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FOR WORKOUT PROGRAMS & MEAL PLANS E-MAIL ME: ALEX@ALEXLISKA.COM

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Sunday, March 31, 2013

New Training Records Set!!!

Happy Easter Weekend Everyone!!!!
I've been feeling quite experimental lately so I decided to try out some new exercises and increase the intensity of my cardio! I did my scheduled weight training workouts with my trainer and got my A$$ kicked as usual:) so I figured since my pain threshold has increased, I might as well keep pushing past any limitations I may have previously encountered!
I ALWAYS wanted to be able to do sets of wide grip chinups with no assistance! And I'm a HUGE fan of core work and stability ball squats! Soooo, I decided to superset stability ball squats at the cable station with wide grip chinups! When I started feeling tired around my third set I'd switch to supersets with close grip chins! In total, today I managed to do 7 supersets: Squat 21s on the ball with wide grip chins 7-10 reps for 3 sets then 4 sets with close grip chins!
Prior to that I beat my record for stepmill cardio, instead of going at 100 steps per min I increased to 125! And on the treadmill instead of doing 15% 5mph I did 15% 6mph jog to finish my cardio (total of 30 min between the step-monster & the treadmill)
I'm feeling absolutely amazing and limitless!!! Yesterday I went to visit my parents and I found my 10lb weight belt so for cardio I did walking lunges up and down the street and threw in 10 sets of 11 weighted jump squats!!! These REALLY set my glutes and quads on fire... LOL..
I won't lie, sleep has not been so great, but where there is a will there is a way; I am finding energy to get everything done! Meal prep, training clients and working out just to name a few...

So far progress is great, I am happy and I'm looking forward to kicking things up a notch; My trainer has informed me that my workouts are gonna be getting more intense VERY SOON and I'M SUPER EXCITED TO HAVE SOME NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCES IN THE WEIGHT ROOM!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!:))


 

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Steady Progress and No Plateaus!!!

Good morning! Hope you are all having a great week! I think spring is finally here in Toronto, THANK GOD!!!!! I'm so excited to start going for runs outside, I can't deal with the cold weather, let's hope the climate stays this way and just keeps getting warmer:)
Well, as usual, another busy week at work, but busy is GOOD! I've been doing much better at balancing getting in my workouts/cardio, planning meals and training all my clients, keeping up with paper work and even managing to get sleep every night !!!
My training intensity has gone up but thankfully the nutrition phase I'm in right now supplies my body with enough energy, enough protein/clean carbs and essential fats to support my heavy lifts and I still have energy to complete all my cardio.
Usually at this point in my contest prep, I start to feel lethargic and drained. However, I have learned its all MIND OVER MATTER and knowing what my ultimate purpose in this fitness journey is; that purpose is to travel with hope and focus on the journey rather than thinking about the destination, and "when am I going to get there?"
I love peaking on the day of my show, so in order to do that I have to make sure my progress is steady and in slow increments over the duration of my contest prep.
As i mentioned before I do have a conditioning coach/trainer now so that saves me from having to try to gauge my own physique and work on imperfections. I am also training a lot differently than before. I've been introduced to different lifting techniques, new exercises and a whole new method of training. Haven't experienced any plateaus or major hurdles. I am super motivated and look forward to each training session and nutrition modification because it helps me uncover more of that hard earned muscle I've worked so hard for!

My diet is high in protein at this point, carbs are high around training times and in the evening and fats are fairly low and from very clean sources! I haven't been experiencing any cravings nor have i been running to the fridge at 2 or 3 am like in my previous nutrition phase LOL.. so far so good:)
Stay tuned for more updates and DON'T FORGET I AM HOSTING A FREE NUTRITION SEMINAR AT GOODLIFE FITNESS (MORNINGSIDE AND KINGSTON LOCATION) ON SATURDAY APRIL 6TH AT 1PM IN THE GROUP EXERCISE STUDIO!

E-MAIL ME FOR MORE DETAILS OR IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR INQUIRIES ABOUT NUTRITION/WORKOUT PROGRAMS: Alex@AlexLiska.com

Have a great long weekend and happy Good Friday to you all!!!!!!!!
xo,

Alex L. :)

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

JOIN ME FOR A FREE NUTRITION SEMINAR IN TORONTO ON SATURDAY, APRIL 6TH!!!

I WILL BE HOSTING A 45-60 MINUTE NUTRITION SEMINAR AT THE GOODLIFE FITNESS AT MORNINGSIDE AND KINGSTON IN SCARBOROUGH!

TIME: 1PM
DATE: SATURDAY, APRIL 6TH, 2013
LOCATION: GOODLIFE FITNESS (MORNINGSIDE CROSSING) IN THE GROUP EX STUDIO
COST: FREE!!!!!
TOPICS OF DISCUSSION: I'LL BE GOING OVER A LOT OF QUESTIONS THAT I'M FREQUENTLY BEING ASKED BY CLIENTS, GYM MEMBERS, FB FRIENDS/ONLINE INQUIRIES AND THERE WILL BE QUESTIONS & ANSWERS AT THE END!!
PLEASE E-MAIL ME: ALEX@ALEXLISKA.COM IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR WOULD LIKE A GUEST PASS FOR FRIEND(S)/FAMILY TO ATTEND!
 

