Mrs. Strunk's training

[msmuscle]

Some of you have asked about my diet and training programs. I will give a general discription of what I do here and if anyone has more questions just post to the thread and I will try and expand more. For all you guys who have wives etc. that are timid about getting in the gym with the weights I would be more than happy to give advice. I would love to see more women on this board and more women get involved in BB. I am currently 15 weeks out from the USA's and this is a typical week for me.

Cardio: 1hr a day first thing in the morning
Chest
Arms
Back
Legs
Shoulders
Calves 2 X a week
I train one body part a day on a 4 on 2 off schedule. I go as heavy as I can doing 6-8 reps, I try to get in about 9-12 sets per body part. I do go a little higher on reps for my legs.

My diet it pretty much that of a typical pre-contest diet. Lots of chicken, lean beef, salmon. My only carb source is sweet potatos and veggies. I do a little carb rotation to keep my body guessing and metabolism up. I will tweak things here and there along the way but for the most part it is just staying consistant and focused. Once I start I don't cheat EVER. Hope this answers some of your questions and feel free to post.

 

[rAJJIN]

Great to see you Posting again Mrs.Strunk!
Ill see if I can get my wife on here in the female section.
Shes always asking me for advice and I have no idea realy... I tell her to email
Lynx and talk to her, but she is to Bashfull.

Best of Luck at the USA`s!

 

[MAINEVENT]

Thanks Mrs. Strunk/Ms. Muscle.

So your doing 1 hours of cardio already at 15 weeks out. How much cardio do you work up to typically? How much cardio do you do in the offseason?

In your opinion, what do you think helps women the most in getting the lower half leaner as that seems to be the toughest to dial in?

What is your average breakdown of protein/carbs/fats at 15 weeks out? Just numbers, I wouldn't want you to have to write your whole diet out...lol.

Sorry for the questions, Im just really curious. The reason is, I've tried to help a few women get in shape and it just seems tougher (or they're not telling me the trueth!) to get them down to where they want to be.

 

[JETHRO TULL]

Thank you, MsMuscle!

I am glad you are posting. YOU are IMPRESSIVE AS HELL! Things I notice your always in tremendous condition and have thick, dense muscles.

We are cheering and hoping for you to do your best at your show.

Thanks for being a class act.

 

[Steak Helmet]

nice...can you post some progress pics as you are getting ready for the show??


I know a couple other ladies competing in the USAs I am sure it will be a good year.

 

[K1]

You are definitely dedicated!! I don't see you having any problem with the competition!! Your conditioning is excellent!! Good luck to you!!

 

[Strunk]

Mainevent, Mrs Strunk has been doing 1 hr of cardio starting at 21 weeks out when she began dieting. She does it first thing when she wakes up. She gets out of bed and goes right to the stationary bike. She'll never go over 1 hr per day during her prep. On your other question about getting the lower half as lean as the upper...it's long and consistant dieting. This is where the true dedication and discipline part come in as they have to suck it up and stay focused as it's usually the biggest problem for females have when coming in for the show. They just have to be patient and not try to rush things. In my opinion, the FBB is harder to get ready for a show with all the varibles that your dealing with than you would a male. I'd much rather prep a female than a male as I find it more challenging.
I'll let her fill you in on her ratios, but they are now starting to constantly change day to day/week to week. Obviously, she and Jethro went to the same culinary school as I watched her spread peanut butter on her chicken breast the other day.mmmmm LOL

Steak...good luck on the pics.LOL I have a hard enough time trying to get her to take progress pics every 2 weeks so we can closely monitor her progress. I'd imagine that she'll stay covered up until the end.

 

[oldfella]

Thank You!

Mrs. Strunk, I'm sure a lot of women want to get into great shape. I try to convince them that lifting is ultimately the way to go. I'm glad you posted this so I can share with some of my female clients that seem to think they are going to start sprouting muscle at the mere mention of weights. I am impressed that you do not have cheat meals ever while contest prepping! Do you feel that if you did it would hinder your progress greatly.? I know that about every five or six weeks I have a cheat meal and it seems to actually help things along. Your physique is extremely impressive and I wish you the best of success at your show. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us.

