Does this log make my ass look fat?

[Karen411]

Originally Posted by nutbar

Back extension -- subbed the Swiss ball hyper doohickeys Lisa~ suggested down in the NR4W section: 3 x 6. Love these!! I actually felt them working in the right spots and wish I'd done these all along.

I love those, too, and wish I'd thought to ask for some kind of replacement before finishing stage 3 .

I just wanted to say you're making great progress here and I just caught up on your log after 10 days so I've gotten lots of laughs . (I'd love bulging bicep veins, but I've gotta pass on the bulging butt veins !)

[nutbar]

Bleh.

NR4W, Stage 4, Workout B, 1 of 4

Warmup: WGDL from box 3 x 135#, 3 x 155#.

Wide-grip deadlift from box: 1 x 8 x 175#, 2 x 7 x 175#. Used my newly-built deficit box for the first time today (for DLs anyway) and was very happy with it.

Bulgarian split squat: 1 x 8 x 60#, 1 x 8 x 25#, 1 x 8 x 35#. My right hip hurt at the bottom of the first set and my depth sucked the big one so I cut waaaay back on the weight for the second set. It was much better, so upped to 35# for the last set -- depth was fine again.

Underhand lat pulldown -- subbed chin ups: 3 x 8 with bar on squat rack and feet taking some weight on Swiss ball. Tried one on the Orgasmatron but only got 1/2 of the way up. I even sucked ass on the modified ones today, though. Right shoulder was popping and crackling through all sets.

Reverse lunge from box w/ forward reach: 3 x 8 x 32.5#e. I have no love for these. I just get them.

DB prone Cuban snatch: 3 x 8 x 12#e. Being too lazy to swap out my plate-loaded DBs and having hex DBs that only go up to 10#, I held a 10# DB and my daughter's 2# Barbie DBs in each hand to get the 12# each. Good thing I have orangutan hands.

Swiss ball crunch: 3 x 8 x 10# DB overhead, feet elevated on 18" step. Started off doing these with the DB long-arm overhead but my shoulders wanted nothing to do with it so ended up bent-armed overhead in a looney kind of way.

Reverse crunch: 3 x 8 x BW.

Lateral flexion -- Swiss ball side crunch: 3 x 8 x 10# DB overhead. Ditto as with the regular crunch.

Prone cobra: 3 x 120 seconds. #1: Confederate Railroad's "Trashy Women", #2: Chris LeDoux's "Hooked on an Eight-Second Ride", #3: Dwight Yoakam & Buck Owen's "Streets of Bakersfield". Apparently I needed some twang today.

HIIT: Hill runs x 5. We got another 3" of rain last night so the "runs" were more "leaps and bounds" over the water and mud but it toasted me nicely.

Notes:

1. I was in a hurry, trying to cram in a workout before bedtime chaos started in tonight so no real workout and rushed through rest periods again.

2. On the wide-grip deads, I have my hands out past the rings (Oly bar) but I got to wondering how wide everyone else goes?

3. I tore the skin on my right palm at some point during the workout (deads or chins, I presume?). Weird thing was it was not a callus or blister spot, just nowhere in the middle of my palm. I'm just talented that way, I guess.

4. I am just so no motivated for the past few weeks. Bleh. I need to get rid of this freaking stress and get some sleep or I won't be making much in the way of gains. Or, maybe I should just try to maintain what strength I have and use this as a "cutting" time since my appetite is so dull right now. I'm not really into the whole gain vs. cutting thing but if the circumstances are leaning in one direction... I dunno.

5. On my hill runs today, I got to thinking. (Uh-oh, says the peanut gallery.) I'm good at hill sprints. I'm okay at flat sprints. I suck at flat, slow runs. My stride is a goofy, long gazelle thing on hills but an even goofier short-strided upward floaty thing on flat, slower runs. If I worked on my stride, worked on getting the energy focused on the horizontal, rather than vertical, I might not suck so bad at (flat) distance runs. Not that it bothers me either way -- I run because I love it and I've never worried about time. But, I'm filing these thoughts away for later on when I might want to iron out my dorky running style. FYI: The thing that got me thinking about this today was my bra. I have to wear my really smooshy bra if I want to go for a slow run because there's just too much massive, painful floppage. But, I can wear a much lighter bra on my hill sprints because I'm a smooth, powerful machine on those, baby, and the floppage is minimal.

