The View from the Classroom

Last night hubby and I were working chest and tri’s.  I’m thinking to myself that I haven’t been pushing myself like I used to.  I mean, I lift heavy and if I feel like it I up the weight where I can, but I haven’t REALLY pushed myself in a while, especially when it comes to the chest.  So….I made up my mind that I would cause I still want to bench 135 at least once before the end of the year.  Warmed up on the elliptical.  Did two sets of bench press, one at 95 lbs and one at 105. 

Now, hubby says I should just put the 45’s on and try it.  I say "Are you freakin’ crazy?!!!  There’s no way!  That’s like YOU putting 30+ pounds more on your highest bench and trying it!!"  He thinks about it and replies "Yeah, but you never know if you don’t try."  So…I compromise and try 125.

I pump myself up, lift it off the rack, take a deep breath, bring it down to my chest and start to think, "no way".  Hubby gives me a little spot, tells me to breathe, which I do, and I lift it.

He says he didn’t help me much, but he has a tendency to lie about stuff like that.  He says it’s like when he’s doing a crossword and gets stuck.  I give him the answer to a clue and that gets him going so that he can finish.  He says it was just a little help to get me going.  I don’t believe him. 

BUT…I tried it and at least I know.  I know I need to work harder and push myself more if I’m gonnna get to the 135.

Have a great weekend everyone.  I’m taking it off the weights…just a little cardio and some relaxation.

I’m easing back into working out the legs so as not to hamper the recovery of my disk which has improved in the last month or so.  You see, I haven’t really worked my legs in like 5 weeks.  I miss it too.  Leg day is my absolute favorite.  So anyway, last week I did lunges and lying leg curls without any problems.  Tonight I thought I would add some extensions.  Workout went like this:

4 sets of walking lunges holding 15 pound db’s…40 steps each set

3 sets of lying leg curls…12 reps at 80lbs, 10 reps at 70lbs and 8 reps at 70lbs

3 sets of hip abductors…all at 90lbs, 12 reps each set

3 sets of seated calf raises…10 reps each set, 1 set at 90lbs, 1 at 80lbs and 1 at 70 lbs

3 sets of leg extensions…started at 90 cause I wanted to see how it felt…felt good, did 12 reps and then 1 set of 10 reps at 105 and one set of 8 at 120

I know I won’t be able to add squats, leg presses or deadlifts for awhile, but adding the extensions in tonight was awesome!!  

Just finished the shoulders (courtesy of my new PT): 

DB Shoulder Press…3 sets of 12

Side Lateral Raises…start low and go up the db rack…3lbs, 5lbs, 8lbs, etc. doing 12 reps with each weight…4 weights make a set…repeat 3 times

Rear delt cable pulls…this one’s new to me, but I like it…3 sets of 15

Front raises…3 sets of 12

Short and sweet, but your shoulders will be on fire, guaranteed!!

Back and bi’s tomorrow night and I am SO looking forward to it…it was brutal last week

I started the new program written for me by my new trainer this week and last night was back and bi’s. 

Earlier in the day (yesterday) I did my 40 minutes of steady-state cardio on the stairmaster with my heartrate probably averaging 140-150.  This was the 3rd day in the row of cardio on the stairmaster….remember Sunday I did an hour to pay for Saturday night…anyway, the legs are beat.  My program includes 5 days of cardio, 40 minutes each, at least 25 minutes hard on the stairmaster.  The way I see it?  If I’m doing 25 minutes hard and I gotta do 40 minutes total, might as well go hard on all of it.  The legs are a little achy today so I’m laying off the cardio ’til tomorrow.

Hubby and I hit the weights later yesterday afternoon…back and bi’s…btw…it’s really great that we’re getting to train together again…pre-comp we got away from that with me kind of needing to do my own thing…workout went like this…

Pull-Ups…3 sets to failure…1 set super wide-grip, 1 set narrow, 1 set underhand…I could only do 3.5, 4.5, and 5, respectively, but if you’ve ever done those, you know they wear you out no matter how many you do…

Underhand Pull-Downs, 3 sets of 10…started with 112.5 which was a tad heavy, couldn’t quite get 10, went down to 100 for set 2 and then 87.5 on last set. 

