Okay, so I didn't do anything last night except bowl. However, I do think I figured out what was causing my stomach problems. It seems to be the glucosamine sulfate pills I was taking for my knee. Apparently they don't agree with me.
So, I was feeling pretty good today.
Stage 5 Workout A-1
1 Arm DB Snatch 3x4ex25
DB 1-leg Romanian Deadlift 3x4ex25/25/30e 30 was probably too heavy...
BB bent-over row 3x4x85/95/95
DB 1 arm overhead snatch 3x4x(5/10| 10/20 | 10/20)
DB incline bench press 3x4x25e
planks -- 60-40 | 60-45 | 45 --give up (on steps - placed on treadmill)
Reverse wood-chop 3x4x16/20/20e
BW matrix -- 2:55 (rest 5:50) 2:45 WOW
.5 mile on treadmill for a warm-up.
I wasn't sure how this would go. But the knee mever bothered me, so I just kept pushing. I was not going to do the BW matrix if I was having any problems, but obviously it went well.
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Karen -- Not going in circles anymore!
Rough day yesterday. My daughter called at 4 in the morning, on her way to ER. She had been sick for 2 days, vomiting, diarrhea, and just miserable. I went and met her in case they sedated her and she needed a ride home. Two bags of saline and some anti-nausea and anti-cramping medicine and today she says she is feeling great.
But, I left work early to go home and nap (due to only about 4 hours of sleep) and grabbed McDonald's on the way home. French Fries!!! And then my husband and I went out to dinner and I ate a lot of peanuts at the Steak House, along with steak, salad, etc.
So lots of salt and it showed on the scales today. Our biggest loser contest is having an alternate weigh-in next Monday as it's Spring Break here, so I'm opting to wait until then hoping the water weight will be gone by then.
I did get a mini-workout in on the Wii, DDR is a lot of fun! I think my husband gets a kick out of watching me, I'm so uncoordinated. Of course he won't even try it, so I must be better than him... heehee.
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Karen -- Not going in circles anymore!
BB Romanian DL, Bent-over row 4x4/85/85/90/90
Partial 1 Leg Squat 4x4xBW/BW/5e/5e
Negative chin-ups 4x4xBW
Back Extensions (on ball) 4x4x15
YTWL 4x4x5e
Swiss-ball crunch 4x4x16 (feet on bench, arms extended over-head)
Pike Jackknifes (on ball) 4x4xBW
Hanna Lat Flexions III 4x4xBW/BW/5/5
Prone Cobra 2 120/90
Did 1 mile on treadmill -- 14 minutes. Knee wsa fine until I tried to cool down on treadmill. Then it felt tight and achy so I just walked it out at the end.
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Karen -- Not going in circles anymore!
Wow, that last workout didn't seem too bad when I did it. In fact, it felt really good! But yesterday and today I am feeling it in places that haven't been sore in a while.
It's a good kind of sore, and I think the main culprit was the negative chin-ups even though I felt that I was not doing them very well. I could jump up, and even hold it (for a 1/4 of a second) but I'm too weak to lower myself slowly... apparently they were still challenging my muscles )
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Karen -- Not going in circles anymore!
1 Arm DB Snatch 4x4ex25
DB 1-leg Romanian Deadlift 4x4ex25e
BB bent-over row -- 4x4x95
DB 1 arm overhead snatch 4x4x(10/20)
DB incline bench press 4x4x25e
planks -- 40 | 60 | 60 (on steps - placed on treadmill)
Reverse wood-chop 4x4x20e
BW matrix -- 2:50 (rest 5:40) 2:30
1 mile on treadmill for a warm-up.
Felt good except for the planks. My upper abs,and lower ribs are still sore from Thursday's attempt at chin-ups.
No red (except for BWM), but I did go ahead and do 4x4 instead of the 3x4 I did for the first workout of Stage 5. The 1-arm overhead squats are still awkward, but getting better.
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Karen -- Not going in circles anymore!
I've been bad about keeping track...last week was busy
Friday: Stage 5 Workout B-2
BB Romanian DL, Bent-over row 4x490
Partial 1 Leg Squat 4x4x5e
Negative chin-ups 4x4xBW
Back Extensions (on ball) 4x4x15
YTWL 4x4x6e
Swiss-ball crunch 4x4x16 (feet on bench, arms extended over-head)
Pike Jackknifes (on ball) 4x4xBW (last setmore like regular jackknifes -- no "pike")
Hanna Lat Flexions III 4x4x5
Prone Cobra 2 120/120/120
Did .75 mile on treadmill -- 15 minutes. Was just walking because my shoes were soaked!!!
