josiethefiend’s BodyBlog

Well, I’m lame and didn’t ask the photographer to take progress pix for me.  Woops.  I promise I get right on those for you guys.  And let’s be honest, mostly just for me.

Since my routine was horribly offset by work functions last week, I’m taking the oportunity to try something new.  I was feeling inspired by the workout of the current Female Transition Of The Week, so I took that and tweaked it a bit.  We’ll see how it goes.  I like the idea of less lifts (I’ve been doing 7 lifts each session) and more variety (love those muscle specific lifts, so much fun even if they’re not entirely necessary). 

Monday: Chest 

• Incline dumbbell press- 3 x10 

• Flat bench press- 3 x10 

• Dumbbell flyes- 3 x10 

Tuesday: Back 

• Pull ups- 3 x10 

• Seated rows- 3 x 10 

• Bent over rows- 3 x 10 

• Lat pull down- 3 x 10 

Wednesday: Quads 

• Leg extension- 2 x 10 

• Front squats- 3 x 10 

• Leg press- 3 x 10 

Thursday: Hamstrings & Shoulders 

• Leg curl- 3 x 10 

• Straight leg deadlifts- 3 x 10 

• Lunges- 3 sets of 3 x 10 

• Dumbell Shoulder Press: 3 x 10 

• Rear deltoids- 3 3 x 10 

Friday: Biceps & Triceps 

• Barbell bicep curl- 3 x 10 

• Skull crushers- 3 x 10 

• Dips- 3 x 10 1 

Saturday or Sunday: Abs 

• Roman Chair Lifts- 3 x 10 

• Swiss Ball Crunches- 3 x 10 

• Incline Sit-Ups- 3 x 10
• Oblique Planks- each side to failure, twice 

Yesterday, I went dress shopping, and it was so cool to be grabbing 8’s and 10’s off the racks.  Loveit. 

 The mission continues to go well, in the gym at least.  I’m having immense trouble reigning in my eating habits.  I just can’t get out of that vacation, relax, eat what you want more or less mentality.  Now this week has been the national sales meeting at work, so free, rich food and drink has been plentiful and unavoidable.  But, tonight that comes to an end, and I keep promising myself that starting Friday I will really get back down to business.

 I’m considering competition as a motivator and goal at this point.  Figure is one thing I think about (there’s a competition here in WA in late October that might be far enough away), but I’m more seriously thinking about karate.  I’ve started to tailor some of my workouts to help produce the kind of deep, short, steady stances that win tournaments.  I’m easing back into martial arts training, doing kata and basics for my morning workouts here and there.  I think it can be done.  And it would be such a thrill!

 Meanwhile, when I flex, my arms and back actually look like they belong to a body builder.  This, my friends, is huge to me.  Photoshoot on Sunday, I’ll see if I can’t get him to indulge me in one or two progress pictures. 

I suppose I might as well try the lift the haze left over me by yesterday’s events at Virginia Tech by focusing on fitness for a few minutes. 

Lifting continues to go very well.  I’ve switched out dips in favor of chest flys, as I believe I’m working my triceps enough already, and I’m curious to see how my chest responds to a little more stimuli.  I’ve also switched out kickbacks for skullcrushers, as my good friend told me that the trainer I adore at the gym told her they were more effective than kickbacks.  After trying this for the first time yesterday, my triceps are definitely feeling it, and I’m sold. 

Over the weekend I bought a pair of lifting gloves, and thusly I’m SO FREAKIN’ EXCITED to deadlift today.  I think I’m finally going to be able to really challenge myself. 

SPOON!

Oh, and the weight seems to be coming off again.  I’m taking a cue from the Johnson Up Day Down Day Diet, and varying my calories from day to day.  Though, I’m not cutting nearly as much as the diet advises for a down day, and I’m not allowing myself free-for-alls on an up day. 

Ahhhh, what a relief to be back in the game.  Amazingly, after my little departure from my gym obsession I seem to actually be in better condition than I was before.  I’m not cruising up hills on my bike by any means, but my stamina has definitely improved. 

 Rock. 

 Tomorrow I’ll pick the weights back up again.  Today looks like this:

- 18 min. bike ride to gym

- 20 min. karate

- 7 min. abwork

- 20 min. of intervals on the gauntlet

- 7 min. abwork

- 20 min. bike ride home

Well, SF was lovely.  Spending time with my favorite redhead was truly tops though, and was the highlight of my trip.

 Despite eating and drinking far too much over those five days, I’m only up about two pounds.  A small price to pay for a small, high-quality binge.  I’m not feeling guilty about it at all, seeing as how I made wise choices.  I’ve never eatten so much shashimi in my life, and damn if it wasn’t amazing.  Also, a lot of Gardenburgers, and a lot of pineapple pizza (probobly my worst offence food-wise, though better than most people vices so I felt cool anyways).  The booze is what really did me in I think, and if I had enforced more moderation I probobly would have just held my weight steady.  I’m conviced my gain is from alchohol calories alone.  But, oh well.  If a $50 bar tab is what it takes for me to fly comfortably, so be it.  And when in Rome, you know, so there wasn’t really a single dinner or evening that didn’t involved booze to some level of excess. 

 Oh well.

 But, my crowning moment, I did work out while I was there.  There was much walking, and on Sunday I took advantage of some stairs I found to do 30 minutes of cardio intervals, followed by abusing a park bench for one-legged squates, decline pushups, and tricep dips.  It was radular, and my ass still feels a bit tight.  Aparently real stairs work even better than the gauntlet at the gym.

 Oh!  Oh!  THe best part of the trip?  Going shopping and fitting into a size 8 dress, and size 10 jeans.  I’ve not fit into size 10 pants since the last time I weighted in the 130s in my first year of high school.  I’ve NEVER fit into a size 8 dress.

 Wild.

My BodyBlog is finally back!  I’m so excited.  It’s been driving me a bit batty not being able to post here.

I am SO proud of myself today. I rode my bike to work and back. My first trip has been a complete success, and I am overjoyed at being liberated from dependency on mass transit. No more waiting, no more rushing or stretching out my workouts. Free at last! My world no longer revolves around the bus schedule!

I even got to the gym at the exact same time I would have had I taken the bus, without having to wait around. As I get better at bike riding and more fit, I’ll get there even quicker. And this way, I’ve arrived at the gym with 20 minutes of cardio already under my belt, and will get 20 more on my way home (or likely more, since it’s uphill almost the entire way), on top of what I normally do.  Rock.

Everything continues to go well, though I ate far more than I really needed to this weekend.  I didn’t do anything particularly awful, I just didn’t eat nearly as good as I could have.  But, I am getting better at eating clean for longer and longer periods of time.  I think when I get back from San Francisco I’m really going to push to eat as well as possible for two weeks straight, even the weekends.

Lifting tonight went really well.  I’m getting better and better at pushing myself and squeezing an extra rep or two out of a set, even when I think I’m maxed out.  I switched out dips for some shoulder work today, mainly because I keep wrenching my neck a bit every time I do them (I hurt it trying to surf the web in bed last week, woops).  But really, my triceps are doing great and my shoulders could use some extra attention, so I think I may keep things this way.

And, back to San Francisco, I’m starting to obsess over how I’m going to get activity in while I’m there.  Jogging will probobly be my only cardio option, which I loathe but will have to deal with.  I may buy some of those travel weights that you fill with water to take with me.  Just depends if I have the time to get some!

And tomorrow, I’m treating myself to a fake tan.  Ha!  I’ve never had a tan before.  I think I managed to get beige once, but that’s it.  So, I figure I’ll give Mystic Tan a shot.  Wish me luck!