My French bulldog Sampson passed away suddenly on Thursday morning. It was shocking and unexpected.
What I didn't do: fall off my plan, binge.
What I did do: Morn, loose sleep and took rest days.
Although I am heart broken and no frenchie or dog of that matter could replace my baby/sidekick/shadow and Adonis' brother. He truly was one of a kind. I have taken the days since to reflect and member him as he was. The most loving baby ever. However my life is still filled with love from Adonis.I have come to the realization my household and my family is meant to have 2 dogs. It is too quiet and lonely without another dog.
If you met Sammy or know me you know how much that dog meant to me. Im truly heartbroken and devastated. I don't have family and my dogs were/are my family. I was not prepared to lose Sammy at all nor am I in a financial position to purchase a new frenchie right now. But I will be saving up to get a new baby.
With that said I will be sending training programs and or guides to everyone who donates to my new puppy fund. Anything truly will help fill my lonely void and empty house.
Alicia Bell IFBB Figure Pro - Paige of Swords Podcast Feb 2021
Check Out My Most Recent Podcast Interview!
I had a great time on this podcast! Check it out if you want to learn a bit more about me and my journey and whats going on as far as prep for me right now!
10 Ways To Eat Healthy In 2021
Alicia Bell IFBB Figure Pro
This week I am dishing about Eating Healthy. With over 12 years experience in Personal Training, Kinesiology, Precision Nutrition and Athletics Coaching. I have learned what works and what doesn't. I have picked up some truths and strategies along the way that I implement with my own practices as well as my recommendations for my clients. Here are my top ten healthy eating tips for 2016. These ten strategies will help you eat healthier and stay on track so that you will succeed in achieving your goals.
Sweat More
When you workout hard and you lots of time in at the gym you are more likely to want to eat healthy. When you sweat your body rids itself of toxins. One of the most common things I hear from my clients is “I just worked my butt off in the gym for hours, why would I want to eat crap now and cancel out all of my results.” There couldn't be more truth to this. Why waste all of your hard earned sweat on a cheat food that you will probably regret afterwards? Most people find it isn't worth it.
The 10 Gulp Rule
I always suggest drinking a minimum of 3-4L of water for many reasons. Some of these reasons include speeding up your metabolism, riding the body of toxins and hydration. A lot of times we mistaken thirst and hunger believe it or not. So instead of reaching for a quick snack reach for a bottle of water first. But when you do remember this rule: The 10 Gulp Rule. When you pick up your bottle always gulp down 10 times. This will help you get in all of that water that I suggest.
Keep A Food Journal
It doesn't matter if you use an organizer, food planner or even a notepad or an app such as Myfitnesspal, I recommend that you track your food. Food journaling helps you realize just exactly what you are eating, the type of food it is, how many calories and where you can improve. It is also a great way to see how your body reacts to certain foods, meal timing and your energy levels compared to what you are eating. If you like journaling vs an app. Try Fitbook.
Eat Slowly
Did you know that a lot of our digestion actually begins in the mouth? When you don't properly chew your food you may be missing out on key nutrients that might not get extracted further on in your digestive system. Also it has been proven that when you chew your food slowly you are less likely to overeat because it allows your body time to send the signal that your stomach is full to your brain. When you chomp down an entire meal quickly your stomach doesn't send the signal to the brain in time and then it is too late and you have already overate.
Sign Up For A Meal Delivery
You “don’t have time” is honestly often times a legitimate excuse. More and more we are purchasing food. I personally have a hard time between work, coaching, training myself and content creating to cook food so I now rely on a meal delivery service to help keep me on track. Not only is the food delicious but it is customized and also delivered fresh to my door.
Make Overnight Oats So That You Always Have Breakfast Available
A lot of my clients are in a rush for breakfast and often skip it. Be prepared and pre make your breakfast. One of my favorite go to breakfasts are overnight oats. It's a simple grab and go if you prepare it the night before. Go here and check out some great recipe options from eatthis.com.
