Pt 1. on how a competitor can manage their time while in school

By Meagan Rodriguez

Time is the only thing that we can’t get back in this fast paced in which we live. From school, work, family, and trying to stay healthy, there never seems to be enough time in the day. As a full time, full—load student with a lot of activities on my plate, how is it possible to find time to prep and compete? It comes down to a dedicated-balance routine between sleeping, training, eating, working, studying, and playing, but not necessarily in that order. My time management has to be precise and calculated or I am not able to get everything in, in one day. I literally live out of my day planner on season, but off season I am a little more lenient. In this article I will give you tools and advice on how to manage your time as a student, so that you can be more efficient with your time and become more organized in order to accomplish your competition goals easier than you may have before.
So you have picked the date for your competition and it is in the middle of the semester…now what? Take a deep breath and relax because going to school, working and prepping for competition is possible! The first thing to do is get a day planner. You need to write everything down and at what times they need to be started and completed. This will alleviate some stress about not having to remember everything in addition to prioritizing your daily responsibilities.
The next things to define and outline are- your top priority elements that must be scheduled consistently every week. The first, and a definite must, is food preparation! Pick one day out of the week (mine is Sunday) to prepare all of your protein and carbohydrates so that you can pack and go without having to cook every single day. Also, put your daily food diary on your fridge so that you can refer to it when prepping. If you do not have a nutritionist guiding you through your preparation, it is helpful to know how to calculate your protein, carbohydrate, and fat ratio. This will determine your daily caloric intake, giving you a food diary to follow.

Work out log 8-20-2008 shoulders and abs

Well we switched it up a bit now since we are 71 days or almost 10 weeks out! We worked on shoulders and abs today instead of shoulders and bi's. Tomorrow we will touch up on Bi's, but mainly focus on back and tri's.

SHOULDERS:

Dumbbell lateral raise: 1 set, 20lbs, 3 reps.
2 set, 25lbs, 3 reps
3 set, 20lbs, 4 reps
4 set, 15lbs, 10 reps
5 and 6 set, 10 lbs, till failure

Sitting shoulder press on Free Motion Machine: 1 set, 80lbs on each side, 12 reps

Incline bench prone shoulder press on FMM: 2 sets, 40lbs on each side, till failure.

Bent over delt raises: 2 sets, 15lbs, 12-10 reps.

ABS:

Sitting Upright Reverse Crunches: 2 sets, 15lbs, till failure

Incline Bench Reverse Crunchs: 2 sets, 25reps with a hold at the end.

Ab bench resistance band crunches: 2 sets till failure.

Reasons Why....

Well, LOL here I am...a very busy person but bound and determined to get back up on stage. I have even flipped my handle bars on my stationary bike to fit my laptop so I can work on projects, speeches, and homework while I do my 100 minutes of cardio a day! I felt like I was
wasting time...so I fixed it!

Lately, there has been some things that stick out in my brain one of them is selfishness. I know that there needs to be some selfishness in us, its a preservation mechanism, but to completely loose yourself in it, is a different story. Unfortunately in the competition realm, it is a selfish sport and there is a fine line. But, can't anyone earn a little bit and stay true to themselves and practice what they preach and stay true to why they originally started competing and trying to make a difference in the first place?? For some yes, and some no. I sit here and wish that everyone could be a little less selfish because it would definately make this world a nicer place to live in.

My goal for competing has changed somewhat, I want to stay focused and make sure I am true to myself and those around me and keep my original plans in motion because people look up to me and I wouldnt want to disappoint them and everything that I promised....because my head got to big to fit in the same room with them.

Yes, I compete for myself, this has been a 6 year long drive that has been instilled in me, only God knows why!...but never the less it has helped me grow in knowledge about health and wellness and teach me how much people DONT know! I strive to educate and to build the fire back up about keeping the body healthy. Look at it this way, if you dont have your health, you dont have anything! God gave us this one body, and if we distroy it we only have ourselves to blame. The lack of knowledge can kill you!

I want to be accessible to people, not too high and mighty (or atleast act that way) so that people dont even want to come near me or talk to me! I do not want to be fake or go back on my word, or twist my words around to suit me at any given time. It all boils down to being selfless, and giving and putting what talent God gave me into practice to help others, not hinder and boast in my own glory....because like my grandfather used to say about that "a hundred years from now, no one will know the difference."

I want to make a difference and if I can reach or touch one person with my selflessness they may pass it on and do that for someone else! I will not lose myself and if I start too my husband is sure to put me back into place in a loving and kind way but he also keeps me grounded and I thank the good Lord for that because I know how easy it is to fall into that category of selfishness that is over the top....lol...

I will first and formost say that it was not all me that got me there because if it wasnt for the great team of people, family and friends...but mainly God up above, I wouldnt be where I am today!

So thank you all for helping me and lets all do each other a favor and check ourselves, is your heart in the right place or is it all just a selfish act to get attention. Because, honestly attention makes you feel good for 2 seconds and then you want more... where does that leave you? Making someones day by reaching out to them will leave a lasting impression on that person as well as yourself and give you a sense of lasting joy that can only be received from an act such as that!

Good Morning!!!! lol...have a great day and be safe!

Work out log 8-14-2008 Biceps and shoulders

SHOULDERS:

Seated barbell over head press: 4 sets at 12 reps, each set increase the weight decrease repsby 2 and the last set do a drop set till failure.

