Tag Archives: Fitness

My Favorite Cardio Workouts

September 9, 2016General Fitness, WorkoutsCardio, Exercise, Fitness, Weightloss, WorkoutsMeredith Lynch

Hi friends! It’s hard to believe Fall is already here! This summer absolutely flew by! Between the move and vacationing, things have been a little nuts around here, but things are FINALLY starting to settle down a bit. In my last post, I mentioned planning to start prep in August for a November show. We all know how life throws curveballs, and I got a bit of an unexpected surprise when I ended up getting a small stress fracture in my foot that required rest and a boot for several weeks throwing my plans completely off course. I basically had what felt like a sprain at the top of my right foot for several weeks. I thought between the move and my usual running, plyo, crazy workouts that it was nothing. It kept getting more annoying and the pain got worse. I hobbled around for about a month before finally caving and seeing a sports orthopedic doctor on the advice of both my coach and MAT therapist. The treatment—anti-inflammatory prescriptions, rest, and a boot for at least 3 weeks. There was no way I’d be able to get ready for a show by November—I saw the doctor the week I was supposed to start prep! Fortunately, I was still able to work out, I just didn’t put much weight on my foot, and had to modify my leg workouts. I also stopped doing cardio—thankfully my weight has maintained this whole time, despite not being perfect with my eating! Some days were easier than others, but it slowly got better! Honestly though, if wearing a boot for 3 weeks and postponing a figure competition are my only major problems in life, then I’m really doing okay. Hey—at least since I’m not in Prep I can enjoy pumpkin spice everything season, right?! Thankfully I just had my follow up appointment and things are looking and feeling better, so I can slowly get back into training legs as usual and cardio as I feel like it. Other than that, it’s just been fun to enjoy our beautiful new home, and go through my normal routine.

In other news- I’m happy to report that I have officially started preparing to take my NASM (National Academy of Sports Medicine—they’re the leader in personal training certification) CPT exam! My book and studying materials are en route, so I will be able to start studying next week, and plan to take the exam in February. You have six months to study, which is great because there is a TON of material to cover. The test covers everything from anatomy and physiology, to exercise science, client assessment and evaluation, nutrition, supplementation, and a ton more. I’m so excited to take my passion for fitness and nutrition to the next level, and use it to help others on their journeys too. Here’s to a new adventure and learning ALL of the things!

Since I’m building up my client base, I really wanted to give you guys some ideas for cardio workouts. An important thing to keep in mind when doing cardio is that interval training is best to really get the highest calorie burn in the shortest amount of time. HIIT is where it’s at to get the most bang for your buck! To be honest, I’ve kind of missed cardio these last few weeks! I’ve done all of these—give them a whirl the next time you’re up for a sweat! I guarantee you’ll get a great calorie burn!!

Tabata Workouts—these are some of my favorite forms of HIIT training! Basically the idea is that you have all out intensity for a “work” period, followed by a brief “rest” period. You can download the Tabata Timer app, and set it to any split of the two that you’d like, but aim for about a 2:1 ratio of rest to work. Trust me—you want a timer! Typically I do tabatas for 10-15 minutes. When done correctly, that’s about all you can handle of these guys. These are great for finishers on top of say 20 minutes of an incline walk, jog, or stairs. Here are a few of my favorites:

Set your tabata timer to 20 seconds of work, 10 seconds of rest for 10 rounds, and do the following 5 exercises 2x through: squat jumps, mountain climbers, jump rope (in place is fine), butt kickers, burpees. This should take you 10 minutes to do, or you could do a third time through for 15 minutes.
Battle ropes! Most gyms have these—set your timer to 30 seconds of work, 1 minute of rest—aim for 10 rounds. I LOVE to do these as a finisher on an upper body day—especially arms and shoulders! Hit the ropes HARD as fast as you can, you can even alternate or make waves with the ropes. Your shoulders should burn and your heart rate should be UP!
Sled pushes—most larger gyms have these. Load that puppy up and push for 20 seconds with a 40 second rest. After leg day it’s particularly good!!!
8 rounds of burpees on the 20 sec work/ 10 sec rest split is BRUTAL, but you feel like a BOSS after finishing it!
For my lower body days, I love to do a split of lower body exercises with HIIT training—try the 30 sec work/ 1 min rest split again, but with squat jumps during the work period and body weight squats during the “rest” period, or lunge jumps/ lunges.
Sometimes I’ll even challenge myself to do 50 reps of 5 different exercises 5 times—this can be pretty difficult, but it’s fun—do whatever you want, jumping jacks, high knees, skater hops, frog jumps, pop squats, you name it!

Treadmill Workouts:

Poor treadmills get a bad rap! Honestly, they are a multi-purpose MACHINE and can be used for more than just running.

Incline Walk—set the incline for a 13-15 and walk at a 2.8-3.0. You will feel this in your hams and calves. I PROMISE. Don’t hang onto the hand rails unless you absolutely need to, and then only for short periods of time. Work your way up to 20-30 minute sessions.
Sprint intervals—You can do these with or without a timer. Sprint for 20-30 seconds, followed by a minute to minute and a half of rest. A sprint should be a speed of at least 8.0 on the treadmill. During your rest periods, just hop up and put your feet to the sides of the belt. I like to crank up the inline to about a 4 to make them extra difficult.
Jogging intervals—you can walk (3.8-4.0) for 1 minute, then jog or run at a 5.0 – 7.0 for 2 minutes, this one’s much easier to do for longer periods of time. 10 rounds of it for 30 minutes, and 15 for 45 minutes respectively.

I also LOVE the stairmill for cardio! It really works your lower body and glutes like no other. Try the interval programs on the machines, or make your own intervals at high and low speeds. I like to make my own, and skip steps on the lower speeds to really work those glutes!!! The elliptical is also beneficial, but it’s not my preferred poison of choice.

Also—cardio is more fun when it’s nice outside! Take your tabatas outside, or go for a jog around your neighborhood instead of on the treadmill. It’s good for your soul!!!

Track Workouts:

When it’s not 100+ degrees outside here in Texas, I LOVE to hit the track with my girlfriends for a crazy cardio session. Here are some of our go to workouts—most of these we’ll combine for a total time of 45 minutes to an hour.

15 minutes of stairs (run up the bleachers, walk down), 15 minutes of sprinting the straits along the track and walking the curves/endzones, 15 minutes of plyos consisting of the following: 1 min squat jumps, 1 min rest, 1 min jump rope, 1 min rest, 1 min burpees—3 rounds, with one minute between each round. THIS IS KILLER!!!!
Suicide sprints– Sprint to the 10, jog back, sprint to the 20, jog back, etc. all the way to the other end zone.
Jog a lap around the track, 50 jacks/ 50 squats/ 50 mountain climbers. Repeat 5 times.
Running the stairs on one side of the field, sprint to the other side, do those stairs, then run around the track.

