Lose Yourself

It's Saturday and you guessed it...started my weekend with a nice detoxifying spin class! Usually I'm up bright and early on a Saturday morning but when my alarm went off at 7:00 am, it was a struggle to get my tired ass out of bed. Not even my dog who usually begins his pacing / crying / shaking / jumping on my bed / starting at me until I move wake-up call around 6:30 had any interest in getting up on this dreary rainy morning. But alas I knew I had a glass of wine and a martini to burn off from last night's birthday outing so I refrained from hitting the snooze and grudgingly exited my happy place.

Arriving at World's at my usual time of 8:00 (nice and early to ensure I get a spin pass as well as my first pick of bikes), I cracked open a Celcius and began with some all-over stretches to try and wake up my muscles. I really wasn't in the mood to do weights this morning so I decided to use my free 45 minutes to hit a few target areas that always need improvement. Yesterday I did a shoulders-only extra long weight sesh that I copied out of this month's Muscle & Fitness Hers magazine so shoulders were definitely out of the question. Lesson learned...any more than 3 exercises of the same muscle group is a waste because at that point its a major struggle to keep going and I sacrifice not only on form but also settle for reduced weight and reps!

Today's quickie routine began with 4 sets of 10 standing leg lifts (2 sets forward and 2 sets side-to-side). Then I moved on 4 sets of 10 barbell bicep curls while standing on the bosu. Returning to abs I then did 4 sets of 12 incline crunches, 2 sets forward while holding a plate and 2 weightless sets side-to-side. The incline bench was already set-up with 5 risers when I got there. Of course it wasn't until halfway through when I wondered why I was struggling so much that I realized it wasn't my usual 4. Funny how just a few inches can make such a huge difference! Lastly, I did 4 sets of 10 (each arm) tricep dumbbell extensions. I wanted to get in a third ab workout since I only did one yesterday but time was running out as I got caught up into a conversation with one of the usuals so I had to call it quits.

I was feeling much more energetic when I entered spin class and despite what the instructor may think about my less than par RPM average, I got a great workout today and feel like I was able to push myself much harder than the past few weekends. I think it may be due to the fact that I only did 2 spin classes this week rather than 3-4 like I had been doing so my quads weren't quite as exhausted this morning. I'll have to hit up class again on Monday or Tuesday because I think my 1-month membership will be expiring early this week and I'll be taking a week or two off from spin in order to get some serious lower body weight sessions in without having exhausted muscles. I'm sure that as usual the excellent playlist also had something to do with my burst of energy as I had completely lost myself in the music by the end of class :)  Okay, I'll stop the cheesiness here but seriously I cannot get that song out of my head...great way to end class!

Anyway, that was all for today's workout. Not sure what tomorrow's will bring; maybe a good run and ab sesh will be a nice way to round out the weekend. I know I'll need something to keep my mood lifted as its back to work on Monday after 9 days out of the office. Ughhh the thought of sitting on my ass staring at the computer screen for 9 hours is making me cringe already. I'll have to plan some good post-workday workouts to keep me going this week! Happy gymming everyone and on this note I'll leave you with my favorite lines from "Lose Yourself"...just something to think about and hopefully keep you motivated on this icky rainy day:

"Success is my only motherfucking option, failure's not

So here I go, its my shot

Feet fail me not, this may be the only opportunity that I got

You better lose yourself in the music, the moment

You own it, you better never let it go

You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow

This opportunity comes once in a lifetime

You can do anything you set your mind to."

- Eminem

Fuel Injector

Perhaps it was my irritation with the $700 I had to drop in vehicle repairs today, or my disgust toward the creepiest of all creeps who reappeared in the gym today after a pleasant month-long hiatus, or maybe it was the coffee, latte, and Celsius I downed during the day; but whatever the cause, something seriously fueled my workout today. To be quite frank, it nothing short of kicked-[my]ass.

Stuck at home while my car was attended to in the dealership for one massive repair that my lame-ass and overpriced warranty did NOT cover, today's activities began with a mid-day speed walk around the Back Cove. It was a gorgeous day out and my pup was very pleased to be taken out for a prance around Portland (he literally prances when he walks haha). Sadly, I haven't done the cove in at least a couple of months due to its increasing popularity amongst dog owners. However, now that school is in session the crowds have died down and there are far fewer opportunities for my sweet little prince to turn Cujo and chomp his foaming mouth at all approaching canine haha.

