As far as Tuesdays go, this one went pretty swell. After work I went to the gym. I've been wanting to run and do some sprints but I've been dealing with stupid shin splints for the last week so its hurts like a sum bitch to run. So I've been switching up my cardio and doing the elliptical, stair master, and incline walking on the treadmill. But neither of those make me feel as bad ass and like I'm dying so much as running sprints. Afterwards I lifted weights including deadlifts, squats, lunges, etc. I can't do any clean and jerks because, again it makes my legs hurt like a sum bitch.
So, I wanted to finish the second part of how and why I started this fitness journey.
In my last entry, I highlighted my crazy roller coaster of a year in 2014 and as I mentioned by the time the New Year rolled around I was ready for a change. Fuck 2014 and its craziness, I was ready for a change. I was not thinking if it as a New Years resolution, more of a life resolution. If I was going to make a change, it was going to stick dammit. So I started reading and researching online. I looked up as many articles I could get my hands on and any Facebook page that had workout motivation and fitness motivation. I slowly got the impression that if I wanted to be ripped, fast and strong, I would have to start lifting weights! I googled many YouTube videos, how to's and consulted with Ernie how to start lifting weights and what to do. I learned how to do a deadlift and squat to start and I started back running again. At first, I was only able to lift once, maybe twice a week. I also was teaching Ju Jitsu with Ernie two days a week-which is what I was doing last year, but by February it lead to 3 days per week, then 4 days per week! So by March, we were on the run! For Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, & Friday, our days involved work, then driving to Ju Jitsu Class somewhere then home to eat then bed. Wednesdays were my weight lifting days at the gym. Slowly over the time of January to June, I noticed my waist getting smaller, my arms getting stronger, and the pounds on the scale drop! To be completely honest, the weight loss I was not expecting. From January to June I went from 158lbs to 148lbs! Which is not a crazy amount of weight, but it was enough for my family and myself to notice.
Now I did not lose weight by just lifting and teaching copious amounts of Ju Jitsu. I also overhauled my diet and paid more attention to what I ate. I started following many different body builders on Facebook. To be honest, the one that got my attention and made the most sense to me was Pauline Nordin. If you haven't looked her up, you really should, she is pretty inspirational I started to intake more protein and change my carb intake to primarily vegetables, and it made even more of a difference. I started to notice little pops of muscle here and there that I've never seen before and I knew I wanted MORE!
As I said, by this June I had made huge progress. Ju Jitsu ended on Tuesdays and Thursday for the summer and I focused my energy on pushing myself harder at the gym. At the end of June, Ernie and I ran our first Spartan Race (just the 5k) and even though I had been working my ass off, it was one of the hardest things I've ever done. I did not do as well as I wanted to and it was on a ski hill which made it worse. I did not train on an incline what so ever, so for me was extremely difficult. But I finished the race with the drive to work my ass off to do better next year!
So to say the least, sticking with the journey has not been the easiest. In June I hurt my lower back from lifting weights wrong, I rested and it felt pretty good after a week or so. That is until one day Ernie and I were grappling and I was caught in his guard (he is on his back with me between his legs). He had both my arms tied up so I stood in his guard and I looked over his head and thought " I can roll out of this". So I hauled myself into a forward roll but miss-calculated the distance from us to the edge of the cage and I fell right on my head like a dork! After that my back hurt like a bastard again. So off to physio I went! I spent a few weeks with my awesome physio therapist who told me that pretty much 12 years of Ju Jitsu screws up ones shoulders and hips pretty good. But she helped me learn how to control my hips and shoulders to make sure they are in proper position as I lift and squat. Before I knew it, I was back in action! This pretty much leads me to today!
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