Workout Fourteen: Last time with Workout A

Last time with Workout A went well, though I didn't get
as aggressive with the weights as I maybe could have.

(Note: I started this post on Monday then fell asleep and finished it Tuesday.)

I ended my time with Workout A well, but not as aggressively as maybe I could have. Or maybe it just feels that way because I finished all my reps of everything. I did move to a higher weight on the squats and added a little bit of an element to the push-ups, so I didn't go easy.

I feel really good after this workout -- I worked hard and I feel really good about it. 

Today's workout was: 

• Plank - I was aiming for at least 2 x 30 seconds and did a little better than that (35 seconds the first time, 38 the second). I felt a little unstable in my footing (or toe-ing) like I did doing side plank on Saturday. I don't know what's up with that. Maybe I need to get my feet on the mat and my arms off. Or something. Anyway, I would have liked to go longer, but I wasn't being cheap or cheating myself either. However, I didn't do better than I did last time, which is a bit of a boo.  
• Alternating sets of:
• Squats (dumbbells) - 2 x 15. I moved up to 25 lb dumbbells today and that was really good. I remembered my goal of moving quickly with them, which (I think) makes them kind of harder. The first 10 or so of each set were pretty easy and fast, but by number 15 I was really working hard. I could maybe have gone up a bit more with the weight, but I'm not sure I could have gone up to 30 lb dumbbells (which would be an awfully big jump). And I was working hard, so I guess I'm happy.  
• Bent-over Row - 2 x 15. I used 20 lb weights again. For the first set, I did these one arm at a time, but that went so well the first set that for the second set, I worked both arms at the same time, which seems significantly more exhausting, maybe because I can't brace myself with my free hand. I'm not sure I would have been able to work 25 lb weights for 15 reps at a time, so I think 20 was right for this set. 
• Alternating sets of:
• Step-ups (dumbbells) - 2 x 15. I used 20 lb dumbbells, which is a new weight for this exercise for me. (Maybe I pushed the weights more than I thought I did. Cool! Go, me!) I also re-read the instructions (because I was typing them up as part of planning phase 2) and realized that I was doing them subtly wrong. I'd been stepping up with Leg A, bringing Leg B to the step, stopping a fraction of a beat, stepping Leg B back down to the ground, then stepping Leg A back down and pausing for a beat. That gives the working leg some time to relax (in those brief pauses). Apparently it keeps more tension on the muscles to just brush the top of the step with Leg B, then lower it back down to the ground without ever putting weight on it at the top, brush the ground (but don't really put weight on it) then lift Leg B back to the step. Basically the idea is to keep tension and *work* on the working leg the whole time. (Leg A in the above examples is the working leg.) It made a difference -- -20 lbs was a lot of work, though not more than I could handle. 25 might have been a more gutsy choice. 
• Push-Ups -- 2 x 15. Sigh. I did the step-ups on the step boxes back in the circuit area because all the stair-climbers were taken the whole time. This had me about as far away from the mid-thigh height windowsill I used on Saturday as possible. So I went back to the hip-height railing and added a bit of an extra (or "plus") to the push-ups -- I did what The Women's Health Big Book of Exercises suggests and added an upwards press at the top of the push-up -- which they say gives extra work to the serratus anterior muscle which helps move your shoulder blades back and down and helps posture. I'm all in favor of better posture. So, since I was on a higher surface than I wanted to be, I added that plus to ramp it up a bit. 
• Cardio Intervals -- I did 10 of the 20:40 Intervals of Insanity today, which was awesome! I seem to consistently have been able to do more of the Insanity with Workout A than with Workout B. My guess is that it's because Workout B includes lunges, which really work my quads. Anyway, I did wonderfully well with the Insanity -- 10 (!!) of them!! That's more than I've ever done by two -- which doesn't seem like a lot except that they really are all out, everything on the table (or elliptical machine) effort for 20 seconds. 

And that is where I fell asleep Monday evening while posting. 

I realized when prepping my log with Saturday's workout that I was wrong when I said the other day that Workout C will be built on the same bones as Workout A. In New Rules of Lifting for Life parlance, Workout A has a stability exercise (plank), a squat, a pull exercise (rows), a "single-leg stance" exercise (the Step-ups), a push exercise (push-ups), and the metabolic/cardio intervals. Workout B has stability (side plank), a lunge (split squats), a pull (lat pulldowns), a "hinge" exercise (the deadlifts), and a push (shoulder presses). Those elements -- plus dynamic stability, power, and combination/whole body -- are still present in Workouts C and D but they get shuffled around and recombined some. 

