Workout J#6: Shoulder ouch! Workokout 68

A good workout -- first as an actual member at the Sport Fit,
pity about my shoulder though. 

If you look at my workout log from Wednesday night closely, picking your way through the atrocious handwriting and rather cramped formatting, you'll see that for the third set of Rolling Side Planks I only did 11 instead of twelve. That is because my right shoulder just wasn't getting with the program on those -- I could feel a sort of clicking (not exactly, more like something bumpy moving over something else bumpy) in it as I was rolling onto that side. Honestly, I probably should have stopped them sooner. (I also only did 10 for the first set, but that was a lapse of memory.)

I didn't have any problem completing my reps with any of the other exercises, but my right shoulder did feel a little funky. Like it wasn't moving as fluidly as the other one. It didn't hurt, really, so I did my thing. Though I did back down a bit on the YLTWI raises because those are really surprisingly hard.

Thursday morning, though, my shoulder was definitely hurty. And had that same "bumps moving over one another" clicky-type feel with some movements, though not others. (Row-type moves were okay, but lateral raise type moves were not, for example.)

Fortunately, I have a few days before I really put stress on that arm, Our next workout is Saturday and that will be the raquetball lesson with the pro at Sport Fit. I'll undoubtedly be using my left arm for the raquet, so I shouldn't put too much strain on my right shoulder. So I really have until Monday evening before I am lifting weights again.

That's five days.

I have great hope that my shoulder will be back to normal by then -- particularly if I manage to sleep on my back rather than on my right side. (Unfortunately, on my right side is how I normally sleep because that's the cuddled-up-to-Patrick side.)

Anyway, ouchsome shoulder aside, it was a very good workout and I really enjoyed it. The Sport Fit's weight room was a little more busy -- lots of trainers working with clients (the trainers wear shirts that say "Personal Trainer" which is how I know this). So maybe it just took a little longer for the Resolutionaries to become apparent there. In any case, even with an obviously greater number of people in the workout rooms, I didn't have the slightest bit of problem logistically or crowd-wise doing everything I wanted to do. So yay!

Wednesday's workout was:

• Core Stability - 3 x 45 seconds - I'm not totally exactly sure of the time to the second for each of these. I was at a bit of an awkward angle to the clock on the wall and I might have missed by a few seconds more or less. The 15lb kettlebell was really heavy, though, so I might have had a bit of incentive to, umm, read the clock wrong. 
• Rolling Side Plank - 3 x 10, 12, 11 - As mentioned above, these were a bit of a problem. The first set of ten was because I'd forgotten I was going up to twelve. The last set of 11 was because my right shoulder was just not going to take even one more. And probably shouldn't have been asked to take as many as it did. 
• Dumbbell Push Press - 3 x 5 - Doing five rep sets of these is much more achievable than doing bigger sets. Good to know, thought I probably won't be doing them again next phase. Unless Travis The Trainer thinks it's something I should be doing. I used a pair of 25lb dumbbells and they were hard. I swear I think I was doing more at that weight at one point and not finding them as difficult as now, though I'm not sure about that. There may be some interaction with the exercises that come before also working my arms and shoulders. 
• Alternating sets of:
• Single-leg Deadlifts - 3 x 10, 8, 8 - I used the pair of 25lb dumbbells for this as well. The first set I kind of got in a groove and I think I did 10 rather than 8, but I'm not 100% positive. I was more attentive after that. It's probably a sign that I could have raised the weight, and if I were doing Workout J again, I would. Since I'm not, though, I'm happy with what I did. 
• Pushups - 3 x 8 - I really do think the benches at Sport Fit are an inch or so lower than the ones at Planet Fitness. Though it's possible I'm just imagining that. In any case, I made my reps and was even able to do most of them pretty fast, so I'm super pleased with these. :D 
• Alternating sets of:
• Squats - 3 x 8 - I'm up to a pair of 45lb dumbbells with these and I'm pretty pleased with myself about that. I was able to make my reps with these working fast, which is excellent. I don't think my hands and arms (and shoulders) are up to going up to 50lb weights with these, so I believe if I keep going with these next phase, it's going to have to be a volume increase. Which I was pretty much planning on, so that works out fine. 
• Standing YTLWI Raises - 3 x 8 - These were so incredibly hard last time that I was really worried about them. Particularly with my shoulder being all clicky and weird. They were still hard but doable this time -- I used a pair of 5lb dumbbells for the first two sets and just bodyweight for the last set. I'm not sure if these are going to continue next time. Pondering that sort of thing is a project for this weekend. 
• Cardio - No time for Intervals of Insanity, but I did 174 calories in 10 minutes on the treadmill, so I'm pretty chuffed about that. 

