Impressions of the J-M.B Legday

Finally I managed to upload my very first HQ video on my YouTube channel... weehhh

As I bought a new camera weeks ago, the Sony alpha 5100 (get it here), I can now video-tape some of my workouts and share them with you in a HD-Quality. 

I know that I still have to improve my film editing-skills, but I think as a first attempt, it hasn't turned out that bad. And my lovely sister did a very good job video-taping me, didn't she?

Even though I have to figure out how to solve the problem with that switch between landscape-&vertical-format... That's kind of annoying if you always have to bend your head. I should have read the operating instructions of the camera first, oops. 

I am also thinking about sharing some impressions of my preparation once a week to give you a more realistic and personal insight of my journey. What do you think?

If you have any suggestions or tips on how to improve my video-shoots,I am always open to a constructive feedback.Enjoy the movie and don't forget to leave a comment on my new-born YouTube-Fairy-Channel.

Much love, your Lifting Fairy.

Size vs. Strength Training

You know how much I praise lifting weights, don't you? But don't get me wrong when I tell you that lifting heavy weights isn't always good for you. I know this sounds confusing, but there is a difference between healthy weight-lifting and retarded weight-lifting. There are even two main categories of lifting, size training and strength training...

• Strength Training: 

If you are looking for strength-training, you want to increase force production. Size-training, on the contrary, is about getting a pump and creating little damages to your muscles so they can repair themselves and grow bigger. (The reason why you get muscle-soreness).

Strength training should consist of few reps but heavier weights instead, but don't forget the proper form,trying to still control the movement. So, real low-rep strength-training is primarily neuromuscular. Meaning that you teach your body to bring more muscle into the game to increase your power.

• Size Training: 

Size training is more physiological. This means that you give your body a little upgrade in its size. You are forcing your body to develop tissues and grow stronger AND bigger. This may sounds exactly like strength-training , but your main focus is to build bigger muscles, not stronger ones.

Therefor, you don't have to worry about losing your strength when you want to increase your muscles' size. All types of training can have neurological benefits, it's just a matter of the right balance between reps and weights.

A lot of people misunderstand bodybuilders by thinking that bodybuilding is about lifting heavy-ass weights, right? But, it is about using your weights as a tool to increase your muscle tissue. If you are throwing as much weight on the bar, whether to boost your ego or to impress the people around you, you are completely on the wrong way.

Now what happens when you go too heavy?

• You decrease the time under tensions because you are too busy cheating on your form to lift your weights.
• You can't control the movement because it's way too heavy and you look stupid because you are trying to lift it up again. (maybe looking like a 'about-to-explode' tomato haha)
• You have no 'brain-muscle-connection' , because (again) you have struggle to do the movement right.
• You are using too many other muscles to lift your weights, meaning you can't train your muscle isolated.

To get to the point: No one cares how much you lift in the gym, unless they are doing the same mistake...

Nevertheless, if you don't manage to lift for sets of at least 6 reps, you are more likely to train for strength, if you keep proper form. Otherwise it's just bad lifting and you won't make yourself stronger nor 'bigger, you are simply risking injuries.

To improve muscle size you should:

• Have a strict and proper form
• Control the lowering movement for at least 3 seconds.
• Have a sane and healthy muscle-brain-connection and feel the movement in your muscles. 
• Avoid to lock completely out, meaning that your muscles should be under tensions throughout the whole movement, for every rep. (e.g if you do a dumbbell-curl always try to have your biceps under tension even if you lower the movement , and don't pause between each rep )

So once again, if you love lifting-weights, like me, always keep in mind WHY you are lifting weights and HOW you are lifting heavy weights. Control every movement, feel your muscle, feel the burn and always keep your muscle under tension. You will achieve better results if you lift lighter weights and control the movement, than if you lift heavy and look like a retarded ego-driven wanna-be lifter. 

With that said, enjoy your next pump. xX

Me doing close-grip lat-pulldowns

Sport by night

Hi there!

That's the original flyer

This article goes out to everyone living in Luxembourg or staying in Luxembourg at the moment. If you have already enjoyed the Spring-fair at 'Luxexpo' and don't know what to do on this saturday evening/night,you will definitely like this event! 

It's called 'Nuit du sports' ,meaning 'night of sports'. 

Different communities and organizers from Luxembourg have established this original sport-programm just for you! 

They offer about 200 different kinds of activities at 20 different places all over the country! 

