The Best Shape of My Life!

It’s getting a bit cool outside. I just gave out the last of our candy and playdough stash to the trick-treaters. It’s fun to see them every year. Didn’t get any adults looking for candy, which is a good thing. A couple teenagers, but hey, let ‘em. I can’t complain, I went out every Halloween all the way through college. Usually later at night when people were wanting to just get rid of whatever they had left.

Anyway, today was another rest day for me. A bit sore from Monday still, and I played racquetball yesterday. So tomorrow, I hope to do another full body strength workout.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

allergies. i hate them. the ugliest thing about being mildly asthmatic. changing temps and weather patterns (hello midwest usa temperate zone) have once again done me in. i’m on a maintenance medication that’s supposed to not make it so bad. i don’t know if it’s really working or not. i’m taking an OTC med as well as an antihistamine. oh, and of course, extra vit c, water, 7up, and just about anything else i can get my hands on to keep me running.

i was actually surprised i did such a great workout tonight. i thought about completely canceling it because i didn’t teach my bodypump class. but as you can see from my previous blog tonight i did pretty well (or at least i feel like i did pretty well).

and so the fall battle with allergies begins. let’s see how long it takes to win this one.

i just finished an awesome full body workout! i have been doing my workouts in the early morning, but now have switched back to the evenings. i’m going to try just 2, maybe 3 (if i can get a third one in) full body workouts each week. normally i have bodypump on mondays, but today i didn’t teach it since i had a dentist appointment. yeah, that sucked. but on with my life!

every now and then i feel the need to lighten the weight a bit and focus entirely on form and technique. so tonight i lessened the weight a bit on most of the exercises and slowed my pace. took about 3-4 seconds negative, 2-3 seconds positive. couldn’t do as many reps, but i feel the burn a lot more. sometimes i get so focused on lifting the heavy weight (well, for me the weight i use is heavy) that i forget to use perfect form. so tonight was a great reminder for correct execution of the exercises.

tomorrow night…..racquetball at the gym!

Yesterday I got an authentic workout. I helped my in-laws cut and load wood for the fireplaces. I like being outside and working. Some of those logs can get pretty heavy. Anyway, it was fun, and I didn’t have to worry about picking up any iron. Today,maybe some rest, maybe some more wood. Tomorrow, back to the iron.

Full body strength workout. Didn’t do as much weight as I wanted, but I still got in a workout. I think I’ve come down with some kind of sinus infection (as I typically due in the fall…allergies), so that’s affecting my energy levels. But I’m happy that I did a workout, and now I can rest during the weekend. If I feel like it, I’ll do another workout Saturday (find a gym where I’m at). If not, then I’ll just wait till Monday. I’m giving my body a little bit of a break, which it probably desperately needs.

I’m still sore from Monday’s workout. This is really starting to bother me. Most of the time, if I’m a little sore, I’ll still complete a workout, and usually, I’ll be fine. But this morning I woke up still in painful soreness, and still to the point where my ROM would not be what I want and need for the lifts to be in good form. So, I’m canceling my workout. I’ll attempt a full body workout again tomorrow. Hopefully I’ll be in much better shape.

But for now, a nice, very long, very warm shower, and a LOT of stretching. And maybe some Icy Hot.   Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
hhhhhhhhhhh.

as today! BodyPump yesterday almost killed me! I increased the weights yesterday to challenge myself, and WOW did it challenge me! I love it, but I hate being sore. I figured it would hit me about Wednesday evening, but no, not this time. I felt it as soon as I woke up this morning.

I usually don’t complain about being sore, mostly because I don’t get really sore after a workout all the time, and also because I just don’t like to complain about it. After all, what good does it do to complain? But today, it’s different. I’m PAINFULLY SORE! For most of the day, I couldn’t even raise my arms overhead without really hurting. Yes, I’m fine, and yes, I’m probably exaggerating.

I hope that more workouts are this challenging….though i hope not to be as sore from them.

Today, obviously, I’m not doing a workout. We’ll see about tomorrow morning.

Today I was so ticked at myself, the world, fitness, etc. Third week in a row that my measurements have stayed basically the same, except for bodyfat. Not sure why, but I’ve gone from 9.8% to now 11.68%! In three weeks!!!! I have been very careful about measuring myself in the same spots, pinching the same way, etc. I cannot explain why I would change bf% so fast.

Usually during the winter, I gain a bit of weight and bf, and if this is any indicator of things to come, i’m going to need to really get on the ball. After almost beating myself up and throwing the log book in the trash, I decided to take a more proactive, healthy approach.

Solution 1: Diet Check
Yeah, especially this weekend, it sucked. No doubt. I’m starting to really think about planning meals, even though most of the time I don’t follow the plan anyway. It’s so easy to just not eat at work so that I can get things done. Or, the opposite is true and I eat everything in sight, which is usually junk. So, I need to be very strict. All nice…..but I need help. Finding someone at my work to keep me in line is a no-go. I’m pretty much the only one interested in health/fitness and that would motivate me. So….I’ll have to find the internal motivation.

I CAN DO THIS!

Solution 2: Supplementation
I have been taking a multivitamin for a while, but it’s just a basic one. I’ve added E (400 IU) and Chromium (200 mcg) daily. Today, I looked around for some stuff that might help. I decided to go with a whey protein for meal replacements, snacks, and post workout meals. Powder was cheaper than the ready-to-drink shakes, so I bought the powder. Tastes like chalk, but hey, it’s all the benefit of health and fitness, right? I also decided to go with creatine. I’m finally starting to buy into the effects of creatine, so I’m going to give it a shot. I bought pills instead of powder. Last time I tried the powder I about gagged every time I used it. The pills aren’t too bad…I can shove them down with lots of water (which I need anyway). Finally, with the advice of some others, I’m trying a green tea extract. No, I’m not trying to lose weight, but it will give me some calcium, plus the chromium that I already take, and some green tea extract, which has positive health benefits anyway.

I’m hoping that with a dedicated training program, the two solutions above will help. I’m not surprised by the solutions because they’re quite simple. Just being a skeptic, I’m not sure if they’ll help. We’ll see.

This weekend was, well, let’s say NOT GREAT for my diet. School activity Friday night and all day Saturday…………………

I don’t know how many donuts I ate Saturday morning…….probably 5-6. Krispy Kremes at that. Yeah, bodyfat! Oh, and don’t forget all the cokes. Not diets. Regular, sugar-filled cokes. I could go on and on and on and on. Hospitality rooms are great, but a curse as well.

So…back to strictness and hard training.

About the same as Monday. I did get 3 sets of the bench press in today, though, so I lifted more total weight. I also increased the weight for the horizontal rotations. Now I’m sore and tired.

I don’t know if I like the chest/shoulders combo. I like working chest/back together more, so I might do that next week, and put shoulders on legs/core day. We’ll see. I also have some major flexibility issues with my chest and arms that I’m trying to work out…..LOTS of stretching!