hurdle68612’s BodyBlog

Well this summer heading into my final seasons as a college athlete is coming to a close. Two more week’s remain before the start of football camp and a new school year/ football season and eventually track season. I’m excited heading into the season as the team is anxious and prepared to get things rolling this year. This is it, 4 years has gone by faster than i could have imagined, gotta go out with a bang, a legacy.

Over the past 4 weeks i have changed my workout schedule from an afternoon/ after work lift to an early morning 6am lift before work. This has allowed me to get into the gym conisistently from week in to week out. I have made more progress this summer than any in the past and continue to do so. I have also cleaned up my diet after educating myself (especially from all of you on this website, thanks) on the proper way to fuel the body for maximum results. While my diet is not perfect, it is amazing to see how important a factor food really is. While I originally began with a goal of gaining 4 lbs, i initially lost 3 or 4 but am now back to wear i started, minus some fat and with the addition of some lean mass .

One negative about the 6am lift is that gettin up at 5 in the morning is killing my sleep hours. While i have no problem gettin up in the morning, it is almost impossible for me to wind down and go to bed by ten so that i can get at least 7 hours of sleep in (as you can notice it is almost 11 and I am still up :O). I know that this lack of sleep is the last thing i need but it is so hard to come home from work at 6 and then get my running workout in, eat, shower, get ready for the next day, and wind down all in 4 hours or less time. But i suppose i have no problem sacrificing an hour of sleep if it guarantees i can get an hour lift in, all about finding a balance i suppose.

So as the twilight of my college years approaches, all that is left is to give all that i have to give..no excuses, no limits, no fear. Time to put all worries in a pocket with a hole and just have fun and have faith in myself and those that I am surrounded by. Attitude is everything.

Including this week, there are only 6 weeks left until football camp. The upcoming season will be my last as a collegiate athlete. This week also marks the beginning of the second phase of my summer lifting program (last week was a rest week). Due to begin on monday, I had to start yesterday due to work. I sprained my ankle last thursday and I would put myself at about 70% recovered as of now. As of yesterday, there was still a lot of swelling (especially after being on it all day at work) and a little bruising. But after doing some more strengthening and icing last night, I woke up this morning to see that about 50-60% of the swelling had gone . This is a great sign because while thankfully I am still able to squat and do most lifts, I am still unable to run and cut at full speed, which was supposed to begin again this week.

I was pretty unhappy with my workout yesterday. Mentally I was unprepared and felt sluggish and physically i felt exhausted and hesitant on my ankle. It was about 89 degrees yesterday and unbelievably humid. While i tried to push myself with the weights, i wasn’t as successful as I would have wanted to be. I am also trying to pack on a couple of lean mass and lose a little bodyfat so started a new diet last monday (with the help of a few great suggestions from members of this site). I weighed myself at they gym yesterday and was disappointed to see that I had actually lost 2lbs. But I am hoping that with the continuation of lifting these next 5 weeks that I have nothing to worry about. All in all i will have to say that while yesterdays time at the gym could have been better, I definitely walked away feeling that I became more mentally tough.

-One cannot do anything about circumstance, but one can control their own attitude.