Friday motivation.

My motivational moodboard of the week:

 

 

Hi peeps.

I'm going through some serious sh*t in my personal life, but you know what? I'm strong, I'll get through it. I'm more motivated than ever to work out like crazy and to get shredded by August. Heck, I'll be in top shape in July.

No excuses, just get it done.

/Coach U

Picture source

Workout schedule for January and February

Hi peeps,

I want to share my workout schedule with you guys. This is a schedule I'll keep up for two months, starting this week.

If you missed yesterday's post about my new year's resolutions, read it here. I've modified my usual workout schedule quite a lot, trying to keep it as simple as possible without putting too much stress on my body.

I reached my goal before Christmas, by the way. I deadlifted a 5 reps set with 100 kgs and benchpressed a set of 6 reps with 50 kgs. Soooo happy.

Monday
Leg workout - supertough crosstraining strength & plyo workout. This is a set I would love to do with a friend, since lifting heavy and jumping high is really tough, and a little competition never hurts.. If I'm the winner, of course ;) No, just kidding. Four rounds of 15 burpees superset with 6-8 heavy deadlifts is so much more fun to do with someone else cheering me on.

If you don't puke, faint or die KEEP GOING!

Tuesday
Upper body crosstraining workout.

I still love my handstand push-ups and chin-ups, and I won't stop doing them. I've added a few basic dumbbell exercises to this workout - you'll see it with pictures as soon as I recruit a friend with me to the gym.

Wednesday
Low-impact leg & core workout at the gym, focusing on my glutes and deep abs (i.e. M. Transversus Abdominis). I've modified a few Tracy Anderson's leg series to match my goals, so I do them with a pulley or elastic bands. This workout includes a lot of bodyweight training, too. Workout coming up...

Thursday
Pole dancing at my local gym. Love. Pole dancing really works my upper body, I'm sore in places I didn't know existed. Gripping the pole, climbing it, spinning on it makes me work my muscles in a way I haven't done before. I love it.

Friday
Yoga.
I love the feeling after a great yoga workout. Energized, but not drained. Remember my motivational yoga video? Check it out here.

Saturday
Endurance training of my choice - dancing, jogging, skiing.. Anything that I find fun at the moment. This is the part of my workouts that I do for me and me alone.

Sunday
Rest day.

This workout schedule is missing my daily walks with my dear little puglet (it's a dog, in case you don't know) and my evening stretches. One of my goals for January is to increase the range of motion in my hips.

Hope you're feeling inspired!

Love,
Ulrika

Picture source: Fitness girls on facebook

New year's resolution: goals for 2013

Hello beautiful people,

I hope you had a splendid Christmas and NYE - now that you're (hopefully) back to your normal routines regarding eating and working out, I'd like to share my top 5 goals (i.e. New year's resolution) for the year 2013.

1. I will stop competing with others and do more stuff for ME.
This one is really tough for me. I've already written a few texts about motivation, and to be quite honest, I have no problems with it - quite the opposite. I'm strongly externally motivated, i.e. competitive. Last year I would have written phrases like Squat deeper than the guys at the gym, finish first on a 10K run, lift heavier than any girl I know. This year I'll compete with myself, and no one else. I will do more stuff I actually love, i.e. dance like nobody's watching. I'll start this tomorrow with poledancing ;)

2. I will make sure that I rest enough.
I've learned to accept the fact that I have a sleeping disorder. I wake up at 5:15 every morning and go to bed after 11 p.m. I have chronic black circles under my eyes, and I'm ready to get rid of them. I'm launching a huge battle against my sleep deprivation and stress levels, starting today. My means are clear, too. Less running, more yoga. Less coffee, more sleep. 1-2 rest days per week (now that's a tough one!).

3. I will be in the best shape of my life on August 10th, 2013.
Do I really need to explain this further? I have a few motivational pictures I'd like to share with you guys, here goes:

Picture source
That's Nicole Wilkins, by the way. She's an IFBB Figure competitor, and I absolutely adore her. I don't need to be as ripped as she is on stage, but her off-season body is smashing. I'd love to look like that.

