Tag Archive for back workout

Weekend Relaxation

Good morning!

I started my day off with 20 minutes on the stairmill (per Monday usual) and a COFFEE. I love my coffee everyday, but it’s extra special on Mondays. 🙂

Weekend Fun

This weekend was really awesome. Friday night, my friend and I went to get full body reflexology massages. It was only $25 and was INCREDIBLE. It was definitely the type of massage that made you clench your teeth at times, but it was also super relaxing. They focused a lot on the feet, which was both painful and extremely ticklish! I have the most ticklish feet on the planet, so I had to take a lot of deep breaths to prevent myself from kicking my masseuse in the face.

Saturday morning, Charlie and I got up and hit the gym. He’s actually letting me put him on a training program (:-D!!!!!!) so he’ll be working out with me 3-4 times per week. We did the same back/biceps workout I did last week. It’s a scorcher!

4 sets of Pull Ups (as many as you can do on your own)

3 Supersets of T-Bar Row & DB Bicep Curls (10-12 reps of each)

3 Supersets of Banded Chin Ups & Rope Hammer Curls (6-8 chin ups & 12-15 hammer curls)

Afterwards, he went to the studio to get some work done while I chilled out at home. When he got back, we went to see No Good Deed

11179696_800I rate it an 8/10. The suspense was awesome and kept me entertained throughout, but it was a little predictable. There were definitely some twists and turns that surprised me, though! I say, go see it!

Sunday morning, we grabbed some coffee and drove down to Main Street in search of breakfast. We ended up at Firehouse, which is one of my favorites! It’s an old firehouse-turned-restaurant, and also happens to be right next to Gold’s Gym (a.k.a The Mecca). 4815559804_c44e96337b_bTheir menu has tons of options for bodybuilders and fitness freaks alike. I ended up getting what I always get, the Turkey Scramble. It’s just egg whites, ground turkey, tomatoes, and cilantro, but it’s SO SO good! I didn’t snap a photo, but it’s definitely worth re-creating at home!

After running some errands, we ended up at the park to play catch! This is something that we try to do whenever we can, as we both grew up playing baseball and we can keep up with eachother! Baseball (not softball) was MY sport…I played year round throughout my childhood and into my high school years. I was really good at it and had it been acceptable for a girl to play on my high school baseball team (Yes, I tried out and I was the last cut and was unofficially told it was because I was a girl), who knows where I would’ve ended up! They called me “The Vacuum” at first base for a reason! 😉

gloves

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Anyways, that was a really long-winded way of saying that I still love baseball and it has a really special place in my heart. The fact that I can go play ball with my man and he can keep up (and even show me up at times) makes me really happy.

The rest of our Sunday was spent watching movies and napping. It was GLORIOUS. We don’t do that very often, so it was nice to just go in and out of sleep on the couch for hours.

Workouts for the Week

Monday: 20 min. Stairmill + Chest/Triceps

Tuesday: Boxing

Wednesday: Legs

Thursday: Shoulders/Abs + Boxing

Friday: Back/Biceps

Saturday: Boxing

Sunday: Active Rest

You’ll notice there aren’t any planned rest days, but I will definitely take one if I feel like I need it. I always listen to my body and a shitty workout doesn’t do anybody any good.

Hope your Monday is off to a great start!

Question of the day

1. What was your main hobby growing up? (could be sport, arts, etc.)

Manic Monday & Back Workout!

Woahhhhhhhh. Somehow when I woke up on Monday, I just knew it was going to be “one of those days.” I even took the proper precautions and got my HIIT done in the morning so that I’d be better prepared for a shit storm. It didn’t turn out to be as bad as I thought, but to say it was stressful would be an understatement. A 12 hour Monday is a lot to take in when you still have four more days in the week! Oh well, hopefully I got the hard stuff out of the way.

This little girl definitely helped cheer things up. Isn’t she the cutest?

Even still, I was able to get in a pretty good back/biceps/abs workout. I threw in the abs just because. I rarely do abs (usually only when someone tricks me into it) but thought it would be good to start doing them here and there. 😀 I use and engage my abs during basically every exercise I do, which is why I don’t typically do specific exercises for them, but it certainly is something I should do more of!

This was short and sweet, just the way I like it. I SOOO prefer to do supersets and work my ass off for 30-40 minutes as opposed to longer workouts with long rest periods. Of course, when I’m lifting heavier, I need the longer rests, but if I’m doing slightly higher reps, screw the rest time! I’m too impatient! Here’s what I did:

Back/Bis/Ab Workout

Superset #1: (bw=bodyweight)

Chin Ups:

Set 1 – bw x 5, Set 2 – bw x 4, Set 3 – bw x 4

Hanging Leg Raise

Set 1 – bw x 12, Set 2 – bw x 12, Set 3 – bw x 12

Superset #2:

Lat Pulldown (double pulley)

Set 1 – 35 x 15, Set 2 – 35 x 15, Set 3 – 35 x 15

EZ Bar Curl

Set 1 – 40 x 12, Set 2 – 40 x 12, Set 3 – 40 x 10

Superset #3:

One Arm Cable Row (using seated row cable)

Set 1 – 25 x 15, Set 2 – 25 x 15, Set 3 – 25 x 15

DB Hammer Curl

Set 1 – 15 x 15, Set 2 – 17.5 x 10, Set 3 – 17.5 x 10

Finisher:

Opposite Hand to Foot Full Sit Ups

Set 1- bw x 20, Set 2 – bw x 20

This workout was good! The chin ups always get me. I was surprised that I did 5 in a row! I haven’t done them in a few weeks and was worried I wouldn’t be able to do them at all. 😀

pull up pic

(Me doing pull ups a few months ago)

I’m planning on hitting legs today, and specifically deadlifting. I feel like I’ve been focusing on squats a TON lately (because I’m trying to get better at them) and I’ve neglected the deadlifts a bit.

I just have to say, while I’ve been squatting for years, a few months ago I decided to focus on going heavier with better form. I always shied away from heavy squats because I wasn’t good at them, and many moons ago, I sort of injured my back by going too heavy too soon. I was new to lifting and just didn’t give myself ample time to work up to heavier weights. It kind of freaked me out a bit and so I just kept my weights fairly light and never went too heavy throughout the years. I wanted to start working on heavier weights and really just decided to start from the beginning. I started with the weight I was comfortable with and just practiced. Each time I’d do squats, I’d add a little bit more weight. I wouldn’t go any heavier until I was hitting below parallel and in good form. Once I mastered that weight, I’d up the weights just a touch more. I’ve been doing this for the last few months and HOLY COW my butt has lifted! I started noticing it a few weeks ago and it’s pretty awesome. I’m able to go heavier than I have in years, I squat below parallel, and my butt is looking amazing. Who’da thought?

The moral of the story? SQUAT. HEAVY. A LOT.

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Anyways, that’s all I’ve got. I’m getting ready to crack away at Tuesday’s to-do list and then get my legs-a-movin’! Have a wonderful Tuesday friends!