BodyPower!

Ahhh, what a fab show!

Gym Ninja pootled off to the BodyPower Expo in Birmingham yesterday and met up with the very lovely Tara. Sadly JAG couldn't make it (her blog post explains why) so not quite the Three Musketeers as planned. :-(

HOW many disasters could strike in one day though? Firstly, Gym Ninja got a call on route to say her Grandfather had been taken into hospital (he is discharged now thank God), then a text from Tara saying she'd missed her train and that JAG couldn't make it....that was before GN even got to the NEC!  Once parked, Gym Ninja merely had to follow the line of elite physique bodies like some sort of bionic race, to the exhibition hall. Oddly, running alongside the BodyPower Expo was a Mother/Baby expo....

Anyhow, GN finally made it. Then there followed a half hour of

"Where are you?"
"I'm Here!"
"So am I"
"I can't see you"
"I can't see you either" 

Until FINALLY Tara & Gym Ninja met up. YAY!

On a tangent, Tara is entering FAME next weekend. Tis all very exciting and she looks in great shape. She also had some professional photos done yesterday too and let GN tell you, they are hawwt!  Let us all hound her until she posts them on her blog ;-)

Anyway....into the show..........

It was wall-to-wall supplement suppliers plus various area where MMA, Boxing, wrestling etc was taking place.  Gym Ninja & Tara began their mooch and within seconds were sampling some shots of protein.  Most of the Suppliers had decanted their shakes into teeny (PAH!) shot glasses for people to try, and the first ones Tara and GN drank were by a company called Isopure (www.isopure.co.uk if you want to check it out). Tara & GN quaffed a shot of a bright blue clear fruity protein called Isopure Zero Carb which had 40g of protein and is bought by the bottle. AMAZING taste and yet at nearly £4 a bottle (1 serving!) it'd bankrupt most people.

Then it was over to MyProtein (www.myprotein.co.uk) to try some of their protein bars and shakes.
OMG! HOW nice was the shake? Especially the RTD stuff that tasted all yummy and nice. Tara & GN managed to sneak back a second time later in the day to quaff another thimble of one & also got a sachet to take away. Not sure what the quality is like but GN is always happy to try something & report back.

Talking of AMAZING tasting stuff, has anyone tried Muscle Milk by Cytosport? www.musclemilk.com This was GN's first time! Yes, the stuff is calorific. But the actual shakes taste fantastic, like milkshake. Possibly better for guys looking to build, however they do have a light option & GN was given 3 sachets of that to take away.  The guys on that stand also handed out some dinky shot bottles called 'Muscle Milk Refuel' which have 5g of protein in them and are about the size of those dinky Total Energy shot drinks you can get.  Gym Ninja and Tara got given 4 each..yummy! Can try those out on the run...

Now it got to half way through the exhibition stand & Gym Ninja and Tara must have tested a billion sliced up protein bars and shots of various proteins. Some nice, some icky. Of course just because something tastes great it doesn't necessarily mean it IS great, but it's always good to try these things out. That is until Gym Ninja started to feel all of the protein bars expand slowly in her stomach!

QUICK! Time for 'normal' food. This involved GN queueing for beef in a bun, but of course without the bun due to GN's wheat allergy.

OMG! HOW good is it to be around like-minded people? Normally when GN asks for something 'off menu' like a beef roll without the roll, then follows some sort of question/answer session between GN and the seller about why she doesn't want the bread.  But at the BodyPower Expo when GN asked for no bread the seller said...

"OK"

That was IT! These people understand why someone may not want certain foods in their stomachs. Gym Ninja wants the world to be like this. To never have to explain ever again why she eats some things & not others...

Now whilst at the Expo, GN had to come up with an 'emergency' birthday present for her Brother-In-Law as it was his birthday the next day & having lost her job, Gym Ninja is somewhat broke. So the plan was to blag as many freebies as possible & make up some sort of 'fitness gift box' for him. The humungous Expo T Shirt given to GN as she arrived would be first in the box, but that wasn't enough so GN got a couple of copies of Muscle & Fitness for free too...oh and some supplement samples (but NOT all of them as GN wanted some too). But what else......that was not enough....quick! THINK! What else?

Then it came to Gym Ninja. All of a sudden, standing there in front of her was Enigma, the Gladiator!  That's IT!

"Excuse me" Said Gym Ninja.

" It's my brother-in-laws birthday tomorrow & I've kind of not got him anything yet. Would you be able to do an autographed photo for him wishing him happy birthday at all?"

Enigma smiled (doesn't she look like Posh Spice BTW?) and picked up a photo and signed it for GN's brother-in-law.

EXCELLENT! He will love it!

"What's his name?" Said a voice, and Gym Ninja turned round to see another Gladiator DOOM, brandishing a pen and also signing a photo for GN's brother-in-law.

