week 6--i think

ok, so it's really week 7---but last week was me getting back in to things and not posting about it. let's just suffice it to say that i'm lucky i didn't lose any muscle, i just didn't gain. on some exercises, i felt about the same as before--sufficiently tired, but not any significant soreness later. however, there were a few exercises that i felt like being a wuss and decreasing weight. i triumphed anyway.

Now, week 7. Yesterday was a regularly scheduled weight day. I didn't have as much time, so I didn't get to do cardio after. To my regular routine, I added reverse lunges with a kick for 3 sets to alternate with my swiss ball sit ups.
Today was cardio day. I was having mad cramps and just when I thought they were too intense (at 6:50am !!!!!), I made the decision that endorphins make you feel better and even if I just walked on a treadmill for 20 minutes, it was better than nothing--worth a shot. So I did. I don't know if endorphins kicked in or it was just a brief moment of cramping, but I was on the elliptical to warm up and able to do a 20 minute sprint/jog routine on incline. Afterward, I did pike ups on the swiss ball and had to call it a day (I had an early training to get to at work).

So. I'm having a pretty good week so far. The first 2-3 weeks on this new routine gave me false hope of the extra cardio I'd be able to do. For whatever reason, I was able to wake up earlier during those weeks and put in more time. It felt great. Now, I'm lucky to get in any cardio after weights and more than 30 minutes on cardio days (active time--not stretching and changing). Am I disappointed? Yes and no. No, because I know that I shouldn't be. And yes....because I do love how I feel after a good cardio session--sweaty, light, like I could run just about anybody down.

And to quickly recap being back in my cardio kick blast class---awesome! Oh, how I love that class. I got to the gym to warm up a bit and do some spot weights. I used to do a few select ab and other spot exercises after the class and realized that I could probably lift more weight (lb-wise) and still exert the same effort in the class (weights before cardio!). It really worked out well. I got a light sweat going so that the transition to class was good, and I was able to do some small movement exercises that I don't get to during the week. For example, I did lateral raises, the ab bench, lat pull downs, and push-ups. It was really great!

Lastly, I added a new thing to Saturdays---100 push-up challenge. I did 10 sets of 10 on Saturday. I left the gym having done 50, got home and quickly did 10. I then dispersed the other 40 out through the afternoon. It was awesome because it's a great bodyweight exercise and an area I feel I have really improved. I want to make the sets bigger each week. This week.....let's make it 10 sets of 12!