Priorities---Blog 1.0

Hello, all!

I am back for week one update! Boy, this week was not exactly what I expected. I should have put my expectations a little lower, considering it was also my first week back and school and that bodies don't always snap back like rubber bands.

Overview: 

I worked out Monday through Thursday, missing Friday due to weird gym hours and exhaustion. They were all good, sweat inducing workouts that I enjoyed. I was however slightly disappointed in my strength, expecting to be as strong as I used to be with all this time off. I'm not beating myself up over it, it's only week one! 

After this week, I have been considering my priorities and my goals in regards to fitness. What do I want from my hours of training? Do I want to look a certain way, be a certain weight, lift a certain weight, have fun, feel good? Why am I doing what I am doing? With all that life has brought to me, lifting cannot be a priority like it was two years ago. I have a heavy class schedule, family, work, God, and a love life to give my attention. Weight lifting cannot be a top priority anymore because I know that I won't ever compete or make a living off of lifting. So my struggle recently has been finding a new balance between what things are my top priority and lifting. Because I don't want to stop lifting, I want to be fit and healthy and in shape. I won't ever stop loving working out, but how do I do it without neglecting my real priorities? How do I balance this out?

I don't have any answers for this right now. I'm still trying to figure it out. Especially figuring out my style. I know in my heart that I'm not a cardio babe, but I know it is necessary. However, I physically cannot dedicate myself to power training like I used to because it is so draining. I want to mix up my workouts with a little bit of everything. I constantly have to remind myself that there isn't a rush to be where I want to be. With hard work and consistency, I will get there eventually.


Below will be my workouts from this past week if you want to give them a whirl! The order may vary for some as well as the weight, but that is just what worked for me last week as I get back into it. The format is setXweightXreps.

Monday: QUADS

Warm up: 5 Mins Cardio

3x10 Pull-ups/push-ups

Stretches and Rolling

Squats:

1xbarx10

1x65x10

1x95x5

3x105x5

Front Squats

3xbarx8

Pause Squats

3x65x3

Front Bar Squats/Bulgarian Split Squats/Box Steps  

3x8

Tuesday: Cardio/Shoulders/Tricep

Warmup: Stretches

Cardio 30 minutes (1.8 miles)

Dumbbell press/skull crushers

4x10

Lateral raises/Triangle Pulls

4x10

Facepulls/rope pulls

4x10

Wednesday: CHEST

Warm-up: Stretches

Bench

1xbarx10

1x65x10

1x85x5

3x95x3

Dumbbell flyes/plate raise

4x10

Triple set: Incline DB press/push-ups/plate press

3x10  

Thursday: Cardio/Back/Biceps

Warm up: Stretches

Cardio 30 minutes (2 Miles)

Dumbbell Rows/DB Curls

4x10

Back Extensions/Plate Curls

4x10

Rope Lat Pull Downs/Rope Curls

4x10

Hot Minute-A Quick Update

Hey guys.

It's been a hot minute since I blogged (April! Can you believe we're half way through AUGUST?! Time flies).

It's been an even hotter minute since I blogged regularly, I think November of 2015? Either way, I'm back!

I've really quite missed this space, however time has escaped me greatly as of the past two years. I have tried to sit a write but a lot of the time I space out and decide to do something else. While I was at college, I wrote and read so much educationally that I couldn't bear the thought of having to sit at my laptop and write more. I am back though!

No, life has not gotten less busy. I am working full time now, taking 18 hours of classes this fall, working in my church, dating a handsome man, and keeping up with my fitness lifestyle. I have decided though, that I can find half an hour in my week to sit down with a cup of coffee and write down my workouts and progress, and just thoughts in general.

The main thing I want to do with these posts is keep track of my weight lifting progress, and keep myself accountable as the school year progresses and life gets crazier.

I will be back next Saturday with a weight check in, a record of work outs, and how the work outs felt. I think that one important thing to track in lifting is feelings and emotions, because they are a huge part of the process. The excitement, discouragement, feelings of failure, and feelings of success. These things are the greater struggle.

I can't wait to see how this helps me progress!

I'll talk to you all next week.