I started this post on Thursday morning and am finishing it on Friday. The Friday Update on my right (clicky-weird) shoulder is that it's doing much, much better today. I slept on my left side (rather than my right) and that seems to have made a huge improvement. It feels more or less normal. My muscles are still a little sore from the hard workout though that's improving as normal as well. So yay! I'm going to continue to be gentle with my shoulder for a while, just to make sure it really is better, but I'm far less concerned than I was. 

Hooray! 

Our next workout is scheduled for Saturday. We're having a raquetball lesson with the pro at the Sport Fit in the morning, which should be a heap of fun. Goals for the workout are: Don't take a ball (or raquet) to the face and work up a good sweat!

Run Seventy-Three: No really, a run! :D

I went for a run around the lake this evening --
it was such a beautiful evening! 

Patrick decided to stay home from the gym today on account of still being a bit sore from last week (he's starting to do a "heavy" week every couple of weeks where he'll lift higher weights for fewer reps and he over-did it a bit). It's an incredibly gorgeous evening here -- perfect temperature and sunny and clear -- so I decided to go for a run instead of going to the gym by myself. 

Especially as I'm a little creaky and sore my own self after Saturday's workout -- which didn't seem like that much more than the previous time, but absolutely tied me in knots. I figured it would be fun to run again and see if the weight-lifting is making anything like a difference in my running. I was maybe a little bit disappointed to find that it really didn't make a huge difference. Huh. I'd've figured that stronger legs would be good and the fact that I can deal with the Intervals of Insanity driving my heart rate up over 180 would help. 

Things I learned on this, my first run since July 22: 

• Running hurts my lungs in ways that lifting, and even the Intervals of Insanity, doesn't. I come home from the gym after a lifting workout absolutely soaked in sweat, having given everything I have to give, but I don't have the hurty-lungs-cough-post-exercise asthma (that I couldn't replicate for the allergist, by the way). One fairly easy run and I do. I'm not sure if it's the sustained work (though going on the elliptical doesn't seem to do it as much) or something about running specifically. Some experimentation might be in order. (Also some looking back over old posts to look for patterns.) 
• The custom arch support in my right running shoe, which was *fine* when I first started running, is now awful. It was really hampering my running because it felt like I was stepping on a stone in my arch for most of the way. Kind of miserable. I've actually taken it out and replaced it with the one that came with the shoe. 
• It wasn't as much of an "I'm taking it easy" evening as I expected -- that worked the hell out of my quads and calves -- but I don't feel like I worked nearly as hard in general, all over, as I would have lifting. Despite the fact that my lungs feel awful. 
• I should have done my usual post-workout stretches and foam rollering because I can practically feel myself tightening up. Sigh.

On the whole, I think the main lesson is that I'm  pretty happily in a weight lifting place right now. When/If I start running again, I definitely need to talk to the allergist about the post-exercise asthma thing because this lung thing is No Fun.

Next workout is scheduled for Wednesday. I expect I'll be lifting again, even if Patrick isn't going to the gym with me. I feel like I get more out of the weights. Goal for the workout -- rock Workout D, don't hurt, be awesome. 

