Full Body Foam Rolling Routine

I have been foam rolling since about November, faithfully. I used to think it was ju-ju hogwash, but I can honestly tell you that it aids in recovery and range of motion. The research on the subject is just starting to come out in support of those facts too. So, here is my routine :)

Full Body Workout and Video

Today I am so excited to share with you guys a whole workout straight out of Hourglass Extreme.


But first, I had a question this week that I wanted to answer for you guys.

• What is different about Hourglass than Venus or any other workout that I have?

Good question. I wrote this workout for ME. And I have done every Venus workout multiple times and I LOVE them. But I was tired of is adding additional and effective glute work to every workout I did. This workout has you covered there, every single workout for four days a week, 12 weeks straight.

 I also like to push some heavy weight each session, and see how my strength is doing in various big lifts. This workout does that every session. One big lift for 3-5 reps so you can see your strength progress. We work on chin ups, deadlifts, squats, rows, overhead press, and bench press through the weeks and you can watch your personal records go up and up.

Finally, every workout hammers ONE body part. It rotates through shoulders, arms, back, chest, and legs leaving you sore and hypertrophy happening. You will hit every rep range in each workout so that nothing gets boring and your body can stimulate fast and slow twitch muscle fibers.

So here is your sample workout and a video in hyper-speed to go along with it ;)

If you try it out, please let me know what you think!

And if you want the other 47 workouts that go with it, along with 16 bonus full body travel workouts- head over to www.venuscrossing.com :)
X- Liss

Strategies for Strength

For the past 5 months or so, I have been pushing hard on 5 main barbell lifts, my schedule looks something like this:


Monday - SQUAT
Tuesday - OVERHEAD PRESS
Wednesday - DEADLIFT
Thursday  - BENCH PRESS
Friday - ROW


I am doing 1-5 sets of 3-5 reps. It varies from week to week depending on how I feel and what I did the week before. I try to make a personal record each week for that number of sets and reps.


I am keeping up my regular full body workouts, though they are scaled back a bit. And I will skip over squats on the whole body workout, for example if I already did them for PR. I am also adding in additional glute work at the beginning and end of each workout.


I have seen GREAT gains in these last few months.


On squats I went from 65 lbs to 135 lbs for 5 sets of 5 reps.


On bench press, I went from 45 lbs to 100 lbs for 5 sets of 5 reps.


On rows, I went from 65 lbs to 100 lbs for 5 sets of 5 reps.


On overhead press, I went from 45 lbs to 70 lbs for 3 sets of 5 reps.


On deadlifts I went from 95 lbs to 165 lbs for 5 reps.

And I am still improving and hitting new PR's every session.


My point is that if you are not gaining strength, then you are leaving some change on the table. Sure it is somewhat annoying to track, but it is rewarding.


Start pushing yourself in the gym, but remember that health is the ultimate priority. Train smart but train hard.


X- Liss

Know When to Hold 'em - Stress

So the last 4 weeks have been super stressful for me with my husband moving 750 miles away to start a new job which left my kids and I here to finish school and sell our home. In my "spare" time, I also had to keep down the fort at my full time job, work my half time job, get our new mortgage approval, do my normal volunteer activities, and run my household alone.  Little much?

That meant something had to give. You just cannot do all the things.

Stress should dictate your training strategies.

I had been on a little cut down since the start of the year before this whole change up last month. And I had to bump my calories back to maintenance. I could just not deal with being in a deficit and all the stress.

To help with the stress, and because it fits into my day stress-free, I did keep up my workouts. I generally lift 5 days a week and continued 20 minute cardio sessions on the air bike 6-7 days a week.  Again, if my training had caused more stress, I would have backed that down.

So let's talk stress. Anything that causes anxiety, fear, excitement, or heightened emotion is stress on your body. All the following things cause stress on your body:

• work
• lack of sleep
• lack of time
• family relationship strain
• friendship relationship strain
• co-worker relationship strain
• financial strain
• change in routine
• being in a caloric deficit
• illness
• workouts
• traumatic events

Most fitness competitors and models have low stress lives. They often do not have jobs outside of fitness and modeling either. That is because of the stress it takes to get and stay that lean in regard to diet and training. You cannot do it all.

So my point is this- it is okay to pull back on training or nutrition when your life dictates it. That does not mean you are a failure. It is normal and is better than running your body into the ground.

My priority is always health for the long haul, I intend to keep up with my kids and husband as long as possible. That means balance. I am not pretending to be super woman. Neither should you.
X-Liss

Band and Body Weight Workout Video for Travel

Spring break is HERE (!) and summer right after that! I am doing a band exercise video series on my YouTube channel so you can workout on the go! HERE is my YouTube channel

The great news is that you can modify almost any existing workout routine for body weight/band work.

Exercise	Sets x Reps	Rest
Single Leg Hip Thrusts	4x8
Banded Face Pulls	4x15	60
Banded Deadlift	4x15
Banded Shoulder Press	4x15	60
Banded Seated Military Press	4x15
Quadruped Banded Straight Leg Hip Extension	4x10
Plank Walkout	4x5	60
Banded Front Raise and Lateral Raise	4x10
Pull Through (use band instead of cable)	4x15
Side Plank	4x30s	60
Banded Bent Over Rear Delt Raise	4x15
Standing Banded Hip Abductions	4x10
Squat (bodyweight)	4x15	60

Here is a video of me doing this workout ^^^ on the deck at a cabin in the mountains on vacation ;) using only a mini band and a tube band with handles!

