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Booty Building Superset Routine

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Find original post at:  http://www.rxmuscle.com/rx-girl-articles.html?start=36

If I had given into my natural genetic setpoint which gave me a relatively flat booty due to my Japanese ancestry, I would never have transformed my posterior into what it is today.  In recent years the quest for a round butt has been one of the most highly coveted physical attributes for women.  In keeping with this highly sought goal, I am providing readers with a superset routine which will create the full and curvaceous look which fills out a pair of jeans nicely and turns heads in a good way!

THE ROUTINE

Make sure to move from one exercise within a superset to the next quickly, without rest.  Once you have completed a superset, rest for 30 seconds then begin your next superset.  Complete all sets in Superset 1, then complete all sets in Superset 2, etc.

Superset 1 –

5 sets of the following:

25 jump squats

20 stiff-legged deadlifts with dumbbells

15 stride jump crossovers            How to do: Using a bench or plyo box, place one foot up on bench with that leg almost parallel to floor.  Jump explosively over bench, springing off bench and landing with your other foot on the opposite side of the bench.  Repeat on other side.

Superset 2 –

5 sets of the following:

15 walking dumbbell lunges

20 Butt Blaster

15 prone leg curls

Superset 3 –

4 sets of the following:

20 one-legged dumbbell deadlifts

20 one-legged cable kickbacks

Superset 4 –

20 one-legged leg press (lying on your side and pushing through your heel)

20 plie dumbbell squats holding dumbbell between legs with wide stance and squatting LOW

12 barbell good mornings

How to Bling Out Your Own Suit

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Find original post at:  http://www.rxmuscle.com/rx-girl-articles/6387-how-to-bling-out-your-own-suit.html

Peacock Suit I Blinged Out! - Copy

Most of us ladies love the dazzle of crystals and sequins when seen on competition suits, but such embellishments can be pretty expensive, especially when suits are custom made and crystallized by a professional suitmaker.  However, it is possible to bling out your own suit at home as long as you have a somewhat creative hand and a lot of patience.  I have endured the laborious process of applying crystals by hand on three suits.  Despite the fact that this was very time-consuming, it was well worth it considering the fact that I saved hundreds of dollars by crystallizing the suits myself.

You may be wondering where to purchase a plain competition suit.  Good sources are eBay, Jagware,  Suits You Swimwear and Chynna Dolls, or you can have a suit made by a professional suit designer (examples are Passion Fruit, CJ’s Elite, TameeMarie) and then apply the crystals yourself.  Once you have your suit, you can determine what design you would like to apply on the fabric.  You can get ideas from looking at competition images of ladies in suits you like, or you can go to a site like www.Dreamstime.com and select a clip art image.  After this is done you need to make a copy of the design so that it is the appropriate size for your suit, and also make copies of the mirror image so that your suit design is symmetrical.  These prints will serve as templates when you are ready to start mapping out the design.  If you are very artistic, you can sketch a freehand design.

The next step in the process is determining the colors, sizes and quantities of the crystals, beads or sequins you want to purchase for your suit design.  Rhinestone Depot is an excellent wholesale online site for crystals.  I also like Artbeads but the prices are higher.  Make sure when you place your order that you order extra materials just in case some of the crystals pop off.  Generally speaking, you should only purchase flat-backed stones as they are much easier to glue onto fabric and much less likely to pop off.

There are two options available to you with Swarovski crystals when you are trying to decide how to affix the stones to your suit.  Swarovski crystals come in a “Hotfix” variety which already has adhesive on the back, but you will need to purchase the application tool (which looks like a soldering iron) in order to apply the stones.  The other option is to get the regular flat-backed crystals and use a fabric glue such as E6000 or Aleene’s Flexible Stretchable Fabric Glue.  If you are using very small stones, you should have a pair of small angled tweezers on hand to pick up the crystals.  Other supplies to have on hand are toothpicks (for setting a crystal in the exact spot where you want it and for cleaning off excess glue) and a piece of sturdy cardboard large enough to stretch out the fabric in your suit while you are working on it.

To begin the process, line up the crystals on the design which you have printed out.  This will give you a familiarity with the design and also ensure that you have enough crystals to create the design.  You can also place marks on the fabric with a washable marker so you have some guidelines.  Put your suit on the cardboard in such a way that the fabric is completely stretched out.  KEEP FABRIC STRETCHED WHILE YOU GLUE RHINESTONES AND ALLOW GLUE TO DRY!  If not, the crystals will pop off.

Start at one end of the design, placing a small amount of glue on the back of the crystal and then pressing into place. For smaller crystals, you can use angled tweezers and toothpicks to move the crystals into their exact spots.  It is a good idea to switch back and forth from one side to another to ensure your pattern remains symmetrical.

