February 25, 2011 – 9:42 am
Part II
-Victoria Piscopo
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Planning your meals for the week will help you cut down your time. If you have a place to keep your food at work like a refrigerator, then you’ll have more options of what types of food you will be able to prepare. Keep a food journal—that way you can track your habits. It’ll help keep you from eating things that you know you should not—you’ll think twice about it because you have to write it down. Start by eating clean foods, nothing processed.
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Stock up on fruits like apples, blueberries, and strawberries. You want lean meats like chicken, lean beef, lean ground turkey, and fish. Keep available raw almonds and unsweetened peanut butter. Carbs should come from veggies, squash, beans, yams, brown rice, and whole grains. To make it easy, go get a couple of shakers and a container of protein like Axis Labs Clutch Whey Protein (my client’s favorite flavor is Cookies and Cream). Put your serving size in the dry shakers and take it with you. It is now your morning or evening snack for after your work out, or your snack between meals.
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Think about the choices you’re making when you go out to lunch with your co-workers—if you just had a heavy work out in the morning, eat a small portion of rice with a protein and vegetables. Sushi is always a great after work out food. (NOT THE TEMPURA OR FRIED SUSHI! You know better.) Bring fruit to work and eat a handful (about 20) of raw almonds in between meals and meetings.
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Keep a jar of unsweetened peanut butter at work and eat it with an apple or celery (about 2 table spoons). At night for dinner, cut down on your carb intake (unless you had a heavy night workout, then a small carb portion is good). Salad with protein and veggies are better at night because carbs will turn to sugar while you’re laying there sleeping not able to use it for energy.
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With a little planning ahead and picking the right foods and portions, you’ll see results within weeks. Resulting in higher energy, lower body fat, leaner muscle mass, and a new found respect about how you treat your body. Priceless.
February 22, 2011 – 9:38 am
Part I
-Victoria Piscopo
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Whether you’re male or female, there are many ways that we wake in the morning. There are those who jump right out of bed in the morning at the first sound of the alarm. There are also those who hit snooze until they’ve realized that they have snoozed right into the time they had to get dressed and out the door. Either way, there never seems to be enough time in the day to do everything. Most men, because they’re so busy in everyday life, find it hard to take the time to take care of themselves.
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There’s one fact that you must keep imbedded in your mind always! If you do not eat enough during the day you will NOT lose weight or gain any muscle—no matter how much you work out! Boys … your body is like your car. Without fuel, it will not run. Without oil, your transmission will break down—the same as your body. Eating 5 to 6 times a day to keep your metabolism running is not just a fad. The body works on a built-in survival system. If you go more than 3 hours without eating, there’s an automatic timer that goes off inside your body that thinks you’re starving yourself.
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Eating something small every 2 and a half to 3 and a half hours will speed up your metabolism so your body will continue to rev and burn fat—not your muscle. You will also have more energy and focus to help you get through a hard day at work, and then when you get home, you’ll still have enough energy left to give attention to your kids. If you’re only eating once or twice a day, your body is still going to break down the muscles you’re trying to build into fat because fat stores longer in the body. Don’t you ever wonder why you only eat once a day and you’re not losing weight? That’s my case in point.
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I’ve had a lot of my male clients say to me that they don’t want to lose weight they just want to “tone up.” Most of them are very active and participate in tons of activities like basketball, softball, soccer, triathlons, marathons, weekend boot camps, snowboarding, and surfing—all on top of working out 3 to 4 times a week. So why then is it so hard to TONE up? I am going to answer that for you in the most direct way possible—you are not eating enough times during the day! The goal is to eat 5 to 6 small meals a day. You’ve heard this before, I know you have. It’s the truth and you can say, “I know. I know” and “but I don’t have time.” Just like your job, and your family (if you have one)—make the time for yourself. If you’re better to yourself, you’ll be able to be better for the ones who count on you.
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Protein and carbs are crucial in gaining muscle. Eating enough times during the day is essential to losing weight. This has got to become a way of life—coincide it with your daily fitness training and activities. To reach any goal, you need planning and consistency. It’s a challenge and will take some work. You’re about to break a bad habit! You need to plan out your meals—just like you would plan out a workweek with meetings and project deadlines. This is the project for your health. Completing your goal for yourself is your deadline. You do it for work, so why not do it for your body, too?
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So in my introduction I mentioned I was injured…since I won’t be able to delve into my hardcore training for a few months it seems to be a good idea to really explore injuries and how they not only affect an athlete physically but also mentally and emotionally.
Being injured is…well….is horrible to say the very least. Prior to March 2010 I had never sustained a serious injury that has kept me out of the gym for more then 1-2 weeks. In high school I sprained my ankle and here and there I have tweaked my lower back or felt a little strain but with rest, massage and taking my training down a notch I have always made it through fine. To be honest I never thought it would happen to me.
How did it happen then? Well I had just arrived at the Arnold, it was Thursday afternoon and I wanted to get in a good workout before the expo opened in the morning. I head to the gym, alone, and upon arriving chat up the guys behind the desk. Matt, the manager, gives me a pre-workout I had never seen or tried…I am a sucker for a good pre-workout. My plan was heavy shoulders followed by some triceps. Even though I had been dieting I was still feeling great in the gym and the pre-workout really revved me up. Had I been thinking reasonably I may have toned this workout down…I was traveling so therefore probably a little dehydrated and tired and didn’t have that much food in me. Plus I didn’t have a spotter.