Hmmm. Gym Ninja thinks Doom didn't quite understand why her grown up brother-in-law may want a signed photo of a lycra-clad Enigma & not necessarily a similar shot of a muscular man.......however GN thanked him anyway and so now had two signed Gladiator photos for a man who was due to turn 42 years old...!!!!!

In fact GN and Tara did plenty of posing with muscly people during the show. It was great fun. A fantastic slimming aid too ladies...stand by a huge man and look dinky!

The most fun person GN posed with was by far IFBB Pro BodyBuilder Andy Haman working on the Dymatize Nutrition (www.dymatize.com)  stand as one of their sponsored athletes. SUCH a funny guy and SO sweet to both Tara and Gym Ninja. More than happy to pose for photos, and GN 'means' pose! He pulled his vest up with his teeth exposing his amazing 6 pack (check on their website for his photo). Plus, he made GN look teeny tiny dinky by comparison as his arm must have been the thickness of GN's torso!  When he did a signed phot he even said '<3 your hot bod!' to GN....which of course made her squeal in a girly fashion inside her own head even though she knew he was being cheesy!

Another great guy was Jason Barnett, another Body Builder who was in association with Udo's Choice Oils. That's the liquid EFAs. Anyhow, Tara already uses Udos and had gone to get ready for her photo shoot at this point so GN was happy to learn from Jason the many benefits of this amazing oil.  After tasting a shot of it (yep, GN quaffed a shot glass of  neat oil!) & hearing how it can help shed bodyfat and do amaxing things to the skin hair and nails (Jason said he now has nails like a girl they are that long!!!)  Gym Ninja bought a bottle!  Will report back on the findings........

After a fantastic day and having also had the privilege of watching Tara's photoshoot it was time to head home....with the bag of swag...

OK-it's taken Gym Ninja all evening to type this blog due to various 'distractions' (one of which being the fact that United Utilities cut off the water in the area with no warning leaving GN waterless!) so it's time to go.

More 'in-depth' info will follow as and when GN gets a tad less distracted ;-)

Gym Ninja x

Sunday Snooze day

OK Ok, so Gym Ninja obviously has a problem getting up on time at weekends lately, as yet again she found herself running late for the planned Gym Session. Of course, having a sudden urge to exfoliate using 'Hot Butter Fudge' scented exfoliation scrub in the shower may have slowed her down somewhat...but what are you supposed to do if you suddenly feel 'rough'?

Galloping yet again to the gym, half asleep and with no energy shot drink to quaff, meant GN wasn't looking forward to an hour of Extreme Spin Climb. The day after Leg Training too....badly planned.

Once in the Spin Studio, Gym Ninja found herself wit verbal procrastination disease..helpfully pointed out to her by Dangly Cross Man who mentioned how much GN was making excises and moaning before the class had even started. Yup! Too right!
Tiredness + Knackered legs = Moany Ninja.

And thus followed an hour that saw Gym Ninja with legs on a 'go-slow'.
MOVE faster legs!
"Shan't" They said, on their Go-Slow protest.
It's times like this that GN wishes they made Tandem Spin Bikes, so she could hop onto the back of someone elses.....

Staggering out of the hour class, Gym Ninja discovered she'd missed a call from Tara. That was a nice surprise. Tara & Gym Ninja had discovered each other when entering the Maximuscle Body of 2009 competition & stayed in touch. In regular email contact yet never actually spoken.until today. Tara had gone on a food-run for her family & wasn't about to scoff a  'definitely no not hers, really honestly not hers it is someone elses no I swear its not mine I have something else to eat and mmm'.. Panini (haha Tara you SO knew I'd wind you up about that!)  So Gym Ninja chatted to Tara whilst refuelling after the tough Spin Session and before starting the upper body weights session.

By now GN needed to rattle through her weights due to time constraints, & was only distracted twice...once by a girl on the seated row machine who dragged the handles back with all her might...and then found herself almost parallel to the floor she'd moved away from the pad and was leaning back so far. Hmm, that's NOT working your back muscles lady!  The second distraction was a girl who was doing all manner of old-school style ab work whilst wearing dark denim mid-thigh length shorts. The type you'd wear outside of a gym. How odd!

As Gym Ninja replaced a set of dumbbells between exercises, she happened to peer out of the window that overlooked the pool. In the Hydro Pool (aka giant jacuzzi) was a guy with his back to the large water jet. That'd be a HAIRY back. Yes, SO hairy that GN could see it all in great detail despite being a level up and far away......eww. Just when Gym Ninja was thinking how horrid a back full of thick black hair looked, something horrid happened.........the huge fan of water switched on (hence why the guy was below it waiting) and the jet of water parted the hair on his back like a hairy old parting of the Red Sea.
Bleaurrrh!

After the gym, the next stop was to good old Sports Direct to pick up some last minute 'accessories' for the photoshoot next week.

