Pump hard……. Pump often

Wow the last few weeks have been challenging with lost of distractions and me trying to get exercise in when I could fit it in. Finally I think things are settling down and I’m getting back on track.  A friend of mine has been going through a lot of changes and I’ve been there for him a lot these last few weeks and would postpone working out until I realized DAYS would pass without me being in a gym.  I think I worked out once per week for the last two weeks. Last Friday I nipped that slacking behavior because I was beginning to feel sluggish and lethargic. I knew then that I could never go back to not working out as I could not stand the way I was feeling from lack of exercise. I felt HORRIBLE. Like I was full of slush or something.   So Friday I worked out on the treadmill for 30 minutes and then hit the stairmaster for 15 minutes. I felt SO much better and felt like I redeemed myself. Sunday I went to the gym and did a great body building session by working on my chest, back and abs. The cardio portion was not great because I left my headphones at home and the music the gym was playing was depressing. I jogged for 15 minutes and walked another 15 and was just too done. I couldn’t stand the music another minute. Monday I hit the gym and worked on my biceps and triceps.  Then I tried the elliptical machine. First time on this cardio equipment and I had to get my legs and feet used to the movement. I looked ridiculous for the first ten minutes I’m sure. But once I figured out how to do the movement smoothly it was a great workout and my outer thigh muscles were getting a major workout!  Did that for 30 minutes. I like using the different cardio machines as it allows me variety plus it works different muscle groups in the legs. Tonight I’m hitting the treadmill (my favorite) and the stair master. So I’m back on my routine. My routine is in the gym Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday.

The good news is I bought clothes for the first time in a LONG time about a week ago and I dropped a dress size! That is awesome to see REAL results on my hard work in the gym. That was one of the things that motivated me to make time for the gym no matter what is happening.
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You can’t please a person all the time and I’m realizing that trying to do so is causing me to loose my focus. So the best thing for me to do is to work on bettering me and that’s what I do every day I’m in that gym. I’m working on a better me and I realized years ago that when you improve yourself in one area it has an impact on the rest of your life. If you work on your body to loose weight and to improve your body’s definition then feeling better about the way you look and feeling better in terms of health will impact other areas of your life. That’s one reason why working out to me is vital like breathing. It builds my confidence and that’s HIGHLY important in this life. People can suck the life out of your confidence if you let them.  So I have to constantly build up my confidence in order to keep an ample supply ready for my life.

I was talking to someone about the concept of uplifting others in life and that person was giving all types of excuses on why he found it hard to uplift.  And all his excuses were about the other person. If this person did this or that differently then he could uplift them. And I began to realize that the issue was not the other person but this man. You are suppose to uplift a person where they are in life not wait until they are where you want them to be and THEN get supportive. I also realized that if you lack confidence or self-respect then you can never uplift others. If you are up in life then you can reach down to pull up another but if you are down then all you will do is pull down the other person. Misery really does love company. And I think this man is not happy.

Success breeds success. And when I’m successful in my body development then that will spring board into successes in other areas of my life.  I have to be successful for me and if that attracts the attention of others or a special man for me life than that’s a bonus.  So I’m getting a bit selfish these days and focusing on what works out best for me. Getting back into my hobbies and interests getting back on my mental track. We either lead or follow in this world.

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Had a great workout on Wednesday evening. I have modified my cardio routine to increase the difficulty level.  One thing about exercising is that I have gotten stronger and my endurance has increased.  Which meant the routine I was doing was not challenging me any more. So I up the anti. Before I would jog on the treadmill for 30 minutes and then walk up the incline on the treadmill for 20 minutes. Now, I jog for 30 minutes and I do the stair master for 20 minutes. And that stair master is a monster of a challenge. I think out of all the cardio equipment in the gym the stair master is the most challenging. When I first started in the gym back in May I was eyeing the stair master because I have the embedded philosophy that if other people can do something then I can do it. So when I saw people on the stair master I knew one day I was going to master that piece of equipment. Now I’m at the point I can tackle it.  I feel on the stair master the same way I did when I began on the treadmill. Just barely able to get moving. But just like I’ve evolved on the treadmill to jog for 30 minutes I will evolve on the stair master as well. I look forward to doing a 20 minute workout on the stair master and not feel like I’m going to pass out.  I am curious to try out the elliptical trainer and maybe pair that with the stationary bike on the days I do not jog. I do not believe in jogging evey day as I feel that is bad on the joints so I like a mixture of cardio exercises.  I’ll try out the elliptical/bike combination today.

