An Off-Season Lesson

I'm still getting used to this off-season thing...it's really the first time I've not been focused on a show date in almost 2 years...crazy! Anywho, one of the lessons I'm learning during this time is I've missed my junk-in-the-trunk :)

Yep, my bubble butt is making a return :)

I've never had a flat butt (thank you, genetics)....more like a bubble butt...I never really gave it much thought...it was just always there. That is, my bootay was always juicy...it was the reason it took 5 billion tries to find a pair of jeans that fit....but as I began doing figure competitions, it slowly starting disappearing.

One of the pieces of feedback I've received from the judges is I need to round & tighten my glutes. I've dedicated one workout a week specifically to this goal and today was the day the glutes workout was taking place!

It started here....my home gym Desert Sports & Fitness....if you're ever in Tucson, you know where you need to go to get your workout on!

I warmed up for 5 minutes on the Cybex Arc Trainer at the highest resistance and highest incline that is possible on the machine. If you don't know what an Arc Trainer is or have seen one but never tried it, you need to take this cardio machine for a test drive. Check out this video from AZ Pro Physiques about the Arc Trainer.

After 5 minutes of hell hard work, I went in search of piece of equipment I hadn't used in quite some time. I found it in the room where the group fitness classes are held, in the corner, waiting for me to come out & play.

The box!!!

Let me just tell you that box jumps are no joke!! I'm not the best at plyometrics! I struggle through them every time and today was no different. I did 4 sets of 10 and my legs were definitely feeling it by the last set! I knew I was struggling when I almost fell off the box because I hadn't jumped quite high enough!!! #teamklutz

Here's what the rest of today's workout looked like:

Barbell Split Squat 

(with front foot on box/step)

4 sets of 115 x 8 (each leg)

Leg curl

50 x 20, 65 x 18, 80 x 15, 80 x 12

Leg extension

50 x 12 (2 sets), 70 x 10 (2 sets)

Leg press

180 x 12, 270 x 12, 360 x 10, 360 x 8

Deadlifts

135 x 10, 185 x 8, 205 x 8, 225 x 5

I wrapped the workout a 2 mile run and as I got off the treadmill, I knew that I was going to be in a world of hurt in the upcoming days. No worries, I'm starting to enjoy DOMS ;)

If you're interested in more exercises geared towards building & tightening your glutes, check out the "Build Your Glutes, Yo" post over at One Fit Foodie and "Build Your Best Butt Now: Interview with Bret Contreras" over at Mother Fitness.