Workout M#3: Whee! That is all.

I had a fantastic workout on Saturday!! And I finished about the same
time Patrick and Travis did! :D

Patrick was working out with Travis on Saturday (doing chest and back stuff) while I was doing my workout. I am very pleased because we finished at about the same time -- even with me doing 10 minutes of Insanities at the end of the workout. I loved that! I also love seeing him around in the weights part of the gym (rather than not seeing him when he's upstairs in the cardio room). That makes me happy.

Patrick's appointment with Travis was at 10 am, so we went a couple of hours after an early breakfast. The timing worked out pretty well --we weren't even particularly hungry when we finished, so we went home to shower before lunch. (A lot of times we're absolutely *ravenous* when we're walking out of the gym.)

Workout M continues to be great, great fun, but also pretty exhausting. Which is part of the fun. :D

Saturday's workout was:

• Bridge Slides - 3 x 15 - Fifteen is still the correct number of these, though I'm thinking I'll eventually want to raise the number. They're definitely work on my hamstrings and glutes (keeping my hips up) and also my core (because keeping my core firm keeps strain off my lower back). 
• Kettlebell Swing - 3 x 30 seconds - I was going to use a 25lb kettlebell this time (like I did last time) but it had gone walkies, so I went with 20 and tried to swing faster. Though it's a pretty big movement so there's a limit to how fast it can possibly go. Still tons of fun with these and that's no joke! 
• Step Up and Press - 3 x 15 - Once again there wasn't a step box available -- or at least not the one I'm used to. There is a wooden box in the heavy duty weight room and I could totally use that (and need to remember to do so). Anyway, I just used the actual stairs and that worked fine. I did get confused about what I was doing and have to check my instructions -- I started pressing with *both* arms while stepping with one leg. Which would have resulted in 30 shoulder presses on each shoulder (with a pair of 15lb dumbbells). Reviewing my instructions showed me that it's a one-hand gig  -- the hand opposite the one I'm stepping with does the pressing. That's a lot more reasonable -- 30 presses on each shoulder per set would likely have been impossible. Or at least put a severe hurtin' on my shoulders.
• Alternating sets of: 
• Swiss Ball Reverse Hip Raise - 3 x 15 - For no weights being involved, these are a surprising lot of work. They also have to be done kind of carefully so they don't strain my lower back (by arching it too much). But I can definitely tell they're working the part of the body I want worked, so no complaints. 
• Swiss Ball Chest Press - 3 x 15 - These continue to be fun. And for 15 reps, a pair of 15lb dumbbells continues to be the right weight. By the end of the set they're getting hard, but my form doesn't fall apart or anything. Which is pretty close to perfect. 
• Alternating sets of: 
• Dumbbell Lunge and Rotation - 3 x 15 - I might try raising the weight on these next time. I used a 10lb dumbbell held up close to my chin, which isn't very much. I think it's supposed to add some resistance to the rotation portion of the program, because the lunge portion of the program gets plenty of resistance from my body weight. I might experiment with a 15lb weight next time and see how it goes. It might pull me off balance, now I think about it. 
• Neutral Grip Dumbbell Row - 3 x 15 - A pair of 15lb dumbbells was pretty much the right weight for these again on Saturday, though it'd be nice to go up to 17.5lbs. Unfortunately, this gym doesn't have those and I'm pretty sure I'm not ready to do 20lbs in good form. Also it's mighty convenient to use the same 15lb dumbbells for basically everything this workout. :D 
• Cardio Intervals - 10 x 30:30 Intervals of Insanity (Kettlebell Swings) - I wasn't really planning to do kettlebell swings for my Insanities, as I'd already done them as part of my workout, however, as mentioned above, the step box was missing, so I couldn't do step ups and the kettlebells were right there. (Yes, I know I'd already done Step Ups as part of my workout as well, but I do them so differently for Insanities that they seem totally different.) I used a 15lb kettlebell and really focused on going for speed. Which worked. By the end I was completely blown, which was cool. 

It was a great workout and great fun. And, as I said, I loved having Patrick around -- in and out of the area where I was working. That made me happy. 

Patrick's getting another session with Travis the trainer -- maybe on Wednesday evening (as Travis is taking this weekend off) -- to work on leg exercises. Then he'll be able to put together a couple of good workouts from things he learned. After that -- maybe Thursday or Friday -- I'll get together my thoughts for Travis about what I want to learn. I'll probably post them here before I email them to him, just to get my thoughts together. I've already warned him that I can (and have) write 5 pages on my grocery list, so it might be a long email. But I'll try to stay focused. 

Our next workout is scheduled for tonight (Monday). My goal for the workout is to try and finish about when Patrick does at least the main workout if not the Insanities.