I've never started a journal before. I know the power of motivation though, so I hope this works out.
I started NROLW almost two years ago, after being diagnosed with osteoporosis. This news floored me since I thought I was doing all the right things, lifting weights and taking Calcium. My grandma was bedridden for 30 years due to this so I was aware I was susceptible.
Anyway, I've now learned there's a lot more to supplements than Calcium. And there's a vast difference in which exercises build bones (leg presses = negligible, squats = awesome). So this is my 5-pronged attack plan:
1. Balance my hormones (bioidentical hormone replacement)
2. Heavy weights 2-3 times per week
3. Aggressive supplementation
4. Ionized water
5. Visualization
In December, it will have been two years and my insurance will pay for another Dexa scan. I cannot wait to see the results of all my hard work. I know it's going to amaze (and relieve) my doctor since I refused the meds.
In the meantime, I've made incredible strength gains. I have a 1RM on the squats of 115, and a 1RM on the deadlifts of 135. It's not much compared to many of the girls here, but I feel like a friggin' warrior princess!
So there you have my primary motivation. I also enjoy being strong! My current secondary goal is to be able to do pull-ups by the end of this year. Why, you ask? Because I'm a warrior princess! And a person needs new goals.
So I am deviating from NROL. It's getting too routine anyway. I'll still do one workout a week for lower body, but the rest I'm going to follow Leigh Peele's "Ladies, you can conquer the pull-up" program.
I'm augmenting this with assistance from stretch bands I got in the mail last Thursday. And, as Pavel would say, I'm going to grease the groove by trying at least one pullup everyday.
I look forward to reading this as my grandmother had severe boneloss, my mom has some, and I've even shown minor loss in a DEXA I had a year ago.
Where did you find information on which weight bearing exercises are best? i.e. your comment about squats vs. leg press (which seems very logical to me)
Annette, I will try to dig those references up. It has been a while since I did the research. I was actually surprised at the differences. I had been doing leg presses for years, and was up to 270 pounds, only to find out they weren't helping at all.
The take-away point from the literature was that exercises that require you to support your body triggered the bone building, whereas exercises where benches or floors supported your body did not. Also, impact exercises like running and jumping are good. I had been avoiding impact for years, but started adding it back in without any problems. It's too easy to give in to temptation to settle for too little.
Full Squats: 3x4x95, 1x4x105
Quarter Squats (smith machine): 1x4x135, 1x4x185, 2x4x205
Dynamic Lunge: 2x8x85
Good Mornings: 1x8x65, 1x8x85
Pull-ups with heavy stretch band: 3x4
Evening belly dance class: 2 hours
I know all the reasons not to use the Smith Machine. But I have this theory if I just let my body feel weight that's a lot heavier than I could actually lift, my bones will go Yikes! We better get denser!
Food:
2 protein smoothies
plum
turkey chili (from clean eating mag)
carrot cake (from clean eating mag)
bbq beef sandwich (from taste of home)
macros: Calories 1524, Fat 54g, Carbs 182g, Protein 122g
__________________
Nancy
I'm not only pushing 50, I'm kicking it's but!
Last edited by nancysmithwp : 09-29-2009 at 08:35 AM.
Were you diagnosed with osteoporosis or osteopenia. How bad were your T-scores? I just had my first DEXA because of family history and since I have all the risk categories. Mine were lower than I would have liked. I, also, have a major focus on seeing a better number in 2 years! I can't wait to see what yours is in December.
In the right hip, osteoporosis, -3.2
Most other readings were osteopenia.
December 2007
L1-L4 -2.1
Neck Left -1.7
Neck Right -2.4
Neck Mean -2.1
Troch left -2.5
Troch Right -3.2
Troch Mean -2.9
Total Left -2.6
Total Right -2.8
Total Mean -2.7
Thanks guys! I think I've been really missing out by not journaling. Oh well, slow to the party, but here I am.
