Oh boy.

Did you go crazy last week and exceed your sanity limit?

I don’t mean this in just food either. I mean everything. Did you shop too much? Drink too much? Do too much? Was it just a ‘too much’ time for you? Were you always on the go?

Now for the most part, I am sure you tried to keep it clean with food while your ran around like a chicken with your head cut off. And in those moments of trying to be good, you may have been tempted to turn to a protein bar or two.

Stop.

Don’t do it.

Although convenient, if your desire is to look good naked then they are not an option for you. If your desire is to reap the benefits of all that you sow, then they are still not an option for you. If you want to tighten a little bit here, lift that somewhat up here or eliminate this thing over here then they are definitely not an option for you.

Fake foods (bars and powders), as I describe them, do not make a beautiful body. Food makes a beautiful body. And although you will be tempted to rely upon them in busy times, try not to make that a habit.

Now out of the two evils, powders are the much lesser of them both. They have plenty of worth post workout and really can get you out of a pinch (if you said to me it’s either a shake or a trip to the drive thru, I’m going to tell you to make sure you lick the shaker bottle, lol)—it’s more bars that I am referring to. Those delicious fake candy bars that have more junk in them than my hair after two weeks of not washing it. Side note: Was that too much info right there? Did that make you sick? Sorry about that—try to remove the image and move on.;) But honestly, do me the favor and read the label of those things. Tell me what you can pronounce. If that was packaged food you would never eat that. So why is it acceptable as a bar? It’s not! You have somehow told yourself it was because you can rationalize it more than a Snickers bar.

So now I know what you are going to say, “What can I have then when I am crazy and running around and I have no time to eat?” Lots of things! You can make your own bars:

Home-made Protein Bars

4 scoops chocolate whey protein powder

2 cups Quaker Oats (old fashioned or quick)

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup Whole Foods natural peanut butter

3/4 cup water

For top: 1/4 cup Whole Foods Honey Roasted natural peanut butter

Mix all ingredients in bowl (except for the honey roasted pb, that is spread on top). Spread mixture evenly into square pan lined with aluminum foil or wax paper. Spread thin layer of honey roasted pb over top.

Put in freezer for 30 minutes and then cut into eight bars.

Calories = 300; Fat = 16; Protein = 18; Carbs = 24; Fiber = 4

Got this recipe from a favorite lady of mine!

Or you can have a myriad of things that are convenient to carry in your purse (nuts, dried fruit, fruit, tuna packets and etc.) including a shake. Whatever you choose, just make sure it is not taking away from all the hard work you are putting in right now. It’s hard enough to stay on track during the holidays, why make it harder with bars?

In harmony with Thanksgiving and Tweetsgiving, I am sharing what I am grateful for this year and honestly, the past 15 years.  I am grateful for my girlfriend Kristen.

To be honest, I am grateful for so many things this year that I wouldn’t even know where to start.  From my husband and our dedication to each other (22 years this Feb!), to my children and their innocence (my 4yo: “when’s thanks for giving?”), to my family and friends who have done so much for me in the way of a call, a kind word or a favor, there are so many people, things and circumstances I am grateful for this year that I didn’t think that I could narrow it down to one.  But I did and her name is Kris.

I have known Kris now for 15 years and she means more to me than I ever realized.  So many people will come and go in your life—and that’s not always a bad thing.  But when they come and they stay and stay for so long, you might have a tendency to take them for granted.  They become like family.  Part of the furniture.  And I don’t ever want that to happen with her.  Ever.

Kris has a heart of gold but isn’t the warm and fuzzy type.

She gives freely of herself and her time and does not ask for anything in return.

She is much more patient than she gives herself credit for.

She will listen whenever you call.

She is wise beyond her years.

And she is a dedicated True Believer.

Her passion for the Lord is obvious and her commitment to her Walk is tremendous.  I love her like I would a sister and I never want that to change.  I am thankful for someone like this in my life who has guided me as well as befriended me.  It is rare nowadays to find people you can bond with that you trust with your life—but I found one in her.  She is my daughter’s God mother and a true friend of my family and I just want to say, Thank You.

If you want to be a part or Tweetsgiving, send a tweet or put up a post and reference it.  You may also donate money toward their cause, as well.  I want to thank MizFit for making me hip to this.  I would not have known otherwise. 

I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving and be safe while traveling.

