Don't worry, I'm still here

Just working out AND posting about it is more than I can handle, apparently. Two weeks ago, I did miss a Wednesday workout because Ruby had come down with croup the night before and we spent a few hours in the middle of the night at CHEO (an overreaction on my part; she probably would have been just fine. BUT, worth the trip because she got steroids that minimized the drama for the next few nights. Something to look forward to for you New Parents in the audience. :-) )

ANYWAY. I only missed the one day. Since then, I did some 55 lb cleans (or maybe it was 65 lbs? a little heavier than last time, anyway), and then this past Friday I did 95 lb squats: 4 sets of 10. So I guess I can up THAT weight.

One problematic thing though: I'm not giving any time or effort to warming up or stretching, and also my muscle imbalances, particularly in my back, are enromous right now because of baby-carrying. It's not a big deal under normal loads, but when I start lifting heavier-for-me weight, the knots, twists, and tweaks because really exaggerated.

Bottom line: I must get myself to a massage therapist.

Anyway, carrying on.

Also, the moms and I have given up desserts for Lent. It's the first time I've given up something for Lent since I was a kid (mainly because I think the whole idea is horseshit, even if I was still Catholic), but I thought that this bandwagon might be worth jumping on. Accountability and all. And lo! Behold! My third and final pair of skinny jeans now FIT. Possibly more comfortably than ever. Though 2 kids = more muffin-top than ever. Nonetheless, it means I now have self-given permission to go and buy new jeans. Woot.

Week 3: Adding some weight

This is almost becoming a habit! This week I dug the small plates out of the garage and added a bit of weight to the bar.

Wednesday:
Squats - 65 x 12; 75 x 12, 12, 12 (obviously will continue to add weight)
Thrusters - 3 sets of 12 (just the bar)
Pull-up progession (inverted rows: feet on the floor, back parallel to floor, pulling up to the bar) - 3 sets of 8.

(I also tried a set of rows with my feet up on the ball, but only managed about 5 and couldn't get my chest close enough to the bar, so reverted to feet-on-the-floor.)

Friday:
Cleans - 55 x 12, 12, 12 (still pretty light, but working on form)
Hip raises (single leg) - 3 sets of 10/leg
Push-up progression - knees on the ball - 3 sets of 10 (hard!)

The Doob is a great workout partner. Of course, it's hard to catch my breath while singing "If You're Happy And You Know it", "Miss Polly Had a Dolly", and "Skin-a-ma-rinky-dinky-dink" between sets...

Also shovelled the driveway on Monday. Offered to also shovel CeLilly's driveway, but they were not up for the required childcare trade-off.

Cleans!

Finally, a workout! Life has been interfering with my workout time. Luckily, CeLilly have helped out so I haven't  had to miss a frisbee game yet. Really having fun with the 4x4 -- even better when Emma joins in, like last night!

Today:

5 min moderate-hard row

Supersets
squats - 115 lb x 5; 105 lb x 6, 6
presses (one arm db) - 25 lb x  6, 5, 6 (per arm)

cleans - 65 lb x 6, 6, 6
bent-over rows - 30 lb x 7, 7, 7 (per arm)

plank (hands on the med ball) - 45 sec x 2
v-sit twists - 40, 30 (touching the 3 kg med ball to the ground from side to side)

5 min moderate row.

(I haven't done cleans in, like years. The weight was moderate enough that I wasn't in too much danger if my form was dramatically awry. It was enough to make my legs really burn though - what a fantastic exercise!)

It had warmed up outside a bit by then, so I backpacked Tim from school, stopping at the park to play for awhile. I wasn't quite dressed for it, so I stayed warm by doing some push-uppy and pull-uppy things while he played.

Squat and push-up progressions

The workout comes with a built-in warm-up and built-in core hit.

20 - 45# squats; push-ups from the knees
15 - 65# squats; push-ups on a bench
10 - 95# squats; push-ups on a low bench (step bench, two risers)
8 - 105# squats; push-ups on a lower bench (one riser)
6 - 115# squats; push-ups with ankles on the ball
5 - 125# squats; push-ups like Ellen's.

Finished with ten minutes of moderate rowing.

Back to school

I was almost afraid to work out today, it's been so long. And no "active lifestyle" in the meantime, either. I am going to be so screwed when I hit the turf next weekend. (Someone remind me to buy new cleats before then, please?)

