Still winter, just barely

Chatted a little too long outside nursery school, ended up with a frozen face and with dwindling time so didn't go for the planned run.

Instead, to the basement!

Row - 10 min/2K
Split squats (45 lb) - 3 sets of 10/leg
Cheater chin-ups - 3 sets of 4
V-sit ball tosses - 3 sets of 30

At the park after school: Four sets of 10 various push-ups on the climbing ropes -- focus on triceps with an incline.

To make up for the shortened workout, I backpacked Tim both ways to school. (Lately have been doing it only one way due to time and energy limitations.)

Doldrums

Mixed bag today: some plyo and some upper body....

Warmed up with a five minute row.

Plyos:
Picked seven plyo exercises* and did each for 30 seconds (30 per side for things that did each leg separately or went in both directions). Repeat, for a total of 11:30 min of fairly continuous hopping/squatting.

Upper:
3 sets of 10 bench dips, feet on the ball
3 sets of 3 supported chin-ups**, feet on the ball (hands on the barbell in the squat rack)
3 sets of 12 ball transfer crunches

* Jump squats, swing kicks, split squats, circle run, leapfrog squats (very wide leg jump squats), run-stance switch jumps, twist jump combo. Look here for more.

**Wow, my chin-ups have gone to shit. Must focus!

Then, backpack hike with some playtime in the park where I did some more push-uppy and pull-uppy things on the rope climber to keep warm. You should see Tim whiz around on that thing, even with his boots and mittens. He's going to be insane on the climbers this summer.

Also, feeling unmotivated by the basement (though less so after today's workout). Toying with the idea of joining a gym. This may just be the February blahs.

1200 hurts the most

16-12-8-4 today. Can't figure out why I like this workout so much -- it hurts so freakin' bad. Like you get that completely done one more step and I'll faint/puke feeling FOUR SEPARATE TIMES in under 25 minutes. Awesome.

Run

1600 m = 6:56 (6:38, 6:57)
rest 3 min
1200 m = 5:23 (5:17, 5:34)
rest 2 min
800 m = 3:23 (3:59, 3:25)
rest 1 min
400 m = 1:35 (1:43, 1:36)

Total -- 23:17 (23:38, 23:32)

In parenthesis are the times from my last two attempts. The times for the individual runs vary from day to day, but my total time seems to be pretty consistent. Because I don't always do the same routes (but I always Googlemaps to plot a route in our grid-like neighbourhood), some of the variability could be chalked up to a few metres here and there.

At any rate, the 1200 metres is by far the biggest bitch of the bunch. Overunder will concur. The 800 feels like a total pussy after that. Relatively speaking.

I also did some back work at the park on the way home from nursery school: 2 x 5 inverted rows (straight legs this time); and 7 individual chin-ups. And a quote from Tim, to show off his sentence-making skills: "Do tin-up on munging bar like Mommy did."

(He was calling chin-ups "mommy up and down" until I taught him the word. He was all over it, but could only pull off a few L-seats.)

Evening at the gym, thank god

What with this no-sleep bender we're on (how did we survive those 13 months of no sleep? We're so spoiled now...), it was a relief to get a chance to hit the gym in the evening, rather than early in the morning. The 7:30 pm crowd in the weight room is much different from the 7:30 am one: the hardcores seem to be morning people.

Anyway. The fatigue was mostly noticeable during the run portion of the workout, when the second 400 m kicked my ass.

Warm-up- 1000 m row
Hang clean and press - 52 x 8; 62 x 6, 5, 5
Squats - 115 x 6, 5, 5, 5, 5; 95 x 12
Chins - 1, 1, 1, 1 (superset with the squats)
Run - 2 x 400 m @14 kmph (200 m rest); 800 m @12 kmph

Here's hoping for less snot and more sleep tonight!

More, more, more

Getting back into the swing of things, at last. Overunder even planned to be late to a meeting this AM so I could get to the gym.

No running today.

Rowing: 1000 m in 5 min (warm-up pace!)

Squats: 115 x 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 (I'll be back to the big plates in no time.)
Chin-ups: 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 (superset these with the squats)
25 lb kettlebell swings: 5 sets of 20

And, another set of bosu ball stands.

He said, "Don't break a sweat"

But I couldn't resist.

Hubby played hookey, and I went to the gym. Long time since I got weighty:

Squats: 135 x5; 155 x2 (PB!); 145 x4, x4; 95 x20
Chin-ups (superset with squats): 5(!), 4, 4, 3
Deadlifts: 155 x1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 3 (between "sets" just set the bar down and reset positioning)
Press: 52 x 7, 6, 5, 5

Finished with sweating (aka running):
800 m/8.5 mph
Walk 1/5 mile
800 m/9 mph

Before the cottage

Doing a little catch up posting. Manage to sneak out to the gym before heading to my Dad's cottage. It had been weeks since I'd done weights, so I was pleased to find I'm still strong. :-)

Squats:
95 x 8
115 x 6
135 x 5
145 x 3
Superset with chin-ups:
4, 3, 3

Deadlifts:
145 x 5, 5, 5

Presses:
55 x 6
62 x 4 + a pp, 1 + 3 pp

Dips:
2, 2, 2
Superset with inclined sit-ups (three sets of 12)

Push-ups: 2 x 8

Smokey chipotle

I just don't know what the real story is today. Is it the guy who marched across the gym after my first set of big-plate squats to tell me "Tu es tres fort. Bravo!" ? Or adding a whole extra chin-up to EACH of my three sets? Or the fact that I can suddenly do dips? (Inspired by Josey, I decided to attempt unassisted dips for the first time. Josey should've come along sooner!)

