It’s been quite some time since I’ve updated the blog, but I’ve been a busy little bee! I am happy to report that I now have two figure competitions “under my belt.”
I competed in the IDFA competition (Ottawa) Oct. 29th and the OPA competition (also Ottawa) Nov. 5th.

So, how to sum it all up? I am so happy that I was able to reach this goal. I took a whole year to prep and overall, I loved every minute of it. I love working out – so that part was easy The dieting had it’s more challenging days, but when you really want something and have invested so much time and effort – you just suck it up and pass on the cheesecake hehehe. It will be there when you’re done. The competition itself was a great learning experience. What I learned most from it is that you’ll always be continually learning about all the best techniques for diet and workout that work best for YOU! As much as it’s difficult because it take trial and error to learn these things – it’s sort of motivating and invigorating as now I have new goals and things to work on or try out until the next competition. You can continue to get better and better as time goes on.

Post competition is great! Maintaining a regular diet and getting back to the business of working out HARD!

All in all it was a wonderful experience. I met some wonderful people and also have a greater sense of gratitude for all the wonderful people in my life who supported me through all of this. I feel very lucky to be surrounded by such amazing people.

As I move forward into my hypertrophy (build) phase of training now. Keep checking in for tips and tricks and to see what I’m up to!

Ta ta for now

If you’ve read my profile on the site, you’ll know that I am preparing for an upcoming Figure Competition in November. Preparations have been going very very well. Lots of hard work and dieting, but that’s what it takes. Anyways, amidst all the terrible dieting, I’ve been doing other fun things in preparation for the show – tanning, hair extensions, shoes, and my suit for the show.

On that note, I wanted to say a quick bit about Joan Macdonald of Daydreams Fitness Wear. She makes custom bathing suits and costumes for bikini, fitness model, and figure competitions (among many other things I’m sure.) Anyways, I just wanted to say how great she is. When you go there, you immediately feel like you are in the right hands – you can tell she has a great deal of experience. She knows how to accentuate certain parts of your body and perhaps hide some as well hehehehe. She is very very friendly, helpful, professional, and timely. I will post pictures of the suit after the show and it will speak for itself, but in the mean time, visit the site www.daydreamsfitnesswear.com and have a look.

Have a great day

I’m sure you’ve seen or heard about the increasing popularity of coconut oil recently. I am a huge fan myself so I figured that maybe I’d give you a little info about it in case you’re interested in giving it a try.

So here we go: One way to classify fats is as Short Chain Fatty Acids (SCFA), Medium Chain Fatty Acids (MCFA), or Long Chain Fatty Acids (LCFA). Coconut Oil is made up of Medium Chain Fatty Acids (This refers to it’s chemical makeup). Fatty Acid chains range in length from 2-22 carbon atoms long. Most of the fatty acids in our diets are LCFA’s with 12 or more carbons in the chain. MCFA’s (like coconut oil) have 6-12 carbon atoms.

What does this mean and why does that make it better than SCFA’s and LCFA’s? Well MCFA’s are metabolized differently due to their shorter length. They are comparable to carbohydrates in the way that they provide energy. They are more water soluble than other fats, and therefore don’t need bile in order to be broken down. They are then able to enter the blood stream more quickly and are taken straight to the liver where they can be used as energy immediately. STFA’s and LCFA’s take much longer to be burned for energy and are therefore more likely to be stored as fat. Because MCFA’s are burned so quickly for energy, their calories are essentially turned into heat. Increased heat in the body amps up it’s ability to burn fat and increases your metabolism! YAY! This is known as thermogenesis.

That’s just a brief description of the weight loss benefits of coconut oil. If you research it further, you will find that many sources propose many many other health benefits. On top of all the great benefits that it offers- one of my favorite parts about it is the taste! MMMM… I love cooking with it, using it in place of salad dressings with lemon and pepper, you can even use it instead of butter! All in all, I would definitely suggest that anyone think about giving it a try! Go for it and let me know what you think!

Thanks guys and have a great day

Just a note to let you know that I now offer Hatha Yoga! Please contact me for more information about this and I hope you will because I am very excited to get started! Yoga has many benefits: stress reduction, improved health, increased strength, weight loss, increased mobility/flexibility, rehabilitation, and much more. It’s continuously growing in popularity and there is a reason for that.

Annnnd for those of you “nay sayer’s” who think “Yoga? Is that really a workout though?” I challenge you to come see me and I’ll see if I can change your mind

Hope to hear from you!

As out of date as this may make me seem, I am totally new to the whole “blog idea” so please forgive me for taking so long to post something on here. Now that I’ve figured it out, I will make sure that I post updates on a regular basis. You’ll find lots of good stuff on here :

Nurtrition and Training Tips

Upcoming Events and Special Promotions

Success Stories and Feedback from current clients

Anything goes really.

So for the first post I will give a little information about what’s coming up in the next little while for Max Effort.

1. Summer/Fall Group classes will be running from August 29th and running until the weather tells us otherwise (it will be an outdoor class). There will be maximum 6 people/class and the class runs for 1 hour. Classes will be Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7:00pm. If there is enough interest I can also run a second group of classes Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday (times TBD). The cost is 12$/class.

2. Summer Kids Boot Camp: The camps run on Tuesday and Thursday evenings at 6:30pm. The camps are 40-45minutes long and the cost is 10$/session.

3. I will also be offering small group or individual Hatha Yoga classes starting on August 29th. Please contact me for more information and keep your eye out for the new YOGA button on the website as well.

That’s all for now, but I will be back soon now that I’ve figured things out Have a great weekend everyone!!!

- Jenna

]]> http://maxeffort2011.wordpress.com/2011/08/12/hello-hello-i-finally-made-it-on-here/feed/ 0 maxeffort2011 http://maxeffort2011.wordpress.com/2011/03/17/abou/ http://maxeffort2011.wordpress.com/2011/03/17/abou/#comments Thu, 17 Mar 2011 20:31:57 +0000 MAXEFFORT.CA http://maxeffort2011.wordpress.com/?p=1 ]]> MAX EFFORTis operated by Neil Dillon and Jenna Richardson. We are a team of two dedicated individuals who live and breathe the lifestyle that we hope to encourage our clients to adopt. We have different skill sets that allow us to service any individual – no matter what their goals may be:

• Strength training
• Sport specific training
• General health and wellness
• Weight loss and toning
• Training for competitions (figure, body building, lifting, etc.)
• Flexibility (increased ROM and functionality)