Category Archives: strength training

Staying cool

The heat is back!

Doesn’t that picture just look hot?? I unplugged from the internet after dinner last night and didn’t get back on. That was a nice little break. I love the net, but there is the real world, you know? Plus there was froyo to be had with my mom!

I got to the gym this morning and the drinking fountain was covered up for a boil water order in Glens Falls. Eeek! I would have brought my water bottle had I known that. I just like to walk to the fountain in between sets to get drinks when I need them.

Today was low reps, more sets and heavier weights. A sweaty day 😀

Exercise Set/rep/weight
1. Crunches on stability ball 2 sets of 15
2. Complex: High Pull, Front Squat/Push Press, Back Squat, Good Morning 4 sets of 8 each exercise with 20# bar
3A.  Deadlift 4 sets of 5 with 90# bar
3B. Dumbbell Overhead Press with rotation 4 sets of 5 with 20# DBs
3C. Single Leg Squat 4 sets of 5
3D. Bent Over Row 4 sets of 5 with 60# bar

2 more workouts. Off to home and making breakfast!

Banana breakfast pudding.  Our bananas were getting brown fast, so we both had them at breakfast today to use them up.

Another busy work day and sneaking peaks at the Tour de France.  Poor Cadel Evans.  Not a good day for him and likely no repeat win.  The riders are in the Alps and I can feel my legs screaming watching them go up those mountains.

Then the mail carrier arrived with a gift to myself!

John and I are going to start bird watching.  I guess when I can tear myself away from the bike, that is.  We have some nice trails that have lists of the birds seen there to help us out.  Of course, that means getting up early – which John isn’t thrilled about  😈

Lunch was a mish mash.

At least it was cool and refreshing!  I took a walk at lunch for about 10 minutes and decided no more because it was starting to get really hot.  The humidity is coming, too.  I am so glad we don’t live in the south.  I couldn’t take it in the summer.  Remind me of that when I am shoveling 3 feet of snow this winter, okay?

Break time!

I think I need a dried pineapple intervention.

I polished off more fruit for dinner.  Embarrassingly enough, today I finished off our bananas, strawberries and blueberries!

I loves my fruit!

Gotta water the garden tonight when the sun goes down.  It’s looking a little droopy and needs to be in prime shape for the Friday What’s Blooming post!

I will also be hitting the bike path early tomorrow to get in the exercise before it becomes sweltering.

Pixie is dreaming of cool weather.

She looks like she is snarling at something in her dreams.  She is such a sweet kitty that maybe she gets out her aggression in sleep.

Hope you all are staying cool.

Lifting and date night

It was gloriously cool this morning when I got up to go to the gym. Upper 50s! Too bad it won’t be sticking around too long, but it sure felt wonderful.

The gym was quiet again today. I like it that way in the mornings. Today was lighter weights higher reps. Only 3 more workouts to be finished with the FBB!  I have now changed to just drinking my entire workout shake before the workout instead of dividing it up.  I think I eat breakfast close enough to when I am done.  It’s helped a lot to just drink the whole thing first.

Exercise Set/rep/weight
1. Plank with alternate arm/leg reach 2 sets of 10 each side
2. Complex: Deadlift, High Pull, Push Press, Reverse Lunge 4 sets of 8 each exercise with 20# bar
3A. Bulgarian Split Deadlift 2  sets of 15 with 10# DBs
3B. Single Arm Chest Press on ball 2 sets of 15 with 15# DB
3C. Back Squat 2 sets of 15 with 45# bar
3D. Chinups 2 sets of 15 with assistance

Since it was a cool morning, I had a warm breakfast. Cammy went and made me want steel cut oats after she talked about how Wendy’s has them now. So, last night I soaked some steel cut oats (this way they only take about 10 minutes to cook in the morning).

Cooked with mashed banana and egg whites and topped with pecans and 15 grams of chocolate chips (70 calories of chips!).  Very, very good.  I need to do this combo more often.

