Down in Body Fat Up in Muscle!

April 2nd is just around the corner. Saturdays measurements looked great. I am right on track. I am currently at 13.32% body fat and 127.2 pounds. I am still gaining muscle and losing fat.
I have been training legs 2x per week to really pump them up. I always start with compound, powerful exercises like jerks and then work into more grinding exercises like front/back squats. One leg day is focused more on glutes and hamstrings and the other one I target different angles of my quads and calves. Recently I have been a big fan of drop sets. At the end of my workout I will pick an exercise like leg extensions and start with a heavy weight and go until failure, drop down in weight and go to failure again and then do that one more time. What a burn! I rest about 1 minute between drop sets and do 3 sets.
Today I emailed a video of me practicing my bikini posing to Coach T. I can't wait to hear back from her. For those of you who are interested in purchasing tickets for my show in Spokane on the 23rd of April go to http://www.empireclassic.net/. You do want to get prejudging tickets for sure b/c that is when they bring out the Bikini Division. Let me know if you need any help.
PS. If you'd like to go to any of my other shows further away check out www. northwestbodybuilding.net for the April 2nd show in Vancouver, Wa and npcmontana.com for the show on the 9th in Missoula.
Thank you all for you support!
Peace and Love,
Abby

Lining my ducks up...

Hello! I am about 4 and 1/2 weeks out and I am lining all of my ducks up in a row. Tanning? Check. Suit? Check. Hair and make-up? Check. Sponsorship? CHECK!

That's right, I am now a sponsored athlete. Litehouse has generously agreed to sponsor me for this seasons competitions. This is huge! I am super stoked and now I have been re-motivated to step up my training and keep my nutrition in check. I am honored that a company like Litehouse would support my fitness pursuits, I don't want to let them down.

I recently achieved another goal of mine. I knocked out 80 sets of 7 reps of snatches in the VO2 Max 15:15 protocol. My next goal is to work towards 8 reps. Today I finished my back workout with a 5 minute snatch workout. 10 snatches per side for 5 minutes. I was trying to shoot for 100 but I only got to 91. I was reminded by Coach Danny to not focus on intensity but just go for that extra burn at the end. I kind of felt my right shoulder bothering me a bit as well.

Speaking of injuries; you want to know the dirty truth about strength training 5-6 days per week? Be prepared to encounter random minor injuries. My flexibility is not what it used to be either. My back feels stiff and my hamstrings are like cables. Would I do it all again? Damn right! The results I have gotten from this training is insane. My body looks the best it has ever looked, my strength is out of this world, and my heart feels like its made out of elastic steel. Today I knocked out sets of non-assisted pull-ups. I couldn't even do 1 2 months ago! I do balance it out with 2-3 sessions of yoga per week and I always stretch after my workouts. I can really connect with my muscles in a way that I never felt before and its a great feeling. Training is tough and yes, even for a bikini competition. I train heavy, hard, and in a no nonsense fashion. The more people tell me I can't the more I tell myself I can. And I will! Watch out Vancouver Natural, here comes lil' miss Abby from Sandpoint!

Tip for today: Commit to doing something that you thought you'd never be able to do (like a pull up) and then sit back and enjoy that feeling of achievement when you do. It's empowering!

Love and Peace,

Abby

5 weeks out!

I cannot believe I am 5 weeks out from my first show. I just made my last payment on my suit, I'm excited to see it. As of today I am 127.8 lbs and my body fat% is down to 14.06%. I plan to compete around 11-13%.
Since my first week I am down 1.80 lbs on the scale, up 8.30 lbs in muscle, down 10.10 lbs of fat, and -7.61% of body fat. I have honestly not changed much in my diet with the exception
of playing with the amount of carbs I consume at night. I am currently still eating 1786 calories per day. When I had decreased my carbs I started to lose too quickly so I am back up again. Speaking of carbs I found an awesome way to make a yummy side dish taste like dessert! Guilt Free!
Take a sweet potato and cut it up into strips. Melt 2 TBSP of coconut oil (get the oil that is solid) and drizzle it over the sweet potato. Add as much Cinnamon as your hear desires! Bake it in the oven for about 25 minutes at 420. It is so good!
Another fun thing you can try is a homemade exfoliate. It is great to exfoliate your skin especially this time of the year like once a week. I got this from my make-up artist for the shows. For the face get BAKER'S Sugar (the finest sugar) and mix with olive oil and then apply to face and rinse. Your skin will feel so soft. For the body you can use granulated sugar and mix also with olive oil, apply and then rinse. It is super cheap and great for your skin. If you tan its great to do beforehand. Store bought scrubs can have a bunch of other ingredients and chemicals and they can get pricey. So have fun, eat some yummy sweet potato's and then give your self a great scrub and feel amazing! You can follow up about 3-4 days later with a a fruit peel. Enjoy!
Love,
Abby

