Workout O#2: Kicked up the Insanities again! :D

I made some changes from what I wrote in as I was going, but
only to make it better, not to wimp out on anything. 

Workout O is definitely a lot of fun -- I seem to enjoy it more when I'm working hard. If I'm doing something that's too easy, I kind of mentally check out and the time drags a bit. If I'm working hard and sweating a lot, I wind out more excited and happier at the end. I'm not sure I have a good explanation for that.

Anyway, by that measure this is a great workout -- there are really hard, sweaty, get me moving type exercises, but also some that are a little quieter so I can get a breathing spell from time to time. And be ready for some kicking Intervals of Insanity at the end. 

That's pretty much exactly how it was yesterday!

Yesterday's workout was: 

• Russian Twists - 3 x 12 - I used a 12lb medicine ball for these, which was both a good weight and a good size to be holding out at arms length. I liked that. I'd like to learn more things to do with the medicine ball. These are the Russian Twist variation that I learned from Travis (the trainer) that involve a "skytouch" (a/k/a raising the ball to the sky) as one step in moving it back and forth. I think I'm going to be ready to raise the number of twists (so I work my core harder) before I'm ready to raise the weight (because 12lbs is about right for the skytouches at this juncture). 
• Explosive Push-Ups - 3 x 8 - I did these off a weight bench and was really able to do 8 of them in each set. I'm trying to keep my core tight so my butt stays down at least during the down part of the push-up. I also need to be careful to keep my arms straight down from my shoulders, which can be a little bit challenging with my hands on a bench, but it makes a huge difference in which muscles I'm working. 
• Squat & Clean - 3 x 12 - The first time I did workout O I did these as Deadlift & Cleans, but since I'm doing another exercise in this workout that works both hamstrings and glutes together, that seemed a bit much of a muchness so I changed it to squats this time. That worked really well. I raised the weight some for these -- first time I used an empty Olympic bar (44lbs) for the first set, then added 2.5lbs at each end of the bar (5 total, obviously) for the second and third sets. Last night, I added 5lbs at each end of the bar for a total of 54 lbs. I think I'll be staying there for a while. I was able to make my reps, but those are a definite challenge. 
• Alternating sets of: 
• Leg Curls (Machine) - 3 x 12 - I did the first set at the same weight I used for O#1 -- 45 lbs. Then I raised it to 50lbs for the second and third sets because I wanted a bit more of a challenge. Going up by five pounds definitely gave me more of a challenge, so I've got no complaints there. These really do seem to work a totally different part of my hamstrings than the Deadlifts, Hip Raises, and Hyperextensions I've been doing in this exercise category. I'm pleased about that. I'm a little less jazzed about the fact that I've got these great big, whole-me moving muscles working but I'm lying on my belly and they're just moving the little stack of weights. But that's okay. I do work hard.
• Front Raises - 3 x 12 - I used a pair of 8lb dumbbells. I might talk to Travis about these because I feel as though my shoulders and upper back should be getting stronger than they are. Or getting stronger faster. I'm not sure I've gotten much in the way of progress as far as the weights go on any of the raise-type moves. Vexing. 
• Alternating sets of: 
• Lunge Pulses - 3 x 12, 15, 15 - These are hard, but I'm clearly getting better at them. I don't think I'm really good for holding weights while doing them at this juncture, so I went up to 15 for the second and third sets, because 12 wasn't quite hard enough. For the third set, in accordance with my goal for the workout (to do one set without holding onto something to help keep my balance), I let go of the "horns" of the hyperextension station and put my hands on my hips. That worked just fine and I think I can do that for every set going forward. :D 
• Rear Lateral Raises - 3 x 12 - I used the 8lb dumbbells for these raises as well. These work a different part of the back from the front raises, which is why both are useful. Just like the Front Raises, though, I feel like these muscles should be getting stronger faster than they are. 
• Cardio Intervals - 5 x 40:20 Kettlebell Swings alternated with 5 x 30:30 BOSU Burpees Intervals of Insanity - OMG!! This was the most awesome Insanities! I've mentioned before that when I'm doing Kettlebell Swings as a cardio exercise, I go for speed and use a lighter weight. So I was using a 15lb kettlebell. I might raise that up to 20lbs next time, just to keep the intensity up. The cool part was that I added BOSU Burpees (rather than the step box, which is plenty fun, but it's nice to mix things up). You can see a video of someone doing BOSU Burpees here. She's even doing them almost exactly the way Travis taught me (without the push up at the bottom) except I wasn't doing the jump at the end. I think I need to start that next time, though because that would make it even more awesome. Those were the best and most insane Insanities!! :D :D 

So I ended the workout on a high note and felt so incredibly fierce at the end of it was like I could take on the world. As it was I took on dinner and dishes and doing a bit of drawing for a coworker. Which is something. :D 

Next workout is scheduled for Saturday -- I get to work out with Travis on Saturday! I asked him to focus on upper body (specifically chest, shoulders, and back) so I can learn some new moves to incorporate into future workouts. I can also ask him what I'm doing wrong that I'm not getting noticeably stronger with the raises and such. Goal for that workout -- have fun, work hard, and let Travis do the thinking. :D :D

Workout O#1: Kicking off Phase 8

The workouts this phase are going to be quicker than the
previous ones -- 12 reps instead of 15 makes more of a
difference than I would have thought possible. 

This phase's workouts are going to be a little tough to introduce, because some of the exercises are ones I learned from Travis and I don't know that I'll be able to find good video clips of people doing them. We'll see. 

On the other hand, I think I like that the workouts themselves are a little shorter because of 12 reps per set (and the same number of sets) instead of 15. That surprised me with how much of a difference it made, though I liked the longer sets with lighter weights, so I'll be doing it again. 

Saturday was a kind of crazy day -- we had tickets for the baseball game in the afternoon (despite the ultra-cruddy weather) and had to do our Saturday errands (grocery shopping, mostly) and work out before we had to leave for the game at 1. (As it turned out the game was postponed until May on account of the cruddy weather and we went to a museum instead, but that's a whole different story). 

Anyway, I was glad that the workout went pretty quickly because, among other things, it meant I had a quick five minutes available for Insanities at the end. I'd thought I was going to have to skip those entirely. 

Anyway, since this is the Good Post with all the details about the exercises, I'm just going to jump right in. 

Saturday's workout was: 

