Mama Said Knock You Out - Rixatrix's Training Log

[ledove]

Originally Posted by rixatrix

I was going to take progress pictures this morning (at like 7:55am, when I have to be to work by 8:30...haha, I guess I thought it was a good time to do it). Naturally, once I got it all set up, my camera told me, "Batteries are EXHAUSTED," and I was like, "Camera batteries, you don't know jack about exhausted. Have you ever done an Alwyn Cosgrove workout?"

I tried to laugh, but I'm too exhausted. Ain't it the truth, though? (Although, as I found out last night--you think an Alwyn Cosgrove workout is exhausting? Try a Brazilian jiu-jitsu warmup... Coulda been all the AC workouts leading up to it, though.)

[Kaiser]

Originally Posted by rixatrix

Yes, LLCoolJ. I'm going through a hip-hop phase - but it's perfect for getting amped up in the gym.

Sometimes I need that kinda music to get me going too. Oddly enough, it's usually combined with metal in my playlist.

Totally unsolicited (sorry in advance), here's some other (mostly classic) tunes you may want to check out in that genre, if you don't have them already. They all have an 'in your face' attitude, great for lifting! Sadly, because of the lyric content, I can't use them in my spin classes even though they have a great beat [the explicit versions all contain profanity/offensive lyrics]

Get Back - Ludacris
Rap Superstar - Cypress Hill
Till I Collapse - Eminem + Nate Dogg
Gasolina (remix) - Daddy Yankee + Lil Jon
Lose Yourself - Eminem
Forgot About Dre - Dr. Dre

[rixatrix]

Originally Posted by Kaiser

They all have an 'in your face' attitude, great for lifting! Sadly, because of the lyric content, I can't use them in my spin classes even though they have a great beat [the explicit versions all contain profanity/offensive lyrics]

I happen to LOVE explicit lyrics! Especially in rap. For some reason, I find them hilarious. Btw, I'm the whitest white girl ever, which makes it even funnier...seriously, I blind people on the beach and tan in little pinpricks all over my body. (I call it "cinnamon sugar".) So maybe it just cracks me up that I listen to the big, bad rappers...but you do what you have to when you want to feel like a badass in the gym.

[jesca]

Originally Posted by Kaiser

Sometimes I need that kinda music to get me going too. Oddly enough, it's usually combined with metal in my playlist.

Totally unsolicited (sorry in advance), here's some other (mostly classic) tunes you may want to check out in that genre, if you don't have them already. They all have an 'in your face' attitude, great for lifting! Sadly, because of the lyric content, I can't use them in my spin classes even though they have a great beat [the explicit versions all contain profanity/offensive lyrics]

Get Back - Ludacris
Rap Superstar - Cypress Hill
Till I Collapse - Eminem + Nate Dogg
Gasolina (remix) - Daddy Yankee + Lil Jon
Lose Yourself - Eminem
Forgot About Dre - Dr. Dre

Itunes usually sells a clean version of the songs, if you can get them. I'm pretty sure my lose yourself version is clean. I know some songs are so rife with it tho, that you lose the power of it when you "clean it up". Just an idea.

[Kaiser]

Originally Posted by rixatrix

I happen to LOVE explicit lyrics! Especially in rap. For some reason, I find them hilarious. Btw, I'm the whitest white girl ever, which makes it even funnier...seriously, I blind people on the beach and tan in little pinpricks all over my body. (I call it "cinnamon sugar".) So maybe it just cracks me up that I listen to the big, bad rappers...but you do what you have to when you want to feel like a badass in the gym.

LOL - listen to it when you want to feel like a badass; that's pretty much it. Me - I'm tan all year round, but come summer (bicycling season), I could pretty much change race if I wanted. Well, until I took off my shirt and showed the horrific farmer's tans that cyclists get, kinda like this:

(not me!)

I'm guessing you're not living in year-round beach country then? We gotta lotta that here where I live in the midwest and early summer at the beach means sunglasses for more than just the sun in Chicago.

Originally Posted by jesca

Itunes usually sells a clean version of the songs, if you can get them. I'm pretty sure my lose yourself version is clean. I know some songs are so rife with it tho, that you lose the power of it when you "clean it up". Just an idea.

