Shannon’s BodyBlog

Weight Training:  Legs (supersets)
Cardio:  600

1) Box Squats

3×25 (140#)

1) Lying Leg Curls

3×15 (55#)

Hyperextensions

2×10 (hold for 5 seconds at the top of ea. rep)

Calves

4×15

2) Leg Presses

3×25 (180#)

2) Standing Leg Curls

3×15

Hyperextensions

2×10 (hold for 5 seconds at the top of ea. rep)

Calves

4×15

3) Leg extensions (toes pointed out)

3×25 (35#)

3) Seated Leg Curls

3×15 (110#)

Hyperextensions

2×10 (Hold for 5 sec)

Calves

4×15

4) Walking Lunges

3×50 (no weight)

Calves

4×15

Weight Training:  Shoulders

Cardio:  600

The next time you have a know-it-all at the gym telling you what to do with an exercise, consider using this as a response:

(Of course, retool a bit of the wording to make it applicable to the gym setting)

Everyone has problem areas that they focus on and brood about and obsess over.  Even if someone is in peak, physical condition, they’ll pick areas that they aren’t happy with.  I’m not saying I’m in peak condition, but we all have parts that we want to make to our liking so that we don’t focus so much on it.

Areas I wanted to pummel into condition used to be:

My triceps

My hamstrings

Janthony gave me routines to work the hell out of them.  I worked for months and months on those and I feel like they’ve finally developed into something respectable.

Now, my current areas are:

My lower back

My inner thighs

My waist

I’ve been given a ****load of exercises to get my lower back in shape.  I was told how to hold my stance during squats and how to position my legs during leg extensions.  And I’m doing more ab/oblique work than I’ve done in months.

SO, one day, I think I’ll be able to say that I have respectable parts that I can improve upon rather than build from the bottom up.

It’s just a matter of sticking with it and never giving up.

I’ve been very sad and down in the dumps for the past week.  This afternoon my husband and I are taking our dog in to be put to sleep.  He made the appt on Tuesday and I’ve been crying everyday since then.

Physically, she’s 11 yrs old with the health of a dog half her age.  We made sure to feed her the right food, the right amounts, exercise her.  We took good care of her so that she would have an easy time adjusting to old age and still be able to be active.  But nothing could’ve helped her brain.  Mentally, she’s a mess.  She was diagnosed with dementia a month ago and I’ve been crying off and on ever since after reading about what would happen to her over time.

She wasn’t herself for a while, so my husband took her in to be checked out.  Once she was diagnosed, her mind when downhill pretty rapidly after that.

She doesn’t know whether to scratch her watch or wind her ass.  She walks up to walls and just stares at it until I call her attention.  She doesn’t understand commands anymore.

We have to lead her to the water and food bowls at various times of the day and nudge her head toward them so that she drinks and eats.

She was a sharp, sweet dispositioned German Shepard who could understand commands just by looking at her (no joke).  She was my shadow.  I couldn’t go anywhere without her following me.  If I went out shopping or wherever else I had to go, she wouldn’t eat until I got home.

Now, her mind is mush.

She wanders the house and tries to fit into the most impossible spaces between chairs, closets, etc. and has the most awful cry when she tries to make her way through.  She doesn’t know enough anymore to back her way out of it.  I have to pull her out and this goes on all day long.  Not much has been able to be done in this house.

The only time I don’t cry is when I’m at the gym or out running errands.  And I’ve been running a lot of errands lately.

Seeing how healthy she LOOKS makes it so hard to bring her in.  I feel like she’s got a lot of years ahead of her, but she really only has weeks or months because of her mental condition.  If she were suffering from arthritis or some other debilitating condition, it would be easier to think of it as putting her out of her suffering.

This will be a very lonely and quiet house while the kids are at school now.

We had told the kids about her condition back when she was diagnosed, and last night broke the news to them about what would happen to her today.  It was hard.  This is the first major death they’ll be experiencing in their lives.