Workout C  will have stability (side plank with one leg lifted), power (jump squats), lunge (reverse lunges), pull (rows), hinge (deadlifts), push (push-ups with the same extra "plus" I did today) and cardio intervals. Workout D will have dynamic stability ("Spiderman" plank, which is plank plus movement), combination/whole body (single-leg/single-arm cable row), single-leg stance (offset loaded step-up), push (shoulder press), squat (dumbbell front squat), pull (lat pulldowns)m and cardio intervals. Each workout will have one more element than Workouts A and B. 

I made some final changes to Workouts C and D yesterday and think I have a good starting point for them. The big changes is that I changed the power exercise from split-squat jumps to regular squat jumps. Split-squat jumps seemed like they had the potential to be rough on my knees, which can be a little touchy. They were also going to come on a day when I'm already doing lunges so I'm already putting a bit of stress on my knees that day.

I've still got the single-leg/single-arm cable rows to work on my coordination with. :D

Next workout is scheduled for Wednesday. I'll be doing my last time with Workout B (side plank, split squats, lat pulldowns, deadlifts, and shoulder press). This is the workout that so gloriously kicked my butt on Saturday and I'm hoping for that again tomorrow. Goal for the workout: End phase one STRONG! 

Workout Thirteen: 60 lbs

45 seconds on the side planks and 60 lbs on the deadlifts and
the lat pulldowns. :D Go, Sara!! 

I worked out *hard* today and really pushed myself. There were two exercises where I pushed the weights a bit and didn't finish my reps, but I'm okay with that. I did more side plank than I thought I could even do, which kind of balances that out. And I worked *hard*, really hard, the whole time. Which makes me extra-happy.

I didn't have too much trouble with the split squats this time. My left quad was completely fine. My right was mostly fine -- I just needed to not have my feet quite so far apart so my quad got less of a stretch and I was able to do it without any pain or tightness at all. Hooray. 

I did wind out with my left glute feeling a bit hollow, which I realize makes no sense at all. I particularly noticed it when I was doing the Intervals of Insanity at the end. Maybe people who have more of a clue would describe it as weakness. I don't know. It didn't (and doesn't) hurt, it just didn't have a lot more to give. Which is why I only got five Insanity intervals in today. 

Today's workout was: 

• Side Plank -- 2 x 45 seconds. When I started this strength training, I was doing 15 seconds of side plank. Today I did 45 both sides, both sets. :D :D I had a little problem on my right side getting to a stable position -- my foot felt like it was slipping, then when I got that settled my (sweaty) arm felt like it was slipping on the mat. So I actually did a little longer on the right because there were a few false starts getting to a good position, then I went to 45 seconds. 
• Alternating sets of:
• Split Squats -- 2 x 15, pair of 20 lb dumbbells. As mentioned above, the split squats went fine today. I'm not totally loving the quad stretch I added to my warmup (because it doesn't feel like it's stretching my quad all that much) but between that and doing some impromptu stretches just during the day, it seems to be a lot better. Certainly, the 20 lb dumbbells had me feeling like I was working hard, but I was able to finish my reps. I think I'll bump up to 25 lb dumbbells next time -- at least as long as my quads continue to feel good.
• Cable-Machine Kneeling Lat Pulldowns -- the goal was 2x15. I did one set of 15 and one set of 14 with the weight at 60 lbs. Last time I had the weight at 50 lbs and they'd seemed way easy so I made a big jump. Possibly too big, though since I was able to do them (mostly), possibly not. It certainly felt all kinds of difficult this time and I don't think I need to adjust the weight for next time. 
• Alternating sets of:
• Straight Leg Deadlifts -- 2 x 15 with a 60 lb barbell. I believe these are also called Romanian Deadlifts. With these one doesn't take the weight all the way to the ground between each lift. They just go from below the knees to hip height (straight arms) and it's very much mostly a glutes and hamstrings thing. (Bend at hips to lower weight, fire hips forward to raise it, repeat.) I'd wanted to go with a 60 lb barbell last time but thought it was in use so I'd used a 50 lb, which had been not as hard as I wanted. I'm glad I did 60 lbs, today because that was some kinda work. These are the same deadlifts I've been doing all along, but I'm describing them more accurately to distinguish them from the ones I'll be doing next phase, when I will be taking the weights all the way to the floor every rep. 
• One-Arm Shoulder Press -- the goal was 2 x 15. I did one set of 10 and one set of 15 with a 17.5 lb dumbbell. Last time I'd used 15 lb dumbbells and worked both arms at the same time. With the 17.5lb dumbbells, and with being pretty whipped already from the rest of the workout, I worked one shoulder at a time. In some ways that's more of a strain, because the off-balance load makes the core work harder, but I found it a lot more do-able one arm at a time. Even so, the first set I could only do 10 before I was afraid I'd drop a weight on my head. I rested a bit longer before the second set (I only rest as much as I need to between sets and sometimes probably not long enough) and was able to finish the 15, but only by stopping after 10 and switching arms. But that worked and for the second set, I got them all in. 
• Cardio Intervals -- 5 x 20:40 Intervals of Insanity. I only did five 20 second rounds of Insanity (crazy, all out effort on the elliptical machine, followed by 40 seconds of recovery) because I'd worked so hard throughout the workout, I just didn't have a sixth one in me. But I'm not too upset about it. I did five and I did them well and I certainly worked myself to what the fitness people call "volitional exhaustion". I could do no more. Well, except that I did spent another few minutes on the machine. I generally stay on the elliptical machine until it tells me I've burned 100 calories, which, in practice, is about 10 minutes. 

