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
It’s a nice feeling after working out, I enjoy walking mostly these days I’m not big on gyms.
I’ve heard figure training can be very hard on your body stressing and straining it. Maybe I am wrong, just be careful! I never could get into that stuff hehe, it’s just not me!
I do miss those days playing, riding bikes, outside all day… not being able to get outside after homework. Ah, so much fun being a kid! I don’t miss the chores though- haha! I was an outdoor girl! My son loves to run like I did, I hope to see him join Track in the next few years.
Anyway.. Hope you enjoy the work out time!
@kaozz –
You can still do those things now. What’s stopping you? 😉 I do them with my daughter and you know what. It still fells great! 😉
If you think about it Kaozz; you’ll hear those types of warnings for practically every sport out there. 🙂 It doesn’t make them true. As with anything else, you have to research whatever you’re interested in to come out with the best possible plan that will work for you. . It boils down to common sense, you have to know when to let your body rest. At times, I do question where this stuff is coming from. I’ve heard it often over the twenty years I’ve been actively body building, had it directed at me a lot too. When I was younger, it really annoyed me. Since I heard those types of statements too with no facts to back it up you know?
In our society living a sedentary lifestyle is glorified. Is it a wonder why the USA is one of the unhealthiest nations?;) Those who are usually shocked are the ones that look healthy. You know, not overweight appear to be in shape, but I’ve seen larger people smoke them in physical activities, since at times we (those of us at our ideal weight) can take that for granted and be lazy.
I’m fairly used to this type of intense training. My first experience with Figure competition was about seven years ago. However, I’ve been interested in this type of training since my early twenties and so my workouts haven’t changed. I still had the same figure back then as I do now. I’m just kicking it up a few notches since I’m focusing on competing against others. I look great compared to most but you need more than that to win a competition because I’m going against women doing the exact same thing.
Bodybuilding has always appealed to me even as a teenager. My pinups were the bodybuilding stars from the 80’s; Rachel McLish, Cory Everson, Carla Dunlop, Juliette Bergman, etc….however I just had too much going on and I didn’t want to get that big. although it is fairly easy for me to bulk up.
Hmm… I feel a slightly ranty post coming on… 😉
Yeah we use to live in the country, sometimes it’s not as easy to get to the park these days! I’m not too fond of my neighborhood as of recently so we stay in a lot. Last night I got a note on my door with a threat in a kids handwriting… Oh if I find that little bastard..
I had just seen some behind the scenes stuff on discovery or something years ago on a woman who was pushing herself to win and she was tearing up her body in the process. I think that is just what stuck with me.
I think that the starving people in the media are glorified lol. Even my favorite shows- they look anorexic, even the guys are starting to look severely thin.
This bothers me because my brother has been not eating in order to lose weight. He’s young and impressionable. He’s lost 20lbs recently and is not eating correctly. I’ve tried to talk to him but you know how it goes..
Anyhow I am off track! I do hope you do what makes you happy, you are probably the healthiest person I know!! Be safe in whatever you do 😀
@kaozz – Ahh.. But there’s a huge difference between being anorexic and being healthy, or working our responsibly vs. irresponsibly. 😉 Just because the media glorifies a certain look does not mean we have to accept it, right?
Yes, it’s a good thing to be at an ideal body weight, countless studies show that. There are healthy ways to achieve that. If you want to push past that and achieve an even higher level, well there are healthy ways to do that too. 🙂 You can find a lot of information that paint something you like or dislike in a negative light. You have to wade through the crap and find out what’s accurate. It most certainly doesn’t apply to everyone who chooses that path. Think of how some within the media portray gamers negatively because a few have become unhinged? Are all of us gamers like that? No, we can’t all be labeled the same way. Isn’t that great? 😉
Re: Brother
I’m definitely sorry to hear that. Starving yourself to lose weight simply isn’t healthy. It can take a while to lose weight responsibly. Adding the extra weight didn’t happen overnight, why do some of us (at times) think losing it will be easy? Sure following a healthy weight loss plan might take longer, but it’s safest way to lose weight. Since your not starving your body from nutrition.
I don’t really watch mainstream television, and one of the reasons is what you’ve mentioned. The media at times, emphasizes the wrong things. Is it any wonder that some look for a quick fix to attain them? I’m trying to do my part to pass on positive images with my daughter, currently it’s not an issue. She’s seven years old. It’s my hope she’ll remember (healthy food choices, importance of exercise, positive self image etc.) and remember to apply what I’ve taught her as she becomes older.