Hey Karla...I'm a bit late in welcoming you here. Good for you for starting a log. See? Isn't it fun? Great work so far!!!
Thanks Victoria and also thanks for bringing my log to the front page for me. I didn't have to go dig it out after not posting for a day. And finally thanks for the advise RE eating. I am finally getting the swing of it and I too am feeling worlds better now. I have eaten once a day or too little for most of my life so this is a BIG change and a very good one.
I went to ballys with my buddies on Saturday. My friend and I signed up recently together and my other buddy has been going forever. Well because we were new, we got a free session with a trainer.
The friend who joined with me is also an egineer (AKA geek) but unlike me he doens't have years of military and sports exerience. For him this adventure into the gym is a rather big deal and so to make the experience more comfortable I signed him up for the session and then joined him in it so that we could play together.
I was actually rather impressed with the guy they gave to us. I had never seen him working in that gym before that day or I don't remember him but he was very knowledgable and he made our time fun. We did not work out very hard but we did learn a lot. He took us over to all the equipment (the stuff in the non-free weight area) and he gave us a nice tour. He explained that these machines served a good purpose to help people to learn which muscles to use before going to the free weights. He said the machines gave more stability. My trainer doesn't use the machines from what I can tell so this was a good thing for me to learn about.
We walked through about 10 of the different machines and how to do the movements correctly. This guy was really big on form and very knowledgable about the body and muscles that are in use and how they all interact. He explained concentric, ecentric and isocentric movements to us and many other bio-mechanical things. Once we learned the 10 different machines he had us do them as a circut. That was fun. We did lat pull downs, rowing, leg press, overhead press, butterflys and some others. Then he had us finish with the plank (I finally know that that is now). He put us in the plank position and then asked if we felt we could hold it for 20 seconds. I laughed at him and asked if he was serious. So he told me I could do it with one leg. So I did and then he let us hold if for 60 seconds.
He also showed us some cool moving stretches before the circut and he finished us off with some balancing exercises that were fun and challenging. After watching some training sessions in this gym I didn't have high hopes for this session. This guy exceded my expectations. It is a different type of thing than what my trainer does but it was still a great learning experience. My trainer talks less and works me a lot more....
Motivated by the great LostDog I figured that today I would try to do my workout at home. I think I finally have enough of the right ingredients to make it an effective use of my time. I have a 3, 10 and 15 pounds pair of dumbells, a jumprope, a pilates mat, a foam roller and a plan.
I decided that I would pair up some of the exercises that I knew and do them one after another and then take a rest before the next set of them.
For my first pair I did (3 sets)
jump rope x 200
burpies x 15
Then I switched to some Pilates exercises
The hundreds (200)
Siscors (100)
Obliques (30)
Then I finished off with all my hamstring exercises (ankle weights = 10 lbs each leg)
Hip abductor 12x2
Sidelying Hip extensor 20x2
Leg lifts (25x2)
foam roll the IT band
And to finish the hour I did a plank for 2 minutes
I felt just as whipped as when I go to the gym so I think I did a good job for a first time.
Gotcha and that is actually pretty attainable sometime in the next years I bet. I currently throw 90 lbs hay bales around almost every day. It would just be a matter then of me doing some reps and sets with them.
So, with an actual farm (sweet), you probably don't even need sandbags. You have real stuff to work with. Those hay bales. 90lbs? That's great, right there.
Do you have sledgehammer? That's a good workout, too.
Yes, I have 40 acres just SW of Portland and 11 equines. I throw hay pretty much every day. The bales are between 75-95 pounds and I do throw them around. My current batch are in the 90 pound range. Big and dense. I only once or so a year throw tons of hay around though. Mostly I just throw one bale a day. I chop it all up and carry it around to the different stalls. I also do stall duty and push several hundred pounds of horse leavings around in a cart or wheelbarrow (I have 3 of these). So it perhaps is no wonder that I am not getting sore from my workouts in the gym. The 15 pound dumbells don't seem that much.
