give me something to believe in *

And it just makes me wonder why so many lose, so few win
You take the high road and I'll take the low road
Sometimes I wish to God I didn't know now
The things I didn't know then
And give me something to believe in
-bret michaels

[thursday 10.1]
LEG DAY LEG DAY LEG DAY! :)

I don't know why I'm so excited because I usually am only relieved when legs are over-but today I just had extra energy, and I love that! Sometimes at the end of a training session I have a little extra energy, so I throw in some abs or some plyometrics, but it never happens on leg day, TODAY BEING THE EXCEPTION! I certainly had a blast running around doing a bunch of extra things, though I'm sure in the morning when I can't walk i'll be pissed at myself trying to make it through morning cardio!

A little extra thought I had today was about breathing. I've already talked about how I have generalized anxiety disorder, and usually at the end of the day have to take an anti-anxiety pill to sleep because my heart and mind race about all the things from the day and all the things I need to accomplish tomorrow. I've learned a lot about breathing recently and that abdominal breathing rather than chest breathing helps calm you down. I've had to literally lie on the ground and put my hands on my stomach and practice abdominal breathing. Sound crazy? -yes, but it's truly an amazing thing if you can accomplish it.

I applied it today to my training session and it helped a TON! Most people are so used to holding their core tight constantly that we don't know how to release it to breath anymore, causing us to breathe completely from our chest, and the air never makes it into your lungs (which for me freaks me out and causes me to have panic attacks). As I was training legs in between each set I took my 60-90 seconds of rest to practice abdominal breathing. I stuck my stomach out and in dramatically as I breathed and it really calmed me down and helped me press more weight and be more focused during my next set. Too often when we are training we are so amped up we just hop into another set or exercise without thinking or breathing, and that's horrible. You need oxygen to pump those amino acids, so do me a favor next time you're training or just having some down time...

1. lie flat on your back on your carpet
2. put both of your hands on your stomach
3. as you breath in push your stomach out as far as you can.
4. then slowly (note that your exhale should take longer than your inhale) bring your stomach back in and let the air out through your nose.**
5. practice this for 5 minutes or so if your at home, and then if your at the gym do it in between your training sets (just not so dramatically! haha)

*note i only say breath out through your nose because it helps you control the length of your exhale. it's easier to exhale slow if you do it out through your nose rather than just opening your mouth and letting it all out.