Go with the flow!

[Espi]

Thanks. The heel has been a continuous problem since 2002 and it just won't go away. Jumping back into HIIT at full speed after a week of rest wasn't a smart move.
I'm going to consult a guy who's good with shoes. He was recommended to me by someone who also has a heel spur problem. I am not quite sure what I really want. Either a shoe that's most fit for running or a shoe that's mostly fit for lifting. I'm particularly interested in having the heels slightly raised.

Was reading that T-nation article on the joint-by-joint breakdown of problems for squatting and mine is definitely ankle mobility/flexibily.
Other than placing small disks below my feet I can't think of much else to do. Problem for front squats is that I find it awkward to take the bar off the barbell rack and then walk back and place my heels on the disks (2 5kg disks or 1 10-15 kg disk). This is why I've done without them sofar, but this requires very wide sumo-style squatting.

Form really goes out of the window during these 20 rep squats.. and I'm feeling it during the step ups!

[UConnJulie]

NICE JOB with FLIII ... it looks so intimidating on paper that I was afraid to even try it!! Kudos to you!!

[Victoria]

Espi...wow, FL3! I did FL1 & FL2 and got a little spooked when I saw FL3. So I switched to TT workouts, which I'm liking very much. Great job with the workouts!

[Espi]

Julie & Victoria, I'm cheating big time!
Not really running from one exercise to the other but writing down results, so it is often up to 60 secs. Waiting for longer than 60s between circuits.
Not doing the
- explosive pushups but regular (knee) pushups
- push presses but bb shoulder presses (military)
- full ROM for Bulgarian split squats
- doing Swiss ball crunches both times for the abs.

The only thing I do that's a bit heavier/harder is not doing a regular 20-rep back squat but a 20-rep front squat

.............................. .........................

Tuesday July 19
TRAINING NROL Lifter Fat Loss 3 – week2 Workout A
all weights in kilograms

NO DYNAMIC STRETCHING Today

A1 deadlift
WU: 55x6
65x10-10-12-11
Taking wts a tad higher

A2 knee pushup
BWx4 (normal) + 8 (knee) – 12-12-12

A3 Bulgarian split squat L/R
(2x7)x 10-10-10-12
1kg more than last week. To be honest, twas not a full ROM

A4 2-pt db row (standing db row with 1 arm on back)
15x 11-12-12
16x12
Felt I could easily up the wt so did this in last set.

B1 deadlift off box
47,5x20-21
2,5 kg more than last week.

B2 db bench press
(2x9)x22-26
1 kg more than last week

B3 walking lunge with side bend
BW+5 kg db x10-10 each side
Took 1 kg less than first time but last week it was BW-only.

B4 seated cable row (cable machine)
21,3x20
23,8x22
Started with same wt , upped for 2nd set

C1 Swiss ball crunch
BW+3kg ball x15-17
Again, no hanging leg raise for fear of hurting shoulders

D1 chinup
BWx1
Just one lame-assed chin.

Cardio : Metabolic Overdrive wk9: none today
None again…. Being really lazy.

General: probably had too many carbs pre-WO , since I felt a tad sleepy.

WO-drink : got an aloe-vera drink w peach flavour w added honey for free as it’s my b-day. Tastes nice, might want to try it another time.

Training statistics
Volume: 15621 kg
# of sets: 29 (incl. WU)- # of reps: 321 - avg reps/set :11,1 - kg/rep 48,7 kg

[Espi]

WTF, moving around in the kitchen and suddenly a sharp pain in my knee. It went away again, but I'm starting to wonder whether the NROL FL3 is a good choice for my poor clumsy body.

It's weird.. I used to be really good at high rep stuff, but then I would always do them in a controlled way and taking my time in between sets. Yesterday I paid more attention when doing the box-DLs that I'd not do the reps too fast after another.
It might be that squatting down in order to lay back the bb on the floor may have made me move the knee into a wrong plane and I've been placing bad stress on it. I've been slacking a bit before and not let the bb hit the floor, so I did it more RDL-style before.
I had a lil' bit of knee pain during FL2 when doing snatch-grip DL that somehow made me do it standing sumo-style. Again bad stress.

It's bugging me big time how low weight high rep exercises can cause all kind of problems.

Also, they are wearing me out , similar to what cardio does, and then make me resent doing the HIIT in addition. Really, I'd rather lift heavy , not be so wired and then do a short sweet HIIT-session.
OTOH, I'm not a quitter.. still 7 sessions to go for FL3.

[Espi]

Saturday July 21
TRAINING NROL Lifter Fat Loss 3 – week 2 Workout B
all weights in kilograms

NO DYNAMIC STRETCHING today

A1 front squat
WU: 25x6 / 28x5 / 30x5
37x10-12-3
Upped with 1 kg. Broke off in 3rd set because wrist suddenly hurt too much. And carried on with
A1 Smith back squat
60x8 - 10
It’s been ages since I did these. And actually, I’ve got to admit I enjoy doing them, as I can go much heavier here than with front or goblet squats. No knee or back pain either coz of backward slant.