When I was in the Marines I could lift 125 pound generators and carry them around. I weighed 113 pounds at the time. I have always been a really strong person and more than once beat the guys on the obstacle course. That is why this injury and the weakness that I have allowed to creep into my body is so kicking my ass mentally. I know that somewhere I have strength. I will find it again.
I do have a sledge hammer but don't use it much. I chop wood every week though with a big ol' axe if that counts for anything. I have a woodstove and a fireplace so lots of fuel needs to be burned.
BTW: I am in Santa Clara right now on business trip. I just passed an IN AND OUT BURGER. OMG!!!!
On Friday night last week I did interval training on the treadmill. It was the first time since I injured my hamstring that I went all out and sprinted. Of course I warmed into it and only held the sprint for 3 minutes before backing off and running more slowly for 10 minutes. I did 3 of these sprints in the 30 minutes of running that I did. On Saturday my hamstring was swollen and sore to the touch. I couldn't sit down it hurt so badly. So I had somehow managed to injur myself yet again.
When I walked into the gym today my trainer asked me how I felt and I told him about the incident. He scolded me then and told me not to do any more sprinting for some time. I was furious with everything at that moment. I was frustrated about the stupid thing getting hurt and mad that my trainer got on my case. He sent me off to go warm up on the treadmill and stressed slowly. I started to warm up and just wanted to hit something I was so mad.
It was just then that he comes over to me while I am running and asks if I would be open to learning about boxing. I couldn't believe my ears. I would get to hit something!!! Yipee!!
Now I don't know about you guys but as a girl I never got introduced to this sport in my whole life. So this was all new to me. He put these really big gloves on my hand and he made sure that my thumb was in the right place. Then he taught me about jabs and crosses and how to stand. I started with jabs only and did 20 on each side over and over again. Then he had me to jabs and move around the bag and more of them. Oh yeah and I had to keep my face covered if I wasn't throwing a punch the whole time. After a lot of this, he switched to a jab/cross combo throw. BAM BAM one after another. We started on the left side, then moved to the right side and back again. I did this many times on both sides. The jab work previous was about hitting hard but this was about speed and technical accuracy.
This is some really tough cardio working out and I got tired so we took a break at some point and we went to work on abs for awhile. He put me on an incline bench and threw a 10 pound medicine ball to me. I caught it and went all the way back on the bench touching the ball to the ground above my head before sitting back up and throwing it back to him. I had to focus to not arch my back and use my abs. We did this 15 or 20 times. He gave me a few seconds rest and then we did side to side. I caught the ball and turned my body to one side before sitting up and throwing it back. We did these 15 times on each side. Then the final set was back, right side, left side and we did those 15 times.
Now that I had time to catch my breath we went back to the boxing thing. This time he did not have me put on gloves but he put on these little white target things on his hands and held them up. He invited me to hit one and instructed me to do a jab/cross. I did this and with his other hand he came across to hit me. I had to duck to avoid being hit. We repeated this exercise until I was pretty exhausted. He did a lot of moving around so it was really interesting for me to try to keep up.
We then did more ab work to allow my heartrate to go down.
For the grand finale, he handed me these 3 pounds dumbells. My job was to square off against the bag and just jab it with both hands one right after the other such that the bag never rested. With the dumbells in my hands for course. I had to do this 100 times. The did it for 2 more sets for a total of 300 hits. This again was about speed and not hard hitting. Even so I was really beat at the end of this.
That was my workout for the hour. It was a great deal of fun actually. My knuckles are a bit swollen right now but they do not hurt so I think all is well. Still it is quite noticable. My business collegues think I am nutz. I think I am nutz too! I actually really liked boxing.
turn back and get a double-double (protein-style if you want - no bun) - mmm - that's what a hamburger's all about -
No can do. I am limited to avoid fats and sodium as much as possible. I think that these burgers are most likely loaed with fat. I am on week 3 of my training program and have not yet cheated. Even tonight at the Chinese Restaraunt in town I found a green bean dish with very little sauce on it that I think was okay to eat. It did have more sodium than I should have but I think it was otherwise okay.
