Dirty Digging...

I could literally crawl in bed right now....at 7:45....while its still light outside and kids are playing in the street like they've lost their minds.  I am drained.  Of course I still woke up at an ungodly hour even on my day off.  By 7am then house was clean and I was already working on the hip-hop routine for tomorrow's class.  I need to chill out,...
The day rolled from one thing to the next...workout (which was a brutal shoulder/core day), client at noon, and then I made my way to Lowes.  I love picking out plants, BUT I always seem to walk out of there with half a forest.  Poor Edna was ringing me up, practically giving herself a hernia trying to lift the potting soil.  I went a little plant-happy and ended up with over 40 things to get in the ground.  After the first 6 flowers I was pretty much covered in dirt.  And by "covered" I mean I had dirt in places that one should never have anything that was once home to a worm.  Needless to say, it was a long afternoon...

In the gym...
My client today is recently getting back into a routine after a hiatus that was a little too long, but laced with a couple of injuries.  She has moments of what I can only describe as mental-defeat because she allows self-doubt to simply rob her of any physical success she may experience in the gym.  Instead of focusing on the steps she's making, she gets caught up on the long term and the poor choices she made that brought her to this point.  I see this all the time.  Its a crossroad of sorts.  There is the past and an unhealthy lifestyle, and then there are 2 directions you can take.  One leads to further self-destruction, and one towards health in every aspect - physical, mental, emotional, etc.  Yes, people often take steps in the right direction and then its like they freeze.  They realize its not always going to be easy, it will require 100% effort, and will more often than not push them outside their comfort zone,....and they look back.  It's that moment when you can still see where you left in the rear view mirror....you've got to get further down the road.  Keep moving,...looking forward.
She ended up feeling a little more empowered by the end, and knew she was one step ahead of where she was.  Honestly, I get excited just to watch the whole process unfold.  Yet another reason I love what I do.

Well, I can hardly function at this point.  Time for some shut-eye so I can be ready to roll for hip-hop class tomorrow.  I've got a couple of newbies coming to drop it like its hot bright and early.....nothing like a few hip rolls to start the weekend off right.
Have a great night folks,....weekend here we come.

Hip to the Hop

Saturday morning and I just woke from a 9 hour slumber.  I probably could have slept longer except my obese cat was whining at the foot of the bed and looking at me like I was a handy snack.  He's ridiculous.  Not going to lie though, I was ready for some coffee myself.  Like a moth to a flame baby!

It's 7:45 and I'm on cup number 3...getting my mind right for hip-hop class this morning.  My hamstrings are incredibly tight after yesterday's workout so this will be interesting.  The routine today will be to Rihanna's Breakn' Dishes.  A few years old, but a great beat and we'll rock out like its midnight at a club (after 1am the dancing gets a little questionable....they might be moving, but not realize they're moving).  Its fine, we get it.  I am pumped about class.  I absolutely LOVE teaching hip-hop.  Its edgy, I get to be creative, and it helps people break out of their shell a little bit.  After the warm-up and a few hip rolls, its game time! 

Yesterday's workout ended up being more brutal than I'd expected.  I had hamstrings and shoulders.  Washing my hair is now a chore...just having to hold my arms over my head is exhausting.  It was a great burn yesterday, and now its like a workout-hangover.  I have a feeling that I'll be feeling it tomorrow as well.  I spent about an hour revamping my diet yesterday.  Got to tighten things back up and make a few adjustments here and there.  I've started incorporating some greek yogurt, but I am not a huge fan of the taste.  It is sooo sour!  Excellent protein source and I love that it only has 1-2 ingredients, but my God I have to scarf it down.  The texture freaks me out.  I like a ton of stuff all mixed together with a variety of textures, which is probably why I love salads and my weird concoctions.  But plain yogurt is just gross to me.  Is that odd??