Work was soooooo busy today.  It was a ‘make my brain ache’ day, but it’s good to have the work.  Good thing there were leftovers for a quick lunch!

I put the chicken and balsamic tomato mixture on a potato for something different. I took a little post lunch walk to help clear my head before getting back to work.

Then came my favorite part of the day!

Yay!  How about a picture of me without a helmet for a change?  I bet no one would recognize me if they saw me without it any more.

I’m thinking of letting my hair grow out again.  I can never make up my mind.

Even though both John and I work at home, we actually don’t spend much time together during the day.  Obviously because we are both working.  We also end up like ships passing in the night during the week.  Due to various and sundry things we do, we really only get 2 evenings a week to spend together.  Tuesday and Saturday.  So, we made tonight a date night.  I had a Living Social deal and we decided to go out to dinner.

Irish Times in Saratoga.  I was hungry by this time.  I made sure I didn’t nibble on anything before we left the house, as can be my habit.  So, I decided on a cup of potato leek soup served with irish soda bread.

I gave John half my bread because he didn’t get any soup.  This was good, but quite garlicky (sorry John!). I loved the bread, too.

My entree was a pear salad.  This was served on mixed greens with pear, goat cheese, and candied pecans.  I added some grilled shrimp for protein.

I don’t know what they put on the shrimp to grill it with, but it was delicious! They were giant shrimp, too.  I actually didn’t even need any dressing with the salad, but I had some raspberry vinaigrette on the side, which I dipped my fork in a couple times, but that was it.  There was enough flavor that it was not necessary.  My only problem with this salad was that they used canned pears.  Lame!  There is no excuse for that.  Fresh pears would have really made this salad get 5 stars from me.

After we ate, we walked around downtown Saratoga and did some window shopping and then over to Congress Park.

Baby ducks galore! So damn cute!

I probably have 10,000 pictures of baby ducks and geese in my photo library and I can’t stop taking pictures of them.

We also saw some cedar waxwings by the water.  These are cool birds with striking colors.

They look like their wing tips were dipped in red wax.

One of those times when I wished I had a super good camera.  I actually tried the sports mode on it and got a cool shot of the fountain.

Guess I should use that setting more often!

This was a nice break early in the week.

The scale can be so annoying

Hope you all had a great 4th of July! We had a nice relaxing day. I actually ended up not having to work, which was a bonus, so we had a nice rest day.  We watched another stage of the Tour de France last night!  I was saying to John, what is it about men in lycra riding a bike that is so exciting?  Not sure what, but it is.  We didn’t watch any fireworks.  I hate the crowds and we actually can see fireworks every week in the summer if we want.  They go off in several places each week – for the tourists in Lake George, mostly, but some for us locals :D.

It was off for the gym this morning with my preworkout shake.

Exercise Set/rep/weight
1. Crunches on stability ball 2 sets of 15
2. Complex: High Pull, Front Squat/Push Press, Back Squat, Good Morning 4 sets of 8 each exercise with 20# bar
3A.  Deadlift 3 sets of 10 with 65# bar
3B. Dumbbell Overhead Press with rotation 3 sets of 10 with 10# DB
3C. Single Leg Squat 3 sets of 10
3D. Bent Over Row 3 sets of 10 with 50# bar

The gym was really empty today. Post holiday, maybe? I was glad to have the free weights side to myself today. That doesn’t happen too often.

I came home and made a breakfast pudding.

Then we had the Tour on live.  There are a few times a year when I really watch a lot of TV.  Football Sundays and the Tour de France.  It does get in the way a bit with my productivity, though!

So, regarding the post title – I was feeling rather, how shall I say it, lumpy at the gym today.  Part of it was heat and part of it was just how it goes sometimes.

There are times when the scale really annoys me.  I know it doesn’t define me and the number doesn’t mean anything, blah, blah, blah, but boy it can be bothersome.  Last December I gained 8 pounds during that month.  That freaked me out because I wasn’t really all that bad eating wise to deserve that much weight gain.  Then that led to all the testing with my red eyes and the thought of thyroid issues that happened in January.  Remember that?

