anahorvath.com

Tag: bench press

  • 5 Pounds Away

    It feels so good to move, doesn’t it?! Well, I really think it feels good. And yesterday, I found myself 5 pounds away from my goal of bench pressing 100 pounds! I think that’s pretty cool.

    After whatever it was that happened earlier this month, I find myself more and more grateful to have a body that is healthy for the most part that can do so much for me. Exercise makes me feel so good. I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t feel strong. I think being strong is empowering and beautiful. I feel like I can handle myself and I feel capable of a lot too.

    I came into my fitness journey with the idea that my upper body strength was pretty decent from all the tennis that I play. Boy was I wrong about that!! My upper body strength was garbage, to put it nicely. I couldn’t do a pushup. I could barely bench press a 45 lb bar. Looking back on things, I have come such a long way. My pushups are pretty subpar, but they exist now. I’m on the brink of bench pressing 100 lbs. I’m working on getting pull ups now too!

    I think working out is so rewarding. You set a goal and you work toward it. You meet that goal and then you set another one. There is always room for improvement. I’m very excited to keep pushing myself and see what else I can do! Now let’s go get this next 5 pounds and I’ll see you all next week!

  • A Breakthrough!!

    I don’t know what it was, but something amazing happened this past week and I think I’ve made a breakthrough! I’ll just go ahead and share what I wrote in my workout journal. 🙂 I might edit it so it makes a bit more sense formatting-wise and for this post as I upload it today. Again, I’m pretty sore today but today’s soreness makes me feel so proud of where I’m at now. 🙂

    I’m down almost two pounds from last weekend?! Not that weight matters an extreme amount but I’m genuinely surprised. I was going for 100 lbs with my bench press but I don’t think it happened and that’s ok! I believe I benched around 75 lbs and that’s still a PR!! 🙂 (Sidenote: My previous personal record, or PR, was 65 lbs for those of you that were wondering and I’ve been making good gains with my upper body as of lately, so my trainer and I thought it was doable.) I honestly think I had a breakthrough this past week. I don’t know what it was but I’m starting to feel better about myself. Yes, I am still working on things and I am also still extremely hard on myself but I’m learning and I’m making big improvements. I wasn’t too worried about food this week as far as worrying I was eating too much or too little which is a step in the right direction if you ask me. (Another sidenote: I’ve never been obsessed about tracking my food or anything but as I’ve started working out more I would definitely say that I’ve become a bit more aware of what I eat and sometimes it feels wrong eating certain things because I worry about it affecting my progress. Working to adjust that mindset has been challenging but I think we are making good progress with that!!) I just told myself that as long as I’m eating a lot of fiber and protein (and still including carbs!) then I’m good. As long as I see veggies and fruits on my plate, I’m good!

    And with this thinking, I’ve actually started noticing changes with my body. The biggest for me has been around my hips and lower back which is where I’ve carried a decent amount of fat. Suddenly this week, things felt much slimmer to me! And I was able to fit into a pair of pants that I wore during my pageant times and I know that I weighed less than I do currently!! My trainer told me that I shouldn’t worry so much about what the scale says, and I agree because that doesn’t mean everything. She said that I should focus more on how things are fitting. Since I started working with her, I have definitely noticed a difference with that but just now and am I really starting to celebrate and feel proud of the accomplishments I’ve made. Workouts are still feeling good and I think it has really helped that I’m incorporating walks and yoga into my workout routines too. I think that has helped me learn to appreciate and honor my body more. 🙂

    Now we’re back to me writing in the current time. Yay for this breakthrough!! I really am so proud of the progress I’ve made thus far. It bothers me that it took me this long to see it but I’m glad that I’m finally getting there. I’m so happy that I’ve made this breakthrough and I’m truly very excited and so motivated to see where we go from here. If any of you out there are working to accomplish something, do not give up. Dig in and get to work. You may not see progress and things may feel hard but others notice and you will eventually see it too. See you all next weekend. 🙂