I hope y’all enjoyed these ideas—can’t wait to hear your feedback! I’m working on putting more blog posts together, especially as I learn more these next few months as I’m studying. Stay safe and stay fit!

Xo,

-Mere

Plans into Action!

July 10, 2016Contest Prep, General FitnessBodybuilding, Contest Prep, Fitness, Goals, WorkoutMeredith Lynch

It’s been too long friends! I hope you all are doing well! Where to start. Somewhere between working full time, crazy workouts, buying a house, and two vacations, I cannot believe the summer is already halfway over! I want to apologize for having really let my blog and social media platform get pushed to the wayside these past several weeks, but I’m excited to share some exciting updates with all of you!

Like I said, it’s been busy! Not sure if you guys can relate, but I’m so bad about getting stuck in my routine and getting so “busy” with life that before you know it the to-do lists and minutia of life make the days fly by, and then the days turn into weeks and before you know it a month’s gone by! Things are good over here though! We’re hopefully closing on our home here in Fort Worth next week! HOORAY!!!! We renewed our marriage vows for our 10 year anniversary in the Bahamas, which was super fun and romantic! I’ve switched teams at work TWICE since May, which was a bit of an adjustment to say the least. The last six weeks have been geared mainly around getting ready to move, and scoping out furniture, light fixtures, and paint colors. SO many decisions to make when you’re decorating a house! We just got back from Vegas for Shane’s birthday, which was a blast, and we’re moving here in just a few short weeks.

Just re-married! Can't believe it's been 10 years! — Just re-married! Can’t believe it’s been 10 years!

As crazy as things have been in the Lynch world, honestly, I’ve really had some good time to reflect and think about where I am on my fitness journey, and how I want to use my knowledge and platform to help others. I was so frustrated with how the last prep went and the outcome gearing up to the show, that I really let it mess with my mindset for a bit. It’s so frustrating sometimes when you start to compare yourself to others and forget to celebrate your own results, hard work, and how far you’ve come. To be honest, I wasn’t being fair to myself. I started this fitness journey for me, and just me. Competing is fun, but it’s not why I love working out or eating clean. It’s a daily effort to keep my mindset in check and remember my why. I have so many friends that compete, and with both my Facebook and Instagram feeds being almost completely consumed with shredded people and bodybuilders, so it’s hard to escape constant comparison and scrutiny. I’m sure those of you that compete or have in the past will agree that you kind of forget what “normal” is. You forget about balance, and it’s easy to let yourself get consumed by your macros, workouts, cardio, and the scale. Am I right? Enough. I needed some time to just train hard, enjoy some time off, and forget about the stage for a bit. The world isn’t going to end if I have a glass of wine with my mani/pedi, or skip 25 minutes of cardio. Fitness is a marathon, not a sprint, and you need to have BALANCE or you will drive yourself insane. I had to remind myself of that! I’m human, not perfect. I took an ENTIRE WEEK off from the gym when we went to the Bahamas. It was amazing, and my body needed the rest. I took the 4 days were in Vegas off too!!! I have more energy, and I’m getting creative with my workouts, which I love. Competing and being shredded is so much fun, but this time around I’ve learned to really embrace the off season too. What’s even cooler is that I’m only up about 6 pounds from my stage weight. AMAZING!!!!! My coach and I have attributed that to my hormones kind of settling down a bit after the whole IUD debacle. Staying pretty lean will hopefully make my next Prep (which will start in just a few weeks—Mid August) much easier.

As many of you know, I’ve been saying for about a year now that I would love to get certified as a Personal Trainer. I’ve have friends and fellow gym goers beg me to help them and teach them what I know and I kept putting them off saying, “I’d love to but I’m not certified”, or “Okay sure, but let me get certified first!”. What am I waiting for? There’s no perfect time for anything. If you are serious about a goal and following your heart, there’s no better time than the present to take a leap of faith and jump. Life’s about pushing yourself and taking chances. If I kept listening to that stupid voice inside my head, (you probably have one too)—the same one that tells me I’m never good enough, or that I’m going to just quit it later, or that I’ll never know what I’m doing enough to teach others–I know I’d regret it. Why should I let fear of failure stop me from doing anything I set my mind to? I have nothing to lose, and at the very least will gain a ton of knowledge in the process. Every expert was once a beginner. Although I’m around a ton of fitness junkies and trainers by being in the bodybuilding circle, and it seems like everyone’s doing “online programs”, there’s still a huge demand for trainers, particularly female ones! **Disclaimer—before starting a fitness or nutrition program, you should see a medical professional and be sure that the person you are working with is knowledgeable and qualified to provide guidance to you. Be smart people! I may not be an expert, but I can start building my client base now, and share what I already know, particularly as it comes to nutrition. I want to help women like myself learn their way around the gym and discover how powerful clean eating and nutrition really are. I’m excited to share with you that I have decided to really take my passion for fitness and nutrition and helping others to the next level. It’s time to turn PLANS into ACTION! Life is too short to wait for the “perfect time” to make something happen.

Crazy back pump--training is still so much fun!! — Crazy back pump–training is still so much fun!!

After a lot of soul searching and research, I’ve finally put together my “business plan” for this, and am getting the study guide and materials from NASM (the National Academy of Sports Medicine). I will have about six months to study the material (there’s a lot of it!) and then sit for the exam. I will spend the next several months studying, and then sit for the test early next year. I love recruiting, and will continue to do that full-time for the time being, but I feel like my heart is pulling me more towards eventually working in fitness and nutrition, at least on the side. In this process of getting certified as a Trainer, I will accept taking on a small number of clients and build out customized nutrition and/or workout plans for them, at a lesser cost, since I’m just starting out. A friend of a friend reached out to me last week, and it looks like she’s going to be my first “enrolled” client! No more turning people down when they ask me to help them!! It’s funny how life works out. I’ve got a ton of experience with leadership training, facilitation and coaching. Since high school, I’ve sort of just fallen into roles and positions that have given me opportunities to lead, influence, and motivate others. Work, Junior League, you name it. Leading others and public speaking comes naturally to me, and I love it! Combine those leadership and communication skills with my love of fitness and nutrition, and the opportunity to build a business, and it’s pretty exciting!

Love this quote. It just about sums it up!

I’m absolutely still planning on competing (my next show is just over 18 weeks out in November), but I’m eager to start this next chapter too. I always say that everyone eats and everyone has a body—fitness and nutrition affect everyone every single day. I can’t wait to help others on their fitness journeys too.

