Opening doors

Monday,...here I am.
Coming off of an eventful weekend, the alarm went off a little too early this morning.  I finished the week with a bout with the pilates reformer machine...Anna nearly killed me.  My inner thighs were raw and I was caught in a couple of positions that I'm pretty sure are only acceptable in the hospital...while giving birth...
I needed the stretching though, and an extra day away from the weights was a good thing.  I felt stronger today and ready for anything...well, sort of....

I jacked the weights back up and went for reps of 10-12 on all major strength movements (rows, WG pull-ups, shoulder press,...), and then went 12-15 reps on all isolation moves (DB curls, lateral raises,...).  I finished the day with a 4.25 mile jog and then gladly hit the shower.  I was pleased with the workout and am surprisingly looking forward to leg day tomorrow.  Eh,....I take it back,...I totally take it back...

Had an awesome day with clients.  One client in particular had an incredible victory this weekend.  She won her age group in a local 5k, and had a PR.  This was huge for her.....this came from a woman who used to be 90 pounds heavier and not even be able to walk a mile.  So proud of her.  But what's even more exciting is watching her start to genuinely believe that she is capable of more.  More than what she used to do.  More than what others may have thought was possible.  More than she believed was achievable just a few months ago.  Awesome.  It made my day to say the least.

Other big shout out....I went to watch Tyler play soccer last Thursday night.  The AAA state champs versus the AAAA state champs.  Intense game, T had a critical PK....nailed it...they walked away with a win by 1 goal.  Awesome job...and some sick foot skills....all that running made me tired and made me appreciate the measly 4 miles I ran today.  To be honest, soccer might be my nightmare....running back and forth for 90 minutes and telling me I can't touch the damn ball with my hands.  I was done at the "running" part.  Hard to believe I was the catcher on the softball team, right?!  Ha....yeah right....all I had to do was squat and talk crap to the batter.  Check and check.

Well, I better head to bed...long day awaits.
Keep moving...always up :)

Need a break

Its been a week since my last post, and I feel like the days are absolutely flying by.  I've been in 5th gear for the past couple of weeks and am ready to hibernate for like a month.  I just simply have not had any type of balance lately, and combined with a lack of sleep and you got yourself a hot mess...

Training is going well, although I know I need to take a few days off.  My strength is down, and coming off of 7 solid weeks of power/strength phase, I am in much need of rest....sooo hard for me to take a break from the weight room though.  This week I started back at 10-12 reps, 12-15 on legs, and am taking a break from sprints.  Everything is sore.  I am sucking wind through each set because I cut my rest time down to 40 seconds between sets (I've been doing 90-120 seconds to maximize strength gains over the last few weeks).  So the decrease in rest time has been a punch to the gut...
Overall, I was pleased with my gains....here are a couple of my PR's for reps of 4-6:
Flat DB bench press - 55lb dumbbells
Squats - 220lbs
Leg press - 510lbs (thought I might lose bladder control at this point)
Weighted WG pull-ups - bodyweight,+ 15lbs
Incline DB press - 50lb dumbbells

I'll take it for now...
It was eye opening to me to see just how far I could push myself...5 more pounds...10 more pounds...one more rep.  I would literally say "just one more" to myself, curse, and then shoot for one more rep...such a weird, angry cycle....ha.  But honestly, my body is extremely tired at this point.  7 weeks of that and I was looking forward to increasing the reps this week.  Ugh....still debating whether or not to lift on Thursday/Friday.  ONLY doing cardio makes me a little nauseous thinking about it...

Ok, I've got to get in bed...more to come later...