6. I have too many notes today.

[kfisherx]

On wide grip my trainer and I discussed this at my last session. You want to go out just slightly wider than your elbows and not much more. If you go too wide you will only work high lats.

Could it be that you are crashing from too few calories? I did that around xmas time and your symptoms are ringing familiar to my ears.

[SpacecityPaula]

Could it be overtraining combined with not enough sleep??? You do a helluva lot of lifting around your place in general. Combined with the Workouts and the HIIT, you may just be hitting a wall and need to back off of something a little.

[Kirjava]

Originally Posted by kfisherx

On wide grip my trainer and I discussed this at my last session. You want to go out just slightly wider than your elbows and not much more. If you go too wide you will only work high lats.

Could it be that you are crashing from too few calories? I did that around xmas time and your symptoms are ringing familiar to my ears.

Originally Posted by SpacecityPaula

Could it be overtraining combined with not enough sleep??? You do a helluva lot of lifting around your place in general. Combined with the Workouts and the HIIT, you may just be hitting a wall and need to back off of something a little.

I second these motions.
Perhaps cut out a weights workout next week, make sure you're really fuelling, and get more sleep if at all possible!!
I know it's so hard to do that when you're caught in a stressy, low-sleep rut. Don't want to preach (like someone who's stressed needs THAT), but if at all possible try to change things up so that you can get in a few good long sleeps. That combined with some good solid feeds might make you feel a little more revived.
When's the last time you took a full week off of lifting? It might be time for that, too.

[LWilson212]

Hey Diane-

I usually review the description of each exercise before starting a new segment from New Rules. I just re-read the wide-grip deadlift and Lou says your thumbs should be on the rings of the bar. Since I use a mixed grip I assumed that means the thumb of the overhand hand and the pinky of the underhand hand.

Sorry you are feeling run down. It took me a full week off to just start to feel normal and energetic again by the end of the week. Hope you get over the slump.

[Willie]

Originally Posted by Kirjava

I second these motions.
Perhaps cut out a weights workout next week, make sure you're really fuelling, and get more sleep if at all possible!!
I know it's so hard to do that when you're caught in a stressy, low-sleep rut. Don't want to preach (like someone who's stressed needs THAT), but if at all possible try to change things up so that you can get in a few good long sleeps. That combined with some good solid feeds might make you feel a little more revived.
When's the last time you took a full week off of lifting? It might be time for that, too.

I third them, and vote for (at least) the weekend off. Perhaps just some long walks?

[nutbar]

Thanks for the wide-grip positioning info, Karla and Leah! That's where I have my hands, too.

Thanks for the ideas, everyone.

I just took an entire week off last week, hoping that it would help. My appetite did tank last week but, this week, I'm doing my darnedest to get it ramped back up. But, I'm trying to coax it, not force it, because you know how you just feel like worse crap if you try to make yourself eat something even though you don't want it? So I'm trying to walk that fine line of balance between pushing and forcing.

It all just boils down to the stress level. That's causing the sleep issues. And both are causing the eating issues. Then all three of those are affecting my energy & strength levels and, therefore, workouts and motivation. So it all boils down to the root problem of recent stress which will either end (or lessen to tolerable levels) or I'll eventually adjust. Either way, it's a temporary situation so no worries, I'm just figuring out how best to get through it without losing any ground. It's all part of the game of life.

As part of my battle plan to re-energize, I had some pizza earlier in the week and a (black) bean-fest last night. Fighting stress has its perks! LOL

[SpacecityPaula]

Hey at least you know we've got your back, even though we won't walk behind you due to the bean fest

[MuscleMom23]

Diane, shew, did the stress thing. It took me out a couple of weeks, fatigue, digestive problems. I didn't want to eat, could do nothing BUT sleep.