Thank you all again for your support, encouragement, and interest you all have taken in my journey so far. It doesn’t go unnoticed or unappreciated. Lots more updates to come, but as always, feel free to email me, call, or text with questions. If you are interested in becoming one of my very first clients, please email me at MeredithLynchFitness@gmail.com.

Cheers to new beginnings and new adventures!!!

Xoxo,

-Mere

Life Lessons

April 7, 2016Contest Prep, General Fitness, Living the Fit Lifestyle, Makeup, Random Thoughts, and Other ThingsBodybuilding, Clean Eating, Competition Prep, Contest Prep, Diet, Fit Life, Fitness, Lifestyle, Meal Prep, NPC, NPC Figure, Nutrition, WeightlossMeredith Lynch

I’ve said this before. There is so much a contest Prep teaches you. There’s so much more to it than just workouts and dieting. It teaches you about life! There is so much mental work, dedication, and focus required to get through the journey to the stage. You have to prioritize, juggle, make sacrifices, put in the time, and the results will come. You have to push through the hard parts, keep pushing yourself, and get out of your comfort zone. You have to be honest with yourself. Are you sticking with your diet and training 100%? Above all else, this process teaches you about ATTITUDE. These my friends are LIFE LESSONS that I will carry with me long after any show, and in the whole scheme of things will make me a better person than any trophy ever will.

Let me share with you two interesting scenarios that came up just in the past week that threw me for a loop! Both may sound dumb, but you girls will understand. I have very short (a pixie cut in fact) hair. I’ve never been a “high maintenance mane of hair” kind of girl, but I get it trimmed and colored every 4-5 weeks like clockwork. Knowing how busy my schedule can get and how important good hair is on stage, I booked up appointments with my regular stylist for cuts and color all the way through June so I would be all set with hair from my photoshoot, which was April 3^rd, all 3 shows, and all the way through our vacation to the Bahamas in June. I had an appointment last Thursday for a much needed cut and color with my amazing stylist that would make me photoshoot ready for Sunday. Plus I needed cute hair for my birthday the next day, right? So I thought. As it turned out, my usual guy was going to be out that day, and so the salon squeezed me in for a cut and color with two separate stylists. I let both of them know there was a lot riding on this cut, and that James does such a great job that I was nervous letting them do it. Shane’s aunt passed away last week as well and the Funeral was Saturday. Throw in house hunting Friday afternoon, MY BIRTHDAY PARTY THAT NIGHT, family time and the service for the Funeral Saturday, if they screwed this up, I had NO TIME to get this fixed before my shoot Sunday that I had booked months ago with a very popular photographer. And my birthday was the next day, and I had a Show in two weeks! Long story short, by the end of my 3 hours in that salon chair, I was taken to platinum blonde and “fixed” to the worst shade of brown with blonde chunks in the most awful excuse for a pixie cut. Shit. I was exhausted, hungry, and this was the last thing I needed. I still had two hours of training and cardio to do after my appointment and it was 8 o’clock at night. I flipped—I HATED the color, but the cut was worse! Could we fix it?! What was I going to do?!? On the verge of a meltdown, I left the salon Thursday night and fortunately was able to get into my usual stylist (who had dislocated his shoulder!) the next afternoon. He worked his magic and brought me back to my usual blonde shade and (although he had to go shorter to fix it) my cut was at least manageable after he finessed it. By Saturday afternoon I could breathe a sigh of relief. Hair is just hair. At the end of the day, screwed up hair is a total first world problem. I’m not in a hospital, it’s not an emergency, it’s totally fixable. Although, I must say that I definitely feared that my hair would fall out because of being processed three times!!!

We got through the weekend just fine. The funeral was sad but perfect, and it was great to see our Houston family. The photoshoot with Jay Fuertez was AMAZING and exactly what I needed to give me the extra confidence I needed to be ready to razzle dazzle at these shows. We had so much fun! It was the perfect celebration of all of my hard work these past few months. I can’t wait to see how the pictures turn out, but here’s a sneak peak. Who is this girl?!

This week, another situation presented itself. If you don’t know anything about the suits (or bikinis) that competitors wear in shows, you should know that they take WEEKS to make. I ordered my suit in a beautiful shade of Gunmetal Gray metallic fabric from a renowned suit designer (who is extremely well respected in the industry and a WPD Olympian herself) in January and paid $650. I’d be all set—she did my suit last year and it was gorgeous, so why should I worry right? She has a 12 week waiting list, and my suit was expected to arrive any day now. We were cutting it close to show time! The designer emailed me last week that she had started stoning it and it would be shipping soon. I got home from the gym Tuesday night and Shane was beaming. It had arrived!!! I felt like a kid on Christmas. Shane was camera ready–I opened up the package and case and pulled out my suit. It was BLACK. The fabric color was completely wrong and I HATED IT. The stoning design was right, but the color was awful on me. This wasn’t going to work. Even Shane and my coach both said it wasn’t a good look. My first show was 11 days away. If the designer couldn’t fix it, I would have to wear my suit from last year, or be forced to wear this one. Neither option was ideal and I was heartbroken. Cue the water works and meltdown. The SUIT is a big deal. It’s the icing on a cake and you better love it, especially if you’ve worked this hard and paid that much for it. After 14 weeks of Prep and I had yet to have a breakdown (even after the hair) but I barely slept that night and was a hot mess for cardio that morning. Yep, I totally cried crocodile tears on the Stairmill. Thank goodness I was sweaty enough that no one noticed! I’m not a very outwardly religious person, but I will assure you that I believe that God works in mysterious ways and often in ways that we don’t always understand. He sure was looking out for me in this situation.

I spoke with the suit designer the next morning, and this worked out even better than I could have planned. She was extremely helpful and apologetic, and had the perfect solution. It would be impossible for her to remake my suit before the show, but luckily she had several high-end suits that she rents out to competitors as well. Most of them were used by IFBB Pros and are just beautiful. I could “borrow” a brand new for-rent suit that had never been worn and wear that for the first show or two while she remade mine. She sent me pictures of 4 GORGEOUS suits that were 2 and 3 times as expensive as mine for me to have my pick from that would fit perfectly since they were the same cut. I would have a beautiful princess suit that would be even better than the one I had originally planned! It was all going to be fine. The cool part: She had received an email from another girl the day before inquiring about my “mistake” suit that she had seen on the designer’s Instagram. She wanted to purchase it for her suit in a couple of weeks, but with the designer’s time frame that wouldn’t be possible at all. Guess what—she’s close to my size and will be able to buy that suit now because of what happened. My loaner suit should be here by Saturday, just in time for my final posing class. The gunmetal fabric I originally wanted has been discontinued as we’ve come to find out today, so I’m deciding on whether or not to just buy out the loaner suit (it’s discounted J) or just pick a different fabric color. But it all worked out!!! What did I learn from both of these situations? That you cannot control everything no matter how hard you try. You have to role with the punches. Your attitude will make or break your happiness. I could have been really angry and mean to the designer and yelled and screamed, but that would have done NOTHING. Instead, I chose to believe that all things were working together for my good, and that everything happens for a reason. The result: I will get to wear not one but two fabulous suits and another girl will get her dream suit. Win win! Also, in the whole scheme of things if I had worn last year’s suit or the black suit next weekend, the world wouldn’t end, and I would be fine. Really, I would have been fine.

