Back From The Dead...

Well hello there everyone!! I'm so sorry that I have not been keeping up with my posts...this week has just been beyond crazzyy. But I'm back and ready to blog! Hope you guys didn't miss me too much ;)

I just got done an awesome bicep/trap workout and am feelin' really good. What did everyone do in the gym today? Anybody start my new workout? I am really LOVING this new workout I've made...the "figure model workout." It's been awhile since I've committed to a brand new workout routine and I'm really feeling good after my workouts with this new routine I've made. I've been pretty sore every day from my workouts - I love doing high intensity workouts it gives me such a good burn for the next day or two.

Oh, before I get you guys all caught up...has anyone read 50 Shades of Grey ? I just finished it today..it was really, realy good..I haven't been able to put it down the past 3 days (yes, it only took me 3 days to finish the 500-something paged book). If you have not read it yet, I definitely advice you read it. I got lost in the relationship between Christian and Anastasia and can't wait to find out how the next book is!

ANYWAYS....The last time I blogged was ...Sunday (wow, it really has been awhile, sorry :/ ).
Monday, Tuesday, Wed and today's challenges all consisted of my new workout...so I will fill you guys in on the workouts below. I know a reader had asked for pictures, and I will put them up ASAP. I was able to get pictures for today's workout, and will get caught up on the other workout pictures as soon as I can. I've been working out alone the past few days and haven't had anyone to take pics for me until tonight. So, I'll get on that as soon as I can!!

Okay, so..Day 2 of the workout is Back, Triceps and Abs

Felicia's Figure Model Workout: Day 2

Reverse Lat Pulldowns - 3 sets - 15-20 reps

superset with

Wide Grip Lat Pulldown - 3 sets - 15-20 reps 

Seated Cable Rows - 3 sets - 12-15 reps

superset with 

Barbell Bent-over Row - 3 sets - 12-15 reps 

Cable Bent-over Row - 3 sets - 15-20 reps

drop set the last set 

Triceps Pushdowns - 3 sets - 15-20 reps 

superset with

Overhead Cable Extension - 15-20 reps 

E-Z Bar Skullcrushers - 3 sets - 12-15 reps 

superset with

Overhead Dumbbell Extension 3 sets 12-15 reps

drop set last set of overhead dumb. ext

(you can find a bunch of pictures for these triceps exercises on one of my previous posts)

Finish the workout with 15 minutes of Ab exercises of your choosing :) 

Day 3: Lower Body and Cardio

Warm up with 12-15 minutes of cardio of your choice 

I did HIIT training for 15 minutes on the treadmill 

Barbell Squats - 3 sets - 12-15 reps 

superset with

Sumo Dumbbell Squats - 3 sets - 15-20 reps 

Romanian (Stiff Legged) Deadlifts - 3 sets - 15-20 reps

superset with

Sumo Deadlifts - 3 sets - 15-20 reps 

Single-Legged Dumbbell Squats - 3 sets - 15-20 reps 

superset with

Cable Kickbacks - 3 sets - 15-20 reps 

Seated Leg Extensions - 25

drop set last set 

Seated Calf Raises - 3 sets - 20-25

superset with  

Standing Dumbbell Calf Raises - 3 sets - 20-25

Seated Leg Curls - 25

drop set last set 

Complete Workout with 25-30 minutes of cardio

I did more HIIT training on the treadmill (that's my favorite)

(You can also find a lot of pictures for most of these exercises on one of my previous posts)

***I switched day 4 and day 5 up..it used to be:

Day 4: Traps and Biceps

Day 5: Cardio and Abs

I just switched them around to get an extra cardio day in there..so day 4 is Cardio now, day 5 is traps and bis***

Day 4: Cardio and Abs

45 minutes to 1 hour of cardio 

You can decide what type of cardio you want to do. 

I started with a fast-paced walk of 3.8 on the treadmill at an incline of 15.0

I did that for the first 30 minutes of my cardio workout

The last 30 minutes of my cardio I did sprint HIIT training

Sprint for 1 minute, jog for 2 

Conclude your workout with ab exercises of your choosing

I always switch up my ab routine, that's why I never really put ab exercise pictures on here, but if you guys would like to know some exercises and get some pics, let me know and I'd be happy to put some up :) 

Day 5: Biceps and Traps

Standing Dumbbell Curls - 3 sets - 15-20 reps 

Superset with 

Dumbbell Shurgs (I didn't get a picture of that one, sorry) 3 sets - 15-20 reps

standing dumbbell curls

Reverse E-Z Bar Curls - 3 sets - 15-20 reps 

superset with 

E-Z Bar Upright Rows - 3 sets - 15-20 reps 

Reverse EZ Bar Curls

EZ Bar Upright Rows

E-Z Bar Preacher Curls - 3 sets - 15-20 reps

superset with

Resistance Band Biceps Curls - 3 sets - 15-20 reps 

EZ Bar Preacher Curls

Resistance Band Bicep Curls

Concentration Curls - 3 sets - 15-20

drop set last set 

PHEW! Okay! So now we are alllllllll caught up, right?! I promise to add pictures for the rest of the workouts as soon as I can! I'll be going away this weekend, so keep your eye out for a new post in a couple of days. Until then, try this new workout plan out and let me know how you all feel! I've also been trying out a few new recipes that I'll put on here later on.. 