I do have to admit that my mouth watered a bit as I drove by though...
sorry about the limited fats thing - I am jealous of your boxing so maybe that makes us even? I was just saying the other day to someone I wanted to learn to hit stuff ... sounds like a blast.
sorry about the limited fats thing - I am jealous of your boxing so maybe that makes us even? I was just saying the other day to someone I wanted to learn to hit stuff ... sounds like a blast.
I am pretty sure that the limited fat thing is a temporary thing until my body fat levels get to a more healthy range. I can do anything short term.
The boxing lesson was really cool. I will remember it for a long while and I will likely practice what I learned today in the gym on my own this weekend. My Classical Guitar teacher will have a fit though if he sees my swollen hands. I have them in an ice bucket in my hotel room. I am pretty certain he would not approve of this. I was thinking of this being bad for guitar playing as I was hitting the bag but the hitting was too much fun to not do. If you can get someone to show you how to do it I would highly recommend it. It was especially fun to hit the bag so hard that I physically pushed the trainer backwards a few inches. POW! I loved the sound the glove made on the bag. No wonder the guys all love this.
Yes, I have 40 acres just SW of Portland and 11 equines. I throw hay pretty much every day. The bales are between 75-95 pounds and I do throw them around. My current batch are in the 90 pound range. Big and dense. I only once or so a year throw tons of hay around though. Mostly I just throw one bale a day. I chop it all up and carry it around to the different stalls. I also do stall duty and push several hundred pounds of horse leavings around in a cart or wheelbarrow (I have 3 of these). So it perhaps is no wonder that I am not getting sore from my workouts in the gym. The 15 pound dumbells don't seem that much.
When I was in the Marines I could lift 125 pound generators and carry them around. I weighed 113 pounds at the time. I have always been a really strong person and more than once beat the guys on the obstacle course. That is why this injury and the weakness that I have allowed to creep into my body is so kicking my ass mentally. I know that somewhere I have strength. I will find it again.
I do have a sledge hammer but don't use it much. I chop wood every week though with a big ol' axe if that counts for anything. I have a woodstove and a fireplace so lots of fuel needs to be burned.
BTW: I am in Santa Clara right now on business trip. I just passed an IN AND OUT BURGER. OMG!!!!
OMG, Karla! I am coming right over...to the farm, that is. I am so envious of your farm. SO and I have a horse, but we board him at a nearby farm. Our goal is to buy a small farm and have several horses as well. Although we may have to move out of this state and head west...way too much $$$!
The bales of hay, wood chopping, wheel barrow pushing...all good stuff! I'd do it every single day if I could. Boxing, classical guitar, Marines....you are quite the onion!
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On Krista mistressing the chin-up, "It's amazing", said one gym source, "considering that for months she just hung there like a dead fish."
I didn't realize you were in Portland! I'm jealous. I grew up there and my parents and my brother and his wife are there, although I've been in Pittsburgh for ten years now. I took my boyfriend out there for the first time when my brother got married and he fell in love with it. We rented a Harley and rode down the coast. It was awesome. Hopefully when his kids are grown we will move back.
On Friday night last week I did interval training on the treadmill. It was the first time since I injured my hamstring that I went all out and sprinted. Of course I warmed into it and only held the sprint for 3 minutes before backing off and running more slowly for 10 minutes. I did 3 of these sprints in the 30 minutes of running that I did. On Saturday my hamstring was swollen and sore to the touch. I couldn't sit down it hurt so badly. So I had somehow managed to injur myself yet again.
I can sympathize. I suffered a bad hamstring pull ending my high school sprinting career. It was literally years before I felt complete confidence to go all out in a sprint without re-injuring that hamstring. It sounds like you are on the right path though so you'll get there before you know it.
