Total Body Fire

No but really, I did that.

I worked a 12 hour shift on Sunday, covering for someone who couldn't come in. And it was a great day, but tiring. So I took my ass to bed almost as soon as I got home because if there was any way I was going to workout on Monday, it was if I slept hard.

So yesterday I got up, made breakfast, and spent a good 20 minutes on mobility work because that long day had left me with some muscle tension that alI didn't want to linger any longer. I unjunked my hips with some 90/90 hip thrusts, my spine got the Greatest Stretch in the World treatment, on both sides. And then I spent some time on my shoulders and neck too, because that is traditionally where my stresses tend to manifest physically.

Dude my shoulders were a veritable mess too. I had so much tension in my traps and neck, it took some time to work them into submission. We got there, but this is why I spent 20 minutes on mobility.

Once I was feeling the full depth of my ROM everywhere, I was ready. I cranked my Vengeance Playlist with all my loud metal/edm mix and got going.

I started with Squats to get me warmed up. It was only 40 degrees outside and I needed to be warm to move weight.

Just body weight at first to get me going. Once I hit about 20 reps, I widened my stance a little and pointed my toes out. I'm trying to train the dominance OUT of my quads, so I need to change the way I'm setting up my Squats. I grabbed my 2 smallest weights and planted them on my shoulders, with my elbows pointed to the front, and my hips hinged at about 45 degrees.

One of the struggles I often have with weighted Squats, especially front Squats, is that my IT band on my outer thigh fucking hurts. Like someone is digging something into my quads with every rep.

With my quad dominance I struggle with glute engagement. So by widening my stance, I'm kicking my quads OUT of the game and forcing my inner thighs and my glutes to bear the brunt of the work. And friends, I was FEELING IT. It only took 2 reps for me to feel the complete difference in engagement. I even felt it in my CORE, and we all know I love a good deep core engaging move.

After as many reps as I could do without falling, I switched over into some dead bugs with ankle weights to keep that core going strong.

When breathing was hard, and my hip flexors trembling, I got up and grabbed 15lbs for some lat rows.

Now these can be tricky sometimes, because I want to row to my ribs because it's easier. But I'm training my lats, not just my triceps, so I have to concentrate on moving the weight back to my hip and not to my ribs. I have to concentrate on squeezing my shoulder blade back and down, and rotating just enough to get a bit of oblique engagement too. Lat Rows can train the back, arms and side body, but you have to pay attention to how the weight is moving.

15lbs is admittedly a bit light for me here, but I'm focusing on form first so I don't hurt or strain myself moving too much weight too soon.

I got into RDLS and Bulgarian Split Squats next, and then push ups, chest press, shoulder press, and some Slam Ball throws to get my core and shoulders one last time.

I ended up spending over an hour outside working out and that's NOT including the mobility I started with. I was not intending to workout so long, but my body was completely fine and ready to do the work, so I smashed it out.

Follicular Phase for the win!

I've really been getting my macros down this week too, and meal prepping has become a cinch. I'm hitting my protein targets every day and I'm still keeping either right at or below the limits for my carbs and fats. I'm feeling SO on top of my game right now!

I have some errands to run today, and some website work I'm going to get to this afternoon. I'm taking a little active rest day and focusing on mobility and recovery and staying Hydrated.

Tomorrow though, we smash again.