Last week (and some of the week before) I was hit with a bug that nearly took me out.  It has been a long time since I have been sick and it made me sit down and analyze my diet and sleep patterns to see if there is a “whole in the bucket” somewhere.  While no one can live completely sick free, there are ways to boost your immunity enough that sickness is a rarity.  For the most part, I feel pretty confident about nutrition and sleep because I almost never get sick (honestly cannot remember the last time I was) but knowing that no one is perfect, I brought out my check list to make sure I was covering all my basis.

Fruits and Veggies

If you do not know by now, I am a true advocate for variety in the diet.  Eating the same foods every day assures you that you have only those nutrients covered in your diet while leaving you hopelessly deficient in others.  It goes without saying that you need to get out there in vast landscape of the supermarket called the produce section and move past the apples and berries.  Find some foods that will help you make it through this season like garlic, onion and leeks.  All 3 of those are high in a sulfur-containing compound called allicin which is a no-joke antibacterial and antiviral agent that hugs up on Vitamin C to get the job done.  Not only will it keep you healthy, but it will make your breath so nasty that no one else (who may be sick themselves) will want to get close to you thereby keeping you healthy.

Buy Local and In Season

Right now you may be tempted to add variety to your diet by eating the latest and greatest food that has been shipped in from North Kalamazoo.  While I encourage you to open your diet with new stuff, I want to try and discourage you from eating foods that might have sat on a truck for more than 3 days.  The longer that fruit or veggie has been sitting on a truck, the less nutritious it is.  Try to find your local produce market if you can and buy what they have on display.  I live in MA and we have a store here by the name of Lambert’s.  Their produce comes from local sources so you can be assured that it still has most of its nutrient profile in tact. 

Holy Crap!  Is That Normal?

Another temptation we all have is to buy the biggest or best looking fruit or veggie in the market.  Umm, don’t do that.  I know you are thinking that it looks amazing, but I betcha ten bucks it doesn’t have as many nutrients in it as the small guy next to it.  Big mumbo jumbo perfectly looking fruits and veggies tend to be grown with fertilizers that are higher in nitrogen count.  These fertilizers cause the fruit or veggie to take up more water making them look bigger and better—but they aren’t.  They are just bigger and more water logged.  They still have the same amount of nutrient in them as the small ones do but now they come with more nitrogen—and that can’t be good for you!  Nitrogen can reduce the body’s ability to carry oxygen and as an athlete, there can’t be much worse than that!

Honestly, You Make Me Sick.

Lastly, when you look at your diet and start to switch things around, look for items that may also cause you to have sensitivity to them.  There are some more notorious than others (dairy, eggs, wheat, nuts and shellfish can wreak havoc on your life more than spinach, tomatoes and oranges) but nonetheless, they are harmful to you in that they keep your immune system so busy that little buggies have a chance to sneak in.  Try to be cognizant of how foods make you feel when you put them in your diet.  Since you are not eating the same thing every day (cough, cough), make a note if you become tired, queasy or irritable after eating certain foods.  This info is vital to your success because you could be wearing yourself down day after day with foods that you think are good for you when in fact, they are hurting you little by little.

It was a long 2 weeks for me that I was sick.  It was not a flu, more like a head cold on crack but it took me out regardless.  I will be doing the nutrition overhaul starting today to make sure there was nothing missed because I would rather be dragged down the street by wild horses than go through that again.  Make today a healthy one!

It’s the fall right now but winter is around the corner in New England.  We will go from balmy and 70 degrees one day to dry and 30 degrees the next.  When that happens, the first thing on your body to “complain” is your skin.

I’m going to let you in on a secret:  my skin is a source of stress for me.  There is very little in my life that bothers me quite like my skin does.  Now you know I am going to tell you it is all my fault—because I am my own worst enemy.  So I am a sun lover for sure!  Nothing I love more than lying out in the sun…in Aruba…on the equator…with oil on me…and a meat thermometer to make sure I’m not overcooked. Hehe.

Yeah, I know, read me the riot act.  But I am now paying for my over indulgence of the big fireball in the sky with age spots.  Now truth be told, it could be worse.  I could have a whole host of things cropping up left and right for as much as I abused the gift of the sun, but I do not because of my insatiable love of omega 3 fatty acids.  Besides keeping my wrinkles at bay and smoothing out the texture of my skin, EFAs provide the structure necessary for skin with “snap”.  You know, non saggy skin.  So let’s get right into it and talk about what you might be going through this winter:

Dry skin:

Ignoring the fact that you want to shower with molten lava and wash your skin with heavily perfumed soap, you may find that no matter what you do you cannot rid yourself of dry skin.  The first place to look is your diet.  Are you hydrated and are you eating fats?  You want to have at least ¾ of a gallon of water per day and at least 3 to 5 servings of a good omega 3 rich fat source preferably in the form of an oil.  A long time ago I was told by a well known naturopath that you should have as much oil as you can tolerate that leaves your skin moistened after coming out of the shower.  I can tell you right now, none of y’all will try that, so let me ease your burden a bit with this recommendation:  if one serving of good fat per day does not help, add a ½ serving per day until it does.  Give it as much as a week to kick in before going up in the fat and cut a little bit of something else out during the day to make up for the extra cals.

