#pumpingfairy

Only one week and one day left until this year's season starts with my first competition in France, the 'Top de Colmar'.

I can't wait for this season to start, since I am so grumpy all the time and feeling weaker and weaker day by day... I noticed it already on Monday during my leg-workout. But I think this was also because I was sick the week before, so maybe my battery wasn't fully charged by Monday. 

For almost every exercise I had to decrease my usual weights and really had to force myself through the reps. Same goes for Tuesday, which is also one of my favorite days as it's back-shoulders and back. 

You remember when I told you the first season and prep will be the hardest? Well, I guess I was totally wrong because I don't remember that I felt like sh** during my first contest prep. Which is actually a very good sign because, as my coach always states: 'the worse you feel the better your physique will be' and that sounds pretty comprehensible and logical to me.

On Tuesday I also realized that I have some baby veins that are slowly popping out, I know some girls think it's ugly but it's a good sign that your shredding phase is working and it's , for me at least , some kind of treat for the hard work in the gym and the strict diet over the last weeks. 

I am already looking forward to tomorrow as I will have a refeed day again, the last one probably. But this also depends on my shape on Saturday's checkup. If my coach is satisfied I can have my usual carb day and I will be a sweet gismo gremlin... If not well, you know what happened to the other gremlins in the movie, don't you?

But even while I am on my shredding phase I am still happy and I love to checkout how healthy my fellow pumpingfairies are eating and how consistently you are working out, just like my 9 favorites of the week. 

If you haven't joined us yet, simply use the hashtag #pumpingfairy on your Instagram account , for your fitness-&health related post like gymselfies, your cheatmeals, workouts, transformations, new gym clothes or whatsoever.

Keep up the good work people.

1. bonditobrazil having dessert time
2. caro_rouge and her new 'friend' the bosu ball
3. adrianamendes9 pumping in the gym
4. retnaz_claire532 hitting the gym
5. jimmy_nutella 's first meal on a plate since several weeks. I feel you!
6. sarah_48612 's transofmration, she lost 20kh, you can be so proud of yourself. Kepe up the good work!
7. alain_greiveldinger doing some cardio
8. xxbeliieberxx flexing her arms
9. m.egan__ 's epic delicious cheatmeal. Enjoy!

Gymselfies: Fitspo or Shitspo?

some weeks ago

Ever since social media became even more popular, there has been an explosion in the use of taking selfies, and, in my world, especially gym-selfies. 

On Instagram you get an infinity of results once you enter the specific hashtags that lead to #gymselfies. You get to see muscular, healthy and defined people of all ages who are proudly sharing their amazing body with you.

Personally, I am happy to post such selfies to share my excitement about another transformation of mine, which is basically standing for the work I put into myself at the gym over the last weeks. So the main idea behind gym selfies should be to inspire and motivate other people by showing that if you can reach that physique, everyone can reach the shape you desire.

I also love to scroll though my Instagram or Facebook news feed and have a look at all the amazing bodies from people that trained like hell in the gym and stuck to their diet, which I know can be very tough at some point. I think it's very inspirational if you look at 'normal' people that have reached an amazing physique, people like you and me. The only thing that differs them from everybody else is their dedication and motivation that keeps them going to get what they want. 

But can such gym selfies also harm us? Or even discourage us? 

As several psychologists showed in a research, fitness selfies can lower our self-esteem and we can easily become obsessed with our own appearance as we are constantly striving for perfection instead of progress. Although, this also depends on your character... if you get intimidated easily, well, then I would advise not to look at fitness selfies, because there's a risk that they might lead to a loss of your self-image and get you to go the unhealthy way in order to reach the physique of your role model. 

Actually fitness, or progress, photos exist for as long as personal trainers exists since they also take pictures of their clients from the first week, the 4th week and so on... but with another aim. They take these snaps to make their clients see the progress and to keep them motivated.

So while you are logging your progress, remember also to take before&after pictures. I do it myself and every time I see another transformation it simply motivates me to keep pushing. 

What are your thoughts about fitness selfies? Do they motivate you or discourage you sometimes? Or do you think that it's nonsense and annoying?

Back On Track

The view from the 22nd floor of our building, simply fantastic. The other side is even better, more natural

Here I am , filled with energy and motivation.