Workout C #3: Loving it in the groove (Workout 20)

Made all my reps on everything but push-ups. :D 

Patrick and I worked out last night, but I decided to save posting about it until this morning because I have a tendency to fall asleep while posting, so it winds out taking up the entire waking portion of my evening. I watched baseball instead -- unfortunately I still fell asleep before the part where the Nationals won the game. 

A couple of weeks from now, when I move into Phase 3, I need to remember that it takes me a couple of times with each workout to get into a good groove. But once I get there, the workouts are great. I did really well last night on the whole  -- I was sweaty and working hard the whole time and I just love that feeling of kicking some butt. 

Life Lesson from Lifting Weights: The harder the exercise is the more satisfying and rewarding and interesting it is. When I'm lifting with weights that are too light for me (unless I'm specifically working on speed), it gets kind of dull. When I'm doing something difficult, where I'm really having to work it's really easy to stay focused. It's also just immensely satisfying. 

Last night's workout was: 

• Side Plank - 2 x 35 seconds - My plan for Phase 2 was to be doing these with one leg raised, but I still can't really figure out how to make that go. Not just stability-wise but also physically -- if I'm holding my glutes tight (for good form) how am I supposed to then raise my leg? I'll keep trying to do something along those lines, but I'm not going to feel bad about myself if I can't do it. Side Plank itself is still plenty difficult and I can keep holding it for longer to continue getting more out of it. 
• Jump Squats - 2 x 8 - This is my explosive power exercise and I'm doing pretty well with it. Eight reps is getting easier, but I still get winded at 5 or 6, so this is still good work now. I need to think about what I'm going to do when these get too easy, though I can always do more. 
• Alternating sets of: 
• Reverse Lunges - 3 x 10 - I used 25 lb weights and was able to do all my reps, but I had to take a break between doing the right side and the left side, as well as between sets. On the good side, my quads didn't hurt at all so I think I'm getting that tightness under control at long last. I'll stick with the same weight next time and see if I can do both sides of the same set straight through. 
• 3-Point Rows - 3 x 10 - I used a 25 lb weight for this as well, which is awfully convenient for alternating sets. I think I need to either go for a fourth set here or take the weight up to 30 lbs next time because this wasn't exactly easy, but it wasn't hard either. I do love these, by the way. 
• Alternating sets of: 
• Dumbbell Deadlifts - 3 x 10 - I used 35 lb weights for these and that was totally right. I don't think I'm ready to take the weights up for next time, because this was hard enough. These require some concentration on form so I don't put stress on my back and I don't want to escalate the weight too quickly. Next time, I'm going to start with 35 and if the first set is too easy I'll go up to 40 lbs. 
• Push-ups Plus - 3 x 10 was the goal; what I did was 3 x 9, 9, 8 - I'm still working off the windowsill because when I'm remembering to have proper form and keep my butt down that's plenty hard. I didn't finish all my reps in any set of these, so the sill is still the right height. I need to figure out something to do about my hands slipping on the window sill though -- my palms get sweaty and then it's hard for me to keep from sliding. 
• Cardio Intervals - 6 x 20:40 Intervals of Insanity - I was afraid I wouldn't be able to do any Insanity Intervals because I was so wiped out by the weight lifting, but just the process of walking over to the elliptical machine and doing my minute of getting used to the machine again got me able to do six. Five is my desired minimum and I went one better so I was happy with that. I thought about doing one more, but when the time came I just couldn't. So I stayed on the machine until 10 minutes (or 100 calories) and that was good. 

It was a great workout. My workout is running longer, time-wise, than Patrick's and I feel a little bad about keeping him waiting. But he says it's okay and I believe him. He just gets more time on the elliptical after he lifts and then gets a bit of time to sit and gather himself while I'm finishing up with a few stretches. 

Next workout is scheduled for Saturday -- it'll be my third round with Workout D. I have some hope that the coordination rows will go better this time -- one of my warm-up exercises is a similar stand-on-one-leg-and-bend kind of thing and those went better yesterday. So fingers crossed. Goal for the workout -- Make all my reps and do the whole workout as planned.