Stage Two, Workout A2 (just realised that I titled my last workout A1 instead of B1)
Front squat push/press I'm perseveringwith the Oly bar. I found that when I really focused on rolling the bar from fingers to palms, then I had no real wrist pain.
6+4 x 20g (44lbs)
5+5 @ 20kg (44lbs)
Step ups 2 x 10 @ 2x6kg (2x13lbs) Dumbbell one-point row
Just looking back at my last A workout, I made the mistake of doing 10 reps on each leg again! Gee, I must really love these!
2 x 10 @ 2x8kg (2x17.6lbs)
Static lunge with back foot raised
I couldn't work out why these were so hard until I realised I'd positioned my foot as if doing a bulgarian split squat, with top of foot flat on step, hence the lower weights for the 1st set.
1 x 10 @ 2x8kg (2x17.6lbs)
1 x 10 @ 2x10kg (2x22lbs) Push ups
2 x 10 floor
Plank 2 x 10 @ 45˚ Cable woodchop There is a cable column with each weight written on the plate! Finally! I didn't realise before.I might do some seated rows just to find out what I was lifting.2 x 10 @ 11.5kg (25lbs)
Well, I must have chosen the correct weights this time because I was worn out! Had planned on doing HIIT but there are lots of leg exercises in this workout (squats, lunges, step ups(!)). I'm off to the driving range with my Dad this afternoon (haven't been for ages but I've been told I'm quite good, never played a full game of golf though) and may have a very short run around the block with my Mum this evening as she is doing a charity 5K later this month, and I really need to get started on my running.
I should rename yesterday as Biscuit (cookie) day. Oh dear. So today I am sticking to lower cals and lowering carbs. According to Daily Plate, what I have planned is 40p/35c/25f (1534 cals). I'm going to have to stick to it
The backs of my hands ache. It must have been the front squat push/press and then the golf probably didn't help. I could feel each mis-hit reverberating through my hands! I got some good shots at the driving range, high and straight, although I seemed better on the putting green. My Dad plays golf every week and goes to some fancy club but we just went to a local club yesterday. He really enjoys showing people how to do things although yesterday he wasn't doing so well!
Finally went for a run. I think it must have been the first time since January time. Just 30 mins in and out of the park. Average HR: 131 bpm, Peak HR: 159 bpm. I live 5 mins from one of London's Royal Parks (below) so I am obviously very spoilt and should run there more. Sometimes I get to run past these fellas. I saw a herd eating on my way out last night. This isn't my picture but I really should take my camera out.
Food was ok yesterday, macro- and calorie-wise considering I didn't plan anything but there were small amounts of junk.
1652 cals
40c/28p/32f
Today I am more organised. I've got some yummy fruit - small nectarine, cubed pineapple, and strawberries in my quark. I'm going to reduce the amount of bananas I eat (ie. not eat one every day out of habit) as I don't find the very satiating. Also, no apple today but I do like juicy apples especially as I don't seem to have much crunch in my diet. I could eat pineapple and strawberries all day though.
1873 cals
43c/34p/23f
Stage Two, Workout B2 tonight. Hopefully I won't be in the gym for 1.5 hours this time!
Yep, I live on the outskirts of London and there are a couple of Royal Parks here with deer. It's lovely to be able to go and see them (and not think about eating them) and I realise how lucky we are because not everyone can go that in a city.
I also live near a lovely stretch of the Thames river and Hampton Court Palace (former home of Henry VIII) too. It's a lovely part of Greater London. No wonder I still live at home!
Widegrip deadlift from box 2 x 10 @ 35kg (77lbs) - 2nd set with mixed grip (thanks Jules!). Bar slipping a bit due to sweatiness as well. Probably drop these to 32.5kg next time as my form isn't great at this weight and could feel it in my lower back afterwards.
Bulgarian split squat
Last time I just used a step, this time I used a bench
2 x 10 @ 8kg (17.6lbs) medicine ball Underhand lat pulldown 2 x 10 @ 31.5kg (69.5lbs)
Reverse lunge from box w/forward reach
2 x 10 @ 2x6kg (2x13lbs)
Dumbbell prone Cuban snatch
Actually did these at the end, after the cobras, as my gym only has one adjustable bench and it was being used
1 x 10 @ 3kg (6.6lbs)
1 x 10 @ 2kg (4.4lbs)
Swiss ball crunch 2 x 10 with hands at ears Reverse crunch 2 x 10 Lateral flexion 1 x 10 - Hanna 1
1 x 10 - Hanna 2
Prone cobra
Well, I am dumb. I did the first set then realised I was rotating my arms the wrong way. No wonder it felt odd! Much better on the 2nd set.
