HY: ChaLEAN Extreme-Push Circuit 2 + Splits + TCF.

HY: ChaLEAN Extreme-Push Circuit 2 + Splits + TCF.

A new week the same grind. Time to get back to the sweat minds and push some of that stuff out. Time to make the pores cry.

I was a bit off all day today because of a somewhat confrontational (I was one against the majority) meeting that caused my mind to race on into the wee hours of the morning.  Not sure how many hours or minutes of sleep I got, but I had to get up early and bring my daughter to her soccer game.  Then, I spent all morning and on into mid-afternoon cheering her on.  That is the kind of stress that I LOVE!  But everything sort of caught up with me when we got home and I found it necessary to take a nap for about an hour.  I normally wouldn't take a nap before a workout, but I wouldn't have been able to focus had I not.  I woke up surprisingly refreshed and I was able to get straight into the workout after drinking the grogginess away... with water!

Focus for today was legs, back and shoulders.  The slow reps are KILLER!!! Looking at past records, I was lifting about20% more weight at about 20% more reps than I did today, but if memory serves, today was a more awesome pump and definitely burn.  Just about hit failure with every move at Chalene's pace.  And at the slower pace, I am able to really focus on the target muscles better.  There are three different upper body angles for the flies in this routine, bent over, slightly bent over and straight up. The purpose is to hit the different muscles in the shoulders by lifting at different angles.  One thing that made today really tough with those moves (except for the last one) is that my back is still not at 100%  It is close, but bending over and staying in that position is extremely tough for my back. I must consciously engage my back muscles to stabilize my back, or I could hurt it again. It's happened before so I know what needs to be done.  But with weights, that task is even tougher. Also the one leg balance dead lift was taxing on my back. I needed to stand out of it in the middle to relive the tension, but I was able to stick with Chalene.

One huge step back in the right direction is the additional moves I use. I add 4 sets of various pull ups at the beginning, then after every three moves.  Today, it was Wide Front, Switch Grip, Parallel Grip and Close Grip.  In past workouts I was only able to hit 12 on the first set, then break at either 8 or 10 on following sets.  Today, all four sets went a straight 12 reps, and the switch grip went for 16 reps.  I was very happy about that.  It was a bit warm in my room today also, so the sweat was flowing freely. Got the big towels out now! 

Splits were a bit tough today, for some reason, I was feeling extra tight, and my joints were feeling a bit closed.  But the stretch really helped that issue.  It did take a little longer for me to hit my mark, but I got there.  I think I can attribute that weird feeling to atmospheric pressure fluctuations.  The weather has been just crazy this past week, and we haven't seen the sun for more than mere seconds at a time. Today, it just started to rain right after I woke up and has continued on since then. My body seems to be sensitive to stuff like that now as I age. LOL! Did I just say that???

  The Flow was solid, there were a couple times were I felt a bit out of control and off balance, but I didn't break form. I stiffened up and held form! Then continued with only a second or two lag.

In the end, I torched over 970kcals! WOO HOO!!!

Great way to start my week.  Best wishes to you on the start of your week in a few hours!