Well, it took me 6 flipping months to lose that 8 pounds that went on in 30 days.  6 months.  A couple days before I left for BOW, I had finally gotten off that 8 pounds.  (We just won’t talk about the other 10 that are my nemesis.).

Just out of curiosity, I got on the scale on Monday morning and had put on 6 of those 8 in 3 days.  Yes, most of that was water weight, but it still is actually “I have to carry it around and try to button my pants” weight.  It doesn’t matter whether that weight is water, muscle, fat, stomach contents – whatever. That is what annoyed me.  I actually am someone who does need to weigh myself – I don’t do well with no scale.  I have tried that a few times and it just doesn’t work for me.  Interesting that it affects my mindset more not to weigh myself than to step on the scale a couple times a week. Now, I dropped 4 of those pounds right away, but a couple stuck around, which I attribute to M&Ms and PB cups.  I ate a lot of those – and by a lot, I really mean a lot. I don’t mess around when I eat that stuff, and that is the main reason those things really don’t come into my house.

Anyway, normally I am not bothered by the scale, but I just had to get that off my chest.   :mrgreen:

Lunch time! A nice summer lunch of Fage, blueberry topping and Perky flax cereal.

I might buy that cereal again because I just like the name.  This box has lasted me months, I have to say, which is good.

Work was fairly busy today, surprisingly so considering the holiday yesterday and the fact that it is the last day of the pay period and everybody works.

I was really tired, though.  Like can’t keep my eyes open kind of tired.  Maybe the heat?  I made up a latte to wake myself up.

It’s not horribly hot today like it will be the next few days, so I had a hot latte.  Or not too hot.  I can control the drink temperature at home.

I was glad when dinner rolled around.  Pixie finally decided to wake up for a bit after sleeping next to me all day.  Oh the life of a cat.

She would like to be out there.

Dinner:

Standard and quick.  I have literacy tutoring tonight and lots of stuff to do before that.

I have this packed in my bag to eat while tutoring.

😀

We have hot and humid weather rolling in tomorrow.  I hope to get in an early bike ride before it gets too hot.

Learning the parts of speech.

I was exhausted yesterday. You know those days where it is hard to keep your eyes open all day? That was me. I did get some good sleep. Woke up a little early to the neighbor’s dog barking constantly. I don’t know if they weren’t home or what, but shut up already!  Good thing I was planning on getting up to go to the gym.

Exercise Set/rep/weight
1. Plank with alternate arm/leg reach 2 sets of 10 each side
2. Complex: Deadlift, High Pull, Push Press, Reverse Lunge 4 sets of 8 each exercise with 20# bar
3A. Bulgarian Split Deadlift 3  sets of 10 with 10# DBs
3B. Single Arm Chest Press on ball 3 sets of 10 with 20# DB
3C. Back Squat 3 sets of 10 with 65# bar
3D. Chinups 3 sets of 10 with assistance

Pretty standard day.  I drank my entire protein shake before the workout today as I felt hungrier, so nothing afterwards until I got home to make breakfast.

Then I committed a cardinal sin.  I broke one of our Broncos mugs.  I don’t know how it happened.  I had heated up my almond milk and I must have banged the cup against the microwave or counter because it fell out of my hands and broke.  Not to mention spilling almond milk everywhere.

We do have another one, so hopefully I didn’t jinx the season.

I had to laugh because while I was cleaning up the mess, John got down the other Broncos cup to have my coffee in.  Guess he didn’t learn that I should have a different cup LOL.

These birdies were eating breakfast, too!

I love the goldfinches.  This is the feeder right next to my chair (outside, obviously).

Lunch time!  I have been moving some of my calories from dinner to make a bigger lunch to see if that helps me with some snacking issues that are creeping back in.

This is peanut flour that I mix with a bit of honey, a pinch of salt and cinnamon.