Now, I'm reeeeeally far from my goal #3, but you know what - I don't care. I'll beat the odds, you'll see. I have a metabolic disease which affects my hormonal balance (and therefore my body composition), and I hate it - but I will give 110% and work with what I've got.

4. I will spend less money on excessive junk.
By this I mean that I'll think twice before buying any clothes or any other unnecessary sh*t. I'll bring my lunch and snacks to work to avoid spending excess money on groceries, I won't go shopping unless I actually need something and I'll sell my clothes online or at a thrift store before August.

5. I will start enjoying my meals more.
I'll keep eating healthy and clean, but I will enjoy my meals a lot more. Ever get the feeling that you eat the same stuff week after week, lacking variation and taste? That's my November and December for you, ha-ha. I promise myself that I'll eat more stuff that I actually enjoy, and not choose foods solely based on their nutritional value. Food is fuel, but it's a big part of my life and I should teach myself to enjoy every meal more.

Here are my top 5 goals for the year 2013. I wish you a healthy, happy new year and hope to hear your goals and resolutions ;)

Love,
Ulrika

Monday motivation (part III)

Happy Monday, people!

I hope you had a great weekend. I sure did.

Reasons to stay motivated - part 1.

Picture this: Sunday night (around 9 p.m.), I realized that we (my hubby and I) haven't done our workout for the day. My mister was really tired and didn't want to work out - although he loves his TRX routine. I told him I'd work out as well - I needed to get a few (hundred) crunches in, plus a few planks of course. He did his routine, I did my "core crunch" right beside him, our dog playing around us. I <3 family-time. Working out together is the bomb! Motivating each other to push a little further... We need to do this a lot more often.

We worked out for 20 minutes or so, but guess what? A 20-minute workout is better than a 0-minute workout. He was really happy that I gently pushed him, since he wouldn't have done his routine if it wasn't for me.

The lesson of the story: By staying motivated you'll help yourself, and others too. Spread the spark! Partner yourself with a friend, co-worker or a loved one - someone who'll support you and your goals without sabotaging them.

Have a great week,

/Ulrika

Picture source

How should I start running?

Hey,

Hope you've had a great Halloween! I don't know about you guys, but we had a really quiet Halloween with just two trick-or-treaters. We didn't stock up on sweets, because we didn't want to eat all the leftovers ourselves. My plan worked perfectly, no excess candy to munch on the weekend.

I promised myself last week that I'd go jogging on Saturdays. I promised myself to keep my promises too, ha ha. Since I woke up an hour earlier than I should and I had a tremendous amount of energy, I decided to go for a 45-minute run before work. I felt awesome!

If you haven't been exercising regularly for years, start off with brisk walks. When your walks feel light in intensity, you can add a few jogs into your regular routine (read a bit further, running for beginners-routine coming up!).


How should I get started?
 
Make sure you're exercising properly. Don't be greedy, your fitness level won't improve massively on the first jog.

Here are a few pitfalls you should avoid when beginning your new hobby:

• You're running too fast. Make sure your pace is mild and you feel good during your workout (and afterwards!). Running at a high velocity requires a few week's training, so be patient.
• You're runs are too long in duration. Keep in mind that your career as a runner should start with walking and progress into jogging. Running won't become a habit if you start with high-intensity workouts and feel like sh*t afterwards.
• You're running because you "should be running". If you have no interest in running, why do it? There are a million different cardio exercises that are just as good. If you don't like what you're doing, it's hard to stay motivated.

Set goals.
Set your own goals based on your own fitness level. Read here about setting goals, if you're insecure. An example could be to run for 45 minutes without feeling like dying.


Exercise routines -interval training

Beginner
If you've never run before, start off with 2-3 brisk walks per week. Each workout should last for 20-30 minutes and you should feel energized afterwards.
When your walks feel really easy and light in intensity, add a few minutes jogs into the routine. Your walks could look like this:

Warm-up for 10 minutes (brisk walking)

Light jogging 1 minute

Walking 4 minutes

Repeat the jogging/walking-interval twice for a 20-minute workout.

