Happy Friday! I'm so happy that the weekend is almost here. It has been an emotional, draining week and I'll be glad to get some rest and relaxation this weekend.
We had a death in the family. My 29-year-old nephew died suddenly. He was seemingly healthy and so it was quite a shock. We'll have to wait on the autopsy results to find out what happened. Our family came together to provide support for my sister and niece. Our whole family hasn't been together in a long time, and it sucks that it takes something like this to reunite. I hope that we can make more time for each other moving forward. In the meantime, my sister and niece are constantly in my thoughts and I pray for them every day as I can't even imagine what they are going through.
It feels a bit superficial to write about workouts when a tragic event happens, but as I've said before, exercise is my therapy and it helps me to just get out of bed in the morning on days when I just want to stay under the covers and not face the world. My diet and sleep have been poor and I've been tired all week. What is it about sadness and grief that makes us want to stuff ourselves with junk and alcohol? Today I'm feeling better. I have some healthy meals planned for next week and I'm excited about the progress I've made so far with LIIFT4.
I tried to challenge myself for most of the moves this week by picking up heavier weights. I'm not nearly as sore as I was the first couple of weeks. My shoulders are feeling the workout from yesterday, though!
Monday was chest and triceps, along with HIIT and core. Chest has become one of my favorite areas to focus on because I've become so much stronger.
Tuesday was back and biceps. It was all lifting, and then core at the end. Biceps moves are where I'd like to see more improvement, but compared to where I was a year ago, I'm getting there.
Wednesday was a scheduled rest day, which I love because my arms are so sore by then that it's nice to have some recovery time. I did a dance workout, though, just to get in some movement. I like to try and keep my routine each morning consistent. If I take a complete rest day, it seems to throw off everything for me and so I prefer to just set my alarm and do a workout.
Thursday was a shoulders and HIIT day. The shoulder days are my favorite days of the program because I love the format. Each block of exercises includes two shoulder lifting moves and then a 30-second HIIT move and we repeat it three times. We do three blocks and the workout goes by so fast. Shoulders are another area where I'd like to improve, but ever since my neck surgery a couple of years ago, I'm a bit nervous to push myself too hard with shoulder moves, since they tend to put pressure on my neck. I'm taking my progress really, really slow. However, I will say that in my progress photos over the last several years, my shoulder definition is where I've noticed the biggest difference!
Today was the last workout of the week and it was leg day. We did three blocks of leg lifting exercises and then three sets of HIIT with three moves consisting of 60 seconds, 45 seconds, and 30 seconds. Yikes! My legs were toast and I was soaked with sweat by the end.
Sweat therapy, man. There's nothing like it. I thought about my nephew and how he liked to work out and it inspired me to just keep going.
This weekend I'll hopefully get in a walk or two and work outside in the yard to clear out some plants that are done for the season, but otherwise, the couch and a book will be calling my name. I'll also do some food prep so that I'm able to eat and fuel my body better next week.
Please pray for my sister and niece as they go through this difficult time.
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