It’s a busy week this week.  John and I get barely any time together this week in the evenings.

I was doing some prep work for tutoring and came across this cute poem on learning the parts of speech:

—————————–

Three little words you often see
Are ARTICLES: a, an, and the.A NOUN‘s the name of anything,
As: school or garden, toy, or swing.

ADJECTIVES tell the kind of noun,
As: great, small, pretty, white, or brown.

VERBS tell of something being done:
To read, write, count, sing, jump, or run.

How things are done the ADVERBS tell,
As: slowly, quickly, badly, well.

CONJUNCTIONS join the words together,
As: men and women, wind or weather.

The PREPOSITION stands before
A noun as: in or through a door.

The INTERJECTION shows surprise
As: Oh, how pretty! Ah! how wise!

The whole are called the PARTS of SPEECH,
Which reading, writing, speaking teach.
—————————
They didn’t include pronouns,  though, oh well  :mrgreen:   Funny how you really don’t think too much about what the parts of speech are, but you use them all the time. How many of you remember Conjunction Junction from Schoolhouse Rock?
I loved those little clips on Saturday mornings.
Afternoon latte with a sleepy kitty:
John grilled up turkey burgers for dinner.  It’s a free form burger, but still tastes the same!
My learner called and rescheduled, so lucky for us – we get a date night tonight!  This is our only night without one of us being out somewhere for about the next 10 days.
You know at least some coffee will be involved!

Female Body Breakthrough Stage 3 Wrap-up

Thank you all so much for your comments on my maintenance post!  I actually realized that it was a week early – oops LOL!  Not that it matters that much in the grand scheme of things.

There is always that concern in posting progress photos about being judged and that does happen.  It’s always a little scary to put those out there.  I know where I am right now is where some people start from.  But who cares – not me!

Today was the start of the last stage of my fit female lifting program, but I need to post results from the last month first.

I made up my protein drink to bring with.

This is 8 oz of almond milk, 30 grams of unflavored whey, 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce and cinnamon with a couple ounces of water to thin it out.  I alternate this one with the pumpkin shake.

I drink half before and half after the workout.  I can’t tell you the difference this workout shake has made in recovery not just from lifting, but I have incorporated it after long bike rides as well.

Here was my progress on stage 3 of Female Body Breakthrough.  Now with this stage, the progress was to come from the exercises with 6 reps. That was where the emphasis was on lifting heavier, not the exercises with 15 reps (which were fairly static). This was the last 4 weeks.

Workout A

Exercise Set/rep/weight Week 1 Set/rep/weight Week 4
Plank on stability ball 3 sets of 30 second holds  3 sets 60 second holds
Russian Twist 3 sets of 10 with 10# DBs  3 sets of 10 with 10# DBs
Deadlift 3 sets of 6 with 65# bar  3 sets of 6 with 95# bar
Military Press 3 sets of 6 with 20# DBs  3 sets of 6 with 25# DBs!!
Forward and back step over 3 sets of 10 each leg with 10# DBs  3 sets of 15 each leg with 10# DBs
Incline Dumbbell Chest Press 3 sets of 15 with 15# DBs  3 sets of 15 with 15# DBs
Single Leg SHELC (hamstring curl on ball) 3 sets of 15  3 sets of 15 with both legs
1-point Dumbbell Row 3 sets of 15 with 15# DB  3 sets of 15 with 15# DB

Workout B

Exercise Set/rep/weight Week 1 Set/rep/weight Week 4
Prone Cobra 3 sets of 70 second holds  3 sets of 80 second holds
Front Squat 3 sets of 6 with 15# bar  3 sets of 6 with 45# bar
Chinups 3 sets of 6 with 90# of assistance  3 sets of 6 with 70# of assistance
Stiff-legged deadlift 3 sets of 15 with 65# bar  3 sets of 15 with 65# bar
Dumbbell Push Press 3 sets of 15 with 15# DBs  3 sets of 15 with 15# DBs
Barbell Split Squat 3 sets of 15 with 45# bar  3 sets of 15 with 45# bar
Split Stance Single-arm cable row 3 sets of 15 each arm at 20#  3 sets of 15 each arm at 40#