Greasy skin:

You have a sweet tooth, girl.  Knock it off.  Too much sugar and fat helps the body to form a layer on the skin that is shiny.  If you replace those sweets with EFAs, you will fair much better.  Feel free to share those sweets with the rest of us so we may help you to move on from your bad habit.  Hopefully it was brownies you were eating…I’m just sayin.

Bumpy skin:

Increase the amount of orange foods in your diet (Vit A) and ease off the dairy a bit.  These occur more as an allergy to a food and typically dairy is the chief offender.  I know you love your greek yogurt, but 2 in a day is a bit much.  Let’s diversify a bit, shall we?

Acne prone skin:

Just like the greasy skin, walk away from the processed fats and the refined sugar.  They are killing you.  A clean diet with adequate hydration should begin to give you some relief although it is not always the full answer.  Also, a vitamin deficiency will also cause your acne to come out more and you know how I feel about vitamins so this should already be handled! [giving you a hairy eyeball]  If you are an athlete, or as active as one, you will not get all that you need from food alone and then your body begins to give you a hard time.  Listen to it when it talks to you, it knows more than you do.;o)

Nutritionally there is more to it than just EFAs if you want to survive a rough winter.  Vitamin E, Vitamin C, zinc, Vitamin A and selenium all aid in keeping your skin soft and healthy and are abundant in a clean, varied diet.  If you can venture out of your zone and eat more than just the same two veggies and one fruit that you eat every day, you should be well ahead of the game.  Another thing to note is, all those vitamins and minerals also do well for you topically.  So if you can find a good moisturizer with any of those added, grab it.  The more back up you can provide your skin with, the better.

Ok, we’ve all hit it.

It’s inevitable.

The dreaded weight loss plateau.

What in heaven’s name do you do now? 

If you’re like most women, you panic!  [Picture Gotham City burning; the Bat signal on the clouds; nothing but mayhem below—you get the idea!]  You start googling everything under the sun.  Here are some classic examples:

how to break a weight loss plateau

how to add intensity to cardio

how to lose 5 pounds in 5 minutes

hacksaws and their effectiveness (I see we’re getting desperate here)

It’s right about now when all rational thought tends to leave your mind.  You can no longer be trusted with your own exercise program.  You are as volatile as Elizabeth Lambert on a soccer field with a sea of pony tails in front of her.  Basically, put the keyboard down and back away slowly. 

Let’s be smart and think about this.  What causes a weight loss plateau?

1)       You’re in a rut. 

Have you been doing the same routine since the gym opened 3 years ago?  Seriously, when’s the last time you changed your workout?

2)       You’re too chicken to raise the weight.

If you have been lifting the same 10 pound weights since you can remember, it is time to make your exercises harder.  You must gradually increase resistance so you can keep challenging yourself.  Now, if you do this and you realize you can lift a car by yourself or one of the stones in a strongman competition, I would venture to say that that is not your issue.  At that point, you need to keep reading for other ideas.

3)       You do the same intensity workout day in and day out.

Your idea of an interval workout is leaving the remote by the tv and standing up in between commercials to change the station.  You need to branch out and add some hutzpah to your routine!  No matter who I talk to about this, I always find someone that knows this to be true but still doesn’t actually *do* it.

4)       You’re a hamster stuck in a wheel.

Now you’re the opposite of 3.  You are so neurotic about your exercise, you are doing plyos on Mon., Wed. and Fri., marathon training on Tues., Thurs., Sat. and Sun., Yoga on Wed and Sat, Jujitsu on Mon. and Thurs., Rock climbing every other weekend, bootcamp Tues. and Fri. and etc.  You have more going on than a bingo hall on a Friday night.  Less is more in this case.  Back it down and you’ll lose 5 pounds right away.

5)       You’re starving.