Life is all about road blocks. None of us know what’s coming and things can change in a heartbeat. As much as you control EVERYTHING in Prep—your training intensity, the cardio, your heart rate, your food intake, your supplements, EVERYTHING, there are still things and situations you can’t control. Lou Holtz and Charles Swindoll both have said that life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to what happens to you.

I couldn’t agree more. More updates coming soon—we’re in the final stretch of this Prep!

Till next time,

-Mere

Best Weekend Ever!

March 24, 2016General Fitness, Living the Fit LifestyleClean Eating, Diet, Fit Life, Fitness, Lifestyle, Meal Prep, Nutrition, WeightlossMeredith Lynch

So much to catch you guys up on! Last weekend was AMAZING!!! I had the privilege of attending Nicole Wilkins’ Phat Camp. Best. Weekend. Ever. In case you’ve been living under a rock and don’t know who Nicole is, she’s a 4x Ms. Figure Olympia Champ. Basically that means she’s the best Figure competitor in the world. Also a renowned trainer, Nicole has set the benchmark for Figure competitors worldwide, and has gained a huge following of fans that love her social media and website posts of helpful fitness and nutrition tips and videos. A few weekends a year, she travels to cities here in the U.S. and abroad and hosts Phat Camp, a women-only fitness retreat where ladies at all fitness levels competitors and non-competitors alike can train with her, learn all about nutrition in Q&A seminars, build relationships with each other, and learn from one of the best Figure competitors in the sport of Bodybuilding.

I’ve looked up to Nicole since I started weightlifting a few years ago. Her physique is INCREDIBLE, but she’s also humble, classy, smart, and down to earth. I’m a member of her website, and have learned SO much from her! Needless to say, I had been looking forward to meeting her at Phat Camp since the moment I found out she was coming to Dallas! This weekend absolutely exceeded all of my expectations. Not only was it incredible to meet Nicole in person (she said I was pretty!!!! J) but it was so inspiring to meet so many amazing women who love fitness and nutrition as much as I do! Even though we are all at different places in our fitness journeys, we all worked out together, laughed together, and learned together all weekend long. This weekend just confirmed for me that I really am passionate about this lifestyle, and I love seeing others become encouraged and motivated by that too. If you ever have the opportunity to attend a camp with Nicole GO! This weekend just motivated me to push through the rest of the last few weeks of this prep and do my best at these shows!

It’s hard to believe my first show of the season is just over 3 weeks away! HOLY COW!!!!!!!! I’m feeling really pretty good about my conditioning, and so is my coach, which is good! Still not where I want to be completely, but it takes YEARS to develop a muscular physique like the elite Figure pros have. I am constantly reminding myself of that. I should be proud of how much work I’ve put in so far and the improvements I’ve made since last year. When I constantly compare myself to others (damn Instagram!) it really screws with my head and can be a total buzzkill. That’s when the nerves set in. When I focus on just MY progress, it’s much easier to feel confident and prepared for that stage.

Things are progressing quickly—it’s really the last 5 weeks of a prep where you see the most change. My weight’s still staying pretty stable. I’m at 133 and change now, from 141 when I started, so that’s good! Energy levels are still pretty awesome, and I’m taking things day by day. I’m still not having crazy cravings like I did last year, and I’m not a total zombie on my low-carb days- thank goodness! I don’t feel like I’m missing out on a ton. Sure a glass of wine and a patio, some Mexican food, and a brownie all sound pretty damn good right now, but don’t they always sound good? As far as the game plan goes, Easter is this weekend (and Batman vs. Superman), my photo shoot with Jay Fuertez (YAY!) is next weekend (which coincidentally is also my birthday weekend) so I’m getting everything ready for that, and then it’s PEAK WEEK! So really just two more weeks, plus the week before the show which is a piece of cake. See, it’ll be here before I know it!

That face you make when you see "the line" down your leg! — That face you make when you see “the line” down your leg!

It’s not about winning. I repeat. IT’S NOT ALL ABOUT WINNING. The show itself is a celebration of hard work, discipline, commitment, and accomplishment. Every competitor up there has worked their ass off for their 12 seconds in the spotlight. It takes some serious BALLS to get up there in less than a square foot of fabric!! I have a great support group around me, and regardless of what happens at these 3 shows, I’m already a winner for getting up there.

Till next time,

-Mere

Spring Clean Your Diet!!!

March 11, 2016General Fitness, Living the Fit Lifestyle, Nutrition/ DietClean Eating, Diet, Fit Life, Fitness, Lifestyle, Meal Prep, Nutrition, WeightlossMeredith Lynch

I don’t know about you, but I love when seasons change, particularly winter into spring and summer into Fall. My allergies might disagree, but Spring for me is a time to bring in freshness, tidiness and renewed energy. The weather gets warmer and bikini season is right around the corner! I thought I’d take some time this week to revisit some ideas on how to bring about freshness and “clean”-liness into your nutrition! It’s time to shed that winter coat and get ready for Summer!

I get asked all the time by acquaintances, gymgoers, strangers, you name it, ways that they can clean up their diet and lose weight. I’ve said it a million times—weight loss starts with nutrition! You simply can’t out train a bad diet. No matter how much you work out or what you’re doing in the gym, what you’re eating will make or break your progress. You don’t have to be a bodybuilding competitor or professional athlete to take steps in the right direction towards better nutrition and health. With Spring here, I encourage you to challenge yourself to really take inventory of what you’re eating. How much are you eating? How healthy are the foods you are eating? Are you making food choices that will help you meet your overall weightloss goals? So many of us have events (a graduation, reunion or wedding, perhaps?) or vacations, or special things coming up over the next few months—why not challenge yourself to take the next 30 or 60 days to make your health and fitness a priority so you can look and feel your best?

Here are some easy tips I thought I’d share on how you can CLEAN-UP your nutrition and diet!