Very pleased.  I was thrilled with the military press.  25# dumbbells was really hard to work for, but I got there strongly on all 6 reps by the last workout.  Going good on the deadlift, too.  I still haven’t been able to do more than 1 unassisted chinup, so I have a ton of work to do in that department.  Not that fond of the front squat, I have to say. It is hard on the wrists.  And single-leg SHELC are out for me with my back.  Gotta make things work for me.

I hope posting workouts might inspire others to lift as well. The pictures I posted yesterday – lifting heavy really gives you lifts in all the right places. It  is most noticeable in my chest and butt. No surgery or padding or any kind of support undergarment in those photos (other than a regular bra). That was all from lifting over the years.  After losing a lot of weight and in being in my mid 40s, I can use all the lift I can get LOL!

I know a reason many people don’t lift is that they don’t know what to do and either can’t afford or don’t want to work with a personal trainer.  If I may suggest a book that will really, really help you out – it would be this one.

(my amazon linkie).  This is a great book for teaching what moves for what body parts and how to set up a lifting program yourself based on what you need.  It’s a very, very good resource. Plus, there are alternatives to work out at home if you don’t belong to a gym.

I’ll be posting the next FBB workouts later this week – I know you are all excited!

Who wants a piece of me?

You know how yesterday was supposed to be bagel day, but wasn’t?  Well, John had said to me that he didn’t know if he could wait until Sunday, so we had a plan to get up and bike to Coffee Planet this morning (on Thursday).  Normally I lift on Tues/Thurs mornings, so I figured I would go at night like I did on Tuesday – which I did not like, BTW – too crowded.  Anyway, Wednesday is John’s poker night and I told him I didn’t want any whining this morning when I got him up.   :mrgreen:

Well, he didn’t whine, but I didn’t even say anything to him other than good morning and he mumbled “Really tired, really tired” – so I just said I would go to the gym instead and let him sleep.

Made up my pumpkin protein drink and headed off.

I felt a little slow on today’s workout, probably because I wasn’t expecting to be there, but I was so proud of myself today because I busted out military presses with 25# dumbbells!  I did 6 sets of 3 and I was so happy!  I just about roared! I had set both the 25 and 20# DBs out in case I needed to drop down, but I didn’t.  I cannot even imagine doing more weight than that.  Well, maybe 1 rep at a higher weight, but I wouldn’t bother with that.

I felt like walking around the gym saying “Who wants a piece of me??” because I was feeling pretty badass!  I keep surprising myself with how strong I can actually get.

After I got home, I cooked up a banana bread pudding.

I really forget how filling this is.

Today’s work was tough.  It doesn’t help that it was a beautiful day outside, too.

Lunch time and I had an omelet craving.  I made this with 2 eggs and some green chilies.  Topped with laughing cow.

It was really good!  I need to get green chilies more often.  I also had an unpictured handful of cashews  😳

John brought me my latte while I was in the middle of a 30 minute file with an annoying doctor.  I lose money whenever I do her files because she is not a good dictator.  That’s why people skip over her files (which is against company policy, but they never do anything about it).  Boooo.

Pixie was bird watching 😀

After I slogged my way through that file, my brain was fried and needed a break.  I decided to go out and get some flowers for my porch pots and hanging baskets.  All of the ones I grew from seed are slated for the garden itself, so I just had to buy more!  The lovely greenhouse:

Lots of butterflies in here, too.  They probably think they found nirvana or something.

I ended up getting some gerbera daisies and sweet potato vines for my 2 front pots.

Then some flowering tobacco and purple allysum for the hanging basket.

I am going to bring these inside tonight along with my seedlings (which I have been hardening off) because we have a freeze warning tonight!! Can you believe that?