2 x 60 sec
15 mins HIIT:
1 min @ 8kph, 2 min @ 9kph
1 min @ 12kph, 2 min @ 5kph
1 min @ 12.5kph, 2 min @ 5kph
1 min @ 13kph, 2 min @ 5kph
1 min @ 13.3kph, 1 min @ 5kph, 1 min @ 4kph
Hi! Gorgeous pic of London even if it's not yours. I did a study abroad in Oxford during my sophomore year of college. It was set up so that we had every other Friday off. When groups of us couldn't afford a weekend trip out of the country and didn't have that much coursework to do, we'd head to London for the day. Ahh, fond memories.
Looks like you're doing well so far with NROL4W!
(and *subscribed*, BTW)
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They call me Amanda, that being my real name, and "They" being people who know me in person as I don't go around introducing myself in real life as "scribess." 'Cause that would just be strange.
Lovely picture. I think that sometimes where I'm out walking, that I should bring the camera. Then I think it would just encourage me to stop and take pictures, so I don't bring it.
we'd head to London for the day. Ahh, fond memories.
But are they memories of cultural activities...or shopping! Shopping here is very good, as are the cultural activities.
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Looks like you're doing well so far with NROL4W!
(and *subscribed*, BTW)
Thanks! I'm enjoying the programme, just need to step it up a bit!
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Originally Posted by Naive
I lived in Bexleyheath, Kent for a year while teaching there. I miss London.
Kent is lovely - "The Garden of England". Where do you live now?
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Originally Posted by realcdn
Lovely picture. I think that sometimes where I'm out walking, that I should bring the camera. Then I think it would just encourage me to stop and take pictures, so I don't bring it.
When I first started running in the park I thought I'd take a digital camera out with me but I couldn't work out a way to carry it.
p.s. - I actually have a degree in photography so I'm ashamed to say that I don't take many pictures now, not even of the deer!
Thanks to you all for stopping by! And by writing this post I've mastered the task of working out how to reply to multiple people.
I've seen others post goals in their logs and it makes sense and makes me accountable.
- Increase NEAT. Apart from my commute and any exercise, I seem to barely throughout the day.
- Drink at least 1.8 litres water per day.
- Limit carbs and sugar.
- Aim for 20% bf.
- Run 2x a week. Today I worked out that it is a 4.25km run from my gym to home (32mins@8kph)
- Thinking about chin ups - I can do one and only one but if I pulled my self and then stayed there, like a negative pull up, that would improve my strength. So instead of using a jump to get there, I just do a pull up and then start counting. Would that work?
- Playing squash - I played squash regularly between the ages of 6 and about 13 or 14 years old and I played competitively when I was 10 + 11 at county level (although I was never competitive then so I didn't do too well!). Anyway, my sister played regularly too and also for the county (she's much more competitive than me when it comes to squash) and each year when Wimbledon comes round (it begins on Monday), it makes us want to play squash (we can play squash but not tennis - I don't get top spin and the like - and they're very similar and basically we just want to get on court and smash a ball around!) So, she suggested it the other day so hopefully we'll get a court booked soon. Especially as I have a lovely new lightweight racquet that I've barely used!
Golf - I really liked going to the driving range and the putting green the other day so I might try to go a bit more regularly. My Dad needs no encouragement to do anything golf related so he shouldn't mind. I said we could go as a Father's Day treat on Sunday!
But are they memories of cultural activities...or shopping! Shopping here is very good, as are the cultural activities.
When it was on our own, shopping. We also had some cultural excursions with our entire college group, so that's when we did Buckingham and Tower of London and the like. We also had several outside of London. Of the excursions, I'd have to say my favorite was Windsor Castle. Seeing Stonehenge was cool, of course, but would've been cooler if we'd been able to go right up to it. I hate that some stupid vandals (though actually I'm sure it was several vandals over several years) ruined it for everyone.
And nice work on the goals! Now we have something to hold you to.