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That was my workout for the hour. It was a great deal of fun actually. My knuckles are a bit swollen right now but they do not hurt so I think all is well. Still it is quite noticable. My business collegues think I am nutz. I think I am nutz too! I actually really liked boxing.
That's just awesome! You're colleagues will only think you're nuts until you end up in the best shape of your life. Then they'll just be jealous
Boxing sound fun! Make sure you ice that sore hammy.
Thanks Jill. I have been icing pretty regularly and it does help somewhat. What I need to do is be more consistent about doing my strengthening exercises for that area. I am so focused on getting back to running that I am sometimes neglectful.
I thought about you last night. I was doing burpies and push ups in my hotel room.
OMG, Karla! I am coming right over...to the farm, that is. I am so envious of your farm. SO and I have a horse, but we board him at a nearby farm. Our goal is to buy a small farm and have several horses as well. Although we may have to move out of this state and head west...way too much $$$!
Be careful there. If you end up with land these beautiful creatures end up multiplying somehow. I swear I started with just one. Actually, I did eventing for a little while with my Arab and my TB but once I started the Classial Guitar I had to give up riding and training. Either that or my day job.... There just were not enough hours in the day. My crew of 11 equines are all rescues and each one has a very special story and personality. Several of them are in their 30s. I do have a few youn'uns though. They are amazing creatures and my goal is to keep the farm until the last one dies. After that I will likely move into my condo in the city.
Land out here when I bought this farm was really reasonable. I bought in 1996 and the entire piece with home cost 215,000 US dollars. The 40-acre farm next to me just sold for almost 700K so I don't think it is that reasonable anymore. Even so I think it is still cheaper here than on the East coast.
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Originally Posted by Victoria
The bales of hay, wood chopping, wheel barrow pushing...all good stuff! I'd do it every single day if I could....
Yes, I do much of that stuff every day. At least 30 minutes of it. You would think with all that, that I would not need to go to the gym or that I might have less than 31% body fat.
I didn't realize you were in Portland! I'm jealous. I grew up there and my parents and my brother and his wife are there, although I've been in Pittsburgh for ten years now. I took my boyfriend out there for the first time when my brother got married and he fell in love with it. We rented a Harley and rode down the coast. It was awesome. Hopefully when his kids are grown we will move back.
Your boxing workout sounds great!
Leah
You know what is funny about this post? I was raised in PA. Born and raised in the small town of York. Most of my family still resides there. I would never go back. I am just more of a West Coast type of person. I work in high tech and I despise bitter cold of winters and humidity in summers. Portland is pretty temperate year round with a few exceptional days. I can run most of the year in just a few layers.
Hey Semper Fi my brother! Remember this was a long time ago... I served first in the Army as a Russian Linguist (98G) than I joined the USMC in 87 and seved as a Morse Intercept (2621). Later as I matured in the field, I worked at the NSA as an Intelligence Analyst and finished my tour at Camp Lejuene at the 2nd Radio Bat 2nd SRIG.
In 1991 I was a single parent of 2 beautiful girls when my unit got deployed to Turkey to support Desert storm. I did some reflection about my career choice and the fact that the girls did not have a Father (He actually abandoned us years earlier) and decided that if I made it back alive that I would get out of the military to be with them. I did and did. Since that time I have been working in high tech industry.
The babys are now all grown up, through college and have their own lives. After years and years of caring for them and others I find time to call my own. This decade of my life for the first time of my life is one where I get to focus inward and improve on me. Thus the classical guitar study (5 years now) and now the physical improvements and health awareness. So my motto for this decade is "Semper I"
And finally thanks for the advise RE eating. I am finally getting the swing of it and I too am feeling worlds better now. I have eaten once a day or too little for most of my life so this is a BIG change and a very good one.
I am on week 3 of my training program and have not yet cheated. Even tonight at the Chinese Restaraunt in town I found a green bean dish with very little sauce on it that I think was okay to eat. It did have more sodium than I should have but I think it was otherwise okay. 
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