It was dinner time when I got back and I pretty much had the same thing as last night:

At least I used a different plate  :mrgreen:

It was such a nice evening that I wanted a slow and easy bike ride after dinner.  No hard riding after the workout this morning, but a meandering through the neighborhoods.

I need a hair cut so bad!  I can’t get in until Monday and my hair really gets in my eyes.

It was a 32 minute ride and I went about 6.5 miles.  It was quite a comfortable evening.  Now that I took that flower break and the ride, I still have to work tonight.  It was worth it, though.

Fit Female Stage 3B

New lifting day.  You are getting all kinds of lifting posts this week 😀

I was not sore at all from Tuesday’s workout, but part of that is new moves and lighter weights.  Today was the second part of this month’s stage, so without further ado:

On to Stage 3B

Exercise Set/rep/weight
1. Prone Cobra 3 sets of 70 second holds
2a. Front Squat 1 set of 6 at 15#, 2 sets of 6 at 30#
2b. Chinups 3 sets of 6 assisted (less assistance)
3a. Stiff-legged Deadlift 3 sets of 6 at 95# (was not supposed to do this rep range.)
3b. Dumbbell Push Press 1 set of 10 with 20# DBs, 2 sets of 15 with 15# DBs
4a. Split Stance Single-arm cable row 3 sets of 15 at 30#
4b. Barbell Split squat 3 sets of 15 with 45# bar
The Finisher – Leg Matrix 20 bodyweight squats, 20 alternating front lunges (each side), 20 side lunges (each side), 20 body weight squats

This workout was tough. It’s a little hard on the first time with a new group of exercises trying to find the balance of enough weight versus too much. It’s even more challenging because of the rep differences. I thought I could push press the 20# DBs since you get assist from the legs, but I could only eke out 10 reps instead of 15. Then I dropped down to the 15# DBs to finish out.

I love the stiff-legged deadlift.  Not sure why, but I do. I loaded up the barbell and worked on that one.  However when I got home, I realized that I wrote down 6 reps instead of 15 on that one.  So, I was lifting much heavier than I was supposed to.  Ooops! So, that will look wonky at the end of the month stats wise.

Finisher B. The leg matrix. How I hate this with the heat of 1000 burning suns! It burns!!!! It normally calls for jump squats and jump lunges, but I actually modified this because I can’t do up and down plyo jumps with my back, but still damn hard.

I totally had jelly legs when I was done.  Breakfast was fast when I got home. 1-minute muffin (applesauce version) topped with almond butter.

While this does not look filling, it really is.  Between the 28 grams of fat and 12 grams of fiber with breakfast, it will last me all the way to lunch.  Plus I did have an post workout shake.  As an aside – I still can’t believe Peyton Manning is a Bronco!!

Here is a picture of what I come home to most days.

She rolls over for tummy rubbing, and John and I are trained very well to do her bidding.

Work very, very busy today.  Surprising because usually on the last day of the pay period work is sparse as everyone tries to get in all their lines.  As I told John, I am not complaining because it means I don’t have to flex hours to get my lines in.

Lunch came by quickly:

I am loving bakers with sour cream.  It is a comfort food for me.

With my afternoon latte, I had a broken piece of John’s cookies from yesterday.

John got the recipe from allrecipes.net, but I don’t know which one it is.  They are fudgy and good!

I got stuck at the end of my work day with a long file.  That got me a late start on dinner, but at least it was extra lines to tack onto this paycheck.  Woo Hoo!

The last of the salad mix. Yay – no waste there. 😀

I am posting a little early.  We are going out to the mall shopping and for coffee!  Time to par-tay!

Pi Day and pushups!

Happy Pi Day!  3/14. A celebration of the circle and its irrational number.

How about a circle for breakfast?

Bagel – showcasing pi with the diameter and circumference references!  Learning – it’s what’s for breakfast.

