Feels Pretty Good

      Upper body tonight. Still sticking with the dumbbell routines for now. I realized the other night that I'm seriously pissed off with myself. Not disappointed, or sad or depressed. Just purely pissed for letting things pass through my hands. Maybe that anger at myself will be the thing that drives me to keep going. Who knows. I just know that I'm taking one day at a time and tonight felt pretty good. I even went up in weight on the rows. Here's what got done:

(20lb DB bent rows x10) 4x

25lb DB bench x10

35lb DB bench x10

35lb DB bench x6, 25lb x4

25lb DB bench x10

(10lb DB lat raise x12) 3x

(20lb DB pullover x12) 3x

20lb DB zottman curls x12

20lb DB gladiator curl x12

(20lb DB seated tri. Ext. x12) 2x

(35lb KB shrugs x15) 2x

     And that's what got done. I'm sore but satisfied.

Discipline Doesn't Exist

     Still have no discipline. Still have minimal amounts of motivation. Still haven't totally given up. Over the past two days, here's what I got done:

SATURDAY:

(25lb Goblet squat x10) 4x

(20lb - ea. hand - db RDL x10) 4x

(35lb kb plie squat x10) 4x

(20lb db hamstring curl x12) 3x

(35lb kb standing calf raise x12) 3x

(20 sec. plank) 2x

SUNDAY:

(20lb db single arm row x10) 4x

(15lb db shoulder press x10) 4x (strict)

(20lb incline db press x12) 3x

(20lb chest supported db row x12) 3x

(20lb db hammer curl x12) 2x

(25lb db floor press x12) 2x

(25lb db seated shrug x15) 2x

Oh The Shame

     Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays I'm doing the dumbbell workout that I shared in the previous post. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I found this 20 minute HIIT routine that has proved to be more than challenging for me. If you're interested, you can find it on the Muscle & Strength website, or just click here.

     As usual, I screwed up a little and did the full 50 seconds instead of starting this week with 40 second sets. I also did the bicycles wrong, but I'm not losing any sleep over it. I also upped the ante a little and on the second go-round, I held on to 3lb dumbbells for most of the exercises.

Here's what got done:

FIRST ROUND

FORWARD LUNGE: 50 seconds (9 per leg); 20 second rest.

SQUATS: 50 seconds (22); 20 second rest

MOUNTAIN CLIMBERS: 50 seconds (40); 20 second rest

RUNNING IN PLACE: 50 seconds

BURPEES: 50 seconds (5); 20 second rest

HIGH KICK: 50 seconds (11); 20 second rest

STANDING CHEST PRESS/ROW 3lb DB: 50 seconds (21); 20 second rest

BICYCLES: 50 seconds

SECOND ROUND

FORWARD LUNGE 3lb DB: 50 seconds (10 per leg); 20 second rest.

SQUATS 3lb DB: 50 seconds (20); 20 second rest

MOUNTAIN CLIMBERS: 50 seconds (30); 20 second rest

RUNNING IN PLACE 3lb DB: 50 seconds

BURPEES: 50 seconds (6); 20 second rest

HIGH KICK: 50 seconds (15); 20 second rest

STANDING CHEST PRESS/ROW 3lb DB: 50 seconds (31); 20 second rest

BICYCLES: 50 seconds

I didn't count how many bicycles I got in each set so next time I'll be more aware of that. I was talking to Emily on the way home tonight and we were talking about a lot of odd-ball things. One of the conversations led to the topic of shame and embarrassment. I told her that, sometimes, shame is a very good motivator to make people better than what they are. 

     I didn't want to share this little training log tonight because it's awful. I'm disgustingly out of shape and yes, I am ashamed. 5 burpees? FIVE? There was a time I was doing dozens at a time. But I had to share it because I have to be honest and I have to live by the words that I tell Emily. So, here it is in all it's embarrassing awfulness. It has surely motivated me to be better. 

     If you'd like to learn a little more about shame, you can check out the info here.

     

Fall Down Seven Times

     Seven months. Seven long months since my last entry. I will not make any excuses or give any long-winded story about why I've failed. I'll just say that I fell off of the wagon and now I'm trying to climb back up and ride. I'm tired of being overweight and unhealthy so I found a simple, straight-forward workout to help get me back on track. 

     If you want the rundown on the workout plan, you can find the entire thing here. Here's what I got done tonight:

*All weights listed are per hand.

