Let’s start 2021 off on a good foot! Aaaaaand I’m already sore.
Lately, I’ve been falling down rabbit holes of Jillian Michaels’ Youtube channel. I don’t know what it is about her cadence, her clarity, or her confident approach (wait, did I just answer my own question) that calms me down, but it’s simultaneously comforting and motivating. I tend to listen to her advice, but I often get distracted by her arms. They are slender, but shapely, with good baby muscles on it. I once had arms like hers, and receiving the compliment “You look like you could beat me up” is still one of the best things to happen to me.
Between her, Gal Gadot as the eponymous “Wonder Woman,” and Gina Carano as Cara Dune from The Mandalorian, my fitness focus in 2021 is to get strong. Fit. Skinny? Cool beans. Strong enough to take down the bad guys? THE PRIORITY.
With time and dedication, my biceps come up pretty quickly. I bulk in my thighs like nobody’s business! I used that to my advantage and barely did any leg workouts last year (did I say advantage? I meant disadvantage). My triceps and traps are where I have always been weak. I could do bicep curls at 20 lb. weights but will need three pounders to get through lateral raises. For some reason, though, I have toned deltoid muscles! I can have very pretty looking shoulders without much effort, especially since I tend to LIKE shoulder workout days!
A quick note before we continue: I am not a registered trainer, dietician, nutritionist, nor do I play one on the internet. I am no expert, and I will never claim to be an expert. I find what I find on Google, I ask people in my life WITH that experience for their input, and I make that call. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t! That’s life! We continue.
I made it a mission to add two days of leg workouts to my routine. I want to up my cardio to get 1500 steps a day, too! I want to be toned, fit, strong, and look like I could beat someone up if they tried me.
So! Here’s my current fitness breakdown/workout split:
Monday: Morning walk, leg workout, lunchtime cardio.
Tuesday: Morning walk, back workout, lunchtime cardio.
Wednesday: Morning walk, shoulder and abs workout, lunchtime cardio.
Thursday: Morning walk, leg workout, lunchtime cardio.
Friday: Morning walk, upper body workout.
Saturday and Sunday: Get 15k steps, by any means! Morning walk, evening walk, walking in a theme park, you get it.
Experts say you don’t need to do endless ab workouts to get a six pack. I’m going to take that advice, for now, and check back later in the year to see if there’s any progress by just doing ab work once a month. I’m following the above schedule somewhat loosely, in that I might add some core workouts in there to get my pull-ups and handstand goal going!
I’ve taken a before photo this week. I hope my EOY photo is a bit more fit. Stay cool, skinny arm havers!