T-Bar Row…3 sets of 12…45lbs, 35lbs, and 25lbs

1-Arm DB Rows…3 sets of 10…all at 25 lbs…could possibly go heavier on first set

Alternating DB Curls…3 sets of 10…all at 20lbs

Straight Bar Curls…3 sets of 10…just for fun, I actually tried the bar knowing full well I couldn’t do 10…did 4 and bi’s felt like they were going to explode…moved to the EZ Bar + 10lbs for set 2 and + 5 lbs on set 3

Preacher Curls…3 sets of 10…I think I was too tired to write down the weight I used, but if memory serves, it was 20lbs on the first two sets and 15 on the last one.

Not used to doing same number of reps on all sets.  Typically, I will increase weight and decrease reps, so I didn’t quite get all the starting weights at the right levels.  Anyway…when we left, arms were like putty.  After my shake, I had to go to Walmart to pick-up some essentials…eggs, brown rice, oatmeal, etc…could barely push the grocery cart…and driving…it hurt just to turn the steering wheel!! 

I couldn’t seem to satisfy my appetite after that either.  Had two meals after getting back from Walmart and even woke up in the middle of the night hungry which I don’t usually do. 

It felt good to push my muscles that hard.  Today is chest and tri’s.  I have a feeling it will be just as brutal

Tonight was my first weight training session in about two weeks.  I looked forward to it all day.  Worked chest and shoulders.  Hit em hard.  Even tried some things I hadn’t done before…Arnold Presses and DB Incline Front Raises…liked them both, especially the front raises…really got a good burn…totally awesome.

Seriously, it was a great feeling to hit the weights again and I was extremely pumped, mentally, afterwards.  I don’t know why so many women spend time just doing cardio or playing with the girly weights.  I’ve been doing the cardio only thing for the last week and while I do really sweat when I do it, it’s just not the same as lifting.  That’s another thing, rarely do I see women in our gym really sweating at all.  I mean, maybe a little perspiration, but real sweat, not usually.  When I first started working out regularly I overheard a trainer telling one of his women clients that when she finishes her cardio she should be drenched in sweat.  Being a women not afraid to sweat, I thought, amen to that and I’ve always kept that in the back of my mind when doing the cardio.  More women need to sweat AND lift weights.

There’s nothing like it and I am just tickled pink that I could train today.  Can’t wait until Wednesday!! 

Just designed my training & nutrition program for the next 4 weeks.  4 weeks cause that’s basically how long I have before I go back to school.  Wow how time flies in the summer!!!  Here it is…feel free to critique it or give me some input.  BTW…goal is to add some muscle to the upper body and continue to tighten up the lower body.  Can’t do any leg work, running or incline walking yet due to the herniated disk.

DIET/SUPPS

2400 calories total…180-210g Protein, 270-300g Carbs, 54g Fat  (This is about 500-600 cals more than I was getting pre competition and I was maintaining my weight and losing bf with the increased cardio.)

PreWorkout…NO XPlode plus Glutamine 

PostWorkout & PreBedtime…Protein Shake plus Creatine & Glutamine

WORKOUTS

Sunday…HIIT 45 minutes on stairmaster + Abs

Monday…AM swim (about 20 minutes) and PM Chest/Shoulders

Tuesday…HIIT 45 minutes on elliptical + Abs

Wednesday…AM swim and PM Bi’s/Tri’s

Thursday…HIIT 45 minutes on stairmaster + Abs

Friday…AM swim and PM Back

Saturday…OFF

Lifting will be heavy and 3-6 rep range after light warm-up.

Anyway…feel free to critique away.  I welcome the feedback!!

