It's about the way you think. Freedom!

Ok, so I've got to do a better job of updating this thing.

A few things going on in Cholo's life: my birthday was last Friday, and I took that as my cue to eat copious amounts of cupcakes and consume entirely too much alcohol for around three days.  I had an awesome time, and I certainly noticed a difference in the amount of bar attention I got (which was quite welcomed).  But, now I"m sort of having to play catchup.  I only skipped one workout during my birthday binge (the ninja one, Kenpo- which is sort of my least favorite, anyway), and hopefully I'll be able to double up on workouts today and squeeze it in.
Working out:  Phase 2 is tough.  Like, wowzas.  I figured that the first week of Phase 2 would be a doozie because of the whole muscle confusion thing, and it was.  But I'm currently in week 3 and it is harder than ever.  With Phase 1, I was insanely sore during the first week, but in the subsequent weeks I was OK- my muscles were a little tense and had that feeling of oh-my-god-I-can't-hold-up-a-coffee-cup, but I was OK.  Phase 2?  Sore.  Every.  Day.  Granted, not the debilitating sore of week 1, but definite lingering pain.  Even workouts that carried over from Phase 1 (Plyometrics and Legs & Back) are wrecking me.  My butt is guaranteed to be so sore as to make me wince when I sit down after doing the Legs & Back video on Fridays (which lends itself to interesting weekends, wowza), and Plyometrics still makes me feel like an obese woman from a Richard Simmons video.

Some things I"ve realized after the jump.


So, a few things I"ve realized: if it gets easier, you're probably not going to keep getting results/you're probably not doing it right.  Yes, some things have gotten easier as I've gotten in better shape over the past month and a half.  Some moves/exercises that I couldn't perform are doable now, or I can perform as many reps as are required.  But- there's always a way to make it more difficult!  And that's the tough part, the part that requires dedication.  Ok, I can do the easiest version of the ab video now.  Do I keep doing that and get a huge head (and slow down my results), or do I try to do the more advanced version, and feel (ability-wise, at least) the same way I did week 1?  The answer is, of course, that it's supposed to be a struggle.
Supposed to be a struggle?!  That sucks.  I don't want to struggle. I want it to be easy, duh.  But, the thing that I'm still trying to wrap my head around, is that if it's easy you're cheating yourself.  I said it a little bit in my earlier posts, but it's certainly more true today than it was then: getting in shape is about changing the way you think.  To keep up my results, I have to keep pushing, keep struggling.  I've got to pretend that, for an hour a day, I'm a freedom fighter in some third-world country trying to overthrow some fascist dictator  Freedom fighting isn't easy!  Freedom fighters don't take breaks!  Freedom fighters don't fight wimps, they fight freaking armies!

So, team, that's what I'm going to do for the next 46 days.  Fight for the freedom of my abdominal muscles.  They've been opressed for far too long.

-Cholo