I'll tell it as it happened, and let you decide. ;-)

Squats - 135 x 5, 5, 4 (wearing runners: very squishy and unstable! Chucks are official gym equipment now); 95 x 10, 45 x 20
Chins - 3, 3, 3
Presses - 62 x 2, 2, 1 +2 push press
Box jumps - 16", 5 sets of 10
Dips - 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 1; with 45 lb offset - 3, 2
Hip raises (shoulders on bench) - 25 lb x 12, 12, 12
Incline sit-ups - 15, 15
Side planks - 40 count per side

And I still had time for a shower before picking up Tim. Who wanted to stay and play.

Instead of coffee

It was hard to go to the gym this morning: Tim SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT, and there was a celebratory latté waiting for me when I came downstairs in the morning after getting him up... But I took a few slurps, sucked it up, and headed out.

Superset:
Squats - 135 x 5, 5, 5
Bench press - 75 x 8, 7, 6; 45 x 15

Chin-ups - 2, 2, 1, 1
Cleans - 65 x 7; 75 x 5, 5, 5
Mile run - 7:25

I'm also on Day 3 of No Sugar. I mean, no obvious refined sugar: no honey in my latté, no chocolate after lunch, no dessert after dinner. No sneaking chocolate chips. I had to do a little something to initiate the attack on those last 5 lbs, and giving up sweets is way easier than giving up booze.

Grrr! Arrgh!

Heavy and hard on the hands.

Squats: 135 x 5, 5, 5
Hang cleans: 75 x 5, 70 x 6, 65 x 6 (adjusting for form)
Deadlifts: 135 x 5, 5, 5 (yah big plates!)
Chin-ups: 2, 2 (and that was it for my grip)
Dips (offset by either 15 or 45 lb, but 10 lbs less than last time): 5, 4, 3
Incline sit-ups: 20, 20, 15

Bodyweight with a twist

Squatted my bodyweight PLUS my bodyweight. :-) Also, a chin-up milestone balanced with regression on the press front:

Squats - 135 lb x 3, 5, 5 (I was nervous on the first set) + 95 x 10
Chin-ups - 2, 2, 2 (yes that's right, I did sets of *multiple* chins!)
Presses - 65 x 5, 4 (push presses); 55 x 3 + 2 pp's; 45 x 5
I could not for the life of me perform a straight press with 65 lbs, although I've done them before.

Bent-over rows - 30 x 8/arm; 35 x 6, 6/arm

Plank - 50 alternating toe touches (out to the side)

P.S. I felt like a rock star with those big plates on the bar.

Return from hiatus

Enjoyed some serious laziness while on holidays. Laziness also involved copious amounts of cake and ice cream. Alas, all good things must come to an end. :-)

Saturday: 5-6k run, with bench push-ups (10 per bench; 5 or 6 benches)

Sunday:

600 m/3 min row (this is always my warm-up)

Chin-ups: 5 singles

3 rounds:
10 jumping squats (42 lb)
15 push presses (42)

3 rounds:
7/arm db snatches (20, 25, 25 lb)
12 v-situps

3 sets:
8/arm bent-over rows (30 lbs)

Tempo run: 1 min at 6, 6.5, 7, 7.5, 8, 8.5, 9, 6 mph (7.5 min in total; I spent 1.5 min at 7 mph because I was fiddling with my music. Settled on LL Cool J to get me through.)

Implicit core workout

As soon as I mentioned Turkish get-ups in a comment, I had to do them. And it turns out that burpees still win the "suck" prize. TGU's are way more fun. "Fun" being relative, of course.

Anyway. I did the heaviest squats ever in my life today! Plus some other stuff:

Squats: 115 x 7; 125 x 5, 5, 5 (Ready for the big plates!)
Chin-ups: 7 or 8 singletons (Time to try multiples, I think)

5 rounds:
10 Turkish get-ups (5/arm, 10 lb db)
12 box jumps (6 risers under the step - 16"?)

Pace run: 1 min at 6, 6.5, 7, 7.5, 8, 8.5, 6.5 mph (Hoped to get up to 9 mph, but ran out of steam.)

On vacation in NS next week, so I'm planning runs and BW tabatas (if Baba is willing to pitch in for childcare!)

A couple more

Monday:
Constance began her babysitting gig, leaving me free to do a 5K in 27 min.
Cooled down with 30 + 30 walking lunges and 10 + 10 push-ups.