Have you pushed the cals so low you don’t even realize you’re biting your nails for extra protein?  When’s the last time you took a break dieting?  Every woman is on some kind of diet at some time in her life.  Have you been on one just a wee bit too long?  Do you count everything that you eat?  Or measure everything?  Have a hard time letting go of the structure?  Believe it or not, if you walk away from this for a week or two, you’ll probably break the plateau.

There are countless reasons for weight loss plateaus, these are just a few, and all of them are frustrating.  Before you make any rash moves, take two minutes to be as objective as you can possibly be about your program.  Keep track of how you are feeling and how you are doing with your program so you can spot trouble before it happens. 

Keep in mind, three things have to be the same for 3 weeks in a row to constitute a plateau:  bodyfat, pictures and weight.  If you are only checking one of those, it is not a true plateau!

It’s time for me to start a new series.  I have not decided on what it is going to be but I have kicked the idea of a weight loss plateau around.  Just know, another series is on the way very soon and like the ones before, will be very informative. 

Ok, get to the gym and start raising that weight!!:o)

I love this time of the year for one thing and one thing only: Squashes!!

Now let me prep you first by saying, “I have zero recipes!” But my girl Joanna from Fitness and Spice has plenty so go check her site out. In the mean time, I just want to take 2 min. to talk about how divine these veggies are when they are used as a starch and how underrated they are in your diet.

First, I am really referring to winter squashes (acorn, butternut, pumpkin and spaghetti) not summer (zucchini, summer, pattypan) squashes. Being of many colors and depending on the variety, they are chock full of vitamins and rich in fiber and oh so yummy! Butternut squash is my favorite and it blows the roof off of Vitamin A content and beta-carotene content. It is smooth on the palette and divine when roasted. But the most important of all is it provides a nice energy boost (ST) without the worry of holding excess water.

So what does this mean? Two days out or maybe even 3 days out from an event, switch your oatmeal, bread, rice and etc. for a nice squash. You’ll still be getting all of the carbohydrate you need, but you will be avoiding all the water gain that comes from the traditional starch servings.

Think about the fun you can have with these guys. Roasted butternut squash, baked acorn squash, spaghetti squash and etc. all sound outrageously yummy and are very easy to prepare! Each one also contains much less starch in one cup than what sweet potato has in a ½ cup. All of this yummyness without the subcutaneous water retention or any unsightly bloat…NICE!

So go buy a gourd and then head on over to Joanna’s site so you know how to cook these marvels! YUM!:o)

Not like the Exercise Slump post, this is different. I want to know, how do you weather the storm? How do you deal with organized chaos or do you not deal at all?

So where am I going with this? With age comes wisdom is the saying but I am not always sure of that. Sometimes I wouldn’t say it’s wisdom as much as it is recognizing patterns. Say we’re on a roll of working out and eating well and we’re in a really nice groove. Life begins to get hectic and we start to fall apart. At what point does your emergency broadcasting system kick in and tell you to kick it into plan B? And if it doesn’t kick in, why not?

When I am stressed or distracted, the first thing that goes with me is food. I would rather not eat when harried than eat. Back in the day, I would allow that to happen. I would feed into it (for the lack of a better word;) and go for long periods of time before I would eat. The bad thing about that is my cortisol levels are shooting through the roof, my blood sugar is as crazy as NYC at rush hour and my thinking becomes impaired because I lack the glucose to have a coherent thought. What ensues after this is a downward spiral of what I refer to as organized chaos. I call it that because it always unfolds the same way, it has a predictable outcome but yet it wreaks havoc on my life for as long as I allow it to. Not anymore, though. Now I see the storm brewing on the horizon and I have a contingency plan in place to keep things from getting out of control.

First, I have a series of yummy meals in my freezer that are ready to go at any time. So the minute I start thinking that I don’t want to eat because “there’s nothing to eat” (my famous line when I am stressed and avoiding food), I know that that is bull. Next, I save parts of my workouts for my time with my clients. This forces me to workout with them and it keeps me in the exercise loop. Doing this primes me for my own personal workouts later in the day. Lastly, I openly recognize that this is going down. I don’t avoid it or start saying cute sounding platitudes, I literally acknowledge it, talk to it, talk about it, whatever—but I honestly take the time to point out to myself that it could get ugly.

So my question to you is, what do you do to weather the storm? Or, how do you recognize the storm is on the horizon? What makes your emergency backup system go into effect and what do you do when it does? I am hoping we can help those who do not have one in place right now or do not realize that they can have one in place thereby keeping the organized chaos to a minimum.

