Good morning! I hope you've had a good weekend. Mine has been quiet and relaxing. The weather has been cold and a bit snowy, so it has been the perfect weekend to curl up with a book. Today I'll be doing that again, but the NFL playoffs will be on the agenda as well.
I've been diligently tracking my macros for a week using the app Cronometer, which I highly recommend if you're looking for a free app which does a good job of tracking food. It's easy to use and now that I'm getting the hang of it and have a lot of my favorite foods saved, it takes no time at all to enter my food.
It's too soon to say if increasing my protein has made a difference, but I can say that I've noticed a difference in my energy level. As you'll see in my workout summaries, I was able to increase my weights this week and broke through some plateaus I was having. I've also had less soreness this week. But that could also be because of the rest day I added in the middle of the week, which I'll talk more about.
Tracking my food, overall, has helped me to stay consistent with my nutrition. If I feel tempted to eat junk food, or if I'm still feeling hungry, I look at my calories and macros and I make better choices. I'm a nerd who likes statistics and numbers, so it's motivating for me to see those macro goals being met.
Okay, here are the workouts I did this week:
On Monday we focused on the chest and biceps. Each round had four exercises with 12 reps each. We repeated the round three times. We had two rounds of different exercises and then we had a burnout which consisted of two exercises that we did for 45 seconds each and repeated two more times, for a total of three rounds. Then we finished off with core exercises.
Tuesday was a leg day and we focused on quads and calves. The arrows indicate where I increased my weights from previous weeks. My knees have been bothering me over the last couple of weeks and so I've moderated my lunges which has helped (although it doesn't make it easier!) That burnout at the end with the power loop was killer!
On Wednesday we focused on back and triceps. Again, each round consisted of four exercises, 12 reps each that we did three times. We also did a burnout with wide Supermans and bench dips (triceps were dead!) for 45 seconds each for three rounds.
On Thursday, I was scheduled to have a leg day, but I decided to push it back a day and instead give myself a rest day to let my muscles recover. I did a stretching/mobility workout which felt really good, and I think it was a wise decision to break up the week with a recovery day.
On Friday I did the second leg day of the week, where we focused on hamstrings and glutes. Holy moly my booty was on fire by the end, but I just need to point out that I used 45s on the sumo squats. YES! I don't want to talk about the HIIT moves. I've blocked that from my mind! Overall, though, my legs and knees felt good and so I'm really happy that I gave myself a rest day before tackling this workout.
Yesterday was the final workout of the week: shoulders. Shoulders are my most challenging part of the body, perhaps because of my neck surgery almost two years ago, but yesterday I finally broke through my plateau and lifted heavier and it felt good! I'm really excited about that!
Today is a rest day and I'm resting completely. I slept in a little later to give myself more sleep. I've plugged my foods into the app for today so I know what I'll be eating to meet my calorie and macro goals. Next I'll plan meals for the upcoming week. Some of the things that will be on the menu include red lentil chili, a protein pasta dish, tacos, and brownie batter overnight protein oats! Yum!
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