Rules? I Got Yer Rules Right Here.

[Amblus]

Thanks for the support you guys. That scale had it coming.

How has your mountain biking improved/suffered with this? I'm just starting the program (Stage 1 workout A on Saturday) and I love to ride my bike also. That was the only thing I really used as a workout.... other than my martial arts training. It's still a little too muddy in the Pacific NW to ride mtb, but road season is quickly advancing! I can only
imagine that the lifting will help.

Ooh, another biker! I'm actually a bit worried that my weights workouts will suffer when the weather turns nice. Right now Sunday is my only ride day and spinning classes fill in for cardio. In a few weeks I know I'm going to want to ride after work instead of go to the gym. If I have to, I'll drop down to two weight lifting sessions a week instead of three, but I'm going to try and keep it up for as long as I can.

I've only gotten a few rides in since I started, but I felt pretty strong overall. I can only imagine it will help, you know?

[Amblus]

Today I did a local mountain bike time trial. I was curious to see how I stacked up since I've been lucky to get one ride in a week this winter. Here are the results (my name is in bold type):

Name..... time...
Kenny H ...... 30:43
Nate A ........ 31:22
Marty E ....... 35:32
Barry H ....... 35:48
Joshua E ..... 36:09
John N ........ 36:57
Adrien H ...... 37:55
Dennis J ...... 38:23
David R ....... 39:38
Wade C ....... 41:24
Doug H ....... 42:12
Jeff H .......... 44:40
Bill M .......... 46:28
Meredith N ... 49:43
Sarah M ....... 57:01

I'm incredibly happy to have landed in the middle of all the men! It was only five miles, but I haven't put in a hard effort like that since last fall. I think the weight lifting is definitely helping.

[_CQ]

Congrats on the race, thats really some kickass time you made. I just looked at your measurements again and its incredible we have almost exactly the same measurements from chest to calf (I just got my husband to measure my bicep and calf). I replied to you on my log about the photos, I will PM you when I upload them.

Oh, and by the way, the BioMeasure scale is totally inaccurate and varies with every measurement depending on your water intake/time of the day/whether your an athelete. I read up a lot about trying to get an accurate fat measurement and I think calipers are the best affordable way to go.

[Amblus]

Oh, you're totally right about that BioMeasure scale. It calculated bodyfat based on weight alone, which didn't account for the 4-5 pounds of water weight I was retaining last week. I'll have to hunt down someone at my gym who knows how to use calipers.

Okay, on to my workout from last Saturday:

Workout 1, B #6: 3x10

Deadlift - 65/10, 70/10, 70/10
Dumbell shoulder press- 20/10, 20/7, 15/10
Wide-Grip Lat pulldown - 55/10, 50/10, 50/10
Lunge - 20/10, 15/10, 15/10 (My knees started giving me trouble so I dropped the weight a bit.)
Swiss ball crunch- 12, 12, 12

A good day, generally. It looks like my lat pulldown weight dropped a lot, but it's because I am using a different machine than the one I use during the week. On the Atlantis machine I can do 65lbs but on the other one (Precor?) I can only do 50-55lbs. Same exact type of cable machine, wildly different weights. Drives me crazy.

Anyway, my big breakthrough was deadlifting 70 pounds, mostly because a few months ago at the college gym, an Adonis-like young man asked me if I was using the 70lb pre-set bar that was on the floor near me. I told him I wasn't using it, and thanked him for thinking I could even pick it up. His response was, "Hey, you never know!" And he was right!

[Fit4Him]

Good job on the deadlifts!!

[Velogirl]

Awesome deadlifts! And the time trial placement.

[Amblus]

Thanks! This is how the week has gone so far:

Monday: rest
Tuesday: Stage 1, WO A #7
Wednesday: spinning class
Thursday:Stage 1, WO B #7
Friday: rest
Saturday: Stage 1, WO A #8 and a spinning class
Sunday: ?

Details:

Stage 1, Workout A #7 (3x8)

Squats- 55/8, 55/8, 55/8
Push-ups - bw/8, bw/7, bw/8 (all 30 degree)
Seated Row- 75/8, 80/8, 80/8 (+5)
Step-up (step w/ six risers) - 20/8, 20/8, 20/8
Prone Jackknife - 15, 15, 15 (OW.)