• Russian Twists with "Skytouches" - 3 x 12 - (You can see pictures and a description of Russian Twists without the Skytouches here.) I think the Skytouches are either Travis's addition, or his term for something that I don't know how to look up. Basically between taking the weight (a 12 lb dumbbell or medicine ball seems to be the right weight for now) from the left side to the right, I raise it up over my head. So the order goes Right-Left-Up-Right-Left-Up. I'm not sure the up adds much to the core work, but it sure does add a lot of *difficulty* to it. There appear to be a lot of ways to do Russian Twists, but I'm dong them just like at that link -- sitting on the floor with the feet on the floor, leaning back. Bodybuilding.com has some variations that add a sit-up element to them and I may do those later. For now, this is a good amount of work. I'll probably be going up to 15 lbs before too long. 
• Explosive Push-Up - 3 x 8 - They're baaaack!! (You can see a video of someone doing these here under the name "Plyometric Push Ups".) These tend to go in and out of my workouts -- I'm usually on the lookout for something that would be an "explosive power" upper body exercise and this is one of the ones I'm aware of. As I mentioned in my post about Workout N#6, I can't do Shoulder Presses indefinitely (Push Presses are another one I have in this category) because my shoulders start resenting it. So these keep coming back around. I actually kind of like them. I still can't do them off the floor, like in the video, but I've gone from a waist high bar to a knee high weight bench over time. So I'm super pleased about that. I'm also pleased, on watching the video, to see that her butt goes up some during the explosive part too. I was thinking I was doing something horribly wrong there. 
• Deadlift & Clean - 3 x 12 - I *think* that's what these are. (You can sort of see a video here, except that I'm not lifting so much weight that it's quite that...strenuous.) This is another exercise I learned from Travis, though I think he calls them Deadlift Jerks -- but Jerks as a weightlifting move take the weight up over the head rather than just to the collar bones. So I think Deadlift & Clean is right. The other modification, in addition to them just not being quite so explosive, is that I'm doing straight-leg (Romanian) deadlifts, or hang Power Cleans, or something. The weight goes down a little bit below my legs but not all the way to the ground each time. I started out using an empty Olympic barbell for these -- that's 44 lbs -- but that was clearly going to be too light, so I added 5 lbs (total, 2.5 to each end) to make it 49lbs and that was good. I probably should be doing the "Deadlift and Clean" exercise as a Squat and Clean instead, it occurs to me, because both deadlifts and leg curls (coming up next) are hamstrings exercises. Hmmm. I believe I'll make that change. I can't find anything like a picture or video of that, but it's pretty similar only with a deeper squat at the start. 
• Alternating sets of: 
• Leg Curls (Machine) - 3 x 12 - (You can see a video of someone doing these here.) This is about as simple as it looks -- climb on the machine and go. Though I do have to make sure the pad is hitting my calves in the right place and my knees line up with the pivot on the machine. During the walkthrough these put a bit of an uncomfortable strain on my knees. I did just fine on Saturday, no problems, and made note of where the two settings on the machine were so I could replicate that. I did 45 lbs and think I could probably go up to 50, though I don't think I made a note of that for next time. I'll try to remember when I'm in my notebook again, thought. Just because I'm not doing a Heavy Phase, doesn't mean I can slack off. 
• Front Raise - 3 x 12 - (You can see a video of someone doing these here, only I do both arms at the same time.) This is another regular in my workout circuits as they're a good exercise that doesn't make my shoulder joints feel gravelly but makes them do good work. They're especially good if I keep an eye on myself and take pains not to lift the weights higher than straight out to the front from my shoulders. Because the precision actually makes me work harder and I can't take advantage of any sort of momentum. I used a pair of 8lb dumbbells (those are really Not Strong muscles) and I'm hoping to move up soon. I should probably try 10lbs next time, but again, I don't think I made a note of it so I may not remember. 
• Alternating sets of: 
• Lunge Pulses - 3 x 12 - (You can see a video of someone doing these here, but ignore what she's dong with her arms for the nonce and just pay attention to her legs.) This is another move I learned from Travis. Man these are hard and they kind of suck, though they're way *less* sucky if one isn't doing them toward the end of a leg workout. I like them, tons. I'm going to be moving up the number of them pretty quickly as 12 was tough but won't be forever. I don't hold my hands over my head (though I'll keep that in mind as a way to intensify them and work on my core and balance too) -- Travis suggested that I hold on to something like the back extension machine so I don't have to think about not falling over, I can concentrate on my quads. Which get a heck of a workout!! (Still sore two days later!)
• Standing Rear Lateral Raise - 3 x 12 - (You can see a video of someone doing these here.) This is another one where attention to not raising my arms *too* much actually makes the exercise harder and better. So does paying attention to my arms being straight out from my sides rather than at any angle other than 90 degrees to my torso. This is where the mirrors come in handy, because I don't have a very good sense of this just from feel. I don't know if I have an abnormally *bad* sense of it, but I know mine isn't good. I can't tell if my neck is straight or if my arms are higher than straight out to the sides just by the feel of it. 
• Cardio Intervals - 5 x 40:20 Kettle Bell Swings Intervals of Insanity -- I really did push these insanely hard too, I worked myself like crazy for the 40 seconds on. They were great. I only had time for five minutes of Insanities and I wanted to make the most of them. And I did. 

It was a great great workout. I think I'm going to enjoy this one. Of course the one with No Squats is usually a workout I really enjoy. :D Honestly, that's a little weird, because I do Squats and Lunges on different days and I like Squats better than I like Lunges, so you'd think I'd be more likely to dislike the one with lunges. Ah well. 

Next workout is scheduled for this evening, Monday, April 11, and it'll be the first time with Workout P. I can't remember what all I'm going to be dong -- Squats on the BOSU and Kettlebell Swings and those super tricksy slider Inchworm-y things and some sort of step up and push ups. Those I remember. Not sure otherwise. It's gonna be great! :D Goal for the workout: Get Workout P's new moves down as quickly as possible so I can start rocking the weights. 

Workout N#6 and the Phase 8 Walkthrough

I finished Phase 7 on Monday and did the walkthrough for
Phase 8 on Wednesday. I am ready to go forth and rock. 

Monday evening, Patrick and I went to the gym and I had a great workout. It was only Patrick's second time back and he still had stitches, so he didn't push so hard. But really, he probably shouldn't have, so no worries.

This was my last workout in Phase 7, which has been a phase I've immensely enjoyed. Workout M was a blast every single time and N was good, though not quite as good.

Monday's workout was:

• Push Aways - 3 x 12 - These may have been one of the things that has kept me from enjoying Workout N quite so much. They're *really* rough -- strenuous and I have to concentrate a lot to keep my back from collapsing. So they're strenuous and tough (which normally I like) but not much fun. 
• Dumbbell Push Press - 3 x 12 - I used a pair of 20 lb dumbbells for these, which is (I believe) the same weight I've been using for a couple of times. Even so, I just barely made my reps the last set. Shoulder presses where the weight goes straight up from my shoulders are tough for me. It's tough. 
• Coordination Rows - 3 x 15 - These were really good. I love how much I've improved at these since I started doing them last fall. I'm so much more stable than I was -- not just when I'm doing these. I'm looking forward to doing something that involves being on one foot and adding a twisting component because that's going to be my next challenge. That won't be in Phase 8 though. I lifted 30lbs again. 
• Alternating sets of:
• Dumbbell Front Squat - 3 x 15 - Still at two 20lb dumbbells for these. When I was working out with Travis the first time he showed me a trick for keeping my back straight (rather than sort of crumpling forward) when doing squats -- do them right in front of a wall, so you have to keep your torso up even while squatting down. That helps so much with these front squats, because it's so easy to let the weight pull my shoulders and chest forward, which isn't good. It probably looks a little weird that I'm doing squats with my toes just a few inches from the wall. 



This is the type of step-boxes at
the gym. More layers can
be added to make them higher. My
preference is 3 layers.

• Pullovers - 3 x 15 - I'm going to be doing these in a different way in Phase 8 because I definitely like the move and I can feel that I'm working the muscles in my back that I want to be working. Which is always a good thing. :D I'm pretty sure I ended where I started weight-wise, at 30 lbs. It was always hard and I never felt like I was ready to move up. 
• Alternating sets of:
• Offset-Loaded Step Ups -  3 x 15 - I went up to a 25 lb weight and that made for a good workout the last time. I also was able to use the step at the height I preferred, which makes for a better workout as well. 
• Alternating Press and Twist - 3 x 15 -  I've enjoyed these immensely as a shoulder exercise. The way these presses work, there's no straight up kind of movement which, as mentioned above, kind of stresses my shoulders. They're not in my Phase 8 workouts, but I'll be coming back to these again. 
• Cardio Intervals - 5 x 40:20 Kettlebell Swings Intervals of Insanity alternated with 5 x 30:30 Step Ups Intervals of Insanity - I love doing Intervals of Insanity. The kettlebell swings were with a 15lb bell -- since I'm doing them for speed rather than muscle development the lighter weight works better. 

On Wednesday (yes, I had gotten almost a whole week behind on posting. Sigh!), I did the Phase 8 walkthrough. I'll save the detailed information about Workouts O and P for when I do the first workout in each of them. That wound out being a weird workout -- the walkthrough always is -- it goes slowly because I'm figuring out what I'm doing but I don't get that sweaty because I'm having to figure out what I'm doing. I didn't really have time for insanities afterwards, either, which was a bit disappointing. 

After the walkthrough, I changed a couple of exercises, to make things flow more smoothly. I have hope that I'll like both of these. :D 

Workout M #6: Kicking up the Insanities a bit. :D

I really did end Workout M strong -- I kicked up the Insanities
some and I raised a few weights. 

I was feeling sort of low-energy on Wednesday evening, but I never even thought about skipping my workout. Well, maybe I thought about it a little but mostly to think that I wasn't going to do that. I kind of figured (I guess based on several months of experience now) that I'd feel more energetic after working out. Which totally worked, because I did. That was nice. 

As mentioned in the post title, I kicked up the Insanities -- I did half of the intervals as 40:20 (40 seconds on, 20 seconds of rest) Kettlebell Swings (with a 15 lb weight) and the other half as 30:30 Step Ups on the normal (higher) step. And all of that after the already more energetic and go-go-go Workout M. 

I really felt great (and soaked with sweat) at the end. 

It was a bummer that Patrick couldn't be there -- he was just not feeling it with the stitches in his back. I think his plan is to get back on the elliptical on Saturday though. 

