Workout E #6; Finishing Strong!! (Workout 37)

Last time with Workout E. The end of Phase 3 is nigh.

Last night's workout went well. There was definitely a bit of a learning experience with it though -- doing jump squats for my Intervals of Insanity is only semi-effective when I've already worked the heck out of my quads (with loaded jump squats and reverse lunges). My legs gave their last before my cardiopulmonary system was totally exhausted. This is sub-optimal. I probably would have done better to alternate with Jumping Jacks, even though those feel less hard than the jump squats. 

I completed one whole set, both legs, of the Coordination Rows with only one tiny toe touch (to check my balance) on each side. :D :D 

Last night's workout was: 

• Cable Half-Kneeling Chop - 2 x 10 - I took the weight up to 22.5 lbs, then for the second set up to 25. Which means that my arms are getting stronger about pulling the weight. I'm not displeased with that, but I still don't feel like I'm getting the core work I am doing this for. These will probably not be coming back in the next phase. 
• Dumbbell Squat Jump (or Jump Squat) - 2 x 8 - I actually think I did ten on the first set, though that's not what I wrote down. Doing jump squats for my Insanities has definitely made me better at them when loaded too. I probably need to raise the weight when I do these going forward. 
• Alternating sets of: 
• Romanian (straight-leg, mostly) Deadlifts - 3 x 12 - Two 35 lb dumbbells didn't seem like enough for my hamstrings and glutes to be working the way I wanted them to, but I need to review my form instructions before I go any heavier with the weight. I had to really concentrate to keep my back good yesterday. I was deadlifting two 40 lb dumbbells in Phase 2 (though that was "take them all the way to the ground" type deadlifts) and that might be a better weight. 



Obviously this is Steve Reeves as
Superman and a picture I found
on the Internet, not mine.

• Scaption and Shrug - 3 x 12 - To keep my shoulders back and my form good, I was consciously pulling my shoulder blades back and down after I'd lowered the weights. This is what I personally think of as a Superman pose -- because shoulders back naturally pushes your chest out and proud like Superman. Adding that kind of ramped up the difficulty a bit, but also the benefit, I'm pretty sure. I'm going to look at an exercise for next phase that does that -- trains the back muscles for better posture and being proud like Superman. 
• Alternating sets of: 
• Reverse Lunges (Yippee!) - 3 x 12 - Once again, I was able to do Reverse Lunges with no problems, though my quads were a little tighter than they had been the previous time. I really need to work to keep them loose, I think. Still, I had no problems and felt like I got a good workout, even though I just went with my body weight. I am paying more attention to pushing myself back up with just the one, working leg. I actually lift the other one off the ground a bit so it's not really helping with the push at all. 
• Kneeling Lat Pulldowns - 3 x 12 - I went back to the cable machine station with the fixed high pulley on an arm sticking out from the machine. That was the harder station when I tested, which doesn't make a lot of sense because I think that's the one that works my back muscles (the target muscles) more and my arm muscles less. But still, it was harder and therefore I did that again. And it went TONS better. Seriously! Loved it! Still at 72.5 lbs. I really wanted to get off that weight at some point during this phase, but alas it was not to be. :( They may be making a reappearance in Phase 4, but I'm not sure. I've been doing them since the beginning and, given that I've been at the same weight for about six weeks, appear to have plateaued pretty thoroughly. It might be time to work those muscles some other way. 
• Coordination Rows (Single-Leg, Single-Arm Cable Rows) - 3 x 12 - see above note about nearly almost doing one whole set. Just one toe touch on each side. Maybe Wednesday I'll achieve that milestone. I still have a lot more I can get out of these, so they'll definitely be back next phase. For one thing, eventually, I'd like to get my balance and coordination good enough that I can start raising the weight and making them a real work-the-back sort of row. 
• Cardio Intervals - 8 x 20:40 Intervals of Insanity - All jump squats all the time again, which worked wonderfully on Monday. Yesterday it was really hard and my legs definitely pooped out on me before anything else did -- but then I'd already done jump squats and reverse lunges so my quads had done a lot already. (Workout F has squats, but because they're the front squats with the weight way higher than my center of gravity they're much more a core exercise than a quad exercise.) Anyway, I squeaked out 8 and then my legs would do no more. They weren't sure they wanted to hold me up anymore...at least for a minute or so. But then I did my recovery stretches and we were ready to go. 

