Status update week 6!

Yes, it’s holydays, but –

a man gotta do what a man gotta do! (Or woman, whatever!)
It’s measuring day! And I must admit I(Tonje) was a little worried about the measurements and pictures today!
I’ve been lately eating some stuff I usually wouldn’t! – Still almost fitting my macros – but still not exactly diet food in my eyes ;)

My worst sinner is delicious bread with chocolate spread!
There is nothing beating a real wholegrain Norwegian bread with Nugatti!! (Other countries have to learn how to make bread!!!)
Luckily we don’t have Nugatti in NL!!! – Because, that and ice cream is my definitely weakest point’s!! Ohh myy, I LOVE Nugatti! :D

But it’s also important to enjoy a little extra when you have a vacation, everything in moderation – and it doesn’t harm too much ;)

At least if you still are keeping your other good habits!
You know, if you loose your phone on the ground, you don’t have to tramp on it too! – simply pick it up again – and you’re back on track! ;)
Eat it one day, and get done with it ;)

Tonje's measurements today compared to last week:

Waist: 67cm (-0,5)

Hips: (4 cm down from navle): 77,5cm (-1,5)

Thighs: 58,5 R/L (-0,5R, + 0,5L)

Arms: 31/30,5 R/L (+0,5R)

Pictures: (Yepp, different place, different light, but the measurements doesn't lie ;) )

Emils measurements compared to last week:
Waist: 87 cm (- 1,5)
Hip: 94,5 cm (- 0,5)
Chest: 104 cm (- 0,5)
Arms: 39,5/39 cm (+ 0,5/0)
Thighs: 64 cm (- 1)

Emils comments: Tried the solarium for the first time in my life this week. The redness on the back and stomach are sunburns, and it itches like crazy. Not totally sure if it was worth it yet.



Have a nice weekend! :)

The importance of a training partner

We got winter vacation from school all week and my training partner, Tonje, went home to Kongsberg. My first thought were: "yes, now noone is shouting and screaming at me to do a few more reps, or the breaks between sets are too long."

But on every workout this week, I really wished I had a training partner shouting a little bit. Its true what they say, that you dont know what you have before you loose it. Now thankfully I only lost my partner for a week. Or else I`d have to make a contact advertising on finn.nl or something, hehe.

Four big benefits for YOU to have a training partner:
- Accountability:
There are always some days we dont feel like working out. Maybe becouse something happened at home, you are tired or just plain lazy that day. Regardless of the reason, sooner or later we all will have a day were we physically could go to the gym, but choose not to. A training partner can hold you accountable. If you know there are someone waiting and counting on you to show up at the gym, you are much more likely to take on your big-boy pants and go to the gym. Accountability works both ways: occasionally your partner might have a million excuses not to go to the gym, and you will be the opposing factor to get your partner going!

- Motivation:
Accountability can get you to the gym, but motivation can make your time there most productive. A partner that pushes you to the limit and motivates you to push that extra mile on the thredmill or to get thoose 1 or 2 extra reps on the last set, is what we want. This is so important becouse we are capable of so much more than we momentarily think. I have found that when two training partners push eachother in a supportive way, the workouts are more fun and more effective than training solo.

- Safety:
On certain exercises, especially with free weights, a spotter is a necessity! Trying to lift heavy on example barbell bench press or squats without a spotter might end in a disaster (and even injuries). The added feeling of safety by knowing you have a spotter that got your back, might even motivate you to get in a few more reps.

- Competition:
Most people who train hard are competitive by nature. And training with someone of equal strength or even stronger than you, might end up with some awesome workouts. Both pushing beyond the limit to beat the other.


So if you have been training as a lone wolf, try to find a training partner and see if you get more from your workouts :-)

How is Tonjes schedule in the hollydays? + Total Shoulder, back and biceps workout1 for you!