After our walk and a several-hour car-less wait, I finally had wheels again and sped over to World's. My cardio schedule was shifted a bit this week as I did an all-day hike on Tumbledown Mountain on Saturday, skipping my usual spin class and thus did spinning on Sunday instead. My legs were begging for a break so I decided I'd need more than just one day off from spinning. As such, yesterday was a cardio-free day and today I opted for a run. I can't yet say whether the new running shoes are an improvement at all as I haven't been running more than short distances once or twice a week but at least I have yet to have a "case of the returning shin splints" so that's a plus!  I'm slowly trying to work my way back up to my pre-Summer distance by increasing 1/10 of a mile each time. Today was 1.3 miles and as pathetic as it sounds, it was a struggle! I pushed through though, with increased speed no less, thanks to a stellar Pandora play list and a rather studly floor display tonight haha. Afterward, my endorphins were flying through the roof so I segued into weights without losing any steam.

Having done bi's & tri's on Sunday and shoulders yesterday, I opted for chest and back tonight. The further I got into my workout I just got more and more fired up and can truly say that I may have crossed a mental threshold tonight. Here's a breakdown of my routine:

1. 3x10 chest press on a stability ball
2. 3x10 standing rows on a bosu
3. 3x12 seated incline chest flies
4. 6x10 bent-over rows (3 each arm)

For abs I kept it simple but pushed myself with added weight:

1. 3x16 incline forward crunches while holding a dumbbell overhead and pushing it forward with each rep
2. 3x16 side-to-side crunches on a stability ball while holding a plate to my chest and holding 3 balancing v-sits in between sets

This may not seem like an extreme workout or really much different than my usual routine but I think it was a combination of slightly longer sets, increased focus, and working at a faster pace than usual (I completed the entire weight/ab portion in only 45 mins!) that kept me flushed, sweaty, and determined the whole time. I left the gym feeling refreshed and invigorated and looking forward to a seriously massive bowl of my yummy chicken-veggie stir-fry! Sitting here typing away, trying to recall every last bit of this very long day, I'm starting to feel my mental fuel-tank reach empty so here's to a good night's sleep, an expense-less day tomorrow, and many more fuel-injected workouts to come!

APP UPDATE: Impatiently waiting...

Countdown to maXtreme!

Over the past couple of weeks of being back to the real world I've been hitting the gym seriously hard, getting back into pre-vacation training mode. People in the gym sometimes ask me if I'm training for something. Well no, I'm not exactly training to be in an upcoming fitness competition or some crazy triathlon or anything but I suppose you could say I'm on a constant training path toward being in the best shape I can possibly be. That's training for something, right? It may not even be fully attainable since in my mind there's always room for improvement, but it sure is fun trying! I have to say I feel great right now and I have spin class to thank for it. Being a major cheap-ass and needing to get the biggest bang for my buck, I've been fitting in at least 3-4 spin classes each week (any more and my legs may literally fall off my body). I figure a minimum of 3 classes per week for a month straight ends up being about $1.25 per class. Now, that's a price I am satisfied with haha. I've hit up just about every one of the the trainers by now and definitely have my favorites but honestly I can't complain about any of them. I plan to hit up the 6pm class tomorrow which has an instructor I've never had before so I'm excited for that. I've found that some of the instructors add-in some really good core and tricep work in addition to the regular moves so that's been an added bonus. At this time tomorrow I should be seriously burnt out!

Doing so much spinning has kind of put a damper of my usual leg routines so I'll probably be hitting them up pretty hard again when my 1-month membership is up. It should be a nice re-shock to my muscles for a bit before I return to the bike again. Yesterday my legs had had enough so I took it as a rest day and did nothing other than walking my dog. Then, wanting to get back into the gym but not wanting to exhaust my legs again I started today's workout with a short 1-mile run. Last week I finally broke down and bought myself some way-too-pricey Asics which, according to the salesboy working at Maine Running Company, are going to help correct my supposed pronation and eliminate my knee/shin issues. I still didn't feel too great running today but it was my first run with the new shoes so I'll give it a few tries before I decide if his spiel was a total crock or not. Either way, at least the colors are cute!

I was on a mission to bust out a fast weight workout today because I had a meeting with the maXtreme app creator at 5:30. Luckily I had a work event today that allowed me to hit up the gym earlier than usual. Sorry coworkers but I am not going to choose your beer and nachos happy hour over my beloved gym time! You may as well call it a depression hour because that's exactly how I'd feel after consuming all those calories and then likely being too lethargic and tipsy to make it to the gym afterward. I don't have anything against treating yourself but over-indulging before you've had the chance to get in any real activity in a day's time is not the way to do it.

