Reflection

This year has been such a period of growth for me. One of the hardest and best years of my life thus far. I truly believe that God puts us on our journeys for one soul purpose. I truly believe that every single thing that happens in our lives happens for a reason. It happens to bring us to this exact moment.... right now. It brought me to this exact moment: 1:47 AM, Thursday, almost Christmas, and reflecting on this amazing year.

I allowed myself to let go of things and people that I thought were disrupting my growth. However, I never regretted having these people and things in my life. I am happy that they were there. I am happy that they contributed to my growth over the past year. I do believe that somethings are temporary, and that they are placed in your life to simply teach you a lesson.

You should never allow yourself to feel so consumed into anything, especially a relationship that makes you question who you are and who you are becoming. You should never allow yourself to feel like you are being controlled by another human being, and thinking that it's normal out of love. No matter how much you may love something or someone, you need to focus on your well being above all else.

I allowed fitness to become my place of peace this year. I allowed it to come into my life and take over. This has been one of the best decisions I've made in such a long time. I can walk into the gym and spend an hour and walk out feeling so on top of the world. I can release my stress, anxiety, and anger towards anything into something. Fitness has become my therapy for any hardship that I may go through. Especially this year.

I have become a happier and more positive person this year. By letting go of things and letting other things in I have found what makes me happy. You have to let things go and let new things into your life in order to find what truly makes you happy. You absolutely can't stay in your comfort zone in this life. It is made for so much more than that.

This year has changed my life for the better. I let go of people who once meant the world to me. I have become healthier. I have made friendships that are going to last me a lifetime. I have experienced so many new things this year. All contributing towards a happier, more motivated, and inspired human being who absolutely loves life.

Growth is so important. I want to continue on this journey throughout the next year. I want next year to be even better, and future years to be even better. This life is so amazing. I am so blessed.

-Hayley

my routine w/ shoulder & leg workouts

I always get questions about what kind of workouts I do. Sooooooo, I wanted to upload a few of my favorite workouts that I have created!

I like to start the week with shoulders on Monday because I feel so so so tired on Mondays. I like to have a lot of energy when I do legs - I do legs on Tuesdays and Thursday typically. I like to do back & chest on Wednesday. Biceps and triceps on Fridays! On the weekend I usually do just random and quicker workouts, or make up workouts that I may have missed throughout the week!

I feel like everyone's routine is different, it's all about what works for you! Personally my favorite lifts are on leg day. My legs are the strongest part of my body and I LOVE pushing myself to increase weight on these days. Therefore, I moved these to Tuesdays and Thursdays because I have more energy on these days with a lighter class load and more time to spend at the gym!

I incorporate abs & cardio into my workouts 2-3 days a week. I like to alternate which days I do each just for time constraints of being a college student. If I have extra time, I always try to add both. (Mostly because I'm a freak and I really just like to be at the gym as long as physically possible until I start feeling the guilt of all my assignments haunting me.)

HERE ARE SOME OF MY FAVORITE WORKOUTS :)

SHOULDERS:

4 x 12 face pulls on the cable
4 x 12 shoulder push downs
3 x 12 superset lateral raise and front raises
4 x 20 shrugs - increasing weight each time
4 x 15 superset overhead press and arnold press

I usually add about 20 minutes of cardio in after my lift on shoulder day! I like to walk on about 10 incline on 3.5, or a (very) light jog.

LEGS:

4 x 12 sumo squats on the smith machine
4 x 20 superset each leg donkey kicks & fire hydrants
4 x 12 each leg curtsy lunges with 15 lb weights in each hand
4 x 15 cable deadlifts
4 x 10 glute kickbacks on the cable

After leg days I thoroughly enjoy to get on the stair climber for about 10-15 minutes even though my legs feel like they're going to give out. :)

Since shoulders and legs are my favorite workouts, these are the only ones I ever really spend time creating before I go to the gym.

stay motivated 

-Hayley