Where's the Beach?

Leg Day Oh man, another sluggish feeling day. Today I'll blame the weather though. We have a major storm front moving in, so it's a gloomy day. Luckily the storms held off until the evening. So, no swimming over to the gym ;-) Once I got started, I picked up steam pretty quickly. I did about 20 minutes on the elliptical as a warm up before moving on to legs. I went with supersets doing mostly 3x8 unless noted. Warmup set of barbell squats - 12 reps SS#1 Barbell squats Stiff-legged deadlifts SS#2 Narrow stance dumbbell squats Hamstring roll-ins on ball - 12 reps SS#3 Bulgarian split squat with dumbbells Calf raises - 12 reps SS#4 Firewalkers (4 steps right, 4 steps left = 1 rep) - 6 reps Plie squats with low-end pulse, single dumbbell held in both hands After the workout, it was back to work. The only downfall about doing legs midday is the sitting after. I had to remind myself to get up and move around frequently so my legs wouldn't be dead weights. B...

Leg Day Today I hit the gym for legs. I was oddly looking forward to leg day actually. I started with 15 minutes on the elliptical as my warmup then did 1 set of 10 reps of squats with no weight on the bar as an additional warmup for the legs. I did either supersets or trisets as 3 sets of 8 reps unless noted. SS#1 Barbell squats (increased weight again) Calf raises - 15 reps with increased weight TS#1 Step-ups (with dumbbells) Stiff-legged deadlifts (increased weight) Firewalkers - 4 each direction TS#2 Alternating front lunges Plie squats with low-end pulse Hamstring roll-ins on ball - 12 reps SS#2 - only 2 sets of 8 reps each leg Single-leg squats Outer thigh raise with resistance band This was a pretty good workout overall. I was glad I was able to increase weight again for squats. Next week I need to increase the weights for alternating lunges. I do think I need to add in more single-leg moves as well like the single-leg squats and maybe single-leg deadlifts a...

Weight Day Today has been one of those chilly, gray, drizzly days here. Not very motivating I must say. Jason and I did make it to the gym at least. He tried out a CrossFit workout in the latest Runner's World magazine and I hit biceps, triceps, and hamstrings I started with 15 minutes on the elliptical to warm up then started my weight workout. I went with trisets of 3 sets, but the reps varied a little bit because I went up in weights for a few exercises. TS#1 Barbell curls - 6 reps, increased weight Double-arm overhead triceps extension - 8 reps Bulgarian deadlifts - 6 reps, increased weight TS#2 (all 8 reps) Zottman curls Lying triceps extensions Dumbbell step ups TS#3 Hammer curls - 10 reps Weighted dips - 10/12/12 Hamstring rollins on ball - 10 reps Squat jumps - 2x10 Burpees - 2x8 I did some ab work as well before stretching a bit and calling it done. Low-Key Day After the workout, we headed to the grocery store. It was packed and there were only 3 ...

A Bit of a Spin Rant Monday, you are not my BFF. I try really hard to not be negative about Mondays. But the fact is, I am. They mark the end of a weekend, the end of free time, then end of getting to sleep in just a little bit extra. I tried to get excited about this Monday because it was supposed to be in the lower 50's and sunny. In other words, I was planning on running after work. Luckily, I did think to pack my bag for spin just in case. That "just in case" happened. I think part of my sciatica issues are with sitting most of the day. I have been noticing more and more that I am in pain more throughout the week than on the weekends even with long runs. As much as I wanted to run, I knew it wasn't going to happen. Period. So I changed my mindset to spin. Then I found out my fave instructor wasn't going to be teaching. Not only was my motivation lacking overall, but I was doing my Plan B workout as it was. And now a different instructor? Can we through an...

Biceps & Spin Today was wet, gray, flat out dreary. I joked that I was going to have to swim across the street to the gym to hit up spin. Thank goodness for rainboots. Though, Jason didn't seem to think that rainboots paired well with running shorts and my long-sleeved t-shirt that I wore out of the gym. Men.... ;-) Before class, I was able to get in biceps. I did a giant set of 3 x (6, 8, 8) Dumbbell curls Hammer curls Incline curls Spin class was a goody today. Definitely put me in a better mood despite the gray skies I was staring out at. I have a feeling that tomorrow my legs will be feeling today. I am hoping to maybe get out for a run tomorrow depending on what happens with the weather. Otherwise, maybe leg day. I am seriously missing running though. Chili & Nail Polish I really wasn't sure what I wanted to make or even felt like eating for dinner. It was just so nasty out. Soup sort of sounded good. Jason was wanting the Spicy White Chili . I really...