Wednesday's workout was:

• Bridge Slides - 3 x 30 seconds - I'd been doing these as 30 second sets with 30 seconds of rest. I'm not sure why I didn't feel like raising the time on the sets, but I didn't. I did, however, cut the rest breaks down to 15 seconds. So I kept the pressure on myself. Which was good. I don't think I'll be continuing these in Phase 8 -- they're not working me hard enough. 
• Kettlebell Swings - 3 x 30 seconds - I went up to a 30 lb kettlebell this time (in part because the 25lb was not in the rack and I knew 20 was going to be too light) and that was great. I did do a 30 second rest between sets, though, because with the heavier weight those can wear you out. They can also put a bit of strain on the back with a heavier weight, so I wanted the breaks to recover. 
• Step Up and Single-Arm Press - 3 x 12, 11, 10 - I used a 20lb weight for all three sets, which is a first. And I was stepping up onto the higher step (though it's what I think of as normal). I don't think the step part made the difference in me not making 15 reps on even the first set. (I've done one set with a 20lb weight in M#4 and #5, so I should be used to that). I'm not sure what did, to be honest. I have this vague recollection that I thought I was only doing 12 reps so I stopped, though I'm not sure I could have done much more. Maybe that first set I could have. Still -- weight increase overall and I think the volume of lifting overall was higher. I'll take it. 
• Alternating sets of: 
• Lunge & Rotation - 3 x 15 - I did the alternating sets out of order because one of the trainers had her client working on the Swiss ball when I got to that point. So I moved on and figured (correctly) that the Swiss ball would be free by the time I got back to it. It all worked out just fine. I was able to locate a 15lb weight for these, though I could probably have done okay with 20lbs. Once again, I did the first set doing all on one side then all on the other and the second and third sets alternating. Alternating is much more exhausting. Even when I don't lose count and do (almost certainly) more than 15. Which happened. I always go back to the last number I'm sure of so I know I wind out doing more than I give myself credit for. But that's okay. These are super sweaty hard work. 
• Neutral Grip Row - 3 x 15, 15, 12 - I used a pair of 20lb weights for these and almost made my reps. I could maybe have eked out one more of them in the third set, but my form was breaking down and I didn't see a real advantage in doing a very bad one. I did increase the weight from a pair 15lb dumbbells to a pair of 20lbs, so it's not like I was slacking.
• Alternating sets of: 
• Swiss Ball Reverse Hip Raise - 3 x 18 - After a few weeks of feeling like I was doing Just The Right Amount of this exercise, it was time to go up on Wednesday. There are no weights and there's no obvious way to increase the intensity aside from doing more, so I went up to sets of 18 for these. That was exhausting in a satisfying way. :D 
• Swiss Ball Chest Press - 3 x 15 - If I continue with these next phase, I want to raise the weight. Or at least raise the total weight lifted (if I'm doing more or fewer reps, I'll have to adjust how much I want to raise it by). I used a pair of 15lb dumbbells, which is what I've been using the whole phase. Which makes me feel like I haven't been pushing myself enough, maybe. I'm not sure. Anyway, I like those a lot (and a lot better than push ups, which may be a sign I need to do push ups again)(bleh) so they may show up again next phase. 
• Cardio Intervals - 5 x 40:20 Intervals of Kettlebell Swings alternated with 5 x 30:30 Intervals of Step Ups - I've been wanting to ramp up the Insanities for a bit but having problems getting that working. Wednesday, I just did it -- I did 40 seconds on:20 seconds of rest intervals swinging a 15lb kettlebell (so quite a bit lighter than the one I did for my sets earlier, but going for speed and intensity) and 30:30 intervals of Step Ups (again on the higher (normal) step). That was really excellent!! Both of those work my legs pretty hard so I wasn't able to go as fast on the Step Ups as I have been when I'm just doing them, but I was really flinging the kettlebell around and that was great. 

I really wish I knew what's been so awesome about Workout M -- I think a lot of it is that it's just very intense without having anything that either feels easy (ish) or slows me down too much. I mean, Workout N has Front Squats, both which are really hard for me and slow me right down. It also has Coordination Rows which are still a good exercise for me (balance and coordination are important) but don't get me *winded*. They feel kind of like a break. Workout M feels intense (but not like a grind) the whole way through. 

That is something I definitely want to try and replicate when I come up with my Phase 8 workouts. :D 

Next workout is going to be Saturday morning with Travis again! \o/!! I'm super excited!! I don't know if we're going to be doing other stuff or the same stuff again (probably different stuff), so I should have a great big bunch of awesome options to choose from for Phase 8. I already know I'm going to be doing the Squats on the BOSU, the BOSU Burpees, and either Inchworms or the slider V-Ups. And the Snatch Deadlifts. At least. 

Workout M#5: Missed Patrick but a good workout! (Also: Caught up again!)

I got to the gym early and was there by myself, so Insanities
were a go and the whole workout was great!

Monday evening, yesterday, I wound out at the gym by myself. Patrick had a lump removed at the dermatologist and they told him not to go to the gym for a couple of days (at least). He was also home from work afterwards, so I didn't have to pick him up on the way home and was able to go straight to the gym. Which meant that I got there rather earlier than I normally do (a very cool thing) and got out a bit earlier than normal. I worked hard, but not as fast as sometimes -- I had to walk around a bit a couple of times to find space to work in or things I needed. But, since Patrick wasn't there waiting for me and I'd gotten an early start, that was okay. :D 

It was a very good workout and I did a full 10 minutes of Insanities at the end (though not in the Playground, which was a bummer). I bumped into Travis (the trainer) briefly, but didn't really get to talk to him. Which was fine -- I still haven't sent him the email (in process) about what I've been working on and what I'm hoping to get out of my sessions with him. I'm hoping to send that off later today. 

Monday's workout was: 

• Bridge Slides - 3 x 30 seconds - I think I need to raise the time on these to 40 seconds per round. Or maybe reduce the rest time, I'll probably do a bit of both -- maybe 35 seconds of work and 25 of rest. That would work out pretty well. My foot slipped off the slider at one point in the last set, so I probably got cheaped out of a little bit. But not much, so I'm not pressed. 
• Kettlebell Swing - 3 x 30 seconds - The 25lb kettlebell wasn't on the rack, so I used the 20lb, which was a little light. I should have thrown in a fourth set maybe. Anyway, it was a great lot of fun and I was really trying to work my legs more than anything else. 
• Step Up & Single Arm Press - 3 x 15 - This is like the Offset Loaded Step Up I do in Workout N PLUS a Shoulder Press, so it's really quite a tough exercise. Especially with a 20lb weight. (Which is the same weight I'm doing for the Offset Loaded Step-Ups as well.) I'm glad I'm not doing other presses this workout or my shoulder would be unhappy. I used the step box for these rather than the actual stairs and that worked out well -- it's a little higher and a little more work. 
• Alternating sets of: 
• Swiss Ball Reverse Hip Raise - 3 x 15 - I'm thinking I need to ramp these up a little bit. I know last time I posted about Workout M (#4), 15 seemed about right (because they are hard) but they were easier yesterday. I don't know if this is something where the size of the ball makes a difference -- I typically just use the largest, firmest one available. Anyway, I don't know that ramping them up by doing more of them is the right answer. I might just need to (for these) move slower so I'm holding my legs up with my hamstrings and glutes longer. 
• Swiss Ball Chest Press - 3 x 15 - I'm still with the pair of 15lb dumbbells for these, which is at least in part a convenience thing (one set of weights for a lot of the workout). I might try seeing how I do with 20 lbs (maybe put down 20lbs for the first set and then back to 15 after that) because these are getting a lot easier. I do need to be careful not to drop my upper arms too low -- that puts some weird angles on my shoulders. 
• Alternating sets of: 
• Lunge and Rotation - 3 x 15 - I used one 15lb weight for these. Once again, I found that doing them alternating sides (rather than 15 on one side and 15 on the other) was way more exhausting than one side at a time. The first set I did one side at a time then the last two I alternated. That was tough. But very good. 
• Neutral-Grip Row - 3 x 15 - This uses the pair of 15lb weights. It really is super convenient to only take up one pair of weights for so much of this workout. And it makes me feel like I'm not uselessly sitting on equipment someone else might be able to use. These are still good at this weight -- I need to remember to keep my upper arms flat with my back and to squeeze my shoulder blades together to make the lift happen. Otherwise it's more of an arm exercise. 
• Cardio Intervals - 10 x 30:30 Intervals of Insanity doing Step Ups onto the box. For Insanities, I do these for speed and don't use any extra weights. I also step both feet all the way up onto the box, which I don't when I'm doing them for strength training. By the end of this I was a) soaked and b) pooped and ready to head home after a great workout. I also wanted to see how Patrick was doing. 