• Lime Green legwarmers: Check! 
• Red Boxing Gloves: Check!
• Backless (!) weights gloves: Check!
• Day Glo 80's style wrist sweat bands: Check!

Well, Gym Ninja isn't really sure what her look will be in some of the photos so may as well blow all of £17 on a mad assortment eh?(yep she got a whole bag of stuff, including the boxing gloves, for that!).

So now Gym Ninja is sat down wondering what to cook up for dinner? Maybe some more turkey stir fry? Her latest craze? Or something easy and quick like steamed veg and cottage cheese? Hmm, in retrospect stir fry is kind of easy and quick too.......decisions decisions decisions.......

Ahhh what the hell.......Stir Fry it is.......

Have a good Sunday people! Remember.....eating clean keeps you lean!!!!!! Yum!

Gym Ninja x

Lean Clean Ultra-Fit machine

Yep.

Gym Ninja has a new 'focus'. The Ultra-Fit Cover Model competition.

The overall prize is a 4 night stay in Italy and being shot (not literally!) for the cover of Ultra-Fit magazine. You'll also get 6 months of USN supplements and also model a workout inside the Ultra-Fit magazine.

Runners up get 3  months of supplements, get to model inside the magazine and also win a private coaching session.

The finalists also get filmed for Fitness TV. Ooer!

Not bad eh? The benefit of competitions like this is that it focuses the mind. If you have a few days whereby the appeal to eat anything less than clean is overwhelming, then having something to aim for and to be accountable to it extremely helpful. After all, it was thanks to the Maximuscle Body of 2009 competition that Gym Ninja finally kicked her hardcore Haribo addiction & has not eaten one since!

Depending on what type of character you are, it may be all about the winning? But if you are similar in character to Gym Ninja, then the competition is with yourself! For instance, Gym Ninja didn't win the Maximuscle competition but that doesn't mean she regrets entering. NO! She loved entering that and will do so again this year. It's the competition you have with yourself that is so appealing..

• Can your mind master your cravings and help you build the best possible you there ever was? 
• How rewarding is the feeling of being in better shape NOW, when you are older than you have ever been (logically!)??
• HOW amazing will you look on holiday this year if you are in 'cover mode'l shape?
• Oh and how amazing will you FEEL eating so clean and exercising regularly?

Have you signed up yet? Gym Ninja was encouraged to participate by Tara (the tinker!) who is also entering the competition. See? We all need our motivational carrots!  Tara waggled that carrot in front of GN and Gym Ninja signed up.....not that you actually sign up. You just 'decide'...ahem.

So...GN managed to get back to the gym tonight. Cardio & legs, and also 'just in case', a skipping rope brought along for instant cardio! Can't have these Jay Walkers getting in the way of Gym Ninja's cardio workout now can we? Luckily Gym Ninja needn't have worried as the Monday Crush appears to be a Monday thing (hence the name).

Gym Ninja decided to do some German Volume Training...aka GVT. For legs! She set up on the incline Hammer Strength Leg Press, loaded on the 'big boy' weight plates and began her 10 sets of 10 reps, with an exactly timed 60 seconds rest between sets.  The guy on the next machine was such a fidgety bottom though! He'd bang out one set using momentum, then hop off, and trot around.  Repeat for sets. How obscure! He didn't look as if he was trying to get blood back into his legs, or work through the lactic acid build up. He just seemed like the kind of person you end up screaming at to 'stop waggling your leg' when they sit there, legs crossed, pen clicking in and out....grrr! 

After the 10 sets, Gym Ninja hauled herself over to look for a vacant isolation move for her quads..aka the Leg Extension. 3 x 12 reps would burn out the quads suitably. But no! All taken! AHHHR! So Gym Ninja had to instead grab a Bosu Ball and do static lunges, really emphasising the Quads, until her legs were all wibbly wobbly and floaty! SOme Romanian deadlifts and Frontal Plane Lunges with dumbbells was just enough to finish her off.  FAB! 

Re: Gym Ninja's 'baby' aka her Personal Training Business, things are starting to come together now in readiness. The logo is nearly finished, with the choice having been narrowed down to 2 preferred layouts. Her patient Graphic Designer Linky is biting her lip and tolerating Gym Ninja's odd  ways...for example:

Gym Ninja Classics include: 

"I've found the PERFECT shade of red for my logo-it's in a ball of wool at my Mum's house. I'll send you a piece of it!" 

"Could you just do the same round circle, but smaller and also an oval instead of a circle?"

"I like the red but I need it more red"

And so on.....

Now poor Linky is patiently waiting the arrival of a 7" strand of red wool through the post like some sort of 'Kabalah' junk mail....

So.....on that note, an overexcitable Gym Ninja is about to log off and get some more revision done. Tonight is Diabetes and Osteoporosis. Woooo!

Gym Ninja xx