Tuesday, April 21, 2009

New Goals, New Plan

I had a long discussion with Dave yesterday. On Sunday night I briefly contemplated doing a natural show here in Washington in August. My friend and psuedo trainer, Jon is doing this show and after feeling so defeated after Emerald Cup I thought it might be good to do a show where the playing field is equal. But after talking to Dave I quickly scrapped that idea. The Washington Ironman is my "goal" show for 2009. I made that decision early in the year and I will stick to it. Ironman was my first show ever last fall and my goal is to see how much progress I can make to my physique in one year's time. My goal isn't to win, although let's be honest, most of us who do this sport compete to WIN, not just to say "I lost 100lbs and then I got up on stage and rocked it out" only to put back on 80lbs. Shoot, I digress...I have to throw a little of this in to make Kristie smile.

I said to Dave yesterday: "I walked in the gym and I felt lost. I didn't know what to do or where to start."
He says, in typical Dave fashion: "What do you mean? You just do what you do."
I need a map, I need a plan, I need specific directions.

The training schedule that I've been using for the past 3 months has been working really well and I've seen good gains even while following a cutting diet, so we'll stick to the current program although Dave moved my shoulder day to Mondays since that is my weakest area that we want to bring up. The other change is to hit the tri's and bi's twice a week to see if we can't bring up my arms a little as well.

My new split looks like this:
Monday: Shoulders w/5 sets of triceps push-downs
Tuesday: Legs (gotta keep building the bootay)
Wednesday: Back w/5 sets of bicep curls
Thursday: Chest
Friday or Saturday: Arms

I will also be keeping my cardio relatively high in an attempt to keep my fat gain to a minimum. I am glad for this as cardio is a huge mental release for me, as many of you know and it was really hard to give it up completely last summer. A little cardio keeps me sane.

Diet: well, I don't want to post specifics, but I will say that I'm continiung to supplement with Captri to keep my calories high. We're going to try a program that is equal parts carbs and protein with low fat intake. It's ample calories, so it should be plenty for me to put on some new muscle while still staying relatively (but not insanely) lean. And the best part of any "off season" diet is...the weekly CHEAT meal!!! :)

I have enjoyed being relaxed about my eating the last couple days. Nothing crazy, by any means, but ...things like sugar-free coffee creamer, salmon, protein powder with a "few" grams of carbs...the little things that competitors live without during the final weeks of competition prep. I even had a Skinny Vanilla latte yesterday at Starbucks. I can't tell you the last time I drank milk and it really tasted good! I am pleased to say that I have kept the post-competition treats in check and have not had the nasty rebound effects that I had last fall. Gotta give credit to better coaching! :)

Mostly what I am enjoying right now is having enough energy to deal with my kids...and to actually have fun with my kids. I have felt like death for many weeks now with no energy to get up and down the stairs, much less do anything fun with my children, so this feels FANTASTIC!!!!

And today...I feel a whole lot less "lost". I have a goal. I have a plan. And mostly, I have a fantastic support network and for that, I am extremely grateful.

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