As I mentioned in my previous post, I've only got one more workout in Phase 3 and I haven't yet figured out what I'm doing for Phase Next. But that's okay, because I'm having a tiny little procedure on my hand on Thursday and will have the rest of the day off from work to figure it all out. And then all day Friday to get a sense of how my hand is going to feel about gripping weights and stuff while it has stitches in. 

Next workout is scheduled for Wednesday (because of the hand thing on Thursday). It'll be my last time with Super-Fun Workout F and my last workout in Phase 3. Goal for the workout: Work hard and kick butt. 

Workout E #4 (Modified): Getting better! (Workout 33)

Still no single-leg quad exercise, but my quad is feeling a
lot better and I'm planning on giving reverse lunges a try
next time in Workout E.

Yesterday was an awesome day on many fronts -- we had pizza and beer for brunch, which just kicked things off to a totally happy start. Fortunately, several hours after brunch, I also had a fantastic workout! I'm still babying my quads, but was able to do a hard workout anyway. Loved it! 

I wrote down a new single-leg quad exercise -- Single-leg bench Stand Up (you can see a video here, though the book had it start from sitting rather than standing) that I thought I could maybe do because it wouldn't put any sort of stretch on my quads. On the other hand, I couldn't even begin to figure out how to make it work as far as center of gravity and making any part of my butt move off the bench. So that was a scratch, though an intriguing one that I want to try more of because it seems like a great exercise and one that's *functional* movement, which I love.

Despite that disappointment, I worked hard and had a great workout! 

Yesterday's workout was: 

•  Cable Half-Kneeling Chop - 2 x 10 - I did these at 20 lbs again, moving as fast as I could so I gave my core more work to do holding me stable as I move the weight. I'm still not really feeling these where I think I should be, but at this point, 2/3ds of the way through this phase, I'm going to stick with them and re-evaluate when I start planning my next two workout. I'm sticking with 20 lbs and moving as fast as possible next time.
• Dumbbell Squat Jumps - 2 x 8 - I did these with a pair of 20 lbs dumbbell and it's time to move up. I've been doing squat jumps (body weight) as part of my cardio Intervals of Insanity and I think I'm getting better at them because of it. So when doing it as part of my strength workout, I need more weight to really be working the explosive muscle fibers in my legs. 
• Alternating sets of:
• Romanian Deadlifts - 3 x 12 - I did these with a 60lb fixed-weight barbell again and it is definitely time to go up with the weights. Unfortunately (sort of) that means I'll be going to dumbbells, because they don't have a heavier barbell (unless I start working on the Smith machines, which I don't want to do). The dumbbells are a bit more of a pain, but it'll be fine. And it'll be especially fine to be working harder with these. :D 
• Scaption and Shrug - 3 x 12 - Still at 10 lbs and that's still a *hard* weight. I can't say I especially enjoy these, but I definitely work hard and I'm glad to be doing something other than Shoulder Presses. But they are *hard*. 
• Kneeling Cable Lat Pulldowns - 3 x 12 - This is where I *tried* to do alternating sets of these with the Single-leg Bench Stand Ups, but couldn't actually *stand up*. I am still trying to figure out why sometimes the Lat Pulldowns are really, really hard and sometimes they're very doable. At the same weight, which has been 72.5 pounds for like a month. I thought it was the wide-grip bar, but that doesn't seem to be entirely it. My current hypothesis is that it has to do with which of the high stations on the cable machine I'm using. The high pulleys come in two varieties on the machine -- the fixed ones that stick out on an arm from the top of the machine and the ones on the adjustable pulleys. It seems that the fixed ones would be more of a straight down pull for a pulldown and the adjustable ones would have a bit of an angle (pulling toward me and down). I think the adjustable ones may be the easier ones. I used the fixed high pulley today and it was hard, but I could do it. Next time I do these (Thursday), I'll use one of the adjustable pulleys and see if that makes a difference. 
• Coordination Rows (Single-Leg Single-Arm Cable Rows) - 3 x 12 - I came very very close to being able to do these without having to stop to regain my balance. I am *almost* there. And as I'm getting more stable, I'm able to be more rhythmic and powerful and all the other goals for these. I love these because I'm seeing So Much Improvement! 
• Cardio Intervals -- 10 x 20:40 Intervals of Insanity - I'm still doing these as 20 seconds on, 40 seconds off with the on-intervals alternating between jumping jacks and squat jumps. I was really focusing on doing them both fast fast last time, so I was completely blown by the end of these. But boy are they good. I love it! 

