So it was with a happy yet maniacal gleam in my eyes that I pulled out Cathe's XTrain series and decided to do Supercuts again yesterday. It's the second time I've done that workout, and I am thinking it is going to be one that I return to again and again. It moves fast, has effective exercises that you don't feel until the next day (hello, squats with your elbows to your knees and those crazy sit-outs and kick-outs), and gets your heart rate a-going up and down with all its compound moves. If I had to describe Supercuts in one word, it would be DEEE-licious.
Since I did some cardio/total body yesterday (I always like to do one total body workout a week), I decided to give my legs a rest before my third week of marathon training begins with another fabulous Treadmill Tuesday. So, I decided that I would do some upper-body weight work, and settled upon doing two of Cathe's workouts from her XTrain series--Chest, Back, and Shoulders followed shortly thereafter by Bis/Tris.
My little dumbbell family wasn't enough for these workouts.
Cathe was using 30s and 35s for some exercises (!!!!); I only have 20s as my heaviest set of dumbbells. I feel so inadequate.
Anyhoo, I won't go into the specific exercises in the workouts, but there was a nice mix of old favorites (push-ups, chest flies, bicep curls, hammer curls, kickbacks, pullovers, preacher curls, etc.) and some newer ones that I have never seen before that issued a nice challenge. Both workouts just kept moving right along, so the boredom factor wasn't an issue. You do 16 reps of each exercise, unless you chose a heavier weight than you could handle, in which case you should try and do 12-14 reps. This is what I did during the tricep exercises, when I tried to bust out all sorts of kickbacks with 12 pound weights and ended up at about rep 12 trying to avoid dropping the weight on my head, neck, or face regions. I have to say I did the sloppiest reps I have ever done in my life on those exercises, laughing at myself the entire time.
And that's when I discovered my triceps--especially my left one--are pretty damn lazy. At about rep 10 they started acting as if they were flimsy noodles, stalling out on the bottom of any kickback, refusing to come back up because it was just too much work for them. We'll just have to work on those lazy SOBs, won't we? I should make them write a damn SMART goal and give me weekly status updates--that is, if I wasn't so busy attending pointless meetings during the day to actually read them.
But on the bright side, I had a moment of confidence-boosting that, again, only the truly exercise addicted can understand. You see, I pulled off 16 reps of dumbbell overhead presses with 20 pounds in each hand.
Now, I know some of you do that just for fun every day to entertain small children or coworkers. However, I have had a mental block for a while now with my weights, thinking that 15 pounds was SO HEAVY and how could I ever LIFT HEAVIER THAN THAT on any exercise that wasn't a back exercise.
I was in a mental rut; have been for quite some time.
But when I saw that Cathe was using 30s, I just couldn't pick up the 15s. I went for the 20s, and pulled off 16 solid reps with good form. When I put those weights down, it was like I was on top of the world.
It may seem like a small accomplishment to you, but it was a huge mental hurdle for me. You see, I don't just weight train to look like I could kick someone's ass (but that is a vital part of my motivation) and still be able to do things for myself when I am 70; I do it because, every once in a while, it reminds me that I can do much more than I currently do. I just have to finally decide to pick it up and make it happen.
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