A2 UH lat pull down
42x12-12-11-12
All at 42kg (up from 38,5 kg)

A3 step up
BW+(2x6)x 12
BW+(2x8) x 10-10-10 for each leg
Forgot that the wt I’d used last time(s) was 8kg, not 6kg.

A4 standing military bb press (instead of db push press)
24x11
23x10
22x10
21x10
Upped with 1kg again.

B1 Smith squat
45x20-20


B2a neutral grip chinup
BWx2-1

B2b wide grip lat pulldown
37x18-17
Upped with 2 kg (actually 5lbs)


B3 step up
Skipped it since I was fearing knee problems because of sloppy execution.

B4 db shoulder press
(2x7)x18-20
Upped with 1 kg.

C1 Swiss ball crunch
BW+5kg medicin ball x 15
Upped with 5 kg, and then skipped the rest.

D1 neutral grip chinup
BWx1-1

Cardio : Metabolic Overdrive wk9
Once again, skipped it. Heel didn’t feel good.

General: OK workout, thanks to the extra stims (caffeine & Fortega plus citrulline malate). Today I decided to skip the remainder of the FL3 program and start doing my previous FemFit routine (UB/LB with progressive loading along with the menstruation cycle) once again. Then I’ll hopefully have the drive again to do cardio and go back to more dynamic stretching.
There are 2 reasons for ditching the FL3 program: after having done high rep workouts for a tremendous period, I’m finally really really really digging the low rep stuff. And resent how easily I can both injure myself (shoulders, knee, wrist) when rushing things. Also, I don’t really believe in high rep workouts for cutting. At least, not when they aren’t paired with heavy ass-busting lifts. I’m missing exercises like chins and more specific triceps work, they are flattening. And while HIIT can do more for me to burn calories, I’m feeling too exhausted by the end of a high –rep workout to do the cardio. Unless I want to be drained for the rest of the day : been there, done that. No more.. good friends finally made me stop that madness.

Training statistics
Volume: 19474 kg
# of sets: 31 (incl. WU)- # of reps: 279- avg reps/set :9,0 - kg/rep 69,8 kg

[Lost Dog]

good workout!

[Espi]

Tuesday July 19
TRAINING FemFit Routine 8 WO 1
all weights in kilograms

DYNAMIC STRETCHING
1 supine row x 10
2 knee pushup x10
3 Russian UB twist w 5kg ball x10
4 lateral lunge x10
5 wind mill x10


A1 Yates row (UH grip)
WU: 27,5x10 (-2)
Wave 1 + 2:
37,5x13 (+1)– 40x14 (+2)
42,5x12 (+1) – 45x12 (+1)
47,5x10 (0) – 50x10 (0)
Approx same as last time on April 10.
]
A2 db press
WU : (2x8)x10 (-3)
Wave 1+2:
(2x10)x14 (+2) – (2x12)x14
(2x12)x12 (+1)– (2x14)x12
(2x14)x10 (0) – (2x16)x10
Had left my 1 kg wrist weights at home so had to up with 2x2 kg instead of 2x1 kg. (dumbbell weights go up by 2 kg at the time between 10-32 kg), so no comparisons for 2nd wave.

B1 military press
23x10
22x8
21x8
Did these on Saturday, with 10 reps for all sets, apparently I’m being tired.

B2 pull ups
BWx2-1-1
This really should get better!

C1 wood chop
16,3x10 (-2)
Haven’t done these in several months so not too bad actually

C2 renegade row
BW+4x15 (0)
Same amt of reps! Even had to look them up to remember what it was like.

Not with kettle bells but with a regular db!
D1 exorotation
3,8x14 (+2)

E1 standing face pull
8,8x22

F1 close grip lat pull down
28x30 (+8)
Meant to be high rep.

Cardio
Yes! Finally not feeling exhausted after a WO, and since heels still seem to be easily aggravated, I’ve resorted to the tougher cardio: rowing on a Concept2 .
Will be rowing 2000m or 1000m every workout as there’s a contest going on in my gym. Not that I’ll be winning it, but it’ll help me focus a bit more on improvement. I’d thought my time sucked but apparently I’ve not practiced rowing enough as it was only surpassed 9 times out of the 25 times I’ve used it in… 27 months. Yes, that’s right, only about once a month.

OK, so here goes:
2000 m in 11:31.0 min – 10420 m/hr (+946)
AveW = 68 (+17)
Kcals burnt: 102 kcal – 531 kcal/hr (+57)
Last time I used it was Jan 2 this year, when I rowed for 10 mins and got to 1576m.

General: very relieved to be back to a simpler workout. I’m almost tempted to go back to a real full body WO but I’ll probably take up 1-2 more exercises during every WO, something I’d been doing before = Exercises you’ve never tried before. This will bring the ‘surprise’ component in without exhausting myself.

