Grab some popcorn and put on your snuggie. This is a long one 🙂
Orange you glad it’s friday??? (I’m an idiot, it’s actually Saturday. My brain is a little fuzzy from boxing just now…fyi, just wrote “luttle” …this should be a good post……..)
Thursday night I got a whopping 4.5 hours of sleep. I should have gotten at least an extra hour, but since I am such a baby genius, when I woke up before my alarm, I assumed it would be going off shortly and proceeded to get ready. I got ready, started mixing up my protein shake (1 scoop protein, ice, water, 1/4 c. egg whites, and 1/4 tsp xanthan gum) and decided to look at the clock. 3:30am. Lovely.
Friday’s Workout
I headed to the gym for my Friday Yoga class. It was a really good class, and so far it hasn’t disappointed me. I’ve never been a huge fan of yoga, but I am starting to realize maybe I just hadn’t(how weird of a word is “hadn’t”?!) been going to good enough classes. I am really enjoying it. I also think doing it early in the morning when I’m still somewhat tired, helps to open me up and energize me for the day. I still want to try hot(bikram) yoga, but that post is for a different day.
After yoga, I hit up the cardio room for some, you guessed it: shmardio. I was feeling antsy and decided to try out a few of the new machines. Our gym got new free motion ellipticals. They are extremely…weird? Whatever motion you move, they move that motion and add resistance. If you want to mimic running, it does that. If you want to mimic stair stepping, it does that too. It is weird, and I think I like it, but I’m not sure. I’ll be honest, I think ellipticals are for light cardio. I am definitely not saying that you can’t get a good cardio sesh out of an elliptical, but I just think that more traditional forms of cardio challenge me more. Running, stair mill, sprints, boxing, and most things that mimic “real life” things seem to get my heart rate up much more. Maybe I just suck at ellipticizecycling. That’s very possible.I’m not knocking the elliptical, it’s just not for me. However, on days when I’m sore or just want to do a light session, ellipticals are a great thing for that for me. Remember, everyone is different and different things work better for different people. End rant haha.
So anyways, after I tried out the free motion machine, I hopped on the treadmill for some incline walking to finish out my 45 minutes. Shweaty mess success.
I headed to the other gym afterwards for a Chest workout. When I work my chest out, I try to keep my heart rate up and do high reps. I have no desire to build my chest muscles up, but they still need to be worked. If you want to be a conditioned person, you have to condition all of your muscles, even the ones you hate to work 😉
My Chest workout consisted of 4 sets of 3 compound sets(2 back to back exercises that challenge the same muscle groups):
-DB Incline Press/ Wide Grip Incline Pushups
-Close Grip EZ Bar Flat Bench Press/ CG Incline Pushups
-Cable Flys(neutral)/ Wide Grip Pushups on the floor
I totalled 108 pushups in that workout, and I’m feeling it today. I’m not sore, but my arms are fatigued.
Saturday
This morning, I woke up and headed to boot camp! I haven’ t been in a whole month. I have been out of town and working at various events, so I was excited to get back. We did 2 sets of a circuit:
-Bleacher steps(run up the steps, down, up down, and around the back of the bleachers)
-Parachute sprints
-Sled pulls
-Sand Bag Squats
-Kettle bell swings
-Suicides
-Frog Leaps
-Ladders
-Mini Hurdles
It was a quick workout(about 40 ish minutes) but definitely a good one. I was feeling it immediately afterwards.
I went to abs class afterwards because I had to work at the gym anyways, so why not? It was a tough one, and my abs were on fiyah! Not to mention, I rarely work my abs. Abs are made in the kitchen and through almost every other exercise you do. No reason to do overkill on the abs unless your looking to bring out a certain area more.
I finished my workouts for the day with a half hour of boxing with a trainer here. It was good and my arms are now shaky and I have that nauscious (i just spent a whole minute trying different ways to spell that word. I give up.)Â feeling. It’s not a bad feeling, it’s the feeling of working out hard as hizzle. I dig.
Other bolog-na that you may/may not care about. I’ll guess the latter.
-Eating has been good, and I’m feeling that competition fire burning. Meaning, I WANT TO COMPETE BADLYYYY. That’s good, I need that fire to fuel me through this leaning out process. Here’s to keeping that feeling and not sabotaging myself(which I’ve been known to do. Who knows why?! But I’m kicking that negativity out the door.)
-Next Saturday is the first Pro Show in Arizona! I’m excited. A few people from my gym are competing in it, and I’ve never been to a pro show. It’s going to be really cool to see a show full of elite athletes. Can’t wait!
-I’ve had such a bad taste about bikini lately. Don’t get me wrong, I like competing in bikini and I want to stay in bikini. I thought I wanted to compete in figure, but I just don’t think I do anymore. I like to be small, long, lean and very toned. That is my ideal. However, I am so sick of people, pardon my french, but “slutting it up”on stage! Bikini division means that you are an athlete who has a symmetrical, toned physique, but you just aren’t “cut and striated” like a figure competitor. What is with all of these girls sticking their asses out, trying to flirt with the judges on stage, and basically acting like strippers?! That is NOT what this sport is about, and I don’t like the reputation that the bikini division is getting. I wish these girls would pretend they were doing a model walk for their dads. Then maybe, they wouldn’t come off as a sex kitten. Okay, I’m done. Just wanted to get that out there.
Tonight is my sisters birthday and we’re going out. I haven’t been out in a few weeks, so I’m looking forward to it. My good friend is also coming in town next weekend and I can’t wait! I haven’t seen him since he’s been home from Iraq. Good stuff coming up, I’m going to keep riding this high 🙂