WEEKLY WORKOUT ROUTINE: FAVORITE PROTEIN SNACKS

No matter whether I'm trying to bulk, maintain or cut, I've always gotta have some protein snacks handy. This is also super important with how busy I am as a resident, because I am terrible at making sure I eat the meals I need to. At one point, I even resorted to setting alarms to eat every 2-3 hours... it's bad y'all lol.

I've previously shared my protein banana bread recipe with y'all {see this post}. It's a great option to make on a weekend so you can pack slices during the week. In addition to that, I love making overnight oats as a breakfast meal prep to eat in the car on the way to work. I just mix plain Quaker oats, almond milk, maple syrup, brown sugar and whatever flavor of protein powder I have. I then garnish with blueberries, strawberries, chocolate {I love adding a teaspoon of nutella}, etc.

In terms of easy to grab, pre-made snacks my go to's are Quest bars, RX bars, cottage cheese singles {the 4% fat kind}, Siggi's yogurt, hard-boiled eggs and obviously protein shakes {I'l share all my supplements in a later post}. I have been a die hard Quest bar fan since they came onto the scene a few years ago. They have sooo many flavors and are always coming up with new ones that I want to try. Depending on the flavor, you get about 20g of protein and <20g of sugar per bar. My favorites are chocolate chip cookie dough and white chocolate raspberry. My goal in life is to get Costco to start selling them in bulk lol. For now, you can buy them direct from their website, on Amazon, and at grocery stores like Publix and Harris Teeter. Quest also now makes protein chips and cookies, hero bars, cereal bars and protein powder so there's plenty of other options to choose from if you're not into bars.

RX bars are also also tasty and have very few ingredients which I love. They're flavor options aren't quite as broad as Quest bars but they're still delicious. They have about 12g of protein per bar which is nothing to sniff at. They can be found at some grocery stores, on Amazon and at their website.

In terms of natural protein options, cottage cheese and hard boiled eggs are something that I loooove but I know aren't for everyone lol. I like Daisy, Good Culture and Breakstone cottage cheese brands, all of which come in convenient little singles containers that I can pack and bring to work every day. I like to get the ones with pineapple or  blueberry just to switch the flavor up every once in a while too.  I sometimes make hard boiled eggs at home but more often than not I just pick some up from our cafeteria (it's sometimes the only appetizing thing and I get to skip the line lol) and just garnish with some salt and pepper. Finally, Siggi's yogurt is a newer yogurt that I heard about from one of my co-residents. Their yogurt is a thicker, Icelandic variety that is super creamy and smooth and has about 15g of protein per cup. It's not for everyone because it is pretty thick but I love it.

There's tons of other protein rich snacks out there, this is just what I tend to go for. What do y'all like to snack on when trying to get some protein in?

Here's this week's workout routine:

Monday: Legs (Quads, Glutes, Calves)

• Smith Machine Sumo Squat – 4 sets x 10 reps (A)

• Smith Machine Reverse Lunge – 4 sets x 10 reps each side (B)

• Smith Machine Sissy Squat – 4 sets x 10 reps (A)

• Side-to-Side Squat {w/ resistance band below knees} – 4 sets x 15 reps each side (B)

• Smith Machine Pistol Squat {light weight w/ these, they're surprisingly hard}– 4 sets x 10 reps each side (A)

• Smith Machine Calf Raise - 4 sets x 10 reps (B)

• Narrow Stance Leg Press {w/ resistance band below knees} – 4×10 reps (A)

• Wide Stance Leg Press {w/ resistance band below knees} – 4×10 reps (B)

Tuesday: Chest+Back

• Chest-supported Rope Lat Pulldown – 4 sets x 8 reps (A)

• Bent Over Fly – 4 sets x 10 reps (B)

• Dumbbell Bench Row- 4 sets x 8 reps each side (A)

• Flat Bench Press {dumbbells or bar} – 4 sets x 8 reps (B)

• Skull Crusher {on incline bench} – 4 sets x 8 reps (A)

• Incline Bench Press {dumbbells or bar} – 4 sets x 8 reps (B)

• Cable Pec Fly (I like to do these seated) – 4 sets x 8 reps

• Cable Rear Delt – 4 sets x 8 reps

Wednesday: Choose a fitness class or get some cardio in!

Thursday: Legs (Hamstrings, Glutes)

• Dumbbell Sumo Squat – 4 sets x 10 reps (A)

• Dumbbell American Deadlift – 4 sets x 10 reps  (B)

• Kettlebell Swings – 4 sets x 10 reps (A)

• Dumbbell Walking Lunges – 4 sets x 15 reps each side (B)

• Cable Donkey Kick {I wrap the cable attachment right above the knee} – 4 sets x 10 reps each side (A)**

• Cable Fire Hydrant – 4 sets x 10 reps each side (B)**

• Single Leg Hip Thrust (I place a dumbbell or kettebell on the planted leg) – 4 set x 10 reps each side

• Barbell or Smith Machine Hip Thrusts {w/ resistance band below knees} – 4 sets x 10 reps > into 5 pulses > into 10 second hold

**I superset these on one side – so I do all my sets of donkey kicks and fire hydrants for my right leg then switch the cable attachment and do my left. Warning: This BURNS.)

Friday: Abs+Shoulders

• Upright Row – 4 sets x 8 reps (A)

• Overhead Press (dumbbell or bar)- 4 sets x 8 reps (B)

• Dumbbell Front Raise – 4 sets x 8 reps (A)

• DB Lateral Raise – 4 sets x 8 reps (B)

• Cable Rear Delt w/ reverse grip (thumbs pointing towards you) – 4 sets x 8 reps (A)

• Cable Leaning Lateral Raise – 4 sets x 8 reps (B)

• ABS –

Saturday: Abs+Cardio

• Insert your favorite ab routine here! My routine can be found at the bottom of this post

Sunday: Rest day