Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Hump day! Back to the pole

Today when I woke up, I was sosoooo excited for 1 reason: POLE DANCING!! I took a full 2 week break from pole , mainly because my shoulders and upper body was starting to feel some real wear and tear, and I wanted to protect myself from potential injuries. Since I do so much weight lifting (especially shoulders, since I've recently become obsessed with shaping my shoulders), the pole dancing and weight training overwhelms my body after a while. So today, it felt GREAT to be back on the pole without hearing any clicking or popping in my shoulders while practicing tricks. I definitely didn't lose any strength (didn't think I would..I've been working out like a fiend), and it felt so good to be back. Also, everyone in the class got to stay on their own pole because the 18 degree weather must have convinced girls not to come to pole today! I really didn't take any breaks, and spent the whole time on the pole..worked up a good sweat! i had done 12 crazy intense minutes on the stair monster before pole also, between levels 10-14. After pole, it was time to revisit another old friend: the squat rack. Its been almost 2 weeks since i trained really heavy on my legs, and i've been doing so so so much running that my butt is just disappearing! I'm ALWAYS working on my butt because I want it to look BETTER. Sometimes i wish i could take all the bodyfat i'm trying to get rid of and just implant it in my BUTT....but then i remember that i dont want a FAT butt... I want a nice, high, sculpted buttox. LOL, sorry if that's TMI. So I hit the squat rack, warmed up with 95 pounds for 12 reps. I really shouldn't have gone much heavier, and should have kept the weight low and focused on form and DEEP squats. But a trainer at the gym asked if he could swap out on the rack with me, and he was adding 45lb plates, and a few weeks ago, that was no problem for me, so I was doing my sets with 135lbs. The heavy weight made me feel weak, and REALLY, REALLY burned my hamstrings and butt. Having a trainer watch me and coach me made me work a bit harder to really get deep in those squats, and not cheat them like I do sometimes by myself! Instead of 10-12 reps, I squeezed out about 6 quality deep squats with the weight. 
Along with my revisit to heavy squatting, i did stiff legged deadlifts with a 60lb barbell, and suitcase squats with 25lb plates, and mountain climbers in between sets. Then I rode 3 miles with high resistance on the bike, and peaced out. A quick 35 minute workout after stair monstering and poling got me 205cals burned, 53% from fat. I'm torching MAJOR calories with a crazy workout tomorrow! 


Got problem areas? WORK ON THEM!! 
Favorite glute exercises (that i obviously need to do MORE of now)
-Squats. All types of squats. Front squats, suitcase squats, sumo squats, rack squats....definite booty builders. When doing any type of squat, focus on depth and maintaining your form. Hold your core tight during ANY squat to protect your spine and lower back.
-Deadlifts. podium deadlifts , one legged deadlifts, stiff legged deadlifts...these different variations really hit different areas of your hamstrings and glutes. Stiff legged deadlifts are my favorite because I feel they hit a spot between the glutes and hamstrings thats hard to get to! 
-cable kickbacks
-swiss ball glute raises: no weights required! Lay flat on your back, feet on a big swiss ball, knees bent. Use your glute muscles to bridge up, and release, butt coming back to the floor. Do 50 of these..you'll DEFINITELY be feeling the burn. too easy? no. it cant be. you want a challenge though? ONE LEG.


I'm going to REALLY focus on fighting the effect of running on my poor (little) butt. Got a problem area? I have a SOLUTION!! 


Tear up the gym tomorrow!! Treadmill Thursday and some crazy circuits on my agenda! 


XOXOXO

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