Adventures with Afterburn

[gobbla]

good work. it might be slow but at least you're moving in the direction you wanted to go.

[tkinsley]

Yeah, I know Gobbla, I am such an impatient person sometimes... just my nature. I'm trying to think longterm here though, with varying success. Hey, BTW, did ya get MR yet?

OK, so Afterburn week one is finito today :

Week one/Day three

A1 Squat Bar x 20, 55x20
A2 T push up 8/side x 2
superset with 60 sec rest between exercises. Got my Chuck Taylors and let me tell ya, squats felt VERY different without the padded heel in all of the running shoes I normally lift in. I was feeling these enormously in my quads... weird.

B1 Step up (12 inch step) 20/leg, with 2kg wt 20/leg, 8lb med ball 20/leg
B2 Seated row to neck (rope) 50x20,55x20x2
superset with 60 sec rest between exercises. The rows were on a different cable row, so the weight is higher than last time but I don't know if it's "real" or not. I also realized that I was using the 24 inch step last time, NOT 12 inches like I thought. oops

C1 SHELC 20x2
C2 Swiss ball crunch 20x2
superset with no rest (supposed to be 60 secs, but come on...). SHELCs and me, we just disagree. I felt them more with a smaller ball than with the larger one, got a nice cramp and burn but they hurt more last time. The swiss ball crunches--found my sweet spot there and got a nice big ole crampy burn on those as well.

some rotator cuff stuff and pec stretching
done.

Still only doing 2 sets for much of this; 20s are killer. Also, I suspect that the squats and the stepups are going to hit me a lot harder with this flat shoe business. We'll see... I am looking forward to DLing in these things.

Oh yeah, and ran 2.4 miles this morning, easy-ish pace but tough this morning despite taking yesterday off. Oh well.

Still need to get energy work in today as well; guess I'll be using ye olde apartment "gym" for that one. ART in an hour... and I am dreading it slightly, haha!

[sona]

Hi, Tina~

I love the look of your current WO scheme--this is Afterburn, yes? Is this meant to be a fat loss WO or...?

BTW, I had problems with SHELC too, with FL II--it never stopped being a very awkward exercise for me, although I kept trying till the bitter end to approximate the photo in the book!

How was ART? Do you feel better today? And the headache(s)--have they diminished any? I know your poor car is out for 3 weeks, which is enough to give you a headache all by itself. But that was a nasty jolt you got when it happened--did the chiro have anything to say about that?

I love cheese, too, .... and peanut butter, and all that sort o' stuff. I also love volume though, and between the two, volume wins--which REALLY sucks if it is volume in re: peanut butter. I have been known to polish off a jar in a couple of days with a spoon

Man, is this me! I mean, being a volume eater--it was one of the reasons I used to be such a low-fat, low-cal veggie eater: I could steam a whole mess of cauliflower, broccoli, and brussels sprouts and eat to my heart's content. It's a lot harder when you're eating calorie-rich foods.

Hope you're planning a lovely holiday...with family? Well, with those you love, let's put it that way!

[tkinsley]

Yup, Sona, this is afterburn, and fat loss is definitely what I'm shooting for with it. Starting the second week (of 16 total; soon-to-be DH thinks I will be program shopping again before I get that far, LOL....
Head feels normal again... and now that I'm out of the rollerskate and in a V6, I am all out of angst on the car repairs. I hope your holiday is full of love, as well

****************************** ***************************
I/O warmup before I left for the gym. Yay, me! :p

The Dread Afterburn continues

Superset 1:
A1 Deadlift 65x20, 85x20, 95x20
A2 DB military press 20(ea)x20x3


Did my quarters on the DLs just as planned . I will try for quarters on two sets next go 'round and see how it goes. The DB military presses were still surprisingly tough. These lovely Chuck Taylors really made me feel MUCH more stable on the pulls. I can't wait to get back to lower reps again so I can see what I actually have in the tank!

Superset 2:
B1 Bulgarian hell squats 20/leg x 2, 15/leg
B2 DB pullover 15(ea)x20x2, 15x15

OUCH. No weight for evil Bulgarians.... 20 reps I thought was torture enough. Did the third set though slightly abbreviated; same with the pullovers. Next time I will finish all of these. Those friggin bulgarians just HURT.

Superset 3:
C1 single leg hip extension 20x2/leg10x2
C2 prone jackknife (on stab ball) 10x2 20/sidex2

Had to cross the supposedly extended leg over the working leg lower quad. The pain from my TFL and/or left glute medius was getting a little bit aggrieved from what I had done to it already

D1 prone cobra 60 sec x 1

Foam rolling on that hip area... tender.

