Lean Bodies Consulting

The following is a tough hamstrings triplex that JC Santana calls “The Triple Threat”. As a triplex implies, it’s a combination of three exercises with minimal rest. Given that each movement easily and smoothly transfers right into the next movement it’s a rather ‘user friendly’ set up.

The three exercises are

1. Two-leg Stability Ball Glute Bridges
2. SHELC (Supine Hip Extension into Leg Curl)
3. Two-leg Stability Ball Hip Lifts

Give it a shot either on your light hamstring day or as a hamstrings “finisher”. If you get it right, you’ll feel like your hams are about to rip right off your legs. Your glutes and calves will get hit hard as well. Try for 5 to 15 reps per exercise.

Once you get good at this, try doing it all with only one leg at a time ….

So I’m just going through the pictures on my camera, and realized I only took pictures on Friday night.

Anyway, here are a few of them. We had a great weekend.

Amy and Noel

Lyn and Ileen

Cindy and Elizabeth

Laura had waited very patiently and was VERY excited when her food finally came.

Noel’s rapidly disappearing steak …

… and cheesecake

Amy’s hair. Every time I went to take a picture, she’d hide behind her hair.

Kevin and I had the same idea at the same time.

And a shot of myself and Noel to finish off … with Scott looking over his shoulder at what I bet was a basketball game.

Lotsa fun. Thanks to everyone that made the trip.

So the 2008 NPC Junior USAs has come and gone and it was a great show overall. If you’ve read Noel’s blog you already know how she did - a huge improvement over last year’s attempt at the national stage where she did not place in the top 18 in any of her 3 attempts.

This year however, in the first show of the year, she’s looking to be a contender. She placed 6th in her class, narrowly missing out on 5th by one point. Even better is that she placed 4th in the two-piece suit (and 6th in the one piece, netting her the 6th place overall finish). A new overall look, much more polished presentation and 11lbs of new competition muscle since this same show last year seemed to have gotten some attention.

You can find more pictures of Noel and the line up here.

Laura Rose also had a good showing, coming in in her best condition to date (and heaviest as well). She placed 14th in a tough class and Hollie Higdon, who I posted some pictures of in a recent blog came in excellent condition, but unfortunately found herself in a class of 35 women where it’s easy to get lost.

Next up is the NPC Junior Nationals in Chicago.

Overall the weekend was great. I arrived in Atlanta on Wednesday and spent a couple days with Noel and her family. Friday morning Scott, Noel Elizabeth and myself made the 5-hr trip to Charleston … by way of the ’scenic route’. Seemed like it took forever.

After everyone getting settled, I headed off to the gym to get a workout in. Friday night we all went out to the Outback for dinner. We had a group of around 12 people I think. Fun times. The girls were hungry!

Saturday was a full day with the prejudging and finals to attend and then we all headed back to Amy’s and Kevin’s place (where I was staying) for a post-contest eating celebration. Oddly enough, while there was a ton of food, most of us weren’t able to eat much since we’d eaten so much crap already that day.

Sunday was the trek home - IHOP for breakfast, a Dairy Queen blizzard for lunch and Arby’s for dinner. How’s that for good nutrition?

And then on Monday, Noel and I hit the gym twice and filmed about 100 new exercises for the LBC exercise database.

All in all a very successful week away.

Live from the 2008 NPC Junior USAs …

We’re all back hanging out at the hotel after a long prejudging. Finished the same time as last year - 330pm. Six figure classes, lots of girls. We had three girls in this show - Noel Clark, Laura Rose and Hollie Higdon.

Laura was up first in Class B - I think 20-some odd girls. She got called out in the third set of call outs. Great improvements overall for her. A few pounds heavier than at the Arnold earlier this year, and yet leaner as well.

Hollie’s class - 35 girls. So easy to get lost in a class that size. She got pulled out in one of the later call outs in the one piece and got bumped up by two call outs (10 or so competitors), so that was good and something to work on moving forward.

Noel got called out in the first round in both her one and two pieces suits. Awesome! Finals are in less than an hour.

Here’s a couple teaser shots of Noel in her one piece today. Sorry for the less than optimal lighting.

Thursday morning here - I should technically be at the gym training legs right now while Noel gets her nails done, but I’m really tired this morning so I’m holding off for a bit longer. I might go take a nap in a minute.

A little Noel update - looks hard, and tight this morning. Wow.

And here’s a couple pictures of Hollie Higdon taken this morning, two days out - fully loaded on water. Take note those of you who cut water too early - it’s not necessary.

