Day 206 of my 365 days of transformation. Exercise removes weakness from my body.

Is it easy?  nope,  not at all, with daily workouts, drinking between 4-6 liters of water a day, running (and I mean running) to the washroom all the time, logging food into my journal, taking all my vitamins, practice posing, practice walking in my hoochie mama shoes, eating small meals every two hours, food prep for the next day.  I am NOT complaining, just letting you know the level of commitment it takes to reach my goal.

NO, it is not easy, but worth it.... YES, YES, YES!

There are different stages for figure training, I am still learning all the different stages.  

I am ready to conquer the next stage and so excited for the final 6 months of my transformation!   

I started my 6 weeks of GVT training.  Oh...I am loving it by the way! 

It is so tough, 10 sets of 10.

What is GVT training you ask?  

German Volume training was created during the mid-70s in Germany and was popularized by the National coach of weightlifting Rolf Feser. This method, also known as the “10 sets method”, was used by off-season weightlifters to gain lean body mass and shed unnecessary body-fat. 

German volume training targets a specific group of motor units exposing them to intensive amounts volume, i.e. ten sets of a single exercise. The body adapts to the mass amounts of stress by hypertrophying (muscle-growth) the targeted fibers to cope with the work load. Although this program is geared more towards hypertrophy than strength it still has a substantial positive impact on performance for any weightlifter. Practicing a lift for ten sets every five days is going to drastically improve your form and muscular endurance. When you do a high amount of sets for a single exercise fatigued muscle fibers will begin to drop out and new unused fibers will join in to compensate. At the end of ten sets you will have literally used parts of your muscles that you have never used before.The goal with this method is to complete ten sets of ten reps for each exercise. You’ll want to start with a weight of which you could do twenty reps until failure, which for most people is 60% of their 1RM (one rep max). So if you can squat 400 pounds for one rep, you would then use 240 pounds for your ten sets of ten. You must keep the weight the same throughout the ten sets and only increase the weight by five percent once you have completed your ten sets of ten with constant rest intervals. The rest intervals are short (60 seconds between accessory work and 90 seconds between the main lifts) which results in accumulative fatigue. You may find yourself to get stronger again when it comes to the eight and ninth sets because of a temporary neural adaptation.

Water constitutes 65% to 70% of the human body. The following list explains the many detrimental things that can happen to your body if you don't ingest enough water.
By: Ron Kosloff
Feb 15, 2006

It is a fact that 95% of all people in the U.S. are dehydrated. As you age, you literally begin to dry out. A person could eliminate 50% of all diseases by just being hydrated and drinking enough water throughout the day.

It's a little known fact that water and minerals work together as a team. Add essential fats and you have a fantastic combination for your body's hydration.

When you stop to think about it, water constitutes 65% to 70% of the human body. A person can abstain from food for months, but can only last a couple of days without water (and only 6 minutes without oxygen)!

14 Detrimental Things That Can Happen
If You Don't Get Enough Water

The following list explains the many detrimental things that can happen to your body if you don't ingest enough water:

