Well the time is fast approaching for coaching to begin and the challenges of working out while spending 2 nights a week at the gym. Not only that, but now I have the baby to contend with who I am beginning to suspect doesn’t have my fitness as one of her main priorities in her life. Each year I have a problem getting the workouts done when it comes to coaching season, not because it is particularly hard to do but because it becomes a great excuse not to do it. This year, I can’t afford to be that way. It is less than 20 days until coaching which (much like last year) won’t quite allow me to finish the program before I start. What I really need to do is to start thinking about my next quarter and what to do with my workouts that will allow me the time, flexibility and challenge to keep my fitness up.
I substituted a bench workout for my chest, shoulders and triceps workout on Monday. It is a significantly different workout than doing pushups and I found that I really missed that full pump that I can only really get from heavy benching. Fortunately due to the type of bench I have I can also do a pretty good shoulder press workout too since doing flies doesn’t really cut it for building or maintaining your shoulder mass. I did find however that I was not sore after, which speaks to the conditioning of the muscle, regardless of the diminished strength. It was great to get back to basics, and I think come the coaching season I will be incorporating a couple of bench workouts into my program. They are short and intense and remind me of why I have been going to the gym for all these years.
Insanity however, is still kicking my ass. I am doing the max workouts now which I find better since I am unable to match the intensity that is required to get the most out of the shorter workouts. I think as time goes along I should also consider getting outside while the weather starts to cool down and do some short distance runs, maybe 1 -3 km at a quick pace to get my running back. I find that jogging hurts my calves and feet but running doesn’t. Weird huh?