 

[msmuscle]

Wow. I'm flattered that so many of you want to hear what I have to say! I'll try to answer your questions the best I can. Although I guess Strunk feels the need to speak for me. LOL We all know you don't want to follow his diet!!!

As far as protein, carb, fat ratio I try and keep the protein at at least 200g/day, on low carb days it's just fiberous and it's about 2-3 cups of veggies, the only fat comes from the lean beef or salmon and my 2T of peanut butter at night. Yeah!!!! Carbs usually don't get above 100g/day all the way through.

As for getting the lower half lean..... Like Strunk said for me it's just been long consistant dieting. The glutes and hams are always the last to come in. Cardio and good leg training never hurt. I wish I had better advice for that but that's what works for me.

I don't cheat because if I give myself a little taste of something I want it just makes me want more. Not cheating keeps me in control. Closer to the show If I'm ahead of schedule I might allow something.

Steak. I may post some progress pics later on, I'm still a little too soft for viewing right now. I will post a pic from last season for those who don't know who I am.

rajjin. Women need to get over the fear of the weights. Have them pm me and I can lay out some training programs that are pretty good for beginers and explain how resistance training actually burns more calories than cardio.

Thanks again!

 

[oldfella]

WOW!

msmuscle, I have seen that shot before but everytime I see it I just want to bow down to the Godess of muscle and conditioning I see before me. It is the ultimate in condition for a female. I for one would be happy if you could share some of your training schemes with some of my female members here. It would be an honor!

 

[MAINEVENT]

msmuscle, I have seen that shot before but everytime I see it I just want to bow down to the Godess of muscle and conditioning I see before me. It is the ultimate in condition for a female. I for one would be happy if you could share some of your training schemes with some of my female members here. It would be an honor!

I agree. Whats even more impressive is that you can tell the level of your dedication just by reading your posts. I feel like such a lazy slacker now.....talk about a kick in the pants.

Thanks so much for taking the time to do this. Im looking forward to more of your posts and would love to see some progression pictures.

 

[Strunk]

I'll try to answer your questions the best I can. Although I guess Strunk feels the need to speak for me. LOL We all know you don't want to follow his diet!!!

You mean I can't speak for you sweetie?LOL I've been married to you for 15 years...I think I can answer some questions for you since I know how busy you are. There's nothing wrong with my diet...I had a protein shake today. Anyway, it's "do as I say...not as I do".LOL

 

[JETHRO TULL]

Ms. Muscle,

Wow. I'm flattered that so many of you want to hear what I have to say!

As for getting the lower half lean..... Like Strunk said for me it's just been long consistant dieting. The glutes and hams are always the last to come in. Cardio and good leg training never hurt. I wish I had better advice for that but that's what works for me.


Thanks again!

I am glad you posted that stuff about long and consistant dieting......The secret stuff that everyone is so worried about...is just having the discipline to do what others won't do...diet. It's good to have that reinforced.

There is this gal at work who started dieting last year..she's lost a lot of weight. She has kept on decreasing her calories lower..and lower...and so on.

[I HAVE A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS ABOUT YOUR TRAINING SPLIT!

Do you ever have any problems recovering? If you do chest....don't you somehow get some triceps in there?....Then you do arms the next day!...Bis and tris...followed immediately by a back day! Don't your biceps get worked twice in a row ...even if you are careful I'd think back would involve a little bicep work!

Obviously it works for you. I am just such a wuss genetically that I couldn't recover from your routine!]


I kept on telling her to have days where she increased her calories in order to keep her metabolism from establishing a new low set point. She ignored that advice.

She came to my room last week and told me she's hit a plateau....hasn't lost any weight for two months. She's at 1000 cals per day..sometimes less.

I asked her...."What are you going to do next, eat 600 calories per day?"

I explained what was going on. People just won't listen. It is really, really frustrating!

So thanks again for this post.

 

[mike man]

msmuscle

Thanks for taking the time and effort to encourage and help other women in this sport. The ones who are serious appreciate all the info you can provide for them. Do you make all the adjustments to your diet yourself, or does Strunk make those suggestions for you? Either way, YOU are the one putting in all the hard work! You look great, and I wish you well.

 

[hard2core2]

All the best at the USA!

I am glad you are posting. YOU are IMPRESSIVE AS HELL! Things I notice your always in tremendous condition and have thick, dense muscles.