So today, I approached the basement gym with trepidation and caution. Lightish weights, high-ish reps, nothing tricky. After a light warm-up that felt like a workout, I did this:

Five rounds:
10 squats (95#)
10 bench dips (feet on the ball)

Four rounds:
10 back extensions
40 v-sit ball tosses (3 kg ball) (Like this, but tossing the ball from hand to hand. Next time I'll do it like the video.)

(None of the above for time, but no rests - other than a few deep breaths - between sets or rounds.)

And a little stretch, which was way more stretching that I've done in weeks. Then, a wonderful yogurt smoothie. I missed these so much while away; all my sister had in the house was bread and cereal. I had to scavenge.

Resolution challenge for tomorrow: back to yoga?!

Grab bag

Between going to and from nursery school, the mechanic, and the mall, I had only a tiny bit of free time to squeeze in some heavy stuff. Sum total of the day:

Walking: 5.5 km
Jogging: 2 km
Squats: 5 sets of 5 @ 115#
Pull-up progression: 3 sets of 3 (at the park, neutral grip, feet resting at hip-level)

The pleasant surprise was the weather that was nice enough to let us have one last play at the park. (No winter wonderland for us!) It was the "adalint park" (elephant park). Tim thinks the winding tube slide is like and elephant's trunk.

one year ago

I landed in TZ and ate more rice and beans (and fries and beer) and had no access to a squat rack. Plus, I was only three months into a ten month battle with a torn rotator cuff (I can still feel it back there, ready to pounce). I got fat in the wrong places.

cleans: 142.5 x3,3,3,3,3

<more later>

bench: 157.5x5,5,4. fuck. i had a lovely spotter, too.
squats: 255 x5,5,5
lying tri ext: 60 x8,8,8

From under the rubble

After so much summer, a rainy, autumnal day. I headed down to the basement for today's workout. It was such a mess down there, it took me longer to set up for this workout than to do it. After clearing away laundry, crayons, trainset pieces, boxes, balls, etc, and setting up the rower with enough space left for squats, I did this:

Five rounds:
5 squats - 110 lb (will easily up this weight next time)
500 m row - 2:10 min per round (give or take a couple secs)

The advantage of rowing over running is that with the rowing, you can close your eyes when you start to pray for it to be over.
Finished with:
20 squats - 65 lbs
1000 m leisure row (4:50 min)

Later at the park: 3 "real" dips (individuals - not consecutive) on the spiderweb climber. Tim made me hold him and raise him up and down for dips, too. He giggled the whole time.

Squatty-squat-squat-squats

Today's crossfit WOD: 1x1x1x1x1 reps of overhead squats, front squats, back squats (3 sets, 15 total).

Warmed up with a 65lb barbell: 10 deadlifts, 10 squats, 10 hang cleans, 10 squat cleans, 10 sumo-high-pull deadlifts, 10 presses, 10 overhead squats.

Weights:
Overhead squats- 75,85,95,105,115. Clearly shoulder strength is the gating item here. And man it would be nice to throw the bar down rather than manage it to the ground.
Front squats- 135, 155, 175, 185 failed x3 (arms need to be higher), 175, 155.
Back squats- 225, 245, 265, 265, 265.

Finished with 135 bench press x 10 and a stretch.

Juicer

New guy at the gym. Has got to be. Its not the bulges, its the retarded behaviour.

Squats: 5 x 205, 5 x 215, 5 x 225, 5 x 225, 5 x 225. Finishers: 20 x 155, 3 x 10 dips.

lazy week

spent weekend last camping in the mountains and have found the road to recovery rough (meaning: busy and tired). a couple of lazy runs last week, each about 5km in around 30 minutes. returned to the gym saturday am and did:

squats: 85x5x5x6 finished w/ 45x10x10
presses: 60x5x5x6 finished w/ 45x10x10
pull-downs: 72x8x8x14
eccentric pull-ups: x4 (holding at the top now for a few seconds, dropping much more slowly than the last times out)

those squats with the long ride yesterday have left me walking very deliberately today. another slow run home tonight.

One of my faves

I think I will tag it the "16-12-8-4" (Overunder's idea; I believe he will follow with a post of his own on this.) This is an excellent one - painful but so satisfying.