As I said, I've put the Offset Loaded Reverse Lunges back into the workout for Wednesday, because I think my quad is better now. I'll be super gentle and tentative with them though, until I'm absolutely sure I'm not hurting. That said, I'm also going to be seeing if I can work out the Single-Leg Bench Stand Ups because those seem like they'll be awesome. 

Next workout is scheduled for Monday. I've got the day off but Patrick doesn't. I do have about a million projects in progress that I want to work on. So there's going to be a busy, full day before we even get to the gym. Goal for the workout: Make it as awesome as the rest of the day is shaping up to be. 

Workout E#3: That went really well, all things considered (Workout 31)

You can see that I crossed off the Offset Reverse Lunges and
changed the Cable Pull Throughs to Romanian Deadlifts. 

Despite the pain in my right quad (about which I posted earlier), which is making anything like a lunge or a split squat a total non-starter for the nonce, I did really well today. I didn't even attempt the  Offset Reverse Lunges, but didn't have the slightest bit of problem with the Romanian Deadlifts or even the Dumbbell Jump Squats (which are a quad exercise, just one that works both legs at once). 

When I was doing the Intervals of Insanity at the end, I was alternating Jumping Jacks and Jump Squats (without weights) and after two rounds of the Jump Squats I knew I needed not to be doing any more. The sets I did were fine and didn't hurt, but I knew not to be doing any more. 

There is no substitute I can do until my leg isn't hurting. I have some hope for Saturday, but I'm certainly not going to push it. 

I also want to switch out the High (Bench) Step Ups that are part of Workout F with something else that's a single-leg hamstring exercise. I'm thinking of something like a Hip Lift (you can see a video here), but a single leg version where I hold one leg up and raise my hips with my glutes and hamstrings. It shouldn't put any particular pressure on my quads, I don't think, so it seems like a good choice. But that's getting ahead of *this* post. 

Today's workout was good and I didn't put any strain on my quads. So I feel really good about it, even if I didn't work as hard as I would have liked. I warmed up walking on the treadmill rather than the quad-busting elliptical machine. It's not really possible to burn calories as quickly on the treadmill as the elliptical, but I between raising the incline and the speed, I did pretty well. 

Today's workout was: 

• Half-Kneeling Cable Chop - 2 x 10 - I used 15 lbs of weight in hopes that doing this fast would help me feel as though it is working my *core* (which is what this is for) rather than my arms. I'm not sure I feel like it did. I'm thinking I might prefer to go back to Plank or Side Plank because this just isn't rocking my world. I'm going to ponder that. 
• Dumbbell Jump Squats -- 2 x 8 - I used a pair of 20 lb dumbbells for these and did the first few kind of tentatively. Once I realized they were going to be fine, I went at them with a bit more gusto. 
• Alternating sets of:
• Romanian (Straight-Leg) Deadlifts - 3 x 10, 12, 12 - I haven't done these for a while so I started with the same weight I used the last time I did them, which was a 60 lb barbell (like a dumbbell with a fixed weight). Last time I did them, I was doing sets of 15, but that was over a month ago. 60 lbs was, I think right for today. The first set was only 10, but that wasn't an issue with the weight. That was an issue with me still not having totally internalized sets of 12 yet. I definitely feel better about these than the Cable Pull Throughs -- those felt like I was working things I didn't want to work and not working my hamstrings and glutes enough. 
• Scaption and Shrug - 3 x 12 - I had written down to use 15lb barbells for this and as soon as I picked them up, I knew that was not going to work. So I went for ten and sort of berated myself for a wimp. After the first set, I looked back to see what I did with these last time -- 7.5 lbs. Oh. Well, okay then. So apparently when I wrote down 15 I was having a totally woolly-headed moment. 10 was actually a bit of a stretch. Which is why it felt like one. There we go. 
• Kneeling Lat Pulldowns -- 3 x 12, 10, 10 - These are such a vexation to me. Last time I did three sets of 12 at 72.5 lbs and felt really good about it. So good, in fact, that I decided to go up to 75 pounds, which is just a tiny little increase. Today, I was just barely able to do 12 reps at 75 lbs, then when I backed it down to 72.5 lbs, which I've been lifting for a while, I couldn't do 12 at all. Grar. I definitely got a good lot of work out of it, so I feel okay with it. But I'm mystified at these. I might try a session doing pulldowns on the cam machine (rather than the cable machine) just to see how I do with those. 
• Coordination Rows - 3 x 12 - I'm getting so much better at these, y'all. I don't think I ever really adequately conveyed how *bad* I was at these to start out and now I'm not. I'm still not getting through all of them without having to re-balance myself, but I'm getting so close. And it's just such an incredible improvement from the wobbly baby giraffe to standing on one leg and moving in a vaguely coordinated way. So cool! 
• Cardio Intervals - 5 x 20:40 Intervals of Insanity - As mentioned above, I was alternating Jumping Jacks and Jump Squats for the 20 seconds of all out crazy going. I stopped when I knew my quads wouldn't take another round of the jump squats, though they weren't hurting yet. I would have liked to do more, but I really am trying to be a bit gentle with myself. 

