Pyramid Workout Progress: Week 1

I figured I'd post once a week during the cycle and update everyone on modifications and my own personal progress and opinions on the workouts, since I'm doing them all with you!

So, here it goes:
I AM SO DEAD! These workouts are tough, man.  I've been isolating one muscle group (i.e. just doing triceps or just doing chest) for a while now, but nothing compares to supersetting a pyramid workout.  I'm not kidding.  I finished the tricep workout on Tuesday, and just opening my laptop was so difficult, I may as well have been doing weighted dips. But no matter how painful the workouts are, after every single one, I have felt like I actually targeted the muscle group that I was going for (which is sometimes hard for me, especially for shoulders!). 

So far, so good! Keep it up, and let me know how your first week went!

Workouts...FINALLY! 2/9/15-1/1/15

AH you guys, I finally made a new workout schedule. So here's what's going to happen: we're gonna use the same workouts for three weeks.  They say that it takes 21 days to make a habit/see a change/many other positive things for a healthy you, and that's how long each workout "cycle" is going to last.  We'll do these 6 workouts for three weeks, track our progress, and then switch it up to keep our bodies guessing.

So, without further ado, here is this cycle of workouts! I decided to make it into a spreadsheet so you can track the weights you use, as well as input notes of how the workout went and what you want to improve upon.

Also, I didn't include an ab workout in the spreadsheet, nor did I insert any cardio; feel free to tweak and add as you see fit! I've just been doing some crunches and leg lifts at the end of every other day.

ENJOY! :)

New Year, New Me...?

Okay, so I know it's been forever since I've blogged...last semester was insane for me (second semester of both organic chemistry and physics).  But you don't want to hear my excuses and I don't want to make them.  The bottom line is, I sucked at blogging.  I'm hoping to change that, starting now.

A quick little update about my life before we get started:

• My boyfriend and I, the one I met on tinder, have been dating for 11 months today.

• He left for his first deployment on Saturday, January 17th for 193 days (I swear I'm not crazy, those are just the official orders).

•  I just started my 6th semester at the U of A as a nutritional sciences major.

• I still work at the gym on campus, training to become a supervisor.

• After a really rough last semester, I'm working on getting my health back to a comfortable state.  

I'm not one to make New Year's Resolutions because I know how [un]likely I am to stick to them.  However, this year (I swear it's been going on, I'm just a month late in writing about it!), I want to dedicate myself to, well, myself.  I'm trying to become more healthy, not only in regards to my body, but my mind as well.  I want to do better in school, straighten out in my fitness journey, and just become a happier person overall.

My goals for the year to come:

• Blog at least a couple times every week.

• Drop my body fat percentage.

• Study and become a CPT (Certified Personal Trainer).

• Shadow a Physical Therapist. 

• Become a healthier, happier person; one step at a time.

I don't consider any of these bullets something that's on a "To Do List", but simply a record of what is going to happen in my life in the upcoming year. I hope you all can forgive me for being so absent, and can continue to stay with me on this journey!

 Do you have any New Year's Resolutions? What are they?

I am still alive!

Ummm hi...I promise I'm still alive! To be honest, I've had a really hard time staying on track with my health and fitness since we got back from Colorado/Ohio...and that was three months ago.  I haven't completely let myself go; I've been working out 4-6 times a week, I've just been eating like complete and utter sh*t (and I kinda really hate myself for it).  But, Toby leaves in two months [insert crying emoji x1000 here], then I have 7 months to get hot again (and make it stick this time).  I don't really have any workouts for you guys or anything today, I just wanted to post something since it's been a quarter of a year...

Thanks for listening to reading my little blurb, and stay tuned because I will be back, pinky swear!

sometimes I really suck

Ugh. You guys, I'm really sorry that I haven't posted a workout in...what has it been? Two weeks? I have been slacking so much, and not just on the blog. I started my second summer school class (it's online), so I've been totally swamped with reading 60 pages, taking a quiz, writing a discussion post, replying to two different posts, completing an assignment, and taking a test. I do all of this within a four day period, because of how condensed the summer sessions are.
ANYWAY...realizing how much I suck at the blog has made me think about all of the things I really suck at. So, here it goes:

Blogging. Obviously I already said that one, but it's definitely got to be mentioned again.

Self-Motivation. Sometimes, getting to the gym is literally the most difficult thing in the world, and it is way too easy for me to talk myself out of it.

Studying. It is physically impossible for me to study more than 48 hours before an exam, even if I'm super interested in the topic.