Next workout is scheduled for Thursday. Normally it would be Wednesday, but the logistics of getting there just weren't going to work out, so it's Thursday this week and that's fine too. It'll be N#5 and I'm looking forward to it. Maybe I'll get lucky and be able to use the Playground Room again. :D Goal for the workout: 10 minutes of Insanities and a good, hard workout. 

Workout N#4: Got to play in the Playground Room!!

I had a great workout on Saturday, including Insanities
in the Playground Room

On Saturday we got up early to go to the gym before breakfast -- we had a lot of errands to run the rest of the day and wanted to get the gym in and done before everything went all crazy. 

Unfortunately, working out before breakfast is a tricky balance, especially for Patrick who often needs something of a java-slap to get going in the morning. So he pooped out early, but encouraged me to keep going for as long as I needed. So I did. :D

At that time of morning, there was no class in the room at the gym that I call the Playground. This is the room with the TRX hanging strap system, the battle ropes, the tires for flipping, a couple of heavy bags, and all kinds of fun stuff. Because the room was free, I was able to do my Intervals of Insanity in there, which was absolutely *awesome*!! I had so much fun! After 10 minutes, I'm usually about dead, and I'd certainly worked hard and was wringing with sweat, but I could have gone longer because I was enjoying myself so much!

Saturday's workout was:

• Push Aways - 3 x 12 - This continues to still be the right number of these because they continue to be surprisingly hard. The key to them seems to be keeping my core firm (appropriate as they're a core exercise) so I don't collapse my lower back. (I'm pretty sure I posted pictures about this last time I wrote about this exercise.) 
• Dumbbell Push Press - 3 x 12 - This was my third time using a pair of 20lb dumbbells for these and the first time I made my reps with them. That was pretty cool!! 
• Coordination Rows - 3 x 15 - I did much better this time than the previous workout. I was perfect or nearly so for all three sets. (Perfect as far as standing on one foot the whole time.) I'm really pleased about that. 
• Alternating sets of: 
• Dumbbell Front Squat - 3 x 15 - I used a pair of 20 lb dumbbells for these. They are really really hard. One of the things that I'm finding most difficult about squats as I get better at them and can squat deeper is that I'm inhaling as I'm squatting down and my torso is getting kind of compressed. On the flip side, I'm exhaling as I exert to move the weights back up as my chest is getting more extended. It winds out making me feel a little short of breath. Or like my body and my breathing are out of sync. I've been consciously trying to breathe out on the downs and in on the ups, but it's hard to force that. Anyway, made my reps but not ready to move up, at all. 
• Pullovers - 3 x 15 - I used an adjustable pulley station (at the highest point) on the cable machine rather than the fixed high arm for these. Like I did with the pulldowns, I noticed a *huge* difference in difficulty, though I still don't know why. Both the pulldowns and the pullovers are *tons* easier with the adjustable pulley than the fixed one. Maybe the height is enough different to change the leverage, I don't know. I wound out raising the weight from 30 to 35 lbs after the first set because it was just too easy. I don't remember being close to raising the weight. 
• Alternating sets of : 
• Offset Loaded Step Ups - 3 x 15 - I used a 20lb weight for these and did them on the step box again, which is nice because I think it's a little higher than the step on the stairs. I might be ready to go up to 25 lbs with this, though I didn't make a note of it this time, so I'll see what happens after the next time. 
• Alternating Press and Twist - I used a pair of 8lb dumbbells again and am now feeling like I might be ready to go up to 10lbs next time. I made a note to anyway, which is super cool!! Last time I tried 10 it was too much. It'd be cool if it was right this time. :D 
• Cardio Intervals - 10 x 30:30 Intervals of Insanity in the Playground Room -- I did a couple of rounds making sine waves with the battle ropes, a few doing "slams" with the ropes (rise up on tip-toes then slam the ropes down into the floor), a few flipping a tire up and down the room. It was *awesome*!! I was so blown at the end but could still have kept going just because I was having such a good time. :D (Usually by round six of the Insanities, I'm thinking I can maybe justify stopping at eight, though I don't. In the Playground Room it didn't even cross my mind. 

It really was an excellent workout. Afterwards, Patrick and I went out and got ourselves some camping gear, so we're ready to do some car camping this summer. I'm super excited, though the crappy cold weather last weekend definitely harshed my squee about it a little bit. Fortunately, warmer weather is on the way and I'm really excited to go camping. :D

The next workout after this one was yesterday (Monday) evening and I'm going to post about it in just a little bit so I can be caught up again. :D 

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. 

Workout N#2: This phase is AWESOME! (Also, still caught up!)

I raised weights on 3 things between N#1 and N#2 -- too much,
too soon maybe! 

After my first go with Workout N, I had three exercises noted to raise the weights -- the Dumbbell Push Press, the Dumbbell Front Squats and the Alternating Press & Twists. Unfortunately, all of them were starting with such low weights that even the smallest available increase was a huge jump. (From 15lbs to 20lbs is a rather large increase. It's a lot worse for the one that went from 5lbs to 10lbs.) So I wasn't able to make all of my reps in any of the exercises I raised the weights on, though I worked really hard.

I expect that I'll make my reps when I do Workout N again on Monday, so I'm not  *terribly* worried about it.

Despite not making my reps on several sets, it was a great workout and I enjoyed it immensely. I like these phases where I do more reps with lighter weights best because I feel like I'm getting more of a sweaty aerobic workout and maybe doing less of a disservice to my joints (which can get a little strained feeling by the end of a heavy phase). On the other hand, these workouts take longer, by rather a lot -- over the course of 21 sets (3 sets each of 7 exercises), three additional reps per set adds up to kind of a lot. I think of 12 rep sets as my "norm", so doing 15 rep sets is like adding an exercise an a half to my workout.

This may contribute to why these are so awesomely ass-kicky.

I told Travis (the trainer) on Wednesday that he needs to give Patrick longer workouts so he doesn't finish so much before me. :D

Wednesday's workout N#2 was:

• Push Away - 3 x 12 - These are substantially harder than the bridge slides which is why I only do 12 of these and think I'm going to DIE while doing them. 
• Dumbbell Push Press - 3 x 12, 10, 11 - Doing these with a pair of 15lb dumbbells was great -- I really felt like I was getting a bit of a snap from bending my hips a little but not doing a front  squat. With the heavier weight, they were a lot more challenging to my core, it was harder to keep the whole movement under control and I just didn't like them much. I'm hoping that another time or two with 20lb weights will get them back to good. Otherwise, I may go back to 15lbs. 
• Coordination Rows - 3 x 15 - These continue awesome and I'm doing pretty well with them, though doing 15 rep sets is just that much longer standing on one foot, so they're definitely providing a bit of a challenge. 
• Alternating sets of:
• Dumbbell Front Squat - 3 x 15, 12, 15 - I'm using two 20lb dumbbells for these as well. They are a real and genuine challenge, mostly to my core. Though I didn't make my reps on the middle set, I didn't feel like I'd made a mistake raising the weights on these. They were just *hard*. But hard is good right -- if it was easy it wouldn't be doing me any good. 
• Pullovers (Cable Machine) - 3 x 15 - I'm glad I got Travis to give me some pointers on how to do these. When I did them during my walk-through they were way too much of a quad exercise for my taste (and I didn't feel them as much in my back, which is where I want them). He told me to bend at the hips a little more and that makes a huge difference in where I feel the work happening. I did 30 lbs and that still feels like a good amount. I'm not in any hurry to raise these. 
• Alternating sets of:
• Offset Loaded Step-Up - 3 x 15 - I used a 20lb dumbbell for these. The step boxes usually in the workout area were in use by someone else somewhere else, so I stepped up onto the actual *steps* -- there's a flight of stairs that goes up to the cardio area and I used that. It worked out fine, except that I could stabilize myself a little with tiny touches of my elbow on the railing and I don't want to do that. I want to stabilize myself with, you know, myself. I could move more to the middle, but that would put me in the way of people going up and down the stairs. So no. Hopefully the step box will be back (or I can slip into the aerobics room and grab some) next time. 
• Alternating Press and Twist - 3 x 15, 12, 12 - The first set I used a pair of 5lb dumbbells, despite having noted last time to go up from that weight, because the 10lb dumbbells were in use. They were WAY too easy. So I switched to 10lb dumbbells after the first set. Then they were too hard to make all of my reps with good form, so I did what I could and that was fine. 
• Cardio Intervals - 10 x 30:30 Intervals of Insanity Kettlebell Swings - I wasn't really planning to do all 10 minutes of Insanities, Patrick finished when I was just getting to the last set of Alternating Press and Twist and I was breathing hard and all sweaty like when he finished. Also, the last I'd seen, the workout room I wanted to be in had been packed -- there was a class doing stuff on the floor and some people using the benches and machines and the rest of the floor space. By the time I got in there to do a bit of stretching (which I always do for recovery), though, it was empty. The step box was still gone (and I really didn't want to do more step ups anyway) so I grabbed a 15lb kettlebell and went to town with that. Fun fun fun!! The first few rounds are a little easy, but by the end of it I was definitely nearly dead. I'm thinking of re-programming my round timer so that the first five rounds I'm doing 30:20 (30 seconds of work, 20 seconds of recovery) intervals and finishing with 30:30s  when I'm starting to get pooped. 