We went and checked out a different Planet Fitness today -- there's one right near where I pick up Patrick after work and we thought it might be more convenient on weeknights to get there than go to the gym near our home. The guy at the counter was nice and the place seemed entirely fine, but it doesn't look like there will be much of an advantage going there -- we were hoping to get in before their busy time and that won't work. 

I'm pretty sure I have Workouts C and D all sorted out. I'm excited to get started on them -- I'm going to start doing a dynamic stability exercise (moving while holding the core tight and steady), a power exercise (an explosive move), and a "combination" exercise (which involves moving more than one part of the body at one). I've tried to put these new pieces in and balance them so the workouts won't be hugely longer. We'll see how that works out. 

I'm worried and excited because the power exercise I've picked and the combination exercise I've picked both require some coordination, which is not a trait I have in abundance. On the other hand, I have some confidence that it will improve with training. It certainly won't get worse and if I look goofy doing these things, I'm okay with that as long as I'm getting better, stronger and healthier. 

In related news: Despite a week in Nashville eating (well there were other things too, but there was an awful lot of eating for sure), I managed to lose 2.4 pounds between my last weigh-in (August 1) and today. Huh. I can't say I expected that what with the weight lifting building muscle and the FOOD in Nashville. (If you ever go there, go to the Hot Hattie B's near Broadway and get hot chicken (I liked the medium; Patrick got the hot). Then go next door to Gigi's Cupcakes. So good!)

Next workout is scheduled for Monday. It will be my last time with Workout A. I'm going to see if I can push things just a tad, as this will be my last time with this number of reps and these specific exercises for a while. :D (Workout C is built on the same bones as A, so I'll still be doing plank and squats and rows and step-ups and push ups, I'll just be making them *harder*.) Goal for the workout: End phase one strong!! 

Workout Twelve: Making progress with push ups! :D

Workout Log 8-13-2015. I didn't squat as much weight as planned,
but other things went way better than expected.

Yesterday's workout (the fifth time with Workout A) went well -- though I had to make some changes in response to the situation on the ground, so to speak. Some elements wound out modified easier, other modified harder.

I was working hard the whole time, for sure, except when I was trying to figure out where to do step-ups.

We had friends over on Wednesday evening, for reasons that don't bear going into at this juncture, so we did our workout on Thursday. This worked out fine *except* that the trainer was doing a class in the 30-minute circuit area at the time when I really wanted to be using the step boxes for my step-ups. As your may or may not recall, those step boxes in the circuit area are the only "official" steps in the gym. More on this vexation below.

In related news: I've done some research and I think what was making my quads hurt doing split squats while we were in Nashville was that they were really tight. I made modifications to my warm-up routine and my recovery routine, including the foam rollering, to take better care of them. I think it helped, but I'll know for sure on Saturday when I'm doing the split squats again.