My workout started out great: Heavy Push-Presses, I hit 95 for 6 and finished with a drop set then went on to Rear Lats and Side Raises. With Shoulders done I went on to warm-up my Triceps with some Incline Close Grip Presses. I was only planning on doing one more heavy Tricep exercise, Skull-Crushers, but the benches were all taken so I decided on Overhead 2-Arm DB Extensions. My last set 3rd rep I was coming up with the 25 and the weight got away from my head. It was seriously like slow motion, I remember my arm giving out and feeling my shoulder muscles rip as the weight dropped from my hand. My shoulder had completely dislocated was sitting about 2 inches down on my arm. I have relived that moment, that set, hundreds of times…why….why me…but now I think why not me? I have constantly pushed the limits of my body, when I really start to think about it I am shocked I have not sustained any serious injury before this day in Ohio.
So as I sat on the ground beside this incredibly nice couple from Colorado kept me talking and had other notify the staff and wait for the Ambulance. In what seemed like an eternity the EMT finally came but could not offer any relief I had to be taken to the Emergency Room to have my shoulder put back in the socket.
We get to the ER, they have to put me out to put my shoulder back in, load me up with morphine and send me on my way…after getting an MRI a few days later I find out that I have a torn labrum along with some nerve damage and pulled shoulder muscles. My doctor, Dr. Romeo gave me my options and without surgery there was an 80% chance of re-injury plus my training would suffer. I decided surgery was the best option. The earliest the specialist can get me into surgery is April 20th so I schedule the surgery and wait…
We don’t have to tell you how lucky we all are to have the best soldiers in the World. It is a sad reality that while protecting each of us, many soldiers are badly injured. That’s why we love the Wounded Warrior Project. They help many men and women that have been injured in battle. To support them, we donate 10% of all web sales. We would also like to give some props to http://www.musclefire.com/wwp.php for their support. $1 of every shirt goes straight to the WWP. Now you can get your supps and shirts all while supporting some National Heros!
Over the years I have posted on several message boards doing training logs and providing my insights on lifting, bodybuilding, powerlifting and a whole host of other topics. I have finally decided to start my own blog and have decided to make my home at Axis Labs!
Who am I??? Well my stage time started 6 years ago when I embarked on training for my first Figure show. After 3 years of training for Figure I had heard “too muscular and too conditioned” one too many times and I crossed over to Bodybuilding. As a lifetime natural athlete I knew my chances of earning a Pro-Card were slim to none but my goal was not just to earn a Pro-Card it was to be my very best when I walked on stage and enjoy what I was doing. For me, that meant lifting heavy-really heavy! and coming into shows as lean as I could. I knew with these goals Bodybuilding made more sense for me.
In my ever present quest to add size and compete at my highest level I found Powerlifting. Although I have only been Powerlifting for 2 years I love it…I love the day of the meet where I can step on the platform and use my training to compete against my own numbers and the other girls at the meet. Two of my favorite things in life is to be strong and to compete, Powerlifting is an outlet where I can do both!
Currently I am very excited about the relationship I am forming with Axis Labs and have been testing their products over the last few months. My next Bodybuilding show will not be until Team Universe 2011 but I am anxious to test out SMASH Fully Loaded when my diet gets rough! My next Powerlifting Meet was supposed to be USAPL Nationals this May BUT…
Unfortunately my training hit a speed bump this year when I dislocated my shoulder. Just last week I had shoulder surgery to repair a torn labrum and will be down for a few months as I go through rehab. In that time I hope to get to know more of you and let you into my world. This is my first injury and I have learned so much about myself and my body. I will take these tough lessons with me as I continue to try to build my physique.
This blog will hopefully give you an in-depth look at competing, supplementing and just trying to survive in this industry. I have no shortage of opinions and a just enough knowledge, please don’t hesitate to ask me questions, get some feedback or challenge me!
September 29, 2009 – 9:19 am
The routine is done in a tri-set fashion. Basically three exercises back to back to back, without stopping. Each exercise is 30 repetitions at a moderate pace. There should be no pause at the bottom, and a slight pause at the top, or peak contraction. Be sure to avoid bouncing at the bottom of the rep. This will greatly take away from the concept. It should be a smooth, fluid motion. Constant tension is key here. The first set is typically done in a standing calf raise machine, although a seated calf raise may be substituted. The second set is standing with toes on a short ledge or weight plate, with body weight only. The third set is done the same as set #2, but with heels on the plate. This gives only the upper range of the rep and focuses on peak contraction. You will need something to hold for balance on the second and third portion of the tri-set. This rotation is done 3 times. In between tri-sets, deep stretching of the calves is necessary. Aim for a minute of stretching. This will be as difficult as the working portion, and just as important. You will notice increased muscle pump due to stretching of the surrounding muscle fascia. The muscle fascia is tissue that surrounds or “houses” the muscle. This can be very tight around the calf muscle. The idea is to stretch this out, so you have more room for muscle growth.
So here is what it should look like, on paper:
• Standing calf raise 30 reps
• Standing bodyweight calf raise (toes on plate) 30 reps
• Standing bodyweight calf raise (heels on plate) 30 reps
• Deep calf stretching 30 seconds to 1 minute
• All with no rest in between
• Complete full circuit 3 times with 2 minutes rest between full circuits
Remember, this is not for the faint of heart! Make sure you are properly warmed up, and prepare to be sore! If you want to improve your overall physique you don’t want to neglect any body part…including your calves. Besides that fact, a good set of calves can also make a great pair of legs look even better!