Wednesday bagels are one of my 10% meals of the week.  It was a gorgeous and sunny morning as well.  So hard to sit my butt down and work.  It’s also my really busy day, too.  I did make a point to get some lunch before leaving for my literacy tutoring appointment.  More circles!

This is 2% Fage topped with 1/2 cup of pumpkin, 1 teaspoon of honey and cinnamon.  I thought it would be nice to photo it before mushing it all together.  Good, but needed something crunchy on top like pecans. Too bad I had to eat this fast and not savor it.

After tutoring, back to work until latte time!  More pi =

:mrgreen:

Fran had asked me about learning to do pushups.  I now do straight military style pushups.  (I hate calling them man pushups because women can do them, too).  I used to do pushups on my knees, like girls were taught to do.  The problem with this is that you can never learn to do them on your toes this way. What I did was to do incline pushups.  I started leaning against a wall, then progressively dropped down the angle until I was straight on the floor.  This gives your body time to build the upper body strength it needs to support the ‘real’ pushup stance.  It’s too hard to just start in the pushup position and work from there because pushups on your toes are really an advanced exercise.  They aren’t easy!  Give yourself time to work down.

(source)

You can use anything for the support.  A weight bench, a chair, a step stool.  As the pushups get easier, lower the height of the object.

* My one piece of advice is to anchor the object that you will be pushing against so that it doesn’t slide away from you causing you to fall to the floor.  Not that I have ever done that or anything.  I just want to make sure it doesn’t happen to you, because it hurts – or I imagine it would hurt. Not that I know anything about that…

I ate dinner later because work was running out and I wanted to make sure I got as much as I could.  Ah, the lovely part of working on production.  I did a quick dinner of shrimp stir fry.  This is 4 oz of shrimp with some sauteed broccoli, 1/2 cup of leftover rice and 1 tablespoon of Kikkoman ginger teriyaki sauce.

This was really yummy!

More working after dinner until files run out.  Taking 2 hours out of my day for tutoring means adding them in at night. I am actually ahead for the week, so no big deal.

My mother is coming over tonight for a visit.  Too bad I didn’t make any pi(e).  We like to have pie on pi day, but just didn’t make any this year and too tired to go out tonight!  Guess I will have to settle for nuts and dried pineapple.

Tomorrow is workout B of the Fit Female!

Female Body Breakthrough

 

 

So, this is my new program! The Female Body Breakthrough by Rachel Cosgrove.  I got this book on kindle reader and I have to say that it really fits right in with my philosophy on eating *and* lifting! It also helps that her husband was one of the co-authors on NROLW, so it is very familiar.

I also think the Rachel embodies the type of fitness I want to achieve.  I think we have a fairly similar body type (plus 10-15 pound for me, though LOL).  I like that she is very fit and not so lean that she doesn’t look feminine.  She is strong without being intimidating. Here is an awesome video of her doing chinups and she makes it look so easy.

It is a 16 week progressive program and I am going to try to follow it as closely as possible.  She does not advocate cardio, but biking season is approaching and I am just going to have to work in my biking and be careful not to over train.  Also, I think the base program is geared to people who have never lifted, so I am advanced enough to add in the cardio workouts.

The 4 phases last for a month. There are 2 alternating strength workouts to do. Here is workout A, which I did today.

First is a dynamic warmup, which I won’t go into here, but it involves lateral lunges, inch worms, jumping jacks, etc.  It took between 10-15 minutes to go through.

Exercise Set/rep/weight
Bird Dog
Forward Ball Roll		 3 set of 10
3 set of 10
Stepups
3-point dumbbell row		 3 sets of 10 with 15# DBs
3 sets of 10 with 15# DBs
Partial Co-contraction Lunge (video)
Pushup		 3 sets of 10
3 sets of 10
Hip-thigh Extension (video)
Bent Over Reverse Fly		 3 sets of 10
3 sets of 10 with 10# DBs

I was really sweaty when this was done.  It took about 35 minutes to get through this workout.  I could not find a stability ball at the gym, so I did the ball rolls with one of those wheel things that you roll on the floor.  The hip-thigh extension is basically a single-leg bridge.  That is quite tough!