I went to the mall yesterday to meet up with a friend for coffee and got my fix of people-watching.  Its like a second hobby of mine.  My favorite location is the airport....there are a ton of people - tired, stressed, excited, happy, sad, rushed,...its great.  The best is the dad carrying the Dora the Explorer back pack in one hand, coffee mug in the other, and slowly losing his mind as he tries to keep up with his 3 daughters and wife.  He is literally drowning in estrogen and dealing with the stress of figuring out how to entertain these divas for the next 5 hour plane ride.  Truth is, he no longer cares if his neighboring passengers are annoyed with crayons, travel games, or even their whining....he just wants to arrive with a hint of sanity left.  What a site.  I love it.
Nonetheless, the mall was a great way to get my people-scoping fix.  AND I was able to enjoy the company of a friend.  Win/win.

Well, its breakfast time and then I've got to polish off my moves for class.  Here we gooo!!  Happy weekend folks :)

DJ CRANK IT!!!

Saturday afternoon and my house is silent.  It is absolutely wonderful to say the least, and was only briefly interrupted when a neighborhood kid thought it was funny to ring my doorbell and run.  Really?  Is this 1992...who does that anymore?  I saw his mullet flapping in the wind as he ran off...enough said.

I am tired...just woke up from a nap.
I felt like I couldn't even relax until after my hip-hop class today.  My Friday was completely full of a massive to-do list, then it was off to my parents' house for dinner, back home by 11, then had to finish preparing the routine for this morning,...I was a nut case.  The class was an absolute blast, but it was hotter than a confessional in there.  If you've ever taken a hip-hop class you can't help but have some appreciation for back-up dancers on tv.  I was sucking some serious wind...

Not sure where my rhythm came from...although we used to watch Soul Train with my great-grandmother.   Apparently she had an inner gansta....explains a lot.

Today capped off my week-of-cardio.  Made it.  Monday-Wednesday was distance/steady-state on the treadmill, Thursday and Friday was TABATA intervals which made me want my mama by the end, and today was hip-hop class.  I am officially ready to pick up some weights on Monday!!  Ahhh, I can't wait!  It will be 9 days by that point...dear Jesus...

 I honestly wasn't sure I'd make it.  That sounds crazy to many of you, but I'm totally serious.  I was soooo tempted yesterday.   To wake up 5 days in a row and not be sore was the most bazaar thing to me.  I'm ready to feel like I've worked.  I'm practically counting the hours...

Ok, time for a few housy-chores, and then off to a basketball game.  It might be a cup-of-joe-in-the-afternoon kind of day.  :) 

Decking my halls...

Saturday morning and I just finished bringing down all the Christmas decorations from the attic.  I would have done it last week but the person in my neighborhood with a 9 foot inflatable pumpkin in their front yard sort of put a damper on my Christmas spirit.  Actually, it was probably more my entire spirit and not just the Christmas aspect.  Nothing huge and inflatable should go in your yard.  Sorry, I can't take you seriously with a carnival going on in front of your house.  And not sure which is more depressing, that they actually like it, or that they spent over 5 bucks for it...
Ironically, I love Christmas lights.  My neighbor puts up lights that blink and play music....drives my OCD a little nuts, but he's living the Christmas dream.  Rock on baby, rock on...

Pretty pumped about class this morning.  I'm teaching hip-hop in a couple of hours...by far my favorite class to teach (outside of pure meat-head weight training).  Its fun, edgy, and makes me feel like I'm in college again,...well,...sort of.  I certainly was not dancing like that at 10 in the morning.  Got to draw the line somewhere.

Workouts this week were pretty solid.  I've been extremely sore since I did a little different split then normal just trying to mix things up.  Here's what it looked like:

M - Back/Shoulders
T - Quads/Biceps (Strength)/Tris
W - HIIT
Th - Chest/Biceps (Hypertrophy)
F - Hamstrings, glutes/Shoulders

I hit shoulders and biceps twice because I really need to work on my proportion.  I have "good sized" legs (nice way of putting it), so I need a balance up top to create more of a V-taper so my legs do not appear too big for my frame.  Work in progress...always...

My cardio today will definitely come from teaching the class and then I'll probably grab a quick jog tomorrow at some point.  Today is all about some hip-hop and Christmas...interesting combination, but I like to think that if it really is the most wonderful time of the year, shaking-what-your-mama-gave-ya totally fits in...

Have a great weekend :)  Ready to roll Monday!!