Workouts come in all shapes and sizes. Whether you’re a beginner or nearly a professional athlete, weight loads, rep ranges, rest, and many other variables dictate your training session. The following workout has its own place for those that are experienced but don’t have a concrete goal. For those that have been serious in the past but an injury has taken its toll over time. I call this the Simple Shoulder workout, but Simple is relative to an experienced athlete.
And I mean, blaze them. What the heck am I talking about? I’m talking about my new pair of favorite shoes–Mizuno’s Wave Kazan shoes. They are truly wonderful. Some of you may know, some of you may not know, and some of you won’t believe that I’m not a big runner. It’s not easy for me. Sometimes, I really struggle through my runs. I’m not one to get a runner’s “high”– that usually comes when I’m beasting lifts. Why am I sharing this? Because I don’t thrive on running, it’s important for me to have good shoes to keep me safe and give me a leg up. If I got any old shoe, I am setting myself back in a farther position. Even worse, I could hurt myself. When I got the opportunity to try the Wave Kazan shoes, it was love at first run.
Pretty neat video, huh? I was first attracted to the shoe because of what it was designed for. The Wave Kazan is designed after Japanese rock gardens. What does this mean? You can use these on any terrain and they will adapt. Concrete, grass, sand, rocks, trails, and so forth–the design makes it all possible. It is incredibly versatile, which I appreciate. I like to go on trails a lot and slipping or twisting my ankle is not going to help out my progress. The Wave Kazan is designed to fight against that possibility and help you push harder and faster through those obstacles or terrains. And guess what? It only weighs 8 ounces. EIGHT OUNCES! It’s so light, it doesn’t even seem real.
My favorite part of the shoe is the heel. It’s hard to describe to someone who hasn’t experienced it. It was so nicely padded and worked with the rough terrain I was on–it truly felt like walking on a cloud. I felt so supported that I had no worries in trail running. Even though the shoes are so light, they are incredibly supportive and protective. You must try a pair to see what I mean! I think my feet may be having a love affair with these shoes…
I’m not writing this review just for the heck of it–I’ve tried these shoes through many terrains. So far, it’s battled concrete, grass, sand, and a hiking trail. This pair of shoes did wonderfully, especially on the trail! The grooves on the bottom allowed me to grip onto rocks that I could’ve otherwise slipped off of. With the amount of injuries Hungry and I get, it’s nice to have equipment that protects against that. This may sound weird, but these shoes allowed me to better connect with the trail. Instead of wearing my normal thick running shoes or hiking boots, the lightness of the shoes and the grips allowed me to feel the trail, if that makes any sense.
Successfully used the shoes on a trail run with these two
If you can’t tell, I really like these shoes. I’m so happy to review them for Mizuno and FitFluential. Check out the Women’s Wave Kazan here, but also look around–there are other types of shoes and plenty for men as well. Use Mizuno shoes to stay hungry and fit!
Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Fitfluential. All opinions are 100% ours (we actually love this shoe dearly).
Who doesn’t love donuts? Who doesn’t love muffins? Boy, do we have a treat for you today! Enter Duffins (coined by Hungry this past weekend). What the heck is a duffin?! It has ingredients that make it taste like a donut, but it’s actually baked instead of deep fried! Holla for that!! This is one we will be coming to again and again.
Batterrrr
Dust em!
BONUS PUPPY PIC
Happy Friday! Or should I say…Happy Fitness Friday! Today, we will focus on one of Hungry and I’s favorite muscle groups: the shoulder group. People just think of the “top” of their shoulders when they think shoulder group, but there’s so much more to it. We are just going to offer four exercises for you to squeeze into your day. These should all preferably be done in the gym, but you can modify them to fit a home workout.
1. Shoulder press. Let’s start with a standard exercise…the shoulder press. This is what builds the “tops” or deltoids of your shoulders, as well as some other parts. Start from a right angle level with your shoulder line and simply press up until your arms are extended. Then return back to start. Try doing it seated as it prevents you from using other muscle groups to help your shoulders. You can use dumbbells, EZ bars, barbells, etc. Try for 3-5 sets of 10-12 reps.
2. Shrugs. This is something you do often, but without weights, in normal day-to-day life. You can do this using dumbbells, a barbell, a hex bar, and other weighted things. Stand tall straight up with weight in your hands and shrug your shoulders up to your ears and squeeze it there, then release. Shoot for 3-5 sets of 10-12 reps. It should be considerably heavy weight. This works on your trapezius or “traps.”
3. Face pulls. For this, you will need a cable machine or resistance bands. On a cable machine, grab the horse rope (see picture below), stand a good distance away and pull the rope directly towards your face. Using resistance band/tube, you will need to hook it around something so that you can grab both sides of the band and pull towards your face. This works your rear deltoids (what makes your “upper” back look nice!). 3-5 sets of 10-12 reps.