So I made it to the first leg of the Junior USAs weekend. I didn’t get any sleep last night and took off at 4:30am for the airport. Flight was scheduled for 7:00am, but of course, it was delayed for an hour. Noel met me at the airport and picked me up. Later in the afternoon, we hit the gym. For me it was heavy arms and light shoulders and for Noel it was her last depletion workout. Good workout for me - 9 sets for triceps, 9 sets for biceps - all in the 6-8 range and then 12 sets for shoulders/traps - all in the 12-15 rep range. Good pump, lotsa veins.

Noel is looking hard. Seeing the improvements from this time last year in person really lets you appreciate the gains. A full 10lbs heavier. If memory serves she put on nearly 2 inches on her arms. What the heck? Why can’t I do that? Shoulders are full, pecs are striated, back is detailed WITH vascularity in the BACK.

Here’s one shot I snapped in the gym (after 8 liters of water :lol:). You can find a few more on Noel’s blog - probably tomorrow.

As mentioned in the most recent newsletter, here is the completed ‘Before & After Transformation’ of LBC client Amy Krajewski. She went on to compete in her first figure competition recently and is now hooked.

You can see a bit more here:

http://leanbodiesconsulting.com/amy.html

He/she has more time.

I have kids and I’m really busy.

I have to work.

I’m tired.

My body told me it needed pizza. Again.

He/she has better genetics.

Sure maybe … or maybe you’re just making excuses.

Good commercial.

Gym ’sighting’ of the day. There’s this girl at the gym, I swear I’ve never seen her actually workout yet. Well, she’s been on the ellipticals, but I’ve never seen her lift weights yet, but she sits on the equipment and walks around the gym. I was watching her today and she literally just strolls around the gym, stops, leans on something, looks around for a while, strolls to another area, etc. Weirdest thing. I remember one time I was on the treadmill and there was a guy about three treadmills down running. This girl was just watching him. Staning on an ellliptical, completely motionless, watching him run. I figured she must know him and is just waiting for the guy to make eye contact. Next thing I know she’s on the treadmill beside him. No acknowledgment from him. She walks for 5 minutes and then goes back across the cardio area to the elliptical. I guess that strategy didn’t work.

Here’s one of my light hamstrings exercises that I’ve been doing for a while and really liking - the Anterior Reach (demonstrated by Laura). It’s an ‘integration’ movement that works the hamstrings and glutes with a balance component. People use the Anterior Reach for different reasons, but one of the great things about it is that it really engages the muscles of the calves, hamstrings and glutes together. The together part is the key here. In addition to that, it helps to develop functional balance and strength in both the core and the lower extremities. (JC Santana)

But, it looks easier than it is. It’s not a ‘hard’ exercise as in say a widowmaker set of 20-rep squats, of course. It’s a different kind of hard. Tbe slower you go, the more proprioceptive demand and the more demand placed on the muscles. So, the goal is to do these S-L-O-W-L-Y. (slower than Laura is demonstrating, or at least progress to very slow)

Some general guidelines:

- The knees line up with the feet.
- Limiting knee flexion places more emphasis on the muscles of the posterior chain (this is how I do them).
- Increasing knee flexion adds emphasis to the quads.
- Can be done contralaterally or ipsilaterally.
- Bench over and reach forward, and then stand straight up at the top.
- You can progress the movement with multi-planar reaching (so you’re not always just reaching straight forward)
- Try to keep the back foot off the ground for the duration of the set; touch down to stabilize if needed however.

Give a few sets of 12-15 reps per side a shot before your next hamstring workout; or even to finish off for that matter. Remember, the slower you go (both eccentrically and concentrically, the better). If you’re getting it right, your glutes and hamstrings will let you know.

Newflash!

I just wanted to point something out about nutrition and training with the end goal of fat loss. (and I emphasize fat loss since that’s what we’re concerned primarily with; not just losing ‘weight’ for the sake of losing weight …. right? RIGHT?)

You know, the only way for nutritional strategy to work for you is if you actually follow it. Make sense? I sure hope it makes sense.

You can’t expect a diet, no matter how well designed it is, to work, if you don’t follow it - whether that means changing it in such a way that you’re eating too much, not eating enough/skipping meals, secretly cheating and eating off plan too much, etc.

Same goes with exercise - if you have a plan you’re following, follow it. Don’t go adding 2 hours of extra cardio when it’s completely unnecessary. and arguaby stupid.

And then when you do all that (the deviations that is), don’t stop and think your plan, whatever that may be, doesn’t work. It’s you that doesn’t work.

A plan is useless without execution.