I think part of what makes these lighter weight, higher rep workouts so incredibly intense is that I take short set breaks and work fast, so I get an aerobic workout at the same time as the strength workout. So it just turns into a sweaty puddle of greatness! (Which is possibly the weirdest phrase I've come up with in a long time.)

As a special bonus, I feel like I'm losing weight (or at least inches) faster in this phase. Already and it's just been a week.

That's definitely a Thing To Talk With Travis about when my sessions with him come around -- is this "light weight more reps work fast" things doing me as much good as it feels like it is? If so, can I stick with this and maybe pass on the heavy phases which are not so much fun and don't feel like they're helping as much?

Next workout is scheduled for Saturday. Patrick is going to be working on chest and back with Travis while I do Workout M#3. Wheee!! :D :D Maybe if the two of them are in the playground room when I get to Insanities, I can join them in there and play with the battle ropes and tires. Goal for the workout: Keep it intense and keep it fun!

Workout M#2: Caught up! Also GREAT workout!

What an amazing workout this was! Fun, hard, sweaty! Great stuff!

Workout M really is pretty much a ball! Literally, as I do a pair of exercises (alternating sets) on a Swiss Ball. Also figuratively -- there's some kettlebell swinging and stuff with the sliders and so on.

I'm trying to take shorter breaks between sets to sort of compensate time-wise for more reps per set, so I don't take hugely longer than Patrick does. One of the effects of this is that I'm getting more of an aerobic workout while also getting the strength workout. I love it! Especially when I then end with Intervals of Insanity, so I completely push the aerobic thing over the top. :D

Workout M#2 was on Monday. Patrick was upstairs on the elliptical -- all he has from the trainer right now is some arm and upper body exercises so it's not really enough for him to do strength training. He'll work with Travis on chest and back (I think) on Saturday and legs the Saturday after that.

Then I'll get my session or two with him. That gives me lots of time to finish Phase 7 and to email Travis so he knows what I'm hoping to get out of working with him. Of course, emailing him means I need to figure out what I want.

Anyway, that's for the future! Exciting!

For now...Monday's workout was:

• Bridge Slides -- 3 x 15 -- These are definitely both a glute/hamstring and a core thing, though I'm not sure I really love them. They don't seem to be as *strenuous* as other core things I do and have done. I don't mind the idea of taking a month where I'm hitting my core a little less hard. I just need to remember that next month I want to do more. 
• Kettlebell Swings -- 3 x 30 seconds -- I'm doing these like Intervals of Insanity, 30 seconds of work with a 30 second rest between. I did raise the weight from 20 to 25 lbs after the first set. 20lbs was just not enough to really make me feel like I was working hard. Still love these! :D
• Single Arm Step Up and Press -- 3 x 15 -- I used a 15lb weight for these. The step boxes that were available were shorter than my preference (two steps rather than three), so I did a sprinter-type knee raise as well, to keep them tough. I'll try to remember to bring down an extra level for  the step box before I get started tonight as I'll be doing Step Ups again. 
• Alternating sets of: 
• Swiss Ball Reverse Hip Raises -- 3 x 15 -- Because these involve stabilizing myself with my hands on the ground while I'm raising my legs, they actually do a bit of work on my chest and shoulders (which is not a bad thing) as well as my core (to stay stable on the ball) and my glutes/hamstrings. It's all pretty cool, actually. :D I'm still not sure how I'm going to ramp these up when the time comes. 
• Swiss Ball Chest Press -- 3 x 15 -- The pair of 15lb dumbbells really is a great weight for these at this number of reps. Particularly after the step up and press works my shoulders and the Reverse Hip Raises activate my chest while I'm staying steady. This exercise is pretty much a blast. I need to remember to switch to something else at some point. I can't keep doing these forever.  
• Alternating sets of:
• Dumbbell Lunge and Rotation -- 3 x 15 -- I used a 15lb weight, held up high under my chin, for these this time. I'm pretty sure that was me going up from M#1. The weight really isn't a huge part of these at this juncture -- 15 lbs is a pretty trivial contribution to my entire body weight which I'm moving around. For some reason, unlike other lunges, these really throw my balance off and I wind out all wobbly and stuff. Which can only get better as I do them, so no complaints. 
• Neutral Grip Dumbbell Row -- 3 x 15 -- I used a pair of 15lb weights for these, which had that sort of heavenly choir singing feeling that goes with using the right weight. I love that feeling. I think that's part of what contributed to this being such an exhilarating and awesome workout. 
• Cardio Intervals -- 10 x 30:30 Intervals of Insanity -- As has been my way lately, I did step ups for these. As noted above, the step was lower than usual, which probably pulled the teeth of the exercises done for strength building. I don't think it's so bad for the Insanities though, because with the step lower means I can go faster with the stepping, Which is good. And with the lower box, I was able to  add a lateral stepping component to it (so I did an interval leading with my right leg, one leading with the left, two going side to side (which doesn't have the lead leg effect), repeat that grouping once, then finish with another right and left lead to make 10. It worked out great! 

So that was my awesome workout on Monday. A big blast of fun and a hugely awesome workout. Loved it!! 

I'm really looking forward to N#2 this evening -- I get to do Coordination Rows again. I'm looking at some other options for Insanities as well -- including maybe swinging a lighter kettlebell (like 15 lbs) for 30:30 intervals, doing something on the sliders that would be more of a whole-body move, and maybe getting a jump rope. I also keep hoping that the playground room will be free so I can do my Insanities alternating between the battle ropes and flipping a tire, but there's usually a class in there on the evenings. (Thinking of it, that's something to have on the list to get from Travis -- more Insanity options so I can mix that up!) Goal for the workout is to keep moving -- short set breaks and no sitting -- so I keep up the aerobic work throughout. 

Workout N #1: Another good workout, even without the Kettlebells

Workout N is a good workout. And look, I got to do Insanities! 

I did my first time with Workout N on Saturday, March 5. We were at the gym *way* early so Patrick could work with Travis the trainer (8am appointment). I kind of liked working out before breakfast, though I'm not sure how Patrick felt about it. (He did drink a big coffee-beverage thing, so he wasn't entirely without anything to perk him up some.)

I had a great time at the gym, though I took longer than Patrick and Travis did. I was so hoping I'd be speedy quick and finish before them. Unfortunately, whenever I get a couple of workouts together so that I'm finishing around the same time Patrick does, I add something or change them up and we're back to him having to wait for me for several minutes. In this case, when I moved into the new workout notebook, I changed around my warmup routine (took out a couple of things that didn't feel like they were doing anything and added a couple of things to replace them, but those take longer) and my recovery stretches (added a few). And I'm doing 15 rep sets instead of 12 rep sets.

Hrm.

Maybe I need to take Travis aside and put the idea to him that he should help Patrick figure out longer workouts, so he doesn't always finish first. :D

(Just kidding, babe!)

