My best workout so far

I was asked the other day to talk about my best workout ever.

I was really surprised by the question because I am not an elite athlete, or a person whom tries every class offered at the gym.

Why would someone want to know how this 40 year old obese mother of two teenagers workouts out?

Whenever I casually mention that I do workout in friendly conversations I get a look of ya right you probably just hang out in the change area talking for the whole time you spend there.

Even my workout clothes are subject to questionable glances in the gym…my shirts are at least two sizes too big, and I wear many layers of clothing to keep myself covered up because I am so ashamed.

Many people when asked about the best workout ever begin to recall various personal records or finish times in various races.
Since running is something I am learning to do, I knew it would not even enter as a possibility for my best workout ever. I will admit to also thinking of a recent workout where I managed to create a new personal best.

I began recalling the last few weeks of training and thought of my recent dead lift workout. It was the end of my workout when we (my personal trainer Curd and I) started some dead lifting. The dead lifts went fantastic, the bar felt like it was a toothpick I was picking up off the ground. We kept adding weight until we ran out of time…I started at a weight of 135lbs and kept going until I reached 205 lbs., but was it my greatest workout….No not by a long shot.

Could my best workout be the time I spent working out with a famous TV personal trainer? Well it does come close…he worked me really hard, spent time talking to me and I would workout again with him again anytime.
Would it be the time with another famous TV trainer that encouraged my eldest daughter to workout also?
He was such fun, great personality, made me feel like he was happy I showed up and worked out with him. That time together with him and my eldest is a very special weekend memory but not my greatest workout.

How about the time I brought my youngest to a class that my personal trainer runs on Saturday mornings?
She plays hockey so I knew that she is used to physical activities and knew to put forth a major effort. When we worked out that morning we were so competitive with each other and the other class members it was an awesome feeling to finish together ahead of the class of men. Again that is a great memory of quality time together but not the greatest workout.

I finally figured out what the greatest workout for me was.

Monday February 8,2010 was the greatest workout for me so far.

No great feats of dead lifting, no fastest mile ran, no squatting personal best, no bench pressing attempt and no other personal best effort that day.
It all came down to one exercise in a set of many.
Leg day was the name of the workout of the day, believe me today my quads are reminding me of it.
Various exercises were listed to do among them were squats, lunges, planks and knee raises.
During the workout it required me to also use a 20 lb bag for squat thrusters, overhead lunges and overhead squats.(in other words hold the bag above your head while you do the squat, lunge etc)
The workout was progressing very well the overhead lunges were hard but I enjoyed pushing myself.
I then had to do the overhead squats and that when all hell broke lose.
The bag I had so loving held above my head for the lunges, squat thrusters turned evil.
I do not know what occurred to cause me to become so afraid of even touching the bag that I have used moments ago. It was like if I touched it millions of snakes would pop out or if I dared to actually lift it above my head my arms would give out and I could picture myself with a bloody nose and two black eyes.
The fear just came over me like a chill up my spine. I managed to do only two overhead squats that first set. The weird part is that once the time limit was up on that exercise and later I came back to using the bag for a different move the bag did not even phase me…it was light as a feather pillow.
The second set was great until the overhead squats…the fear came back again even Curd asked me did you pull something?…are you ok? I even started to get tears in my eyes it was that awful for me. He convinced me to try and do one at a time to get past the fear. I managed to do a few more and finish the set. During the rest break I had to have a talk with myself about what was going on with the overhead squats.
That darn over head squat exercise was not going to break me…time to get mad and chase the fear away.
Last set and the over squats were coming up…I took a deep breath and got mad and picked it up and the fear was gone.
I felt so proud and so happy that I could get over that huge mental block.
Once I did that the workout was so carefree and effortless….I even asked for an extra set of knee raises and a plank timed set.

Sometimes it is not what record you break at the gym sometimes it the limits you place on yourself that you break through that really make the difference.

back on track

Have you ever had one of those times when you have everything primed and ready to go ....
then life throws you a curve ball and you have to start over?

My life took a spin like that earlier this week. My body had other plans and demanded that I rest for a few days. I was so sick that I would sweat buckets just walking up two flights of stairs.

I missed two intense workouts with my trainer and I have only managed some wimpy bs cardio sessions. That's all I could handle at the time.....

Skip ahead four days later and I am still not hundred percent but I plan on working out with my trainer tomorrow morning.

Knowing what hard workout awaits me tomorrow morning is daunting, but my goal of getting healthy is not going to be a straight line fast journey, but a challenging battle of will, strength of body and mind.

I plan on getting back up and dusting myself off after every bad day/disappointment and illness.

That alone gives me the power to keep going and to progress towards my dream of a healthy strong body.

Hi there

welcome to my blog...

I plan on focusing on the journey of my daily grind in the areas of fitness.
Please feel free to suggest ,comment or just say hi.

Workout details will be included along with personal records, best times, general tips and funny things I do to keep going daily.

Some days I will be in the slow lane of this journey, other days I may need several posts to cover my day/challenges.

Videos will be added along with a pic or two that will show that yes I do what I blog about.

I will also include a quote of the day to inspire me and hopefully you to continue and be great at whatever you choose to do.