The week is winding down and I haven’t even had a chance to think of a blog post! During prep, time seems to fly by, even though the days tend to drag as you count down the time until your next meal. Last weekend we went on a road trip – with two excellent training sessions. We took advantage of the opportunity to train with a national level bodybuilder and OPA judge on Saturday at Olympia Muscle and Fitness (in Mississauga). It worked out well for us to drive to Guelph on Friday, so we could stop and train at Evolution to break up our drive. We first experienced this gym back in June when they hosted a training seminar with some of the Fusion athletes and we loved their space. It’s exactly the kind of environment we love to train in – basic warehouse space, great equipment selection, and full of people passionate about fitness. If you’re ever in the area, and love to train, stop in there – they’ll treat you like family and you’ll have a great workout.

A view of Evo health club

Olympia Muscle and Fitness didn’t disappoint either.  It’s a larger gym with so many pieces of equipment our gym doesn’t have. I trained legs and felt it for a solid 3 days afterwards. I love how making small changes can have such a huge impact on your body. Kyle and I want to visit as many gyms as possible, especially landmark gyms. Over the winter we trained at the original Powerhouse over in Detroit, and we’re looking forward to going back on Saturday (Kyle’s birthday request). We’ve also got a list of gyms we want to visit while we’re in Vegas this year. It might sound weird, but when it’s a passion, it’s so much fun.

Prep Update

I’m coming up to the 4-week mark, and have hit a mental roadblock. I’m not sure what caused it, but the last couple of days have been a struggle. I’ve been tired, a little stressed, and frustrated with  variety of factors in life – which spills into the areas I love. Honestly, it’s drained me to the point that nothing has interested me (including writing, which is sad – and then further frustrates me!). I get frustrated when I don’t see changes in my body, even though I’m usually too blind to see them. I over-analyze everything and start to worry that I’m doing things wrong (“my legs are losing definition, am I holding water, am I bloated, am I taking in too much / not enough sodium, is it just inflammation from teaching step…?”). It’s tough!  I’ve enjoyed not stepping on the scale this prep, that’s a bonus at least.

The limit does not exist, pushing through.

So, while it’s been a struggle, and I can honestly say I’ve debated quitting, Kyle made a great point today which helped. He said that while I felt disappointed in my progress to this point, if I quit, I’d feel so much more disappointment in myself. Which is true. The lesson – even though I KNOW how slow a process this can be (and needs to be), and how it’s all dependent on consistency and focus, it still gets the better of me from time to time. I’m human and competing is one of the hardest challenges I’ve taken on. Pushing through…. Focusing on making the most of each and every workout and resetting my mind to be more relaxed – a lot can happen in 30 days!