MOTIVATIONAL QUOTE OF THE DAY
"Circumstances may cause interruptions and delays, but never lose sight of your goal. Prepare yourself in every way you can by increasing your knowledge and adding to your experience, so that you can make the most of opportunity when it occurs." - Mario Andretti
TRAINING
Cardio - CrossRamp:
10 min @ R10/CR10
Upper Body (30 sec recovery between alternate sets):
Alternate Set A -
1. DB Clean and Press 6 x 15
2. DB Lateral Raises 6 x 15-20
Alternate Set B -
3. Push-Ups (feet on floor, hands on step) 6 x 15
4. Supinated BB Bent Over Rows 6 x 15
Alternate Set C -
5. Seated DB Shoulder Press 6 x 15
6. Seated DB Rear Raises 6 x 15
Alternate Set D -
7. V-Bar Tricep Push-Downs 6 x 15
8. Alternate DB Bicep Curls 6 x 15 per side
Post-Weights Cardio - Rollers:
10 min in 39x18 @ 106 rpm
Stretch 25 min.
COMMENTS
Mood/Aggression: I have been through myriad moods today, covering the entire range of the emotion and mood spectrums. Beautiful things are happening in the world (life is a blessing), at the same time as the most horrific and ugly (please pray for all who live with the daily threat of war, and give thanks when those we care for wake up unharmed after being bombed). Life is in constant balance, a battle. Doesn't it realize though, that every time it kicks me down, I am just going to get back up, stronger than I was and come back fighting HARDER than ever?!
Energy: After the events that occurred before training, my aggression was spiked, and I went into the gym with a purpose, starting out well, but faltering after ~40 minutes, only my drive pushing me through the rest. I just feel shattered now.
Stress: HIGH.
Joints: My superio-medial right knee was still aching when I woke up this morning and has niggles at me throughout the day, but it's not affecting my functionality.
Endurance: Great.
Pump: Strong and HARD and lasting a LONG time.
Vascularity: The BEST ever during training! I want that ALL the time!
Quality of Training: It was a brief, fast spiel on the CrossRamp pre-weights, aggression and determination driving me . . . Resistance session started out well. Talk about PAIN. For some reason, the pain started pissing me off - as well as all the kids running around in the weights room (I have nothing against people taking youth in there to train, teaching them correctly, etc., but when they are running around rampant, getting in the way and adding to irritability, it's another story). LOVED the definition and vascularity I had during training - both which appeared almost from the start. For some reason, I was also REALLY heated re temperature throughout the session, so much that it seriously felt like the fans were blowing HOT air on me! After the first set of Seated DB Shoulder Press, I was ready to pack it in and just finish this session tomorrow. However, I sat there and stuck it out. I was almost in tears by the end of Alternate Set C - not a usual thing for me, and during Alternate Set D my face was a mask of pain and grit (some guy even deliberately walked in front of me and waved several times, as if trying to distract me or maybe elicit a smile - didn't work). 90 minutes of what ended up feeling more like torture than pleasure, but it was done and I am glad I stuck it out. After all, giving in or giving up is NOT an option, and I am NOT letting them win! . . . Brief cardio on the rollers afterwards, just enough to make it a total of 20 minutes re cardio for today . . .
Recovery: I think the extreme flux of emotion and mood throughout today has affected my energy and feeling more than training itself - although my deltoids and biceps' tendons ARE in pain if I lift anything.
Other Notes: Sometimes we seek opportunities out. Sometimes they are given to us. Sometimes what we want is not what we NEED. Sometimes the favourable opportunities presented to us are not so favourable. God is testing both my faith and my heart, seeing how much trust I have in being driven, pulling away the layers to see the truth of my passions, the core of my dreams. Under scrutiny, beneath the surface of one chance I have been given, comes the realization that if I accept, it means compromising my character and who I am, giving up my dream and stepping away from my purpose, only to become the tool of another. Even though I initially pursued this opportunity, I know now that it is not for me. I know who I am and I will NOT give that up. I have my dreams and I will NOT give them away. I understand my purpose and I will NOT stray from that. Sometimes He gives us what we want, so that we can see that it is not in our best interests. Sometimes doing nothing IS doing something. It's a daily surrender, having faith that what is best for me He knows, and will reveal it when I am READY, guiding me in the direction I need to be and should be going.