Maybe you've noticed that I was absent the entire past week as I caught a very bad virus, which deprived me from working out and from being overall active.

I was lying on the couch, wrapped up like a burrito in my bathrobe and a cozy fluffy blanket, watching my series all day long. The only time I moved was when I had to prepare and cook my breakfast, lunch or dinner... For the rest I remained the blanket-burrito. 

Some of you might think that it's not THAT bad to stay home, sleep longer and don't have to work. But for me it was a nightmare because I couldn't workout either and that made me quite grumpy since the first competition is in two weeks now.

But now my battery is fully charged ; and so I got back on track during today's lunch break as I lost an entire week of training. I put on my workout clothes, my nikes, power-beats, selected my bad-ass hardcore play list while walking down the stairs of the skyscraper (which has 24 floors) I am working in and hit a nice cardio session. 

I ran up and down all the floors from -2 to 22 four times , which counts up to 960 stairs up and 960 down. Although I was totally done when I arrived the 4th time at -2 , I still had to go upstairs to the 13th floor again to get out of the staircase without releasing the alarm. So this equals 1.090 stairs up and 960 down and a LOT of sweat. 

After a good hot shower I went back up again from -1 , but this time with the elevator. After all I didn't take the shower to sweat my office-clothes afterwards. 

And guess what, in the early evening I still have to train my legs and hit another cardio session . The next 4 weeks are going to be the toughest I will ever experience in my life I think. Last season I only did 3 competitions with a 'break' of 2-4 weeks each time. But this season I have 3 competitions within 3 weeks, followed by a 'break' of 3 weeks, then 1 competition and afterwards again a 'break' of 3 weeks and hopefully  finish my season with the world championships in Warsaw, Poland. 

Let's train for the best. 

Have a great week.

I definitely had to lay down for that one or another minute after this insane workout

#pumpingfairy

Some people hate Friday the 13th because they hink it's a cursed day and only bad things happen on such a day...

Sometimes I can also be a little superstitious, but not for Friday the 13th while 13 is my lucky number. It has always been my lucky number, and guess what happened on a 13th... I met my lovely boyfriend with whom I am in a relationship for 2 years and 9 months already. So why should I be afraid of such a day if it brought me the best thing that could ever possibly happen to me ? 

Now let's forget all this superstitiousness and get over to the more interesting things in life... Fitness, what else?!

As some of you have read on my Facebook-page or Instagram account, I was deprived from the gym the ENTIRE week... Horrible, seriously. Unfortunately I caught a bad virus that gave me body aches... sounds weird I know. Normally when I catch a virus or a flue I have pain in the limbs, everyone has experienced this at least once, right? 

Well what happened to me: 

This week, my whole body ached, even my face. At the beginning of the week I thought it was because I was maybe sitting somewhere in an airflow, but the day after my neck hurt, my arms and then my whole body. So I saw the doctor immediately and had to stay at home for the whole week. 

Even though I could stay at home, couchpotatoe-ing and watching series, I was feeling horrible because I couldn't hit the gym. And you know why it's so terrible, because I am only 2 weeks out of my first competition for this season. I really hope that I can catch this week up for the following 2 weeks to still get the physique I want, even if the first contest isn't the most important one. So let's hope or the best. 

Happily I am feeling a lot better by now and I am fit for tomorrow's little posing workshop I am giving to a new team-mate and also friend at our coach's. 

In hopes that you are all feeling great , here are my favorite pumpingfairies of the week.

1. urbanvalyou 's transformaton after 2 months & 10 days. Keep up the good work sweetheart !

2. alain_greiveldinger during his chest workout. Let's welcome a new pumpingfairy in our fitfam! 

3. caro_rouge pumpping her chest shoulders and back. 

4. jess_83_04 and her pink shaker after a great workout

5. jimmy_nutella on his active restday of his muscle building program. 

6. sarah_48612 baked some delicious bana-oat cookies. nomnomnom! I you are in search of a yummy recipe, have a look here 

7. pia_fit03 I hope you enjoyed your birthday! Have fun with your new mermaid piba tights! ( Checkout my review here and don't forget my coupon code JENNIFER10%OFF )

8. lysas_world looking all tired after her workout. 