My oldest son said, "I feel like Rypley has been around my whole life….wait, she HAS been around my whole life."

My youngest son said, "Now we only have one fish as a pet.  My fish died."  He was referring to his sister’s fish who is a trooper and has lived longer than we expected.  Goldfish do not have much luck in this house, but those Beta fish have gills of steel.

The kids have off from school today for whatever reason, so I’m taking the kids to a fair this morning with friends.  Seeing the variety of people walking around will be quite a distraction from what will happen this afternoon.

I have some gym fears and one of them is getting stuck under the leg press.  Another fear I have is doing something to embarrass myself at the gym.

This morning….I did both.

One of the goals set for me for the end of September was to press 4 plates on each side, totalling 360 lbs., for 6 reps.

Well, I got psyched up for it and told my gym partner that I was going for it.  She said, "You ARE?"  I said, "Yes.  I’m doing it."

So we set up the 360 lbs. and I got positioned.

I unhooked the safety latches (bars…whatever) and I let the sled come down, then I pressed it up.

I let it come down again…tried to press it up again…and said, "No, can’t get it back up" and tried to reengage the safety bars, but the sled was too far down and I couldn’t get the sled up enough.

The sled slid lower down….and I realized there are no safety stops on this damn machine!

So here I am, with my knees pressed against my shoulders, my partner is trying to lift the sled, and I am laughing my a$$ off.

I finally figure out:

Remove the plates!

So she starts removing the plates and has to take just about every one of them off before I could press the sled up again.

And I’m laughing the whole time.  I don’t know what got into me, but the whole damn thing was so comical and my partner was laughing as she was removing the plates and just laying them haphazardly all over the floor.

She was bent over with laughter and trying to catch her breath from the workout she got.  I couldn’t even get a word out, I was all out of breath from the adrenaline rush and laughing.

I just thanked GAWD she was with me when this happened.  I would’ve HATED to have to call out for someone to help me out of that thing.

So then we put away the plates and finished our leg workout like nothing ever happened……

Until I took a swig of water, thought about what happened and nearly choked from laughing.

So here I am, a week later and I’m painting the same room I started with last Monday (I think I started on Monday).

All I want to see is the finished product.  A newly painted bedroom that is neat and organized with a breath of fresh air breathed into it (x 2 + a kitchen + the rest of the house).

But getting there is a bear.  Painting is boring and annoying, LOL.  My daughter’s bedroom is made up of weird corners and tight spots that are difficult to paint.  And I have to put more than one coat on.  And then there’s the trim.  I haven’t even touched the trim yet.

Why is it taking me so long?

Because I keep taking breaks throughout the day.  And I put off buying paint for a day when the first gallon ran out because I dreaded starting painting again.  And I took the whole weekend off from painting.

I was more into seeing the finished product than I was into the process of getting to the finished product.

Isn’t that how it is with reaching our fitness goals?

We have a vision of what we want to achieve with our bodies, but many people aren’t all that into doing what it takes to earn that body.

They skip workouts, or don’t complete workouts.  They may find it boring and tedious, or takes up time that they’d rather spend doing something else.

But if they realize that the process in and of itself can be rewarding and satisfying, then the workouts won’t seem as long and drawn out and tedious.

It will allow them to buckle down, get the job done in an efficient and timely manner.  The goal will be reached sooner than they realized.

I’ll find a way to making painting seem the same way :S   Gotta get this done in an efficient and timely manner too.

I don’t want to paint forever here.

Hey, how’s it going?

I’m working on projects around the house, but still getting to the gym daily.  Gotta get in the cardio though.  I’ve blown it off this week.  I think I’ll get a session in today.  We’ll see.

Bye bye.

While I was on the road for my run today, a black van drove slowly past me and as I looked, I could see the driver (bald with a beard) gawk at me.

I made note of his license plate immediately in case he came after me.

It was CRYPTGOD.

A gawking man driving a black van with that vanity plate….now that spooked me.

Weight Training:  Chest and tri’s

Run:  Uphill s-h-i-t….downhill great