Thursday, November 5, 2015

Hands-Free Workout B #1 and A #2: Bad about posting, not about working out (Workouts 41 and 42)

Hands Free Workout B  was not quite as nice as A, but was
still way way better than no workout at all. 
Patrick and I went on vacation to visit my folks last weekend and we wound out missing one workout (last Saturday). Momma and I took a nice walk on Saturday and I did a little bit of running (I didn't realize that high school cross-country meets are sort of audience participation running events), but nothing at all organized like a workout. 

Wednesday before we left, October 28, I did the second of the two workouts I'd figured out for while I was recovering from hand surgery (which I had two weeks ago today). It's been a while, but you may recall that I really liked Hands-Free Workout A and was pleasantly surprised by what an excellent workout it was. 

Hands-Free B was not as good -- mainly because the Y-T-I Raises on the floor weren't nearly as good as the Y-T-L-W-I Raises standing -- but I did a good job with it. 

October 29th's workout was:
  • Side Plank - 3 x 40 seconds - I hadn't done Side Plank in a while, so I had myself down to do 2 -3 sets (depending on how I felt) of at least 30 seconds. I absolutely made that and more -- three full sets of 40 seconds each and the Planet Fitness was there with a class and while his people were working on Russian Twists or something like that, he suggested that I try adding some additional movement to the side plank to ramp it up a notch. Which I did. 
  • Hip Raises - Both Legs (I'd been doing single leg before) - 4 x 15 - I didn't use a weight (part of the no-hand-involvement thing) and I was using both legs, so I added an extra set and some reps to the Single-Leg Hip Raises I was doing through Phase 3. I had my feet on a weight bench, otherwise I would have had to ramp it up more. 
  • Reverse Lunges - 4 x 15 - I never really got back to using weights on the reverse lunges (after my sore quad kept me out of the lunge business for a while) but I totally cranked up the sets and reps for this workout. No quad problems and it was very very good. 
  • Floor Y-T-I Raises - 3 x 12 - These all involve lying face down on the floor with your arms variously out in front of you at an angle, straight out to the sides, and straight out in front of you then raising your arms as high as possible. I don't know if there's something wrong with my back or what, but as high as possible when face down on the floor is a couple of inches. And it's an inordinate amount of work for that. And it didn't feel entirely like I was working what I wanted to be working. And I just didn't like those. So there. 
  • Cardio Intervals - 10 x 20:40 Intervals of Insanity. All ten intervals were Jump Squats and it was kind of awesome. I didn't do any post-workout cardio (which I only do when I finish before Patrick which has happened like once or twice) but I'd gotten *tons* of it with the Insanity Intervals, so I felt well cardio-ed and worked out. 

We were on vacation on Saturday, Oct. 31 and didn't have a good chance to workout. Though, as I said, I went to a high school track meet and did some running and did a lot of walking while trick or treating with my cousin and her family and a bunch of kids. Trick or treating included some running as well, because small children on Halloween are like gas molecules and there was an awkward ratio of adults to children. 

We got home Tuesday evening and went to the gym just as soon as we'd gotten home and unpacked the car. I didn't get a chance to figure out Workouts G and H while we were gone and my hand was still a little bit sore. (Even though the stitches from my surgery came out on Halloween at the track meet.) Also, since I'd skipped a workout I didn't want to go right back into full bore lifting, so I decided against doing Workout E again. 

So I did Hands Free Workout A a second time. I'd loved it so much the first time. 

Either I went slower or Patrick went faster, because
I didn't have time for any extra cardio at the end. 
November 3rd's workout was: 
  • Plank - 3 x 60, 45, 40 -- I did TWO one minute planks and one 45 second one where I was moving my feet around for the first 25 seconds. So I totally and absolutely killed it with Plank. Better than I've ever done! :D 
  • Squats - 4 x 15 - Because the stitches are out of my hand (though it still feels a little tight), I actually did two sets of body weight squats as fast as possible and two sets of Dumbbell Front Squats (like I was doing in Phase 3, but with a lighter weight because more reps per set). Alternating. That worked pretty well. 
  • Sprinter Step Ups - 4 x 15 - These are like normal step ups only one raises the knee of the non-working leg up to one's chest when stepping up. It adds a bit more of a balance component (just because more mass is moving around, I think) and a lot more of a cardio component. I didn't use weights so I worked them fast and raised my leg *high*. 
  • Standing Y-T-L-W-I Raises - 2 x 10 - I like these so much (though I literally drip sweat onto the floor in front of me while doing them) that they're going to make it into Workout G, or maybe H, I can't remember. (I've *finally* put those together.) 
  • Cardio Intervals - 4 x 30:30 Jumping Jacks alternated with 4 x 20:40 Jump Squats - so 8 total Intervals of Insanity. Doing the Jumping Jacks for 30 seconds (with a 30 second rest) keeps those from feeling like a break between the Jump Squats rounds. It also keeps the Jump Squats from punishing my quads so much that I don't get a good cardio workout from it. Patrick finished before I was done with the Y-L-T-W-I Raises so I stopped after 8 Intervals. 
As mentioned, I finally put together Workouts G and H (at least provisionally). Our next workout is scheduled for tonight. My plan is to work through one set of everything in both workouts to figure out any potential logistical problems. I've got a few totally and utterly new exercises on it that seem like they'll be really challenging and quite a stretch. So it's possible that there will be "I simply can't do this (yet)" problems as well. One of them I'm really worried about and have already planned in an alternate if my first choice is not possible. Goal for tonight's workout -- work hard, get good starting weights, figure out problems with the plan. Sweat a lot. :D

I'm hoping to start Phase 4 on Saturday.

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