Whew, I see I'm going to have to work up to this new workout routine.
Tuesday:
Negatives with pronated grip: 4x15 with 60 second rest! Yikes. I only made the first five before I started dropping like a rock, so I finished the first set with offsetting 20 pounds. The second set halfway through I offset 30 pounds. The last two sets I was offsetting with 40 pounds. My arms/back felt like jelly when I was done. Wow.
Face pulls: 4x15x15 Either these are harder than they look, or they're harder than they look after all those negatives!
One legged dumbell rows: 1x15x17.5 At this point, my entire lower right and mid back was hurting and not in a good way. So I stopped. I guess the negatives wiped me out. Leigh says the secret to pull-ups is endurance, and I've been doing mostly low reps, long rest periods this year.
Food
Protein Smoothie (Bananas, Pomegranate, Yogurt, Flaxseed Oil, Protein )
Turkey Tomatillo Chili (Clean Eating mag)
Carrot Cake (Clean Eating mag)
Spinach Ricotta Quiche ( Atkins Best Recipes 2005)
Spicy Beef Noodles ( Ground Beef Recipe Collections)
4 oz organic red wine
3 oz dark chocolate
Macros: Calories 1653, Fat 53, Carbs 176, Protein 115
I've collected a lot of awesome recipes these last few years. I make my week's lunch on Sunday (Chili and Carrot Cake this week). Everything was very delicious today. The wine and chocolate are just weaknesses of mine. Good for my heart, bad for my belly. Life is full of trade-offs.
Today my biceps and triceps were pumped, borderline sore. Not to mention myriad muscles in my back. Still, I'm trying to get in the spirit of endurance and trekked off to the gym for day 2 of 'You can conquer the pull-up.'
Negatives 4x15 (30, 40, and finally 50 pound offsets). My biceps feel like Popeye, only more bewildered.
Lat Pulldowns: 4x15x45-60 This answers my face-pull question from yesterday. After doing negatives, I am substantially weaker. I couldn't even pull down 60 one time on the first set, where I normally pull 85-95. On the last three sets, I could pull 60 for the first 7 reps.
That was it. I took my wobbly arms back to the locker room, where I almost didn't have the strength to raise the soap cloth under my armpits!
Skipped the evening belly dance class. These arms aren't holding up a veil tonight! They've gone beyond borderline to definitely being sore. Maybe I'm doing too much too soon.
Food:
2 protein shakes.
14 grapes
turkey tomatillo chili
3 spinach quiches (they're in muffin cups)
carrot cake
spaghetti with meat sauce
6 oz wine
3 oz dark chocolate
Macros: Calories 2466, Fat 93, Carbs 287, Protein 147
Took a rest day. Hated to miss my Thursday bootcamp class, but I can tell when I need a break. Meditated to Kelly Howell's Guided Meditation instead. I sometimes think it contributes to my astounding good fortune. So I like to do it at least once a week.
Food:
Protein Smoothie
Turkey Chili
Carrot Cake
Spinach Quiche
Okra
Red peppers
Broccoli
5 oz. steak
3 oz dark chocolate
Macros: Calories 1627, Fat 68, Carbs 157, Protein 131
Food:
Slice Pizza
Scrambled egg sandwich
1/2 Clif Bar Builder's
Sweet Potato with butter
Brocolli, Okra, Red and Green Peppers broiled
Carrots, pickle, celery, raw
Hard Roll with butter
Orange Juice
Hershey dark chocolate
Calories: 1567, Fat 76, Carbs 173, Protein 54
Superset:
Bulgarian Split Squats 2x8x40 90-sec rest
Back Extension 2x8x25 90-sec rest
Hanging Leg Raises 2x8 90-sec rest
First time I've tried Rack Deadlifts. I thought for sure I could go 135, but it wouldn't budge. Those 45 lb plates will have to wait a little while longer!