I took some advice and did some research on swimming yesterday.  Found a training program that I’m gonna try.  It’s called 0 to 1650 because it will take me from swimming 0 yards to 1650 yards (approx 1 mile) in 6 weeks.  I’m starting it today and the first week (3 days) looks like this:

Swim 100 yards and rest for 12 breaths…repeat for a total of 300 yards

Swim 50 yards and rest for 8 breaths…repeat for a total of 150 yards

Swim 25 yards and rest for 4 breaths…repeat for a total of 75 yards

That will be a total of 525 yards each day, which, by the way, is more than I’ll actually have to swim in the tri I’m looking at.  I thought it was an 800 meter swim…nope…only 350…I’m sure I can handle that by October!!

The bike ride is 13.8 miles and the run 3.1 miles.  I’ll start incorporating cycling and running in a few weeks provided the disk is feeling better.  And…hopefully by that time I can get back to the weights….I’m REALLY missing that…A LOT

Ok.  This isn’t for sympathy.  And I surely don’t need a lecture.  Matter of fact, I’m not sure why I’m writing this at all.  I guess I just am not "inspired" enough today to write about anything else.

I’ve had this pain in my left glute and down the leg for awhile now.  Anyone who knows me knows I don’t go to the doctor unless I absolutely have to.  I’m healthy.  Never had anything major wrong with me in my life.  "Suck it up" could be my motto.  And…the pain hasn’t interferred with my cardio (only time it doesn’t really hurt) or even too much of my lifting  so, how bad could it be?

But…the pain has not gone away.  So a few days ago, I call my orthopedic surgeon brother who immediately says "Sounds like you have a herniated disc and you need to come see me (he’s about 2 hours away) and have an MRI done."  He goes on to explain to me treatment options if that is in fact the case and tells me about his personal experience with the exact same problem.  After 4 or 5 months of suffering, he woke up in a Chicago hotel not being able to get out of bed…my reply?  "I have a contest in 5 weeks!  I’ve put too much time and work into this to NOT do it!!"  My brother understands completely (I mean, he’s an orthopedic surgeon, probably KNEW what his problem was and still didn’t do anything about it!).  So yesterday, I go see him.

EXACTLY what he said…herniated disc.  So that’s where I’m at.  He prescribed medication and told me that no surgeon is going to do surgery at this stage (symptoms haven’t gone on long enough).  told me that with this medication and rest, history has shown that a lot of cases clear up and surgery isn’t necessary.  The "doctor" told me that I should lay off lifting, but the "brother" knows that I won’t.

My plan…lay off the lifting…well, at least a little…yesterday was just a cardio day and I did that prior to seeing him.  Today is no cardio and tri’s and bi’s which I worked on Tuesday for some reason so they don’t have to be worked today.  Tomorrow is just cardio.  Sunday, one of two leg days so I can take it off.  After that, I’m lifting, but will take it easy on the legs…no deadlifts, no weighted squats, stuff like that.  Major pain in the a$@, minor bump on the road to my contest

Been doing the stairmaster for cardio for the last few weeks and I’m totally sick of it.  So…decided to change things up a bit tonight.  Did 30 minutes of HIIT on the treadmill incorporating 1 minute sprints throughout.  On the last sprint, I totally felt like I was gonna puke…so much better than the stairmaster…never thought I would say it, but I’ve missed running.  It was absolutely, no doubt about it the BEST cardio session I’ve had in a long, long time.  This from someone who just one year ago was saying "I HATE RUNNING!!!!"

Worked the legs hard today.  Felt strong…don’t know if it was the pre-workout shake which I don’t usually have or just my mindset, but here it is…

7 minute jog to warm-up

Squats:  1 x 95, 115, 125, 8 reps each

SLDL:  1×95, 115, 135, 8 reps each

Walking Lunges w/25lb plates: 4 sets of 24 steps

Extensions: 1×180, 135, 90, 45 (Trying something different), 5, 8, 12, 20 reps, respectively

Lying Ham Curls (YUCK!!=most needed):  1×60,70,80, 8 reps on all except last one, could only manage 5

Hip Adductor (don’t usually do this, thought I would try it): 1×70,80,90, 8 reps each

Standing Calf Raises: 1×240, 180, 120 (something different here too), 8 reps on first two sets and 16 on last set

Then…as if that wasn’t enough…managed 10 minutes on the stepper…Dawn Melanie, you should be proud…