Fulfilling Day

Today was completely jam-packed.

This morning I did Workout B in NROL4W Phase 3 for the first time. I'm definitely loving this phase.

In general I like working out alone - I'm not distracted; I don't feel self-conscious; I can completely focus on what I'm doing and take my time while I'm doing it. There are other times, however, when I feel like it would be great to have a workout buddy. I have lots of friends at the gym, but none of them workout the same way I do (and I don't work out the same way that they do). I know that I could workout with a trainer, but I really want to finish NROL4W - and I have a feeling the trainers would have me doing a lot more than what's in the program ... but for once in my life I want to finish something I've started. This is a long journey I've chosen, but I am determined to get through - even with all the obstacles, and there have been many obstacles - namely, surgery, travel, and the never-ending PhD. In any case, having a partner to workout with on days that I do weights would be great so that I could have someone check my posture, so I could have someone spot me when I'm lifting heavier weights, and so that I could have someone really push me.

To say that I'd like someone there to really push me is not to say that I don't push myself. I do try. Still, I know that I feel apprehensive about some things, and I'd really love to be able to keep pushing through that ... someone to urge me through that would be so great -- I wonder if Jillian Michaels is free to train me?!

Anyway.

Back to today's workout.

I did my usual 1 km warm-up and shaved off another 30 seconds. I am determined to run. I am determined to run. Even if it takes me a year to train, I really, really, really want to be able to run without it being such a struggle.

Then on to the weights workout:

Deadlifts

Single-leg squats

Lateral pulls (wide-grip)

Back extension

YTWL (like doing the YMCA but with weights - and in the shape off YTWL)

Swiss ball crunches

Prone jackknives -- hello again my long, lost friend!

Lateral flexion

Prone cobra

... followed by 15 minutes of interval training.

I'm not going to go into all the details of my workout right now, but I just wanted to talk about 3 things ...

First of all, the wide-grip lateral pulls. I've been pulling 41 kg for the past few workouts. It's challenging. I can do it with good posture, but I don't find it easy. I had to wonder, will I never make it to the next weight ... the issue I had is that the next weight is 48 kg. That's a 7 kg jump! Seven kilos is no laughing matter -- would I ever be able to get there? One of the things I really like about only doing 3 sets of 6 reps is that you have a chance to take it to the next level. (This is what I meant about it being helpful to have someone to push you/encourage you). I knew that it was only fear that was holding me back from trying the next weight level. After doing 2 sets at 41 kg I thought - alright, enough is enough. It's only 6 reps. Surely I can try 48 kg for 6 reps. If it's excruciating or if I'm barely able to get the bar down, then I can change it back to 41 ... but at least let me try.

So I tried, and I did it. They weren't perfect (well, I maintained my posture, but couldn't bring it all the way down), but I tried. I just wanted to get it down to nose/mouth level -- and with a lot of determination, I was able to bring it down. So, next time, my goal is to aim for the chin, and then eventually the chest. Pulling at 48 kg was really difficult, but I don't want to go back to 41 kg again. I've had enough with that weight group.

The second exercise that gave me pause was the prone jackknives. Pre-surgery I had really improved since the first time I ever did the exercise. However, today was another story ... it had been so long since I had done the exercise. It's really challenging, and it puts a lot of pressure on your abs. With the pain I've been in, and of course my post-surgery tension, I had to wonder, would I be able to do it? The answer, of course, is yes. It's just about getting into the right framework. I've got to push the surgery out of my head -- I have fully recovered from the surgery. My incision is fine. That chapter of my life has ended. The pain, on the other hand, is another story ... but I'm fine with pushing through that as well. Anyway. Back to the prone jackknives -- I'm so happy that I was able to complete the exercise without much difficulty. It'll take some time before I'm back to doing 50 at a time, but I'll get there. I know I will.

Finally, there was the interval training.