Thursday's workout was:

• Plank -- 2 sets; the first was 35 seconds, the second 40 seconds. I don't think it's normal to be able to do more in the second set, but for the second set I was just paying less attention to the time. Or something. I'm not really sure how I did it, actually, but "better on the second set" happens pretty regularly for me.
• Alternating sets of: 
• Squats (dumbbells) - 2 sets of 15. I used 20 lb dumbbells this time. I'd planned to use 25 lb dumbbells, which is what I used the previous time, but the corner of the gym I was in only had them up to 20 lbs. I'll have to move out of that corner next time so I can get to the full weight rack and use 25lbs. 
• Bent-over Rows -- 2 sets of 15. I used 20 lb dumbbells. I did these one arm at a time, rather than both at once, because bracing my free hand on my thigh gave me a bit of extra support. That did not make these easy, but I did better than the first time I did this with 20 lb weights. I have written down to start with 20 lbs next time, but a note to maybe up the weight. I'll see how I feel. 
• Alternating sets of: 
• Step Ups -- 2 sets of 15. These were a total pain last night. As mentioned, there was a class in the part of the gym with the only steps in the facility. I walked around pretty extensively with a pair of dumbbells (itself an exercise called a "Farmer's Walk") trying to find an alternative. I've been wanting to move up to a higher step, but there aren't any other good options in our gym, so this seemed like a good opportunity to experiment. I tried a weight bench first, but quickly rejected the idea when I found that the benches are padded, so it was going to be a wobbly landing surface. My balance is improving (yay!) as are my knees (double yay!) but that was going to be a pretty stern test of both. I finally wound out stepping up onto the deck of a treadmill (there are lots of them and even with the gym a bit crowded there were plenty free, so I wasn't keeping anyone else from their workout). I think that was maybe a little higher than the steps. I was planning to use 20lb weights and hold them at shoulder height (which is harder because it's farther from the center of gravity), but because I thought I was going to be stepping a lot higher (onto a bench), I went with 15lbs. Next time I may try stepping up onto the step of one of the stair climber machines, if one is free. That would *definitely* be higher.
• Pushups -- 2 sets of 15 was the goal. I'd been doing pretty well (completing my reps anyway) with with the push-ups off a bar at about my low-hip height and have been wanting to move lower but couldn't in Nashville. Thursday, I wound out doing them off a windowsill a few inches above my knees; I think it was about a foot lower than the bar I'd been using (Patrick says more like 15 inches lower). At that height, I could only do 10 the first set and 11 the second. I didn't make my reps, but I'm still pleased with how well I did with them; last time I tried to go lower with pushups, I had to stop after just a few because they were messing my shoulder up. This time, I just was exhausted -- one more and I would have landed on my face.
• Cardio Intervals -- I did 7 rounds of 20 seconds of insanely all out going followed by 40 seconds of slow going and recovery (I don't stop, I just go from 15 miles an hour to 3 miles an hour) on the elliptical. Totally spiked my heart rate in a great way and just did wonderfully. After the last round of Insanity, I cooled down on the elliptical at a moderate pace (around 5 miles an hour) until the machine said I'd burned 100 calories. Then I went and did recovery stretches. 

We each had a thing of Greek yogurt for a post-workout snack, which I really do think makes a *huge* difference in how we feel later.

In related, but other, news, I'm pretty confident that I've sorted out what are going to be Workouts C and D -- I've got one more time with Workout A and two more with Workout B (I'm doing each one six times) and then I'll be switching to a new phase. I'm not following in lock step with The New Rules of Lifting for Life by Lou Schuler and Alwyn Cosgrove, but I'm following the general concepts of their plan. 

Their system has three phases, each with two alternating workouts. The phases last a month or a month and a half depending on how often one works out. Phase one is all about training your body to do things it can't do -- either because it's never done them or because it's forgotten how. In my case, I'm training to be able to do a lot of things I've never been able to do before. It improves total-body conditioning and athleticism. That's the phase I'm nearly at the end of.

Phase two is about pushing yourself -- striving to improve some aspect of performance each workout by using heavier weights, more challenging exercises, or more sets (of 10 reps). The reps are lower in each set (10 instead of 15) and there are potentially more sets (2 to 4 instead of 2), so I'll be moving heavier weights in this phase right from the start. The plan is to pick exercises that will allow me to increase both weight and volume (number of reps) of lifting. This is the phase I'm planning now. 

Phase three is a ways off yet, and I'll talk about it when I get there. 

The beauty of the system is that it can be repeated and varied almost indefinitely. I'm already making some changes by choosing exercises not just from this book but also from The Women's Health Big Book Of Exercises -- trying to find exercises that train the same muscle groups but are doable with the equipment available to me (that's my main reason for variation).  

I also skipped one whole category of exercises (the power category) from my phase one. I'm going to be bringing it in with Workouts C and D.