Patrick has been running into traffic jam problems in the gym on Wednesday evenings, so we're shifting our workout schedule to Monday, Thursday, Saturday. This shouldn't make a huge difference except that we'll be able to get through our workouts without having to wait for space at the machines. (We don't mind waiting for space at the machines when people are working out on them. It's when people are sitting on them chatting that it gets vexing.) 

So, next workout is scheduled for Thursday (and I think it's probably going to take a while before I have that totally internalized). Goal for the workout -- Make Workout F work without hurting my slightly sore quad. 

Workout E #2: I have to rethink this a little (Workout 29)

Not a bad log page -- some things marked to go up next time. :D

Yesterday's workout was good in some ways, not so good in others. The good is that I want to raise the weight on the Kneeling Lat Pulldowns next time. I've been doing 72.5 for a *long* time and I'm excited to finally be budging with that. The other good is that I really am getting distinctly better at the Coordination Rows. I may be only a few more sessions from getting through all of one set without having to put my foot down to catch my balance. We'll see. 

The bad is that my right quad (this time, last time it was the left) started really hurting during the reverse lunges. Not so bad that I had to stop, though I did modify how I was doing them to put less strain on that leg (fortunately it's fine when it's the working leg, it hurts when it's the non-working leg). 

The other bad is that the gym is just a lot more crowded on Wednesday nights -- Patrick runs into regular traffic jams on the machines he uses and there are classes with the trainer using up the weights and so on. Mondays are less of a problem. It's less of a problem for me than for him, just because of the exercises we each do, but it's still vexing. I don't know that going to a different gym would make a difference. Going a little later might, but then we won't get home until later and that's vexing too.

I'm not liking the Cable Pull-Throughs, I find. The fact that they're vaguely indecent looking doesn't bother me (you can see a video here), but they seem to put more strain on my arms and shoulders than they should for something that's a glutes and hamstrings exercise. There are plenty of other things in these two workouts working my arms and shoulders, so I don't really want the extra work here. In addition, because my arms aren't nearly as strong as my glutes and hamstrings I can't work them as hard as I'd like (by moving as much weight as I want) because my arms and shoulders can't take the load. It's vexing. I'm going to ponder for a few days (I don't do this workout again until next Monday) but I may switch back to the Romanian Deadlifts for the rest of Phase 3. I liked those, they didn't strain my back at all, and I can really put a lot more work on the target muscles. 

This change will also do nice things for the geography and logistics of this workout -- I can do the Romanian Deadlifts and Scaption and Shrugs up in the free weight area and then go back to the cable machines with a 25lb dumbbell for the Offset Loaded Reverse Lunges. Believe me when I say that will be easier, though it's maybe not immediately obvious as I describe it. 

