I've been working out

This photo by Liora K makes me feel pretty awesome, because I think it's the first time I've ever been able to see my back and shoulder muscles. I wasn't even aware that they were visible until this shoot, because it's not like I can easily look at my own shoulders.

I'm feeling pretty buffed-out because I just finished a 30 day challenge where I built up to doing 250 squats and 100 push-ups. For the entire month of June I worked out 3 days on, 1 day off, no matter what else I had going on (except for one day when a gig ate my entire day and left no time or energy for workouts, so it ended up actually being a 31 day challenge).

I have mixed feelings about these 30 day challenges. On the one hand, I feel pretty proud of myself (and my husband too! He even kept it up when he went to NJ for a week) for accomplishing them, and I definitely see results in my back, shoulders and thighs. I have better range of motion in my push-ups now, too. On the other hand, I feel like my body probably would have been better served by doing a more varied work-out, and there were days when my thighs and hips were constantly sore and tired (I was very glad we didn't have dance class for the last 10 days of the month because I don't know if I could have handled both). Also, while my push-ups improved, my squats didn't get any better because I had to focus on increasing the quantity I did rather than the quality.

Going forward, I want to keep doing squats and push-ups, because they are good for me, but I want to do less of them and throw in some other things, like crunches or something, so more of my body gets a workout. My main worry is that without a 30 day challenge hanging over my head, I'll be more likely to not do my exercises when I'm too tired or it's too hot.

Oh, and speaking of too hot? It was 100 degrees or over every single day of June. I don't recommend choosing the hottest month of the year to start a new workout routine.