We are cheering and hoping for you to do your best at your show.

Thanks for being a class act.

I have seen Mrs. Stunk's picture on here for awhile now...here pictures for Jr. Nationals last year were outstanding!! her conditioning and density are out of this world...In fact I have seen only a few women in the last couple of years that have conditioning similar or close to hers... I have seen Elena Siemple compete a few times and saw her Guest pose at the NPC Physique in NJ in 03 and she had grainy, sandpaper conditioning then..she looked like a female version of John Meadows..She was thick as well...I remember just watching her with my eyes bugged out! ..the other is Robin Parker.. I have seen picutures of her and saw her compete at Nationals in 04.. and she also has conditioning that is off the charts!! Parker dials it in so much that you can see muscles in her Face!!..
When you see conditioning like these women exhibit you have to give them a ton of credit...because in order to get to that level of conditioning you are working HARD and sacrificing a ton!
I truly hope that you are rewarded for your efforts at this years USA Mrs. Strunk.

Hard2core2

 

[msmuscle]

Strunk, honey, yes you can speak for me on some things. We won't tell them about your peanut butter egg weakness. LOL

Jethro: I'm sorry what I posted wasn't exactly what I follow. My training split is 4 on 2 off. It has to be this way because of my work schedule and day care issues. Our gym does not have one. I try not to train arms after chest. The big thing for me is isolation. Over the years I have really learned how to isolate each muscle when working it. I have probably seen more gains since I've been able to really isolate each body part. It takes practice and you have to be able to get over dropping your lb's down to begin with, but when you learn to really work each muscle on its own your lb's will go back up. In a nutshell..... isolation is the key!

Women have such a hard time with the whole idea of eating more is better. It took me a while to get over that idea too. Tell her to e-mail me and I will try my best to open her eyes. Even if she wants to keep her calories at 1000(whew! that's low) if she throws in a 1500 or so day every four days it should make a difference.

Mike Man: I am using Robin Parker for my prep. She does look awesome! Any changes to my diet are pretty much a combined effort. She asks me how I feel, I give her the feedback and we decide the best course of action. It's really just a process of listening to your body and adjusting with it.

I will post some progress pics after while. I am scary pasty white right now, although I'm proud to report that I do have a six pack again. LOL Thanks again for all the support. I love nothing more than to share the sport with others.

 

[mo chuisle]

Inspirational!

Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge! You're an inspiration to those of us who are just getting started in the world of competing.

Do you have a lot of variety in your diet or do you stick to a very consistent routine of the same thing at the same time every day? And if you're on the consistent plan without any cheats (how do you do it?!), does your body hit a plateau?

Any help is appreciated!

 

[eviltemptress]

You mean I can't speak for you sweetie?LOL I've been married to you for 15 years...I think I can answer some questions for you since I know how busy you are. There's nothing wrong with my diet...I had a protein shake today. Anyway, it's "do as I say...not as I do".LOL

had any buckets of captain crunch lately? lol

 

[Future]

You are a brute! Looking forward to meeting you guys at the Fort Wayne show.

 

[ironchick22]

Hey, great information. You are truly inspiring to a female like myself. I have a few questions though about your diet/cardio...
You say that carbs rarely go over 100 grams a day... does this include veggie carbs or just starchy carbs? Do you typically have a higher fat content in your diet then... because 200 grams of protein is only 800 cals and if you are so low carb, then how do you get an adequate amount of calories? Do you eat more when trying to put on size? The reason I ask is because I am trying to add 15-20 pounds of lean mass and am already taking in loads of protein (200-250 g/ day) plus about 25-30 grams of fat and 200-250 g carbs (carbs come from 2 X .5 cup oatmeal servings, and 15 grams from my post workout shake, the rest are from loads of veggies...) I am not gaining anymore though, and I don't know where I should increase? Fats, protein, or carbs? I'm kind of "carbophobic". What is your opinion on this? What are your cals like during a "building" phase, and are your ratios the same? DO you take a post workout shake, and what does it typically consist of?

Also, for your cardio, how intense to do you on the stationary bike? Is it low,moderate intensity, or do you do intervals? What's your opinion on the stepmill machine or treadmill for cardio?

Thanks so much for your time, your physique is truly amazing and your hardwork and determination is inspirational!