Thank You

I just want to take a moment to thank a special person who gave me a sweet card and a generous donation for my competitions. It really took me back and am so amazed that I can inspire someone through my fitness journey. I hope that I continue to be an inspirational role model through execution and blogging for others.
Thank you Jan for your thoughtful gift. This sport is very expensive and every bit helps.
Much Love,
Abby

Bikini

I have changed my workouts a bit this past week to focus on building my shoulders and legs while slowly burning fat. I am now doing 2 shoulder workouts per week and 2 leg workouts per week keeping the rep ranges 6-12. I hit all different angles of the muscles by switching up the way I do my exercises. For example, I did alternating 1 arm dumbbell military presses contracting my anterior shoulder muscles at the top to feel "the pump". I have to learn how to connect to my muscles so I am doing more "body building" type workouts rather than fast twitch, explosive. It has been hard for me but I am feeling and seeing a difference. I have decreased the amount of cardio I do so that I can slowly burn fat and concentrate on muscle growth. This will change as I get closer but I will not have to cut down too much which is good.
I have also included posing practices after every workout. Bikini posing is pretty fun but will take some time to get down. As far as what judges are looking for I checked out the NPC website and a few others and this is what I have gathered:
Overall physique and shape
Tone
Complexion
Presentation
The look has to be in shape but not too lean or hard. It is a soft but tight look.
I will wear a two piece bathing suit that is cut differently from Figure. They are more like traditional bikinis. You can even buy one off the rack. I ordered a pro suit from CJ's. Apparently the suit really makes a difference in how you place. You also wear heels and jewelery. Bikini weighs in more on hair and makeup as well...they are looking for how "marketable" you are. You only have two poses- front and back and they are more relaxed than figure poses.

I met Coach T

Last night I drove to Spokane to meet my Save Fitness coach, Tanji Johnson. She is an incredible woman and very inspirational. She's very personable and down to earth who gives honest advice and instruction. I couldn't ask for a better coach.
I met with her first privately to assess my body and then I joined the other 5 SF girls for an 1.30hr of posing and walking.
After meeting with Tanji and getting her honest and professional advice I am going to compete in Bikini instead. This decision was made because I have small shoulder caps and a very narrow waist (which isn't a bad thing). Because I cannot fight my Italian and French genetics putting on big muscles my not be in my DNA. So there is this new division called "Bikini". At first I wasn't very thrilled but now I am. It is more of a "modeling" division which is the direction I really want to go in. The suits are really cute too. I train my butt off in the gym and I am naturally very strong and get stronger when I train. My body frame just isn't broad enough to support the muscle mass that is needed for figure. I do not need to be as lean for Bikini either, actually its normally between 10-15% and I am already around 15% and 8 weeks out. Actually Tanji said that she does not want to see me less than 12-13% when I see her next month.
As of right now it does not hurt to continue to train heavy (yes!) and focus on building a little bit more in my shoulders and quads. She wants me to keep my current nutrition plan and not focus on cutting.
Tanji put things into perspective for me last night. If I want to compete in figure this season, cool. But why am I competing? For experience? To get my feet wet? If so, then cool go for it and I will get better. However I am competitive and I want to win. I want to have an edge and a chance. She said that if I am competitive then I will do amazing in Bikini! As the night went on she became more and more convinced that Bikini was calling my name. I have to embrace what I do have and roll with it. I have naturally a lean, streamlined physique with some muscle. Sweet! So live it up and flaunt my strengths and strengthen my weaker points along the way. She does think that I should compete in all 3 in April and if I want to I can use Bikini as as stepping stone towards figure for the fall. Let's start with one step at a time and see what happens. I emailed her today to help me with my new game plan for Bikini. I will fill you in soon.
I will also post more information on the Bikini Division and what the judges are looking for.
Peace & Love,
Abby