Next workout is scheduled for Saturday -- I'll be doing Workout B (Side plank, split squats, deadlifts, lat pulldowns and shoulder presses). Main goal is to do the split squats without my quads hurting. Otherwise, get better and stronger. 

Workouts Eight, Nine, Ten and Eleven: Hurty Quads, but Good Stuff

 I've been busy like crazy the last week, so I haven't had time to post, but I've been working out on schedule and enjoying it. Patrick and I are back home now from a trip to Nashville for a professional conference. Last Monday and this evening, we worked out at our normal gym here at home.

Last Wednesday's scheduled workout we did at a Planet Fitness in Nashville because Patrick was going to be using their weight machines and wanted to be using the machines he was used to. (They weren't exactly the same, but they were close.) Last Saturday, Patrick was doing a cardio day, so we worked out at the fitness room in our hotel. Our hotel actually had an excellent fitness room -- the only thing I had any trouble with was the pushups because I'm still at the hip-high support level (about a 45 degree incline maybe) and there wasn't much at the right height.


I'm getting to a point where I need to think about what I want to change to in a few weeks. I've got two more times with each workout and it will be time to start a new workout -- the next stage has two to four sets of eight reps each. So the weights will be higher and the reps lower. Which will be pretty cool. I'll probably change up some of the exercises too -- reverse lunges instead of split squats, possibly some sort of cable machine row rather than dumbbell rows, etc. I need to work out what I want to start doing.

I had a problem last Wednesday with Workout B -- it involves split squats, which are normally not much of a problem. Unfortunately, my quads were killing me (and still are a bit). One leg got sore when I stood up from sitting on the floor before we left home. The other got sore when I stood up from doing some warm-ups on the mat on Wednesday. It wasn't a good feeling when they got hurt, but I don't think anything is really wrong. They only hurt when I did something like a lunge (which you can see here) -- with all my weight on one leg and the other behind me a step and the knees bent. The leg that hurt, for the record (and my mother's peace of mind) was the *down* leg which doesn't do nearly as much work.

Anyway, when I got to doing the split squats last Wednesday, they just didn't feel at all good, so I did regular squats instead. When I worked out again on Saturday morning, with Workout A which doesn't have split squats but does have regular squats, I gave one try at doing the split squats and did regular squats again. (Actually, my warm-up sequence has a sort of lunge-y thing in it and I knew from that I wouldn't be able to do split squats.) I was back to Workout B today, though, and was able to do split squats, though my range of motion wasn't entirely where I'm used to it being.

I'll just keep going with the "pain free range of motion" thing, and if it's too small a range for me to really be working my glutes, I'll do regular squats until they don't hurt anymore.

The weird, and maybe interesting, thing is that it really does seem like the problem is more with the stretch in the less-working leg. The initial pain felt pretty sharp and immediate (and lousy) but only when doing that kind of move -- lunges, split squats, reverse squats, standing up from the floor one leg at a time. Any other kind of move is fine.

I will say that whatever it is that's up with my quads is slowing me down a tad with the Intervals of Insanity part of each workout -- especially last Wednesday when they were at their worst, I couldn't go nearly as fast for my 20 second intervals because my legs just wouldn't generate as much power.. Though what that meant was that I could do eight of the intervals rather than the five I'd been doing.

All of these issues seem to be resolving, along with the pain, now. Which is excellent.

Wednesday will be Workout A -- which doesn't involve split squats. The Step-ups I do with that workout *never* caused me any problems, even when my quads were most weird. Which kind of means I have an extra couple of days off for my legs to recover before I tax them at all again. Hopefully by Saturday, my quads will be even better and more back to normal.

Anyway, we're back to normal -- today's workout was at our usual gym at (approximately) our usual time. It was nice to be back. Next workout is scheduled for Wednesday -- goal for the workout: is to get better at everything, Without hurting my quads.

Workout Six: I can do Plank! Who Knew!

I really like this little workout log -- I fill in the next workout
when I get home from one. So it's all fresh in my mind and I'm
excited. 

Yesterday was my first time with my re-vamped Workout A -- it's the same basic workout as the first time, but I didn't get on any of the machines this time. It was all body weight or dumbbells all the time. Which I liked MUCH better!

I was super-sore after Monday's workout (I think I still have some of that residual soreness) and I think at least some of that was because I haven't gotten into very good habits regarding warming up and cooling down. I always do a bit of cardio to get started -- get my heart going and my blood flowing and get myself oriented, but that doesn't really do anything as far as range of motion or limbering up or anything like that. 

