Live, from The Factory, a Muscle Girl progress report…

Okay, it’s not really live – that just sounds so much more dramatic. It is a progress report, though. Of sorts… It’s been quite a while since I announced that “Muscle Girl” was back in action, and yet I haven’t posted once since that earth-shattering proclamation! Kind of makes you think I’ve been slacking, doesn’t [...]

Broad Shoulders.

(Note: Last autumn, long before I took a sabbatical from blogging in general, several events collided into a mini-explosion that left me uncertain whether or not the Muscle Girl site was going to remain in my life. Shortly thereafter, I quit blogging altogether, even at paythepiper.wordpress.com. Recently, I re-entered the blogging world at my main [...]

It was fun. Until it wasn’t.

Tonight, I joined Jae and Matthew in their training session with Mike at Snap Fitness. It was fun. Mike had them training chest, arms and core, but I’d just trained chest on Monday (Jae, where were you?), so he had me train legs and back. It was fun. Afterward, we chatted for a bit. It [...]

A little Mike-motivation, cyber-style. And yet another wardrobe malfunction.

Day Two of Shelby’s e-diet plan. It was a reasonably good day. Sometimes during a cut, especially in the early days, I have to drag myself through my workouts. This usually resolves as my body adjusts to its new schedule – but so far, so good. As a preemptive measure, though, I have decided to [...]

My Favourite Workout of the Week. Back & Legs. Wednesday @ The Factory

I love training back. I love training legs. The only thing better than training either of them is -  training both of them! And that is just what I got to do tonight. The best part of a combined workout is that you never totally burn out before the end of the session. And as [...]

Arms & shoulders…

.. but no toes, though I was close to being on my knees by the end of this workout, if that counts. Working shoulders is one my least favourite things to do. In the world. Not just in the gym. But I do it because I should, and today’s workout was paired with arms, which [...]

A Comfortable Companionship. And Chest & Legs.

I am loving this time in the gym. Next week, I will be back in Canada and back at Ultimate Fitness, and I will like that, too – I am a gym rat, after all, and it is a great gym in a totally different way. But this week, I am with people who mean [...]

Back in the swing of things. Monday @ The Factory.

It never fails to amaze me how easily I slip back into my normal gym routine. Even with all the changes in my life over the past few months; even with the continual disruption in my day-to-day routine; even with the fact that this is my fourth – fourth! – new gym this year, two [...]

Legs. And why I need to find a new place to take photos.

I’ve become quite accustomed to taking photos in restrooms. It is a tradition I started last year in Austin at Hut’s Hamburgers – I loved the funky decorating job there, and one thing just led to another. But after reviewing the photos I took this morning pre-workout (yeah, really – my hair looked like that [...]

Back Again. And “Back and Chest”. Tuesday @ Ultimate Fitness.

(Hey Mike: read the note at the end re: the elliptical. I’m in need of some advice.) I’m back in my native land once more – but you would never know it from the heat. We broke records today, hitting a high of 32.3 degrees Celsius (90 F). And tomorrow promises to be hotter still. [...]