Leg Day Lover’s Workout

Grab your dumbells, sand bag, barbell, soup cans, or whatever you have handy and enjoy this simple yet effective 3 move workout. This workout will challenge your legs and butt by forcing you to balance, and focus on independently strengthening each leg. By utilizing lunge type movements, your stronger side won’t be able to take over to complete the reps, and you’ll be more effectively targeting individual muscle groups.

It is important to push yourself to a challenging weight, but only as long as your form takes priority. Push through the heel, keep your shoulders back and down, and always make sure your core is engaged and tucked in tight to protect your back. Get low, and really focus on using the glutes with each movement.

Have fun with it!

Cheers,

Crystal

LEG DAY LOVER’S WORKOUT

Repeat this circuit 5 times. For your first 2 rounds, use a lighter weight and go for 10-15 reps for a good warm up. For the final 3 rounds, push to the heaviest weight and go for 5-8 reps. You should aim for a weight that challenges you to barely be able to complete your last rep.

• CURTSY LUNGE (each side)
• BULGARIAN SPLIT SQUAT (each side)
• OVERHEAD LUNGES (20 reps for every round, alternate sides)

Upper Body Building Circuit

I can’t always easily decide on one particular muscle group to train. Sometimes my mood calls for a broad span of movements, sort of a way to tie up the loose ends from my week, if you will! This upper body circuit will work a little bit of everything: shoulders, chest, triceps, back, abs, and biceps. I hope you enjoy these moves as much as I did!

Cheers,

Crystal

UPPER BODY BUILDING CIRCUIT

SET 1: 5 rounds (2 warm up sets at 10-15 reps, 3 working sets at 5-8 reps)

• Dumbell Row (both sides)
• Barbell Press
• Bench Row

SET 2: 5 rounds (2 warm up sets at 10-15 reps, 3 working sets at 5-8 reps)

• Underhand Barbell Row
• Resistance Band Ab Sequence – 15 reps every set
• Bench Dumbell Pullover

SET 3: 3 rounds

• Burpee Jump Tuck – 15
• Bicep Curl/Front Fly Combo (5 bicep curls + front fly, then 5 regular bicep curls)

Resistance Band Deadlift Workout

Leg day is awesome! This workout is going to challenge you to complete 6 dynamic exercises designed shape and strengthen the lower body. There are so many cool variations of deadlifts, and the resistance bands are a neat way to superset, or in this case, tri-set your workouts. You will need a kettlebell or dumbell, a restance band of your choosing, and a barbell (0r set of dumbells.)

Push hard,challenge yourself,  mind your form, and as always, have fun.

Cheers,

Crystal

RESISTANCE BAND DEADLIFT WORKOUT

SET 1: 5 Rounds

• Band Kick Backs – 15
• Straight Leg Deadlift – 2 warm up sets of 10-15 reps, then 3 working sets of 5-8 reps
• Kettlebell Swing – 30

SET 2: 5 Rounds

• Banded Deadlift – 2 warm up sets of 10-15 reps, then 3 working sets of 5-8 reps
• Band “V” Kicks – 10 (make an upside down ‘v’ with your leg straight, left + right = one rep)
• Band Side Steps – 20 (Stay low, 2 steps right is one rep, then 2 steps left is another rep, etc.)

 

 

Today is Going to be a Good Day

Soaking up the Tahoe Sun. 🌲🌞Today is going to be a good day.
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If you want something, you have to go out and get it. You have to work hard for it, be persistent, and don’t give up because the going gets tough. The moments that we overcome challenges are the moments that will define us.
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There is something about pushing ourselves physically through a tough workout – pushing our bodies to their limits that carries over into the rest of our lives. Overcoming the difficulty of a hard workout is a small daily victory that gives us confidence and strength to let life’s little challenges roll off our back.
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Be bold or be ordinary. Its your choice. Make the choice to be the best version of you. Every. Damn. Day.
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😀💪❤

Veggie Flatbread Pizzas

I made these as a last minute snack last week, and loved them SO much that I just have to share them with you! Crispy flatbreads, loaded with home made spinach pesto sauce and veggies are the perfect meal to fill you up, yet leave you feeling light on your feet. Plus, they totally satisfy that pizza craving…anybody with me?!

I hope you will try these with your favorite veggies and let me know what you thought.

Enjoy,

-C

You will need to first whip up a batch of my delicious, creamy home made Spinach Pesto sauce.

For these flatbreads, you will need:

• 100 grams thinly sliced zucchini
• 50 grams sliced bell pepper
• 60 grams sliced mushrooms
• 75 grams fresh sliced roma tomatoes
• 1/2 cup fat free mozzarella
• 4 tablespoons Spinach Pesto
• crushed red pepper and spinach & parmesan seasoning from Johnny’s
• Flat Out Pizza bread, rosemary and olive oil

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. While the oven heats up, slice your veggies and make the pesto. I like to use this as an opportunity to cut extra veggies, so I can make more flatbreads later, or throw the veggies in with a quesadilla or scramble.