I'll buy the clean ones sometimes, the explicit ones sometimes, with seemingly no rhyme or reason. 'Get Back' isn't too bad in it's explicit form, neither is 'Til I Collapse'. But 'Rap Superstar' (or get the 'Rock Superstar version) is not so clean, and neither is 'Forgot About Dre'. I mean, they're not super hardcore, but have some offensive epithets.

Sadly, at the clubs I teach spin at, rap is kinda not really encouraged, so out of my huge collection of spin playlists there are a handful of rap/hip-hop songs (and they are all squeaky clean!). Hard to use a song dropping the F-bomb every 10 seconds, or using the N-word ever.

Speaking of lyrics, my 6 year old and 2 of his friends were apparently in their lunchroom doing a rendition of Flo Rida's 'Low'. I have no idea where they heard it - I pretty heavily censor songs because of lyrics when we're in the car.

[rixatrix]

Originally Posted by Kaiser

I'm guessing you're not living in year-round beach country then? We gotta lotta that here where I live in the midwest and early summer at the beach means sunglasses for more than just the sun in Chicago.

Year-round beach country? No! Ha! In fact, hello from across the pond - I spend my summers at the beach in South Haven, MI. I don't think I'd have the courage to live in someplace like Florida where not everyone is fat and pasty...at least, I don't have the courage YET. Give me another few months, I'm getting there.

Originally Posted by Kaiser

Speaking of lyrics, my 6 year old and 2 of his friends were apparently in their lunchroom doing a rendition of Flo Rida's 'Low'. I have no idea where they heard it - I pretty heavily censor songs because of lyrics when we're in the car.

Hilarious! Reminds me of that scene from About a Boy - have you seen it? The kid is singing Mystikal in the hallways at school...

[Kaiser]

You say across the pond and I'm thinking England - which would more than account for the pasty skin! Ha! South Haven, huh? Haven't been there in a while (actually, last time we were in Holland). We prefer the UP, eh?

Yes, I've seen that scene. LOL. The only thing is that my boy only knows a few of the lyrics, so he was just repeating those when we asked him to give us a rendition.

A couple of months and you're gonna be there - great attitude Rix! Best of luck.

I'll leave you with the intro to 'Til I Collapse'; appropo motivation:

Sometimes you just feel tired, feel weak
When you feel weak, you feel like you just wanna just give up
But you gotta search within you, try and find that inner strength
And just pull that shit out of you, and get that motivation not to give up
And not be a quitter no matter how bad you wanna just fall flat on your face.

[rixatrix]

Originally Posted by Kaiser

A couple of months and you're gonna be there - great attitude Rix! Best of luck.

Haha, yeah, my big thing tonight is obsessing about having TOO MUCH lean mass (I'm pushing 140lbs) and looking more masculine than I want to when I lean out. There aren't a lot of examples of women, fitness competitors, regular women, whoever, that carry a lot of lean mass and are in good shape. It seems like all the women you see under 20% body fat are all like 115lbs, or 125...and that's just not very realistic for me without giving up a lot of muscle. I'd love to have a role model to look up to. But I just keep reminding myself that it's not something to worry about until I get to that point - because as much as I'd like to dream that I'll be fit and lean at 165lbs, I won't know until I'm there.

Originally Posted by Kaiser

And just pull that shit out of you, and get that motivation not to give up
And not be a quitter no matter how bad you wanna just fall flat on your face.

I like that last line...no matter how bad you wanna just fall flat on your face. We don't usually think people WANT to fail, do we? But that's what self-sabotage is. Which is why it's so important to keep the perspective and the positive attitude, even when faced with fears. (See above concern!)

I'll have to look the song up on iTunes. Thanks!

[Kaiser]

Well, here's the question you have to ask yourself: have you ever been super lean and had a ton of LBM? If you haven't you don't know what will happen. Chances are you're going to lose some LBM along the way. It's the nature of cutting and being in a caloric deficit.