Stage 1, Workout B #7 (3x8)

Deadlift - 70/8, 75/8, 75/8 (+5)
Dumbell shoulder press- 20/8, 20/8, 20/7 (almost!)
Wide-Grip Lat pulldown - 65/8, 70/8, 70/8 (+5)
Lunge - 20/8, 20/8, 20/8
Swiss ball crunch- 15, 15, 15 (with a weight held overhead)

When I was doing my warm-up sets for my shoulder presses I picked up 10 lb dumbbells and cracked up because they felt so light. Hee! I used to think they were the heavy ones.

[Amblus]

Woot! All I have left now is the two special workouts. Here's how the #8s went:

Stage 1, Workout A #8 (3x8)

Squats- 55/8, 55/8, 55/8
Push-ups - bw/7, bw/8, bw/8 (all 30 degree)
Seated Row- 75/8, 75/8, 80/8
Step-up (step w/ seven risers) - 20/8, 20/8, 20/8
Prone Jackknife - 15, 15, 15

Stage 1, Workout B #8 (3x8)

Deadlift - 75/8, 75/8, 80/8 (+5)
Dumbell shoulder press- 20/8, 20/8, 20/8 (finally!)
Wide-Grip Lat pulldown - 70/8, 75/7, 75/8 (+5)
Lunge - 20/8, 20/8, 20/8
Swiss ball crunch- 15, 15, 15 (with a weight held overhead)

Today I did the final B workout and my big triumph was FINALLY doing all three sets of shoulder presses with 20lb dumbbells. That's huge for me. I was all shaky and red in the face, but it felt so good!

Now all I have left are the two special workouts which I'll do Thursday and Saturday. Next week I'll probably take most of the week off from the weights, but I might spend one session nailing down all the new stuff in Stage 2.

Oh, stupid gym story:

During the week I workout in a university gym and for the most part the kids are pretty friendly. Today some dude was hogging the (only) squat rack and he kept wandering away from it for ages, leaving a heavily loaded bar set up. I just wanted to do my deadlifts so I asked him if he has much more to do. The answer? "At least three more sets, but you could use that" (gesturing at the Smith machine.)

I told him never mind and just found another oly bar and loaded it on the floor. Meanwhile he continues to do squats with 180 lbs loaded on the bar and has the worst form ever. Barely going to parallel and his heels were coming up with every rep. I felt like winging a plate at his head for wasting his time and mine. Ugh.

[Amblus]

I don't talk much about nutrition in my log, but that's mainly because i'm not really trying to lose and I tend to get really really intense (obsessed?) about my calories if I count them. I really just try to aim for balanced meals and snacks, while trying to avoid the junk. Here's what I ate yesterday:

breakfast:

oatmeal w/ raisins, walnuts and skim milk
coffee w/ skim milk

snack:

2% cottage cheese w/ nutty granola and vanilla protein powder mixed in

lunch:

sweet potato, lentil, kale soup w/ organic chicken sausage
small piece of crusty bread
lil hunk of herbed brie

snack:

unsweetened iced tea
red apple slices w/ natural peanut butter


PWO:

protein shake of skim milk, unsweetened vanilla protein powder and a teaspoon of Nesquik

dinner:

blackened broiled catfish filet
wilted spinach w/ grape tomatoes and corn
sad little 1/2 cup of jasmine rice
4oz of white wine

[beach_plums]

I can totally relate to the squat story. I work out at a university gym and the two squat racks are usually being used by the "squat team"--also known as the group of 4-6 burly young guys who load the bar up with as much weight as it holds and squat and deadlift for hours on end (seriously, I'm there some days for at least an hour and a half, they squat from before I get there until sometime after I leave) while oogling the cardio girls. I end up having to use the preloaded bars from time to time, which I really hate. When I'm lucky, I get there before they do and claim a squat rack.

[Amblus]

So last night I did my first "special workout" and it was special, alright, if by special I mean torture. What the crap, Alwyn? Anyway, here's how it went down:

10 minute warm up on elliptical, followed by some stretches, lunges, bodyweight squats. Then:

Squats - 40/32 (ugh. so pukey.)

