Boulder Shoulders

You guessed it, today is shoulders day. It’s also the last week of my May workout plan and an absolutely glorious (both sunny AND warm!) day outside. Having just returned to the office from 4 days away of lousy weather this is of course the last place I want to be right now. Alas, I am sitting here eating some delicious in-season (somewhere LOL) cherries and contemplating my workout for the night. The weight training portion is of course already planned-out but the question remains; “to do cardio or not to do cardio?” hmmm I’m not really feeling up for it as yesterday was legs day and 4 weeks into my plan those genie presses are still shredding my quads but as I’m now less than 7 weeks out from the Yankee Classic I’m starting to feel the anxiety of not leaning out enough, on-time. We’ll see though, if no cardio today then definitely tomorrow and I think it’s time to step-it-up from 20 to 30 minutes minimum per session. Ughhhh the thought makes me cringe. I am so not your typical cardio queen!

Sidenote: I don’t think I’ll do a summer show again in the future. Not being able to indulge in mass quantities of fresh fruit and Corona’s on the beach is really beginning to depress me.

Today’s shoulder session will consist of the following exercises:

Kettlebell swing squats

Bosu standing Arnold presses

Cable cross-overs

Front DB raises

BB curls to shoulder presses

DB standing side-to-side punches

I think I need to step-it-up with the weight while doing shoulders. It’s the one muscle group that I find nearly impossible to rip-up to the point of being sore the next day and it really disappoints me because it’s my favourite muscle group to work and I always feel like I’m getting a great workout while doing it. My goal of having “boulder shoulders” by July 20^th may not be fully fulfilled L 

Yesterday I wrote-out my June workouts and can’t wait to get started on them! I switched-up the days a bit, kept some of my favourite exercises and added-in some new ones. I also signed up for a 6 week MMA-style boxing class on Monday nights which I will count as an arm/core workout. I’ve always wanted to take a class like this and I’m hoping it will target some areas I don’t hit well with just weight training. This will be the new split for June:

Monday – arms/core

Tuesday – legs

Wednesday – back (and some bi’s)

Thursday – shoulders

Friday – cardio only

Saturday – glutes

Sunday – chest (and some tri’s)

Or at least I think that’s how I scheduled it (I don’t have my note cards in front of me). Instead of having a core-only day I have added 1-2 core moves at the end of each weight workout, usually something that also uses the same muscle group I’ve focused on that day. For example, on shoulders day the core move is teepees as you are relying heavily on your shoulders to balance in that move.

I’m guessing today is going to be a mad house in the gym as yesterday was a holiday and hardly anyone was in there. Unfortunately my shoulder workout is not conducive to headphone-wearing so I’ll have to turn on my “leave me the F alone” charm LOL. Maybe I’ll get lucky and the nice weather will keep people away. It’s supposed to be beautiful straight through the weekend which is great since Sunday is my first maXtreme photo shoot of the season and I am not going to be a happy camper if I have to model in my typical gym gear in the rain! We also may have a maXtreme team shoot Friday evening so I’m trying to keep the carbs extra low this week and then do a clean carb-load Friday night so my abs POP! on camera Hahaha Anyway, I hope all you Gym Rats enjoy the gorgeous week ahead and get in some good workouts! ‘Til next time, happy gymming!