Day 18

It was legs day again today. Gotta say, I wasn't super excited about it because my hamstrings were STILL in pain from Monday's workout! Seriously. But, I got it done and I'll probably be sore for another week.

I'm only squatting 70lbs. I'm up from the 60lbs I started with in week 1 but still, 70lbs is tough for me. If I want to get low and push up with my heels properly, it's hard. I also think I have one leg that is weaker. I video taped myself squatting so I could check out my form from the side and front angles. From the side, they looked perfect. My posture was great, my knees were behind my toes, butt way back, thighs parallel to the floor. But from the front, my left leg goes in on the push. Not sure how to correct that. By the way, I really dislike squats. I know they are one of the most important exercises I need to be doing to improve my body composition but I just hate them. They are hard.

Walking barbell lunges - also hard. And wow, gets my heart rate soaring! Lunges are also not my favorite.

Deadlifts. I like these. However, one-legged deadlifts....not so much. They are hard. And I worry that my form is a little less than perfect. Now would be a good time to have a trainer by my side.

What else....? Oh, lying hamstring curls. An isolation move. Not a big muscle builder from what I've read compared to the deadlift. I find it difficult to use only hamstrings to move the weight. My glutes always seem to want to help out. Maybe that's ok? Not sure.

Leg raises are ok. I could probably lift a pretty good amount of weight with my quad. And I can tolerate the burn pretty well. Although my weight bench is a bit on the flimsy side. When I add a lot of weight to the front of the bench for raises, it tilts to one side and just seems very unsteady in general. I took my husband downstairs to see if he could either tighten some bolts or fix it in some way (or perhaps to change his mind about getting me some better equipment) but he pretty much just told me if I tried tightening some bolts, maybe it would be more stable. Um-k.

I described a lot of my workout moves as hard. I guess that's a good thing. Because if it wasn't hard, I wasn't pushing myself. Truth is, weight lifting is hard damn work! But when I visit the women on Bodybuilding.com who inspire me with their tight muscular bodies and rigid training ethic, I realize that yeah, it's gonna be hard. That's how come they look as good as they do! It's absolutely amazing to see the transformations of women who were tired of not loving their bodies and just deciding to make the commitment to change. I could workout in a lot of different ways but I chose weight lifting for a reason. I will walk around living in my trophy! I won't have to tell people that I lift.....they'll see it! If I'm going to work that hard at something, I want the wow factor that can be seen. Think of some celebrity woman; you know they all workout to stay fit. Most of them are pretty svelte. Now think of Madonna. Have you seen her arms? Yeah. You KNOW she lifts. She's the perfect mix of feminine with a little bad ass mixed in.

And while I know that I am still in the beginning stages, there are signs emerging. And it's only gonna get better!