Strength Training

So this morning I’ve actually been trying to focus on getting some work done this morning at work. A completely novel concept I know. The thing is, despite NOT being a morning person at all I tend to only really get work done in the morning. By the time the afternoon hits I get my slump and I just don’t seem to want to do anything productive. Seeing as the past two days I’ve spend my entire morning in the car driving around it makes sense that today was the first chance I really got to delve into some work. Still not perfect, still not done, but better. Significantly better.

Last night I wasn’t really “feeling” the gym but I went anyway of course. It’s just routine at this point. I guess that is the thing that I probably love the most. They originally said it takes 30 days to form a habit, but then I think they, whoever they is, revised that to like 45 days. Regardless, the habit is formed. Not just the exercise after work habit, but now the go to the gym habit. Pretty cool really. Even when I may not want to, it’s so engrained in me that I just go. Once I go, I pretty much always end up loving it.

Last night I wasn’t sure what I was going to do at all. I was completely on my own. Sometimes I feel like a lost puppy looking around the gym trying to decide what to do. I wanted to get my heart rate up and my leg was feeling fine so I decided to run. I just needed the stress relief yesterday. I wasn’t in the mood to go super-fast or push myself too much as I was still conscious of my leg and not pulling another muscle. I just did a nice pace 30 minutes 3.1 mile run. I felt good afterwards which is always the point. About this time it was time for the barbell workshop. It was about using proper form on the barbell and then of course using the barbell to do some exercises.

Before the class started, the instructor, who is not my personal trainer, but a trainer who teaches classes at the gym, Amanda is her name. Anyway, we started talking. I said that I was doing the barbell workshop because I get enough cardio on my own and was looking for anything strength stuff. She said, yeah, I’ve noticed you are starting to get definition in your arms. Hasn’t it only been like a month? I’m like yes. Secretly inside I was thinking HELL YES!!!! Amanda was the first person at the gym to put me thru an arm workout about a month ago. She is the Turbokick instructor and the first Saturday they were offering the class no one but me showed up and instead she gave me a 30 minute one on one session and we did arms. My arms were REALLY weak at that point and I told her that I had never done arms before. It’s been about a month and she said she really has noticed. I said I had too. I feel it. She said that’s pretty great results for a month. I have to say that I am pretty impressed with the results of a months’ worth of work. So much so that I am starting to not feel as bad about not running every single day. Running is my go-to for sure and while at times I miss it daily, at some points I don’t either. Don’t get me wrong, I miss it if I don’t run and will ALWAYS return to running. I can’t go more than every other day without running something. Maybe it’s only 2 miles fast or maybe it’s a 5k but I have to run at least every other day. My brain needs that runner’s high to function properly.

But I have to say after only a month the results really are enough to keep me wanting to push at the strength training. The results are pretty awesome. Overall every inch of my body feels tighter and more toned. I look at my back and for some reason it just feels so much firmer. It’s crazy! One month people, one month! And the best part about it is that there is so much to do, so many areas, so many exercises to get better at that I couldn’t possibly ever get bored or max out. You just move on to something else. Right now my obsession is with building arm muscle and I don’t think that’s going to change for a while. Someday I really want to be able to do a pull up. Believe me, I am SOOOO ridiculously far away from being able to do one but some day this girl wants to pull herself up. That is the goal. I can dangle and lift my lefts and move maybe an inch but I can’t get my arms to pull my body weight up. Some day.

Anyway, after the barbell class I did more free weights for a while before calling it quits. I finished the day burning 700 calories in just about 2 hours. I came home and was super productive which was also nice. It was garbage night so I gathered all the garbage and got it all out to the curb, I did some dishes. I put my new bed sheets on the bed. I did 2 loads of laundry and then I showered and blow dried my hair, prepped all my clothes for today. Regular outfit and workout outfit. Set my vitamins out for the morning. Super crazy productive. Love that feeling.

It does help make the morning go smoother when most everything is done already. I have been taking vitamins consistently for a couple weeks now actually. There is something ridiculously motivating about the gym and seeing those girls and the results of my efforts that just makes me want to push further. I take 5 drugs every morning. 2 allergy pills and 3 different vitamins. I have to say that I didn’t think they were doing much at first but after being consistently in my system for a few weeks I think they are doing their job. I feel more regular or balanced. I am taking a general multi-vitamin which is just plain good for women I guess. I am also taking a chromium pill because that is what the crazy health nut trainer girl recommended. It’s supposed to help control your blood sugar levels consistently throughout the day thus not leave you starving as much. I do think its working. I am not a pill girl and up until recently never took a single pill. So this is all new to me. But so is being this focused on my overall “health”. Sure I’ve focused on weight loss but not really my health. Generally I feel like I’m in the best physical condition of my life. My body is just thriving on all that I’m giving it. I feel great honestly. Physically at least. Emotionally is a whole other story :)

Tonight is my 3 classes on Wednesday. I have dumbbell fit for half an hour and then cardio core for half an hour and then Turbo kick for half an hour. It’s only 1.5 hours of workout but it’s a good little stretch of exercise. I love Wednesday nights because the classes are so awesome :) I’m pretty much looking forward to all of it. I love sweating. It really does help with the emotional stress of life. You know, I haven’t even turned the TV on since like last Thursday night I think. I come home, turn the radio on and do stuff around the house. Not interested in the TV. So weird to me, I used to be a TV junkie. Maybe it’s just the summer lack of new episodes.

I am going to run my lunch time work errands now. I think I was about done anyway.