Energy system work: 5 min warm up, 1 min work/2 min recovery x 3, 5 min cooldown on stationary bike (L15 or L16 for work--ehhh.... Only got HR up to 151, but good sweat. 4.5 miles/19 minutes

Merry Christmakwanzakkuh to all! I must confess, one of my best "gifts" this year was being steered here by my TT purchase. This is truly an awesome site, without all of the flaming and crap that goes on elsewhere. JP has really managed to bring together--and hold together--a wonderful and unique internet community.

[tkinsley]

I am surprisingly NOT sore from yesterday. A little tight in my hip flexors and adductors, and that L hip bone is giving me grief, but otherwise nuthin'. Guess this means I need to push it a little harder.

Just a little run today since the gym is closed:

4.5 miles/41 mins. I thought I was on my way to starbucks nirvana, but the store that was supposed to be open today was closed at 730 am. Oh well....

Food yesterday:

Cals 1705
Fat 31.5g
CHO 240 g
Pro 143 g

for some reason, I was jonesing for fruit last night and ended up eating an apple and an orange right before bed... better to crave that than chocolate chip cookies, I guess.

[tkinsley]

M/M before I left the house. My hip hurts--a LOT. No running for me today.

Week two/Day two

A1 Squat 55x20, 65x20x2
A2 T push up 8/side x 3

superset with 60 sec rest between exercises. Still acclimating to the chucks, really concentrating on staying in the hole for 2 seconds before powering out, which sucks. The t push ups have been kicking my ass for some reason as well, despite the fact that I was doing them weighted in NROL. Go figure.

B1 Step up (on bench, however high a standard bench is) 20/leg, 5#db ea hand 20/leg, 10# plate each hand 20/leg x 2
B2 Cable row to neck 40x20x2, 50x20

superset with 60 sec rest between exercises. The rows were on two different cable row apparati, which is why the weight is A: weeny and B: different between first two and last set. The last set was easy, I could have gone heavier. Step ups bothered my left hip.


C1 SHELC 20,20
C2 swiss ball crunches 20,20

superset with no rest (supposed to be 60 secs, but come on...). SHELCs and me, we still just disagree. I felt them more when I allowed my legs to actually flare outward as I rolled the ball in. Swiss ball crunches--I was fairly sick of it by then so I've done better.


Energy system work:

Gauntlet (stepmill)--I love this thing
5 min w/u
1 min work/2 min recovery L12/L13 work, L8 recovery x 3
5 min c/d

total: 19 mins

climbed about 90 floors or so, MHR up to 157. Much tougher than the bike. I wish the gold's closest to me had something besides really cruddy stairmasters... this particular (nicer) branch is an additional 10 min drive from me.

Yesterday's cals:

1600
Fat 30
CHO 184
Pro 149

In typical Tina fashion, I am contemplating rushing through this program a bit. I don't like 20 rep sets, I also would like to lift more than 3x/week, and I really hate these stupid SHELCs in particular. I may finish week 2 and move into what is supposed to be week 5... dunno yet. Of course, I'm still dealing with 15 rep sets, but at least I can move a little weight. ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGHHHHH HHHHH! We'll see. I'm feeling bitchy today, so I suspect that is playing a role in my ambivalence.
Damn it.

[tkinsley]

Although I HATE HATE HATE running on treadmills, looks like I will be forced to do so until this pain calms down... if I misstep on the road and hit a pothole or something (since I run before the sun comes up, this happens all the time) I'm screwed. That's what happened last time when this thing started and I was unable to run more than 8 miles/week for months.

Yes, I know. I should stop and not run for a couple weeks etc etc. However, given that I am addicted to my feelgoods/endorphins, it ain't gonna happen.

So this morning:

Run 3.2 miles/30:00, nice and easy. Feel aware of that left hip but not painful. I will roll it and do some M/M stuff after work.
Cycle hills Mt Kilamanjaro route: L7 14 mins 3.5 miles

Total exercise time this week: 310 minutes

Macros yesterday:
Cals 1585
Fat 32.5 g
CHO 217 g (44 g fiber)
Pro 124 g

I am still in a funk in re: afterburn. I need to add a fourth day to the lifting; it may be just screwing around in the gym for 30 mins/week but I am adding something. Weeks 5-8 are also only a 3x/week lifting scheme, so there is no relief in immediate sight. Anyway, I will stick with it this week and add a fourth day and see how I do. It would actually be a relief to have one day of NOT 20 rep sets :p

[gobbla]

can you bike\stair climb\eliptical\row?

[tkinsley]

Originally Posted by gobbla

can you bike\stair climb\eliptical\row?

I can and do.... but I don't get the same sense of well-being and overall de-stressing from those like I do from running. Also, the stupid AF makes me run as well, so there's that. I also do SO enjoy maxing out my PT tests just to poke a stick in their collective eye--and get a free day off from seeing clinic, LOL!