Have a goal! But make it realistic. Maybe it’s to fit into that dress you haven’t been able to wear in a while. Maybe it’s to feel better in a swimsuit before your cruise, or to look better in pictures with loved ones, or drop the 5 pounds you gained over the holidays. Regardless, set a goal for yourself!
Make it measurable. When I first started working out and eating clean, I tried to keep track of how many times a week I stuck to my workouts. It helped that I had paid for them ahead of time and was less likely to skip out, but I also liked seeing exactly how many times I could log a workout in my calendar over a period of time. It’s pretty motivating! I also logged my food in My Fitness Pal, and could see when I was within my calorie goal. If your goal is to lose weight, keep in mind that a healthy weight to lose for most people is 1-2 pounds per week. Anything drastic where you’re on a liquid diet, or cleanse, or quick fixes like that where you’re losing more than that are not only aren’t very healthy, but they won’t lead to LONG TERM results.
Don’t focus on what you CAN’T eat—a core principle of clean eating is essentially cutting out anything that’s not plant based or animal based, staying away from processed foods and sugars. Instead of moaning and groaning about the wine or cookies or cheese you “can’t” have, focus on all of the fresh, healthy options you have in front of you. The more you think about what you’re cutting out, the more likely you’ll be to succumb to cravings. You can still have the wine and cookies and cheese, just in MODERATION. More on that in a later post.
Keep it easy. Plan to eat 5 small meals a day- Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner, and a mid-afternoon and mid-morning snack.
Go grocery shopping! Pro-tip: If you don’t bring crap home, you won’t eat crap. That means that the cookies, chips, candy, and junk don’t make it home with you! Stick to the perimeter of the store, take a shopping list with you, and stock up on healthy options!
Log your food. Research has shown that if you hold yourself accountable to log exactly what you’re eating that it can really help motivate you keep you consistent. Check out the My Fitness Pal app, or the Fitbook (available on Amazon).
Try not to eat out as much. This one is difficult. You can still have a social life and not eat out all the time!! See if you can keep restaurant visits or takeout to once on the weekend, and once during the week.
Challenge yourself just to cut back on alcohol (having just 1-2 drinks per week), soda, and sugar, and to get just 3 30-minute workouts in a week. Do this for just 1 MONTH, and I promise you that you will see results!!! These are all easy things you can do to help get your diet on the right track.

It’s not easy. Even after years into it, I still struggle some days. We all do. If it were easy, everyone would be a lot “skinnier” and the obesity epidemic wouldn’t be as outrageously out of control as it is. I can tell you that with CONSISTENCY and DEDICATION that you will finally get the results you’ve been looking for.

I’m not an expert, and I’m not a trainer, just a girl that loves nutrition and fitness and wants to help others as much as she can. As always though, let me know if you have any questions!!

Till next time,

-Mere

The Secret is in the Routine

February 28, 2016General Fitness, Living the Fit Lifestyle, Nutrition/ Diet, WeightlossClean Eating, Diet, Fit Life, Fitness, Lifestyle, Meal Prep, Nutrition, WeightlossMeredith Lynch

Hi guys! I cannot believe I’m already halfway through this Prep! Between working full-time, training, eating, and life, it’s been a while since I’ve updated all of you! We posted an older entry as well, but hopefully now that things have settled down a bit I can get back in the habit of updating the blog more frequently!

The secret is definitely in the routine. I love the structure and discipline that comes with Prep. There is so much dedication, focus, and intention around the routine. I still focus on taking things one day, one meal, one workout at a time. I give each one 110% and move through each one each day, and the days slowly turn into weeks, and the results are slowly coming. It’s such an amazing process, but the secret is definitely found in CONSISTENCY in the routine.

Don’t get me wrong, things are still really different this time!!! So far so good, but man, this time just feels a lot more I guess calm?? It’s really weird. First off– I’m slowly seeing changes week by week, but the scale has barely moved! Coach says not to worry though, that I’m right on pace! ….I’ll take it! My diet hasn’t changed all that much from offseason, so the biggest difference I’ve noticed with this prep compared to last year, is that I’m not craving things nearly as much. Honestly, it seems easier!! I guess mainly because this has been a “lifestyle” for me for a whole additional year for me, so it’s really not a big deal. Eating clean and eating six times a day, is just how I eat! It’s been almost six weeks since my last cheat meal, but all I really want is a vodka soda with lime and maybe a cupcake. Hilarious, right? This time since I’m doing so many shows back to back, I’ve been a lot more focused on how I feel—I know now to expect low energy on my low carb days, and have structured my rest day so that it falls on a low carb day, and know to REST!!! My energy levels so far have been pretty on point, up until this week—we upped my fasted morning cardio to 45 minutes (way more than last year! Lol!) and my low carb days, I’m only doing 25g of carbs. A ½ cup of oats in the morning with breakfast, and that’s it for 24 hours! On Tuesdays and Thursdays at least. Needless to say, I’ve learned that low carb day + leg day is a shitty combo, and I won’t make that mistake again! Also now that I’m working from home 100% of the time, it’s been a lot easier to get my cardio and training in than last time. That’s such a blessing—Prep is hard regardless, but it would be so much harder with a demanding job and crazy schedule!! Shane has been amazing as always, encouraging me and supporting me in this journey. I’m so lucky to have him by my side!! I’ve got such an incredible support system of friends and family surrounding me, that I really just want to make everyone proud and enjoy each day as much as I can. As I write this, I’m making a mental note to focus more on this journey as an individual one, instead of constantly comparing it to last year.

Date night--he gets wings, and I get celery! — Date night–he gets wings, and I get celery!

Outside of just pushing myself in my weight training, I’ve also taken up my cardio a notch from last year, incorporating more sprints, running, and track workouts to help lean out my legs. It’s working! We’ve also added a topical fat burner called Vasoburn (like IcyHot without the icy) which is also really helping. That said, though, I’ve only lost 3 pounds since I started this Prep almost 8 weeks ago! WTF. Again, the scale is just a number— progress pics tell so much more. You can see in these two pictures how much difference a year has made. I’m still up about 25 pounds from stage weight last year, so we’ll see how the next 7 weeks go! In terms of muscle mass and added size ALONE, we know I’ve made significant changes to my physique this past year. I’m back to training with my Coach and posing once a week, which helps me stay focused and structured with my routine. Cardio, Eat, Work, Eat, Train, More Cardio, Eat, Sleep, Repeat.

I’ve also realized that I feel more confident in this process and myself and what I can push myself to do than I did last time. Today at least. It’s very easy to look on Instagram at other competitors getting ready for national level shows, or their progress pictures, etc., and become really discouraged. I try to just remind myself to compare me to me. That’s all I can do! When you give your best, and work hard, and do that day in and day out, the results will come.

I wouldn't be @Lipglossandlifting without some cute lipgloss on my way to the gym, right? — I wouldn’t be @Lipglossandlifting without some cute lipgloss on my way to the gym, right?