Most importantly, TAKE YOUR TIME!  This will take HOURS and HOURS to do.  Trust me, it really takes a while.  When I crystallized the peacock feathers on the suit I wore in 2011, it took me a total of 38 hours to complete the work.  I had no choice but to keep returning to the project over a number of sessions until it was completed.  Then again, there were over 3,000 crystals, so I created quite a challenge for myself.

Once you are finished, you can celebrate your creativity and rest in the knowledge that you have a one-of-a-kind suit!

New Year’s Resolutions Don’t Work

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2013By no means am I trying to destroy the motivation that some of you may be experiencing with the fresh slate of a new year and some new goals placed before you.  But it drives me nuts when people make these promises to themselves to eat healthy foods, start going to the gym regularly, quit drinking, etc., then give up after only weeks or even days because they supposedly blew it for the year. I fully expect, along with countless other fitness people, to see a major influx of new faces at the gym next week, hogging the equipment without knowing how to use it and increasing the temperature of the gym to hatching-baby-chicks hot, only to see a drop off shortly after Valentine’s Day.  It really is a shame that many individuals lack the drive to keep after their goals and only find yet another excuse to abandon the idea of bettering themselves for the long run.  SO WHAT if it is a new year, and SO WHAT if you mess up after a few days or weeks?  The most important thing is to keep your eye on the prize and get back up on that horse!

If you think I don’t have moments of weakness, I will tell you right now that I am human just like the rest of you.  While I do not indulge in bad foods frequently, I will have an occasional treat, meal or feast that is well outside the definition of a clean meal.  On rare occasions I will miss a workout, though this happens once a year (in fact it just happened today because I have been battling the flu since yesterday).    But if I were to say, “okay, I blew it for 2013”, then of course that would be the perfect cop-out and I would no longer have the pressure to conform to a schedule or continue to pursue a goal.

Ask yourself this:  WHY do you have a goal to lose weight, eat better, (fill in the blank)?  If you have an understanding of the psychology behind your goal, and if you develop a do-or-die attitude, you will increase the chances of reaching your goal dramatically.  Make your choices the types of choices that are made for a lifetime.   Be specific about your goal and have a SPECIFIC PLAN in place, whether that plan is a written workout schedule, printed meal plan, timeline for when and how you will make measures to get that promotion at work, etc.

Every day spent with a focused mindset will get you closer to your goals.  Allow yourself the occasional slipup but also refrain from allowing such incidents to completely derail you from what it is you really want.

“Healthy” Bars

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Granola BarMany people love the convenience of bars, whether they are labeled as granola bars, energy bars or protein bars.  However, many of these bars aren’t much better than candy bars in terms of nutrition.  Beware of granola bars, as many of them contain sugar, oil, and even candy.  Energy bars and protein bars are also frequently high in sugar and can also contain caffeine and artificial sweeteners.  Regardless of the type of bar, many formulations also contain preservatives.  What’s more, some bars are so highly processed that they could be described as “fake” foods.

There are some bars out there which are minimally processed and can be considered pretty decent in terms of nutritional value.  Make sure to check the ingredients on the wrappers and look for natural ingredients like oats, fruit and nuts.  You can also make your own granola bars and protein bars.

Here is a great link which has numerous recipes for natural protein bars:

http://www.muscleandstrength.com/recipes/protein-bars

This is a good link for a granola bar recipe:

http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=394740

If you don’t have time to make your own bars, healthier bar choices which you can purchase are the Lara Bar and Quest Bar (http://www.questproteinbar.com).

“Healthy” Sandwiches

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When Jared catapulted Subway Sandwiches into mega success as a result of the ad campaign which featured his weight loss, people became even more enamored of the convenient meal option which has come to define lunch for many people.  However, it makes a HUGE difference what bread, meats and condiments are used.  On the very, very rare occasion when I have to get a Subway sandwich (I think the last time I had one was 5 years ago), I will ONLY get the oven roasted chicken breast.  Why?  Because I avoid cold cuts like the plague.  Cold cuts have been deceptively packaged in grocery stores with labels like “fresh”, “oven roasted”, “99% fat free”, etc.  But the fact remains that cold cuts are extremely high in sodium, usually in the form of sodium nitrate which prolongs the shelf life of these meats.  The problem is that the body breaks down the sodium nitrate in such a way that can become carcinogenic.

Even with use of such preservatives, cold cuts can still harbor dangerous bacteria, the most common of which is Listeria.  Listeria infection is characterized by fever and chills, abdominal pain and vomiting.  I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to touch a food item which has a high risk of causing such symptoms.  Pregnant women and infants are particularly susceptible to such infection and should avoid consuming processed meats entirely.

Add to this a couple of slices of bread made with processed flour and a dollop of mayonnaise, and you have created a meal that is full of carcinogens, sodium and saturated fat and seriously lacking in nutrition.

A healthier choice is to make your own sandwich with Ezekiel Bread, gluten-free whole grain bread, or P28 Bread (www.highproteinbred.com), a dollop of pure organic mustard, Romaine lettuce, and a nicely grilled portion of skinless chick breast.  sandwich