9. mary__b making us jealous with her delish breakfast-pancakes. 

Review: IcanIwill

Black Machine 

You must be already annoyed by all those reviews, but there are so many awesome different gym apparel brands that have such great designs that I HAVE TO try and review them, in order to let you know if the quality is worth the money.

So here we go for another one: IcanIwill... Have you already heard of them before?
Accidentally I found their profile on... guess where... yes Instagram again. 

Instantly I was in love with their designs as they also kind of remind me of my PIBA tights. And you know that I love extraordinary gym outfits, don't you?(The same goes for my fashionable sister )

So after scrolling through their website and reading several reviews,we finally decided to order a pair of tights for each of us. I am always happy when I can find a review about a product I have never heard before, especially when it's about tights. I always want to know beforehand whether they get kind of transparent when you squat or not... I think there is nothing more embarrassing than tights that get transparent when you do your squats or lunges. After all nobody wants to see what color your undies are at the gym right?

As there haven't been a lot of choices, regarding the sizes that were left, we finally went for the 'Black Machine' tights in size S, after checking their size guide. I think that every online shop should have a size guide, it makes it so much easier to get the right one. But not the usual size guide where you can compare the different sizes from different countries, but a size guide with measurements in cm or inches. That's simply the easiest and safest way to chose the perfect size for your purchase.

Within three days , our parcel arrived... It was delivered way faster than expected, so a BIG PLUS for their shipping! Talking about the shipping, the costs weren't that high... I think about 9€ approximately, which is fair enough for such a fast delivery. Our tights were already packed and send out the day we placed our order.

As foreseeable I had to try them immediately...I am such a patient person, #sorrynotsorry.

At first they seemed a little too small, but I knew from my PIBA tights that they are going to adapt while moving and training, which was the same with the IcanIwill tights.

On Monday then, as some of you have already seen on my Instagram and Facebook-page, I kicked a leg-session in my brand new 'Black Machine' tights (this sounds already so bad-ass, doesn't it?)

*drumrolls*... They are squat-proved and don't get transparent at all! And As previously said, once you start your training routine, the fabric adapts to your shape and they instantly feel like a second skin. The perfect thing to feel comfortable while torturing yourself. 

Let me know what you think about my reviews, also the previous ones. I am always open for a constructive  feedback.

#pumpingfairy

MAhhh what a beautiful Friday we have today, don't we? At least here in Luxembourg. 

I hope you experienced a marvelous week with some great moments and workouts. 

My week was actually perfect, until yesterday. I worked out even harder this week, which I felt the days after (muscle soreness to the max) but yesterday evening, during my leg session, I started to get headaches. Fortunately I could finish the leg session before the headaches got worse, so I just had to skip the cardio session. But I will surely catch it up this weekend. 

I don't want to miss any minute I can burn fat and lose water as I only got 3 weeks left until the season starts. 

Talking about competitions, I still can't believe that I made it into the Top10 for the Miss FIBO Power Beauty contest, which is in only 5 weeks , and 1 day to be precise. Again, I want to take the opportunity to thank all of you for your amazing support and to every single one of you who voted for me, even if you only voted once.

Even though it is not the most important competition of this season, I will still train as hard as I can. I don't want to disappoint you guys, but not only concerning the FIBO competition but also the J-M.B Open, which is very important for me as it's the International Championship of Luxembourg AND the qualification for the World Championships in Warsaw. 

Being qualified for the World Championships in Polen would make the end of my season just magically perfect. So let's TRAIN and not 'hope for the best'.

Speaking of a magical happy end, don't panic, I didn't forget to present you my 9 favorite pumping-fairies of the week. 

1. m.egan__ ; girl, you can be very very very proud of yourself for this great progress!!!
2. laura_schneider did a great chest&biceps workouts.
3. lauragetsfit.14 mealprepping, good idea!
4. jimmy_nutella finsihed week #8 of his 12 week muscle building program. Keep up the hard work!
5. lowcarb_bymanu looking hot!
6. charlieeb8 and her biggest love.
7. catiminii having yoghurt with apple, kiwi, some soja flakes, seeds a good coffe and a green tea for breakfast. nomnomnom
8. xeniia_93 making me all jealous with her cheat. You can't believe how jealous I am sweetheart.
9. caro_rouge home alone in the gym.