After completing this routine for 2-3 weeks (and still feeling good), add a little bit of length to your runs. Keep in mind that the workout should still feel easy and you add a maximum of five minutes to each workout per week.

Intermediate
Your fitness level is "intermediate", you work out 2-3 times a week and have done the beginner phase already, or you've been walking/running 20-45-minute runs for 3-4 weeks.

When your fitness level is improving, you can easily crank up the volume:

Warm-up: walk 10 minutes

Jog 2 minutes

Walk 3 minutes

You can slowly move onto a more jogging, less walking type of routine: jog 3 minutes, walk 2 minutes or jog 4 minutes, walk 1 minute. As soon as this routine feels easy, start doing your workouts jogging.

Advanced
In case you've been running straight for 45 minutes and it still feels easy, add a little more intensity to your workouts.

Warm-up: light jogging 10 minutes

Run 1 minute

Jog 4 minutes

Repeat the run/jog-routine 2-6 times.

Run a maximum of three times per week, keeping at least one rest day in between workouts. Remember to stretch your quads, hamstrings, calves, glutes and hip adductors after every workout!

Have a nice run ;)
/Ulrika

Picture source

Workout routines: Lower body plyo circuit

This is what really got me and my friend Maija going last month  - a lower body plyometric circuit! I presented my September workout schedule earlier (here), and now is the time to show you exactly what the plyo circuit is.

Get shredded with this awesome routine! Incorporate it into your workout schedule by replacing a lower body resistance training or a high intensity interval training (HIIT) routine with this. I recommend that you do this 1-2 times per week, keeping a minimum of 48 hours between workouts.

This is one of my favourite workout routines so far. It's short (it takes me about 35 minutes to complete five rounds), effective and I can totally feel my buns and thighs burning afterwards!

Before starting the circuit, make sure you're decently warmed up. By that, I mean a 10-15 minute light cardio on a stationary bike, treadmill or any cardio machine of your choice. You should have broken a bit of sweat before moving on to the circuit.

You'll need: a bench or a step, 2 x 3-5 kg dumbbells, a water bottle and a towel to wipe your sweat (trust me, you'll need it!). Bring a stopwatch to time your progress.

Remember to drink lots of water after the workout. Have a healthy carb-filled recovery drink or meal waiting for you ~30 minutes after working out.

Five rounds of:
Weighted reverse lunge from bench or step (15 reps per leg)
Mountainclimbers (30 seconds)
Bench jumps (10 reps)
Weighted lunge jumps (10 reps per leg)
Jumping jacks (30 seconds)

Try to keep minimal pauses between rounds, no pauses between exercises. Start off with three rounds and work your way up as your body adapts to the workout. This set shouldn't feel easy; in fact, this is one of the toughest sets I do during my workout week.

Breaking down the routine

Reverse lunge from bench or step

Get ready: Stand on an elevated platform, feet hip-width apart with two 3-5 kg dumbbells in each hand. 

Go: Step back with your right leg and lower your body until your left knee is bent at at least 90 degrees. Pause, then push through the left heel and step your right foot on the board. That's one rep. Do all reps on the right leg before stepping back with your left leg.

Mountainclimbers

Get ready: Start in a full plank position, with your palms straight under your shoulders and feet hip-width apart. Make sure you don't round your shoulders or let your hips sag!

Go: Alternate running your knees into your chest as fast as possible, sprinting for 30 seconds until you're completely out of breath.

Bench jumps

Get ready: Stand in front of your bench (or box) with your arms by your sides, feet hip-width apart.

Go: Jump onto your bench, landing as softly as possible, and jump back down. Repeat 10 times.

Lunge jumps

Get ready: Feet in a hip-width position, hands by your sides (holding dumbbells, if possible). Step back with your right leg and lower until your left knee is in a 90 degree angle.

Go: Jump up as fast as you can, extending your knees. Land softly in the same position, lower and repeat 10 times before stepping back with your left leg.

Jumping jacks

Get ready: Stand with your feet together, arms straight by your sides.

 Go: Jump and spread your feet, extending your arms up. Jump and bring them back together. Repeat for 30 seconds.

