What a difference a week can make!

I say this not so much in fitness terms but more in how I feel about working out or really just doing anything. The weather here in the Vancouver Canada area is turning very wintery all of a sudden and that combined with me being in Maui not even a week ago is a bit of a drastic change for me... I think many people find a lack of drive or motivation in the Winter months and I am no exception!

To make my point, the following two photos I shot consecutively on my iPhone about a week apart from each other:

I'm not making excuses, I did do a workout today and I felt pretty good doing it. I got in some Elliptical as my warmup and I did some Back on the trusty Total Gym along with some lower body stretching. About an hour or so in all.

I snapped a quick photo of the Post Maui Abs thinking that they may not make it onto the blog but they turned out OK. Maybe all the Maui drinking and eating didn't take as much of a toll on me as I thought!

Back From Maui

You may have noticed that I have not been posting anything for the  last couple of weeks? Thats' because I was away on a family vacation to Maui for 11 days... And I'm happy to say I didn't do a single workout other than throwing my kids around the pool, body surfing and walking all over the island.

It's actually really good for you to take some time off once in a while from working out and I haven't done this for some time.

So I thought I would post some pictures taken in Maui...

Here are some photos taken while on a day trip snorkeling in Molokini Crater.

Here are some on me and my daughter at the beach in Kihei just across the street from our apartment.

Here is one of me throwing my Son around in the pool at our time-share.

Here is a nice picture of the entire family when we stopped at a scenic area while we went for a drive around Maui.

And by the way, now that I'm home, it's back to the grind, yesterday I started the workouts back up and kicked it off with an elliptical warmup, some chest on the Total Gym and a good lower body stretch.

Daily Workout - Back and Shoulders in Fitness World

I went to Fitness World with my wife today, we are both trying to get some final workouts in before we head off to Hawaii!!! It has been a hard month for me, traveling a bit, several parties to attend and now all this Halloween candy around. I could have done better as far as leaning up but I did manage to put on some muscle over the last month...

Today we did Back and Shoulder, it's nice to use other equipment than what I have in my home gym for a change up!

• Back - Wide Pull Downs with Universal Machine.
• Back - Narrow Pull Downs with Universal Machine.
• Back - Seated Rows with Universal Machine.
• Shoulders - Military press with Universal Machine.
• Shoulders - Dumbbell Raises (Front, Side, Behind).
• Shoulders - Upright Rows with Universal Machine.
• Shoulders - Shrugs with Universal Machine and Dumbbells.

Total workout time: About 1 hour.

Daily Workout - Shoulders and Arms with Total Gym

Got in a Shoulders arms Total Gym workout. Again no Cardio as I my Total Gym allows me to move quickly between sets and get my heart rate up.

Total Gym - Seated Shoulder Press.

Total Gym - Reverse Shoulder Raises (Lying on Back Upside-down).

Total Gym - Seated Shoulder Raises (Front to Back).

Total Gym - Front Seated Shoulder Raises.

Total Gym - Abs: Seated Side Twists in Side Position.

Barbells - Shrugs.

Biceps: Lying Down Curls with Total Gym. (3 Sets with an increase in the incline each time)

Barbell Curls - (3 Sets)

Triceps: Seated Overhead Extension with the Total Gym.

Triceps: Lying Down Extension with the Total Gym.

Triceps: Rear Extension with the Total Gym.

Abs: Forward and Side Twists with Total Gym.

Misc. Stretching.

Total workout time: About 1 hour.

Daily Workout - Chest & Back in with Total Gym

Today I did a Total Gym Workout, I hit my Chest and Back and finished off with some Abs. I did the workout pretty quick with and so it was duo Cardio and Strength training workout.

• Total Gym - Iron Cross (Lying on Back).
• Total Gym - Seated Bench Press.
• Total Gym - Seated Flys.
• 3 Stage Pushups: Planche, Extended, and Regular.
• Total Gym - Seated Wide Row (Various Positions).
• Total Gym - Seated Narrow Row (Various Positions).
• Total Gym - Pull Downs (Lying on Back).
• Total Gym - Abs: Seated Side Twists.
• Misc. Stretching.

Total workout time: About 1 hour.