We woke up to a warm and sunny Christmas morning, threw a few bands and a TRX in our bags and walked straight to Muscle Beach for an early workout. There was no rhyme or reason other than to have some fun and it also gave me a chance to work on some body-weight exercises; handstands, front levers, band inverted rows, chins and rings. I kept all my reps low between 3-5, without grinding and was aiming to hold my handstand for as long as I could…and as far as the rings, I did them two times up and back. 
Those rings are a killer!! They are not easy for sure but one of the best upper body strength exercises ever! This was my last upper body workout for the year and for a while. 
Here’s a quick look at what I did….
Jay was very camera happy so we took lots of pics and even made a video of our day to send back home to the family.
- post workout pose
PDF 
My last training session at Renegade Gym before we headed back to the west coast looked a little like this…
Warm Up
Foam Roll – 10 min
Dynamic Exercises and stretches- 8 min
Box Jump- 3 sets of 5
Squat – 2 x amap @80% (1RM)
Bar x 5
85 x 5
110 x 3
130 x 1
140 x 8
140 x 6 (I had at least one if not two more in the tank but Jay said rack it 
…vid below)
Rack Deadlift- 5 sets of 5-8
135 x 5 –warm up
155 x 5
185 x 5
205 x 5
225 x 8
235 x 1 (was going for 5 but hit my knee hard on the way down and was done )
Heavy Sled Drag – 4 times
225 x 1
270 x 3
Superset with
Glute Ham Raise – 4 sets of 12
Cool Down-
Front Plank-60
Side Plank-30s
Glute Bridge -60s
Here’s a look at my second set of squats…def had a few more
and my fourth set of rack deads…not perfect…jerked my head up the last few reps:(
Strong workout…bruised knee for a week! Gotta love battle wounds
My last training session at Renegade Gym before we headed back to the west coast looked a little like this…
Warm Up
Foam Roll – 10 min
Dynamic Exercises and stretches- 8 min
Box Jump- 3 sets of 5
Squat – 2 x amap @80% (1RM)
Bar x 5
85 x 5
110 x 3
130 x 1
140 x 8
140 x 6 (I had at least one if not two more in the tank but Jay said rack it …vid below)
Rack Deadlift- 5 sets of 5-8
135 x 5 –warm up
155 x 5
185 x 5
205 x 5
225 x 8
235 x 1 (was going for 5 but hit my knee hard on the way down and was done )
Heavy Sled Drag – 4 times
225 x 1
270 x 3
Superset with
Glute Ham Raise – 4 sets of 12
Cool Down-
Front Plank-60
Side Plank-30s
Glute Bridge -60s
Here’s a look at my second set of squats…def had a few more
and my fourth set of rack deads…
Strong workout…bruised knee for a week! Gotta love battle wounds
I’m still trying to catch up with my training logs … and finally getting back on west coast time!
I experimented with the safety bar squat, some belt squats and put the sandbags to good use at Renegade Gym. Love trying new things!
Here’s what one of my last lower body training sessions at Renegade looked like….
Foam Roll – 10 min
Dynamic exercises and stretches- 8 min
Jumping Box Squat – 4 sets of 5
Safety Bar Squat – 5 sets of 5
Bar x 5 (warm up)
95 x 5
105x 5
115 x 5
125 x 5
130 x 5
Belt Squat – 1 set of 25
Sandbag Reverse Lunge – 3 sets of 12
Star Planks –3 sets x 60s
Cool Down
glute bridge-60s
prone mountain-60s
front plank -60s
side plank-30s
Here’s a look at my last set of safety bar squats…
belt squats…
and sandbag reverse lunges…
Great time! These are just some of the reasons why I love Renegade…no other place to train in NJ!
Things have been super crazy and busy but I’ve definitely been getting in my training. Here’s one of my recent lower body training sessions.
1) Squat- worked up to 175 RM (not my best but ok since I haven’t squatted in a while)
2) Rack Deadlift – 5 sets of 5
135 x 5-warm up
155 x 5
175 x 5
185 x 5
195 x 5
205 x 5
3a) Heavy Sled Drag – 4 x 1
3b) Glute Ham Raise – 4 sets of 12
4) Power Wheel Roll Out – 3 sets of 12
Here’s a look at my third and fourth set of rack deads…
Followed by a killer heavy sled drag….