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

Total -- 23:38 (23:32)

In parenthesis are the times from my previous crack at it. I have mapped a new route for these distances, so I'm not sure a comparison is fair; it's hard to know how precise Googlemaps Pedometer is. I'll just have to do it again soon with the current mapping and compare that.

Specifically, the initial mile seems a bit fast (see below). However, it DID feel pretty good...

Last Friday, I ran a mile and then did some squats and presses:

Mile - 6:48 min
Squats - 105 x 6, 6, 6
Presses - 45 x 10, 10, 8

week 2

after the requisite rest that follows an 18km hike through/up the most beautiful mountain terrain I have yet to traipse across (daddy-o to post a few pics and elevation details) I was super stoked to get back to the weights. So stoked even, we turned down a mexican dinner invitation to hit the gym. Saying no to margaritas is a BIG deal to us glee'ers.

After a speedy bike ride home for warm up i did:

Bench: 75 x5,5,7
Squats: 80 x5,5,9
pulldowns: 60 x8x8x12

finisher: 5 rounds* of farmer's walk with 25lb plates per arm. time was 4:35.
*one round = walk ~10 metres, go up the stairs, walk ~10metres, go down the stairs

BTW - Those are some incredible miles being run in the national captial area! No wonder couple points are all the rage this summer :)

A bad day for The Mile

I was still feeling a little queasy from the tropical disease that had me horizontal for most of the weekend, but decided to start my workout with The Mile anyway.

Then it started to rain. Really rain.

And I was using the iPod stopwatch, since I don't have a real watch. The iPod stopwatch which has a completely unpredictable algorithm for shutting off by itself. I think it's powered by my direct gaze.

So the official time for my first mile in many months is: 2:55.

I'm going to guess it was more like 7:40. (Hopefully that estimate will help to guarantee I post a better result next time.)

(For comparison's sake: 7:08 in Feb on the treadmill, and 6:57 in October on the road.)

After drying off and changing clothes, I finished with:

Squats - 95 lb x 7, 7, 7
Presses - 45 lb x 10, then with 20 lb dbs - 7, 7

And a few chin-ups. Not really in a row.

Fast, heavy, stretch

That was my Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Friday

5 rounds:
Run 400m (14 kmph/4:16 min km)
12 thrusters (45 lb)

V-sit ball toss with 4 kg ball - 3 x 40.

(Note to self - do heavier thrusters next time.)

Saturday

Squats - 145 x 5, 5, 5, 5, 5
Good mornings - 62 x 10, 10, 10, 10
Bent-over rows - 35 lb db, 7, 7, 6 per arm
Bench hops - 4 x 30
(Hands on the bench, hop from side to side over the bench with feet together.)
Russion twist + hip raises on the ball (5 kg ball)

Sunday

90 minutes of Yin yoga. Aaaaah.

Squats and garudasana

Saturday: Heavy squats.
Sunday: non-Yin yoga.

The breakdown:

Squats - 135 x 5, 5, 5, 5, 5
Chin-ups - 2, 1, 1, 1, 1
Presses - 52 x 5, 5, 2+3 pp
SumoDeadliftHighPulls - 52 x 10, 7, 8
Run - 600m, 400m, 400m (30 sec rest between) @ 13.5 kmph.
(Was aiming for a mile, but lungs and legs were inexplicably leaden.)

Yoga - HOT. First time doing active (ie: non-yin) hot yoga. Oh my god the sweat. And, the class was hard too. But I managed to hold an eagle-ish pose (among others) for the expected amount of time.

My legs were more jellied from the yoga than the squats, but maybe it was the accumulation...

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.

Crushed

I went into the gym today with heavy weight in mind. Before I even got started, a little piece of me was crushed:

Yes, it's a highly textured blood blister. You can't see the swollen bruise underneath. Trying to get the pin out of the hole in the squat rack. Grr. Most of the cursing was in my head -- I tried to keep it cool. Then directed my pain into my squats.

Squats: 135 x 6; 145 x5, x5

Chins: 4

Power cleans: 75 x 6, 6, 6

Bench press: 85 x 5, 5, 4

Alternating hip raises and sit-ups on the ball: 2 sets of 20 per exercise

Later, my bruise impeded my ability to crush garlic.

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