Tip: Keep your arms as straight as possible, stay on the balls of your feet.

Have a great workout!

/Ulrika

Picture source 1 2 3 4 5

Saturday motivation.

Motivational pictures of the week.

I wanted to share some beautiful pictures with you guys. These pictures are printed and glued to my motivational diary for this week's entry. As I've said before, i love to keep a log on my eating, working out and just overall feelings. My workouts this week haven't been perfect (I injured my left glute muscles last week), but I've really focused on clean eating and sleeping enough.

I've kept a dietary log this week, just to stay on track. I've written everything down, every sip of water and every supplement. Keeping a dietary log even for a week gives me perspective on my diet. I should be drinking a lot more water (even though I drink 2-3 litres every day), making sure I take my HCl supplements on every meal (with solid proteins, that is) and eating a lot more greens. We eat a lot of veggies and fruits, but we should focus a lot more on deep green leafy veggies like spinach. I grew my own spinach in the summer and got a bit of an overdose of it - eating spinach on every meal gets tiring after a month! Any ideas for a great substitute?

I completed my upper body CrossTraining workout on Tuesday, and my lats have been on fire ever since! Scap pulls, negative pull-ups and ring work seems to work my lats in a totally new way - adding some eccentric work to the mix seems to help too ;) As always, I did something different this week - I completed a BodyCombat class at 7 a.m. on Thursday morning. I'm not usually for cardio training at the break of dawn, but it was a lot of fun!

I've been working out with friends this week. It's so much fun, I bet we both feel so pumped up afterwards. I'm able to add a lot more weights and my plyo training goes a lot better when I'm not alone - I guess I'm a bit of a show-off :D Just kidding, it feels so much safer to squat with heavier weights when you know that if anything happens, there's someone there for you. I'll ask a friend to photograph my gym workouts next week, so you'll see both my workout routines! Prepare to be amazed.

I'm off to meet my nieces in a few hours, so I have to go now... I really hope you're having a great weekend!

Stay on track,
/Ulrika


Picture source

Wednesday motivation.

 

Motivational pictures of the week, borrowed from here and here.

I've been sick for the last 6 days, so no workouts for me.. My throat is still really sore and I have a runny nose, so it's nothing serious - but I still don't want to risk it. I'm getting better though, hopefully soon enough to go for a light jog later this week.

It's better to rest now and be healthy in a few days than work my butt off and get pneumonia. I went through it in May and I'm not exactly looking forward to doing it again.

It's really hard to be away from lifting when I've got a cold. I'm trying to do as I preach - I'm always telling my clients to wait until they are properly healthy before breaking a decent sweat.

I'm more motivated than ever right now. Without going into further details I'll tell you that I've seen a specialist about my health issue.. It's really eye-opening, to finally get answers to questions I haven't dared to ask, and maybe getting some closure. I just hope that these issues will be solved fast.

I've planned my workouts for October and November: surprise - I'm mixing it up again!

I'll ditch most of my resistance training and go for bodyweight training in stead. More chin-ups, more handstand push-ups and ring training (which I find really challenging). I'd really love to master a few muscle-ups by next spring. It sounds like I'm making huge changes in my workouts, although I'm not.. Just modifying the upper body workouts, inspired by CrossTraining.

I won't ditch my front squats, deadlifts or kettlebell swings. I'd rather die.

How are you guys doing? Anything new for this fall?

/Ulrika

Sunday motivation.

I know you guys usually rest on weekends, but you should definitely have a game plan regarding your eating habits. Not having a plan usually ends in binge-eating and feeling like cr*p. So make a plan and stick to it!

I don't want to preach, so I'll just gather my favourite motivational pictures of the week. Here they are:

 

Picture source: M&F hers facebook page

I've had a great week. Somehow I found my inspiration (which was never lost in the first place..?) and changed my workout routines, again. I'm absolutely loving the new sets: I'm doing bodyweight training in stead of hard-core resistance training with big weights. I've never felt such pain in my quads than this Wednesday, I thought I'd die when I finished my plyo circuit at the gym, just before hitting the pool for some HIIT aquajogging. I'll give you a full description of my workout routines next week.

