wax on, wax off

[galya]

Okay, seems like my last log for the year, since I am going away for 10 days. I will be spending 5 days with my parents, my dad works out every day (he has abs, I am so proud of him, maybe I will tell you about his martial arts and hill training another time)so I hope to join him at the local gym. I will not be doing Stamina there, because I won't have the piece in a commercial gym. If I manage to, well, great. I will log the workouts after I come back. I will also try to do a lot of hiking with my dog in the mountains. My parents live almost at the foot of a really nice trail.

Today, Dec 22

Cardio Day
I was more out of breath than usual, doing
25 minutes of interval elliptical (2 minutes)
10 minutes of fast skipping

Some general stretching for the quads, calves and hammies.

In one hour I have an hour's gap between clients so I will probably do cardio again, because I feel like it, or if not, maybe a Tabata This if someone is here to time me.

Food so far:
1. 2 cups yogy with probiotics and one scoop whey
2. tuna, olive oil, piece of toast (I normally don't do P+F+C together, just making sure my stomach can handle it after the tuesday blah)
3. cabbage salad and some beef tongue stewed in wine and basil
4. same as meal 3

I have no idea what dinner will be like, probably something light like yogurt again.

I feel good about the coming 10 day break from work. I have so much to read, articles, NSCA journals, my text books...I am such a loser, I wish I had studied more this summer. Sleep is good, I will be getting plenty of it

[Deserve]

Have a good holiday Gayla.

[Chris-STL]

Honestly I can't remember. Just some sort of stomach acid from what her doctor said. Reguardless if that part if accurate or not, some milk and toast or crackers 30 min before bed seemed to fix it right up.

[galya]

More log stuff:
20 minutes of very satisfying high intensity skipping and some stretching

[galya]

Food:
5. 2 oz ham, 2/3 cup something like spam if it were good for you
6. yogy with probiotics

I wish everybody a warm and cozy Christmas and a happy New Year

[galya]

Just an update.
I have been logging on paper and I will fill in the info once I am back in Sofia, because the connection in the country is not great.
Right now I am working out in a small conservative gym and can't do Stamina because of how people use weights. There is really no free weight area and the carpet is really soft, so I can't drop the BB, which puts extra straing on my deadlifts, so I mixed it up a bit. I was able to add 5 kg to my DL.
I am doing one day heavy strength stuff and one day circuits with med weight and some cardio in the end. I am eating very different at grandma's house, but I still keep it clean, even though I am eating less protein and more carbs, but also less fat. Like today I had a small cheese pastry, a tangerine and some yogy for breakfast. After my workout I had a pear and I am not even hungry yet. I have been sleeping 12+ hours and reading a lot. I read a small book on stable fish oil written by a Norwegian researcher. I will sum it up for you one day, because I will be writing a review for the website.
I hope everyone is experiencing the warmth and comfort of Christmas. I have to say what I have enjoyed most so far are the long walks in the mountains with my parents and the dog. There is about 5 in of snow, not much, but enough to make me happy.
Have a great holiday season!

[Deserve]

I'm glad you're having a good holiday season. Mine is perfect without snow. It's nice being in shorts and t-shirts running around. Enjoy the 12 hours of sleep. I know I would.

[galya]

I will backlog a bit, to make up for not logging during the holidays.
Dec 25

Conventional DL
5x60kg
5x60kg
5x65kg
5x65kg
5x65kg
5x65kg
5x65kg

DB Shoulder press
6x12.5kg
6x12.5kg
6x10kg
6x10kg
6x10kg
6x10kg

mixed lat+front raise
8x5kg
8x5kg
8x5kg
8x5kg

one leg airborn squat
8xBW
8xBW
8xBW
8xBW

woodchops
8x20kg
8x20kg
8x20kg
8x20kg

hanging leg raises
5xBW
6xBW
7xBW
8xBW

Dec 26
Circuits, upper body, then lower body + cardio

3 circuits of:
push ups 15xBW
bent over DB rows 12x10kg
cable flys 12x15kg
cable rows 12x30kg