Saturday's workout (N#1) was:

• Push Away - 3 x 12 - (You can see a video of someone doing these here, though bear in mind that I'm doing the ones at the end of the video, in a full push-up position with both hands on slides.) This is definitely a dynamic core stabilization exercise -- they're also called Plank Push Aways. You start out in a push-up position and each hand, alternately forward as far as you can reach. The book (New Rules of Lifting For Life) says that if your back is getting strained to limit the range of motion, which I'm definitely having to do. Still these are good. I was doing them in the last phase, once I bought myself some slides (cheap from the Sports Authority).
• Dumbbell Push Press- 3 x 12 - (You can see a video of this here.) I was doing these in Phase 4 and Phase 5 with heavier weights and fewer reps, by rather a lot (I started with 2 x 5 in Phase 5). That makes me want to raise the weight -- I don't want to strain my shoulders, but I also don't want to accomplish a whole lotta nothing. A pair of 15lb dumbbells felt like not much. I noted for these to go up while I was working out on Saturday, so I think I have them down for a pair of 20lb dumbbells next time. Which should work out better. 
• Coordination Rows (Single-Leg, Single-Arm Cable Rows) - 3 x 15 - I took a month and a bit off of these and was a little worried how they'd work coming back to them. As it turns out they went great -- I wasn't completely perfect at them as far as having to put my foot down to catch my balance, but I was nearly perfect at more reps. And I was able to raise the weight. On the whole, these were really good and I'm happy to be doing them again. 
• Alternating sets of: 
• Dumbbell Front Squats - 3 x 15 - (You can see someone doing these here, only instead of kettlebells, I'm using a pair of dumbbells.) This is another one where I used a pair of 15lb dumbbells for the first time in the workout and made a note for them to go up. Though I don't want to go up too fast. When I did these last, I was doing sets of 8, so this is rightly a lower weight than then. I didn't like these all that much last time, but I think I'll like them better now. They're still a lot of core work for what I'm doing as a quad exercise, but with the lighter weight and more reps, I'm getting good quad work out of them (working fast) and getting the core work. So they're working a lot better for me than when I abandoned them in Workout J. 
• Pullovers - 3 x 15 - I have two possibilities for these, one with the cable machine and one with dumbbells on a Swiss Ball. Sometimes the cable machines are full, so having a backup plan seemed like a good idea. (You can see the dumbbell version here, only I'll be doing them on a Swiss ball instead of a bench. You can see the cable machine version here, only I'm using a rope handle and adding a bit of a separation and twist with the hands at the bottom. In both cases, I recommend clicking on the "Female" tab above the video window -- the lighting is better and what she's doing is more like what I'll be doing.) I've never done these before and I think I'm going to like them. They're definitely working my back differently from the Lat Pulldowns and the ChinUps I've been doing and I like that tons. I'm starting with a total of 30 lbs -- either in the form of the cable machine setting or two dumbbells.
• Alternating sets of:
• Offset Loaded Step Ups - 3 x 15 - I don't have time to scour the Internet for a good video, so have a really not very close one instead. That's here. However, instead of stepping up onto a bench, which my knees won't tolerate, I'm using a step-aerobics type step thingy, and instead of two dumbbells held at hip height, I'm holding one at shoulder height. I used one 20 lb weight for these and that was not enough -- though the step was lower than would be my first choice as well, so that may have been the problem, to be honest. I may try to raise both the weight and the step next time. 
• Alternating Press and Twist - 3 x 15 - (You can see pictures of what I'm doing here.) I really think I like this one -- the straight up shoulder presses kind of hurt my shoulders a bit (and I'm doing some with the combination/total body move Step Up and Press in Workout M) and these are much less of a strain in that regard. And the rotation is good for activating muscles in different ways. I'm really light on the weights (my upper body strength is getting better but is still Not Good). I used a pair of 5lb weights on Saturday and will go up to 10lb weights next time. 
• Cardio Intervals - 10 x 30:30 Intervals of Insanity with Step Ups -- When I'm doing Step Ups for Insanities, I do them a bit differently -- I step up with one foot, then the other, then down with the first and down with the second and repeat that as fast as possible for 30 seconds. I alternate which foot I lead with because it's the same throughout the interval. Pretty soon, I'm going to reduce the rest period to 25 seconds soon and I now have an interval timer app on my phone which will make that Super Simple. Yay!  I do love doing the Insanities, even as I hate making Patrick wait for me. 

That was Saturday's workout. I'm finishing this post on Tuesday morning. There will be another post later about Workout M#2 which I did last night (because it was just that awesome). 

Next workout is scheduled for Wednesday and it will be N#2. I'm looking forward to it and I hope it will be as awesome as Monday's was. Good stuff here! 

I've missed a bunch of posts...

Weight Rack at the Sport Fit (our new gym which we love). This is not my photo, it's
from their website. 

I've missed a million posts (seriously, like 13 of them -- 11 workouts in Phase 6 plus two special workouts with the trainer) but we only missed two workouts since the last time I posted. On January 31. Oops.

(The two missed workouts were when we were spending a weekend in Williamsburg with my parents. I'd actually packed some gear to do bodyweight workouts while I was there, but I'd strained my lower back/hip area a couple of days before I went and I didn't want to do unfamiliar moves that were going to risk hurting it work.)

Obviously I'm not going to go through each and every workout I've missed posting about. That would be nuts. And boring both to write and to read. I'm going to talk about the two workouts we did with the trainer, Travis, because those were pretty awesome. I'll also talk about Workout L, because I haven't gone into any detail on that because of getting so far behind I couldn't even imagine catching up.

The two sessions with Travis were great -- we got together with him at a time on Saturday mornings when the "Functional Fitness" room at the gym was free. They call it "functional fitness", I think of it as the "playground". It has battle ropes (you can see a video of someone playing with them here), tires for flipping (you can see a video of that here), and a TRX suspension system (you can see a lot of exercises you can do with a TRX system here). Along with Swiss (stability) balls, steps, weight bars (like a weighty metal pole) and other fun stuff. Travis did a great job of giving us both a great workout that was a ton of fun. He was able to kind of divide his attention between the two of us without either of us feeling slighted.

The playground room. Photo from Travis Smith's
facebook, so I presume (c) him. 

I do love the playground room, but most of the time when we're there it's in use. Which is a pity because I would *totally* make the battle ropes and tire flipping part of my workouts. Or do them as cardio things for Intervals of Insanity.

We just signed up for five more sessions with Travis (hooray the tax refund) -- Patrick is going to get two by himself to figure out a couple of weight routines he can alternate. He hasn't been lifting for a couple of months and it would be good for him to get back to it.

I'm going to get a couple of sessions by myself as well. I've been using basically the same structure for my workouts, just slotting different exercises into the parts of the structure since July and would like to maybe figure out a new structure. Or get some new ideas about what to fit into it.

The fifth session we'll probably do together (hopefully in the playground). On the other hand, if one or the other of us needs another session to feel good about going forward with the workouts we're developing with him, then it can be used for that.

I really wish we could work with Travis in a more ongoing way -- he's a very good guy, young and a good trainer. It's pretty clear from his interactions with some of the other people at the gym that he got fit at our gym working with one of the other trainers there. He's got before and after pictures on a poster at the gym and it's impressive the transformation he made in himself. You can see his Facebook here.

Okay, so now, Workout L.

Workout L is definitely less fun than Workout K. Workout K is *awesome* -- just a whole lot of whee and fun and working hard but having an awesome time. Workout L is more of a grind. There are a couple of exercises I don't much like -- I'm not sure I felt like I was getting anything out of them. But I did them diligently. But I probably won't be doing them again.

Workout L was (at least Workout L #6 was, some of them the numbers of reps went up and, as is usual, the weights went up as I went along):

• Swiss Ball Mountain Climbers - 3 x 12 - (You can see a video of this here.) This is one of the ones I wasn't sure how much I was getting out of or that I was doing right. Except that I got better and faster at them and my stability on the stability ball improved immensely. So maybe I got more out of them than I was thinking. 
• Explosive Push Ups - 2 x 8 - These are pretty standard so no video. When I did  these a while ago I was doing them off a bar that was hip high or a little higher. I was doing them this time off a weight bench, which made it a lot harder. They didn't feel as good or productive when I was doing them from the higher bar, which is probably more about me. They were really hard. 
• Dumbbell Deadlift and Row - 3 x 12 - (You can see a video of this here.) I finished doing these with 25 lb weights for the first set and 20 lb weights for the second and third sets. Oddly, I could do these at higher weights than the straight dumbbell rows. I think the reason is that my upper back gets a bit of a break because of the deadlift part of the lift and with that bit of a spell, I could do a few pounds more. 
• Alternating sets of: 
• Sumo Squats - 3 x 12 - (You can see a video of these here.) I finished these with a 60 lb weight. I like these pretty well. They work different muscles than regular squats and work well. The biggest problem is carrying the large weight back and forth to the assisted chin up machine. 60 lbs is heavier than I can carry in one hand. 
• Assisted Chin Ups and Scapular Retraction - 3 x 12 of the assisted chinups and 2 x 12 of the Scapular Retraction - I'm still doing these on the Assisted Chin Up machine. (You can see a video of how to use the machine for assisted chin ups here. Ignore the first half where he's showing how to use it for dips -- I'm not doing those.) The scapular retractions I do after the end of the first two sets of Chin Ups. (You can sort of see a video here, though I'm doing them a little bit differently -- I'm doing 2 sets of 12 repetitions and holding each rep for a brief pause.) These are really hard - my grip and forearms are tired after about eight or 10 of them. 
• Alternating sets of:
• Sprinter Step Ups - 3 x 12 - (You can see a video of someone doing this here, though I'm not doing them exactly the same.) Basically these are the same as a regular step up, only you raise the knee of the leg that's not bearing weight as high as you can  with each step. I used 20 lb weights for these most of the way through because most of the weight and work is from my body weight anyway. 
• Cable External Rotation - 3 x 12 - (You can see a video of someone doing this here.) This is one of the ones that I added as part of working on my posture, but I really don't feel like I'm getting much out of it. I definitely won't be doing these any more. 
• Cardio Intervals -- I stopped doing the 10 minutes of cardio to warm up so I could have the time for Intervals of Insanity at the end (I don't mind taking 4 or 5 minutes more than Patrick, but I don't want to keep him waiting for 15 minutes). I missed a couple of days of Insanities, but for the most part I did 8 - 10 minutes of 30:30 intervals on the step box. (That's with both Workout K and Workout L. 