I skipped the interval training after the Workout B's in Phase 2. I was just healing at that time and was in no shape to do the training properly. I'm a big fan of HIIT training, but I always wonder if I'm putting enough intensity during the 'high intensity' parts ... in any case, today I tried. It was only for 15 minutes -- 1 min hard, 2 min slow repeat. It was good. Perhaps I could have gone a bit faster during the 'hard' parts -- once again, that damn fear holding me back, but I'm pleased with what I did today. Next time, I'll take it up a notch.

Overall, great day with the workouts. I went back in the evening for Zumba class (loving it!!!) . So today I put in 2.5 hrs at the gym ... perfect just before dinner out.

Ok this has already become a very long blog post, so I'll post about dinner out later. It definitely made me realize something about my eating habits ... stay tuned :)

Hope everyone had a love-filled day!

Blaming it on the Baseline & FMM

I finished my workout 2.5 hours ago and I'm still feeling a bit shaky ...

Today's goal was to repeat the Challenge workout I did before I traveled to measure how much strength/stamina I may have lost/gained (or maintained) over the past month.

Just like last time, the goal was to see how many reps I could do within two minutes.

Here are the results:

Exercise	KG	8/17/11	9/19/11
Squats	15	65	92
Push-ups	bw	25	40
Seated row	20	60	80
Step up	5	45/leg	50/leg
Prone jackknife	bw	40	50

I was very pleased to see an improvement in all the exercises.

The squats weren't difficult, but after about 1 1/2 minutes I slowed down in order to maintain form. The push ups --- 40 is awesome, but I'm sure I should have been going deeper. They're so damn tough! The seated row wasn't a problem except for the last 15 or so ... keeping the same momentum and watching my posture started to become challenging. To my surprise I really struggled with the step ups. I don't know if it's because my legs were tired from the squats, but after the first 20, my pace dropped WAY down ... not easy at all! Finally, prone jackknives. I did them in 3 goes: 20/20/10 ... I'm happy with that. They're still a very challenging exercise, but I'm very pleased with how far I've come with the jackknives.

I had wanted to do some cardio after the weights, but I was too knackered. So aside from my warm-up 15 minutes of cardio, I just focused on strength training today. I'll be doing Challenge B either on Wednesday or Thursday ...

Before I sign off, Kenlie's FMM this week is about charity. I didn't write a post specifically about it today, but I've linked up to a post a wrote a few years ago from my other blog (where I write about general stuff not focused on fitness).

That's all from me. Gotta get to work!

Feeling the Burn

I was back in the weight room yesterday and it felt great! I was a bit apprehensive at first about lifting weights for the first time after traveling - I wondered how much strength I had lost and was a bit afraid that I would have to spend a week or two rebuilding the strength that I had left off at.

I did some warm-up cardio - mainly at a steady level with a few high-speed sprints thrown in to elevate my heart rate. Then I proceeded to my weight training which was basically going to be a repetition of workout 8A.

I am happy to say that I didn't have a problem at all - even with the 3 sets of 15 reps prone jackknives!! I was stoked! I did a warm-up set for the seated row and for the squats before working out at the weight where I had left off ... it felt really good, and I felt really happy that I didn't struggle nearly as much as I thought I was going to. It reminded me of Alwyn Cosgrove's article on the benefits of resistance training lasting longer than endurance training.

I had intended on going to the gym today, but after teaching my first class of the semester followed by 2 meetings and a leisurely lunch with some friends I knew that it would be better for me to go home and get some studying done ... plus, by the time I got home my legs were burning from the squats and the step ups ... not to mention spending the whole day in heels after such a long time! Tomorrow I'm going to try and work in a swim! Fingers-crossed :)

NROL4W – Progress: Workouts 7&8

That's it!! I've completed Stage 1 of NROL4W!

My goal was to complete these 16 workouts before traveling ... I can't believe I did it. I usually get frustrated so quickly and then go off plan out of frustration and lack of patience to actually wait and see if a program (exercise or diet) works ... and now finally, I did it, and I feel great.