We booked another photo shoot for two weeks before the first show, which also happens to be my 31^st birthday weekend, and this time it’s with a different photographer which will be fun. My custom suit from Tamee Marie and custom bedazzled, BEAUTIFUL shoes from the Shoe Fairy are coming soon, so the excitement is building!!

On another super exciting note, NICOLE WILKINS (a.k.a. my Figure competitor HERO/IDOL) will be here in Dallas hosting one of her Fitness Phat Camp Bootcamps March 18^th – 20^th and I can’t WAIT to go!!! It will be so fun to learn from her, gain new insights into fitness and nutrition, and meet new Fit Friends!

Stay tuned for more frequent updates!

Till next time,

-Mere

What’s been going on….

November 18, 2015Contest Prep, General Fitness, Living the Fit LifestyleBodybuilding, Clean Eating, Competition Prep, Contest Prep, Diet, Fit Life, Fitness, Lifestyle, Meal Prep, NPC, NPC Figure, Nutrition, WeightlossMeredith Lynch

Hi Friends!!

Hope this finds you all happy and healthy! Can you believe the holidays are right around the corner?! Boy they got here fast! There’s so much to catch y’all up on since we last talked.

Shane and I went to Florida to visit Universal Studios and Disney World (our FAVORITE place!) for a week and a half last month and had an AMAZING time. It was so nice to spend time together and enjoy ourselves. We had a blast! Work got super busy for me there for a few weeks, and oh, we’re still house hunting. Throw a few social and family events in there… The days turn into weeks and boom, here we are, halfway through November!

Luckily I’ve stayed on track with my diet and my workouts, and things have been business as usual on that end. We’re loving our gym here in Fort Worth, and have made it to Willow Bend for bootcamp a couple of times as well, so things are good! I’m so excited to announce though that we have a gameplan in place! My next show will be the NPC Southwest USA Championships April 16^th here in Dallas. *inserthighpitchedsqueelhere* I am THRILLED to finally have a goal to work towards, and to get back up on that stage! Ideally the plan will be to do the show on the 16^th, followed by another on April 30^th, and depending on how things go, a final one on May 7^th as well. I will NOT be taking any post show birthday trips to New Orleans or anywhere else this time!!! I would love to get Nationally Qualified (i.e., the next step towards getting an IFBB pro card) and then make it to nationals in the fall next year or spring 2017, depending on timing. A lot of this will depend on how well I do in the April shows, obviously. I’m just excited to see the results of my “offseason” work these past 8 months. I’ve put on substantial size—my weight is roughly 25 pounds more now than my stage weight from March. It’s hard to say how much of that is muscle, but we’re hoping for 7-10 pounds. That would be AMAZINNNNNGGGGG! My main goal is to be a better total package than the girl in the picture below. I just want to come in better and stronger than I did at my last show, which has been my only show in case y’all forgot!

Here’s the even more exciting part. My prep will start November 30^th! Which, hello, that’s right after Thanksgiving! That would put me 20 weeks out from the show. Yes, it seems like a long time, but in reality it’s not. This will give us plenty of time to take things very slow and controlled. We don’t know how quickly or slowly I’m going to be able to cut. My prep was SUPER EASY (from a metabolic standpoint at least!) last time, but this time is a whole new ball game, and we don’t know how I’m going to react. I’m praying I don’t have to do oodles of fasted cardio though—please baby Jesus, not a ton of cardio….I will still have Christmas and New Year’s “off”, but I’m already mentally preparing to make the most of these next 20 weeks. Like I’ve told y’all before, when you look at it in terms of workouts, (20 arm workouts, 40 leg workouts, 20 rest days, 20 times to work shoulders) that’s changes your perception on things and you start to see that you really need every bit of those 20 weeks. This takes an incredible amount of discipline, dedication, and focus. Come back as a veteran now is already a little different, but in a good way. I can’t wait to compare progress pics from this prep with my last one.

The weekly training/ posing sessions with my coach will start back up in January, which will be awesome! I’ve already started looking at suits—I’ll need a new once since my back’s grown so much!—and I’m super excited that my shows will be local so my friends and family can come see what this incredible sport is all about.

I can’t wait to share this journey with all of you again! All of your likes, comments, texts, emails, and messages really helped motivate and encourage me every day of those 12 weeks. If I can inspire and motivate anyone on my journey, than that makes this all the sweeter.

Till next time!

-Mere

Hello from Offseason!

September 22, 2015Contest Prep, General Fitness, Living the Fit LifestyleBodybuilding, Clean Eating, Competition Prep, Contest Prep, Diet, Fit Life, Fitness, Lifestyle, Meal Prep, NPC, NPC Figure, Nutrition, WeightlossMeredith Lynch

I’ve been so focused on sharing my fitness and healthy eating tips and tricks, that some of y’all probably forgot about how things are going for me as a Figure Competitor!

Oh man. I AM SO READY TO GET BACK ON THAT STAGE!!! Especially after watching the Olympia this weekend!! That’s the Super Bowl of this sport, and all of the Figure competitors looked amazing! As you know, my last (and only) show was six month ago in March. I did great in that show, and was originally planning to compete again in November. For me to be show-ready in November, I would have started prepping again in AUGUST. Honestly, both me and my coach felt like that just wasn’t enough time for me to GROW! All great competitors take significant time between shows to really focus on growing muscles and changing their physiques. That’s the only way to improve! You cannot grow muscle and stay stage lean year round. Our bodies cannot do both at the same time. End of story. Theoretically speaking it takes about 3 months (12 weeks) to prep for a Contest, and 2-3 months (6-10) weeks for your body to get back to normal after being that lean after a show.

So what have I been up to since our last update? EATING and LIFTING!!!!! I love the freedom and strength I have in the gym. I’ve set some amazing PRs, and have really able to focus more on training and having fun with my workouts! You can always have fun with your training (hell, it SHOULD be fun!) but as you progress through a contest prep you definitely lose your strength and energy, and eventually just use what energy you have to just get through the workout! My coach is very pleased with my progress—I’ve added CONSIDERABLE muscle mass, particularly in my back and shoulders. My quads have grown as well! It took me a few weeks to adjust to the weight gain I had from rebounding so badly after the show (classic rookie mistake!), but I’m feeling more confident in my body now. I’m hovering around 142-143 pounds these days (I’m 5’4) and was roughly 115 on show day. If you do the math, that’s about a 30 pound difference! Things don’t fit like they did a few months ago, and I’m still a little “fluffier” than I’d like to be, but it’s all part of the process. Just like in prep, I take this one day, one meal, one workout at a time. This is a lifestyle! I don’t feel deprived with food thanks to my weekly cheat meals. You’re going to think I’m crazy, but I begged my coach to take some of my carbs away because I was never hungry!! We’ll see how long that lasts!!!