DB Squats: (30lb x10) 3x

DB RDL: (30lb x10) 3x

DB Bent Row: (30lb x10) 3x

DB Lat Raise: (12lb x8) 2x

DB Curl: (20lb x8) 2x

Lying DB Ext.: (12lb x8) 2x

 And that's it. One thing I noticed that I screwed up was that I forgot the damn DB Bench Press. Oh well, I'll get them next Monday. I'm not making any promises, not even to myself. I'm taking it all one day at a time.

Stronger

     Two weeks. I don't think I need to say anything more than that. I had a hankering for some kettlebell work for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I love kettlebells because they're both simple and yet wildly variable in what you can do with them. Secondly, I couldn't workout in the dungeon because there's too much shit in the way. So... kettlebells it was.

     I found this HIIT workout on Youtube. It looked pretty "doable", so I decided to give it a go. I mean, it was just 40 seconds of each movement. Any ninny can do 40 seconds. I'm fairly certain I died somewhere around the 12 minute mark, was resurrected by the grace of the All Father himself and then brutally and shamelessly punished for the next 18 excruciating minutes. Some of the exercises I could only get 20-25 seconds of, and I modified the crunches because I was on a hard floor and my tailbone was screaming (I put my hands under it to shut it up). I also opted to not do the hand-to-hand swings because of the fact that I was inside and really didn't want to drop the friggin thing on my laminate floor. 

     I would like to give a shout out to my friend Jenny because she's been very encouraging about being in a healthier place. Even when it doesn't seem like I'm listening, I am. I take it all in and let it ruminate for a bit. 

     I think this workout is a keeper. I did it all with my 35lb bell but I definitely need to keep at it to get proficient. 

Here's to getting faster, and stronger before something kills me.

Upper body - Dead South

     I took last night off because I absolutely torched my triceps on the last upper body night. It's been awful! I've hardly been able to brush my hair or put my clothes on. What an idiot lol. I didn't want to push it off any further though, so tonight was a must. My arms were feeling better, but still sore, so I avoided any direct triceps work. Here's what got done:

DB BENCH:

15lb x15

20lb x12

20lb x10

30lb x7

BENT DB ROW:

25lb x15 ea side (narrow)

25lb x12 (wide)

25lb x10 (narrow)

35lb x8 (narrow)

45lb x6 (narrow)

CHEST FLYS:

(20lb x10) 5x

REVERSE FLYS:

10lb x15

15lb x10

15lb x30

••••••••••

     That last set of reverse flys was strictly because I just wanted to be done. That being said, I'm pretty friggin proud of getting 30 reps! I'm sure I'll regret it tomorrow.

     It was a weird vibe in the dungeon tonight. Not a bad vibe, but weird. We wanted to do a good job and to give good effort, but our energy was kind of low-key. That's how I picked the song tonight. 

Lower Body - Who I Am

There was nothing I wanted to do less than tonight's training. But I did it anyway. Here's what got done:

BODY WEIGHT SQUATS:

(15) 4x

BARBELL FRONT SQUATS:

(Bar x12) 3x

65lb x10

75lb x8

SPLIT SQUATS:

(weight listed is per hand)

(10lb x15 ea leg) 3x

BARBELL RDL:

95lb x10

115lb x10

125lb x10

135lb x10

115lb x10

CALF RAISES:

(straight / out / in)

(95lb x15) 6x

BODY WEIGHT GLUTE BRIDGE:

Both legs x10

Left leg x10

Right leg x10

••••••••••

     I will readily admit that I kind of wimped out on those glute bridges. The template has hip thrusts listed, but I cannot stand those friggin things lately. I don't know what is going on, but it seems exceedingly awkward trying to get into position with the weighted bar and then trying to get the bar off of me and stand up again. That's with Frank helping me too. I have no idea how I managed to do these by myself, with nothing more than an old kitchen chair! I was going to totally skip them, but I felt guilty doing so, so I threw the glute bridges in at the end. At least I did something. Other than that, as usual, I'm glad that I forced myself to do it. 

     I wasn't sure which song I should pair with tonight's blog. There were a couple that came up tonight that were fitting. I ultimately chose this one though. I pretty much am what I am. I make no bones about my failings or my shortcomings, but I also don't try to hide the pride that I sometimes have. 

     I had originally started this blog to maybe be an inspiration to people who were in the same boat as me. I still would like to be that, but this blog is also sort of an inspiration to myself at times. It also helps to keep me accountable. I'm not trying to portray myself as anything other than a woman attempting to better herself. To quote the song "Take me as I am or don't. 'Cause I don't give a damn, no."