A picture from last year

You can play Badminton, Giant Basketball, Waterball, Soccer,Jazz Dance, Zumba, Nordic Walking, Dart and so on. 

Or watch shows like Dog's Agility, Parkour, Aikido, Showgymnastics and many more!

Zumba activity an earlier edition

I think this event could be interesting for every one and from every age! 

I will definitely try to participate in this unique night-program. I have to work until 7 pm so I think I will still manage to have a look at some activities taking place in my community.(Stay tuned, I will surely write an article about how it was and maybe which games I played or in which activity I participated)

If you need information about the program or which activity will take place in which community, you can consult the official site HERE .

Enjoy your day!

Couples that workout together, stay together!

Today is a very special day for me, it is our 2nd anniversary! And with 'our' I mean my boyfriend's , namely Sir Ken from Dumbbell, and mine of course. Yes,I call him Sir Ken from Dumbbell because he is my knight in shining armor who revealed to me the world of fitness! 

Ken and I met exactly 2 years and 1 month ago in a bar, doesn't sound much like a fairytale, does it? At first we didn't even talk to each other, but as you may guess, soon we started texting, which ended up exactly one week later in a 'candle-light' dinner at a sushi bar here in Luxembourg. Of course sushi, how can I not eat sushi?! As time passed, we were texting and meeting more and more.

sorry for the bad quality of the pictures, some of them were taken with my smartphone, or with a computer webcam

One month later we already felt in love, now that's a real fairy tale, isn't it? People didn't believe that this could work, as everything happened so fast,but hey today is our 2nd anniversary already!

for our first anniversary I gave him these delicious skull cupcakes hehe

A few months later we even went on our first holiday together with some mutual friends, which was awesome! But same here, people asked, 'how can you go on holiday together, you don't even know each other for so long?!' And again, it worked, and this vacation was great (it was in South-France) ! Since then we have already been in New York City, Barcelona, Düsseldorf and Köln!

In South France 2012, before going out for dinner in St. Tropez 

One evening in South France 2012

On the Time Square for Valentine's Day in New York City 2013, the best Valentine's day I've had so far! beautiful!

In Düsseldorf in 2013, before Christmas

Also in Düsseldorf before Christmas in 2013

Summer 2013 in Barcelona

This year on the FIBO in Köln. 

And we have already shared so many awesome and beautiful moments together: We went parajumping for my 21st birthday, we shared moments of total happiness when we both passed our exams , we have been partying like animals for so many nights already and you know what...we workout together which means that we also suffer muscle soreness together, which is great because couples that workout together stay together!

Parajumpin in Bitburg for my 21st Birthday in 2013, the best birthday gift ever!

Halloween 2012, Dias de los Muertos

Halloween 2013, Zombie couple, I am the blonde Zombie-girl of course... Sorry again for the bad quality, pictures was again taken with a smartphone camera...

I am really happy to call him my boyfriend, I am so thankful that I met him two years and one month ago! I couldn't imagine a better boyfriend than him,seriously! He supports me in everything I do, he always tries to cheer me up when I am feeling a bit down, he makes me laugh every single day, which is 100% true and I know that whatever may come, he will always be there for me and he will always be my other half! I am also trying to be the best girlfriend he ever had, to cheer him up when he is feeling down and I hope that I will always be able to be by his side no matter what happens in future!

Last Summer (2013) at the fair called 'Schuerberfouer' 

This was in summer 2013 during our dance-show called 'contrast'

But the best thing is that we both found a new passion which we can share with each other, namely fitness competitions! I know that it will be hard when we both start our preparation, especially the two weeks before a competition but I now that we will manage and I know that together we can conquer the world and the stages of course! 

No matter where we are, we are always doing stupid things. Just as in this pictures, doing some poledance stuff hehe

I love you!

Fruit Friday: Friend or Foe?

Hello lovely weekend!

'You should eat more fruits and vegetables'

How often did I hear this when I was a little girl? If I had been given 1€ each time someone mentioned this,well then I would be rich now!

Everyone knows that fruits are healthy, some people even call them nature's fast food as they are fast to prepare and can easily be carried around. However many people think that fruits aren't that good for us as they are high in sugar, compared to other whole foods. 

What about the sugar in fruits?

Everyone knows that added sugar is the devil itself. This includes table sugar and high fructose corn syrup which is 50% glucose and 50% fructose. If you wanna learn more about sugar, check out this article of mine HERE.

