Besides Beka's blog today..I think this is awesome as well.
Physically Fit Inside & Out
IFBB Fitness Pro Tanji Johnson shares her leg and glute training secrets along with her spiritual success.
Appreciate yourself for who you are. This is the message IFBB Fitness Pro Tanji Johnson shares with her personal training clients, her friends and her family. In an industry full of folks striving for the perfect face, breast size and body, Johnson stands out more for her inside than for the pre-conceived notion of how her outside should appear.
“Initially, I thought the fitness industry was fun, exciting and like a mini Hollywood. I still feel that way, but I have also seen how it can change a person or cause them to lose themselves,” Johnson says. “I see people take refuge in the industry and become what they think is perfect versus taking the time to learn who they really are and how they want to be in the industry.”
Tanji’s goal is to help others accept themselves without feeling the pressure to acquiesce to an unrealistic ideal. She offers her time to speak in schools about fitness and healthy living. Above all, Johnson speaks about how her faith in God helps focus on her career. “I keep my center with daily prayer, journal writing and praising with music,” she says.
Tanji is blessed with a support network that includes her boyfriend and trainer Jason, who has been in her corner throughout her pro career, and Max Muscle of Bellevue, a prominent training facility in Wash. But the main source of her strength is attained through her faith. "I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me" Phil 4:13 is her favorite verse. She keeps it close at heart in all her experiences.
Unlike many who claim to be Christians, but judge others, Johnson believes in acceptance and helping others rather than putting them down in an effort to make herself feel superior. She respects their choices, however different they may be from her own, and is happy to see her friends enjoy their lives with confidence.
The fitness industry is ripe with temptations and opportunities to turn down the wrong path. This can hurt your career, your training and, most important, your spirit and self-worth. Johnson focuses on her goals of owning a faith and fitness studio for kids and her desire to win the Fitness Olympia. In an effort to help others gain confidence, she is writing a book about the same topic she recently spoke on during the Arnold Classic weekend. It is entitled How To Be Perfect In A Silicon World and it addresses the temptations and influences in the fitness industry that cause us to stray from being our true selves. It will encourage readers to balance their lives in the world of fitness with their faith in God.
Tanji offers the following advice to those who want to get involved in the fitness industry:
1. Seek to understand the industry from a commercial standpoint. Like anything else, this is a business and needs to be treated like one.
2. Decide what you want from fitness first (fun, a self-esteem boost, career opportunities, competitive drive, exposure, etc).
3. Establish goals and develop a strategic plan on how to follow through.
4. Stay true to yourself.
5. Don’t let the industry define you!
Johnson military background really isn’t a surprise when you see how she approaches her goals and conquers them. Born January 9th in Bramberg, Germany, her father’s Army military career took her all over the world. She spent her adolescence in Germany, several years in Korea (where her mother was born) and then moved to the United States where she attended high school in South Carolina. She describes a strict, but loving home life.
“I was always able to experience the roots of both my Korean and African-American culture,” Johnson says. “I love being of two ethnic backgrounds. I feel that it has made my life richer.”
That life experience aided her while serving 5 years in the Air Force. In 1999 she was deployed during Operation Allied Force at the time of the Kosovo Crisis. While there she was in charge of 120 aircraft maintenance troops which cared for the KC135 aircrafts pivotal to providing aerial refueling for the fighter planes.
These days Johnson lives in Washington where she coaches fitness and figure athletes and teaches hip-hop. She choreographs all her own fitness routines as well as doing so for others. While her background is in cheerleading, she enjoys hip- hop so much that she will soon be coming out with a video to teach the basic movements. Look for Tanji to contribute a regular column in MS&F in the near future. For more information visit her website at www.tanjijohnson.com or e-mail Tanji at excelentspirit@hotmail.com.
Tanji’s Glute And
Hamstring Routine
Leg press (pushing off heels) - 15 to 20 repetitions x 3 sets
Stiff legged deadlifts - 15 to 20 repetitions x 3 sets
Hamstring curls (laying down) - 15 to 20 repetitions x 3 sets
Rope cable deadlifts - 15 to 20 repetitions x 3 sets
Step up back lunges on a bench - 15 to 20 repetitions x 3 sets
Dumbbell squats - 15 to 20 repetitions x 3 sets
Daily Diet And
Supplement Program
Breakfast: 1cup oats (with handful of cranberries), four eggwhites and one banana. Vitacell.
Mid-morning: High 5 protein shake.
Lunch: 5 oz chicken, 3.5 oz yam and a cup of broccolli.
Mid-afternoon: High 5 protein shake.
Post-workout: 5 oz chicken, 3.5 oz yam and one cup broccolli.
Dinner: 5 oz lean beef and 1 cup brown rice.
Cheat Meals: “I enjoy cheat meals throughout the week, but I take my Max Carb & Fat Away and Max Cleanse and Lean to keep the damages down. I love sushi, hot & spicy chicken teriyaki, ice cream and chocolate!”