The Competition Hype

I really need to talk and share my opinion about a topic that hasn't left my mind since some time...And I apologize in advance in case someone might feel a bit offended.

Let me start with a bit of history: the whole bodybuilding world rose with the birth of Eugene Sandow in 1867. When he came to America in 1890, he slowly developed and promoted the world of bodybuilding, so that the very first World Championships finally took place in 1891. Ever since then, over the decades , there have been some major bodybuilding role models such as John Grimek in the 40's , Steve Reeves in the 50's, Sergio Oliva in the 60's, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lou Ferrigno, Franco Columbo and Frank Zane in the 70's, Lee haneys in the 80's , Dorian Yates in the 90's, Jay Cutler, Ronnie Coleman in the 2000's and today Phil Heath and Kay Green.
 

There have been so many great and inspiring bodybuilders in all kinds off shapes ever since bodybuilding was invented. All these athletes have one thing in common:  They have to work hard for their physique. Even those who compete in Athletic, Physique, Bikini, Figure and Fitness class have to dedicate themselves in order to reach the physique they want. Back in the days the competition and fitness universe was only for those who lived this lifestyle to the fullest. I guess you could even say that bodybuilding was a world for itself. Many people didn't even know that such competitions actually exist and that there are so many different federations, classes and rules.

Somehow, these days, social media is strongly promoting bodybuilding and everything around it. Even though I am happy about it, because it seems to help fight prejudices, I also have to say that this caused a real explosion in the fitness and competition scene, which brings me to the reason of this post.

Everyone's got to start somewhere, that's for sure. I also started to hit the gym regularly only 2 years ago and started competing last autumn. But to be honest, to me it seems right now that everybody feels like they need to participate in the fitness movement in order to be in style. Even the ones that have only been visiting the gym once think that they have to become a total fitness freak, or at least make their Instagram look like they were one, and want to participate in competitions. You can actually compare this with the aerobic hype back in the 60's, when every housewife bought these super flashy sport suits and cuffs and started to do aerobics by hoping up and down the stepper. And in what way could it be different... they soon dedicated their time to other things again. 

And that's exactly what happens now in the competition scene.

I am not criticizing people that simply want to live healthier and do more sports, because that’s one of the bigger benefits this current movement brings with it. But what bugs me, is that nowadays everyone thinks he/she can participate in bodybuilding competitions, just because they have a slight idea of training routines.

I am not saying that I know everything about a competition preparation...I am far away from that to be honest and that's why I have a professional and experienced coach who prepares me.

Due to social media this entire competition world slowly became a huge thing and I am convinced that sooner or later 90% of the people that start competing now are going to give up, maybe even before the real season actually starts or, the latest, after their first competition season. 

And the main reason why so many people are likely to give up is because all those popular athletes only show that 'bright side' of the competition, which doesn't even exist. 

A preparation isn't easy, and if you feel like it’s easy, well then you’re probably doing something wrong. There are so many things and difficulties you have to face during and also after your preparations, which I have already talked about in a previous post (here) and only the dedicated can make it through this.

Competitions are simply not for everyone and it sets me up that there are so many people out there who literally drag contests through the mire and might confirm the prejudices people already have: If you don't get as lean and shaped as you want, then how about resorting for other measures instead of working the ass off and develop the body one step (or rep) at a time?

So before you decide to step on stage and start competing, think about what this means for you. Do you only want it to prove other people wrong? Do you want to do it for yourself? Do you want to compete against yourself or against others? Or do you only want the fame and fortune?
 

If you want it to compete against others, don't even start because that's not the point of such a competition. If you're just doing this to prove people wrong, maybe you should first work on your self-conscious because what other people think about you, shouldn't affect your actions. In case you’re doing it for the fame and fortune, well, there’s an infinite number of professional bodybuilders out there that are not even able to make a living out of their bodybuilding career, so you better quickly forget about that.

 

I wish you a great rest of the week.

Temptations are everywhere. FOCUS!

No cheats during your contest prep

while my boyfriend has sushi, I have cod and beans for dinner

my favorite pictures. The result of hard work and determination