I think it's very cool that you don't know how you will look when you reach your destination. Me, I've been every combination of fat and skinny, with a ton of LBM (like now at 150+ lbs of LBM) and with very little (less than 137). So I pretty much know how I will look at a particular combination - they key is just hitting which one I want at that time, but there is not going to be any surprise because, at some point, I've been there. You, you have a new look waiting for you and it's more urgent for you to get there to see it. If you don't like it, you can change and see what happens. Which, I'm sure you're doing given your very proactive approach and positive attitude.

Anyway, take a look at the very short distance track sprinters. Those ladies have a ton of LBM...probably more than you'll have.. and they don't look bad at all.

PS: When you hear it, let me know if you like that song. Then I can give you a bunch more suggestions for workout tunes.

[rixatrix]

Originally Posted by Kaiser

Anyway, take a look at the very short distance track sprinters. Those ladies have a ton of LBM...probably more than you'll have.. and they don't look bad at all.

PS: When you hear it, let me know if you like that song. Then I can give you a bunch more suggestions for workout tunes.

I do like the song. I never used to like Eminem, but I kind of get it now. Plus, you know...Michigan represent, and all. (But I don't have to like Kid Rock, right? Or Madonna, these days?)

I don't have a lot of hip-hop, but what I do have comes mostly from early LLCoolJ, Public Enemy, NWA, Queen Latifah...lots of 80s, early 90s stuff. But I also like just about anything - I've got everything from Jefferson Airplane to Guns N Roses to Amy Winehouse in my music library. (And lucky me, my boyfriend has like 1000 albums and I regularly borrow them.)

Sort of in the world music/hip-hop vein is an artist I really like right now - M.I.A. You should check her out if you've never heard of her. I really like the song "Paper Planes", not just for the great Sound FX, but because it's all about challenging the stereotypes people put on immigrants. Right on, hip-hop with a message.

Anyway, thanks for the pep-talk! I do realize that I could lose some LBM while cutting, so I'm prepared for that. And you're right, it's all sort of new to me...I mean, I've weighed less and worked out less - when I was in college, I was on the poverty and walking to class diet, so I weighed a lot less (but was only like 1-1.5 sizes smaller...). And I've weight lifted before, but never like this. I think Alwyn's books have really inspired me. Before, I'd lift for several weeks, get bored and not know what to do next...and just sort of peter out. Pathetic! I really enjoy weight lifting, and I really like having many different plans to last me for as long as I like. No boredom here. Just slowly making my way toward my goals.

I do keep reminding myself that my body is entirely under my control. I can lose as much fat as I want, gain as much muscle as I please, even things out as I see fit or whittle things down a little. (Within reason, obviously.) I always find it very empowering to remember that I have control of the situation (works great with food cravings, too).

I'm a writer by trade - sometimes I think I have this pesky habit of overthinking things. That's always a struggle, so thanks for the talk, coach.

[rixatrix]

Okay, scary, but here goes:



I don't have a "true" before, meaning right before when I started the program. But this is a shot of me from when I wasn't exercising, though it may be a little old. The one on the right is from today.

Here's one from the side from today for future reference:



Weight did indeed go down this morning -

Today's stats:
187.6lbs @ 25.87% BF

Chest - 40"
Waist - 31.5"
Hips - 42.5"

As usual, it's hard for me to see any changes in myself. When I lay them on top of each other and make one see thru, I can see less fat around my waist and stomach in the newer pictures. Possibly a very slight loss in the upper arms. My stomach definitely feels a bit flatter - the side shot is a good picture, I think. I can maybe see a bit more definition through my stomach from the front shot.

Also, for some reason, I almost look TAN in my newer picture.
I can assure you, I am not.

Can anyone see anything else?

[missjane]

Rix, PLEASE don't take this the wrong way, but are you SURE about your BF measurements. While I do see some change, I am not seeing a 6% drop in BF in the pics. 6% is A LOT! Have you thought about having someone else take the measurement or trying another method, just for comparison?

Having said that, there are changes, to be sure. For me, it most noticeable in your legs. Strong legs, there!

[Bytsi]

I agree with Jane about your legs - I see a big difference there!

What method are you using to measure BF%?

[kfisherx]

How long ago was the before shot versus the one from today? What exactly are your goals wrt this program? Are you currently bulking or are you trying to do fat loss? Where do you see yourself longterm as a result of this program?

BTW: There is no way that you are going to look masculine when/if you do a cut.