I’ve also been focusing a lot on taking care of my body with preventative/ recovery measures to keep from getting injured and enable my muscles to get the most out of their training. I’m now getting monthly sports massages in addition to my monthly chiropractic adjustments. Massage is important because it helps your muscles grow and aids in the recovery of your muscle tissue. Sports massages aren’t exactly relaxing, but they hurt so good! My chiropractor helps me feel balanced and with neck and back pain I have from a car accident several years ago. I will also be incorporating cryotherapy into my routine as well. My training has remained mostly the same, but I am able to go HEAVY and push myself in every workout. Legs are definitely the area I want to grow the most, and even after all this work and time, I’m still dissatisfied with how slowly they are progressing. I’ve noticed how I’ve always sort of had “issues” with my legs, and my coach and I noticed that one of my hamstrings (my left) is definitely more developed than my right. I was also beginning to experience stiffness and soreness in my left hip, especially after sprints or leg day. He suggested I visit an MAT (muscle activation techniques) specialist in our gym to help facilitate better activation and utilization of my leg and hip muscles. Believe it or not, after only a few muscle tests on my first visit, the MAT therapist said I was maybe getting 50% of my full potential out of my legs. ONLY FIFTY PERCENT!!!!! No wonder I’m not seeing the growth I want to. That was also the reason for the lopsided hammies and hip pain. My lack of muscle activation in my legs is caused by a combination of factors—muscle range of motion, genetics, strength, etc. , but the good news is that it can be fixed! Muscle activation techniques focus on restoring BALANCE between muscles, and retraining your muscles to activate or “fire” the correct way so that they are getting the most out of training. A lot of professional athletes get MAT training right before a game so that they can perform at their best. Think of it like a chiropractor for your muscles. My MAT therapist restructured my leg day workout so that I start with calves, move to hip abductor and adductor exercises, seated leg curl, and then glutes before doing any compound movements like squats, deadlifts, or leg presses. This way my leg muscles are 100% activated and can fully “absorb” the training. So interesting! I’ve just started MAT, and have only had two sessions. After both sessions, I immediately trained legs, and WOAH does it make a huge difference. Performing certain exercises feels totally different after the MAT therapy. It’s hard to explain, but I can already see a difference in my legs in just three weeks. My MAT therapist also prescribed a series of hip flexor exercises and stretches to do every day that will help as well.

I have three more months of growing season, which seems like a lot; but it’s really not! I have just 15 weeks before prep starts again. That’s only 15 workouts per muscle group. See, not a lot—right?! I’m itching to pick a show date (dates haven’t been released for 2016 yet due to some changes with NPC Texas), anxious to start the countdown again, go to posing classes, have discipline and structure, pick out a suit, and get ready to shine! Every time I throw on my heels for check-ins with my coach, it makes me miss the anticipation of getting ready for a show! I’m confident, though, that all of my hard work is going to pay off when I hit that stage in the spring. I can’t wait to show off a totally different version of myself. The best part of bodybuilding is that you are really competing against yourself. It’s a constant, evolving process. Just like life.

Till Next Time,

-Mere

Eat This, Not That—a Fit Girl’s Guide to Eating Out!

September 11, 2015General Fitness, Living the Fit Lifestyle, Nutrition/ Diet, WeightlossClean Eating, Diet, Fit Life, Fitness, Lifestyle, Meal Prep, Nutrition, WeightlossMeredith Lynch

I’m excited about this post, and I think a lot of you will be too! Let’s face it, as much as we try to meal prep and plan our meals, sometimes we are in a pinch and need to eat a meal on the road or away from home. Maybe you have a job that has a lot of dinners and lunches with clients that you wine and dine, or travel a lot, and that requires a lot of eating out. I thought I’d share some of my favorite tips and tricks for making healthy choices when eating out.

I’ll preface this by saying that when you are really trying to be mindful with your nutrition, lose weight, build muscle, etc., you should avoid eating out as much as you can. Not all restaurant meals are unhealthy, but when you eat out you cannot really control what and how much you are eating as well as you can when you prepare and cook your own meals. With that said, we all like to get out of the house and enjoy a meal out with our friends and loved ones. Live a little!!

Here are the parameters I try to follow when I am out (NOT ON CHEAT MEAL NIGHT!) and looking at what to order:

Stay away from fried anything— fried chicken is certainly delicious, but it’s not healthy!
Salads are a good option, but leave off the croutons and cheese if you can. They are nothing but empty calories. Stick with vinaigrette dressings and always order dressings on the side.
Stick with grilled lean proteins—fish, chicken, etc.
Avoid creamy sauces, cheese, and butter sauces. These usually add hundreds of calories.
Avoid pasta and rice dishes. They are chock full of of added butter and SALT and have way more carbs that you probably need.
Send the chips and bread back.
Look at menus and nutrition facts ahead of time so you are prepared and will be less tempted to order something off your “plan”.
You can always ask for your food to be prepared without butter or ask to have things grilled.
I will almost ALWAYS order a side salad instead of the rice/fries/potato option

I also thought I’d share some of our go-to meals we’ll order when we need to eat on the run:

Chipotle—

Order the burrito bowl with chicken, ½ as much brown rice, or no rice at all. No beans, no cheese, no sour cream. Pico, hot sauce, a tiny bit of corn, and lots of lettuce! Guac on the side.

Chick-Fila—

Grilled nuggets with a side salad. Vinaigrette dressing on the side. Their market salad is a good option too but doesn’t have a lot of protein.

PeiWei—

Did you know you can get ANY of their bowls steamed with the sauce on the side?! I love this option, and will get it with the spicy sauce on the side and use just a tiny bit to dip my veggies in. Watch how much of the rice you eat, though, and order brown or white rice, but not fried rice.

Ghengis Grill—

I can almost eyeball my protein amount and can get a ton of veggies!!! The healthier sauces are usually spicy, but try to avoid the sweeter ones to save calories.

Jason’s Deli—

The Turkey Wrap is your best option outside of the salad bar. The soups are pretty much salt licks, and don’t even look at the nutrition facts for the sandwiches. To save even more calories, order the wrap with no ranch dressing or on the side.

Rock Fish/ Seafood places—

Stick with grilled white fish (no butter) and grilled or steamed veggies with no butter. You can also do boiled shrimp or crab! YUM!!!

Breakfast / Brunch—

Go with egg-white and veggie omelets or scrambles, and plain oatmeal. You can add Splenda and cinnamon to your oatmeal! Avoid biscuits, pancakes, pastries, waffles, bacon, sausage. and pretty much all the good stuff. L Brunch is another one of my favorite cheat meals!!

