I got a feel'n...

Back to the work week.
It was a stressful start to the week...as my backup alarm went off 7 minutes late.  Yeah, yeah 7 minutes...but because I am a CHRONICALLY scheduled person, I nearly flipped out.  I don't think I calmed down until I got off the highway...I even caught myself yelling at a man only going 82 in the fast lane...which, apparently to me at 5:15 in the morning was too slow.  Not even 6am and I was already being ridiculous...

I had trouble falling asleep last night...tossing and turning until 11:30...meaning that I only got 5 hours of sleep.  Its amazing I didn't go nuts on anyone before 10am.  Ready or not, I had a big workout coming...had to grab it by the horns and ride like a champ.  Chest, shoulders, and sprints.  I felt strong throughout my lifts, but the sprints were harder than I expected...probably because I couldn't feel my arms, and my legs were in complete rebellion of any type of running.  How is that different than any other day, I don't know.  Shoulder workout was just plain brutal after lifting chest.  At one point I finished a set of lateral raises, dropped the weights, and just said "I hate you!"...haha...what a freak show.  As if the weights  A) had any control over moving themselves or inducing pain independent of ME , or B) could even hear me or remotely care what I thought at that moment.  I'm slowly losing my mind.

Workout:
Flat DB bench press 4 x 10
DB flys 4 x 10
Incline DB press 4 x 10
Standing BB shoulder press 4 x 12
Seated bent arm lateral raises (10x)/ss lateral raises (8-10x) 4x
Front DB raises 4 x 15
Treadmill sprints 30 minutes

My strength has maintained pretty well, but much of it has simply been mind over matter.  I am definitely more tired, especially from all the cardio, but it is what it is.

Today I was on a serious mission.  I had to bump up my water intake.  Its one of those things that can easily lag if I'm not careful...well, not today my friends.  I'm sitting at roughly 115 oz of water for the day and my bladder is about to explode.  After 8am it was pretty comical how often I had to go, so I started to keep count.  A little over 12 hours at the gym today...27 trips to the bathroom.  I wish I were kidding.  I tell any guy with prostate issues to beat that.  By round 15 I wanted a diaper.  Good thing Brian isn't a tree-hugger because I killed some toilet paper today...oh wait...  For those of you who don't know Brian, he would recycle his poo if he could.  Which is fine and the world needs those people, just don't yell at me for not wearing recycled t-shirts....I recycle my beer cans...you're welcome.

On to a more serious part of my day.
I had a client come to me today after taking some time off.  She was pretty upset and said that she simply lacked motivation.  She felt as if she'd "fallen off the wagon" and just kept beating herself up over it.  The truth is that she is an incredibly athletic woman, great runner, and strong....but somewhere along the way she got discouraged.  I was totally caught off guard when she said she just felt like a failure in the gym because she struggled with the weights and felt like everything was hard.  For a moment I was actually relieved....I just never put 2 and 2 together.  She just had a total misconception of "success" and "failure" in the gym.  I explained that struggling, yet completing a set with good form, is a GOOD thing...it needs to be hard, challenging, and push you to new limits.  And as you get stronger, faster, more conditioned...guess what?...you make it harder.  THAT is succeeding in the gym.  Because you're ultimately competing against yourself...your weaknesses, and complacency we often find in our strengths simply because they are our strengths.
 And as far as lack of motivation?  Sometimes you just got to DO.  Feelings come and go.  Heck, if we only did what we felt like doing all the time, we'd drink more, go to church less, and probably be fired from our jobs for giving people a piece of our mind.  Sometimes action will breed the feeling.  Its a delicate balance....mentally we push ourselves physically,...and physically we boost ourselves mentally....back and forth.  I think the key is knowing that everyday will be a little different and we have to adjust accordingly, yet approach it with the same confidence in our ability to be better than we were the day before.  And the truth is, we are able.

Alright folks, I've written a book and my arthritis is screaming....early bedtime and then on to Tuesday...

Face tomorrow boldly!