Hit me up and let me know what you do…:o)

Ok…so it’s national “I-need-to-get-some-stuff-off-my-chest-week”.  From annoying time changes/cold weather to just as annoying fitness gurus, I clearly have some repressed issues that need to surface.  In comes my recent gym experiences. 

I love my time of the day to work out.  It’s my time.  No one else’s.  So, my kids…they have to wait.  My husband…he’s number 2 at that time of day.  There’s not much that gets in the way of my workout once it’s decided upon and planned…until I get to the gym.  THEN, there is a TON of stuff that gets in the way.  Here are just a few:

1)       My Ipod:  I have sacrificed many a work out because I either forgot this at home, did not charge it or had an earplug malfunction.  I cannot even imagine cutting through the gym to the bathroom without my ipod never mind doing a full cardio workout without it.  In fact, doing cardio without music is like shaving your legs with a butter knife.  Sounds plausible but who would ever try it?

2)       A hat:  Hats are vital items in the gym.  Nothing speaks of “get out of my way, I am on a mission” more than a hat.  You can avoid ALL unnecessary eye contact, ANY thought of human contact and even seeing or noticing friends if you want to be that cut throat.  They MUST be standard issue baseball hats that fit down to your eyebrows easily and comfortably.  You know you have a good one when you walk into a piece of cardio because you just didn’t see it at first.  Hats can prevent awkward moments with other gym goers who want to share too much information in between sets or keep you from having to acknowledge the lurker on your left who wants to cut in while you’re working out.  Hats are a must.  The only thing more effective is a shirt that you are wearing that smells like 2 day old laundry.  There’s another keeper right there!

3)       Water:  Yes, hydration is important and keeping up on your water while working out is essential.  Being dehydrated can be the difference between a great workout or an ok workout.  But that’s not what makes water an irreplaceable item in the gym.  No, water’s importance is much like that of the hat:  it’s a great distraction!  Someone asking you something that you know you don’t want to be a part of?  Drop your hat and take a swig while walking with a purpose.  You’ll look so involved, no one will think twice about it.  Get this timing down, though.  If not, you’ll end up drooling on yourself and still have to talk to the person at the end.  Not cute.

4)       Gloves:  Now you may not be big on these but I am.  I have found these to be the handiest things ever.  For one, I don’t have to come in contact with the equipment.  Nowadays, I feel like I could catch a bad case of the hoolie goolies if I touched just the right thing in the gym.  I actually look forward to the Swine Flu b/c they at least know what that is.  I would be the sad sap who gets something that would provoke a 90 min. special from Dr. Sanjay Gupta of CNN so much so that my hands would turn a funny color and itch or something.  Who knows!  So gloves are great for keeping that from happening.  But they are also great for looking important.  You ever just want to raise your gym status for kicks and giggles?  Throw on some gloves and do some outrageous exercise while making some good grunting noises.  You’ll immediately pick up some fans.  However, if you have #2 on and #3 in your hand, you’ll never know so just take solace in knowing that they are there.

5)       Gym widget/pass:  this is the little gadget that gets you into the gym.  You need to have this.  If you do not know why, forget it one time.  Depending on the gym you go to, you may be mistaken for a convict and they may do a cavity search of you at the front desk.  It totally depends on the staff that day.  You could also luck out and get the chick who doesn’t want to look up and acknowledge you so she lets you through with no issue.  You never know.  But why risk it?  Because if you are that unlucky to get the gatekeeper, it’s going to be a rough go until you get in.  There’s usually the cavity search followed by some face recognition software and then occasionally a bit of DNA match up with fingerprinting.  By this time, though, you’ve lost all patience and have put on your ipod, pulled your hat down, taken a swig of water and walked out without need of your gloves!  It’s a shame.

If you have your favorite item, do share.  I am not a towel girl or a journal girl so I did not include those.  But if you are, let me know—I’d love to know.  In the mean time, I’m going to get my stuff ready for the gym in the morning.  It’s time to be incognito again!:o)

Before I delve into the annoying world of fitness, I need to laugh about how many folks were taken aback by my snow shoeing!haha  I promise that if I do it I will tell you all about it.  Yes, I know it is cold out there and yes, I know I hate the cold.  But I will give it a go all in the name of fitness and I will report back as soon as possible with details…hehe.

As for whatever you are doing in the gym right now—knock it off!

Honestly, if you troll around the web long enough and begin to read all the training articles out there, no matter what you are doing right now (and it could be the latest and greatest thing) you are doing it ALL wrong and you are awful just for breathing.  In fact, you are a fitness waste that is destined to spend the rest of your life behind the times in leotards and Richard Simmons shorts.  Why you got up this morning is beyond belief—give it up, you suck.