I decided to skip the promised daily chin-up practice. I'm going to have to work up to that! I was feeling a bit vulnerable after the heavy deadlifts so thought it best to wait. I spent too much of last week in pain!
Evening belly dance class: 2 hours. I have to start practicing my splits for the finale in December’s upcoming performance. Those deadlifts and BSS’s didn’t do much for my flexibility!
Tuesday: Rest day, back still a bit sore
Gym: Wednesday 10/7
Pull-ups with blue (heavy) stretch band: 1x5, 3x4 60 sec rest
Pull-ups on machine with offset: 1x15x60, 3x15x60-70 60 sec rest
alternated grip between sets
Lower back still sore, but it didn’t get worked too much on pull-ups, so it should be fine.
Tonight will be my tribal belly dance class. Mondays are more oriental, cabaret.
Food: Calories Fat Carbs Protein
Sun 1713 82 116 65
Mon 1638 70 185 110
Tue 1328 59 140 75
Aiiiy, I need to focus more on protein. Weekends tend to be low since I don’t have the shakes. When I do an average for the month of September, it’s not too bad.
Sept. 1783 72 187 106
The only part I don’t like is my alcohol averages 9g. I like an evening glass of wine. It makes all the little aches and pains go away.
good work! the training looks like a lot and keeping track of all those details amazes me.
i have no reason to believe that you're doing what i did when i first started doing pull-ups, but i made a big jump when i felt the difference between engaging my lats first rather than pulling from my hands.
if you're pushing 50, who's the young woman in your avatar?
Oh, that is me, but the pic is 5 years old now. And actually, I did turn 50 in May, but I like the tagline too much to change it. Pushing 51 just doesn't have the same oompf!
I don't know if I'm engaging my lats. I sure did feel them last week after all those negatives, but not as much as the arms. I just pulled up some discussion on engaging lats from T-Nation where they were talking about squeezing the rhomboids together at the top of the move, and leaning back about 10-15 degrees. And at dragondoor, the consensus seemed to be on bringing elbows into your ribcage. Maybe I will try to focus on these things.
Do you have any specific method of engaging your lats?
lucky i have my own office as i'm sitting at the computer trying to feel and then describe engaging my lats. the first move i make uses my lats to pull my elbows towards my body. my chest swings forward a little bit before moving up toward the bar.
in ball sports, going from big muscles like quads and glutes, moving efficiently through the core and shoulders, then finishing with small muscles, a flick of the wrists, enables pitchers, batters, golfers, etc to send balls flying further and faster than most people can imagine. the same principle works in the gym, especially in complex exercises.
lucky i have my own office as i'm sitting at the computer trying to feel and then describe engaging my lats. the first move i make uses my lats to pull my elbows towards my body. my chest swings forward a little bit before moving up toward the bar.
in ball sports, going from big muscles like quads and glutes, moving efficiently through the core and shoulders, then finishing with small muscles, a flick of the wrists, enables pitchers, batters, golfers, etc to send balls flying further and faster than most people can imagine. the same principle works in the gym, especially in complex exercises.
Thank you for the description. I take a bootcamp class on Thursdays, and it includes 3 sets of 8 assisted pull-ups. Pulling my elbows in comes naturally to me. I think I'm doing it right. I'll continue to pay attention to it. Right now it's such a great effort, I'm sure the nuances are escaping me.
Thank you Patty! Fellow Warrior Princess! I think most of us here are. I heard the term applied to women hang glider pilots (which I am) and it caught my fancy, so I've been using it ever since.
Thu: 10/8 Bootcamp class, average heartrate 141, max 161, over 41 minutes.
I love this instructor, and the other girls in the class. I've read studies where group exercise releases endorphins and other happy chemicals. It does form bonds. I'm an introvert myself. I've seen this one girl on the weight floor for years and we've never spoken. She started taking the class two weeks ago, and now we're fast friends.