Eat By Using Proper Serving Sizes
Without meaning to we tend to undereat, over eat or binge. Precision Nutrition gives us a great guide to go by while we are on the go that is simple, always on us and easy to measure. What could this be you ask? Your hands. Yep you read that right. Follow this PN Guide to forgetting calorie counting and simply using your had to measure the amount of food you should be eating.
Make Mug Cake When You Are Craving Something Sweet
One of the best ways to satisfy a sweet craving or if you are particularly craving some sort of cakey substance is curbing your appetite with a mug cake. A protein mug cake that is. I usually find my recipes on pinterest but if you don't have pinterest you can get a lot of yummy mug cake recipes from dailyburn.com.
More Greens
Don’t be afraid to make friends with salad. The more greens you have the better. Not only do greens have loads of health benefits, give you energy but they also take a lot of energy for your body to digest. It's basically a win from all angles. However if you simply can't chew down loads of leafs supplement with products like Greens+ to make sure that you are getting all of your servings that you should be having so that you can maximize the health benefits, have energy and keep your diet healthy.
Have Protein In Your Gym Bag For A Post Workout Shake
When I am on the go I always keep a plastic baggie with a scoop of my favorite protein with me. This way I can quickly mix it up with water and I don’t have to eat take out or even cheat on my healthy diet. I love HD MUSCLE and you can use my CODE: Trainitright to save 10%
Make 2021 the year that you eat healthy, stick to your plan and achieve your goals. I know that these tips will help you just as they have helped both myself and countless clients and athletes that have worked with me over the years. Make it a habit not phase and Train It Right.
Today I want to share some tips on boosting your immune system.
Supplements are not meant to replace anything in the diet; after all, they are called “supplements.” In fact, with a solid nutrition plan, you probably don’t need any supplements, but not many of us have a diet that has enough variety, the right quantity, and the ideal quality of foods to cover all our bases.
I offer 1 on 1 coaching to help directly but some general tips:
Therefore, I always recommend a few supplements for most of my clients. Others might be recommended depending on your goals.
HD Muscle is my mail brand of choice because quality always equals better results.
High Quality Multi Vitamin—To ensure you are getting all your vitamins and minerals, a multi-vitamin is a must. This is a coverall and ensures you have the necessary components in your diet to keep you healthy.
High Quality Fish Oil or Omega 3Supplement—To ensure you are getting enough of this essential fat in your diet, a supplement is very important. A balanced diet often does not provide enough omega-3 fats. The research is pretty clear that fish oil is critical for reducing inflammation in the body and keeping you healthy. Look for high quality fish or krill oils that have high levels of DHA and EPA.
Probiotics are made up of good bacteria that helps keep your body healthy and working well. This good bacteria helps you in many ways, including fighting off bad bacteria when you have too much of it, helping you feel better.
Glutamine—This is something that can be added in for convenience or to ensure you are getting proper recovery and good digestion. It helps with bloating as well!
I hope youre all staying happy, healthy and safe!
Also reminder to anyone who is still waiting for a calendar. The mail here has been exceptionally slow - we are in lockdown again so my apologies. They should be arriving next week!
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Squat Variations
Did you know that squatting is a fundamental human movement pattern that involves nearly every muscle in the body? Squatting improves fitness, performance, and mobility for daily-life tasks. But do you always do the same type of squat? You shouldn’t and here’s why:
Have you ever noticed that when you do an exercise you haven’t performed in a few weeks, you experience a much more intense delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) for two or three days afterwards? Well that is because your muscles are moving in a slightly different plane of motion than what they are used to and they’ve become unaccustomed to this newly reintroduced movement. Don’t get stuck doing the same exercises each and every week! Change it up so that you can wake up muscles that may not be getting used if you are continually doing the same exercises week after week.
When you add variations into your workouts you can add strength faster and see more development and changes to your physique. Try new exercise movements, add extra weight or perform more sets and reps each workout. It’s all about the variation. Variations also help keeps you mentally stimulated and non-stagnant in your workout regime. This keeps the workouts fun and exciting as well as challenging. When you add variation exercises to your program you will hit the muscles from different angles, helping to stimulate more muscle fibers and create a nice, fully rounded muscle that really pops. Add variation – you have nothing to lose and everything to gain!