4. Plate-loaded shoulder press. Just to get those sexy deltoids once more…let’s move to plate-loaded where we can really push ourselves in a set position. This can only be done at a gym on a literal machine. However, if you are planning for this to be a home workout, just do a different type of shoulder press (with a barbell, or maybe an Arnold Press instead). I like this machine/apparatus because it sits you in a set position to appropriately move the weight you want. 3 sets of 10-12 reps.
There you have just four shoulder-defining exercises that can improve your shoulder muscles and shape today! Try them out today or this weekend. The sets and reps are just suggested numbers, you can do as much or as little as you’d like. Let me know how these work for you or if you have any questions about how to properly execute these. Happy Fitness Friday! And as always…stay hungry and fit!
*Question of the Day: What is your favorite shoulder exercise?
BONUS PUPPY PIC
The following post is sponsored by FitFluential LLC on behalf of NOW Foods.
I get a lot of questions daily about supplements. We’ll refer to supplements as anything other than the normal food or drink you consume daily. That includes all of those pills and powders you see in the stores; it makes breaking this topic down a lot easier.
Now obviously in an ideal world, you can just eat and drink what you want everyday and you’ll be healthy, but it doesn’t always work like that. People have food allergies, conditions that affect their diets, fitness related goals, and are just plain picky! My father hates olives. I don’t like bad eggplant. It’s a tough world we live in and we are all faced with lots of challenges.
No matter what situation you are in it is important to realize there are ways to help yourself. When we are discussing health and wellness, supplements are obviously one of the most popular subjects in our society. Whether you are taking a multivitamin for overall health, iron to recover from internal bleeding, or whey protein to grow big and strong like your favorite bodybuilders, there are plenty of choices.
Supplements help me stay in good form! (This pic was after a huge Mexican meal)
Personally, I have tried everything legal in the fitness industry. As an elite athlete, I was drug tested regularly and couldn’t even have elevated levels of caffeine in my body! I’ve tried supplements that provided zero results that made me sick, that cost a lot of money, and that tasted disgusting. On the other hand, I’ve tried supplements that had all of the opposite effects and if you want to ask about some specific to my or your needs, feel free to comment on this post. Otherwise, listen to what I have to say about NOW Sports and their products.
Right now, I’m going to touch on five of their products that I have in my cabinets in the kitchen. Keep in mind, NOW Sports is a family-owned company that has been providing high quality goods for almost a half of a century. Thus, as you can imagine, they have hundreds and thousands of different products. However, I’m a 25 year-old male and these are what I have at home. (A lot of these will work for both genders!)
1. Men’s Extreme Sports Multi – Made in the USA and GMP Quality Assured, these softgels are reasonably sized and easy to swallow. You take three a day to get your daily source of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and more. Why take a hundred pills when you can take three? It’s cost-effective and makes you feel good. Why? Because you go to sleep knowing that you fueled your body with important nutrients that are sometimes difficult to find in the foods you eat every day. What I really like about this product is the blend of herbal extracts it contains. There is just something natural about herbs that makes you feel so good. This is a must for active men.
2. Certified Organic Whey Protein – How many tubs of whey protein on store shelves have a USDA Organic label on them? Well, this one does and it really is one of the most natural whey proteins in the world. It doesn’t contain any salt, starch, yeast, wheat, gluten, corn, egg, shellfish, preservatives, antibiotics, or rBGH. It is natural and unflavored, thus taking the taste of whatever you decide to mix with it. A serving contains 100 calories, 1 gram of fat, 2 grams of carbs, 19 grams of sugar, and a whole lot of essential amino acids! In all honesty, I have whey protein every day of the week and although it’s not meant to be a meal replacement, it will definitely help you track your consumption of macro-nutrients throughout the day. This is a must for just about anyone!
3. Pea Protein – I am staring at my tub of Vanilla Toffee and what stands out the most is the fact that this product is VEGAN friendly. That means any vegetarian or vegan can eat this without any beef! (Get the pun?) Every serving contains 25 grams of protein derived from non-GMO vegetables. That means your veggies are natural and not treated with all those nasty chemicals! It also means this protein is the way to go if you have allergy issues since it contains no major allergens! This product really has a nice smooth flavor and texture; its mixability is through the roof so you won’t see or feel any clumps. Nothing better than having a nice smooth shake and then choking on an explosion of dry powder! Oh, I forgot to mention, it ALSO has a huge serving of essential amino acids. Anyone can try it but some people need it… you know who you are!