Here's the breakdown of Workouts 7 and 8:

Workout A: 3 sets of 8 reps

Squats: 45/45/50; 50/55/55 [increase 43 kg since workout 1]

Push-ups: using body weight - but my form has improved big time; going much deeper now

Seated row: 41/41/41; 41/41/41 [increase 27.38 since workout 1]

Step up: 7/7/8; 8/8/8 [increase 4 kg and 5 steps since workout 1]

Prone jackknife: 2 sets of 12 & 2 sets of 15; 3 sets of 15 - no stopping; much better than 1st time

Workout B: 3 sets of 8 reps

Dead lifts: 40/40/45; 45/45/45 [increase 20 kg since workout 1]

Shoulder press: 9/9/10; 10/10/10 [increase 6 kg since workout 1]

Lateral pull 41/41/41; 41/41/41 [increase 13.76 since workout 1]

Lunges: 8/8/8; 8/8/8 [increase 2 kg since workout 1]

Swiss ball crunches: 3 sets of 25 for both workouts

So that's it! Stage 1 complete. I won't be starting stage 2 until I'm back in September, but I'm going to try and figure out what I can do to make sure I don't set myself too far back while being away for 3 weeks.

The numbers I'm most proud of -- my squats (can't believe I'm squatting 55kg!!) and my shoulder presses -- I could barely lift 3 kg before I started and now I'm lifting 10?! I really feel proud of that.

The exercises I had most difficulty with -- seated row and lateral pull. The exercises themselves were not that difficult, but the jump between 34 kg and 41 kg was a bit much so I found it difficult to do the sets with the heavier weights. At the same time, 34 kg was not challenging enough. At least I know that I've been working with a weight that is challenging and that my final sets of the exercises were much better than the first ones I did in workout 7.

Prone jackknives: I have to take a moment and just mention this exercise again. The first day I tried these I really thought they were impossible. I didn't think that my body could handle doing such an exercise. However, I think it's with this exercise that I noticed the most improvement. I noticed the increased strength in my arms as I held myself up for stability. I felt more confident and strong in my core as if I could stay in plank position on the stability ball for quite a while, and then the steadiness in my legs when bringing the ball in. The exercise really made me stop and think about how all the muscles were working together and how different I feel since I started this program just over a month ago. I never thought I'd be able to do 15 prone jackknives in a row. I sure did prove myself wrong!

So the NROL4W Stage 1 program ends with two challenge workouts. I'm going to attempt Challenge Workout A tomorrow even though I won't have taken a day off to rest, but I really don't have time and I want to use the challenge workouts to both measure my overall progress and use as a benchmark for when I get back to the gym in September.

I know I've listed my progress related to how much weight I'm lifting ... on Friday I'm going to measure and weigh myself to see how much weight I've lost. Stay tuned!

Mental Block

It was so tough to go to the gym this morning! I was so sore from yesterday's boxing lesson - my arms and torso were killing me. Still, I had to go. If I want to finish Stage 1 of NROL4W before traveling, then there as no way I could miss today's workout.

As soon as I walked into the gym I saw H, my boxing coach. I kid you not, my muscles immediately tensed. I was like 'Please, stay away. My muscles are crying!' He laughed a bit and then reminded me that I had to cut my nails before our next session (protest!) and that I needed to make sure to cool down properly after our workouts to ease the soreness. Points noted H. I'll see what I can do about cutting my nails.

Since I've been doing a bit more cardio than I had planned I thought I'd take it easy on that front today and just focus on the weights. Doing squats on the new free weights machine is a bit tough - you've really got to watch your balance -- I was grateful when M put the neck cushion the bar - it really helped. My poor math ability really comes out when trying to calculate how much weight I should add ... for example, it wasn't until I got home and I was entering my sets into the computer that I realized - wait a second, I didn't lift 35/35/40 today like I thought I had ... the bar weighs 20. There were 2 10-kg weights on either side -- in my mind, I didn't think about the other side and just wrote down that I did a set of 30 ... then I added a pair of 2.5 kg plates -- and wrote it down as 35 ... for the last set I thought I'd push myself and decided to add another pair of 2.5 kg plates ... and I thought I was just lifting 40 ... Wait a second - that wasn't 40 kg - it was 50! So I did a warm-up set at 40 kg. Then went on to do two sets at 45, and the final set at 50 ... wtf. How did that happen? I knew the bar felt heavy ... but I pushed through it ... once again, making me realize what a major effect mental preparation has on my workouts.