I think if I stick to every other day on the treadmill for a couple of weeks this will calm down again. Plus, the ART that I'm getting should help as well. I hope.

[UConnJulie]

Tina, I'm psyched to follow your journey with Afterburn ... I hope to follow that in the spring some time ... I was going to do it sooner, but with the PSMF diet that I'm following, I could never handle the intensity/volume ...

[tkinsley]

Well, there IS the option of "only" doing 2 sets of 20, Julie... LOL!

This morning:

Energy system work 1:00 work/2:00 recovery x 3
Recumbent cycle L16/L17/L16 for work intervals, L9-10 recovery.

20 mins total. Yawn.

I had planned to do strength training today, but DB pullovers are on the roster today and my serratus anteriors are killing me. Not sure why, unless it's the I/O stuff and the T push ups the other day.... weird.

If I do anything today, it will be minimal. Oh, decided to join the gym with the kettlebells and the oly lift platform--military discount makes it 42 bucks/month but should be interesting. Maybe I'll even do some of those renegade rows with the kettlebells they have at the place--those crazy looking ones that Galya has in her log

Also am checking into free T4, T3, and thyoid autoantibodies. That would explain a lot, namely the bloat, constipation, and general sluggishness I've been having--oh yeah, and the problems with dropping lbs. It really would explain a lot of things.

[UConnJulie]

Tina, I have considered buying myself some kettlebells for my home gym ... but I've heard that they are a bit addicting so if you get one set, you will want more and more!!! Maybe in a few months ...

Ha Ha ... two sets of 20 ... ha ha!! I only made it through 4 rounds of my barbell complex yesterday when I've been making it through 8 rounds!! I am psyched to kill my body with Afterburn though ... should be fun!!

[sona]

Lots going on in here, Tina--you definitely sound as if you're going through some kind of metamorphosis. And I hear you on wanting another day in the gym--how much damage to the Afterburn goal(s) do you think you'd do if you just went in there for one extra WO/week and blew yourself away doing whatever you wanted (exercises, weights, reps, etc.)? If it helped knock out some extra testosterone or offered up additional endorphins, could it do that much harm?

BTW, I feel the way you do about SHELCs. I've failed with them, although I keep trying now in my warm-ups to manage two good sets of 12 reps. But I can't get the form down, and my hams resent me. I wonder if I'll ever get the hang of them.

Also am checking into free T4, T3, and thyoid autoantibodies.

Terrific news! The free T4 and free T3 will tell you so much more about how well your system is converting and integrating T3--the state of your metabolism. Could answer several questions.

Sorry about all the hip pain, Tina. I hope that subsides, since you love running outdoors. But yeah--one swift trip onto your keister, and you'll be worse off than ever. How's the weather there? How long do you feel okay running outside? (I'm a real wimp on that score--although in the old days I did run even in the snow.)

Could you tell me a bit about these new shoes you have? Are they for stability in squatting or something? I'm always interested in learning more about decent "equipment."

Take it easy, Tina, and have fun with the new kettleballs gym!

--Sona

[kuri]

Just stopping by to say good work. Way to keep it up through the holidaze!

Chris

[galya]

Tina, could your hip pain be soft tissue ralated? Seems like your leg/glute muscles can use a massage and some foam rolling love

[tkinsley]

Originally Posted by kuri

Just stopping by to say good work. Way to keep it up through the holidaze!

Chris

Thanks, Chris... obsession CAN be a positive thing

Galya, it is definitely soft tissue related--it's at the insertion area for TFL and medial glute, not sure which it is or if it's both, but dayyyyummmm I hate chronic repetitive injuries. My ART guy worked the heck out of it last weekend (holy OW!) and will do it again this weekend; hopefully the foam roller, his sadistic thumbs, and the treadmill will allow me an uneventful recovery.

Well, Sona, thyroid is well within normal limits. TSH is at the low end of normal... free T4 at the upper end of the reference range, and free T3 the same. I'm just waiting on the antibodies now, but looks like I can't blame my "glands" for the slow progress I'm having. Oh well, I really didn't want to have to be on supplemental thyroid hormone for life, anyway.

I'm sure my poor sleep quality and overall work pace don't help my cortisol production... but that aspect of my life won't change until after I sit for my boards in August. So, if the good old adrenals are screwing my metaphorical pooch, I guess there's not much I can do to address that.

What I truly suspect is that I just need to SUCK IT UP and work harder! Hoooooahhhhh! Oh, wait.... I'm air force. Woohoo! Bring on dem kettlebells! I love new toys.

Diet yesterday:
Cals 1420
Fat 33g
Pro 130g
CHO 174g (37 g fiber)

[tkinsley]

Early morning rushed