Good afternoon! I hope your Friday is going well and that your weekend is full of fun plans or absolutely no plans and tons of relaxation. Either one works!
My Friday began with a 5 a.m. workout at the gym as usual.
I spent 25 minutes on the treadmill completing an incline walking workout before changing things up and heading into the weight room for Workout C of Tina’s Best Body Boot Camp.
The workout incorporated ladders (you can read more about ladders on Tina’s blog) and I think I need to increase my weight when I complete this same workout next week. My muscles didn’t feel the burn like I think they should have after all those sets and reps. Heavier weights next time, baby!
Breakfast
Breakfast this morning was waiting for me in the fridge when I arrived home from the gym.
This morning I added a little extra almond milk to the oats and topped them with walnuts and banana slices.
It was quite a filling breakfast.
I dedicated my morning to studying for my NASM exam, so my afternoon will be consumed with freelance work before it’s off to happy hour!
Happy Friday!
Sweets for Sandy
If you have a moment, please pop over to my friend Gina’s blog and check out her Sweets for Sandy fundraiser.
A bunch of bloggers donated sweet treats to Gina’s auction to help raise money for the Red Cross for Hurricane Sandy relief efforts. (I promise to make my almond butter granola extra tasty for the winner of my donation!) Bidding will end at midnight (EST) tonight!
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You’re so dedicated to get up early for workouts! It’s impressive.
I love feeling ‘the burn’–it’s always fun knowing I can improve & grab heavier weights too 😉
Hi Julie, I passed the NASM exam a couple months ago.. I definitely recommend memorizing as much vocab as you can, then about a month before you take the exam really go through and actually put everything together piece by piece to get a better understanding of how everything works and what the vocab REALLY means. I also recommend looking up what will be on the test (itty bits of balance had a great post that i googled like 90 times) and reading over that exact material in excess so you don’t spend too much time focusing on things that aren’t really as necessary. The test has a TON of questions about how to analyze squats etc. and determine what muscles are overactive/underactive and what you need to do to fix the imbalances. Good luck!! It is a lot of studying but passing feels VERY rewarding, I danced around like a crazy lady all day. 🙂
congrats!!! thanks so much for taking the time to type this out, jamie! i REALLY appreciate it. i have typed up a personal “study guide” with the vocab and additional notes and so far my word document is 35 pages. phew. :/ i’m almost through the whole book and plan to do exactly what you said – review everything like crazy and make sure i comprehend it. thank you again!
No problem!! It really helped me to memorize first then to go through and understand it later, as weird as that may sound!! I am like you, I have a background in writing/communications so a lot of the info was SO foreign to me!
I’m currently studying for the NASM exam too! Thank you for the study tips and suggesting Itty Bits of Balance’s study guide! I def went right over to her blog to look it up.
Tina’s Bootcamp is kicking my butt! Absolutely loving it!! Love the blog networking!
Yay for heavier weights! I did a workout Tuesday using heavier weights, and I am still sore! :/ It’s Love/ Hate with those weights! 😉
I have a hard time choosing weights for the different workouts, I think I picked some that were good today and a few that were too light – I was afraid I’d tire out once we hit the 5th and 6th rep!
Walnuts are so good with anything banana; looks like an awesome bowl of oats! I hate when you realise after that you haven’t quite pushed yourself enough with the weights but sure live and learn and there is always tomorrow! 🙂
I did the bootcamp ladder training today and thought it was sooo hard! I used heavier weights so I definitely think you need to do that next time. I can’t wait to be sore tomorrow!
I wish I was better about weight training. Your dedication is impressive 🙂
I worked out at 5am today bc I had to be at work earlier than usual and I totally thought of you! It’s actually not as tough as inthought to wake up that time to fit in a workout!:) Happy wkend!
I actually started studying the NASM textbook too! I am now switching over to NETA because that’s who my group exercise certification is through and what my gym will accept. But I heard NASM is the best!
I love the Sweets for Sandy bake sale! Such a great and creative way to help out!
What a great cause! I’m going there now- if I’m not too late :S
I haven’t eaten oatmeal in ages, but yours looks so good! I think I know what’s on my breakfast menu tomorrow morning! 😉
I need to work on upping my weights too! I find it hard to know what weights to use for what. Confusing!
I love the sweets auction for Sandy, what a great idea!
Not related to anything but I’m loving the new look to your site! Super great layout changes!
Julie…
I just wanted to take this moment to thank you and your other friends and bloggers for helping to raise funds for the damage Hurricane Sandy has caused us. It is more than greatly appreciated. You never realize how valuable the simplest things in life are, until you do not have them. So thank you. And on a side note, I really love reading your blog daily…you’re an amazing and inspirational person.
Krystle
You must be getting super buff if you need heavier weights! 😉 I always feel like a weakling when I am at the gym, but I do what I can!
Love that feeling of being able to increase weights! Have a great weekend, Julie!
It’s always a great feeling when you know your weights have to go up!
I’m going to try to do my best to include some general guides for weights in the next rounds to help with knowing what weight to use. Hard bec its so subjective and different for each person though.
Hey …its so motivating to read your Blogs…but can u tell me one thing how do you manage getting up so early at morning…isn’t there cold at your city…at india its like freezing cold theses days….:(
I tried a ladder workout this week, too, and I agree about needing to up the weights. When I did the math, I realized that the reps add up to 45–the same as 3 sets of 15. So I guess it makes sense that a heavier weight might be necessary 🙂
Randomly, I found a website that offers free courses online from actual university professors. There are a couple that might help you with your NASM studying. https://www.coursera.org/
Ladder training sounds like a great way to switch things up in the weight room. Thanks for the link! I’m excited to check it out. 🙂