I continued the rest of my workout - my push-ups are definitely getting better, I'm having a tough time with the 41 kg seated rows. I increased my step-up set by 1 kg ... and then the prone jackknife ... I was a bit freaked out because this is the last phase ... will I really be able to complete 3 sets of 12? I did the first two sets and struggled a bit with balance during the last 2 reps ... and then, just before I started my third set I realized - wait a second, I'm not supposed to do 3 sets of 12. I'm supposed to do 3 sets of 15! How the hell will I be able to manage that? I was so disappointed - I already struggled a bit with the 12 reps ... and now 15? I paced around the workout studio a bit (another benefit of working out in the women's only section - you pretty much have it all to yourself!) ... and then thought - no, if the program says 15 reps for Workout 7, then I'm going to do 15. So I braced myself and did the set of 15. It was all about concentration and sheer determination of getting at least 1 set of 15 done today ...

My legs were feeling a bit achy so I decided to just walk for 15 minutes to kind of loosen them up. While I was walking I thought - just 1 set of 15 is not enough. You've got to do at least one more set. If I could do it once, then I can do it again ... so after I finished on the treadmill I went for it - and managed to complete my 2nd set.

I would be (should be, perhaps?) happy that I managed to do it - but I guess I'm a bit disappointed that I didn't complete 3 sets of 15 ... I also can't help but wonder if I'm getting the most out of my workouts doing them on my own? I guess that's part of the challenge.

Anyway. I'm glad that I completed workout 7A though I do think that I maybe I should have taken today off to rest a bit. We'll see how I feel tomorrow.

Prone Jackknife Success!

Today marked the halfway point of this workout challenge. I hope that I’m able to complete the remaining workouts before my progress is properly evaluated. I have definitely found that in the first three weeks the mental battle has been tougher to fight than the physical one (aside from my bronchitis of course).

Workouts 5 and 6 are up to 3 sets but only at 10 reps. I hope that I’ll be able to increase some of the weights. I know that I’m having most trouble increasing my weight with the seated row and lateral pull – I’ve tried the next weight up and my form is totally off, so I guess I just have to gradually build up to that.

Today I completed Workout A of Workout 5. I think it went really well. I’ve now moved over to the bigger weight room since I can’t do the squats on my own anymore. I was going to just do 25 kg, when the trainer that was with me said – No, you can do 30. So I did. It just reminded me, once again, to take a few moments and try and assess – am I not lifting more because I’m scared or because it’s really not something I can do at this point in time without compromising my form/risking injury (notice that I didn’t say ‘is this something I can’t do) J

I went upstairs to the women’s section of the gym to complete the rest of my workout. It was lovely being the only one there … until someone else came in. It was actually a friend of mine who I hadn’t seen in over a month so it was nice to catch up – but all of a sudden I felt self-conscious … only because I knew that 3 sets of 12 reps of the prone jackknife were coming up and I was dreading it!! I almost considered skipping it (as I type this I’m thinking – why would I let someone else’s presence affect me so much? It must be a fear of failure and fear of looking stupid. I need to get over this.) … but I didn’t – and in fact, I completed those 3 sets with no hesitation at all. As soon as I steadied the ball, I was able to balance my feet on it without any unsteadiness. My arms felt strong and steady. My core was tight. Away I went. All three sets completed and I felt great. So different from my first try! I was very happy.

I wanted to write a bit more about nutrition today, but I think I’ll save it for tomorrow’s post as I still need to put up Motivation Monday and hop over to FMM to see what’s happening.

Today was a good day J

NROL4W

Part of my new routine is based on Lou Schuler's The New Rules of Lifting for Women (written with Cassandra Forsythe and Alwyn Cosgrove). The book itself is very easy to read, with easy to follow explanations. I got through it in about two days, with an extra day to look at the workout routines and meal/nutrition advice more thoroughly.

