Legs Of Steel

Today, I loaded two 45-pound discs onto the leg press machine, hopped on board, and proceeded to do three sets of ten reps...90 pounds total.

Ninety pounds, of course, is how much I've lost over the last three years. It is, in my friend Shae's words, a chubby sixth grader, and in my own, an Olympic gymnast. And today, I calmly made my legs press that much weight above my head. It wasn't easy, but it was oh, so satisfying. It's a testament to the progress I've made in my strength training and running. These legs are fierce.

Also fierce these days: everything else. This month's training program has me doing high-weight, low-rep weight training exercises like leg presses, bench presses, lat pull-downs, and more. On Monday, I did the lat pull-downs with 80 pounds. I bench pressed 50 pounds recently (but won't go higher unless I can talk Matt into spotting for me one of these days).

When I started out in 2009, I just wanted to be smaller. I never dreamed that I'd gain so much strength and toning. It's a great feeling to watch my muscles working, knowing that they are getting even stronger every time I push them a little harder.