I hope everyone has been having a wonderful week so far! Mine has been hectic, but well. My new job is going pretty good - still getting used to a 45 hour work week, but I guess that wil take some time. I also got a new client that I start training next week which I am very excited about! 

Talk to you guys in a couple days :)

XXOOO

Fitness Felicia 

Merp.

Hi everyone, how's everyone doing tonight? I've had a semi-rough day. I've just been having a hard time getting motivated....about a bunch of different things. I've been getting really discouraged about a lot of things, and am kind of at a stand still, which I feel like always ends up happening once I feel like I'm starting to figure things out. It was a very frustrating day, and quite honestly, I was feeling very unconfident about a lot of things.

First off, I feel like nobody is reading my blog. I still really enjoy writing it regardless, but feedback is always nice. I know I'm new to blogging, but it's nice to know that you're interested in what I'm talking about, or if you have different opinions that I do, or any suggestions..just feedback in general is always a nice motivator. I wonder how long (if ever) it will take to get more than 4 followers (not that I don't appreciate my current four - love you guys thanks for following!). I look at some blogs and they have an overwhelming amount of comments about their posts...how do I get that to happen to my blog?!

Another thing I'm frustrated about is my little personal training "business" I have been trying to get off the ground. I haven't received any calls or emails from anyone interested in personal training, which is also really discouraging. I mean I know I'm doing it all by myself with just my little dinky flyers and this little blog...I guess I will just have to give it more time..
...the disinterest in my personal training is also making me discouraged about my future career. I know businesses are certainly difficult to get up and running and successful, and a lot fail, but I hope I get more of a response when I do start my own personal training/gym business. Of course I will have more professional marketing and blah blah blah. But oh, I don't know. Just a discouraging day.

I'm also getting discouraged about my workouts. No matter how much I eat in a day, no matter how much I try to change my diet or my workout plan, I cannot seem to gain weight! I've tried absolutely everything. My body is just not having it. I'm about to try a new approach and just cut, cut, cut and get lean and toned. But I'd really like to gain just a little weight :(

I'm rambling. Enough about my issues, this blog is supposed to be motivating and inspiring. But this is my "journey," so I guess you guys are just gonna have to follow me through the thick and thin, good and bad!

I had a very busy day yesterday and had no time for a post, so I'll be putting in yesterday and today's challenges in this post.

My challenge for yesterday was kind of dumb, or sad, however you want to look at it I guess, but I myself was very excited about it. ...my challenge was ... to finish a whole book!
I know it doesn't have anything to do with exercise, but I think reading is good for your health, so I'm counting it! I have not read a book (for pleasure) since probably my sophomore or junior year of high school. This book that I read, What Alice Forgot, was a little over 400 pages (which is a lot for me!), and was very challenging for me to stick with it and actually finish the entire book. So, yesterday, I finished my book, and loved it. I'm actually sad it's over. On to the next book I suppose. Sorry guys, I guess that was a really lame challenge :(

Today's challenge was a bit better: to devise a new triceps workout.
 Because I don't really have very many readers, I really embrace the readers that I DO have, and try to answer all their questions and comments that they leave me.
That said, today's challenge was for one of my readers,  "KayKay." She wanted to know exercises that she could do to target her triceps, because, like on many women, they are her trouble area.
KayKay, I hope you are reading this! Because this one is for you!!

Because I need to be doing something new that I've never done before, I made a new triceps workout that I have never done before. I dedicated this one to KayKay.

Because she said this was her trouble area, I'm assuming she is trying to tone it out a bit. So this will be a higher intensity triceps workout. In the alphabet, K is the 11th letter, A is the 1st and Y is 25th.
I was trying to be creative for this one, sorry if it's confusing, but just try to follow. Because A is the 1st letter, I added K and A to get 12 reps.
So, the first set is 12 reps. Y being the 25th letter, the second set is 25 reps. Because her name is KayKAY (two Kay's), do a third set of again, 12 reps, and a fourth set of 25. I wanted to make it a higher rep workout to increase the intensity, give you more of a burn in those triceps which will help them tone out a bit and lose some of that flab all of us women hate so very much!

KayKay, you asked me for some exercise ideas, so here are a few you can chose from: 

overhead dumbbell triceps extension

triceps kickbacks (get your elbow up a bit higher, this picture isn't that great)

overhead tricep extensions with cables

skull crushers 

tricep cable pulldowns 

Hope these exercises can give you a good burn, KayKay! also, Make sure you try out your  the 12,24,12,24 "KayKay" workout (I would do about three or four of these exercises with the 12,24,12,24 rep range), it does give a very good burn. 

This was a long post, sorry about all the rambeling. I don't think this post was all that great (due to lack of motivation), sorry about that as well.

I'll have a more uplifting and inspiring post tomorrow, promise!

Night gym rats!