Monkey Blog

I realized something pretty significant the other day.  I don’t hate leg day anymore!  What the heck?   How did that happen?  Not that long ago I would have rather been smothered in honey and hog-tied next to a fire ant nest than do legs.  (Mmmmm, honey!)  It’s not an exaggeration to say I loathed doing legs.  When I’m done working my upper body it feels amazing.  Not only does a pump make you feel great but you look so much bigger!  I’ve heard people describe the pump as an endless carrot on a stick.  You see yourself with a pump and want that size but when you get it you don’t stop getting bigger when you’re pumped up.

It’s totally different when I’m working legs.  The exercises are far from enjoyable and I don’t feel good or bigger when I leave the gym.  As an added bonus you get to hobble out of the gym with as much grace as a peg-legged pirate!  Blech! (Or should I say “Arrrr Matey!!!”?)

I started to find that I was dreading leg day every time it would approach.  As I was actually doing legs I spent the whole time flooded with negative thoughts.  “This sucks.”  “I hate this.”  “When is this going to be over?”  Not only was it affecting my performance but it was making leg workouts seem like they were taking FOREVER.

I tried an experiment a few weeks ago.  Every time I felt a negative thought bubble to the surface when I was doing legs I would stop it dead in its tracks.  Don’t think about it.  Just shut the frak up and do your work.  I was surprised that this simple change immediately helped in that legs days didn’t seem like they were seven hours long anymore.  I was even more surprised weeks later when I found myself thinking “Hey, I really don’t mind that I’m going to do legs today.”  It was as if a giant weight had been lifted off of my shoulders.

Now don’t get me wrong.  I’m nowhere close to saying that I like leg day.  I can safely say that I tolerate it.  For me that’s a big deal!  Instead of whining about it like a big baby now I look at leg day as a character builder.  It’s hard work, it sucks, and the vast majority of the general population wouldn’t want anything to do with it.  Yet week after week I do it and now I do it without complaining.  At least tonight is International Chest Day.  Now that’s fun! 

I had to laugh at myself yesterday when I was working out.  I finished the day with a drop set of curls via an ez-bar.  Keep curling while my brain is yelling “stop stop stop”, strip off some weight and repeat.  I kept stripping off weight until finally I was down to just the bar.  How ridiculous must I have looked standing there curling the bar with a pained look on my face?  “You watching this?  This baby must weigh at least seven pounds.  Watch me do another rep!”

The old me would have been really self conscious/embarrassed about this.  Now I really get a good laugh out of moments like this.

The pic on the left makes me LOL because I’m trying *really* hard to flex.

It’s been said over and over on here but you have GOT to take progress pictures.  I am so thankful I took pictures of myself when I started off.  When you see yourself in the mirror day after day it’s hard to gauge changes over a longer period of time (at least it is for me).  I was very surprised by this comparison that I just did.  I can’t believe how I look in the left pic.  I look skinny-fat!  Seeing proof of hard work paying off is so rewarding and makes me want to push for even more.

When I was working out today I bumped into my (former) trainer.  He was training a new guy, a really skinny guy he had throwing around some really light weight (just like I started out with).  I gave the kid some words of encouragement and went back to working out.  As I went back to my routine it hit me that dang, that kid was me not so long ago.  I could only think of two things.  One was that I hoped that he stuck with it.  The other was THANK GOODNESS that I’m not at that stage anymore.  When I started out with my trainer I was a mess.  I was uncomfortable, self conscious, had doms from hell, and was kind of wondering what on Earth I had gotten myself into.  Now when I go into the gym there’s no more worries, no more doubt.  Now I love getting in there and challenging myself, erasing stress, and getting a killer pump.  Hopefully that kid will feel the same way in few months.

I was thinking today about how different my eating habits are now from not that long ago.  I am shocked that I didn’t die of scurvy or malnourishment.  This is how I used to eat before I joined my gym.  The sad thing is that at the time I actually felt like I was making an effort to eat somewhat healthy.

• Breakfast – If I had breakfast it was usually a cereal bar.  I skipped breakfast a lot of times. (face plant)

• Lunch – This meal is actually not too different.  I try to find a sensible meal choice at wherever I end up going to eat with my coworkers.  I did, however, almost always have a Coke with my meal. (face plant)

• Afternoon snack – Another Coke and a candy bar or bag of M&M’s.  (face plant)

• Dinner – Some meals are the same but some are very different.  I used to love my fried/battered foods such as chicken fingers, chicken parmesan, etc.  I gave up those foods completely when I decided to change.  I still love my chicken and broccoli.

• Night – I would have a glass of milk and a dessert.  Cookies = yum. (face plant)

Ugh.  What a disaster.  Could there be more junk and less fruits/veggies on that list?  What’s different now?  One dessert a week instead of one a night.  Two Cokes a week instead of two a day.  No more fried foods.  Making an effort to eat fruits/veggies.  No wonder I feel so much better now.  I rarely get sick anymore, my stomach rarely bothers me anymore, etc.  Gee, I wonder if not eating like this anymore has anything to do with that?

This has been a really weird week of training for me.  I’m holding back a little because I’m coming off a two week break for the holidays.  (Wow, am I ever still feeling leg day.  Owie!)  Saturday was arm day, which is usually my favorite training day of the week.  Every single thing I did I felt as weak as a kitten.  I also just wasn’t there mentally.  It was a struggle for me to even finish my workout.  I was worried when I left because leg day loomed the next day.  If I was struggling on my favorite day how was I going to handle my (by far) least favorite day?  Strangely it went really well.  Usually I can’t stand working legs but I didn’t mind at all this time.  My legs have been really sore since Sunday.  A little punishment for taking too long off and a reminder of a good workout!

Today was International Chest Day and, wow, it was the complete opposite of Saturday.  If I felt like a kitten on Saturday I felt like a lion today.  I had so much energy and drive in the middle of my workout I almost felt like screaming "HELL YEAH!"  (Note:  I did not scream "HELL YEAH!" out loud.)  I had a freaking awesome workout and left with a great pump.  I guess it’s important to remember to push through the bad days and not let them get you down because good days are right around the corner!

The last month and a half has been nuts for me.  I’ve been busier than I’ve ever been, traveled a lot, and on top of that got sick.  My training schedule has not been good and I have dropped a lot of pounds (even more than last Christmas).  In the last two weeks I’ve only been able to work out once (a full body workout).  I had a wonderful holiday and I am truly blessed that I could spend it with my wonderful family.  With that being said I am thrilled that things are back to normal now.  I am so excited about hitting the gym on a consistent schedule again.  Today was my first day back and I made it International Chest Day.  I had almost forgotten how freaking incredible a great pump feels.  I’m already itching to go back.  Time to start some serious munching and get this ball rolling in 2009!

I was at a New Year’s Eve function last night and was making some small talk with someone I don’t know very well.  As they were loading their plate up with a mountain of food they told me “You’re so lucky you look like you do.”  I just smiled and shrugged it off, but it actually annoyed me the more I thought about it.  Luck has nothing to do with me busting my ass for hours each week in the gym, eating the way I do, sometimes forgoing things that I actually want at the moment, etc.  To make it even worse they then told me they were going to start their new diet (their New Year’s resolution) tomorrow.  That of course meant that that night it was time to load up on carbs and sweets!

It amazes me how clueless some people can be.

I laugh every time I see this piece of equipment.  It has the unfortunate name of “The Butt Blaster”.  It must have a dust layer at least an inch thick on it because in the year and half I’ve been going to my gym I’ve never seen it being used once.  It just sits in a corner alone, unused, and forgotten.

Is there any equipment in your gym like that?