Waiting for the Motivation Train

Good Morning People. Wow! It's been a long time since I last posted. In fact it's been a month and 10 days! This post is way overdue.

Let me start by saying

Hello, Old Friend! I've missed you. How've you been?

Well, I've had a month of ups and downs. In September I hurt my wrist biking. It rained almost every day in September and killed my biking motivation. Add to that my two oldest kids are in school full time. It's been an adjustment period for the whole family. I think we've finally worked out a routine that for the most part works.

Last week I finally found a routine that works for me at home. With winter around the corner I know I'm not going to go outside to exercise. I came across a link from About.com that has a circuit of calisthenic type cardio exercises. They're simple, but effective and I'm completely out of breath after 10 minutes. You can't go wrong doing froggy jumps and prisoner squats. =)

Yes, for now I'm only doing about 10 minutes of cardio and then I hit the weights for about 25 - 45 minutes depending on which day I'm on. I've got 4 work out days. I've been at it for two weeks and managed to work out twice the first week, three times last week. This week the plan is to complete all 4 work out days. 

A friend of mine sent me this blog post that really struck a chord with me. It's all about the Myth of Motivation. How so often people have false starts and a lack of motivation to stick to it. If this is you I highly recommend taking a few minutes to read it.

Here's a little exerpt:
 So if you find yourself sitting at the train stop waiting for the motivation train, I’m here to pass along the memo that train has been canceled and it never really led anywhere in the first place. Do it because it needs to be done. It’s like brushing your teeth, it’s not optional if you want to keep all of your original teeth in your head. Don’t make your health optional or dependent on anything as fleeting as motivation. 

Since I read this article I've been scheduling workouts into my day and making a point of doing them. I'm not saying I've found some surefire cure to my workout plan. So far this is working and maybe not relying on motivation is the key to actually sticking to it. It's no longer a choice, it's a necessity.

Although I would like to mention that since August 7th I have lost 9 lbs. I've joined a group of women in a bet to lose 10 lbs in 2 months and to keep it off for another 2 months. It starts today and the goal date is December 18th.

Wish me luck!

Working Out...Again

Hello Peeps! We bought a weight bench AND  I'm actually enjoying using it! I found a 12 week workout for women from BodyBuilding.com called The Female Training Bible. There is a lot of information to go through and somewhere in the middle is the 12 week training guide. I absolutely love the Body Building site because it has everything. You can look up exercises and find other exercises that work the same muscle group. I especially find this useful since there were some exercises I'm not able to do yet. Like pull-ups and dips. My muscles are definitely not ready to hold up or pull up 243.6 lbs!

So far I prefer the leg workouts but that`s because I have more muscle in my legs and find it easier. I`m excited to see how my muscles are going to form. 

Alright let me break down the 12 weeks a bit for ya`ll. In general I`ll be working out 4 days a week. Cardio in the morning, weight training at night. The 12 week program is separated into 3 sections:

Weeks 1-4: 3 sets of 8-12 reps

Weeks 5-8: weight increase and 3 sets of 6-8 reps 

Weeks 9-12: weight increase and 3 sets for 4-6 reps

Each week will break down something like this:

Monday: cardio a.m. upper body weight training p.m. 

Tuesday: cardio a.m. lower body weight training p.m.

Wednesday: Off 

Thursday: cardio a.m. upper body weight training p.m.  

Friday: cardio a.m. lower body weight training p.m.  

Saturday: Off

Sunday: Off

Now my week will change depending on what days I am working in the office. Usually, I work from home 4 days a week. I`ll be figuring out my next week`s schedule when I get my work schedule Friday`s. Regardless, I will be working out 4 days a week.

Here is today's workout:

Friday: Upper Body (Weeks 1-4)

DAY:	3
DATE:	July 23, 2010
TIME:	11:30 am
CARDIO TODAY?	YES
EXERCISE	The Barefoot Dancer
DURATION	20 minutes
LENGTH OF WORKOUT:	40 minutes
WEIGHT:	65 lbs
LOCATION:	Home
MOOD WHEN STARTING:	Optimistic

 

EXERCISE	Set #1	Set #2	Set #3
Reverse Triceps Bench Press: 3 sets of 8-12 reps	15x12	15x12	15x12
Bent Arm Barbell Pull Over: 3 sets of 8-12 reps	15x12	15x12	15x12
Side Lateral Raises: 3 sets of 8-12 reps	5x12	5x12	5x12
Incline Barbell Triceps Ext: 3 sets of 8-12 reps	15x12	15x12	15x12
Barbell Curl: 3 sets of 8-12 reps	15x12	15x12	15x12

TRAINING, NUTRITION & SUPPLEMENT NOTES:

Had a migraine last night that left me exhausted this morning. I didn't do my cardio, but at 11:30 I found I had the energy to work out and followed a TV workout The Barefoot Dancer.

I didn’t work as hard as I could have but I was trying to get used to the selected exercises. I'm sure the next workout will be better.

NOTE - I realized that I haven't had any cookies in a few days. I have had mocha's from Starbucks but usually I have several cookies a day. Now that I've realized it I notice I'm not craving them either. I really hope to continue with this!