Like I said, Workout L just wasn't anything like as much fun as K -- K had kettlebell swings (whee!) and bench presses on the Swiss Ball and it was just a ton of fun. :D

I did Workout L #6 on Saturday, so Phase 6 is done. Now it's time for figuring out Workouts M and N. It's going to be 4 weeks before I've finished my two sessions with with Travis, so I'll be able to do Phase 7 while he's working with Patrick and while he and I are working out my next plan. I might wind out cutting it a bit short, but that will be okay.

Workout I #4: Post-feasting sweating is good (Workout 62)

I've got a couple of exercises where I'm ready to raise the
weights. This makes me happy. 

We didn't go to the gym on Saturday -- because of the car having to go to the shop we wound having to walk to the bank to deposit Christmas presents so we could pay for the car repairs. According to Google My Tracks it was a 4 mile walk. And we went at a pretty good clip. It wasn't as good and sweaty as a trip to the gym would have been but what with that, and not getting the car back until afternoon, and having to go grocery shopping, I just didn't have the will to get to the gym afterwards. 

I may feel a little bit bad about that. I'd feel worse if we hadn't gone yesterday, right on schedule. 

Yesterday's workout was very good and much needed, after the day sort of off-ish. 

I was pleasantly surprised at how not-crowded the gym was - I was expecting a fair number of people working off the holidays (or earning their New Year's Eve festivities). It wasn't too bad, though. This is the workout that uses two different pieces of equipment that the gym only has one of, so I sometimes have to either change the order I'm working in or share (or both). But I didn't have to do either last night. Which was nice. 

Yesterday's workout was: 

• Plank with Reduced Base of Support - 3 x 50 seconds - The first set I did holding an arm up (left arm for the first 25 seconds. right arm for the second). The second and third sets I did holding up a leg (same deal as far as time). It is actually a little harder to hold up an arm, I think. I read somewhere On The Internetz that it's to do with leverage, which I'm not sure made much sense to me. But it does appear to be empirically correct. Huh. I didn't make a note of it (so I may not remember), but I'd like to raise the difficulty on these next time -- they were hard but not really hard enough. I might go up to 60 seconds. The other option is to do all arms all the time. I just need to remember. 
• Coordination Rows - 3 x10 - Still making with the 20 lb weights. You'd think after doing these since September, I'd not get my arms and legs crossed up and do them backwards for a set. You'd think. But you'd be underestimating my lack of deep body understanding of left and right. The way these are supposed to work is I stand on, say, my right leg, hold the handle attachment for the cable machine in my left hand and bend forward, with my left leg extending behind me as I bend. I did the first set yesterday (or maybe half of it, I really did get very confused) with the handle in the right hand as I stood on my right leg, with my left leg extending behind me as I bend. Which, perhaps not surprisingly, makes it a bit easier to balance. Anyway, as I was switching sides, I realized I'd done it wrong, and then got confused. But I did it right the other two sets. And I was perfect as far as balancing in both the first (easier, at least in part) set and the second. And nearly perfect in the third. Woot! 
• Dumbbell Jump Squat - 3 x 8 - I reduced the weight on these from a pair of 40 (I think) lb dumbbells to a pair of 30 lb dumbbells, but increased both the number of sets (from 2 to 3) and the number of reps per set (from 5 to 8). This was successful -- the reason I reduced the weight was because the 40 lb weights were landing heavily hanging from my shoulders. (If that makes the slightest bit of sense). 30 lb dumbbells were just fine in that regard. But I still got plenty of good work from the exercise. Success!
• Alternating sets of:
• Offset-loaded Lunges - 3 x 8 - I used a 20 lb weight again and made sure to go pretty fast as I worked. I'd like to try 25lbs again, as the 20 was a little light. Maybe whatever it is that makes my quads hurt (on the non-working leg) with a higher weight is ready to move up. If it's not, I'll just really push the speed. And maybe add another set. I'm not sure. 
• Assisted Chinups and Scapular Retraction - 3 x 8 (Chinups), 3 x 8, 8, 3 (Scapular Retraction) - I might have had the weight set wrong on these. The Assisted Chinup machine gets set with how much of your bodyweight you *don't* want to lift, so knowing how much weight to set it at is key. I only weigh myself once a week (Saturdays, usually) and I just assume my weight is more or less steady through the week. (Which is clearly not a valid assumption, but I can't see anything else that would be better.) On Saturday this week, my weight was up because of Christmas (and Christmas Eve) feasting and so on. So I set the Assisted Chinup machine with a higher weight. I might have gone a bit too high with it, though, because I didn't have a huge amount of trouble with these. Which was nice, actually. The sets were hard, especially for the last couple of reps, but I made my reps. I added some reps of the scapular retractions (just pulling my shoulder blades back and down while hanging at arms length (with the same assist as with the chinups) and those are feeling better. I'll be doing this workout again on Saturday and I'll hopefully have a better idea of where to set the machine next time.
• Alternating sets of:
• Back Extensions - 3 x 8 - I used the 25lb weight plate again for these and am definitely feeling ready to go up. I have two choices for that -- either use two 15 lb dumbbells and just hold them close to my chest, or try to wrangle the 25lb plate and a 5lb plate. The dumbbells sounds like it will be easier. These are definitely a good hamstring workout, especially now as I'm getting really into a groove with them. :D 
• Diagonal Raises - 3 x 8 - I did these with a 10 lb dumbbell (rather than the 10lb plate I had to use last time) and that really did make a huge difference. They still seem to move my shoulders in unaccustomed ways, but I don't feel like they're bad ways. I'd love to go up with these as well, but I think that might be a bit of a strain. Maybe next time. 
• Cardio Intervals - 3 x 30:30 Jumping Jacks Intervals of Insanity alternated with 3 x 20:40 Jump Squats Intervals of Insanity - I don't know if I worked fast or if Patrick went long, but we got to the gym at a reasonable time and I wound out with enough time to do some Insanity Intervals which made me happy. I could probably have done more Jumping Jacks, but after the loaded jump squats earlier in the routine, my quads were done done done after just three rounds. So I figured it was a good time to stop. Before the strength portion of the workout began, I did 10 minutes on the treadmill with a goodly incline (the machine said 11, which I don't think equates to an 11% slope, so I'm not sure what it means) and clipping right along. After putting in my weight, the machine said I burned 150 calories in 10 minutes. So that was good too. 

All in all, it was a very good workout and I was most pleased with it. :D I'm starting to see the end of Phase 5 coming. I've got 5 more workouts (just shy of two weeks) and then it's time to move on to Phase 6, whatever that will be. That's when we're planning on looking into changing gyms, so we need to get on the stick with that. Maybe this weekend we can make an appointment at one of them to take a tour and sign up for whatever free/trial period they have. That would be a good start.

I'm also heading up toward my 1 year Fit-i-versary -- January 22 is the one year anniversary of my first run basically every. (Who else remembers the cute little duckling?) One of my goals in doing this whole fitness thing was to be able to go to the climbing gym in Laurel and see if I can tackle some of their walls, because climbing sounds like a hoot (and doing it indoors seems much less likely to get me gravely injured that doing it outdoors). A day at the climbing gym is going to be my Fit-i-versary present. The plan is to invite others to come if they like, then when the climbing portion of the festivities is done, we'll go to a local brewery for beer and food and stuff. :D

Anyway, that's all in the future and I'm getting ahead of myself. Next workout is scheduled for Thursday, New Year's Eve. The gym closes at 1pm, which is fine because we have the day off, so we'll just go in the morning. Goal for the workout: Rock workout J -- I'm hoping it will be less of a grind this time than it was last time. 

