Workout D #6: That was a great finish!! (Workout 25)

That was such a great workout!! Sweaty
and hard but so awesome! 

Well, my goal was to finish Phase 2 and Workout D strong today and I totally did! That was a great workout -- the weights on basically every exercise (except the shoulder presses which have been really hard) hit that wonderful point where they were Just Right and it's almost like everything is singing. It's hard to describe, but it's a great feeling. 

I'm really happy to have had such a fantastic experience as my last go 'round with this workout. Phase 3 will have more reps per set (and more overall) and one more exercise per workout and some new things, so finishing strong makes me feel really good. 

I can feel myself better and stronger and healthier. Love it! 

Today's workout was: 

• Spiderman Plank - 2 x 10 - If I were going to be doing these in Phase 3, I'd have to figure out a way to make them harder because it's time to take these up a notch. I went fast, alternating legs, concentrating on keeping my butt down and it was so good. :D I like these and will definitely keep them as something to keep in mind in future rotations. 
• Coordination Rows (Single-leg, Single-arm Cable Rows) - 2 x 10 - I'm still working at 15 pounds because increasing the weight is the *last* goal with these. I am absolutely getting better with these. Today I did five in each set with each leg without having to touch my foot down. When I started, I could barely get through one. I'm continuing with these. 
• Alternating sets of: 
• Offset-loaded Step Ups - 3 x 10 - I was back at our "home" gym, so I did the step-ups onto the deck of a treadmill (because they won't let folks use the otherwise unused step boxes in the 30-minute circuit area). I think it is higher than the step boxes though. Certainly this felt like a good workout -- I used a 35lb weight again, held on the side of my working leg. This was the first time I really felt the extra core workout of the offset load -- I could feel myself stabilizing myself against the weight. 
• Shoulder Press - 3 x 10, 10, 8 - I have been using 20 lbs with these for ages and don't feel like I'm making progress with them. I *think* my form is good, and I'm certainly not hurting myself, I'm just not getting anywhere. These are not going to be in Phase 3 -- I think I need to give them a break and try some other shoulder exercise. 
• Alternating sets of: 
• Squats - 3 x 10 - I used a pair of 35 lb dumbbells for these and just felt good doing it. I worked hard and just felt like I was making some sort of music with the weights. (Not a good metaphor, but I don't know how else to describe it -- it's like doing something hard and doing it well and feeling how good it is.) Anyway, was good. :D
• Kneeling Lat Pulldowns (cable-machine) - 3 x 10 - I'm still at 72.5 pounds with these, because I've been learning the lesson that how wide my grip is makes a *huge* difference for a while. Today I used the handle that has the slightly wider than shoulder width grip. That's the good grip that lets me move 72.5 lbs without feeling like I'm trying to do it all with my triceps, which just aren't that strong. It was so good! I totally felt like I was working my back as I wanted to and it was just perfect. 
• Cardio Intervals - 7 x 20:40 Intervals of Insanity on the elliptical machine. I've come to the conclusion that Patrick is right -- this is not a machine that really works the quads. Quads pull the leg forward, hamstrings pull it back. That said, I absolutely feel this in my quads and it just *kills* them. No, it makes no sense. Anyway, after the seventh of the Insanity Intervals my legs just wouldn't do it anymore. That was it. 

As always with workout D, the hardest "exercise" is not even on the official workout list -- the Farmer's Walk (which is basically a walk holding a weight) from the back corner where the cable machines are to the front where the weight racks are. After I've done 3 sets of squats and 3 sets of pulldowns, carrying the weights is *hard*.

For Phase 3, most of these exercises are going to be continuing, but not all of them. I mentioned already that I won't be doing Shoulder Presses again (for a while, at least). I'm going to try again to do the Squats as Front Squats -- so the load will be above my center of gravity. The Step-ups I'm either going to do raising my "non-working" knee as high as I can with each step OR step up onto a weight bench (which is considerably higher). The weight bench would be more convenient, but might be a bit too high for me. The Spiderman Planks are going to be replaced with a different core exercise.

Next workout is scheduled for Wednesday, I'm planning on mostly working out the logistics of Workouts E and Fe and trying to ensure that I have a clue what I'm doing with them. So it will be an easy workout lifting wise, but have plenty of challenges. :D Goal -- Kick Phase 3's butt, or at least get it off to a great start!