Food:
Wed: Calories 1561, Fat 61, Carbs 180, Protein 111
Thu: Calories 1917, Fat 78, Carbs 240, Protein 117
Lunch this week is salmon patties from Clean Eating mag this week. Very tasty! And great northern beans, because I was raised on them and they remind me of home.
I don't always log my food. I tend to do it a couple of months straight now and then to see how I'm doing. My only real goal is to keep the protein average over 100. And to keep the wine to a couple of glasses a week until after the dance performance in December! There's a definite correlation with belly fat there. I don't care what the guys at T-Nation say.
Gym, Fri 10/9
Negatives, switching grip each set: 4x15, using 50 lbs on offset machine
Face pulls: 1x15x15, 3x15x25
One-legged deadlift rows: 1x15x20, 2x15x30
Farmers walk: 1x60, 2x80, 1x90
I offset more weight on the negatives than last week, but I lowered myself very slowly and concentrated on engaging the lats. Still very hard work. I may alternate going for form and going for weight on these.
Interesting exercise, this Farmers walk. I think it must also be a good bone builder. I had no idea how much weight I could carry. If I set them down on a weight bench one at a time, I can lift 45 pounders. Can’t walk very far but that’s a grip issue. It should improve fast.
After work, I have a massage with Alejandro. Made working out a lot easier whenever my muscles started trying to mutiny.
Lifting straps are handy for the farmer's walk--I don't feel like I'm compromising my grip strength using them for stuff like that or stepups. I don't use 'em for deads or anything though.
Pretty much a rest week for me. Every 4-5 months, I get bioidentical hormone pellets inserted into my keister, and I don't do anything for a few days while the incision heals. It's very convenient. The time release keeps everything on an even keel and I don't have to remember meds every day. Hormones play an important part in building bone density, as well as libido
I did make my two dance classes, and I'm planning an upper body workout tomorrow.
So today I was feeling down, so I decided to do some running on the treadmill in hopes of releasing some happy hormones. 5 min warm-up, 20 min steady state (hr averaged 143), 5 min cool-down. It helped.
Sunday, I took a half-day off from my studies to do 2 dance workshops: Salsa Gypsy fusion and Bollywood. Fun! And several of my regular dance friends were there too. 6 hours of dancing! It doesn't feel like exercise when you're wearing chiffon...
Monday, my regular evening dance class. 1.5 hours.
alternating sets:
Romanian deadlifts: 1x8x65, 2x8x85
Stationary Lunges: 1x8x65, 2x8x85
alternating sets:
Good mornings: 1x8x65, 1x8x75
Crunches: 2x40
So there I was, with 135 pounds sitting on the floor, pretty proud of myself. This is only the third time I've pulled this much. When this guy comes up to offer his helpful advice. How I hate this kind of interruption of my "how awesome I am" contemplation. It's happened to me a few times, but sometimes the guy really does have some useful information. This one today not so much. He thinks deadlifts are dangerous and I should be doing machines. Oh, and abwork.
Then another guy made up for it later when he walked by (without stopping thankfully) and said "hey, you're pretty strong!"
Just went through semester midterm, and am so glad its over. So much to do in the next few weeks it's a little daunting. But if it were easy, we'd all have Ph.D's. It was a good workout today given my energy level was low for some reason. 1RM days are always kinda fun.
Negatives:
15 with 50 lb offset
15 with 40 lb offset
15 with 30 lb offset
5 with 20 lb, 10 with 30 lb offset
Facepulls
2x15x15
2x15x25
Much better and stronger already, with a week's rest since I last fried my arms and back doing this. They feel weak, but maybe I'll escape much of the soreness.
Oct 29 Thu
Bootcamp! Almost didn't go because I had a lot of sore parts, but somehow I never feel them in class. I always enjoy this class.
I invented a tasty new way to eat Tuna this week, at least new for me. Mix equal parts Tuna and refried beans. Yummy and chock full of protein!
Building Strong Bones
sweet!
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