I opted for bi's and tri's today and kept it simple:
3 sets of 8 bicep curls standing on a bosu
3 sets of 10 overhead tricep extensions standing on a bosu
3 sets of 10 hammer curls standing on a bosu (increased reps because I had to lower the weight)
1 set of 8 dual-arm tricep push-downs using the rope and 2 sets of 8 single-arm push-downs

For abs I only had time for one thing so I'm going to have to triple them up tomorrow. Since time was running out and I was already at the station with the lat pull-down and other cable equipment, I did 3 sets of 12 air crunches. I still can't think of a better name for these so I hope by now all you regular followers know what I mean :)

After wrapping these up I scooted off to meet the app creator. I thought I was going to get the app put on my iPhone tonight but instead I got a demo of the almost-finished product and hopefully Wednesday (crossing fingers and knocking on wood here) I can get the real deal. Let me just say...FUCKING AMAZING. I can't apologize for the profanity because honestly that doesn't even begin to describe how awesome this product is. It has absolutely everything you could ever want in a workout app and then some....and it's only the first edition! Ahh its just so exciting I could spend hours talking about the different levels to choose from, the special awards you can unlock once you reach certain goals, the build-your-own workout options... Ugh but I have a million things I need to get done here tonight so I'll leave it at that for now and leave it up to you to purchase the app and try it out for yourself! Literally anyone can benefit from it because there are routines and hundreds and hundreds of moves for every activity level. Even better, no one can use the age-old excuse of "I just don't have enough time" because you can create your workout based on whatever time you do have. If you only have time for a 20 minute ab-focused routine then that's exactly what you'll get! There's even a special option for those on-the-road and lacking a gym but I'll keep my mouth shut for now and leave you in anticipation! If all goes well this week it should be ready for submission to Apple this Sunday and then assuming Apple approves it (cross fingers knock on wood again please), it will be going live to the public on October 1st. Countdown is on! From there on out the possibilities are endless. There are already so many future build-outs in the works, I just can't help but let my mind race with all the exciting things to come over the next few months. I'm just going to have to continue this crazy workout streak because once it goes public who knows what kind of promoting and marketing I'll (hopefully) be involved in. Continue to switch up my routines and shock my muscles into extreme transformation is my main goal right now. Whoops, I mean maXtreme transformation!  

Let The Detoxing Begin!

Well, I finally made it home at 11pm last night (6am according to my body's time zone differential)...aka I had been up for 24 hours straight and was not in a good mood after having a 10 hour flight with an undisciplined child kicking the back of my seat the whole time followed by a 6 hour layover in the awful Philadelphia International Airport due to my connecting flight being cancelled.

Don't worry...I'm done my rant for now :) The idea was to sleep in this morning and wake up refreshed and back on schedule but of course my body decided to get up at 4am! I lay around for a couple hours and then decided to get up and take on the day. Luckily I had taken today off of work in order to readjust to the time change. After a hearty scrambled egg & provelone on rosemary foccaccia sandwich and two cups of coffee (thank you Borealis Breads for opening early on a morning when I had nothing in my fridge!) I decided to begin my post-vacation detoxification process. Off to World's I went around 8:30am where I purchased a Celcius and a 1-month spinning membership (the coffee was just not going to cut it today).

Spin class was to begin at 9:30 so I had plenty of time to get in a good weights sesh beforehand. My plan is to hit the cardio hard this month to erase the effect that Summertime Coronas, my cut-back on cardio, and the London/Greece-vacation baklava, souvlaki, and wine indulgence has had on my body! According to the scale I only gained 1 pound while on vacay but I think its deceiving...probably more like I lost 4 pounds of muscle and gained back 5 pounds of fat! We did walk about a million miles a day though so I guess that somewhat made up for my lack of gym sessions. Hey, its not totally my fault...I only saw one gym the entire time I was away! Apparently Europeans are not as into the fitness craze as Americans are.

Anyway, I decided to target bi's, tri's and abs today. The gym was nice and empty just like on the weekend so I had no problem getting the equipment I wanted...sure wish I could work out at that time everyday! After a good 10-minute total body stretch, I started off with simple bicep curls (3x8) standing on the bosu ball. Next I did my favourite tricep bench dips with my feet on a stability ball and a 25 lb plate on my quads (3x10) and followed these up with teepees (3x8), balancing on the ball in between sets. Next I circled back through the muscle groups beginning with tricep cable push downs (3x8), bicep cable curls (3x8), and the air crunches where you put your knees over the rollers on the lat pull down machine and crunch backward (3x16). I was thoroughly exhausted 45 minutes later but I psyched myself up to take on the 60 minute spin class. Unexpectedly it was my favourite Saturday morning instructor teaching this morning so I was able to push through due to the amazing-as-usual song list! I thought I was going to either pass out or puke half-way through but then that feeling of exercise-elation came over me and I was able to finish without making a scene lol.

Leaving the gym in a heap of soaked and sticky workout gear, I stopped by the grocery store to stock up on healthy food for the remainder of the week. Lunches this week are Greece-inspired whole wheat pitas with tzatziki, cucumbers, feta and capers. Delicious and only 185 calories each! I'm seriously exhausted right now so I think its nap time. Hope I don't fall asleep for too long since my body thinks its now 9:30pm. Tomorrow's workout will likely be a shoulder routine followed by another spin class...assuming my legs aren't complete jell-o after today!