Interview: Erin Iannacchino Fitness Model

Stats

1. Furiously Fit: Erin, tell us briefly about your experience and values as a model and personal trainer.

I have the privilege to work with many awesome photographers. I love the freedom of capturing great moments and fun times with photography. It is also nice to see visually that the discipline in the gym and kitchen can pay off if you work hard at it. It helps me stay motivated. As a certified Physical Educator, Personal training has allowed me to be able to focus more an individual and their needs for a healthier lifestyle, weight loss/ muscle gain goals, so I love it!

2. Furiously Fit: How do you maintain your physique? How many times a week do you need to go to the gym to maintain your body?

I maintain my physique by trying to be as consistent as possible and making fitness a lifestyle choice. You have to allot time for it as you do anything else. It is also important to have a balance and not beat yourself up if you have a bad day, just get back into it the next day. I go the gym about 5 or 6 days a week. It is nice that I actually work at a gym so it’s easier to stay focused when everyone in there is working for the same goal… healthier body and mind.

3. Furiously Fit: Do you exercise outside of a gym?

I try to be as active as possible whether it is taking my dogs for a walk or tying something new like “Hot yoga.” I used to compete as a figure skater for most of my life and for training I’ve done everything from tae bow to ballet. I love dance and think it is one of the best workouts. I am always up for anything active and different; I’ve even tried a couple Pole dancing fitness classes. Hey why not?

4. Furiously Fit: How do you keep your stomach so defined? Do your work your abs everyday? What is your favorite Ab exercise?

To get the most out of your core workout I suggest mostly a clean diet and cardio. I do a lot of repetitions making sure I am breathing out on the contraction. I usually do my abdominal muscles every other day. My favorite abdominal exercise would have to be the rope crunch.

5. Furiously Fit: What is your ratio of cardio-training to weight-training? Why?

I usually do cardio 5 days a week and resistance training 4 days a week. It is important to let your muscle rest and recover. I don’t do the same muscle group back to back.

6. Furiously Fit: What is your favorite style workout? Yoga, Weight-training, Swimming, Running, Stability and Core-training?

My favorite style workout is one that is nonstop and not much waiting around. I will superset things or add abs in between sets.

7. Furiously Fit: How important is flexibility to you? Why is it important for girls to be flexible?

Flexibility is important to me particularly because of figure skating. Flexibility is crucial in your fitness regiment because it helps to eliminate muscle injuries and tightness. “Your muscles are like a balloon, it just works better if it is stretched first”

8. Furiously Fit: What is your main barrier to exercise? How do you overcome this?

Time usually is a factor when trying to get in a work out. Right now it’s my knee. Three weeks ago I had emergency surgery on my knee due to a soccer game I was playing in. So my challenge right now is to keep my spirits up and body active during the 3 months I need to be on crutches. I have been overcoming this by staying motivated and doing primarily upper body resistance training. I also moved some of my workouts into my house with free weights and a simple weight bench, it is interesting but I get it done.

9. Furiously Fit: What are your thoughts on fitness figure competing?

I was training for a fitness competition when two weeks before had this soccer incident. I feel that it takes a lot of dedication and time in the gym and I respect the sport greatly for that reason. The women that display muscle, health, and beauty are the sexiest women in my mind. I look forward to compete after I recover.

10. Furiously Fit: What are 3 fitness tips you could give a female seeking advice from you?

1. Embrace what type of body that your genetics gave you and make your body the best it can be. Don’t try to be anyone else, especially someone airbrushed on magazine cover, it’s unrealistic even for them.
2. Don’t be over concerned from day to day weight fluctuations. You should track the trend of your weight on a week to week and month to month basis. Use the trends to get an accurate assessment of your progress. Have short term and long term attainable goals.
3. The get the results you want it takes time and dedication. You need to be mindful and consistent. Fitness is a lifestyle decision that anyone can do if you want it enough.

11.Furiously Fit: What muscles do you hate working? Do you fight through them anyway?

I hate training calves and triceps. I definitely fight through triceps, It is important to do the opposite muscle groups for symmetry. It wou

ld be weird to have developed biceps and not triceps. Calves I try to squeeze in between sets by heal raises using the equipment’s base/structure.

12.Furiously Fit: Have you ever given up? Have you ever felt too tired to push-onward at a gym or in the industry? What inspires you to always achieve and push-forward?

I’ve gotten frustrated in the past; like everyone else if I wasn’t seeing results but I just thought if I just do nothing I will NEVER get the results I want. You are the only one standing in the way or in control of your own success. So that is what I tell myself.

13Furiously Fit:. Describe your workout routine.

Day 1-

DB chest press (4x 10 reps)

(2x 15 reps):

Dips superset with

Ball pushups superset with

Cable crossover

Pull ups (4x 10 reps)

(2×15 reps):

Standing cable row ss/w

Pull down ss/w

Plank DB row
(20-25 reps)

Lunges ss/w

Leg ext ss/

Leg sled

Day 2 and Day 4

Military Press (4×10 reps)

(2x 15reps):

DB Arnold Press ss/w

DB lat raises ss/w

Cable upright row

Close grip chin up (4x-10 reps)

(2×15 reps):

Barbell curl ss/w

Zottoman Curl ss/w

Standing cable curl

(4×10 reps):

Close grip chest press

(2×15 reps):

Lying decline barbell ext ss/w

DB french press ss/w

DB incline ext

Day 3

(3×15 reps)

Polymetric Pushups ss/w

Cable chest press ss/w

Peck Deck

(3×15 reps)

DB row ss/w

Reverse pull down ss/w

Reverse peck deck

(4x 10 reps):

Bench press

(2x 15 reps):

Incline DB press palms in ss/w

Incline DB press palms forward dd/w

Flat DB press

(4x 10 reps):

Bent over barbell row

(2×15 reps):

Cable row narrow ss/w

Cable row- wide grip ss/w

Rev Cable row

Every other day: (3×15 reps)

Abdominals- Rope crunches, V ups, leg raises, Russian twists, reverse crunches, Butt- ups (heels to the ceiling)

Calf- Donkey raises, standing calf raises, seated calf raises

14.Furiously Fit: Describe your nutrition program.

I eat about every 3 hours starting my day off with 5 egg whites and oatmeal with cinnamon. I have protein shakes or about 100 calories worth of lean protein for my snacks between meals. Every meal has a protein (turkey, chicken or fish) and a little healthy fat (olive oil, coconut oil or almonds), and a small amount of complex carbohydrate (sweet potato, brown rice, or fruit). I even eat before bed as long as you make sure you are not eating more calories than you allotted for the day.

15. Furiously Fit: What is a healthy snack you count on eating to feel good? What is your cheat meal?

The healthy snack that I count on every morning is my ½ cup of oatmeal. I love it and it is awesome with cinnamon and stevia sugar substitute. My cheat meal would have to be anything with chocolate. I love dark chocolate.

16. Furiously Fit: Is there anything else you would like to add?

I look forward to my onward journey to figure competing and fitness modeling in the future. Please contact me for further advice or help on your fitness goals.

Ejiannacchino@hotmail.com