WO-drink : diluted date syrup w Endure

Training statistics
Volume: 9322 kg
# of sets: 29 (incl. WU)- # of reps: 332 - avg reps/set :11,4 - kg/rep 28,1 kg

[Espi]

Yanno, I really think I'm not made for CNS-challenging exercises that combine too many movements.
I was really digging it that I didn't feel so exhausted after the workout and could still do some cardio.

Speaking of which I'm almost tempted to go to the gym today as I've entered this rowing challenge. I've been asking around about proper rowing technique and it seems I've been doing it all wrong. Now I want to practice how to do it right.

THe 11:31 min for 2000 m is pityful but still better than 2/3rds of what I've done before. But to feel satisifed I want to go under 10:00 mins. I've got only 8 sessions left if I train every other day. But 16 when I go every day. Then I could just do a 5 min session on those days after warming up.

[Espi]

Tuesday July 24
Cardio
Was explained how to improve on rowing technique : turns out to be more difficult when trying to put it into practice. At least times were better now.
1000 m in 5:08,8 min – 11658 m/hr (+1238)
AveW = 95 (+27)
Kcals burnt: 53 kcal – 618 kcal/hr (+87)
500 m in 2:27,3 min – 12220 m/hr (+562)
AveW = 110 (+15)
Kcals burnt: 27 kcal – 660 kcal/hr (+42)

If my shoulders and hips aren’t complaining too much (hips do), then I’ll try to get in 1 session every day for the next 2 weeks.

Some other girl improved on me by almost 2 mins and got to around 9:30 (not sure) for the 2000m so I know where to aim for now.

[stingo]

Glad to see you're on a workout that you like better. You have to like what you're doing otherwise you'll burn out on it, so good on ya for making the decision to change.

Incidentally, I read the first post in your log - I too have balance problems (chronic poor circulation in the legs, particularly the left) and eyesight problems (keratoconus in the left eye makes it blurry all the time, even with glasses) - so I can certainly sympathize.

[Espi]

Yes,I think that this, for people like us that have balancing problems, even when we want to improve on ourselves, will always remain problematic. I've wanted to become better here, but it's too much wishful thinking it will ever be better than average.

In short, the NROL workouts for fat loss at least, are already so challenging on the balancing front that it may be too stressful for me to lose weight on it. I've had this happen to me in the past before, when I was exercising too much and undernourished. This time I wasn't undereating at all, but maintenance still dropped.

I've got all interesting ideas though on what I can do to keep things interesting like trying out complexes AFTER my normal workout before the cardio. A complex with perhaps only 3-4 different exercises in order to not let my brain explode. So actually just like FL3 but with exercises that can be done by me and don't need careful logistics.

[stingo]

Originally Posted by Espi

In short, the NROL workouts for fat loss at least, are already so challenging on the balancing front that it may be too stressful for me to lose weight on it. I've had this happen to me in the past before, when I was exercising too much and undernourished. This time I wasn't undereating at all, but maintenance still dropped.

Interesting idea - perhaps your body releases too much cortisol when you do that type of workout, so the net result is a diminishment not an enhancement. Have you done any body weight exercising?

Well I know my balance has improved since doing NROL, but it's not where I'd like it to be, but then again what is...?

[Espi]

Yes, I'm definitely thinking there's overproduction of cortisol. This is one of the main reasons I'm overdosing on carbs during a workout. This seem to blunt cortisol. One of the telltale signs is probably that ever since I cut down on the volume of a workout (do less sets and shorter cardio), I've finally developed DOMS. DOMS is actually a kind of inflammation and since cortisol is a natural corticosteroid, things fell into place.

What do you mean with 'body weight exercising'? As an idea for complexes?

I've just read about one BW complex:

1. Prisoner Squats (unweighted goblet squats)
2. Push-ups
3. Split Squats
4. Inverted Row (AKA "fat man pullups" or supine rows)
5. Step-ups
6. Mountain Climbers (just like it sounds, pretend you're climbing up a wall - except you're horizontal on the floor/ my term: Spiderman crawl)

[stingo]

Yes, forgive my imprecise terminology, I'm not as well-versed as I'd like. Like you'd said, you can do them as circuits much in the same way the first part of FL3 is designed, but they use minimal equipment (aka minimal logistics) to do. If done fast enough I think they'd count toward your cardio. You might want to check out Ross Enamait's site for more ideas. I bought his Never Gymless book and it has exercises listings/progressions and workouts which use minimal or homemade gear. You can also see him doing some of the exercises in the videos he has on site.

[Espi]

Some of these exercises are already part of my dynamic warmup that I'd abandoned during the course of FL3.
Due to logistic problems I could do 1-2-3-6 after another and then go upstairs for 4-5 . I'll be thinking about it for sure!