Today’s morning workout kicked off with 25 minutes on the elliptical before I headed into the weight room to complete an upper body workout from Tina’s Best Body Boot Camp.
The workout utilized pyramid training which always kicks my butt and makes my muscles burn in the best way. Pyramid training can be progressive or regressive, and today’s workout progressed from light to heavy weight.
The first set of the workout began with 15-20 reps at a moderate weight. For the next two sets, the number of reps decreased while the weight I used for the exercise increased.
The breakdown of my bicep concentration curls looked like this:
There are many different ways to do pyramid training and it’s a great way to challenge muscles with some heavier weights! I usually do bicep curls at 15 pounds, so curling 20 pound dumbbells felt challenging but not ridiculous. (It actually made me realize I can and should probably curl heavier weights when I do bicep curls on my own.)
On another note, whenever I do bicep concentration curls at the gym I feel like a total badass. It just seems like the stereotypical exercise you see bodybuilders do or something.
(Source)
“I want to pump YOU up!”
Breakfast
For breakfast this morning, I made myself a plate of scrambled eggs with shredded cheese and peppers.
Plus a toasted whole wheat English muffin on the side!
Question of the Morning
- What exercise makes you feel like a badass in the gym?
Burpees make me feel like a badass even though they’re so darn hard. They make me want to roll over and cry.
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Squats on the smith machine, for sure. The machine at our gym is back in the land of the big, heavy gym equipment, and I always feel super bad ass and pumped when I’m stacking on my weight.
Mountain climbers make me feel like a badass in the gym! I love them!
I agree with you on the burpees!! I taught a class this morning and included burpees and they seriously get me every time…and they make me feel tough when completing them!
I feel that I don’t even deserve to answer this question today! As I am checking in for my daily dose of PB fingers and reading about pyramid workouts, I am enjoying a fresh fausnaught with a glass of milk! The irony!! Oh we’ll, it’s ok to treat yourself once in a while, and I’ll make up for it at the gym later!
My BA move at the gym? I think it would have to be dumbbell presses, curls or rows. I’m rather petite so hoisting dumb bells makes me feel like the Hulk!! Especially if I have my lifting gloves on – now that’s seriously badass! Haha 🙂
deadlifts make me feel like a badass – just because then I can put the really heavy plates on the end!
Definitely leg press for me!
I think chest press! It’s pretty typical as well, and I always feel kinda tough being the only girl in the weight section pumping iron 😉
For me it’s pull ups. But I’m totally with you on feeling tough when I’m the only girl in the weight section pumping iron. I feel like all the eyes are on me!
When I walk up to the big and buff guys in the gym and say “Are you done using that squat rack/bench press?” The surprised look on their face is usually the best 😀
I feel like a badass in yoga’s chair pose. It looks easy, but is actually really hard. When I leave the pose, I feel like a badass because my quads hurt like crazy!
In college I picked up rock climbing and used to do it a lot. Being able to do a difficult route was very rewarding and I definitely felt like a bad ass.
Love this idea of pyramid training. I usually do my first two sets at a lower, but manageable weight and then bump it up 5 or 10 pounds for the last set with less reps. I’ll have to try this tonight.
A good, sweaty HIIT treadmill workout makes me feel like a serious bad ass at the gym :).
great post! I’ve recently found your blog and it’s really inspiring me to step up my workouts. I got off the workout bandwagon for a little while while suffering from BED but i’m back at it now! Blogs like yours actually inspired me to start my own blog documenting my recovery from BED and my journey towards finding a healthy, happy lifestyle. I’ve recently begun weight training again and I feel like a totally bad ass when I do chest presses with the bar that gym. It makes me feel like “I am woman, hear me roar!”
Do you do 3 sets of each set, or is the whole workout only the three sets?
haha! I feel really tough when I do burpees with pushups as it works the whole body so efficiently. Oh! And TRX exercises 😛
Not in the gym, but running in the rain makes me feel like a badass! The rain is a metaphor for all that want to sabatoge my efforts, and it doesn’t stop me! Instead, I feel powerful!
Burpees do NOT make me feel like a badass because I’m pretty sure that I look like a fool when I do them! haha.
Lifting weights in general make me feel like a badass since that area of my gym is dominated by guys. The best ego booster though, for me, is doing pullups. I feel like a beast afterwards. 🙂
I feel pretty badass when I do dumbbell rows and burpees with a pushup.
We do kettlebell swings at crossfit sometimes.. I always feel like a beast!
I was at work one day in the warehouse, and wanted to see if I could…and I DID do a couple pull ups off the shelving crossbar, and one of the guys complimented me….that made me feel super badass proud!!
Using the leg press machine always makes me feel like a “bad ass” for some reason. However, I feel like an even bigger “bad ass” when I get to any machine and have to up the weight. It’s like the voice in my head says, “HA! I’m stronger than the person who last used this machine! Mission accomplished.”
It’s a totally silly concept but makes me feel good every time.
LOVE LOVE LOVE the pyramid workout from BBB! I always feel like a “bad ass” when I’m lifting heavy and doing compound movements! I think tricep machines would be my most “bad ass” exercise!
Squatting heavy weight makes me feel like a bad ass haha or deadlifts. I use pyramid training on my weights! It definitely tires out the muscles.
Jump roping at the gym makes me feel like a bad ass. I’ve got some nasty skills after all those years jumping rope on the play ground! It makes me feel like I should be in a Rocky movie or something, love it!
Pyramid training sounds like it’s just what I need to get my workouts to a new level. Thanks for sharing! (Oh, and those eggs look delicious!)
I love the idea of pyramid training and I can’t wait to try it!
I don’t know what it is but your little tidbits from BBB always give me a good chuckle. Get on with your bad bodybuilder self, yo!
Squats on the Smith machine for sure… I’m proud of my strong legs!
I recently discovered that I can actually bench press one of those 45 pound barbells and could even add weight…granted they were only 5 pound weights but still, I felt pretty bad ass! 🙂