It’s a great feeling to do something you enjoy, right? Yesterday I managed to squeeze a workout session at Bally’s Total Fitness. The workout wasn’t too long but, I still managed to have an excellent workout. Since I managed to workout some muscles in a different way, I’m slightly sore this morning.
When it comes to motivation, I guess I’ve always been fairly motivated/disciplined. I’ve always been a dreamer and as a child, I discovered how powerful our minds can be. I would set goals for myself, visualize what I wanted to achieve and continally work at acquring them. It wasn’t always easy, many times it was hard, but realizing how powerful the mind can be I pursued my goals. at times, it still isn’t easy, I still have to push myself to accomplish a variety of goals and yes making the time to go back into Ballys Total fitness was one of them…
I’ve always been an active child; my brother, and I helped my parents in their almost two-acre garden when we were young. When other kids were out playing we had chores (gardening) after those were over, then we were allowed to play, and play we did. Biking, tag, kickball, softball, running, etc., We had an arsenal of physical activities on our plate.
Moving onto college, I joined a weight lifting program. The reason was simple, I knew I might be as active physically as I was in the past, and I didn’t want to lose my edge. Sure, I had a high metabolism, but I wanted to stay physically active too. Besides, myself and another girl that class was all males. I remember the teacher told the girl and me that the assistant teacher didn’t think we’d make it because we were girls. Pfft, please I’ve been active my entire life. This was nothing. You want to know something; I’m never one to back down from a challenge. I was determined to prove him wrong, and I did. So yeah, I guess my body has always been active. I honestly feel guilty if I don’t do some type of physical activity. I simply enjoy the natural high I felt after doing physical activity, so there was no way I’m shelving that feeling regardless of how difficult it could be to incorporate a workout into my routine.
Anyway, back to the motivation thing… I kept putting off going back to Bally’s Total Fitness; I’d been working out at home after all. The past year most of my workouts have been done at home; I did some form of exercise daily. At times that entailed working out in the garden, which can be fairly intense, cutting grass, or doing the traditional workouts. The only difference my exercises were at home. You don’t need to go to a gym to workout, you really don’t need the tapes either, however, they can be motivational, and so if you don’t want to work out at a gym but need some type of motivation, I’d recommending purchasing a workout DvD.
Although I mainly worked out at home, I was able to stay in great shape. Something always came along that made it easier for me to keep putting off, stepping back into an actual gym. Isn’t that how it works? However, when we arrived back from vacation, I packed my gym bag determined to make the time to get into the gym on Tuesday. I placed the typical images in my mind of me spending time with my daughter, completing work for my clients, doing my usual exercise at home, and oh yeah… squeezing in some gym time too.
Why am I going back to the gym, if I’m already working out at home?
Well, I cannot squeeze out those extra reps on my own. I tend to do five sets of an exercise, 15 reps per set. On my own I can only do so much, however with a partner I can push out even more, or have them add more weight. Yep, in those instances it’s great to have a buddy to assist you with that.
Figure competition is another reason I’m back in the gym… Although I would love to compete this year, I realistically know I don’t have that type of time, and so I need to stop fooling myself. It’s nice to have a workout buddy to serve as an additional motivator. Although disappointed that I cannot realistically compete this year, I can work on a long term goal and compete next year. The good news is that one of my friends/workout partners works out there too. Now, it’s simply a matter of coordinating our schedules so we’re able to get a few workouts in together weekly. His schedule is just as busy as mine.
I’ve included yesterdays workout routine below. I did five sets of each exercise, 15 reps per set. I don’t take breaks between each exercise; I simply move onto the next station.
Wednesdays’s Workout: Legs
Cross trainer – highest incline, running at top speed (forwards and backwards for 10 minutes)
Front Squats
Stiff Legged Deadlifts
Leg Curls
Incline Dumbbell Press
Wide Grip Pulldowns
Calf Raises (worked out until muscle failure)
Bent leg donkey kicks
Dry Sauna w/sauna rounds – 45 minutes (I did some abdominal exercises while in there)
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Bally’s Total Fitness, Fitness
When you do a lot of physical activity, you tend to burn a lot of energy. That makes perfect sense right? The question is, how are you fueling your body to deal with this increased activity?