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Karen -- Not going in circles anymore!
1 Arm DB Snatch 4x4ex30
DB 1-leg Romanian Deadlift 4x4ex25e
BB bent-over row -- 4x4x95
DB 1 arm overhead snatch 4x4x(10/20)
DB incline bench press 4x4x25e
planks -- 60 - 50 - 40 (on steps - placed on treadmill)
Reverse wood-chop 4x4x20e
BW matrix -- 3:00 (rest 6:00) 2:45
1 mile on treadmill for a warm-up.
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Karen -- Not going in circles anymore!
BB Romanian DL, Bent-over row 4x4x90
Partial 1 Leg Squat 4x4x8e
Negative chin-ups 4x4xBW
Back Extensions (on ball) 4x4x15/15/18/18
YTWL 4x4x6e/6/5/5 (right elbow was feeling stressed, so dropped back to 5lb)
Swiss-ball crunch 4x4x16 (feet on bench, arms extended over-head)
Pike Jackknifes (on ball) 4x4xBW
Hanna Lat Flexions III 4x4x5
Prone Cobra 2 120/120/120
Did 2 mile2 on treadmill -- 25 minutes.
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Karen -- Not going in circles anymore!
Okay, I've been getting off track, and I realized I was not looking forward to my workouts. Stage 5 just wasn't very fun. I was looking forward to Stage 7 though --- so I went ahead and jumped. I'd never planned on doing Stage 6 -- maybe later sometime.
So today I did the first Stage 7 workout. It's a killer!!!! I sometimes had to stop during a lift to catch my breath and the 30 second rests between were just long enough to bring my heart rate don't a bit. I basically never caught my breath!
A -- BB Squat -- 1x20x55 1x8x55 I misread at first and did 20 of these the first set. I may go up on weight next time since it's only supposed to be 2x8.
As you can see, I realized after the first 2 sets, that I had bitten off more than I could chew. I was huffing and puffing the whole time. It's all good though. My heartrate monitor said I burned off 800 calories during the hour (including the treadmill) and my avg heart rate was 141 for the hour. That's a lot of calories.
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Karen -- Not going in circles anymore!
A1 -- BB Incline Bench Press -- 1x4x45 2x8x40 (45 was too heavy)
A2 -- DB Bent Over Row -- 1x8x20 1x8x25
B1 -- DB Squua w/ heels elevated 4x20x15e
B2 -- DB Shoulder Press -- 1x20x15e 3x20x8e (15e was too heavy)
B3 -- Step Up (steps onto bench) 4x20ex5e
B4 -- BB Pull-Overs 3x20x35 1x20x35 (the last few of the third set were pretty weak. I really wanted to get 4x20 of everything, but meh, at least I was close.)
1 mile on treadmill - 14 minutes.
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Karen -- Not going in circles anymore!
Well, another minor setback. I had a great weekend, lifter Friday, then bowled Friday night, got up and took the kids to a tournament Saturday early afternoon, and then took a little nap when we got home.
Apparently the nap did not agree with me. I felt great up until then, but ever since I uncoiled from the couch (which I do almost every weekend) ny lower back has been acting up. I know I have 2 bulging lumbar discs from way back, and the pain is not bad -- just nagging -- so I haven't been to see anyone. But I'm not going to do any lifting until it stops nagging.
I'm using ibuprofen and ice, aspercreme (which helps with the ache in the evening) and taking it easy -- no lifting, no stairs, basically not doing much of anything.
Ah well, hopefully it will be better next week and I can get going again. I've been having fun (did I just say FUN) with Stage 7, and Starting Strength arrived yesterday and I'm trying to decide if I want to do that or NROL next.
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Karen -- Not going in circles anymore!
I'm still here, and my back is still achy. Not *too* bad, just still feeling twitchy and tight lower right side, into the buttock and hip.
I had actually planned to try and get some kind of workout yesterday, but I had an excruciating headache. It came out of nowhere yesterday afternoon, and Advil, Aleve, and a warm bath didn't do anything to relieve it. I finally took a percocet and it took the edge off. It seemed to tied to tighness in my neck and went up the back of my skull.
I have felt fine this morning, although as the day goes on I'm feeling some tightness in my neck. I really hope it's not coming back. If it does, then I'm definitely going to see someone and find out what this is.