I didn't change any of the weights from Workout E #1 because I forgot to write in my starting weights into my notebook, which means that I didn't have a record of any changes I wanted to make. I just used what I did for E #1 (with one exception) 

Yesterday's workout was:

• Cable Half-Kneeling Chop - 2 x 10 - I used 25 lbs for these. I need to review what I'm doing here. It's possible I have the weight too high, though I don't want to make it too low. Anyway, this is a Core Stability exercise intended to work the muscles that stabilize my core while my upper body is moving. Unfortunately, what I'm working most (and what gets tired), is my *arms* because they're Not Strong. If I lower the weight so my arms can handle it maybe I can start doing the chops faster so that then I have more work for my core to stabilize against. I'm going to drop these down to 15 and make a note to go fast and see if that helps me feel like I'm working what I want to be working. 
• Dumbbell Jump Squat - 2 x 8, 10 - I used 20lb dumbbells for these and did the first set of eight without too much trouble, so I did ten for the second set. That was a bit more trouble, but the book says these should be sets of 6-8. I don't mind doing more than the book says and I do think these are helping with explosive power, which is very very good. I'll see how I do with 20 lbs and ten reps next time. When that gets to feeling like it should be harder, I'll raise the weight. 
• Alternating sets of:
• Cable Pull-Throughs - 3 x 12 - As mentioned above, I'm having some problems with these because they put extra strain on my arms and shoulders without putting as much work as I'd like on my glutes and hamstrings. This is not satisfactory as Working The Big Muscles is part of the basic idea of this whole program. Also, it's not nearly as much fun. I used 35lb weights, which is just over half of what I can do with the Romanian Deadlifts (or what I think of as Romanian Deadlifts, which name I'm not 100% sure about). I'm jumping ship and going back to the Romanian Deadlifts -- I'll start with 60lbs, which is where I left off when I stopped doing these at the end of Phase 1, but expect I'll be moving up pretty quickly. 
• Scaption and Shrug - 3 x 12 - I actually had to decrease the weight I used for these from 10lb dumbbells to 7.5 lb dumbbells yesterday because of the aforementioned crowding problem at the gym. All of the 10 lb weights were in use, so I got a pair 7.5lbs from the rack in a different part of the gym. I'm actually not particularly upset about this -- they were still hard but I think I was able to do them with better form and keep my shoulder blades back and down better with the lighter weight. I'll probably stick with the 7.5s next time. Particularly because they were still plenty hard, especially the last set. 
• Alternating sets of: 
• Offset-loaded Dumbbell Reverse Lunge - 3 x 12 - I used a single 25lb dumbbell for this. As I mentioned earlier, I had problems with my right quad doing these. It is so strange to me that it's not when it's the working leg that it hurts. I really worked my quads hard on the elliptical warming up, though I'm still trying to figure out the knack for using the elliptical without beating up my quads, and even though I stretch them some during warmups, I clearly need to do more of that because they're still really tight when I get to work. I do like the offset load, though I need to be careful when supporting the weight to keep my core engaged which helps keep it balanced. 
• Kneeling Cable Lat Pulldowns - 3 x 12 - I was able to do these at 72.5 pounds (and the wide-grip bar) without too much trouble, so I think I'm actually *finally* ready to go up to 75 lbs (I can increment the cable machine by 2.5 lbs if I want to). Huzzah! With these I need to really focus on keeping my shoulder blades back and making sure the main drivers of this lift are my back muscles. Not my triceps, which are totally inadequate to the task of shifting 70+ pounds. 
• Coordination Rows (Single-leg, Single-arm Cable Rows) - 3 x 12 - I'm still getting better at these. As mentioned above I figure I'm a week or two away from being able to do one whole set (of three) without having to put my foot down to correct my balance. There are no words for how much of an improvement this represents -- when I started these I could barely get through one whole rep without having to catch myself. Once I can do that, I can start getting rhythmic and faster and more powerful. I can't wait. Still at 15 pounds for the foreseeable future though. 
• Cardio Intervals -- these were a scratch. The corner where I did jumping jacks and squat jumps the other day had a class doing abs work, my quad hurt so there was no way I could do more on the elliptical, and Patrick had been done for like 20 minutes when I got to this point, so I decided to pass. I sort of regret it -- I didn't get nearly as sweaty as I like and didn't feel like I worked nearly hard enough. But the reasons were sound -- especially the hurty quad part. I'll get back on these on Saturday. 