Now that you may have read this article, you know that sugar is bad for you! The problem is that people think that the same must apply to fruits, because they also contain fructose,right?

However, this is completely bull****. Fructose is only harmful in large amounts and it's almost impossible to overeat fructose by eating fruits! It all depends on the dosage!

Why are fruits good for you? 

While eating whole fruits, as already said, it is impossible to over-consume fructose. Fruits are loaded with fiber, water and have significant chewing resistance. For this reason, fruits , like apples, take a while to eat and therefore also take a while to digest, which means that the fructose hits the liver slowly.

Plus, eating an apple makes you feel full and satisfied. And this one apple only contains 23 grams of sugar , of which 13grams are fructose. (Compared to a 400ml Coke: 52 grams of sugar of which 30 grams are fructose) 

What happens when fructose hits your liver? 

When you drink sodas and eat candies, fructose hits the liver faster and in a larger amount. But if you eat an apple, it hits the liver slowly and in a small amount, meaning that your body can easily take care of the fructose. 

Your body can easily tolerate the small amounts of fructose found in fruits. 

Can I eat fruits while trying to lose weight? 

YES, you can!(Sorry Obama for twisting your phrase)

What most people forget when discussing the sugar and carb-content of fruits is that they are also incredibly filling.

Due to the high fiber content, the water and all the chewing, fruits can make you feel pretty full, calorie for calorie!

Fruits like apples and oranges are among the highest scoring foods tested in the satiety index, they even beat beef and eggs!

Which means, if you increase your intake of apples or oranges, chances are that you will feel so full that you automatically want to eat less other foods. 

 

What about fruit juices?

Even though whole fruits are healthy, don't fool yourself by buying fruit juices at a store, as they are not ''real'' fruit juices. Many of them only contain water, some kind of concentrate and a whole bunch of sugars. 

Even if you buy a 100% real fruit juice, it's still a bad idea. 

If you drink your juice, you no longer have fibers nor chewing-resistance to slow down consumption, meaning that it makes it easier to consume a large amount of sugar in a short period of time.

Dried fruits like raisins can be a problem too as they are high in sugar and it is to easy to consume a large amount at a time. 

If you still don't want to eat whole fruits but want to avoid juices, smoothies should be the best way out! 
In this article I shared some smoothie ideas and if you need a good, but cheap, blender for you smoothies click HERE! 

Conclusion: 

Unless you have a fructose-intolerance or are on a ketogenic or low-carb diet, I think that you should go on eating fruits! They are tasty, juicy and healthy! And they make life more colorful!

I wish you all a nice weekend! 

Keep rollin'

Hey there!

Today is my last day of Nikki Sharp's 'stay sharp be strong' detox program and I wanted to have something different for breakfast.

So I was scrolling through my 'Following-list' and I clicked on Melina's Blog, ( She is new in Fitnessblogging too) where I found this awesome recipe! 

I know in Nikki Sharp's detox you shouldn't eat several things but hey , the ingredients I need to 'bake' the Dough-Roll are actually okay. 

Dough-Rolls , they look a bit weird but they taste like heaven!

So let's get started!

the ingredients you need

your equipment

zucchini-blueberry mix

egg-snow

your dough with vanilla powder

pouring it on the tray

your tray should be at least 1 cm deep

Et voilà! They have a weird color but they are so delicious!

What you need:

• 1 Bowl
• 1 Blender
• 1 Mixer 
• 1 Oven
• 1 baking-tray & non-stick baking paper

• 1 Zucchini
• 3 Eggs
• 1 bowl of blueberries
• Vanilla powder
• Stevia, or any sweetener you like

Directions:

1. Blend your Zucchini until it's almost a smoothie
2. Add only 1/2 of the Blueberries and blend them with your Zucchini
3. Make some 'snow' with the 3 egg-whites
4. Put your Zucchini-Blueberry mix in your bowl and add 1 yolk & mix
5. Now let it snow on your bowl and mix everything together
6. Then add some vanilla powder and some sweetener to taste 
7. Finally, pour your mix on the non-stick baking-paper, which should lie on a baking tray that's at least 1cm deep. ( You don't want to pour the whole thing on the floor!) 
8. Bake it for about 30min at 180° in the oven 
9. After that, take your dough out, let it cool down a bit. 
10. Cut it in pieces
11. Sprinkle the rest blueberries on it and keep rollin' rollin' rollin'...
12. ENJOY! 