Seated free motion machine over head press: 4 sets at 12 reps on the first 60lbs on each side. 2nd set at 10 reps with 50lbs with a static hold at the end, same for third set. 4th set drop the weight to 30lbs and rep out those shoulder presses till failure and then a static hold at the end.

BICEPS:

Olympic bar curl: (bought ripped my biceps outta my arms! it was awesome!) 3 sets 45lbs, 1st set was until failure, 2nd and 3rd were 6 regular curls 4 negatives! Since the bar is so long you have to stabalize more! This was a great exercise to get the blood pumping!

Free motion machin side hammer curls: 2 sets at 50lbs till failure both times.

Work out log 8-11-2008 Legs

Glutes and hammies: (My quads are very developed so we are working on catching up the glutes and hammies)

Glute Extension: 2 sets, 20lbs, 10 reps. You lie face down on a flat bench with your hips at the end, knees on the ground, you lift you legs into a "super man" position while pointing toes, add the weight in between feet and bring legs back into starting position, repeat.

Stiff Legged deadlifts: 3 sets, 40lbs, 12 reps.

Hamstring curls: 2 sets, 25lbs, 12 reps.

Kickbacks: 2 sets, 60lbs (1st set) 40lbs (2nd set), 12 reps

Exercise Do's and Don'ts

Do's and Dont's of Cardio and exercise!

-Don't run or try to embrace another form of low impact cardio. Believe me, your muscle mass and your joints will thank me! Fitness models and other professionals lean towards the "no running" principle because it's known to "eat away" at the muscle you work so hard to gain.

-Don't work against yourself and defeat your progress by running. It takes a lot of energy with no real gains, except for cardiovascular. You can receive cardiovascular benefits from other low impact versions such as using the Elliptical, Nordic Track, Air Stepper, and the Stair Master.
Don't do less than 25 minutes, or more than 45 minutes (unless you are prepping to compete). This "magic zone" between 25 to 45 burns fat as well as keeping your heart rate between 130-140 bpm. If you do more than that your body "hits a plateau" and your body "hits a wall" and you slow/stop your progress.

-Don't focus soley (added in for clarification 8-29-08) on cardio! In order to have that strong, sleek and sexy, muscle tone, you need to focus more on weight training to build it up. Don't do excessive cardio which will "eat away" at your muscle mass.

-Don't overtrain! If you overtrain, your appetite will increase and you will start eating like a 250 pound football player and not a fitness model. Rather do just enough to blast fat, and not to hit a plateau. Again if you overtrain, your body will "lock up" and not allow you to burn the fat off that you need too, because it will reach a state of "shock", thus holding onto the fat.

-Do understand that fitness is a journey to be enjoyed, not a one time event. Like the old adage goes, "Rome wasn't built in a day." Your body too is a masterpiece in progress. Take it one day at a time, and enjoy the process.

(source)

Chicken Marinade, Chocolate, and stuffsss....

Well, I have found a marinade that I love! And in 12 weeks havent gotten tired of it !

-KC Masterpiece Honey Teriyaki! Marinade over night and bar-b-que or bake.

What tides me over till cheat day when that chocolate urge hits:

-Sugar Free Chocolate Pudding

Easy brown rice:

-MINUTE Ready to Serve Brown Rice
(Easy Recipe: Combine the brown rice and Starkist Herb and Garlic tuna, heat and eat!)

My Goal for those that want to compete!

Hey everyone!

Well I do have a goal with my blogs, like this one here and the one on blogger (www.nu-ufitness.blogspot.com) but...before that a story...
When I first started getting into fitness and wanting to lose weight, tone up , see my abs etc... I had no clue where to start. I did a fitness model search and came across some profiles on here, on the web in general, and on myspace. I emailed most of them to get feed back and either never heard anything in response or go some advice but they would neeeever really tell me what they did for their work outs and what they ate, how they ate it etc... So with little to no knowledge I went into dieting and exercising...thinking and going off of what those people told me. To me exercise was running and doing crunches, and good/ healthy food was quesadillas and raisin bran! With that I never really saw results and I wanted it so bad that I went into a tail spin for the worse and ended up becoming bulimic.

The point of this story is to say that I want to be a person that has no fear or insecurity about telling people how I got the body I have, because in all honesty the people that I tell actually have to apply the information from my blog to see the results they want. I want others to see what goes into a competitor/models daily regime, workouts, and diet so they dont end up like me and then fiiiinally after 2 1/2 years figuring out that they were going about it the completely wrong way!

I hope that my blogs bring insight and knowledge to those that are just starting out, or others that want to compete. That is my goal... to help and inspire! Not lead on and flaunt what I have for nothing.

God Bless and take care of those bodies and stay natural! Be smart and there really isn't an "easy" button when it comes to competing!

Meagan

Work out log 8-8-2008 Back and Triceps

BACK:

Bent over bar bell row: 2 sets at 40lbs, 10 reps slow and controlled movements

Close Grip Lat Pull Down: 2 sets, 1 set at 80lbs, 2 set at 60lbs. 10 reps slow and controlled with a hold at the end.

High Row on one knee on Free Motion Machine: 3 sets, first set at 80lbs on each side 10 reps, second is the same as the first, third is at 50lbs faster paced till failure.

TRICEPS:

Free Motion Machine (FMM) cable cross tricep ext: 2 sets at 60lbs on each side.

Over head rope extension: 2 sets 60lbs on first, 50 lbs on second 12 reps.

Skull Crusher: 1 set 30lbs till failure.