Heather Sundean, Personal Trainer

11/19/2022

I'm now an Intuitive Eating Lay Facilitator! It took me about a year and a half to complete the requirements. Very excited to be able to help share and spread this extremely valuable framework.

04/08/2022

GOALS. I've got to add 25 pounds onto my overhead press by July! CAN I DO IT!?!

I'm hoping to get certified as a StrongFirst instructor this July. In order to do so, I'll have to do a few different strength and technique tests, but the only one that is REALLY hard for me is the overhead press. In order to pass, I will have to perform 5 repetitions at 50% of my bodyweight, with excellent form. That's 65 or 70 pounds. I can currently do 45. Getting to 70 might not sound like a lot, but it's actually an additional 45%, which is pretty significant.

I've already been procrastinating about it because I don't believe I can do it, but now it's time to start taking it seriously and training my OH presses three times per week. I'll log my progress once per week!

Today I did pyramid sets:
5 reps: 30 lbs
4 reps: 35 lbs
3 reps: 40 lbs
4 reps: 35 lbs
5 reps: 30 lbs

It might not happen, but that's OK - the worst case scenario is, I will significantly improve my weakest lift even if the StrongFirst thing doesn't happen!

(Footnote: that's me in my home gym. I propped up my phone, got to the top of a press and yelled "WHISKEY!" to get the photo to take. So that was fun.)

03/21/2022

Floor shot! I'm on the final weeks of my current strength training program, and for every exercise, the last set is a drop set to failure. I was on the floor at the end, along with half the equipment in the gym! I can't wait for leg day. 😅

02/28/2022

Ring hamstring curls! These can also be done with a suspension trainer like a TRX. It can be hard to find good hamstring isolation exercises, but this one gets them burning like crazy. The trick is to keep your hips off the floor the entire time! At Organically Grown Muscle.

02/26/2022

Some days, yep...

02/21/2022

Squatting cable bicep curls! I've getting much more friendly with my cable machine lately. I used to think of cables as just an accessory to my main barbell and dumbbell workout. Now I do a few workouts each week that are almost all cables and bands. It seems to be helping with hypertrophy (adding muscle mass), which is one of my goals!

02/07/2022

We all know that larger food portions or eating while distracted lead us to eat more. Right? ...WRONG! One researcher, Brian Wansink of Cornell, was largely responsible for the studies and massive media buzz on these ideas. Wansink resigned from Cornell in 2018 after it was found that he "cooked the books" on a huge number of studies. It will take a long time to undo the damage done by this misinformation, which leads us to believe we can't trust ourselves with food.

Brian Wansink won fame, funding, and influence for his science-backed advice on healthy eating. Now, emails show how the Cornell professor and his colleagues have hacked and massaged low-quality data into headline-friendly studies to “go virally big time.”

01/31/2022

Mondays are a long day for me at the gym, so I always pack a big lunch in my adorable mini crockpot, plus a snack, to get me through the day. Tomorrow's spread is refried black beans, taco TVP, corn and rice! With avocado and fresh veggies on the side. Plus an apple and peanut butter and a big chai tea! I love having it all packed and ready to go the night before, so I can fly out the door on time in the morning!

01/17/2022

Noom. Is it really "not a diet?" Does it really improve your mental and physical wellness through cognitive behavioral therapy? No. It puts you on a calorie limit, like every other diet, ever. I don't understand how they get away with these harmful claims.

Dieting apps like Noom and WW are selling mindfulness as a way to shed pounds—an approach that’s misleading and could even be dangerous.