Push-ups (from a counter) - 30

Seated Row - 60/21

Step-up - 10lb dumbbells/ 23 (each leg, so 46 total)

Prone Jack Knife - 21 (stopped when my arms started shaking really bad.)

Then I decided to go home, got as far as the locker room, turned around and did 14 minutes of HIIT on the stepmill. THEN I WENT HOME. FOR REALS.

But hey, not bad, huh? Here is the difference in weight in Stage 1, lowest and highest:

squat - 40lbs / 65lbs
seated row - 60lbs / 80 lbs
step up - 10lb dumbbells / 20 lb dumbbells

[LWilson212]

Great job on the "special" workout!

Sounds like you make some really good gains. And I love your description of your food - especially the sad 1/2 cup of rice. Sometimes I see the portion I alloted myself of something carby and I think, what was the point?

[Amblus]

Right? Isn't it awful when you start measuring portions and realize what a cup of something actually looks like? Sadness. Since I'm talking about food, here's what I ate yesterday:

breakfast:

oatmeal w/ raisins, walnuts and skim milk
coffee w/ skim milk

snack:

2% cottage cheese w/ nutty granola and vanilla protein powder mixed in

lunch:
salad bar salad - greens and fresh veggies topped w/ half a hardboiled egg, grilled chicken, chickpeas (and the tiniest spoonful of crumbled bacon you've ever seen.)
FF dressing
unsweetened iced tea
piece of fresh mango

snack:
apple slices
melon
chocolate dipped strawberry*
small custard tart topped with fruit*

*I went to a work party and this is what happened. Really, I should post the list of what I didn't eat.

PWO:

protein shake of skim milk, unsweetened vanilla protein powder and a teaspoon of Nesquik

dinner:
homemade parmesan chicken w/ high-protein pasta and marinara sauce
green salad w/ tablespoon of Caesar dressing
4oz of white wine

[Amblus]

Hello from my rest week! It's boring as crap here. I was really hoping to get some mountain bike rides in this week but the weather has not been cooperating. Instead it's looking about like this:

Monday: spinning class
Tuesday: HIIT on the stepmill
Wednesday: rest
Thursday: practice some of the Stage 2 moves, followed by HIIT
Friday: rest
Saturday: start stage 2 (maybe?) or a spinning class
Sunday: maybe a bike ride if the weather permits

I'm not very good at resting. I'm also FREAKING STARVING. SO HUNGRY NOM NOM. Watch out food! Here I come. (Time for lunch.)

PS. for all three of you that read this log: I work out at two different gyms and the cable machines are wildly different. One of them is a good 15 pounds different than the other and I can't figure out which one is correct. So, I can either do 55-60 or 70-75 depending on the machine and it's driving me crazy not knowing. I should probably see what other people can do in stage 1 and compare?

[Amblus]

Stage 2! I messed around on Thursday with the A workout just to practice and work out the routine. Today I did it for real:

Stage 2 - Workout 1A

A1. Front Squat/Push Press -45/8, 45/8

B1. Step-up - 20/10, 20/10 (step w/ 7 risers)

B2. Dumbbell one-point row - 12.5/10, 12.5/10

C1. Static lunge - 12.5/10, 15/10

C2. Push-up - 9, 8 (both sets 30 degree)

D1. Plank - 60 sec, 60 sec

D2. Woodchop - 25/10, 25/10

Thoughts:

Front squat/Push press: these freaking kill my wrists. The weight was fine as far as squatting and pressing, but having my wrists bent backwards was torture, so I guess I need to back away from the oly bar and go with a lighter pre-weighted bar. Wah.

Static lunge: I'm used to these and I can definitely add more weight.

Dumbbell one-point row: hahhahahaaa! Hi-Larious. I row, I fall. I row, I fall. Eventually I hope to do a whole set without losing my balance.

Woodchop: love it. I really love a move like this that I can feel in my abs.

I followed my A workout with a spinning class and then crawled home for my protein shake. Today's was my special Saturday blend: vanilla protein powder, skim milk, a spoonful of peanut butter, a teaspoon of honey, half a banana and some ice all blended up. Not quite a milkshake, but pretty tasty!

[LisaS]

was the banana frozen too? That always makes for a nice effect in the shake.