4. L-Carnitine Liquid – At this point, you’re probably like what the heck… is that? You recognize multivitamin, protein, whey, etc. But what is this?!?! L-Carnitine is a non-essential amino acid. Now, before I get too in-depth and scientific for people who haven’t read thousands of pages of textbooks and taken tests on this, I’ll just say that you have to believe me! I will say that L-Carnitine is regarded as a facilitator of good health and energy production. Who doesn’t want more energy? I know I do. Now you can get this naturally from eating red meats, but even for us carnivores there usually isn’t enough and you need to supplement that intake anyways. As for the veggie-loving folk, you definitely need this product. Just take a tablespoon twice a day on an empty stomach and feel the greatness occurring on a cellular level. It goes down smooth!
5. MCT Oil – This final product that comes in an amazing glass bottle that makes you feel like you’re living centuries ago (It’s a good thing!). It is a source of fat! Yes… you heard me right. It’s a source of fat. Now, before I get too emotional, I want to express my opinion that fat has a bad reputation. It is an essential nutrient that does so much more for our body than we know. Again, tens of thousands of pages of reading and life experience… I know! This is a source of saturated fat that comes from coconut and palm kernel oil. Those are high quality oils that provide a high quality saturated fat. So how exactly do these help you? Fats help in bodily functions such as the production of energy and these fats just so happen to require less enzymes to be absorbed. Therefore, you do less work and get more! One to three tablespoons a day, depending on your needs, aid in weight management and healthy bodily functions. And my favorite part… you can use this to replace those cheap oils that contain saturated fat’s evil cousins. Just don’t fry with it, the boiling point is too low!
And there you have it, five amazing products that could find a place in anyone’s home. They are affordable, reliable, natural, effective, sometimes organic, sometimes vegan, and NOW Sports doesn’t bother making annoying packages that claim to make you shredded! They just provide a high-quality product and I respect that! Use any of these to stay Hungry & Fit!
If you’re one of our followers, you know I’m going through contest prep right now. It’s been a 6-week contest of cutting fat and building lean muscle, trying to create a “transformation.” Since my willpower week, the clean eating has been a cinch. Well, except when I went to Iowa for family reunion and had ice cream on a daily basis. After that vacation, it was hard to get myself as motivated as I was beforehand. I still followed a good eating plan and exercise routine but I wasn’t as into it, so I’d fall into some bad habits–mostly, it’s picking at food I shouldn’t have. We all sometimes have trouble staying focused on our goals and here are some tips to stay on track!
1. Set your phone background to something motivational. I know what I want and I know how I can get it. But there’s always the gap of emotion, laziness, and impulse. This is a way to bridge that gap. Take a photo that inspires you, could be a picture of a physique you want or a place you want to get to. Whatever your goal is. Email it to your phone and set it as your background so that every time you look at it (and we all know our phones are with us 24/7). I even went and added some text to mine to remind me of my bad habit and stop my hand from snatching a little piece of something.
A great motivator for me
2. Go back to the first image, post, “thing” that started you on this path. We all become inspired to complete a goal, one way or another. For me, for this goal, I was inspired by the contest page. Chris showed me the contest and he thought I could do well, maybe even win. I never thought I could win (okay maybe before I saw all the rest of the people joining), but his confidence in me and my imagination of what I could transform my body into. It was a chance to test my willpower, to see how hard I could work. I look at that page and I feel those same feelings and I become inspired again.
3. Imagine yourself at the end. This is a huge one for me. I can feel tired after a day’s work, I can feel lazy, and make up some excuse of why I shouldn’t go 100% that day. But all it takes for me is to imagine myself at my completion, imagine what I can become, and that inspiration pops right up again. If your goal is to save enough money for a vacation to Greece, imagine yourself on the beach. If your goal is to lose those x number of pounds, imagine what you will look like, what you will feel like. I always like to imagine how strong I will become, mind, body, and spirit.
Actually developing some abs
4. Set a schedule on your calendar. Whether you have a smart phone or a hard calendar (we have both), plan the days of your week. I used to do this a lot during college when I set up training sessions with my friends. And for this last week of the contest, I am scheduling my workouts each day. You don’t have to schedule all the way down to what exercises you’re going to do, but a general plan. Maybe back and biceps with a little cardio on Monday, Yoga and HIIT training on Tuesday, and so forth. Put it into your calendar (it’d be great if you could do reminders and alerts with your smart phone if you have one) and put the times too. Make what you want a priority, and that means making solid time for yourself.
Set a date!
5. Track your results. Whether that means calculating body fat percentage or watching your savings account go up, TRACK IT. Maybe you don’t see a difference (though you probably will), keep reality-based checkpoints that you can measure with. I hadn’t measured for a while and I finally did, finding that I had lost 2% body fat. It’s a great re-motivator if you feel like you’re hitting a plateau or sliding away. Find some way to track your results and goal, no matter what it is.
Seeing progress
Those are 5 simple things you can do anywhere, anyhow. If you feel yourself sliding, try one of these tricks. They are sure-fire to keep you hungry and fit!
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BONUS KITTY PIC
Kitties from the other side of the window
