Focusing on the workout ahead

Although I had the radio on, my drive across to the gym this evening was one of pure focus.  I set off to one of my favourite songs of the moment, Locked Away.  Tonight it was purely background music.  The journey to the gym seemed to take forever, in reality it probably took nearly forty minutes in heavy traffic and through 2 sets of roadworks.  I normally drive it in twenty minutes.  I didn’t care.

In the zone

My warm up, as usual, consisted of what can only be described as five minutes of limbering up followed by ten minutes of rowing.  Or rather that should be five minutes of warming up before giving the rowing machine 100% of my attention trying to get a new PB.  I knew then that I was in the zone and I had to make the most of it.  Ironically, I finished nearly 30 metres behind where I finished last Thursday but felt much better during tonight’s session.  Weird eh?

But, as I’ve written in my last post, I’ve joined the gym to improve my strength.  Tonight’s session was no different.  As with the rowing, I found weights easier than normal tonight finding the zone with ease once I’d switched from cardio.  It also helped that the gym was quietening down following the post-work rush.  It gave me the perfect opportunity to crack on, get through a full workout, then revisit pull ups – one of my favourites.  The transition between exercises was seamless.  The rests between reps, deliberate.  The weights, at least as heavy as I’ve lifted before, if not heavier.

Making Progress

It was only after the main bulk of my session that I saw my PT who helped me a more advanced pull-up technique.  Looking back, it was only at this point that I started smiling and having a laugh whilst still working out.  Before that, I must have been a stern sight.  My facial expressions whilst working out, have been at the butt of many jokes before now, the best way I can describe it is a snarl with narrowed eyes.

After just over an hour and a quarter, I finished, downed a sickly-yet-effective Cookies and Cream protein shake and left.  The traffic on my way home was much quieter as I returned home in half the time.

Then for the important bit.  Food.  Never has a roast dinner tasted so good.