So I added about 5-10 minutes (I figure it will be five when I'm more confident about what I'm doing, last night it was more like 10) of range of motion and getting loose type things. I used the guidelines in The Women's Health Big Book of Exercises and selected warmups that wouldn't feel too much like exercise, but would make a difference. 

I started out with 10 minutes on the elliptical, then did my new warmup routine. I'm not going to detail it all out because I don't imagine anyone is all that interested -- but it's limb swinging and twisting movements and some core stretches and stretching hamstrings and opening the hips and all like that. It was good. 

The actual strength workout was: 

• Plank (you can see what it is here) -- 2 sets of 30-60 seconds. This one doesn't exactly have reps -- just hold the position for 30 seconds (or more) at a stretch. I was sort of psychologically prepared to have to do it at an incline (which would have been easier) but I didn't. I'm not totally sure how long the first set was -- what I wrote down was 11, because that's what I counted ("one one thousand, two one thousand..."). The second time I actually spotted a second timer and know I did 30 seconds. They didn't feel like hugely different lengths of time, though. My form wasn't absolutely perfect for all 30 seconds and I'll be working on getting better at it for sure. But honestly, I didn't think I could do it at all. :D
• Alternating sets of: 
• Squats (dumbbells) - 2 sets of 15. I used 15 lb weights and felt like I was working hard but not impossibly. My form was definitely better this time and I didn't feel even a second of strain in my lower back. That was awesome. Next time I'll try 20 lb dumbbells. 
• Bent-over Rows -- 2 sets of 15. I had sort of planned to use 15 lb weights but after using those for the squats I wasn't so sure about it, so I used 10lb ones instead. I think that was probably about right. I may shoot for 15s next time, though. When I did rows on the machine I did 40 lbs, so I should be able to do more. 
• Alternating sets of: 
• Step Ups -- 2 sets of 15. These are pretty straight-forward -- step up onto something step down. Do all the work with one leg then switch sides. Hold weights. The only step boxes at our gym are a little low, so I'm going to have to do something to make them more difficult. I was holding 10lb dumbbells yesterday and that wasn't enough. The New Rules of Lifting For Life suggests holding a weight on one side, so that you have an unbalanced load. I think I'll try that next time. 
• Pushups -- 2 sets of 15 was the goal, what I achieved was one really icky set of 8 and a good set of 15. On Saturday, I really surprised myself by being able to do "modified" pushups, with my hands on a bar at about hip height (part of one of the row machimes). The last few were hard, so I knew I was working, but I did them. I tried to go lower yesterday -- to a bench about knee height -- for the first set yesterday. It didn't go well -- it was hurting my shoulder and felt basically awful, so I stopped at 8 reps. For the second set, I went back to the hip height bar and it felt fine. I'm not sure if it was the specific bench I was using (the seat of a machine back in the circuit area), which is a little constrained as far as space goes, or what. I'll try to go lower again, but maybe not so much lower all at once. 

After I finished the strength workout, I got back on the elliptical and did five minutes of Intervals of Insanity (I like that name for them). I did this on Monday and loved it. It manages the curious balance of being utterly exhausting and exhilarating at the same time. Once again, I spent a minute getting reacquainted with the machine, then did 20 seconds of crazy, all-out intense effort (15 miles an hour, baby!), then 40 seconds at a slow, easy recovery pace. Repeat until I can repeat no more. In practice, I did 5 (or nearly so) of the crazy all out intervals. 

After I'd cruised down on the elliptical -- a couple of minutes of just easy going to get myself back together -- I did some recovery stretches while my muscles were still warm. 

The other recovery thing I did different (this one we both did) was to have a high-protein snack (Greek yogurt) as soon as we got home. We usually have yogurt after dinner as a sort of dessert -- last night we just had it *before* dinner while we were changing. 

I do honestly think it helped -- I'm much less sore today than I was after Monday's workout. Even my shoulder where it got a little tweaky after those bad pushups doesn't hurt much today. Hooray! 

Next workout is scheduled for Saturday. I know Patrick is going to be doing a cardio day. I'm not sure -- I'm so loving these strength workouts, I'm tempted to do my B workout again (that's the deadlifts, split squats, shoulder presses, and pull-downs -- with side plank instead of any ab machine this time -- workout). We'll see how I feel on Saturday. If I'm still kinda sore, I may run. Or maybe I'll go completely off the rails and get on an exercise bike or something.