Oh, and I've lost another dress size this week. Feels awesome to fit in smaller jeans. ;)

Favourite feedback of the week: "You're such a bitch. But I still love you."

Ha ha. My clients rock.

Stay true to yourself and remember your goals! I did a post about setting goals yesterday, check it out here. 

Hope you're having an inspirational weekend! I'm off on a quick jog and some yoga in my back yard. I wish you all an awesome Sunday.

/Ulrika


//Translation//Käännös
Moikka,
Todennäköisesti vietät sunnutaisin treenivapaata päivää, kuten moni muu. Olethan tehnyt viikonlopun varalle suunnitelman ruokailujen suhteen? Arkisin suunnitelmia ja aikatauluja on helppo ylläpitää, sillä arki on rytmitetty selkeämmin kuin viikonloput. Viikonloppujen suunnitelmattomuus johtaa usein ähkysyömiseen ja ahmimiseen - joten tee itsellesi suunnitelma ja pidä siitä kiinni!
Motivaatiopostauksieni tarkoitus on esitellä viikon lempimotivaatiokuvat ja -lainaukset. Toivottavasti saat niistä motivaatiota ja inspiraatiota myös omaan treenaamiseen!
Kirjoitin eilen tekstin tavoitteiden laatimisesta, lue se täältä.
Toivottavasti viikonloppusi on ollut rentouttava ja motivoiva! Itse lähden tästä nopealle hölkälle, jonka jälkeen joogaan takapihallani. Ihanaa sunnuntaipäivää.
/Ulrika

Thursday motivation (part 2)

Picture source

Happy Thursday, fit people!

Just wanted to share my motivational pics of the week with you guys. As I've said before, I keep a motivational diary with pictures, quotes, exercise routines, recipes, nutritional diaries and so on.. This week I've been focusing on motivational quotes to keep me going. Here are few of the pictures from my diary.

I'm still really far from my main goal, but I've reached one of my goals for this summer (-5kg/-11 lbs in fat mass). The weirdest thing about this is that I feel absolutely amazing, I love pushing myself outside my comfort zone! I'm more motivated than ever right now. I just can't wait to sweat again!


Workouts this week:

Monday Gym, gym, gym! Lower body strength (60 mins). Feeling the burn in my buns & thighs, almost impossible to walk down a set of stairs. Had to wear baggy sweatpants after the workout, since my muscles were so pumped that I couldn't fit in my jeans.

Tuesday Pilates (60 mins). Jogging with my baby pug (60 mins) + NTC Core Crunch + NTC Ab Burner. How can something hurt and feel so good at the same time?

Jogging with miss Nuppu, the best Personal trainer ever. She never takes no for an answer, always believes in me and is actually fit for a pug ! Love.

Wednesday Powerwalking (30 mins) in the morning. Did this with an empty stomach, though I believe it had absolutely no effect on my body burning fat - I felt nauseous afterwards and had to force down my breakfast. Strength training in the afternoon (60 mins). Supersetting lower body workouts with plyo = almost passed out after 45 mins. :D I had to do some light cardio on a stationary bike for 10 mins to steady my pulse and allround feeling in my body before returning to my burpees. 60 mins of Zumba in the park in the evening. Had some real trouble moving my legs, they felt like concrete !

Thursday Deep stretching for 60 mins. Thursday means rest&recovery this week!

Friday Gym time! Upper body & core strength for 60 mins. My main goal is to do loads of chin-ups, dips and push-ups.

Saturday Swim, baby, swim. Trying to hit HIIT in the pool. Can't remember the last time I've been to the pool by myself (and not with clients). It's nice to do something different for a change :)

Sunday Deep stretching for 60 mins (i.e. rest). I'm doing two deep stretching sets this week, since my hamstrings and quads are sore from all the gym workouts I've been doing. Normally I'd do a second set of upper body strength on Sundays, but this week I'm keeping it light. Besides, it's good to have a recovery day after a HIIT workout.


What are you guys up to this week?

Have a strong weekend!
/Ulrika