Try these examples of variations for squats that can be built into your current training program. Remember to engage the mind-muscle connection and focus on the contraction, negative and stretch phase of the lift. Don’t rush through the reps, keep tension on the muscle through the entire range of motion to get the full benefit of each exercise.
Front Squat
Place the barbell at the upper chest height in the rack. Step forward and position bar in front of shoulders. Cross your arms and place hands on top of barbell with upper arms parallel to floor. Then move the bar from rack. Squat down by pushing your hips backwards while allowing knees to bend forward, keep your back straight and your knees aligned with your toes. Squat down until thighs are just past parallel. Return to the starting position and repeat.
Bulgarian Split Squat
This can be done with a barbell across your back or dumbbells in both hands. Stand with dumbbells in your hands or bar across your back. Extend leg back and place top of foot on bench. Lower yourself down by flexing both the knee and hip of front leg until knee of rear leg is almost in contact with floor. Return to your starting position and repeat. Then switch legs.
Hack Squat w/ Barbell
Position barbell just behind your legs. With feet flat on floor shoulder width apart, squat down and grasp barbell from behind with overhand grip. Lift bar by extending hips and knees to full extension to stand up tall. Squat down by bending hips back while allowing knees to bend forward, keeping back straight and knees pointed same direction as feet. Squat down as far as you can possible while keeping your head and chest up. Repeat.
Heels Elevated Hack Squat
Place some plates or a step behind you. Position barbell just behind your legs. With toes on the floor and your heels on top of the step making sure that your feet are shoulder width apart, squat down and grasp barbell from behind with overhand grip. Lift bar by extending hips and knees to full extension to stand up tall. Squat down by bending hips back while allowing knees to bend forward, keeping back straight and knees pointed same direction as feet. Squat down as far as you can possible while keeping your head and chest up. Repeat.
Goblet Squat
Stand holding a dumbbell or kettlebell close to your chest. Then squat down between your legs until your hamstrings are on your calves. Keep your chest and head up. At the bottom position, pause and make sure that your elbows are on the inside of your knees and legs. Return to the starting position, and repeat.
Sumo Squat
With bar upper chest height, position bar on the back of your shoulders and grasp bar to sides. Place feet wider than shoulder width apart and make sure to point your toes outward 45° to 30°. Begin by squatting down by bending hips back while allowing knees to bend forward. Keep your back straight and your knees aligned with the direction that your toes are facing.. Descend until thighs are minimally just past parallel to floor. Return to the beginning position and repeat
Curtsey Squat
Stand with your feet hip width apart and hands on hips, weights in your hands or barbell across your back. Move your right foot behind your left leg, as far past your left foot as is comfortable. Using a "curtsy" motion, squat down. Keep your weight in the front leg, head up and chest up. Return to the beginning position of standing and repeat.
Box Squat
From rack with barbell at upper chest height, position bar on back of shoulders. Grasp barbell to sides. Dismount bar from rack and back up until contact is made with box immediately behind. Stand with either a regular squat position with feet shoulder width or a wide stance with feet flared out slightly. Then sit back onto box by bending hips back while bending knees, keeping your knees in light with your toes and your head and chest up. Using a controlled movement then lower your glutes onto box. Once contact is made stand back up returning to the starting position and repeat.
Much of how you use the above squat variations comes down to what you are currently doing in the gym. While I am not suggesting to drop your current routine and start this one, there is value in adding some variation to your training sessions so that you can stimulate the muscle in a different way and keep it responding without hitting plateaus.
At the end of the day, it is important to realize that no matter where you are in your training experience, there is value in the occasional variation adjustment. Whether it is to bring up weak points or to keep your body healthy and in balance, varying stance and bar placement, using dumbbells instead of a barbell can add that missing element and help with your progress.
Happy Training!
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