Date Night at the Colosseum
It’s date night. Dressed up. High heels. Fancy dinner. Lots of hand-holding and endearing moments. Right?
Well not this week. This week’s date night was a bit unconventional, when we headed to the Colosseum for a training session with my coach Joe Bender.
My husband works his tail off, 7 days a week for 8 months of the year, has a more conventional schedule in the spring, and a summer that is flexible with some much needed downtime. During this time in June and July when we have more time together and as a family, we make sure to spend as much time together to reconnect after a long football season. So of course when he mentioned that he wanted to train with me some evening (I SWEAR this was HIS idea), I jumped on the chance and booked it.
We drove to the Colosseum in Columbia, after stopping at Starbucks for our preworkout coffee orders, and met with Joe for a solid 50-minute couples training session. We picked the muscles groups that we wanted to work (me, glutes and hamstrings, of course and Justin, shoulders and chest), and Joe put us to work.
I was PUMPED to set a personal record for 305 pound glute bridges after getting some assistance on the first rep. I was able to push the weight three times and was hoping the workout was over after that first 5 minutes. In the off season this summer while I’m not dieting, I am putting all the extra food to use in the gym. The goal of a “bulking period” is to grow your muscles so that when you lean out during prep and dieting, you reveal some new larger assets. Bulking comes with some extra body fat, and I am currently about 10 pounds over my stage weight and back up to 135 pounds during this time. My eating is flexible and I am loving all of the extra energy (and amazing sleep that I am getting) from my calorie bump.
Joe did a great job keeping us both engaged and working really hard, even though we were both doing completely different workouts. It was a lot of fun, and by the end we were completely spent! This date night was definitely unconventional, but it was something that we will definitely do again soon before Justin heads back to working long hours in August. We squeezed in a post-workout meal too (to refuel those muscles, of course) and shared some endearing moments over chips and salsa (and an enchilada). It’s fun to step outside of your comfort zone in your workouts AND in your relationship! Try it sometime; you’ll be sure to work up a sweat. 😉
Contact Joe to set up your date night at jmb3131@gmail.com.
Step outside of your