Tuesday:
Morning at the gym. A mixed bag, due to lack of planning -

Chin-up practice - 8 single semi-jumping chin-ups
Squats - 105 x 10; 115 x 6, 6 (back is better, it seems)
Presses - 65 x 4, 2+2pp, 1+3pp (push press)
Split squats - 42 x 10/leg
Good-mornings - 42 x 12; 52 x 12, 12
Bent-over row - 30 x 8/arm; 35 x 5, 5/arm
Inclined sit-ups - 15, 15

Today will be another babysitting/running day. Thinking of another Mile perhaps? Stay tuned...

Heavy

Squats and presses. The heaviest I've done in years (if not ever, in the case of the presses). Nothing like what the boys do, but I was proud of myself. At least until I tweaked my back and had to bail on the rest of the work out (deadlifts and a quick run), as well as good humour and lifting my child.

In sum:

Squats - 115 x 7, 6, 5 (back tweak on last rep of 1st set)
Chin-up practice - semi-jumping 1+1+1+1+1; 3 eccentrics
Presses - 55 x 7, 65 x 5, 3 (+2 push presses), 45 x 10
Calf raises (seated) - 75 x 10, 10, 10ish (I wasn't paying too much attention, just killing time between press sets)

Then some single-leg hip raises, but the back was getting tighter and tighter. I was bent 45 degrees by the time I got home.

Starting the week with a growl

Tired tired tired, but opted for the gym to avoid being unfairly grumpy with the kids first thing in the morning.

Chin-ups, eccentric only - 3

As many rounds in 20 minutes:
Run 400 m
15 thrusters (42 lb, except 45 for round two when someone stole my bar)

I did 5.5 rounds. That is, 6 x run + 5 x thrusters

Then:

"lat" pulls with a chin-up grip - 120 x 5, 105 x 6, 100 x 7
Back extensions - 12, 12, 12

In the 'eart of 'ull

Boring stuff at the gym until I get more familiar with the facilities.

4 rounds:
400 m run (9 mph)
1 + 1 jumping chin-up

Then:
Squats - 105 x 7, 8, 8
Bench press - 75 x 8, 7, 6

Core:
V-sit ball tosses (@4 kg ball) x 50, 30
Front and side planks.

So far, my two complaints about my new gym:

1) There are so many machines and benches and pieces of equipment crammed in that there's barely room to move. Ironic, the gym being the place you go to, like, move.

2) They kick you out if you expose so much as a shoulder. Slutsy McTrampsalot can wear v-neck pink cotton stretched tight across her boob job, but bare a deltoid and you'll get a stern talking-to.

Getting acquainted

With a new gym, and re-acquainted with all those old exercises that I used to do. Early morning, on too-little sleep, I got down to it:

Squats: 75 x 12, 85 x 12, 95 x 8, 8
DB presses: 20 lb dbs x 10, 8, 8 (or thereabouts)
Deadlifts: 95 x 6, 6, 6
"Jumping" chin-ups: 6 sets of 1

(I could just reach the bar on my tip-toes if I stood on a plate. That's where I jumped from for each chin-up, so it was really not quite a jumping chin-up, not quite a dead-hang.)

Running: Seven minutes - one minute at each of 5.5, 6.5, 7.5, 8.5, 8, 7, 6 mph

Birthday goals: Multiple consecutive chin-ups, sub-7 mile (er, at a 1% grade I guess).

Would a coupla 135 squats be too ambitious? It's 5.5 weeks away (for those who weren't already keeping track. ;-)

12 weeks today

Moderate pace run: 6.5 km (@ 6 min/km; probably a little faster). Somehow managed to accidentally hit the "stop" button on my watch when I tucked it into my pouch, so it only timed the first four seconds of the run.

I ran home from the lab, where McPie dropped me off for my prenatal blood tests.

Chin-ups: 2.

Then there was dizziness, so I didn't attempt another "set". Maybe later today.

stymied - like for real?

So I'm just loading up the bar to start the deadlifts and cleans that got shut down yesterday and the security guard rolls in to "check on things". And he yells that the weight I'm lifting is too heavy. ha ha -- good one, I laugh and ignore him. I forgot that respect is often a sore point with security guards. But I actually thought he was kidding. Especially since I was putting the first plate on the bar and was a couple of hundred pounds from being heavy. Anyway, he decided that it was gym policy that you couldn't lift heavy when you were by yourself. As the conversation "progressed" his policy morphed so that I was only allowed to use machines and not even 10 lbs dumbbells. I thought he wouldn't just be making this up so I adhered to the policy.

[the research on Monday has shown that somebody (not naming names) was on a power trip and while we can all appreciate that heavy benchpresses with a bar by yourself is a little foolhardy, the gym is use at your own risk. So I'll probably get strip searched the next time I come in on the weekend.]

chins: 9, 8, 6
cable press: 80 x5, x5, x5
cable row: 145 x5, x5, x5

lower back extension machine thing: 200 x50. This was the max weight and I actually got bored at 50 rather than failed at 50. Kinda weird.

finisher:
facepulls - no rest between sets - 130 x10, 120 x4, 110 x3, 100 x5, 90 x12, 80 x5, 70 x14, 60 x20