followed by
3 circuits of:

jump DB SQ 10x7.5kg
SL DL 10x30kg
plies 10x20kg
leg extensions 10x20kg

Pull over crunch
12x10kg
12x10kg
12x10kg

supersets of weighted crunch+reverse curls
for a total of 100 reps both

20 minutes interval cardio

Dec 27
BB LNG
5x40kg
5x40kg
5x40kg
5x40kg
5x40kg
5x40kg

Lat pull downs
5x50kg
5x45kg
5x45kg
5x45kg
5x45kg
5x45kg
5x40kg

I had problems with the bar, it was slippery and hurt my grip. I hated that machine.

W/chop
8x15kg
8x15kg
8x15kg

crunch machine
10x20kg
10x20kg

Did this for the giggles. What a waste.

Tri extensions
10x15kg
10x15kg
10x15kg

Lateral lunge with swing under leg
12x7.5kg
12x7.5kg
12x7.5kg
12x7.5kg

Dec 28
Again:
Circuits, upper body, then lower body + cardio

3 circuits of:
push ups 15xBW
bent over DB rows 12x10kg
cable flys 12x15kg
cable rows 12x30kg

followed by
3 circuits of:

jump DB SQ 10x7.5kg
SL DL 10x30kg
plies 10x20kg
leg extensions 10x20kg

Pull over crunch
12x10kg
12x10kg
12x10kg

supersets of weighted crunch+reverse curls
for a total of 100 reps both

20 minutes interval cardio


I noticed both days after circuits I could hardly sleep. My workouts were in the late afternoon, I don't know if it was the EPOC or something else.

After working out for 4 days straight, I took all the time off till today. I did lots of walking and sightseeing at the seaside, but unfortunately I couldn't get to a gym.

After 10 days of being with grandma and staying with my best friend's family I feel like a little piglet. I did eat a variety of unusual for my diet foods like dried fruit, some rice, potatoes and baklava. I drank diet coke, I feel super miserable about it. I did about 2L for the whole period, so I guess it's not too bad.

I spent all of last night traveling back to Sofia, so I was exhausted when I arrived. My diet is completely off today.
I ate:
1 tangerine
1 apple
4 cups yogurt
2 tablespoons crude wheat bran
1 handful hazelnuts
2 cod fillets
2 tomatoes
2 cups broccoli
some olive oil for the veggies

I feel like a gummy bear. I can't wait for my workout tomorrow.
I am probably going to continue with one day spider stamina and one day HIIT.
I will try to do a minimum of 50 reps per exercise
for the stamina, I should be able to do that easy.
I missed the studio and working out in it. I hope it will be a while before I have to see another commercial gym.

I hope the new year brings everyone joy and happiness!

[Deserve]

Happy new year Gayla.

[jotek]

I know that, I for one, and proud of you and your dedication- the rest of you don't even know the half of it (she is dedicated beyond most peoples wildest dreams )! I enjoy reading your training log, too.
Keep up the good work!
-The husband in America

[Deserve]

Aren't you a little biased [img]smile.gif[/img]

[galya]

Thanks jotek,
you are very supportive, especially in my little piglet phases like now.
It means a lot to me.

[cappuccino]

Welcome back gayla! If you're going through a little piglet phase, it might be just what you need to jumpstart your metabolism before getting strict again. Did you notice any difference in energy levels while at your grandmother's?

[galya]

Hey cappy, cool to see you here.
At grandma's I was warmer, and my HR was higher during workouts. Weird, huh?
I slept a lot more there, too.
Carbs don't seem to affect my energy levels, unless I was starved before that and did a refeed. I think that happened in this log already.
I was strict today and felt really good.
I will post my workouts and food later, I am starving and off to make some dinner.
Little piglet phase is funny, I put on 2 lbs but look like I put on 5. I have little fat ripples when I bend and look in the mirror sideways.
My only resolution (in Mahler's terms, solution) this year is to try to sleep more. I have since moved my cleaning of the studio to the evening instead of the morning. This will give me some xtra time in bed and I won't have to face the mop that early. Also, this will let me eat breakfast at home 1st thing in the a.m. I hope the new changes affect my body comp.