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No gym time today but yesterday I had a great gym time. I hit the cardio machines for a total of 1 hour and 30 minutes. I first did the stair master which is such an intense workout that you sweat out buckets of liquids. That is the only cardio machine I have to FORCE myself to complete just for 30 minutes. I then got on the bike for 30 minutes. After about two hours of weights (biceps and triceps) I got on the treadmill and did 30 minutes of incline walking. By the time I left the gym I was beginning to feel light headed and realized I needed to replace the sugar in my body quick before I passed out.  I think I need to keep some type of sugar drink with me for those days I work out really hard and deplete my body’s sugar supply. All I can say that lemonade I drank right after the gym tasted stunning I was so in need of sugar.  At least I burned some fat. I think that stair master is what depleted my sugar with all that sweating.

Well I’m off to bed for a good nights sleep.

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I took some updated photos of myself this morning. I’m seeing some progress but not as much as I hoped. The progress I’m seeing is in my body’s definition which is coming from the weight training. But I didn’t loose much weight last month. Just two pounds. I need to spend more time on cardio because I have got to drop this weight around my midsection. I have lost weight around the chest and very noticeably in the back. I’m seeing those rolls back there disappear so I’m excited to be seeing progress. My weight goal is to see that scale drop to 190lbs as it is currently at 200lbs. I will feel pretty good to drop another ten pounds. Once I drop more weight my body’s definition will become clearer.

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Tomorrow I’m taking my August progress photos and uploading them to bodybuilding.com.  I’m excited to see my progress and to get a photo view of how my body is shaping up. Everyone tells me I’m losing weight and my clothes are getting too big but the scale says I’ve only lost 10 pounds so I must be putting on muscle with the weight training.

A little about yesterday’s workout.

I am HYPED that I can now lift the bench press bar. I’ve even been able to add 5lb weights to each side. I’m told the bar weights 45 lbs so add five pounds to each side and I was able to bench press 55 lbs. Wow!   I’m sure to all you heavy lifters me being able to bench 55 pounds must seem comical and cute but hey considering a few months ago I couldn’t press up that bar I’m excited about my progress. I’ve always wanted to be able to bench press a little weight. I’m not interested in being a woman who can bench press a lot of weight but for my own confidence I wanted to be able to bench press something. So I’m excited. My friend who I work out with had a maximum bench press of 315 lbs but he has been doing endurance work and yesterday he bench pressed 335 lbs. I’m impressed. I’m even more impressed that he trusts me to spot him and I’m actually able to it. He tells me that he only needs an extra set of hands for that last little bit of push.

I am getting stronger in the abdominal area and that comes from working on three different ab machines a few times a week. I have not done floor crunches in awhile but since someone was on the ab machine yesterday and I didn’t want to wait I decided to do ab crunches as was amazed at my progress. I have a song on my iPod whose beat would be great for doing crunches. I will try doing them to music just for fun.

The last two weeks I’ve been pushing myself on the treadmill going at a jogging pace faster than my norm and walking at crazy incline heights. Yesterday, I went back to my normal pace and found my endurance had increased and was able to jog my pace much easier and very comfortable. I could have jogged an hour easily!

So that was yesterday’s workout. New bench marks on the bench press, stronger ab workout and greater endurance on the treadmill. I look forward to tomorrow’s workout.

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