5 exercises that will give you sexy, toned arms for summer!

Who doesn’t want nice, toned arms to go along with that cute sundress? Here are 5 of my FAVORITE exercises to throw into your workout routine that will help get rid of that arm flab!

5. Kettlebell Swings – while this does work your lower body, I’ve found that it does wonders for your shoulders. Throw this in at the end of your workout, perhaps in a HIIT style circuit and you’ll really feel the burn!

4. Lateral Raises (Front, Side) – These will also help give your shoulders a nice rounded look. 3 sets of 10 should work well.

3. Skullcrushers – I call this exercise the tricep killa’ because well…you tell me how your triceps feel the next day 😉 Start with 3 sets of 10, after you finish your third set, grab a lower weight and do as many as possible. (i.e drop set)

2. Dips – Another fantastic tricep exercise. It wasn’t until I added in dips and skullcrushers that my triceps made any sort of appearance! If you can’t do regular dips, grab a bench and use that to complete this movement.

1. Hammer Curls – Probably my favorite bicep exercise. What’s the use of having nice arms without have some bicep definition to go along with it?

Motivation: How to find it when it’s just not there.

Man, I really was not feeling my workout today. But I went in and got it done, just because I know if I didn’t in 3 months from now I’d regret it. Fitness is more than just looking good. It’s the feeling of accomplishment you get when you hit new PRs. It’s realizing that you can do something this week that you couldn’t do last week. It’s pushing yourself as far as possible. It’s the best depression and anxiety medicine there is.

When I need motivation, I just think about Lucy. How would I want her to act? Do I want her to be motivated, or do I want her to find excuses not to do things? I also think about MY goals. I remind myself how far I’ve come and that if I just keep pushing, in a few months I’ll be where I want to be.

I’ll share my latest workout with you guys in the next post, and then I’ll have Lucy’s 8 month blog and milestones reached post to write up as well!

Tuesday’s workout

Today I’m going to share with you guys the actual workout I will be doing at the gym today! I’m going back to a Push/Pull/Legs split from my DUP programming just because I can’t squat heavy right now. Yesterday was legs, so today will be push. (Push = Chest, Triceps, Shoulders)

Bench Press: Warm up, 3×10 with 75 lbs, AMRAP set with 55 lbs.
DB Shoulder Press: 3×10 with 15-25 lbs
Cable Tricep Press Downs: 3×10 with 30-50 lbs
Hammer Strength Chest Press: 3×10 with 50 lbs
Lateral Raises: 3×10 with 15 lbs
Tricep Kickbacks: 3×10 with 15 lbs

Followed up with 30 minutes of MISS (moderate intensity steady state cardio)

Monday Motivation: Build a Booty!

Today I’m going to share with you my FAVORITE booty workout! Try this the next time you’re at the gym. (PS. The first number is for number of SETS, the second number(s) is for the number of REPS per set.)

Back Squats: Do a few warm up sets with 10-12 reps. For your working sets use a weight that you can do 8-10 reps with.
3 x 8-10 

Romanian Deadlifts: Make sure you warm up again with a lighter weight doing 12-15 reps. For your working sets go a little heavier and do 10-12 reps.
3 x 10-12

Glute Kickbacks: If your gym doesn’t have a kickback machine you can do cable kickbacks.
3 x 10

Lunges: Holding dumbbells perform walking lunges.
3 x 10-12

And finally finish up with Good Mornings! We’ll keep this lighter and do 3 sets of 20.
3 x 20

If you try this, please let me know how sore you are afterward!

It’s been a while.

I’d love to say that the transition to bed sharing has been easy, and for the most part it has, but let’s just say…I’m exhausted. That is motherhood though, right?

Well Lucy is 7 months old…today actually! She’s been crawling for about 2 weeks now. She’s had a lot of foods! Avocados, Sweet Potatoes, Oatmeal, Greek Yogurt, Carrots, Broccoli, Banana, Raspberries, Prunes, and Puffs. She doesn’t like the raspberries. Hated the carrots on their own, but mixed with oats she ate them. Loves avocado, oats, greek yogurt, broccoli, bananas, and prunes. She’s doing something different everyday now, and I’m sad to think we’re approaching 1 year!!

As far as my fitness journey goes…it’s actually going great! I just finished a 4 week DUP cycle. At the beginning of the program my lifts were: Bench 95 Squat 145 Deadlift 165 and at the end they were: Bench 110 Squat 175 Deadlift 215.

Sunday I’ll be starting my 2nd cycle on that DUP program. But I think it’s finally time to shred down and see what muscle I have underneath! Yay for a calorie deficit…haha. I’ll keep you all posted on baby, mommy life, and my fitness adventure!

How to Make Fitness a Priority in Your New “Mom Life”

1. Make time. Before you became a Mom you probably could go to the gym whenever you felt like it, at least I could. Now, I have to make sure Kyle will be home to care for Lucy, and that he has all of his work done first before I leave. There’s only 24 hours in a day. If you want something, make it happen.

2. Get your nutrition right. No, I’m not talking about any of those fad diets out there. And I’m not even telling you that you have to eat strictly “clean” whole foods 100% of the time. There’s this thing called “Flexible Dieting”, you can still eat the foods you love, just in moderation. (Check out a free ebook on that here.)

3. Get some at home equipment if you can’t make it to the gym. You really can get a great workout in with only a few items! Think dumbbells, kettlebells, or even a barbell and some plates.

4. Supplement your diet and exercise if you need to. There’s no magic pill that’ll give you big muscles or shred the fat away, well no LEGAL magic pill, but there are some good supplements out there that can help out your diet, your recovery, your energy, etc.

5. Find a workout/accountability partner. It’s always easier when someone else is doing it with you. Enlist one of your friends and make it fun!

If you’re an exhausted mama who’s looking for a boost to help get a good workout in check out Cellucor’s supplement line. If you see anything you like, you can save 25% with my coupon code ASHLYNP. 

Pumpkin Protein Cheesecake

Ingredients:

* 2 scoops Cellucor Cinnamon Swirl protein (get it here for a discount use code ASHLYNP)
* 1/2 cup sweetener
* 1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
* 1 tsp ground cinnamon
* 2 large eggs
* 1 tsp vanilla extract
* 1/2 tsp salt
* 12 oz fat free vanilla greek yogurt
* 16 oz fat free cream cheese
* 15 oz pure pumpkin
* Optional: Pie crust

Instructions:

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix together. Pour mix into pie crust OR at least a 9 inch cake pan. If using the cake pan make sure you line it with parchment paper first. Bake at 325 for 30 minutes, and then for 50-60 more minutes on 200. Remove, let cool, then wrap your cheesecake with saran wrap and let sit in fridge overnight. Enjoy!