My ‘Workout Wednesday’ series is finally back!

I find it kind of ironic that while working in the fitness industry for the last 6 months this particular portion of the blog took a major backseat. It was definitely unexpected and honestly a little disappointing. Instead of being overwhelmed with tons of new workout content, I was instead over my head in a stressful environment that was more detrimental than beneficial to my own personal health & fitness journey. It’s weird the way things end up working out. Despite finding myself stuck, on a plateau, etc. I knew that I needed to switch things up. It might have taken a little longer to actually make said switch-up than I would’ve liked but once I did it, I haven’t looked back. Just like I made intentions for life in general on Monday, I made some for my physical self as well. My 5 goals for the first 6 months of the year are: run a sub-1:40 Half Marathon, run a sub-22:30 5k, do 5 real pull-ups in a row, do 10 real pistol squats on each leg and squat 100lbs. Those are fairly lofty goals for me so I’m shifting my mindset and focusing on the three things below to get me to a place where all of those can be checked off by Summer…

Personalized Workouts

The last 2+ years I had it in my mind that group fitness classes were exactly what I needed in my life. While I still have a love for working up a sweat alongside other motivated people, I realized that in order to really be pushing myself I need to compete with myself and not the random girl next to me. {Side note: I still need my runs with Cassidy & I desperately miss my mornings with Brooke & Erica!} I need workouts for MY body tailored to MY goals rather than a one-size-fits-all approach. This is my last year in my 20s and I’m ready to make damn sure it’s my best physically. So I found myself a kickass trainer who holds me accountable, doesn’t let me complain and pushes me to lift harder and run faster than I realized I could. Combine that with some pretty lofty fitness goals for 2018 and the fact that I love nothing more than to dominate a killer workout and I’d say I’m on the right track to make this year the best.

Strong is Sexy

Each person has their own vision of their ideal body and mine involves muscle. It’s taken me a long time to realize that lifting heavy isn’t going to make me look like a boy. Instead, lifting heavy has been a stress-reliever, made me appreciate what I’m capable of and has woken up muscles I haven’t seen since probably high school or even maybe ever. I’ve picked up weights with numbers on them I only wished I’d be able to and when I want to grab lighter, a little voice tells me someone is frowning upon my selection so I stick with what I have. Sure I’ve been frustrated by not being able to do lifts {or mostly not being able to do un-assisted pull-ups!} but the motivation to get better keeps me coming back for more. Instead of wanting someone to look at me and think ‘she’s so thin!’ like I use to wish for, I would now much rather hear ‘it looks like it would hurt if she hit me.’ 😉 That in itself is a HUGE shift for me and I’m proud to be moving away from what I thought was my perfect body into more of an appreciation for what my body is actually capable of.

Make Uncomfortable Comfortable

Blisters on my hands. Sore in places I didn’t know could be. A shaky feeling on my last few reps. All of that is uncomfortable for me. But much like everything else in life, being uncomfortable typically means some kind of transformation is happening and that’s what I’m aiming for. Not the uncomfortable feeling when something genuinely hurts or is being overworked but the kind of uncomfortable feeling when you know your body can give more but your mind just wants you to keep things easy. Easy is good but I’ve been discovering that tough is better. I feel so much more accomplished and proud of myself when I know that I gave everything and literally don’t have an ounce of push left in me. Not every workout is going to feel that way though, so I’m also learning to accept that and be ok with where I’m at each day at a time.