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Shoulder, back and biceps workout 1	Chest, legs and triceps		Shoulder, back and biceps workout 2		Total body workout
Cross-country skiing (1h 45min)	Core and intervals	30 min walk	Snowboard	Cross-country skiing	snowboard

After tuesdays core and interval training :)

This week is slightly different from my other weeks, since I’m having holydays in Norway! :D
So some of the core, cardio and interval training is switched out with; snowboarding and cross country skiing J just for fun! :D

What’s marked in red is what I’ve already done!

And yes!! I need a schedule even in holydays! Like to have my days a little organized ;)

In this post you will find Shoulder, back and biceps workout 1.

Here you can find: Legs Chest and triceps

And here: Shoulder back and biceps workout2.

SHOULDER BACK AND BICEPS 1
Exercise	Series	Repetitions
Wide grip pull ups	3	Max or 10	- Do eccentric to reached repetitions
Lateral raises superset DB shoulder press	3	Lateral raises 12 DB shoulder press 10	(pre exhaust)
Wide grip barbell horizontal row superset front raises/shoulderpress combo	2	15
Machine neutral row/shrug superset shoulder press machine	2	15
Mechanical droppsett Lat pulldown	1	12	Aim for 12 reps each drop (wide, normal, narrow underarm grip)
Preacher curl ez*	3	15	* combine
Rear lung from step*	2	15

Try it out, and tell me what you think ;)

When it says superset in the program - it means NO REST bestween the combined exercises, only when you are done with both (the paired exercises) - you can have a rest of maximum 2 minutes :) - or to your training partner is done ;) Aim for high intencity, push yourself and your partner!!!

Combining this exercises days my focus lies on developement shoulders and back! :)
Aswell as a decrease in fat percentage - thats why alle the different workouts have some leg exercises in them ;)

GO HARD :D And have a nice week everybody :D

EY! some healthy tasty stuff :D

Have you ever heard of iherb (Link to iherb), or maybe Walden Farms products?
Well, iherb is a page where you can buy almost everything! From supplements, skin care, sugar free products, gluten free products, calorie free dressings, calorie free noodles and and and and....
yes, the list is long!!
Just have a look - search for whatever you would like - and maybe you'll find it ;)

Here is some products I got in the mail some days ago, and I love it :D
Never need to eat candy again when you have all of this! ;) (at least, almost never :P)

Want to bake something? well, why don't do it in a more healthy way ;)
- add some berries, nuts, or even dark chocolate - and the weekend is saved!

Stevia!
Stevia is a plant, originally coming from paraguay, where the native people has used it for a long time.
It's 300x sweeter than sugar
Has a glycemix index of zero
Has 0 calories
Has been used as a sweetener in Japan for many decades (and also other parts of the world)
You can find it in different forms, like powder or liquid.
It's natural(it's a herb!!)!
And it's perfect to use as a sweetener in nearly everything you want to add a sweet taste.
Me i.e. use it in my kwark on daily basis :)

 Calorie free pancake sirup!
- do you remember my protein pankakes??? (You can find them here!!)
This one is perfect on pankakes, or you can mix it in the muffin mix, in kwark or whatever - maybe in the coffee?? (I haven't tried yet, but bet it will give it a good caramel like flavour:D - something to try a day where I'm longing for MissSweets ;) )

Psyllium Husk!
Perfect for gluten free recipies; baking bread, coockies, chocholate mousse and more.
Its actually dietary fibers! - nice for your digestion!
But it's also good to remember to not "over use it" when it actually can affect your uptake of vitamines - because it has a property of attrackting/binding things (also carbs) - and it actually just goes through your body!

 Barbecues saus!
Well, just put it on some meat, potatoes, rice - anything you want to add a litle extra taste! :D

Chocolate dip
- this one is just awesome!!! Dip your berries, put it in your kwark, in your muffins, on a rice coockie with some peanutbutter(=snickers :D) yummy yummy yum!! use your imagination!

