Happy Friday! I woke up this morning with a stomach ache, but knew I had to make it to the gym before having 2 days off. Today was triceps day (my least favorite).
The walk to the gym was pleasant though. It was a bit colder this morning, but overall not too shabby. I tried to do regular push ups today, but still am not strong enough to complete a full set. I also tried doing them with my knees bent on the ground, but after about 2 push ups… I had shooting pains in my knees. I am hoping by the end of the next Phase, I will be able to complete the entire 3 sets of push ups without fail.
Let’s take a look at yesterday’s workout.
Yesterday was a shoulders/abs day! It’s not as fun as legs day, but not too bad. My favorite exercise today was the dumbbell front raise. My least favorite exercise is the rear-delt raises. I’m not sure I’m doing them properly, so I’ll have to re-watch the instruction videos.
I’m really liking the 10 reps instead of 12. It allows me to lift heavier weights for a shorter amount of time.
On another note, something I wanted to address was working out with a friend or a group. At my gym, I see groups of women who work out together. I don’t have anything against working out with a friend, but if it becomes more of a social session instead of a workout…I see a problem. However, I do notice many benefits when groups of women work out. The one benefit I’ll talk about today is motivation.
Here are some of the ways I think working out with a friend can help motivate you.
- Motivation to get out of bed and head to the gym. When working out with a friend, there is much more motivation to actually get to the gym. There have been many mornings when I didn’t want to get out of bed. I thought to myself, “Who’s going to hold me accountable?” The answer is no one. Since I go to the gym in the mornings by myself, no one is there to call me to get out of bed or yell at me for not showing up.
- Motivation to keep up. I noticed that if one person feels like he/she can’t keep going, the other person pushes and motivates the other. If you go to the gym and work out alone, like myself, you have to be self-disciplined. When I feel like I can’t push any more, I keep telling myself “one more.. one more.. one more.”
So I got to ask… do you work out by yourself or with a friend? Why?