Committing. Okay, not like in a relationship sense. Obviously. I'm talking more in the sense that I like to change my mind very frequently. Like, way too frequently.

Controlling myself around my mother. I'm sorry, but sometimes she just doesn't think before she speaks. The other day she told me that my arms "look big, but not, like, muscular". Oh really? Thanks, mom. I mean, I know she didn't mean it like that, but oh my good lord. Sometimes I just can't handle her, as much as I love her.

Dieting. Actually, I never call it a "diet". I just try to eat healthier, but I just love chocolate and chips and Chipotle and Goldfish and Dunkin' (etc) way too much #sorry

Multitasking. You know those people who can study and listen to music at the same time? That's not me. Like, at all. I can barely even text and walk, so I obviously have issues multitasking.

Texting. When I'm not doing anything else, I'll text you back within seconds. But, along with the multitasking issue, if I'm doing something while texting you, you'll probably be waiting minutes, hours, maybe even days before I reply.

Welp, there are probably a million more things that I suck at (actually, I know there are), but I'm currently watching Grey's Anatomy while writing this post, and you know my issue with that. So, that's it for now. I'll hopefully be posting more frequently, but at the very least, you will have next week's workouts by next Sunday!

I'm taking a vacation...whaaaaat?!

YOU GUYS. Do you know how hard it is to get approved for leave from the Military? At Davis Monthan Air Force Base? As a firefighter? Well, manning is down, so apparently it's really, really difficult.
But, guess what?
TOBY GOT IT!!

These are our happy faces :)

 (Okay, so they're not exactly in reaction to the leave approval, but they're still our happy faces)

He hasn't been home (and when I say "home", I mean Ohio) since he got stationed here in Tucson in mid-July of last year. He and his brother are best friends (literally, they talk more frequently than Brianna and I do), and he lives in Colorado Springs, CO with his wife. So, I am so excited and happy to tell you all that, come August 1st, we will be flying to CO to spend a week with his brother, and then to Ohio to spend a week with his family.

I know, I know. I'm supposed to dread meeting his parents, especially because it will have only been five months that we've been together. But seriously, I cannot contain my excitement about it. I am so smitten with this boy. And I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am to meet the people who raised him to be the man that I adore so much.

Anyway, I just had to share the good news with you all. We legitimately thought he was going to be denied, because one of his friends had applied for the same two weeks months ago and they're really low on manning at the moment so basically no one is getting leave right now. I was working when he found out, and of course my phone died, so when I charged my phone and read the message, I was beyond ecstatic.

Sorry, okay, I know you don't really care (especially because it's not someplace like the Caribbean or Alaska or something cool) but I just had to let you all know because I literally cannot wait! Eeeek! Okay I'm done. Yay. Kbye

PS, I just ate 18 pizza rolls while writing this post...and I hate myself a little bit for it but #yolo

weekend update + $25 Starbucks giveaway!

Hi friends! Since the past few posts have been gym-related, I'm gonna switch it up a little bit and talk about my weekend...even though there wasn't much that happened. Because I'm lame. And my best friend/boyfriend is in Montana for the summer.

Anyway. Friday was THE LAST DAY OF SUMMER SCHOOL!! I am officially done with Spanish classes FOREVER, woo! Seriously, after 9 years studying the language and culture, I cannot tell you how happy it makes me to be done with it (unless I can go to Spain next summer...then whatevs). After class, I hit up Dunkin' (um, National Donut Day...duh.) and Wells Fargo and opened up a bank account all by myself! I still have my account under my parents' names, but I wanted to branch out a little bit. I also found out I got approved for a credit card, woo! Gotta rack up that credit sometime, right?

Saturday morning, I had to open the Rec. But, since it's a weekend we don't open until 8am, which is a LOT better than 6am on weekdays. After work, I met Toby on base so that we could get a workout in before I had to go back to work to close! When I got home, we just kind of hung out and watched some It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and went to bed early (we're literally 75 years old when it comes to bedtime, and I blame him).

Sunday, I opened the Rec AGAIN, but on Sundays we open at 10 so it's totally doable! After work, I stuck around and worked out (since I slacked, yet again, this week) and then went home to lay out and get muh tan on. Let me tell you, it is not fun sitting outside in 110 degree weather. I sweat more in 30 minutes than I did in an hour and a half at the gym...

Welp, now you know exactly what I did this weekend, which I'm sure you didn't care about before reading this and you probably still don't. But yolo, I do what I want! Anyway, thanks for reading :)

ALSO, here's a fun $25 Starbucks giveaway, hosted by Brianna!  It goes live today, and will be up until the 14th!

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