Lay 2 flatbreads out on a cookie sheet and place in the oven to pre-cook for 5 minutes. Remove the flatbreads from the oven, and top with pesto, cheese and veggies evenly. Sprinkle with your seasonings, and place into the oven for 15-20 more minutes. I like mine a little on the crispy side, so I usually do the full 20 minutes.

Once the pizzas are done, pull them out and serve while they are still warm. Enjoy!

Macros for 2 flatbread pizzas:

Calories: 546

Fat: 17.8g

Carb: 64.2g

Protein: 42g

Fiber: 12.6g

Spinach Pesto

This sauce is bright and tangy, colorful and simply delicious. It is divine on flatbread pizzas, toast, eggs, chicken, rice and more. Whip up a batch and try it for yourself!

Check out my recipe for Veggie Flatbread Pizzas using this delicious pesto sauce.

Enjoy,

Crystal

You will need:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 100 grams raw spinach leaves
• 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
• basil leaves, approx 40
• salt and pepper

Combine all ingredients in the blender or food processor, and blend until smooth and creamy. You may want to add up to 1/4 cup water as you are blending until you achieve the desired consistency.

Recipe makes 16 servings. One serving is a tablespoon.

Per 2 tablespoons:

Calories 85 Total Fat 6.8g Sat. Fat 0.8g Cholest. 0mg Sodium 9.1mg Carb. 3.9g Fiber 2.6g Sugars 0.8g Protein 5.1g

Best Damn Cauliflower Mash

Last week I was craving a delicious filet, so I grabbed a couple small medallions from the local organic butcher. Once seared in a roasted garlic sauce, served along with asparagus and home made cauliflower mash, the results did not disappoint! The steak was so tender and flavorful, and the cauliflower was easy to whip up, and BOMB! It tasted just like mashed potatoes and was every bit as satisfying. This cauliflower mash was indeed, the best damn cauliflower mash I had ever had!

Try it for yourself, cheers!

-C

The recipe for the Best Damn Cauliflower Mash is simple:

• 2 sm/med size heads cauliflower
• 2 wedges Laughing Cow creamy swiss, light
• 4 tablespoons fresh chives
• Johnny’s parmesan garlic, and Molly McButter seasonings, to taste

Start by trimming the stem and leaves from the cauliflower, and cutting it into large pieces. Place florets into a large pan with 3 inches of water, cover and bring to a boil. Steam with the lid on approx 12 mins, or until florets become tender.

Once cooked, transfer cauliflower to the blender or food processor. Add cheese, chives, and seasonings. Blend until smooth. You may have to transfer the cauliflower in batches, depending on the size of your blender. I found that my VitaMix fits everything for this recipe in one batch!

 

Serve warm, or cover and keep in the refrigerator for a late night snack! 🙂

This recipe makes 4 servings. *These macros will vary slightly depending on the size of your cauliflower.

Per Serving:

Calories 101

Total Fat 1.8g Sat. Fat 0.8g Cholest. 2.5mg Sodium 190mg

Carb. 17.3g Fiber 6.7g Sugars 6.9g Protein 7.5g

 

Macros Baby!

Tonight’s dinner was simply amazing. I fixed up a grass fed organic filet, asparagus, and the best damn cauliflower mash in the world. Meals like this make me such a happy camper!

Cheers,
-C

It’s Monday

Hi everybody!

It’s Monday! Time to kick the week’s ass, no pun intended. 😉
Proud to say I’m down 6 lbs, and 2 inches in the waist. Looking forward to taking the summer by storm.

I’m writing this quick note to check in and say that I’m happy to be ressurecting my blog. I will be bringing you new workouts this week, so stay tuned.

Cheers!
-C

Dirt Off Your Shoulders

This workout is designed to target your shoulders, triceps, core and more by combining dynamic, heart rate elevating movements with isolated muscle building movements. I think there is nothing more prominent, and immediately noticed that strong, round shoulders that make your arms pop in anything! Having strength in your upper body will significantly improve your day to day activities, making every task easier. The shoulders are especially susceptible to injury, specifically the rotator cuff,  due to weaknesses around the socket, tissues and tendons, but this vulnerability can easily be changed with some strength training.

I hope you will enjoy this killer workout as much as I do…it is definitely one of my favorites, and I include it in my weekly training schedule.

Cheers,

Crystal

DIRT OFF YOUR SHOULDERS

Repeat 3 times:

• Plank Shuffle – 20 reps
• Plank Pull Burpee – 10 reps
• Shoulder Circles – 10 reps
• Reptile Push Up – 10 reps
• Standing 1 Arm Tricep Pull – 10 each side
• Dive Bomber Push Up – 10 reps
• Standing 1 Arm Shoulder Press – 10 each side
• Pike Jumps – 30 reps
• Tricep Dips – 30 reps
• Plank Kick Through – 20 reps