[galya]

Okayyy,
Jan 03
First workout during the new year. I was pressed for time, but that's what you get when you let people reschedule all the time.
I am done with Stamina for now. I liked it, even though I did it shortly for two three week periods. I don't feel like I have the energy and motivation to keep doing it, so for now I will lay off it.
Last year I did programs aimed at strength, some hypertrophy and side effect fat loss, but I never really focused on fat loss only.
No my idea is to keep volumes lower and workouts shorter and more intense with more cardio and tabatas. I will see how it goes.

Today I planned to do squats but 2 sets of 6 with 50 kgs made one of my knees hurt and the other one crack noisily. I had never had that before, so I stopped and did the following.

6 Supersets of:
overhead db SQ
8x7.5kg
and
incline db press
6x12.5kg

4 supersets of
db skull crushers
8x7.5kg
and
SL DL
8x30kg

3 sets of Hanging leg raises (10xBW) superset with standing facing cable crunches (12x25kg)and Saxon bends (16x10kg)

I was happy with that, given the little food and exhausting morning that I had had.

My new idea is to start eating right after I wake up to battle the cortisol effects of not sleeping enough.

so food is here:
1. 1 cup buffalo yogurt with 2 tbsp crude bran
2. tomato, sesame tahini and small piece of cod
3. tomato, sesame tahini and large cod fillet
4. cabbage salad+olive oil, small cod fillet
5. cabbage salad+olive oil, sesame tahini
6. spinach with balsamic vinegar, tomatoes with olive oil and 3 scrambled eggs

I am contemplating a snack, but who knows

[galya]

Jan 04,
I was planning for a HIIT session but I was unable to do that because of my PMS cramps so I did 30 minutes of moderate to high intesity long interval cardio at about 17.5 km/per hr.
It felt good, HIIT would have killed me.
I hope I feel better tomorrow so I can kick butt with my workout.
Food has been great the last two days, I am so appreciative of the fact that there is no junk anywhere around me where I can go and eat it.
1. yogurt with 2 tbsp crude bran and 1 tbsp wheat germ
2. 1 rice cake, half can tuna, one tomato
3. spoon sesame tahini
4. cabbage salad, half a chicken breast
5. cabbage salad and the other half cb, sesame tahini
6. cabbage salad and half can tuna
7. 2 cups broccoli and cauliflower, chicken cooked in orange juice and pepper, one of my favorites
8.cup yogurt with a dash of swiss miss diet chocolate powder and 2 walnuts

I am already looking forward to breakfast.
I succesfully cut down on coffee today. Half a cup all day, and 6 green teas. opps
Eeating clean is awesome, I feel like little piglet no more.

[galya]

Longest workout in the last few months.
Dec 05
Conventional DL
5x65kg
5x67.5kg (personal best)
5x70kg (personal best)
3x75kg(personal best)
3x75kg
2x75kg

It was stunning. I added more weight in a single workout than I did in 3 months.

DB lunge
8x7.5kg
8x7.5kg
8x7.5kg
8x7.5kg

Military press
5x25kg
5x25kg
5x25kg
5x25kg
5x25kg
5x25kg

Lat raise
8x7.5kg
8x7.5kg
8x7.5kg
8x7.5kg

Lat pull downs
5x45kg
5x45kg
5x45kg
5x45kg
5x45kg

One hand DB swing
8x12.5kg
8x12.5kg
8x12.5kg

Cable crunches and some Swiss ball pikes till failure, didi cable crunches with my regular weight and sets.

I like the new DL presonal best. I haven't felt that good about myself in a while. In lbs it sounds even more impressive.

Later on food.