives in your future!

 

[amore]

2/4/06

Hello Ladies! It has been several weeks since my postings... I have been training with Vince, my new found personal trainer as of about 5 weeks ago. I've trained with him for this time 2 x per week (lower body one day, upper body other day). Over the last 3 weeks or so I have also started cardio on the days I don't lift and as of this past week I have started weight lifting 3x/week.

The results: I am definitely stronger. Weight is at 151 lbs (went up to 156.6 at highest and now it's dropping). Water gain is going down slowly especially WHEN I remember to drink the water! The diet has been -- NOT calculated. I have been eating very clean though and have not had much craving at all over the last 3 weeks or so for things like pizza or cookies. Actually I have not had this craving at ALL for the last 3 weeks or so. I eat plenty of carbs from mostly fruits, muscle milk (which I am starting to wind down on and eat more real foods rather than mmilk). What else.. My form is so much better now and the workouts are to failure almost every time thanks to Vince being able to spot me and give me a bit of extra help when lifting up a heavy amount of weight. For cardio I do at least 20 minutes of training at my target heart rate (120-155 or) keeping it at mostly about 140 bpm. And I do the cardio training on the beach: Good pace walking with a heavy backpack of now up to 24.5 lbs (last night). Started with a backpack of not much more than 10 lbs and that was hard. Last night it was 24.5 and it was a breeze. For squats at the beginning I couldn’t squat in the perfect form at all (knees were going forward and I was not coming down enough). Now I am at about 125 lbs of weight on me for the squats. For bench press I started at not much weight at all and now I am lifting about 105 lbs with SOME help from Vince. My tummy looks smaller and is a lot less bloated than it was. .. Overall I am a lot less bloated than I was. For supplements I am taking Vaso XP 6 caps per day and a multi … And also glucosamine on occasion.

So I am seeing results in strength… The look in the mirror is a little bit better (arms and posture mostly from training shoulders and back). The only thing I am wondering about is my diet.

Vince insists I eat about 2000 cals a day and well I think I am. He does not recommend I count cals and he believed in just listening to my body for what it needs for nutrition. I have been doing that and I feel good. Vince has me bulking so I get why I need the extra food. Also in order to be able to take the tough training he puts me through w/o collapsing I def need the carbs and cals. But doesn’t that all go completely against what I’ve been told on here?... To count cals?

Also, I’m not sure if Vince knows what it will take for me to get trained and ready for competition one day. He trained one guy for competition, but no women. We women have very different bodies than men do and well I am thinking about switching to a female trainer.. But I’m not sure as I like training with Vince…

Any advice would be very appreciated ;-)

 

[scorpiogirl]

Hey Amore! Great to see you back. Sounds like Vince has you lifting some heavy weight - AWESOME! Well, if he's saying you should be eating 2000 calories a day - but don't count them[/b].....that doesn't make much sense to me.

What we do here is log everything and gage the progress according to our log. We can then go back and see what WAS or WASN'T working for us. It's just a way to keep it all under control and KNOW why something is or isn't working. Don't stop logging on paper OR in fitday. It's going to help you in the long run!

Don't stay away so long, stranger!

 

[caligirl]

Was wondering where you were..
nice to see you are making progress...
A note about your trainer: Keep in mind you are PAYING for a service, it's not a friendship, it's business. You need to feel like your money is well spent, so, if you feel as though you are unsure about him, tell him, be honest with him. Is he aware of your intention to compete?
There is absolutley nothing wrong with shopping for a Figure experienced trainer, after all, it's what you want right? Vince will be able to get you so far, then lets hope he has the balls to tell you when it's time to move on to someone else that can continue, as in a "specialist". ( geez do I sound like a bitch today....?)
There are PLENTY of trainers out there who "say" they can get you where you want to go.... problem is, most are money motivated, they get you dependant upon them, etc... I could go on and on... there are a million "jack of all" Master of none" trainers out there, they can or SHOULD be able to do a general job of improving overall fitness and health and some may even be able to get you ripped and bigger.
You need a trainer that actually specializes in Figure AND contest prep. Contest prep is huge!!
As a trainer myself, I know when to say no... I have my speciality, it's functional athletes. I would never train an ACTUAL BB/Figure/Fitness competitor up to the competition, because I don't have experience with the prep part... I refer them to someone else that can take over, usually at the 8-10 weeks out point in their training.
If you are serious about your goal, you need to be logging what you eat everyday. I could see 2000 cals, but you need to log them, and make sure you dont go over or under... you need a gague.

 

[amore]

caligirl,

Thanks so much for the reply. You are right about the cals I think.. I need to know what I eat and there's no better way than w/ counting (no other way to know)!!

I am going to start counting cals and still train w/ Vince for another month or so. If I don't see enough of a difference at that point, I'll find someone new to train me ;-)

 

[amore]

Here are some pics... How bad are they? LOL

Have been trying to put on muscle/gain strength ;-)

 

[amore]

Hi Girls,

I have starting cutting over the last 3 days:

1500-1600 cals a day from about 2000 +/- as I was not coutning for about 5 weeks.

I don't think I will be posting the diet as I think I've got that down pretty well...

But, I am wondering about cardio: How often and how much?
Also about heart rate:
My heart rate, resting when I'm almost asleep or just after waking is lowest at 58 beats per minute. When I am just sitting around it ranges from about 65 to 75 depending on my thinking level I think (as when I am busy working and stressed it's up somewhat). Yesterday when working out cardio though (which I have never done much of until well now....) my heart rate is at as much as 175 bpm. Is that too high/dangerous? I don't even have to run or go too fast to get my heart rate up to this. About 5 minutes of moderate effort runnin will get me there ;-( I guess that my cardio health isn't the best? How do I make it better? More cardio, right??

Any advice would be very appreciate re heart rate ;-)

 

[scorpiogirl]

I'm just now seeing your pics for the first time. Guess I missed that post somehow. Looks to me like you are above 23%, but it's hard to tell in pics, especially when you always have long pants on. Gaging this on my pics at 23% (although body types differ, so give or take a % or 2 either way).

You haven't been trying to gain muscle all that long. Are you sure you want to cut already?

I know you've already asked about cardio a couple of times. You might want to go back thru your log or other posts and check it out.

 

[amore]

Hi Ladies!

I have been eating btw 1500 and 1600 cals a day. But yesterday I ate 2217 cals. This was because I went dancing at a local dance club and was up all hours of the night so I needed some extra meals (trained w/ weights at gym and then cardio from dancing for hours).

I am starting to notice some shape in my shoulders, abs and legs. I've been a good girl, doing cardio regularly. I've kept as stress free with work as possibly possible and have been eating clean.

I am debating whether to start taking creatine again. I do not want the extra water gain and am not sure if it will make a difference when cutting. Any ideas?

 

[amore]

I have been increasingly doing cardio and I notice that usually after a good workout I get this cold sweat especially around my stomach and back. Is that a good thing? What does this mean??