The goal is to add weights to 1 or 2 exercises each time you do this routine. I didn’t do too much with weights today as I wanted to get used to some of the moves and the routine.  I have a lot of this routine to do over the next month!  On Thursday I will go over routine B.

The eating plan fits in about what I am trying to do as well.  Rachel talks about the  90-10 rule, which dovetails right in with how I am trying to eat (score for Lori!). Of course, there are some more strict guidelines like no sugar outside of your indulgent meals, which I have been doing mostly for the last couple of weeks anyway. You need to have protein and a fruit or veggie with every meal/snack, too. That’s a little tougher, so I need to work on that.

Also, I will need to eat 1 more meals/snack a day. I normally eat 5, so 6 will be a change for me. Easy enough on workout days with a post workout shake, but harder on the other days. This means 3-4 meal/snacks a week can be my indulgent meals, which is what I have been trying to do with some success.  The non-negotiable meal is the post workout protein drink.  Since I go to the gym first thing in the morning, I am making my shake and drinking half before and half after the workout, then coming home and eating breakfast.  It’s probably not ideal, but it works for me.

I am actually pretty excited about this program as I loved New Rules of Lifting for Women.

Lifting and bowling and biking, oh my!

What a great weekend!  We managed to pack a lot in – including this!

I started off on Saturday with the last 28 Day Shapeover workout!

Exercise Set/rep/weight Muscle worked
Incline Dumbbell Press

Flat Fly

Incline Pushups

 3 set of 15 with 15# DBs

3 set of 15 at with 10# DBs

3 sets of 15

 Chest
Front Lat Pulldown

Low Cable Row

Dumbbell Pullover

 3 sets of 15 at 40#

3 sets of 15 at 30#

3 sets of 15 with 15# DB

 Back
Crunches

Reverse Crunches
Side Jackknife

 3 sets of 15

3 sets of 15
3 sets of 15

 Core

Another tough workout.  The pushups were so hard.  I had to make them all incline pushups since they were the 3rd in a giant set.  I normally do straight up pushups, so that gives me some work to do. Anyway, the shapeover is all finished. I’ll talk a bit more about the wrap up of this program on Monday and my thoughts on it.

John and I went out for lunch and then some bowling!  That was one of my goals this month.  I realize that we had not been bowling at least since I hurt my back  – and that was almost 2 years ago. Eeek!

We do own our own shoes and balls.  Mine is the pink one.

My bowling form really is horrible.  I know it, but whatever 😀

John’s is good.

Ooops:

First game.  Me, not so great.  John had one of his best games.  Go figure!

Second game – I did much better.  Check out the strikes!

At least I was consistent:  Strike/whiff/strike/whiff.  My arm was tired after 2 games.

Saturday was kind of cold in the 30s, but Sunday warmed up to about 55 degrees.  If it is over 50, I am on the bike!  A full month earlier than last year.  I got to wear my new YMX Yellowman long sleeve jersey that I won from Shelley a few months ago:

Love!!!  I need to get a better pic of this.  It’s actually quite … ahem … figure enhancing.

First ride of the season!

Happy, happy, joy, joy!!  We took the long way to downtown GF, swinging by my parents’ house to say hi to my dad on our way by.  Destination? Chocolate Mill for some coffee!

7 miles there.  My legs felt great! Even on the small hills.  All that leg work I have done the last month really helped.  The wind was pretty stiff on the way home, though.  I will say that.  The last 3 miles were tough.  I was just so happy to be on the bike again!  It felt awesome!  Yeah, I can ride the bike on the trainer, but there is just nothing like being on it outside.

Bike computer set to zero and ready to go for the 2012.  First ride: 15 miles!

Yay!  Can you tell I am happy?  😳 The weather looks good this week to sneak in some more rides, hopefully.  Got build up for the 40 mile cuppicake rides.