You know you are going to come up out of it. I had no damage, it just will take me longer to goal, um, actually I managed to lose some weight finally!

[L'ilJ]

Hey Diane. Sounds like you're trying to do too much! If I were you, I would keep doing your weights workouts and cut out the HIIT / hill sprints. Just sub some nice EASY walking to burn some extra calories where you feel up to it. Trying to do uber weights workouts, dieting, HIIT, family stuff can add up to just too damn much. Plus, you have 5x the number of kids I do and I'm friggin exhausted!

Oh, do you ever use bands for assisted chins? I found they were really helpful in helping me work up to unassisted chins. And another thing, do you supplement w/Magnesium at all? I take it at night and it makes me sleepy like the dead.

Rock on...

[Espi]

Jill is right: cut out the sprints & HIIT work. Too much stress on top of a stressful life & training & diet schedule.

[tkinsley]

Originally Posted by L'ilJ

Hey Diane. Sounds like you're trying to do too much! If I were you, I would keep doing your weights workouts and cut out the HIIT / hill sprints. Just sub some nice EASY walking to burn some extra calories where you feel up to it. Trying to do uber weights workouts, dieting, HIIT, family stuff can add up to just too damn much. Plus, you have 5x the number of kids I do and I'm friggin exhausted!

Oh, do you ever use bands for assisted chins? I found they were really helpful in helping me work up to unassisted chins. And another thing, do you supplement w/Magnesium at all? I take it at night and it makes me sleepy like the dead.

Rock on...

Amen to what the Magnesium pusher sez.... seriously, Diane, if you do TOO much it just doesn't work. Whether that's due to compliance, half-assing it in the gym, or cortisol/stress hormone overload I'll leave to the experts to figure out. I can only judge based on my own experience (don'tcha hate anecdotal evidence?), but doing less has been working like a charm for me.

Just a thought...FWIW.
Oh, and you have five kids?!?! Damn. I have four stepkids--but only once a quarter--and even that part-time thing can be difficult as far as juggling stuff goes.

[kfisherx]

Yeah these ladies are right. The HIIT is major stressful to our workouts and bodies. It also buns up a lot of cals. If you stop the HIIT you probably will get the cals straighted out. Or maybe you should drop the kids instead?

Seriously girlfriend, make sure you change something 'cause we don't want ya to get sick.

[nutbar]

Hey, thanks, all!

Yep, I take a cal/mag/zinc supplement, as well as a multivitamin and fish oil caps. I'm like an old lady taking all of this crap!

Today was supposed to be a workout day but I'm still exhausted so I said screw it and did a few hours of gardening & went on a 2-hour hike around our property (about 24 acres). We're scoping out a new location for another house (because idiot neighbor's idiot son moved in with him and dragged a trailer right up next to the property line. Can't see them but can hear them when they're outside now. Not cool.) more centered on our property to keep away idiots on all sides. Anyway, we hiked clear up to the ridge and walked the ridgeline, then back down a gully wash area. Freaking gorgeous! And the views from the ridge are incredible -- can see the mountains on either side of us, as well as the valleys between us and them. Wow.

Got a little carried away there. Anyway...

I'm still working on re-upping my cals and am somewhat successful. I do love and look forward to both the hill sprints (HIIT) and the longer, slow run that I just added back in once or twice a week so I don't want to give them up, even temporarily. They're great stress relievers and very enjoyable for me. Even if they did nothing for fitness, I'd still do them both. Same for the lifting. So, I'll not be giving any of them up but I might have to try holding back a bit for a while, maybe even taking the lifting down to twice a week instead of thrice.

I think I'll give up housework. That should help.

Oh, bands for assisted chins... Nope, all I have are el cheapo tubes and that type of thing. On a good day, I can do most of one chin without any assistance but pull ups are a different story. Mainly, I just do what I can for my sort-of one, then move on to either negatives or, lately, the squat rack/Swiss ball set up. Frankly, I'm freaking impressed that I can do even close to a real one being near 200 pounds. LOL