Off to the beach this week, with my bands!
X- Liss

Band and Body Weight Workouts for Travel

Spring break is coming up and summer right after that! I am starting a band exercise video series on my YouTube channel so you can workout on the go! HERE is my YouTube channel

The great news is that you can modify almost any existing workout routine for body weight/band work.

So I am going to show you a workout in my upcoming workout called Hourglass Extreme and then modify it for band and body weight.

So why is this idea coming into my head right now? Well like I said, spring break is upon us... But I also have a little news of my own. We are moving to the beach!

The husband just accepted a position in Port Aransas, Texas which is a little town on a barrier island outside Corpus Christi, Texas in the Gulf of Mexico. We are ecstatic and nervous all at the same time. My kids and I are staying in town to finish out the school year to sell the house while my husband is going to live in our camper there. Once the house sells, we will be living with my in-laws and then moving into the camper until we find a house. So... my fabulous home gym will be going away for a while very soon. And there are no public gyms in this new town. I know, what the heck?! Maybe my new job needs to be training the people of the town and offering out my home gym time for membership LOL

So, my plan is the take my body and my bands with me for any situation. I also plan on having my Bowflex SelectTech dumbbells too, but I might not always have access to them, who knows?!

So let me walk you through how to modify any existing workout for band and body weight.

Below is a sample of my upcoming workout Hourglass Extreme which will be available for purchase very soon!

Regular Workout with Full Gym Access 

 Hourglass Extreme Week 5 Day 3

Exercise	Sets x Reps	Rest
Single Leg Hip Thrusts	4x8
Banded Face Pulls	4x15	60
Deadlift	PR--4x3
Shoulder Press	4x10	60
Seated Behind the Neck Press	4x10
Quadruped Banded Straight Leg Hip Extension	4x10
Ab Wheel	4x10	60
Front Raise Lateral Raise	4x10
Pull Through	4x10
Side Plank	4x30s	60
Bent Over Rear Delt Raise	4x10
Standing Banded Hip Abductions	4x10
Squat with Curl and Press	4x10	60

Modified Workout with only Bands and Bodyweight

(red exercises are changes, black stayed the same)

Exercise	Sets x Reps	Rest
Single Leg Hip Thrusts	4x8
Banded Face Pulls	4x15	60
Banded Deadlift	4x15
Banded Shoulder Press	4x15	60
Banded Seated Military Press	4x15
Quadruped Banded Straight Leg Hip Extension	4x10
Plank Walkout	4x5	60
Banded Front Raise and Lateral Raise	4x10
Pull Through (use band instead of cable)	4x15
Side Plank	4x30s	60
Banded Bent Over Rear Delt Raise	4x15
Standing Banded Hip Abductions	4x10
Squat (bodyweight)	4x15	60

                                  

As you can see, with bands you need to increase the reps generally and there is usually an easy substitution. Of course, bands are not useful for pushing through personal records. So that is off the table, but the idea is that you will be using bands and body weight forever! They are amazing for getting a great pump and hypertrophy. And most certainly better than doing nothing!

Never Quit - My Playa Del Carmen Shoot

I want to share some images from my shoot in Playa last week, and tell you the story of how I almost did not go. Seriously.

But first, I have been creating lots of exercise videos along with Coach Jenny lately on my YouTube channel, so be sure to subscribe there when you get a chance! Here is a link to my YouTube channel - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCM3j1Tr4e1M9E47c3Svx5bw


Here are a couple of videos that were shot in Playa at the resort gym. We stayed at the Valentin Imperial Maya. I cannot say enough great things about this place, it was better than my honeymoon. Literally ZERO negative things to say.

Dumbbell swings - these are great for the glutes, quads, hamstrings, and shoulders!

Squeeze your glutes as you come up and control the dumbbell coming up with your shoulders. 

You can do these with a kettle bell too!

Glute Bridges and Variations 

This is the Glute Bridge (bottom video) along with two level up variations. This exercise is amazing for your glutes!

Top left is the next level up - the foot elevated glute bridge.

Top right is the highest level - foot and shoulder elevated glute bridge.

Be sure to squeeze the glutes SO that your hammies don't take over.

Hold it at the end for a pulse of 5 or so for extra burn!

Flyes, a great movement for your chest! Be sure to extend to your full range of motion at the bottom of the movement. Drive the motion with your chest, I have to focus or my arms will take over!

These are Cable Lateral Raises! Great for your shoulders! 

I LOVED this cable machine, I want one for my house!

A few shots from my shoot

So I had spent about 12 weeks on a slow deficit for this shoot and vacation. I just wanted to lose about an inch of waist. It had gone well and I was happy when I left the States.

The morning of the shoot, I woke up bloated - up 4 POUNDS and my waist was up 0.25". AND my monthly visitor arrived early. I could see the bloat in the mirror. I was upset after all that hard work to have an unexpected set back. But Coach Jenny was there waiting on me that morning. And it was happening. I was not coming all this way for nothing. Surely we could get some decent shots.

And we did. So... even if you feel like you are not where you should be, do the thing you planned on. There will be some good from sticking to the plan. Finish out what you set out to do. 

X- Liss