5-Day Detox

Hello there

I don't know how you feel after these holidays, but I am bloated like a balloon!

Friday was still okay, even though I was still sick, I managed to eat healthy just like Easter Saturday. But then... on Sunday, I couldn't resist anymore. First of all it was my sister's 26th Birthday, which is already a very good reason to celebrate, so we had a huge Easter-Brunch at home. Looks awesome, doesn't it?

Our Birthday-Easter-Brunch at home. How can you resist this? seriously?

And as this wouldn't be enough, we went out for dinner the same day. As I already had my epic cheat meal but still felt miserable, I thought that a delicious pasta with shrimps and a piece of my sister's rainbow-birthday-cake would set me in a good mood again. Well not really...

My Dinner at the restaurant Pasta with Shrimps.

My sister's Rainbow-Birthday-Cake. Find the mistake.. I only realized it after we already cut the cake. whoops!

And finally,yesterday, on Easter-Monday we had Lunch at a nice restaurant and I even managed to eat somewhat healthy. 

Starter: Cantaloupe
Main Course: Shrimps in Garlic with Rice
Dessert: Strawberry Salad

As I have been eating so unhealthy these last few days and feel like a balloon, I decided to start the 5-Day Detox by Nikki Sharp, called ''stay sharp be strong'', to get rid of all the water retentions and cleanse the body inside out with FOOD!

This is Nikki Sharp, the creator of the 5-day detox program

For those who haven't heard of this, here some explanations and my sister's experience:

This Program is created by Nikki Sharp and includes :

• a shopping list
• all the recipes you will need for the 5 days
• a lot of information about detoxing : how to do it properly, what to do if you feel bad during the detox and the steps to set you up for lifelong success. 

One day, my sister came up with this program and asked me if it was worth trying. I told her that she couldn't do anything wrong with that, so she gave it a try. And after 5 days she lost almost 2 kilos , which was nothing but water retention, and several cm around her legs, hips, waist and arms.

So the Detox program hold up to its promise.

She not only lost some weight, felt better in her skin and lost her bloat but best of all, she got rid of these cravings for junk-food or sweets! I mean how fantastic is this? Seriously!

She repeats this 5-Day program once a months to cleanse her body and get rid of all the toxins. And every time she starts the program again, she tells me how good she feels and how her belly gets so much flatter again. I thought to myself that I need to try this too. Not only to see how it works on me, but to also get rid of my bloat, my water retentions and to cleanse my body.

Nikki Sharp, Click HERE to get the official site

Today is therefore my first day of Nikki Sharp's 'stay sharp be strong' program and I'm curious to see how I feel after 5 days. Of course I will write a post about my personal experience 5 days from now. 

But if you want more updates, keep a look out on my Instagram profile:

lifting_fairy 

Training when sick?

Hey there!

Just guess what... I caught a cold 2 days ago and I am feeling so damn miserable since then.Usually I don't care if I am sick or not, especially when it is ONLY a cold. But since I can hardly breath and I have to cough all the time, I think it's best for me if I take a little break. So no gym for me for the rest of the week. I know a lot of people, just like me too, that workout even though they are sick. But is it really OK to hit the gym when you're sick?

I would say that moderate physical activity is OK if you only have a cold and no fever. Exercise can actually help you to feel better by opening your nasal passages and relieving nasal congestion. But if you can hardly breath, like me, or if you have to cough all the time, I think it's still best to stay at home for at least 1 or 2 days until it gets better.

Like already said, exercising is OK if you only have a common cold, a runny nose , nasal congestion , sneezing or a minor sore throat. But you have to reduce the intensity and the length of your workout. For example instead of going for a run, take a walk.

I don't recommend to workout if you have something like chest congestion, hacking cough or upset stomach. And I highly advise NOT to workout if you have a fever, fatigue or widespread muscle aches.

But just let your body be your guide! If you have a common cold but still feel so miserable, just like me, stay at home and take a hot bath! It's better for you and your body to recover. If you are about to feel better you can resume your normal workout routine again. But to be 100% sure, go and see a doctor.

When I got a cold I take a cozy hot bath with a magical fairy combination of these two. Awesome!

But remember!

If you are sick but still want to workout, make sure to reduce the length and the intensity of your workout as your body is already affected. You could risk to catch a more serious injury or illness!

If you are sick too, get well soon and have a nice 'recovery-weekend' !