The Best Shape of My Life!

Yesterday I played a couple of games of racquetball, which lasted about an hour. I love it, and that’s coming from a guy who doesn’t care much for cardio. But I like tennis, racquetball, basketball, and swimming, to name a few. Cardio doesn’t seem so boring if you have a goal and a little bit of competition.

Woke up this morning really sore. Probably not so much from my cardio session yesterday, but more from my weights session on Wednesday. So now I’m trying to decide what to do today, if anything. I might wait till tomorrow to do my weights. In fact, I think I will.

Back to the court!

Went canoeing over the weekend. Five mile float with my wife’s family. Lots of fun, great workout! Plus, I got some sun, which is always much needed for me. Took a break Sunday, and today back to the gym with Bodypump.

I went back to work today. Teachers had to report for general meetings today (fun fun), so I went back to my routine of morning workouts. It felt AWESOME! I love going back to "work," (aka. school) every August. During the summer, I get so sidetracked sometimes because I feel like I don’t have anything to do.

Anyway, here’s what I did at 5:30 am today….

Leg Press: 12/200, 12/230, 12/230
DB Chest: 12/40, 12/50, 12/50
BB Deadlift: 12/155, 12/115
BB Row: 12/65, 12/85, 12/85
Machine Shoulder Press: 12/50, 12/70

I need to work on all of my exercises a LOT. Strength training is important to me, and I love doing it, but I never really push myself to my absolute limits. So I’m going to work on that. My row weight is pathetic! I will say, to my credit, that I lowered the weights of most exercises (except the row) because I wasn’t sure how my body would respond just waking up at 5 am. So once I get used to my morning workouts, I’m sure I’ll make some progress, almost by default.

Cardio routine tomorrow. I use a circuit routine of various exercises. Should be loads of fun. I’ll let you know how it goes.

I received the official email from Les Mills today. I passed BodyPump! For those of you who don’t know what BP is, it’s a complete, full-body weigthlifting class choreographed to music. It’s an awesome experience that EVERYONE can benefit from. Yes, even bodybuilders can get an excellent workout from BP. In fact, you might be surprised at how much lower the weights will need to be in order to endure a complete BP workout.

Anyway, I’m excited. It was a great experience to get here, though very challenging. Probably pretty equal if not more challenging than obtaining my PFT.

Go BodyPump!

My previous blog post talked about how I had to delay my goal. Well, I had to end up delaying the strength goal even longer than that (to this week hopefully). I helped one of my aunts move from Texas to the KC area, so I left on Wednesday (which meant no workout).  My first thought was, as it usually is when I go on vacation or just leave town for a while….. "Will I be able to do a workout?" I was so focused on doing my strength test so I could put numbers into my bodyspace profile I forgot about what I was doing.

There was a LOT of lifting involved. Not only lifting, but in the massive heat wave we’re experiencing in the midwest. On Thursday, when we started packing up the house in Texas and loading stuff into the truck, I thought….."Wow, this is so easy." I lift weights all the time, and even though I’m not the strongest guy in the world, I’m fairly strong. As the day wore on, I began to change my mind. When we finished in the evening, I was ready for food and ready for bed.

We got up to KC on Saturday, around noon. Of course, we’d be unloading the truck during the hottest part of the day. The average temp was 102 degrees F with a heat index of 110-115. Again, the weights weren’t that bad. But what made the unloading part really "bad" was the heat and going up and down stairs. She went from a ground level house to a second story apartment. Stairs are killer in the massive heat when you’re carrying heavy furniture and boxes!

Ok, to the point of my post. I had my brain so programmed to think that I had to get in a workout, and that the workout had to be the strength test workout I wanted to do, that I left KC a little angry. Mostly at myself, but still, angry. I kept thinking that I was going to lose all of this muscle, and that I was failing my goals, and that I would turn into a huge blog of fat. In reality, I knew that wasn’t true, and I knew that I’d get plenty of weightlifting in over the weekend to make up for it.

When I started carrying all the boxes and furniture, I started to think about the positive aspect of it. First, I was helping a family member, which was one of the best things that I could be doing. Second, I was actually putting my muscles to use. A lot of guys go to the gym every day, workout, but then never use their muscles. I try not to do that, but being a teacher, I don’t have the most demanding use for my muscles on a daily basis. So this past weekend allowed me to put to use what I had been storing up for so long.

And, of course, what helped boost my spririts were the compliments I received from family and friends. It’s nice that people notice you carrying a really heavy box (or at least in their perspective) with almost no problems. 

So remember this: PERSPECTIVE IS THE KEY! It all depends on how you look at the situation. Sometimes I get so focused on getting those 6-pack abs, or building up a massive upper body, or developing explosive leg power, that I completely forget who’s looking and/or what I have the capability of doing. My perspective gets tainted at times with all the hype to have the "best body" out there. It’s great to be humbled during those times by the people closest to me. My wife loves me, my daughter adores me, and my family cares for me. And friends think I’m an overall great guy. What could be better than that?

Having a 6-pack? Maybe…..but it’s not worth "wasting" a weekend for them.  

I set a goal of 10% overall increase of strength by 1 August. Well, I ended up going on vacation that week, so I haven’t had the chance to evaluate. And, I taught my bodypump class today, which took about all the energy out of me I could muster.

I plan to hit my strength program really hard on Wednesday, and hopefully get a good measurement (i.e. reach or exceed my goals). If you’re interested in knowing what my goals are, look on my goals and progress page. Lifting stats/goals are given for all the exercises I’m focusing on.

So I’m delaying the goal till 8 August, but still, close enough. Tomorrow…..cardio. Probably some swimming, maybe some tennis. Getting back into my program after vacation. Taking it easy.

Since 28 July, I have been out of town. Every time I go on vacation, I get a bit nervous about the lack of workouts I’ll be doing, and of course, all the crappy food that I’ll end up eating. But, I also get this liberated feeling of not having to worry about my workouts and being so strict for a little while.

Though I don’t lift weights while on vacation, I do perform some exercise. I run sometimes, play tennis, swim, etc. And I sometimes do my own workouts consisting of bodyweight exercises, yoga positions, and stuff like that.

I have found that going on vacation and taking a break for a week is good every once in a while. So I’m happy right now, and I’m not worried about much. When I return next week, I’ll get back to the gym and pick up right where I left off. Besides, I refuse to just work myself to death trying to obtain some vain figure. In the long run, it’s not worth it.

So here’s to health, happiness, and vacationing! Enjoy.