I have no idea how this is supposed to motivate me to want to try whatever it is that they are pushing but this seems to be the norm for so many fitness folk that I am almost wondering if it really is an effective way of marketing one’s self.  Maybe I will try it next week in a post.  I’ll tell you about the newest thing out there and how you are less than human because you don’t know how to do it and not only that, you are archaic because what you are doing is SUCH a waste of time (yes, because working out is silly—whatever) and why aren’t you more efficient and why haven’t you burned 700 cals in 10 min. and then *continued* to burn cals for at least another 20 hours while maximizing your potential to sell real estate to pigmies in Africa who are recovering the best unknown workout recovery secret…(pant, pant, pant).  When did fitness become this full of overbearing folks with heinous agendas? OY!

Here’s my deal…  Workout.  Now.  That’s it.  I don’t care what you do, just break a sweat.  If you decide that your cardio for the day is going to be laundry and you walk up and down 2 flights of stairs with a laundry basket about 8 times, so be it!  If you think shop lifting in Walmart is the way to go and then being chased through the parking lot by undercover cops for cardio is appealing, just wear a heart rate monitor—it’s all I ask.  Say you decide to live on the edge and go for something new so you take up swimming…indoors…in the fountain at the center of the Burlington Mall…and you find a lot of change…GOOD!  Buy some new workout gear with it!  I don’t care what you do as long as you do something!!

If you want to split hairs and talk about optimizing and etc, save that for when you’re feeling perfect.  There’s about 2 weeks out of the year when we feel that way.  The rest of the time we’re just trying to get it done and hope that nothing gets in our way lest we don’t make it to the gym that day.  YKWIM?  So I’m here to cut some slack for you folk out there who are feeling like you are not doing all that you can because you keep reading how you are doing it all wrong:  tell them to go blow it out their backside and start counting everything under the sun as a workout including yelling in traffic, pacing because you have to go to the bathroom and running out of time! 

Stand up for yourself and don’t get bullied by these crazy exercise folks!  Almost started feeling bad about myself because I worked out for an hour today…what a waste of my time.  I could have worked out for 7 min. and maintained a high EPOC for 23 hours and then dropped 10 pounds before breakfast!   Instead I chose to “make myself fatter” by doing a complex or 2 and finishing out with some cardio…SHEESH!  Who knew?

Whatever you choose to do, I am glad you are doing something!  Feel free to let us know about it if it is something unique.  Have fun!:o)

So I casually mention in my post yesterday that if I end up having to go inside for a workout that I may do either a kettlebell workout (I own 6 of them, getting ready to get another pair soon) or a complex.  I didn’t go into any detail about either of them because I took for granted that you would know what they are all about.  I got a few questions about the kettlebell workouts (do I really like them and do I think they are effective—yes to both) but I got much more about the complexes.

What are they? 

They are a barbell workout designed around 4 to 8 exercises that are set up in a way so that they create a flow of movement around the barbell.  All exercises are big muscle movers and major windsuckers so you are fully out of breath by the time you finish.

Isn’t that a circuit?

Umm…no.  Any time you say the word circuit I cringe.  Honestly, I have visions of women in regular clothing moving from machine to machine sans sweat who are there solely to pass time in between rounds of bingo next door at the church hall.  Once the outer square and overall are done, they’ll go back in for round 2. 

What’s the catch?

The catch is, you cannot put the barbell down once you start.  So you do each exercise separately and complete all reps before moving on to the next exercise.  This is killer!  You must choose a weight that is challenging to the weakest movement and then go for it.

I’m Confused…

Ok…here’s a great complex:  Overhead press, overhead squat, back squat, front squat, bent over row and Romanian deadlift.  Perform that with a barbell and do 7 reps of each exercise.  Once you start with the OH press, DO NOT PUT THE BB DOWN until you have gone through each exercise at least once.  Do this for 4 sets of 7 reps each.  Rest 120s between each set.  Remember to bring a puke sack with you, you’ll  need it right about the time you hit the 3^rd set and you’re doing the back squat. OY!

This is cardio?

Heck yeah!  Again…try it before you question.  It’s also a great way to maintain muscle without having to kill yourself.  AND…IT’S FAST!!!!!!!! 

Please try this out and let me know how you do on it.   I love complexes and I know you will, too!

Ok, I’m off to find a guest blogger for Tuesdays because I just can’t seem to find any time to post on this day!:o)