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They call me Amanda, that being my real name, and "They" being people who know me in person as I don't go around introducing myself in real life as "scribess." 'Cause that would just be strange.
Front squat push/press 1 x 10 @ 20kg (44lbs) - woo! 10 in a row! I didn't neccessarily get up onto my toes on every rep but I got that bar up above my head!
1 x 6+4 @ 20kg (44lbs)
Step ups
Hmm, I felt like my non-working leg was working a bit. Shouldn't reallly have gone up to 8kg.
1 x 10 @ 2x6kg (2x13lbs)
1 x 10 @ 2x8kg (2x17.6lbs) Dumbbell one-point row
I remembered to do only 5 on each side per set this time!
1 x 10 @ 2x8kg (2x17.6lbs)
1 x 10 @ 2x10kg (2x22lbs)
Static lunge with back foot raised
2 x 10 @ 2x10kg (2x22lbs) Push ups
2 x 10 floor
Plank 2 x 10 @ 45˚ Cable woodchop 2 x 10 @ 11.5kg (25lbs)
I live in Vancouver, Canada. Nice goals....I went to the driving range. I suck. Golf is definitely a frustrating sport. Tennis, I love and I like that I'm way better now than when I first started. I would hit balls out of the court all the time. Now I actually get some spin on my balls and they stay in for the most part. LOL
Whoops! Not sure why I had you pegged as an Englishwoman.
I took golf as a physical education credit in college. Started out sucky and ended out sucky. Hope you do much better than I!
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They call me Amanda, that being my real name, and "They" being people who know me in person as I don't go around introducing myself in real life as "scribess." 'Cause that would just be strange.
Well, we went to the driving range yesterday and I was ok. The pro said that my Dad could take me out onto the course to see if I liked it and we played the 1st hole. It was quite fun!
I had a days holiday today and my plan was to move my workout fom Sunday to Monday as I assumed it would be quieter at the gym. How wrong was I!? Fair enough, there were people on the cardio machines but what are all the people doing lifting weights? Get to work! Anyway, because it was ridiculously busy my workout was all messed up. Can't wait to get back to my 7.30pm visits to the gym!
Stage Two, Workout B3 (this is the order I did the exercises)
Underhand grip lat pulldown
2 x 10 @ 31.5kg (69.5lbs)
Reverse lunge from box
2 x 10 @ 2x4kg (2x9lbs) - last time I used 6kg but most of the DBs were missing from the rack so I just used 4kgs.
Deadlifts
I decided to do coventional DLs instead of wide grip off a box as in Stage One I don't feel I ever did a proper DL because I did them off the safety bars and they were probably more like rack pulls.
1 x 10 @ 40kg (88lbs)
1 x 10 @ 42.5kg (93.7lbs)
Bulgarian split squat I would have used the 10kg DB but it was being used.
2 x 10 @ 8kg (17.6lbs)
Dumbbell prone Cuban snatch
2 x 10 @ 2x2kg (2x4.4lbs)
Swiss ball crunch 2 x 10 with hands at ears Reverse crunch
2 x 10
Prone Cobra
Hard doing these because I didn't have a watch that was a stopwatch. Hard to count to 60 and not just collapse!
2 x 60sec
Overall, it was an unsatisfactory workout. Then I ran home (about 4km) and that was a struggle too. I was just glad to be back home and in the shower. Then I went shopping for the rest of my outfit for the wedding I'm going to, so I was on the go pretty much from 11am to 6pm.
I'm thinking about how much I've been moving because I downloaded some of Leigh Peele's podcasts and I've been listening to them today. I don't know the full background of Leigh and what she advocates but it's great to listen to someone talk about fatloss and the usual suspects that prevent it from happening and talking about solutions.
I'm going to reassess my calorie intake. My body fat seems to be going up and I know it's because I haven't been good with my food. Overall, I thinking reduce calories but keep protein levels up. And increase the amount I move in a day.
Yeah, I use Daily Plate but I think recently I've just been eating odd and ends that I haven't been recording and now I'm realising that I can't get away with it anymore! So, I'm going to track at these lower figures for 2 weeks and see what happens.
