February 2013 Journal Entry and Update!!

Hello to all my readers and thank you for stopping by my blog !!!
I hope you are all having an amazing start to 2013 and sticking to all those New Years Resolutions! I know it's been a WHILE since i've posted anything on here. I have been really busy, travelling and handling personal stuff, but I have managed to stick to my healthy and active lifestyle. I took some time off during the holidays and ate TONS of great food, but still remained active and I am now back in the gym, lifting as heavy as possible, incorporating at-home workouts when i don't have time to get to the gym and doing lots of small cardio workouts, outdoors in the snow lol :)

So far so good... I am really happy with the way things are going for me this year and I am looking forward to putting some new nutrition experiments into effect this spring and seeing how lean i can get... I am thinking of hitting the stage again this year; of course for a figure competition just to see how well my body responds to my meal plans and workouts!!!

 

One thing i would like to point out to everyone that's reading this is: STAY AWAY FROM THE SCALE WHEN COMMENCING ANY HEAVY WEIGHT TRAINING AND CLEAN EATING JOURNEY!!!! Those numbers fluctuate more than women's emotions right before their period lol... I have tracked my weight at anything between 145 during my Christmas binge to 160 when i started hitting the weights and leaning out... and now anywhere between 147-155 depending on the day! I am 5 foot 6 inches... According to a lot of silly guides and templates out there, my weight is "too high" for my height.. hahahaha... well guess what? I can see cuts/abs and symmetry and new muscle starting to surface..... so, F&CK the scale!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If i can pull off a full, ultra-lean 140-145lbs look this summer I will be extremely happy!!! In the meantime I am travelling with hope, enjoying every step of the way, lifting heavy and always smiling! Anything you do in life, you must do passionately and with love for the journey, otherwise its an auto-fail and so not worth it!

And remember, a bag of potatoes full of dumbells is a LOT heavier than a bag of potatoes full of feathers; MUSCLE IS DENSER AND WEIGHS A LOT MORE THAN FAT AND DON'T FORGET, IF YOU ARE EATING SOUND, NUTRITIOUS FOODS, YOUR BONES WILL BE STRONGER AND DENSER THAN A PERSON EATING CEREAL AND SKIMMED MILK ALL DAY :)

And take into consideration aswell, that when consuming 'sucralose' (splenda products), large amounts of vegetables (especially greens), sodium and workout supplements (whey/pre workout supps.) YOUR WEIGHT WILL BE AT LEAST 5-7 LBS MORE DUE TO WATER RETENTION so be aware of this fact!

 

Well, that's it for now; stay tuned for more updates from me as this year unfolds! I do plan on making some cool youtube workout flicks aswell, so make sure to check out my channel www.youtube.com/bikinialex and for those of you interested in your own personalized meal plans and workout programs, to help you reach your physique and health goals more effectively and faster, please send me an e-mail alex@alexliska.com for more info!

 

Lift heavy and Smile!!!

xo

Alex L. :)

Leg Workout: Circuits and Supersets Plus CORE

By: Alex Liska

Hey Guys! Hope you had a great weekend!! :)
I outdid myself on Friday interms of my "last cheat day" before my next show... When i say cheat day i mean i didn't waste a minute of the day 'not eating' LOL... eat., sleep, eat, sleep, then i trained and DESTROYED chest & back! Even did some cardio (not sure what the point was, i think i just felt like being drenched in sweat)... I DEFINITELY consumed well over 10thousand calories... This excessive binge was mainly due to the fact that I ate VERY low calories all week (mainly just greens and protein) and trained like a savage beast! I knew i would be having my last big cheat day and i wanted to make sure i was totally starved and craving everything i saw ... Anyhow, NO MORE OF THAT!!! Eating is fun, but not when you're not retardedly vascular and shredded and able to brag about your food consumption ... I'm back to following an amazing clean-eating plan; one that incorporates ALL macro-nutrients, timed at the right intervals of the day, and that keeps my blood sugar levels steady and wards off cravings! I feel energized and ready to take on 2012 and step on stage harder and more shredded and vascular than ever before :D Even if that's not the criteria the judges are looking for in figure, i STILL wanna be OVERLY ripped, hard, jacked and covered in thick greenish blueish veins :))) I posted 2 off-season pics in this article and i will be posting a lot more as my transformation takes place.
Enough babbling, here is my Leg Workout from Today (i punished myself with HEAVY weights and circuits for having eaten myself into a food coma pretty much on Friday LOL):

LEG WORKOUT:
30-60sec rest between circuits/sets & as heavy as possible!!!
Circuit
1warmup set+circuit(4sets20reps each) - I only rested enough to sort of catch my breath between circuits for these exercises, so about 15-30seconds max:
-Front Squats
-Leg Extensions
Leg Press(diff. Stances)
Superset
4sets20reps:
-Lying LegCurl
-Stiff-legged Deadlifts(Diff. Stances),
Circuit
3sets 15-20reps:
-Single-legged Glute Press on Smith machine(laying down on a mat pushing against the bar w/ my heel - Slow tempo& Squeezing tight)
-Standing leg-curls
-Step-ups on to bench,
-Hanging knee raises(20+reps)
-Lying leg raises (20+reps)
-Crunches w/ feet up holding light bar (20+reps)

So, that was my leg-workout for today!! Lots of work, but i F#CKED up on Friday so this was my punishment :):):) Tomorrow i probably won't be able to walk... YAY!

LET THE OFF-SEASON BEGIN!

By: Alex Liska
So, the time has finally arrived to take a break from the intense dieting and twice a day cardio sessions!!! After a long, strenuous year of dieting (since December 2009) I am slowly switching into my off-season mode. I will, however continue to eat clean but of course incorporate different foods and experiment with nutrient ratios!
Although I feel this year has gone really well and I am pleased with the progress I have made, it took me some time to accept that I will not be shredded all year round. After having spent so much time focusing on getting super lean it is sort of shocking to "relax" and let my body heal... Psychologically, it has been hard for me to accept the changes in my physique, the few extra pounds gained since my last show and looking "softer" is something that I'll have to adjust to. However, everyone that competes or trains really hard knows that the off-season is the time where we make the most gains and build up all that muscle that is much needed! Our bodies need a chance to recover from the insane workouts (especially the killer 2-a-day cardio sessions and "no rest between sets" weights workouts). After all, muscles grow by feeding them proper foods/vitamins/minerals and allowing them to rest and recover! I hope that now I will have a chance to focus on my personal training/nutrition clients and also write more fitness articles and try out new recipes that I can share with you all:) I'm so excited to get back into "healthy-chef-mode" and start baking my cocoa protein bars/brownies/cakes/cookies and try out new high-protein dishes! I love baking and cooking so I am looking forward to the extra time I will have in the kitchen (and not having to pack so much Tupperware...LOL)
I know that I will still experience mood fluctuations from time to time when I look back at my stage/dieting phase photos and see that I look a bit different now but I know it's a good investment to take this time off to focus on the next season to come, and build up a great foundation so that I can reveal a whole new and improved physique on stage in 2011!!! GO FIGURE!!! :):):)



That was a little video clip of my "Off-Season" posing practice! I'll continue to practice my posing and hopefully improve on that too! :)

xo,

-Alex L. :)