Workout I #1 (and the Pre-Phase 5 walkthrough): Going Heavy!! (Workouts 56 & 56)

I'm a little concerned about how this workout is going to
work, logistically. But I'm excited about it. 

I decided a week or so ago, before I really was getting down to the nitty gritty of planning Phase 5 and Workouts I and J, that I wanted to do another "heavy" phase. If you remember (and if I remember), Phase 1 had 2 sets of 15 reps and fairly low weights, Phase 2 had 3 sets of 10, and Phases 3 and 4 had 3 sets of 12. Phase 4 was kind of modeled on the same philosophy as Phase 1, but I didn't want to go lighter on weights (so I could do more reps), so I just continued on with 12. I'm ready for another heavy phase now, though, because it's been a while and I want to really push myself.

So for Phase 5, I'm going for 3 sets of 8 reps, which means fewer reps overall by rather a lot (which I'm not entirely in love with, but I don't think I have time to do 4 sets of everything). If I get to a point where I want to increase the volume of lifting (the number of times I move the weight) rather than increasing the weight, I'll go up to 4 sets on a few of them, maybe. And maybe we'll just enjoy a month where workouts take a little less time than they have been. Or I'll be able to get back to doing Cardio Intervals every time because I won't be running so long. Or something. 

Reducing the reps means I can increase the weight by a fair amount, though less than you might think in some instances. Certainly less than I thought. 

I did my Pre-Phase 5 walkthrough -- where I do one (or maybe 2) sets of each of the exercises in both workouts so I can set the weights, make sure I'm physically capable of everything I'm planning on, and sort out any logistical wrinkles. I'm clearly getting better at planning these workouts, because I didn't have to make any changes from my initial plan after the run-through. I can do everything and the balance of what I'm working when (which muscles get worked in which workout and how) is good. 

There is a logistical problem with Workout I -- two of the exercises (Assisted Chinups and Back Extensions) use equipment that there's only one of in the gym. I don't know about how much use the Assisted Chinup machine gets, but I know the Back Extension station gets quite a lot. I have an alternate exercise for both of them though. If the Assisted Chinup machine is in use when I need it, I can do Lat Pulldowns. If the Back Extension station is in use, I can go up to the dumbbell corner and do Romanian Deadlifts. So I am not without recourse for those busy nights at the gym when there can be traffic at some of the stations. 

Yesterday, I went late enough in the afternoon that the gym was nearly empty and I didn't run into any traffic problems on anything at all. So I was able to do the whole workout as I planned it. :D 

Yesterday's workout was: 

• Plank with Reduced Base of Support - 3 x 30 + seconds - (You can see a video of a regular Plank here.) This is like a regular Plank only with fewer points of contact with the ground, and therefore less stability. The options are to raise one leg, raise one arm, or raise one arm and the opposite leg. What I did yesterday was to raise one arm. The instructions in the book (The New Rules of Lifting For Life) say to do half the time with your left arm or leg up and half the time with your right arm or leg up, which makes a lot of sense. In quest of a video to link to, I found one site which suggested that raising the leg is easier than raising an arm. Huh. I'll try that next time to see if it's the case. This is going to present the same problem I had with planks before -- clock watching and stopping before I need to because the clock says to. The first two sets I did 30 seconds (15 each side) and felt like I could have done more. The third set I did 40 seconds. So I'm going to start there next time. 
• Coordination Rows - 3 x 10 - Because I'm doing a heavy phase, I decided to reduce the number of reps of these so I can increase the weight a bit. I might change my mind about that though, because really the point of these is to stand on one leg and move and doing that for *longer* is what helps my balance more. Or something like that. I'm going to ponder this between now and next time and think about going back to 12 reps per set. 
• Dumbbell Jump Squat - 2 x 5 - I used a pair of 35 lb dumbbells doing these which was hard. I need to be careful how I do these to not put strain on my back in either the jumping or the landing, which is why I'm reluctant to increase either the weight or the number of reps. I'll keep an eye on them and when I feel I can I'll either go up to 3 sets of 5 or I'll raise the weights. 
• Alternating sets of:
• Offset Dumbbell Lunges - 3 x 8 - (You can see a video of this here.) I've been doing bodyweight lunges only (or trivial weight -- I went up to a pair of 7.5 lb dumbbells for the last workout in Phase 4) since I had my Hurty Quad issues back in Phase 3. And when I hurt my quad back in Phase 3 it was doing Offset-Loaded Reverse Lunges. So I'm feeling just a tad diffident about these. During my walkthrough on Wednesday, I figured I could use a 30 lb weight for these. During my workout yesterday, I accidentally grabbed a 25 lb weight. (I'd like to think it was in the rack in the wrong place, but it was probably just a swing and a miss on my part.) I felt the first bit of a twinge of that pain in my quad when I was doing these, so I'm probably going to back the weight down a bit until I'm not straining my quad. I'll try 15lbs next time. 
• Assisted Chinups (and Scapular Retraction) - 3 x 8 - I decided to take a break from the Lat Pulldowns I've been doing since, well, Phase 1 (eep) and do Chinups instead. Except that I'm totally not ready for lifting my whole bodyweight. So I'm using the Assisted Chinup machine. (You can see a video of how to use the machine here. Ignore the first half where he's showing how to use it for dips -- I'm not doing those.) I started with it set so I was chinning up about 85 lbs, but moved it after the first set because that was way too light. I now have it set so that I'm chinning-up about 90lbs, which is a nice increase over the 80 I would be doing if I were doing 12 reps of Lat Pulldowns. There is a lot more *core* work in these chinups than there was in the Lat Pulldowns. I'm excited about that. While I'm on the Assisted Chinup machine, I'm also doing what The Women's Health Big Book of Exercises calls Scapular Retraction -- hang from a chinup bar and pull your scapulae back and down. (You can sort of see a video here, though I'm doing them a little bit differently -- I'm doing 2 sets of 4 repetitions and holding each rep for a count of two (one-one thousand, two-one thousand), at the end of a set of Chinups.) I might eventually fold those into doing the chinups -- start with the scapular retraction and continue to chinning up. If the Assisted Chinup machine is in use, I can do Kneeling Lat Pulldowns at the same weight I'm doing these at. I can also do the scapular retractions with that bar. 
• Alternating sets of: 
• Back Extensions (or Hyperextensions, as they're called on Bodybuilding.com) - 3 x 8 -  (You can see a video of these here.) I need to remember to set the pad that I lean against at a low enough height that it doesn't interfere with the hinge action of my hips. I did it right when I was doing my walkthrough on Wednesday but had it one notch higher yesterday and it didn't feel quite as right. I started out holding onto a 10lb weight plate, but two sets of that made it clear that was way too light, so I went up to two 10lb weight plates for the third set and that was a better challenge. If this machine is in use when I need it, I'll go up to the front corner and do Romanian Deadlifts. My last weight for deadlifts was two 40lb dumbbells for 12 reps. I'll probably try 45s at first if I have to go that route. 
• Diagonal Raises - 3 x 8 - (You can see a video of these here.) This is one of those upper body exercises in an area where I am Not Strong. After the walkthrough on Wednesday, I set my weight for these at 7.5 lbs. After a couple of sets I went ahead and moved up to 10lbs because 7.5 wasn't enough of a challenge. Which means I'm maybe getting stronger. Which is cool. 
• Cardio Intervals - 5 x 30:30 Jumping Jack alternated with 5 x 20:40 Jump Squat Intervals of Insanity - It was good to do Insanities again. Fortunately, I was under absolutely no time pressure yesterday, so I could spend as long as I wanted. I've manged to balance the level of effort of the Jump Squats and the Jumping Jacks pretty well (because of the different amount of time and the different recovery periods) so it's a lot of crazy all out effort. Love it. Though I was definitely About Dead when I finished. 

So that was yesterday's workout and my first venture into Phase 5. This is going to be a serious muscle-building phase. I can tell, I'm kind of creaky sore today. In a good, "I used these muscles hard" way. I'll take something for it tonight before bed so I don't go through the day creaky sore tomorrow too. 

I'm pleased with how Phase 5 is shaping up. As I was drafting the workouts, I really liked how Workout J looked. Though it's a lot more familiar than this one. Workout I has a lot of new things that I've not done before with only a few old friends. If I remember right, Workout J is the opposite -- mostly familiar things with some new stuff to brighten it up. 

Next workout is scheduled for Monday. Goal for the workout: Rock Workout J and get it off to a great start! I'm hoping to really kick some things up quite a bit. :D