Blueberry fruitspread!
- this one has a gelly like consistence, also NICE on pankakes or try to put it in or on whaterver you will add a sweet blueberry taste ;)

Let's get started and bake something! ;D

How to prepare a day of traveling?! (AIRPORT = TEMPTATIONS) + exercise of the day ;)

So yesterday was my day to fly home! Home sweeeet home <3 Going to stay in my hometown, Kongsberg for a week now :D I love it!!

But yes, to get home, I have to get through a kind of stressful day with allot of sitting: 2hours on the train, walking through the fu**ng big airport (Schiphol) – yes, its big compared to Gardemoen, especially when your gate is in the totally opposite place of your check-in point; then some waiting again (of course the flight was delayed) 1hr 30 min sitting on the plane, and then 2+ hours of sitting in the car!

On the airport, you meet temptations on every corner, and the easy access food is burgers, wraps, French fries with majo, chocolate – and yes, a whole bunch of NO-food (Does totally not fit my macros:-O)!
And IF you want some healthy food, you might get broke! Because a students wallet is as thin as a catwalk model!

So, how to handle this day with no routines, stress from A-B and temptations everywhere!!

Well, you prepare your own food of course!! Make sure you have food for the whole day!

Here are the meals I prepared for the day (my breakfast consisted of minced meat, smoked ham, avocado mixed with garlic, chili and lemon):

Lunch:

Kwark, raspberries, orange and peanut butter!
Mix stevia in the kwark to it's sweet enough, and then add the rest ;) YUMMY :D

Meal 3 and 4 in 1:
Chicken with paprika, garlic and chili powder, vegetables (muschrooms, paprika and scallions), smoked ham and quinoa

 Meal 5;
Oatmeal!! added some stevia(powder) and cinnamon - so all I needed to buy was milk :)

AND HERE:
A litle sneak peak into the workout we did friday morning (before school and traveling;))

Here we are using the concept Rest-Pause

To read more about it look HERE and HERE :)


Well, what are you waiting for?? try it ;)

Se you later, time to hit the gym! :D

Status update week 5

Yet another week have passed by, and here are the new measurements!

Changes are starting to look more clearly on the pictures. And the measurement band doesnt lie. So we are quite happy to still see a small, but significant improvement every week. It makes this whole thing worth it.

Tonjes measurements compared to last week:

Waist: 67,5cm (-1cm)

Hip (4cm down from navle): 79cm (-0.5cm)

Thighs: 59h / 58v (0)

Biceps: 30,5 (+0,5 left)

Emils measurements compared to last week:
Waist: 88,5 cm (- 0,5)
Hip (4cm down from navle): 95 cm (- 2)
Chest: 104,5 cm (0)
Biceps: 39 cm (+ 0,5)
Thighs: 65 cm (+ 1)

Have a nice weekend!

Todays workout :) Shoulders, back and biceps!

SHOULDERS BACK AND BICEPS
Exercise	Series	Repetitions	Comment/logg
Squat press	3	15	Focus eccentric phase 4 sec!
Weighted chin ups superset narrow raised pushups	5	3 chin up 6 pushup
Sorinex landmine superset reversed flies	3	15
Lateral raises superset   Wide grip pulldown	3	15
Mechanical dropset row	1	12	Wide, pronated, supinated
Biceps curls superset bent over DB rows	3	15
Incline biceps curl	2/3	15
Walking lunges*	3	10 each leg
One leg Romanian dead* lift	2	15

*combine (alternating)

It was fu***g!! hard to work out today! Tierd after a week with hard workouts, and didn't really eat enough before the training startet!! - and that did really affects the energy level!

But we made it through :D

I promise you, the squat press is really a kick starter on the workout! - sooo heavy!! :-O

So here are som pics for you:

Weighted chin ups 10Kg

superset with pushups

weighted chin ups 5Kg

Get that chin over the bar!!! - aim to hit the chest!

Push ups

Not angry, only low blood sugar levels! :P

Done and happy!