Mi Cocina/ Mexican Restaurants—

We love the Mico Rico salad from Mi Cocina! Again, leave off the cheese and bacon but otherwise you’re pretty set. Chicken fajitas and chicken fajita salads are probably your best choice if you can’t find grilled options on the menu. Just watch the rice/beans/chips.

Sushi / Asian Restaurants—

Sushi is usually a pretty clean meal, especially if you’re not ordering rolls with sauces or tempura batter. Sashimi is a great option as well. Asian restaurants will usually give you the option to get your entrée steamed, so try that as well.

Pizza—

Seriously, just save this for a cheat meal. Anything else will be disappointing! If y’all have ideas on how to make restaurant pizza a clean meal, let me know, I’m all ears!!

American / Bar Restaurants—

A grilled chicken salad can be found almost anywhere, but again look at the toppings and dressing choices. For example, most of Chili’s salads have a RIDICULOUS number of calories, but appear to be “healthy”. I will sometimes do a grilled fish, or turkey burger as options too.

DRINKS—

Sidenote: Alcohol is almost entirely void of any nutritional value. You want to lose weight quickly? Cut out alcohol for two weeks and see what happens. That said, I love the occasional cocktail, so here are my favorite “skinny” options:

Skinny Margarita
Vodka soda (NOT TONIC) with extra lime
Wine
A light beer
Diet Coke with vodka or Malibu and lime
Avoid frozen drinks, craft cocktails (those are my favorite), sweeter cocktails, and blended drinks

Stick to your guns! It’s not easy to start or stick to a lifestyle of clean eating. If it were, everyone would do it. However, I can promise you that every healthy choice you make will give you more confidence and motivation to keep making more of them. Your body will thank you and you won’t feel guilty for sabotaging all of your hard work in the gym. Keep working hard! Remember, I’m always listening and willing to help, so feel free to email me at Lipglossandlifting@gmail.com. I just started a Facebook page, too, so give it a like (search for Lipgloss and Lifting)!

Till next time,

-Mere

I’m in the Gym – Now What?

August 25, 2015General Fitness, WorkoutsExercise, Fitness, Gym, Muscles, WorkoutsMeredith Lynch

One of the questions I get asked most often is how I figured out how to train. How many reps? How many exercises? How often for each body part? How much weight? How will I know if I’m doing it right? Trust me when I say there really is no perfect answer. What I’m learning on my journey is that you really learn as you go. We all are—even the most experienced trainers and bodybuilders I know are still learning, experimenting, and still changing their workouts up. Isn’t that cool? It’s one of my favorite things about training—you’re never an expert, and you can always keep learning and trying new things. Like I’ve mentioned so many times before, it’s important that you try to educate yourself as much as possible. Use different resources. Bodybuilding.com and Oxygen magazine are two of my FAVORITES, and they’re so easy to access. Not sure how to use a piece of equipment? Ask trainers and other fitness professionals in your gym. Health and fitness can be a part of everyone’s life, but not everyone chooses for it to be. I hope that I can give some insight into some of these “how” questions I mentioned earlier so you too can start to structure your own workouts and gain more confidence with all this weight lifting stuff!

How should I structure my workout split each week?

A lot of this really depends on the time you have. Aim for at least 4-5 workouts a week if you want to really build muscle and see results. That should really just be weight training NOT CARDIO. Cardio is a whole other post! Remember that muscle will burn fat, so you want to focus on building muscle. Of course any time in the gym is better than none at all, but I would aim to be there an hour or so. Your major body parts/ muscle groups are: legs, back, chest, arms, and shoulders. Abs and calves need to be thrown in there too, but you can just add those onto whatever other parts you’re training. Depending on where you are lagging and what areas you really want to grow, you can train them as many as 2-3x a week. You ideally want to have 1-2 days of rest between training sessions. Try to just focus on 1 or 2 muscle groups each workout and train them HARD. The idea is to make your muscles do more work, getting to hypertrophy (or muscle failure—we’ll talk more about that in a sec.), so that they repair and grow. Doing so will yield more results than doing a total body workout 4-5x a week , I promise! A good split could work like this—Monday—legs, Tuesday—arms and shoulders, Wednesday—OFF, Thursday—back, Friday—chest and shoulders, Saturday—yoga or a spin class. SUNDAY—off. There are ton of other examples out there though—find what works for you!

How many exercises and how many reps?

Here’s the fun part. You can get creative with this. When I first started, believe it or not I didn’t know that difference between a rep and a set! I’ll share— a repetition or “rep” is how many times you will do each exercise or motion in a “set” which is really just a set of reps. For example, you can do 3 sets of pushups, with 10-15 pushups or (“reps”) each set. You would do 10-15 pushups, rest for a minute or so, another set of 10-15, rest, and then do your least set. For beginners, I would focus on form and technique. Building out higher volume sets into your workout routine will help you get to hypertrophy, but your workout should include a mix of both. I started with using workouts I found online, and would sometimes build out my own. Once I started working with my coach, he designed my workouts during Prep, but now I am back to using those as a framework and getting creative on my own as well. I would shoot for 7-8 exercises each workout, doing 3-4 sets of 12-15 reps each. That will give you a pretty good place to start.

How much weight?

It’s called working out because it takes WORK! Your training sessions should not feel like a walk in the park—you need to push yourself! This is different for everyone. Here’s a good rule of thumb: if you can knock out all of your reps easily and not feel your heart rate increase or your breathing change, you need to add more weight. Your last 2-3 reps should be somewhat of a struggle. The key here though is to keep good form. If you lose your form, you can hurt yourself and that’s no bueno. You will need to try different dumbbells and amounts of weight out to see work works for you. A good starting weight for shoulder presses should be around 10-15 pounds for arms, and likely the same for bicep curls, but again see how many you can do. You can do more reps with less weight and fewer reps with more weight. If it’s heavy, you’re doing it right! You will be surprised how quickly your strength increases.

Make sure it's heavy. AND YOU HAVE PROPER FORM! — Make sure it’s heavy. AND YOU HAVE PROPER FORM!

How will I know if I’m doing it right?

If you’re sore (not hurting—just sore!) the next day, that’s a good sign. Sweat is good too! Keep pushing yourself every workout, every day, and eating the right foods, and you will see results. You will know when you’ve pushed yourself. Consistency is key. Make this a priority and it will pay off. We all start somewhere. The great thing is that there are a ton of resources out there that can show you proper form and technique, you just have to seek that information out. I’m here to help too!

Thank you all so much again for your support and interest in my site! I know things aren’t as exciting now that I’m not prepping for a show, but my hope is that this platform can help and encourage others to live a healthy lifestyle. I have a special place in my heart for women who are scared of the gym and clueless as to where to start, because I was one of those girls. You can do this! If I can, anyone can.

Till next time,

-Mere