I'm also thinking of taking a few days off. I had my awful workout yesterday and today I've woken up feeling sore nearly everywhere (damn those proper DLs!). I was planning to take a break after Stage 3 but now I'm thinking I'll take it this week as, a) I'm reducing calories and, b) the weather's going to get warmer and warmer this week and I sweat and need a lie down at just the thought of the temperature rising above 24˚C (75˚)! I'm not a hot weather person at all (I was born in the summer so you'd think I'd be a summer person, but no). Instead, I may do walks in the evening when it's cooler and download some more of Leigh's podcasts to accompany me.
That sounds like a good plan. I'm so thankful I happened upon Leigh's stuff when I did--she really opened my eyes to the importance of rest--not just proper sleep, but actual breaks from training. I never trained incredibly hard, but did have a mistaken notion that if I missed one or two workouts in a week, I'd gain a pound.
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They call me Amanda, that being my real name, and "They" being people who know me in person as I don't go around introducing myself in real life as "scribess." 'Cause that would just be strange.
I think my food has been good today. Not over yet, still got to tackle getting home which is when I'm likely to have some PB&J on toast or something. Well, I ate the last cookie yesterday (!) so no more of them.
B- Scrambled eggs (one whole, one white) on toast AM - Apple + Protein drink L- Leftover spaghetti bolognese (sort of) made with Quorn, and a meatfree burger and a little broccoli PM - 1 Ricola elderflower sugar-free herb drop, 125g Quark sweetened with 1 tsp agave syrup D - 2 vegan sausages, 25g ww pasta in 100g grilled veg tomato sauce, broccoli followed by pineapple (need to measure how much, cupwise, one cubed slice is)
When I get home I'm going to download some more of Leigh's podcasts. It's great that these are free!
I feel much better today and I'm surprised I haven't been hungry. What was I eating last week that left me feeling the same but for more calories? Actually, I think I was feeling a bit full at the end of my work day before whereas now I just feel content. Off home now!
I measured my pineapple and it was 125g for 1 slice which is a smaller amount than 1 cup which is what I was guestimating I was having. In fact, I measured my whole dinner and my lunch for tomorrow so now I can be confident that I'm counting accurately.
I've downloaded some Fitcast podcasts and I plan on replacing my NROLFW workout tomorrow with about an hours walk.
Tonight I stopped watching TV and washed up dishes and cleaned up the kitchen instead. Didn't get too much NEAT today but I have drunk over 2 litres of water. It's 10pm now so I'm going to make a move towards bed and get a decent amount of sleep. All in all, a good, productive day!!
Sigh... It's been a long while since I've had a decent walk like that. Keep meaning to have one--just never seem to manage it.
At least when I get to weeks 9-12 of OPT, that's the recommended cardio--up to 2 1-hour walks each day. And when I'm on vacation I'm thinking I'll do early morning walks. I have a huge backlog of Fitcasts to get through myself!
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They call me Amanda, that being my real name, and "They" being people who know me in person as I don't go around introducing myself in real life as "scribess." 'Cause that would just be strange.
I just went randomly through the list of Fitcasts and downloaded ones that seem to have topics that were relevant to me.
I'm looking forward to putting on some trainers and going for a walk rather than having to shuffle around in my sandals, all of which seem to hurt my feet! It's driving me mad! So with my comfy shoes on and earphones in, I should be able to get into a good stride.
I never walk in the park (see pics above with deer, who are currently having babies so the notices say), I only run so it should be a bit different.
Food is good today, if very similar to yesterdays:
1326 cals
40c/34p/24f
B- Scrambled eggs (one whole, one white) on toast AM - Apple + Protein drink L- 1 veggie burger, 25g ww pasta, 2oz broccoli, 150g mix of jarred sauce and passata PM - 1 Ricola elderflower sugar-free herb drop, 125g Quark sweetened with 1 tsp agave syrup, 1 piece of Trident sugar-free gum, 1/2 PB&J sandwich (pre-walk) D - 2 vegan sausages, 2oz broccoli, 1tbsp tomato ketchup, 1 slice pineapple
Drinking lots of water - nearly 1.5 litres (50 fl oz) and it's only 3.45pm and I went for a walk to the shops and bank at lunch (approx. 30 mins).
I might do some seated rows just to find out what I was lifting.2 x 10 @ 11.5kg (25lbs)
You stick to your burgers and beer!
Shopping here is very good, as are the cultural activities.
So with my comfy shoes on and earphones in, I should be able to get into a good stride. 
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