Up-Down & Around

April 10, 2016

Up-Down & Around

Monday was Leg day at the Gym. I felt like absolute CRAP. But interestingly I went up on all my weights..

Matt had me try a new little trick to really hit my Glutes :) We did half reps on the leg press machine. GASP! What?? Did you say "half rep"? NOOO! No! No.

Yes I did. It's ok though.. I do full reps first then I do half reps to really target the glutes. So you see I'm not on of those people that does a ton of weight on leg press but never even does a full rep. I do FULL reps. But also incorporate half reps since my glutes need some help haha.

OMG it felt really good and I was really feeling it the next day. So hopefully that will help me grow my glutes over the next few weeks :)

I have dropped 2lbs in 4 weeks so that's .5lbs a week of fat gone!

Last month Matthew decided we should take before and after pics so we can see our progress over a month or two... So this week we took some after pics. The results?

Matthew didn't see a "huge" difference but he does look a little more muscular in his shoulders and arms and his sides went down a bit. It doesn't show up in the pic but his last two abs are coming in so he almost has a full six pack.

My photo's on the other hand surprisingly showed more of a change than his! You know how pictures always make your abs look even more soft than they are... So I wasn't expecting a difference.. But WOW! there was a LOT more definition! My arms and shoulders are a little more muscular and I have a line down my abs! My waist is much slimmer and my obliques are coming in nice.

Wednesday morning Amber was a pain. But also the area where the barn hand works turned into a mini junk yard so it's not like there was absolutely no reason to be spooky and on edge.

After that terribly frustrating ride we went to the gym to work biceps and triceps. Started off a little drained from my ride so I couldn't quite do my normal weights but got close. We ended up doing a few exercises less than usual because not only was Matthew feeling sick to his stomach but also because I couldn't use the free weights since some lady decided to be a weight hogging text setter with HORRIBLE "form". Seriously! Our gym only has one set of 10lb dumbbells. This lady had those AND the 20 barbell.. Normally I wouldn't mind a single bit waiting my turn. But she spent 4 out of ever 5 minutes texting instead of using the weights... And for the 1 minute she did use them she had the worst form I've ever seen! Again I normally am not all that phased by not so great form. But this. I don't even think you can call it form when your bending sideways and barely lifting the weights. And it's not like she was aiming for standing side crunches. She was clearly "curling". If we can even call it that.

Fit Life Problem #1

So needless to say Wednesday was a frustrating day. The best part was selling our canoe. Which gave use just enough money to fix my phone and get groceries...

Thursday was back day at the gym. Usually oatmeal and a turkey pattie fill me up enough to get me through the morning but I still felt hungry after that and had to grab a Larabar on the way to the gym because I was so hungry I was nauseous and had indigestion... But the workout ended up being pretty good.

Fit Life Problem #2

Friday I did something I normally don't do. I had planned to ride in the morning but Matt was super tired and I honestly didn't see the point in going for a ride when because of all the commotion at the farm in the morning (ughhh) Amber can never relax. What's the point? So I stayed home and watched USEF Network. I watched the Great American Million Dollar Grand Prix Jump Off and studied all the riders techniques and styles. At least I was productive in learning. Just sucks that my riding is taking a bit of a plunge..

I really Admire Cian O'Conners Legs.. They are perfection! His heels remain beautifully deep over the jumps. His entire leg has contact, is supple yet strong. You can see how well he communicates with his legs around the course. It's very inspiring for me.

And the way Lauren Hough corrected OHLALA towards the last jump reminds me of the way I have to correct Amber and had to do with Wes too. It was so nice to know that it's ok to have to do that. That I'm not the only one.

Then I watched Laura Graves and Verdades In the U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions. And It was GORGEOUSly done! But to see them spook and get a little confused and have to regain composure was also heartwarming because again "I'm not the only one". It happens to the best of them :)

Watching that gave me the inspiration I needed to get me through the day. I was more motivated to cut through the crap of life and attain my goals!

So first up, Gym.

Our Chest & Abs workout started off good. Did Chest Press. Matt did some incline Bench Press. Then we did Fly's. Then we moved over to the cables. I was doing some cable crunches (remember those?)

Then all of a sudden Matthew says "Oh wow!" so I finish my set and ask what's up?

He proceeds to tell me that the apartment we wanted just opened up! Awesome right?! Well yeah but we have to act fast before it gets snatched up! Matthews mind was racing and he couldn't focus on working out so we left to go start the ball rolling on getting everything in order.

The rest of the day was a bit stressful to say the least and my stomach had a lot to say about that... I have a very moody tummy. I've told you all about my issues before. Change of routine or stress = constipation. Foods I'm sensitive to = pain, gas, bloating, constipation, diarrhea.... it's painful and gross. And for lunch that day I had some General Tso's sauce on my chicken. Now I had suspected it had been giving me trouble. But I guess the added stress made it worse. I ended up laying in bed for 2 hours trying to not throw up.

Saturday my stomach was still upset off/on. We went fishing an hour or so north all day. So here are some pics...

The morning mist on the lake..