August Update

I haven't been on in a while. I've been spending some quality time with my husband, family and friends, and just enjoying the rest of the summer! I have been consistent with my workouts, but I am balancing everything and focusing more on my relationships right now. Eating is always nice, too! :)

It's been over a month since the Team Universe. I've learned a lot, changed a lot and ate a lot! Seriously, my body and mind are very much rested and my injury is slowly recovering. In fact, the main focus of my training right now is to slowly rehabilitate my torn hamstring so that it doesn't get any worse. The last month of training was a sort of detraining period, where I went down in volume and also focused on treatment of my injury. I would say my hamstring is about 20% improved. The range of motion is slowly coming back, but it still takes a good 20-minute warm-up to get there. Patience is definitely a vital part of this process!

The areas I am looking to improve for my next show are my routine – it needs increased difficulty – and to add some size to my calves, and to just continue training my physique the way I have been… which is prioritizing my back, shoulders and quads. I would like to increase my flexibility, which was at its best ever prior to my injury, and increase my abdominal strength to be able to perform more difficult presses and planches. I am also seriously looking into taking gymnastics classes, but that will have to wait until the injury heals.

So for now, my main focus is on weight training, to maintain the strength and size I have, and using cardio, stretching and other techniques to maintain an off-season weight and to rehab my injury. I haven’t done any routine training since the show. This week, I actually start my new training split. Here is the layout for the new split:

Mon – Back & Shoulders
Tue – Cardio & Rehab; Calves & Abs
Wed – Kettlebell Strength Training
Thu – Cardio & Rehab; Calves & Abs
Fri – Legs

My Tue & Thu workouts are my flexible days, so they can be added in to another day if I can’t make it in due to a work conflict or similar appointment.

Aside from training and eating, the rest of my life is filled with my IT system administration job, which is a contract position to expire Sep 30, so I am again in job search mode. I am looking to switch from DMS (messaging administration) to a technical writer, which is much more fitting for me and conducive to two of my loves in life – information technology and writing!

I am still staying active in the industry by doing demos and tours for my sponsor, MHP, and hope to be a part of the athlete team repping at the Olympia and the Arnold, if my schedule allows. I will be attending all the local shows and either offering my services backstage or judging the events. I will also be scheduling some photo shoots and guest performances towards the end of the year, so keep an eye on my website schedule for updates.