Just a quick update…I hopped on a last minute flight back to NJ last weekend and spent by b-day weekend with my one and only . We headed into the city mid-afternoon and booked a reservation, on our drive in, at BLT Fish; a great place to have some fresh seafood and wild king salmon with impeccable service . After dinner, walking thru Union Square, we noticed a show about to start at the Union Square Theatre in a half hour. Without hesitation, we grabbed 2 tickets to see Traces. What an unbelievable new Off-Broadway show! It was right up our alley and incorporated everything from great feats of strength, gymnastics, dance, to acrobatics with skateboards, basketballs and other props in which the artists filled the stage with so much dynamic energy. The stories and talents of each artist are real and absolutely amazing…pretty much my favorite show of all time! After the show we headed over to one of our other spots for dessert at Pure Food and Wine. I had my usual mint sundae, which is not on the menu, so if you go just ask for it …continue reading.
I was back in NJ for almost four weeks and was so happy to be training at Renegade Gym again. I know I’m spoiled here and appreciate all the time I have to work with the girls, train myself and know that it definitely carries over to wherever I may be. Just wanted to share with you all what WE do and what it’s like to train here. If you want to be build lean muscle and gain functional strength, this is the place to be in NJ!
…And YES girls like us stick together . If you have what it takes then get on board!
Here’s a little look inside….no mirrors, TV’s or juice bars ever! Just a lot of HARD WORK!
Old school training at Renegade with Aly, Anne, Gina & Kristina D. …..
Anne doin work…
Aly tearing the band up!
Gina can squat way more than this now!
And Me… with the best training partner ever… killin’ a “death set” of Goblet Squats after hitting a PR.
My chin PR has yet to be broken… so girls get to work!! … …continue reading.
I just got back from the high school where I coached and taught at for the past 1o years to catch up with an old colleague and friend of mine, who also happens to be the head soccer coach. He had just started practice and the season will be opening up next week so he is trying to condition these boys to be able to last a whole soccer game without ‘petering out.’ For fun, Keith wanted me to challenge these guys a little so I definitely wanted to help out and kept it real simple. I had about 40 high school boys ranging from the age 14-17 and their goal was to keep up with me, doing burpees for minute and when the minute was up, bang out as many full rep push ups as they could…pretty simple, right? Needless to say some dropped out after 15 seconds and there was only one boy left with me in the end. Just ONE!! Really?? I heard a few say, ‘that’s because she’s huge.’ Sorry to say guys, but I’m 5′ 4″, weigh 115 lbs and have a 24 in waist. I don’t think that qualifies me for being huge, but… …continue reading.
If you are out of breath, dizzy, feel like vomiting, can’t remember your name, you are on the right road. And that is how I felt after yesterday’s training session .
This is what Wednesday’s workout looked like….
Morning cardio – 30 min
Afternoon Session
Warm Up
Foam Roll – 10 min
Dynamic Exercises
Jumping Jacks x 10
Flings x 10
Overhead and Side Arm Circles x 10
Ankle Circles x 10
Hip flexion x 10
Over head Squat x 10
Shoulder Dislocation (with band) x 10
Cat/Camel x 10
Bird/Dog x 10
Forward & Backward Hip Circles x 10
Lying Leg Kicks x 10
Glute Bridge x 10
Box Squat Jump – 3 sets of 5
Single Leg Pistol Squat – 4 sets of 10
Superset with
Single Leg Hip Thrust – 4 sets of 12
TRX Pike – 3 set s of 12
Superset with
Straight Arm Star Plank– 3 sets for 30s
20 min interval cardio –elliptical
Cool Down
Front plank x 60s
Side plank x 30s
Prone mountain x 60s
Glute bridge x… …continue reading.
Over the past few months I have included a lot of bodyweight exercises and have been working on handstands and arm balances. I’ve also incorporated Yoga into my training which has really helped with my progression and transfer to the parallel bars very quickly. These whole body strength exercises helped to enhance my body’s symmetry, balance, and core strength.
My Yoga inversion sequence progression started 12 weeks ago, on a Yoga mat, starting from the downward facing dog position. I started with real basic strength holds such as the plank pose and side arm balance or Vasisthasana, dolphin pose and push-ups which all helped to strengthen my abs and arms and in preparation for the more advanced arm balances. From there, I worked on the Crow pose or Bakasana and Side Crow or Parsva Bakasana. Once I was able to hold these for an extended amount of time, I added in headstands or Salamba Sirsasana, and handstands or Adho Mukha Vrksasana.
There is still so much more to do, learn and practice but we recently went over to the original Muscle Beach and I wanted to test my core and upper body strength on the parallel bars.
This is what… …continue reading.
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