Constipation can occur. Water can relieve this condition.
When the body receives too little water, it will rob what it needs from other sources (primarily the glands). The colon is one primary source, hence constipation.
Water maintains proper muscle tone by giving muscles their ability to contract by preventing dehydration.
Water, along with the essential fats and minerals, prevents sagging skin and returns health and resiliency. (Potassium is paramount for sagging skin).
Water rids the body of waste, which accumulates from improper care and nutrition.
Water is an instant energy pick-me-up, but don't drink water just to drink it, only drink it when you need it, as in the body telling you when you're thirsty or after you have exercised and you need hydration. Another example is that you should eat when you are hungry. Listen to your body; what could be more natural?
Water naturally suppresses the appetite and helps the body metabolize stored fat. Decreases in water consumption will actually increase fat deposits and an increase in water will decrease fat deposits.
The kidneys cannot properly function without water, and, when they don't function, their load is dumped back into the liver. This causes fatigue and liver toxicity. Be sure that you don't have any kidney problems, as excess water can be harmful. Be sure to see a nutritional doctor concerning this, because, if you consult a medical doctor, there is a higher chance that you will be prescribed a diuretic or drug that will only make the problem worse.
Water is the finest cure for fluid retention. When the body receives less water, it perceives this as a threat and will retain every drop that it can. Diuretics flush essential minerals right out of the body and the body's release mechanism of water will shut down.
I always laugh to myself when medical doctors tell people who are dehydrated that they simply need to drink more water, but the doctor doesn't tell them that their body won't hold water without minerals, because he was never educated on this.
(During their education, medical doctors are taught not more than 40 hours about nutrition and in most cases, a lot less!)
Reduce unnatural salt in concentrated forms. Salt is natural to food when it's of the plant or animal source. I'm speaking of reducing, for example, Morton's Salt, commercial salt which is crystallized, stripped of its minerals and bleached.
Salt is not white and pretty, salt is an ecru or brown color. The more unnatural salt that you consume, the more the body will retain fluids to dilute it.
Since our soil is mineral-depleted, use Celtic Sea Salt daily or a colloidal mineral that is mined. These both contain every known trace and rare earth mineral in the world, about 92 minerals total.
The overweight person, with no kidney dysfunction, needs more water because of the larger metabolic load. Water is the key to ridding the body of fat through increased metabolic function. But, always be cautious on over-hydrating your body because kidney damage is possible.
Pure water will eliminate many impurities and toxins from the body through the urine and the stool. A normal amount of water will decrease colon cancer, breast cancer and bladder cancer by 70%!
Water should be consumed cool, rather than warm, for quick absorption. Also, only consume water between meals and on an empty stomach.
Never drink excess water with meals as this impairs digestion. It's all right to drink 4 ounces of a liquid with a meal but never ½ hour before or ½ hour after you eat.
It would dilute your hydrochloric acid, you won't digest your food properly, your food floats around in your stomach resulting in a lot of digestive problems and you could be labelled with acid reflux disease, which is a bogus diagnosis.
Remember, don't invoke "if some is good, then more must be better." Excess water consumption will flush water-soluble vitamins B and C right out of the body and this could directly lead to problems and illness.
The biggest myth in bodybuilding is that you must drastically reduce your water intake to define. This may sound great and be seemingly logical but nothing could be farther from the truth!
When you reduce your water intake, the body will not release a drop and this will actually cause ones' physique to smooth out. Fifty-five years ago, the great Vince Gironda taught that on a contest day you should use an enema to clean out your colon and shrink your stomach.
During the contest day, drink normal amounts of water and use free form singular amino acids all day long to keep energy levels up. Don't do anything during the day except rest, drink water and take aminos.
One other thing that Vince taught was never to pump up before a contest. This sounds crazy, but, if you do pump before the contest, as so many do, you will lose your pump. Then, when you get on stage, you can't pump your muscles twice and you will smooth out.
Remember, posing and tensing will actually pump you up. I have seen people lose contests because of curtailing water and pumping up with weights prior to a contest. If you have any questions on this, please call me.

Last but not least, I also was taken in by the 8 to 10 glasses of water per day advocated by many authorities. Common belief was that herb tea, juices, milk, sport drinks, etc. were not water, but food, so in fact, you must drink just plain water.
I now realize that this is just a myth! Every piece of food that you eat contains water and is utilized by the body as water - period! But the food that you eat must be natural food, not processed and refined food.

After the Workout- Stretching

If you’re into fitness at all, you’ve probably heard a million times over, how important stretching is. But how many of us truly take it seriously? How many of us ACTUALLY stretch?

So why should we stretch? There are a few good reasons.

• 1: First and foremost, it prevents injury. When you’re muscles are warm and pliable, you are less likely to shift the wrong way, spasm or end up injuring yourself.
• 2: Increased flexiblity and mobility.
• 3: Increases recovery time, and can reduce muscle soreness
• 4: Increases circulation to muscles/joints.

When should one stretch?
Before any activity, and afterwards. I find it’s okay to do only some light stretches beforehand, and finish off with some deep stretching.
It also helps finish off your workout. Taking the time to stretch at the end of a tough work out is very calming and meditation like.
Even if you aren’t working out, stretching is still important. I try to do some stretches right before I settle in for bed at night. Not only does it help to get into a routine, but I find I sleep better.
There are many different stretches you can do, here’s a chart:

You can do all of these stretches if you wish, but if you’re low on time, try to either emphasize your stretching in the areas that you have worked out, or try to stretch at least one muscle group each.
You should hold each stretch for at least 30 seconds, and if you can do more than one set of each it is also beneficial.
If you wish to switch things up a bit, you can also incorporate some yoga in as your stretching routine.