Have you ever tried switching to a all natural deodorant? I made the switch about two years ago after I learned some staggering statistics regarding the harmful things put into our deodorant and the relation to breast cancers. At first it wasn't good. I will admit. There is a couple week phase as your body sort of detoxes from the chemical filled stuff. But after that, life gets better. I promise!

Since switching I have tried MANY natural deodorants. Some good, some just plain bad. I may however have found the ultimate deodorant from Pure Living. I am not even kidding people. I am a busy mama. I get up at 5:30 am to workout, rush kids to school, teach bootcamps and yoga all day and night, and add all the usual life of a mom (laundry, cooking, boo boo kissing and basically everything else am I right?). I have found in the past, about 1/2 way into my day, I start to smell a bit. I either just let myself smell or need to reapply.

Well, let me tell you a little something. I put this deodorant to THE TEST yesterday. Let me set the scene:

Tuesday evening I come home from teaching hot yoga, shower and sleep.

Wednesday morning apply deodorant after being up early with a sick kid and missing the gym.

Teach bootcamp, pickup kids, make lunch, teach yoga, do a fast and hard leg day workout, meditate, teach two more yoga classes, put kids to bed and pass out on the couch.

I do not shower. (sorry hubby)

Thursday morning 5:30 am head to the gym, back day and 30 minutes on the stairmill (or sometimes referred to as the Death Machine)

Get back home to make breakfast and have coffee.

I DO NOT STINK!!! Yeah re-read that. Seriously guys. I am 100% impressed.

So I think it's safe to safe I 100% recommend this deodorant. And of course another side benefit? They are local to Edmonton! You can support our local city and get a great product. Win - win right? Check out the Pure Living webpage and check back on the blog here for a more reviews of their stuff coming!

Love,

Jen The Bitchin' Housewife

I love lifting weights and body building, because I get to be in control of what shape my body takes. Working muscles I would like to grow and not working ones that don't need it as much. Big butts are all the rage now. And I am soooooo on that bandwagon. Ha ha.

Problem is. When working lower body muscles, a lot of them work together. Like during your squat "hey butt I see you strugglin', quadriceps and I we're going to help you out here." Maybe not a bad thing, unless you have quadriceps that develop pretty quickly. And your goals are to tames them, but grow a butt. There is many posts about this so I wont beat a dead horse.

Here is a glute/leg workout I put together to focus on isolation of the glute muscles, plus some hamstrings and calves. Because yeah, I want that curvy shape all the way down.

Good mornings - Target the gluteus maximus and the hamstring muscles, the semitendinosus, bicep femoris long and short heads and semimembranosus.

Barbell Lunges - Target Gluteus Maximus and quads. If you take a bigger step it will focus more on the gluteus, shorter step will focus on the quads. I'm really into doing these heavier weighted on the smith machine at the moment. Lower weight, walking lunges will make you feel the burn to.

Hip thrusts - Focus on gluteus Maximus and hamstring muscles, the bicep femoris (long & short heads). I like switching these up between very heavy and lighter with a resistance band around my legs above me knees. Try both and notice where you feel the muscles.

Cable Kick Backs - Gluteus maximus and bicep femoris. Some variations being the knee bent and kick back or grab a platform (think like step class ones) and step up then you can straight leg kick back better.

Hip Abduction - Focus is on Gluteus Medius. This muscle shows more on the side, giving the round shape. I like these on the cable myself, but you can usually find a machine that works these.

Then I round out the workout with:

Standing Calf Raises - Focus on the triceps surae, the three major larger muscles of the calf (gastrocnemius lateral head, gastrocnemius medial head and soleus) as well as the plantaris.

In the "inner butt" is the gluteus minimus which is an important hip stabalizer. Deep in the minimus is the piriformis. Behind the piriformis is the sciatic nerve. I bet you've heard of that one before. Or felt that sucker when he's angry. So it's important to stretch after working out for many reasons, but I think especially after a glute isolation workout, because if the muscles are all tight and the piriformis is, then it will irritate the sciatic nerve, causing you mucho pain.

Here are some great yoga poses you can do to stretch out those glute muscles and hamstrings.

One legged pigeon