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

New Nutrition Changes to End a Busy Week

Hey guys!!!
WOW! this week is going by SO fast! I actually just realized that I'm about 8 weeks out from my next show (May 11th) and I need to tighten up my diet! I have been eating clean as usual but my macros needed to be changed. The ratio of carbs to protein to fat has officially been tweaked to ensure that I start to get SHREDDED!!!!!!
Being active all day and having to sustain fairly high levels of energy at work, I still need my carbs, so what I have done is moved the fat sources to different meals and added in some more protein to go along with my two-a-day workouts! I must say my body is responding really well to minor changes both in my diet and training.
There's a Food Basics right beside my work, so I really have no excuses to not adhere to a super clean eating program. And I just placed an order for 3 buckets of whey for emergencies, so I can always mix a shake in my water bottle using a paper funnel between clients, worse case scenario LOL... but no, for the most part I do find that I have time to get in my meals! This is probably the most I've had on my plate in terms of work/life/training/personal life etc... but I feel like now that I'm on a roll I don't wanna stop. The more responsibilities and the more busy I am the better I feel.
Next week I have set out some goals in the weight room to hit every body part twice and ensure that I get in my hour of challenging cardio; that along with the new nutrition changes seem really promising to me. I'm excited to update you guys on how this all goes.
 
Stay tuned for my next journal entry next week and have an awesome weekend!!!!
 
xo,












Alex L.

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

2013 Contest Prep Update

Hey guys! Hope you're all having a great week so far!!!! Mine is busy but going great; work is always fun, I can't get tired of training clients, I love personal training and doing nutrition consults. And I've started bringing an extra carb meal to work for more energy! :)                                                                                      Sooo, I am undecided between 2 upcoming figure shows I'd like to compete in... I might end up doing them both since I would be ready in time; at this point it's a matter of 'not turning back' and just continuning my diet phases and training... I have a positive momentum wave working in my favor! This is the most driven I have been since 2007 when I first started competing. That's the beauty of having been in the fitness industry for over 5 years and starting to feel comfortable both with nutrition and coaching myself with my diets and NOW having a trainer. YES!!! I am working with a conditioning coach finally!!! I have a trainer/coach at my gym. I have seen changes in my physique since I started working with him AND I have no more excuses when it comes to cardio lol... I can't get away with my 30min cardio sessions and justifications for doing them such as "I don't wanna burn muscle" or "I'll just do some extra sets with weights" ... I pretty much have no choice but to hop on the treadmill/stepmill for an hour. It's great because even at my level of fitness, I still need a kick in the ass so I don't slack and think I can get away with any half ass workouts!!! I'm also doing new exercises to work on muscle imbalances and symmetry and enhance areas such as legs, tighten up my lower body and really work on my V-taper! I plan to bring the best package ever on stage this year!!!!!!!! I find it less stressful not to have to gauge my own physique and plan all my workouts too! :)
In terms of meal prep and diet, I have been doing my own nutrition plans and they are only gonna get harder and more strict! I actually look forward to starting to feel depleted after my workouts LOL... feels extreme!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I will be posting more specifics on what I'm doing in terms of nutrition on my next journal entry. Stay tuned:)
 
xo
 
Alex L. :)

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Balancing Work and Training

Thanks for stopping by my blog to check up on my progress :)
Since I've started training more clients now that I'm working full time at the gym I have completely changed my workout schedules.. Instead of doing longer weight training sessions followed by cardio I'm training for shorter durations, in between clients and doing short bursts of cardio. Clearly this has shocked my body because my bodyfat is starting to drop! My diet's also changed quite dramatically. I am taking in a lot more protein (especially shakes, since it's easy to make a paper funnel and mix up a shake in my water bottle whenever i'm in a rush) and my carb intake is a LOT higher... I'm finding that with only 2-3 carb meals a day I just dont have energy and my muscles start to look soft and run down.. lol :( So i have added in more fruits & complex carbs and kept my fat intake around the same.
When I first started training several times a day, I guess that along with being at work all day and feeling pumped and energetic, my brain was not able to calm down at night so I experienced some insane insomnia for a few days; but luckily now, everything is back to normal :) My body has adapted to my new lifestyle and my mind is at ease, so I'm getting better sleep.

In terms of rest days, I just haven't felt like taking ANY rest days for almost 3 weeks now.. hahaha.. hey, all i can do is LISTEN TO MY BODY!!! My training has also gotten to a whole other level in terms of intensity. My heart is SO much stronger now. My cardio endurance is through the roof!!!! It also helps that pretty much all the other trainers at my gym are doing 2-3 workouts a day and training EXTREME, so it motivates me a LOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So far so good... my weights dropping too (I wasn't really concerned with this but hey, I don't mind). I'm at 145-150lbs now and my abs are coming in nicely! Just in time for sports bra season ;) and then, BIKINI TIME!!!!!!!!!!  WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Alright, that's all for now, but stay tuned for more updates as my shredding journey continues! I'll be posting another journal entry to update you all on my diet and training changes:)

xo,











Alex L. :)