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Karen -- Not going in circles anymore!
you might try tennis-ball-rolling your midback or shoulder blade area and the upper traps into the neck - either put the ball in a sock and do it standing up against a wall or on the floor or with the help of another - when I get neck tension headaches I can usually find a tender knot further down.
Well, I saw my doctor last week and got some meds. The back is doing much better now, but the neck is still a little stiff.
I wanted to get started back but I didn't think I could jump back into the middle of Stage 7. So, instead I started NROL Break-In. I kept the weights fairly light and paid strict attention to form. It went pretty well and really tired me out. I feel weak, but at least I'm back in there.
NROL Break-In Workout A1
Front Squats 1x15x65 1x15x55 No squat rack, so front squats. I thougth 65 was okay, but it was really tough so I dropped it down to 55 lbs.
Static Lunge (DB) 2x15ex15e Dumbbells, because I tried getting the bar on my triceps, but even light it was too awkward and uncomfortable. I need to work on this.
2 Point DB Row - elbow out. 2x15ex15
Push-up 2x15xBW (on bench)
Swiss-ball crunch 1x15xBW 1x20x10 (feet on bench, arms crossed over chest)
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Karen -- Not going in circles anymore!
Okay, neck is feeling better. I keep meaning to use my foam roller, but I'm a little afraid. That point where the back meets the neck is tender and I'm afraid to agravate it.
Today NROL Break-In Wrokout B1
Deadlift 1x15x85 1x15x95
Step-Ups 2x15ex15e (on step -- onto bench)
DB 1-arm Press 2x15ex15
Negative Chin-Ups (jump and try to lower slowly) 2x15xBW
Reverse Crunches 2x20xBW
.75 miles on treadmill, 10 minutes.
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Karen -- Not going in circles anymore!
Played on my Wii yesterday and used it for a cardio warmup before lifting today. The "My Fitness Coach" is fun and I can do that while DH is on the treadmill. I'm glad he is working out with me!
NROL Break-In Workout A1
Front Squats 2x15x60
Static Lunge (DB) 2x15ex15e
2 Point DB Row - elbow out. 2x15ex15
Push-up 2x15xBW (on bench)
Swiss-ball crunch 2x15x10
I really worked on form for my squats. I'm trying to absorb all the info from Rippetoe's(sp?) Starting Strength book and the videos people have been linking to in various posts. Also trying to really pay attention to push-up form which has been talked about.
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Karen -- Not going in circles anymore!
If you look up Squat Rx (not sure if it's one word or two) on Youtube, you should come up with an excellent series of squatting tutorials.
Yes, I've watched those. But looking at the Mark Rippetoe squat videos and reading Starting Strength made me re-examine a few things.
I don't think I was getting my feet/knees wide enough for one thing. Also, I don't think I was really driving with my hips as Rippetoe emphasizes.
Working out at home has the disadvantage of having to critique myself. I know I could post video and get lots of advice, but I'm just not comfortable posting video of myself. (And it's not just here, it's anywhere.)
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Karen -- Not going in circles anymore!
Feeling much better overall, although I managed to pull a muscle in my mid-back Saturday... as usual, not doing anything special, just lifting a container of cat-litter out of the bed of the truck. I was worried that it would interfere with the workout, but it didn't bother me much.
Today NROL Break-In Workout B1
Deadlift 1x15x95 1x15x100
Step-Ups 2x15ex15e (on step -- onto bench)
DB 1-arm Press 2x15ex15
Negative Chin-Ups (jump and try to lower slowly) 2x15xBW
Reverse Crunches 2x20xBW
1 miles on treadmill, 13 minutes.
Negative chin-ups are getting a bit easier, the fall part seems more controlled and I feel like my arms *may* be contributing to the "up" part of the chin-up.
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Karen -- Not going in circles anymore!
Okay, I have a friend who swears that if you have a degree in math, you are exempt from doing simple addition and subtraction. I was only 3 hours away from a math minor, so I guess maybe I'm close enough???
For whatever reason, I have been miscalculating on my squats this go round. I've only been doing 55 punds, not 65. But I'm going as deep as I can, and concentrating on my form, so it's all good.
NROL Break-In Workout A4
Front Squats 2x15x55
Static Lunge (DB) 2x15ex17.5e
2 Point DB Row - elbow out. 2x15ex17.5
Push-up 2x15xBW (on bench)
Swiss-ball crunch 2x20x16
Yesterday I played in the pool with the kids. Today my warm-up was on the Wii for about 20 minutes.
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Karen -- Not going in circles anymore!
Linear Mode