I have to admit that I was a bit skeptical at the lack of cardio as part of the workout. I know that steady cardio exercises are not really the way to go if you want to achieve results and instead high intensity interval training (HIIT) is what I should really focus on, but this book didn't even focus on that. It was all based on lifting weights. Well, what do I know? Obviously since my past workout routines haven't been as successful as I would have liked then something wasn't right. Also, at first glance, the workouts seem easy, simple - just 2 sets at 15 reps of 5 exercises? That can't be enough, can it? As I said before, what do I know -- let's see how this goes.

Today was day 1 of the 6 week-Stage 1 program. After spending some time learning the exercises and making my own chart (I found the one in the book to be very confusing) I headed to the gym.

I started with some basic warm-up stretches followed by 20 minutes of light/medium intensity cardio on the cross-trainer. I then headed to the weight room to do the first exercise - squats. I was a bit distracted in the room as there were quite a few people there and they were talking. I also couldn't remember how much weight I had used before, so I just started with 6 kg on each side. I was a bit annoyed that the two women in the weight room (I didn't know either of them) seemed to be including me in their conversation and standing rather close to me and trying to make eye contact -- could they not see that I was busy? I tried to ignore them, but they were distracting me. [Blog post on gym etiquette coming up soon!] I had to hurry up and finish because a class was going to start in that room so before I knew it, I had finished my 2 sets ... and as I left the room, I regretted not having put more. Oh well, I'll remember it for the next time.

I decided to head upstairs to the women only section of the gym to do the remaining exercises. Since the routine was new for me I wanted a bit of peace and quiet and didn't want to be further distracted or too self-conscious trying the exercises out.

The next portion of the workout was easy ... until I got to the last exercise. Holy Prone Jackknife is all I have to say! OMG who created this exercise? I knew as soon as I read about it in the book that I was going to have difficulty with it. I positioned the exercise ball, made sure there was a mat under me, and stared at the ball for some time. I was trying to visualize the exercise in my head, but since I didn't have to book with me, I couldn't completely remember what I had to do - do I walk my hands in? Push my legs out? Curl my knees in? What was it again? Time for my iPhone ... I did a search for prone jackknife and came to this post on 3fatchicks.com. The first thing that caught my eye was the entry that read "I CANNOT DO THIS MOVE." More comments related to this exercise were "Are there any alternatives to this move?" and "Impossible" ... that's when I decided to close all those sites and just look for an explanation of how the exercise was to be done ... (oh, for some reason I couldn't connect to YouTube, and I'm kinda glad I didn't because this demonstration of the prone jackknife does not nearly indicate how tricky the exercise is) ... anyway, back to the explanations ... I read through it, visualized it, and said to myself - you ARE going to do this. No excuses.

So, I steadied the ball (which I think was a bit too big for this exercise) against the wall, firmly planted my hands on the ground, and lifted one leg up to anchor my ankle on the ball ... and here starts the wobbling - it took me several tries to steady the ball with just one leg on it --- let alone two! Still, I was determined. I kept telling myself, you can do this; there's no reason you can't. It wouldn't be in the book if it was impossible. I steadied my arms, tightened my core, and concentrated on keeping my ankles firmly on the ball -- and then slowly started to bring my knees towards my chest. 1 ... 2 ... 3 ... ok, need to move faster if I want to finish this set without flinging the ball out of the studio ... 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8. *Whew* I can't believe I did it ... and knowing that I could do it once made the second set much 'easier.' I totally understand why they only listed 2 sets of 8 for the first workout.

And that was it -- I put in another 50 minutes on the treadmill - at a pretty moderate pace with a few sprints every once in a while ... and I was done.

So, my verdict for the first day of NROL4W - the workouts look simple, but the focus has to be on form and on using the correct amount of weight that challenges your muscles.

I definitely think I did not use enough weight for my first time, but I think it's ok since it has been a while since I've lifted any weights. I'm more confident now and I'm looking forward to Workout B day after tomorrow.