One of the best nutrition sayings I ever heard was,

“You can’t out-train a shitty diet.”

Sounds pretty harsh right up front, but the statement couldn’t be more true. You can workout daily, several times a day in fact, but if you don’t eat well, it will eventually catch up with you. In multiple ways nonetheless.

There are a few scenarios here…

First – What if you aren’t interested in losing body fat? You’re already lean and you workout because you like to.

If this is you, that’s great! If I never had to worry about my figure I think I’d be elated. Even if this were true there comes a point in time when you have to start concerning yourself with the types of food you fuel your body with. If you chose better food options your training will also improve.

Second – What if you’re content with the way you look for the most part, but you wouldn’t mind losing about 5lbs?

If you start a consistent exercise program you will start to see changes in the way you look, maybe not the scale exactly, but your shape will start to change. After several weeks of sticking to your program you will have to start paying attention to what you eat. Similar to the first scenario, what you put in is what you get out. If you eat pizza several times a week and sandwiched for lunch, soon you’ll be competing with your exercise program.

Third – You’ve never really worked out, you’ve never really followed a good nutrition program.

This is sometimes the best, but can also be the hardest place to be in. If you’ve never worked out or paid much attention to your nutrition, the initial changes you will make will seem like miracles! I’m not saying that you won’t be working hard, but this is the first time in your life that you are making positive changes. You will need to continue to make changes in both your workouts, either the number of times per week or the intensity, and constant improvements with your nutrition.

My long winded rant is because of this.

Nutrition plays an equally important role in any sports performance training program.

Nutrition plays an equally important role in any weight loss program.

Nutrition plays an important role in life.

After all, you can’t out train a shitty diet.

Tags: exercise by Pamela
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It’s no mystery that kettlebells are one of my favorite workout tools. I’ve also been a big fan of the TRX for several years. Combing the two exercise tools into one workout can be a great full body workout.

The video below is a challenging workout that combines the kettlebell two hands anyhow, kettlebell racked bulgarian split squats, and TRX pikes.

All three of these exercises are challenging, so there is no need to complete the workout quickly, focus on your form, and work with weights that are appropriate for you.

3/3 Kettlebell Two Hands Anyhow (Windmill Variation)
6/6 Kettlebell Racked Bulgarian Split Squat
6 TRX Pikes

Tags: kettlebell training, womens fitness, womens strength training, workouts by Pamela
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You all know that I’m a huge fan of kettlebell training.  While this is entirely true, I also like training with other implements or tools, I try not to limit myself to one thing unless I have no equipment available…then it’s all about bodyweight exercises.

Below is a short video that briefly shows three different barbell exercises, in a more untraditional way than most people are used to. I’m using the landmine with the barbell.  If you don’t have access to a landmine it is very easy to use just the barbell in the corner, which I’ll show you tomorrow.

Try completing 10-12 reps of each exercise on both sides for several rounds based on your fitness ability.

Tags: kettle bell, kettlebell training, Training, Uncategorized, weight loss, womens fitness, womens strength training, workouts by Pamela
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“I do it as therapy.  I do it as something to keep me alive. We all need a little discipline.  Exercise is my discipline.”

-Jack LaLanne

After 96 years of youthful, healthy living, an American icon passes away.  Jack LaLanne was an avid health and fitness nut if you will, encouraging people to workout and eat well for decades.

He didn’t sugar coat any of it either.  Typically speaking it was get up and get moving type of mentality.  From the things I’ve read about the man, and interviews I’ve seen with him, he said like it is.

“The only way to get that fat off, is eat less and exercise more.”

Simple.  Truth.

Some LaLanne’s feats included doing a 1,000 push ups in 23 minutes!  Hell, it took me 20 minutes to do 250 push ups!!  He swam from Alcatraz Island to Fisherman’s Wharf shackled to a 1,000lb boat at the age of 60.

I don’t think he was trying to prove that he himself could do these things, but that they COULD be done, all you had to do was do it.

“The only way you can hurt the body is not to use it.  Inactivity is the killer and remember, it’s never too late.”

In 1936 he opened a training facility that incorporated weight training for women.  This was unheard of, the stereotype started way back then, that if women lifted weights they would look like men.

Thank you Jack!!

Although we still struggle with fighting some of the same myths in regard to women and strength training, maybe it’d be a little harder to overcome if you didn’t start so early.

Tags: Uncategorized by Pamela
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Workouts need to be fun.  Workouts need to be different.  Exercise need to be exciting.  Workouts need to be effective.

If workouts were anything but this why would we even bother to workout, if it was always boring, always the same thing, and never produced results? We wouldn’t.

Here’s a quick little workout that I did this weekend.  The goal was to have fun, and get in and out of the gym fast.

Goal accomplished.

I realize some of this equipment is not available to everyone, so if you still want to do the workout and are in a traditional gym setting, simply sub cable rows for the sled pulls, and pull ups for the rope climb.

Tags: Uncategorized by Pamela
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