Round 5: Day 38: Back and Biceps

Although I didn't see major improvements in today's workout (heck, I never see major improvements anymore, just small glimpses of minor things about which to be hopeful), I did notice one significant thing: my left arm is starting to improve in strength. Previously, on some of the exercises, my left arm could manage three repetitions short of what my right arm was capable of accomplishing. Now, my left arm is almost equal to my right in terms of repetitions. I still have more confidence in my right arm to squeeze out an additional rep, whereas my left arm starts to struggle and shake. It is, however, an encouraging sign.

I didn't notice that my left side was much weaker than my right until I started doing workouts using dumbbells instead of resistance bands. The difference was pretty surprising and a bit disappointing. Now that I've been using dumbbells, that gap is closing. I'm looking forward to making greater gains in this area.

Today's workout, Back and Biceps, is still challenging. I don't think that any of these workouts will ever get easy. They continue to challenge because I keep increasing the weight or the number of repetitions. I like the banter going on in the DVD. Some people find Katy annoying; I just think she's enthusiastic. Heck, I would be too, if I had the opportunity to be on a workout DVD.

It took a long time to complete the workout because I paused the disc numerous times to give my arms a bit more recovery time between exercises. I also found that I was distracted for some reason, and I would pause to clear my head, focus, and get my mind set for the task at hand (no pun intended). It's really important for me to establish a mental attitude that will assist me in being successful in an exercise. If I can't get my mind right, I'll likely not give my best effort. I work hard at trying to succeed. As a result, I take each exercise seriously, focus on form, focus on the specific objective of each exercise, focus on making the last few reps tough, and then proceed to slog it out. Much of working out is mental, I find. The mind is a powerful thing and, properly trained, can really take you much farther than you thought.

Tomorrow, I'll be jiggling the schedule a bit, as I plan to do Insanity instead of yoga, pushing yoga to Day 6 this week. This will be a temporary adjustment for this week only, to accommodate my personal schedule.