Brutal. Long. Focused. Three words to describe today's arm workout. Really, three words to describe my training as of late.

Get this: I can see striations in my front delts that I had never noticed before. While doing curls today, I was told that I had veins running up my biceps into my shoulders and across my chest. I even had veins in my upper back.

Biceps took almost exactly one hour. I don't know how long other people spend on that muscle group, but I've always taken a long time to do biceps. I guess each minute is worth it, huh?!

I started with close grip curls. My grip was just inside of shoulder width apart. I'm doing this in order to target the outer thickness of the bicep, which in previous years, I haven't really built up as much as the peak or inner portion of the bicep. Three sets with the 50-pound bar for sets of 12--slow, controlled, perfect form. Technique is the true factor when building muscle. Anyone can pick up a 100-pound bar and swing it back and forth and rub their shoulders or their back and say, "Man, that was an awesome bicep workout." Not me. I'm a perfectionist in the gym, which is a leftover from my powerlifting days. Oh, who am I kidding. I'm just a perfectionist in life. I think most truly competitive bodybuilding, fitness, and figure competitors are.

After the close-grip curls, I moved on to seated dumbbell curls. Here's the kicker: both arms done simultaneously, palms facing the mirror at the starting point. No relaxation period, no cheating, no leaning to one side or the other. Just straight pain for the entire set. And just to make it even more brutal, I decided to do drop sets. I started with the 20's, moved to the 15's, and ended with the 10's. My bicep vein thickened up with each set, and my biceps were numb by the time I finished the whole exercise.

I wasn't finished, though. Lying cable curls, normal grip, were waiting for me. Seventy pounds for about 12 reps for three sets, and I was finished. My biceps were officially dead.

I did about 15 minutes of ab training and then moved into triceps, depending on close-grip pushdowns on the cable with a straight bar. Eighty pounds with this exercise for sets of 15. Then one arm pushdowns where I pull the cable across my body rather than having my body face the cable. I alternated arms with no rest. The last exercise of the day was incline bench skull crushers. Thirty pounds for sets of 20, and my triceps were burning. My left arm ached a bit and had a crampy feeling for a few minutes after the workout, but my arms felt incredible. I had a nice pump and was ready to come home and eat.

I'm on a two-carb day today. Forty-five minutes on the treadmill this morning (I planned out my day, thought about the show and who I thought would make top five in Chicago, and read about 15 pages of Bel Canto, by Ann Pratchett...excellent novel so far), egg whites and blueberries/strawberries (I didn't have enough blueberries to fill the 1/2 cup portion) was the first meal after my cardio. Then two hours later, I had a Myoplex shake, 1/4 cup of oats, enough Splenda to sweeten an entire cake, and a ton of glutamine (okay, so I exaggerate...just a tiny bit), worked out, and then rushed home to cook tilapia, broccoli, and four ounces of potato. A bit of garlic, chili powder, salt, and pepper, and that meal was the yummiest thing since Ben & Jerry's ice cream (I'm really on a roll with the exaggerations now!). Oh yeah, I tanned too. I know that may not seem very interesting...unless you're into sweaty, naked bodies...lol...but the guy who entered the time in for me to tan put in twenty minutes rather than the twelve I requested. It became a problem because I fell asleep. So, I'm bit on the lobsterish side right now. Not good! It'll die down by tomorrow, but I have to be careful because when the skin burns, it protects itself by holding water right beneath the skin and over the muscle. This is bad news when it comes to showtime; thus, I stop tanning session about four days out from the competition.

Speaking of which, I sent in my entry form and made my flight arrangements. Just $200 for a round-trip ticket to Chicago! I'll be staying there for a week after the show to visit with my grandmother and see some friends, and I'm very much looking forward to relaxing for a week before coming back to Dallas and busting my butt all over again for the New York Figure Nationals in August.

I am pleased with my physique! Changes have been made since Seattle and the Emerald Cup, and while there are still more improvements to be made, I will step on stage a happy camper!

I hope y'all have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend, and I hope it doesn't rain too much! It's forecasted to do so tomorrow (I'll do a rain dance because tomorrow is a scheduled sprint day...lol!).

Take care!

Jodi :)