So it was a good workout but not a great one -- I learned some things and know where I'm going next with Workout E. That's all important. :D

Next workout is scheduled for Saturday. Goal for the workout -- pick up the pace and the intensity a bit to make up for a slightly easy workout on Wednesday. 

Workout E #1: Good start! Good stuff! (Workout 27)

Workout log for my first go with Workout E. I wound out
raising some of my starting weights and did really well. 

My first go with Workout E went really well -- there were no logistical problems and it was very smooth all the way through. Of course that was helped by the fact that the gym wasn't very crowded at all because around noon today. It might be a little more challenging on a busy weekday evening. I'll find out Wednesday. I'm not sure I have an awesome backup plan if it's going to be difficult to find a spot on the cable machine on a weekday evening -- maybe switch to Romanian deadlifts to alternate with the scaption and shrug, so I'm still working hamstrings and glutes but doing it with free weights. Anyway, I'll burn that bridge if I come to it.

Today it went excellently and I was very pleased. I worked really hard and even moved up some of the starting weights I'd worked out the other day. Most of them were just right, though. I'm not going to be so aggressive pushing the weights this phase -- this phase is about feeling athletic, coordinated and like I'm good at this. Pushing the weights up every time I make my reps won't serve that. Though I'm not going to let the weights get too light for me.

There are links to videos of many of these exercises in my previous post.

Today's workout was:

• Half-Kneeling Cable Chop - 2 x 10 - As I mentioned after Wednesday's test run-through workout, this is a core stability exercise. The whole point is to hold one's core stable as the arms move the weight across and in front of the body. I wasn't sure I felt like this was doing much on Wednesday when I was doing it at 20 lbs. I went up to 25 lbs today, to put a bit more work on my core. This is a core stability exercise, but your *arms* are moving the weight. I'm not sure that I'll be able to raise the weights too quickly because that was about as much as my arms could take this time. 
• Dumbbell Squat Jump - 2 x 8 - I did these with a pair of 20 lb dumbbells (this time, they'll come back around again later). They are a lot like work and the extra weight really does make a difference. I did go to the full reps with these - my range was 6-8 - so I'll go for 25 lb dumbbells next time. 
• Alternating sets of: 
• Cable Pull-Throughs - 3 x 12 - These felt really weird the other day and I wound out with the weight *very* low (20lbs), especially compared to the 60lbs (two 30lb dumbbells) I'd been doing Romanian deadlifts with in Workout B. They felt a little less weird today and I felt like I had a better sense of what I was doing, so I was able to move the weight up some. I wound out doing all three sets at 30lbs. I'll probably go up to 35 next time since I didn't have any real trouble with making my reps at 30lbs. 
• Scaption and Shrug - 3 x 12, 12, 11 - These are *hard*, y'all. Hard. I need to work on remembering to keep my shoulder blades back where they belong with these, rather than rounding my shoulders. It makes raising the 10lb dumbbells harder, but it's better for my shoulders and back. The shrug at the end is kind of a killer too. I barely made 12 in my second set and just couldn't do it in my third. So 10 lbs is the right weight here. 
• Alternating sets of: 
• Offset-loaded Reverse Lunges - 3 x 12 - I never really felt like the offset load did much with the Step-ups I was doing in Workout D -- it felt like it was increasing the resistance but I didn't feel any sort of core challenge with it. These really do feel a lot more challenging with the weight unbalanced and I have to work to not wobble. The middle set I was barely able to do 12, but did better with the third set, possibly because my form was a little better. I did have a little hint of the quad problems I was having way back in August -- like an excessive stretch on the down-leg -- but I didn't hurt myself and didn't have any real problems with it. I need to do some extra stretching between now and Monday. I used one 25lb dumbbell and I'll stick at that weight at least one more time. 
• Kneeling Cable Lat Pulldown - 3 x 12 - I used the bar with the good grip width for these, so I was able to do 72.5 lbs for 12 reps each set. It's the same weight I've been using, but with two extra reps each set, which makes a difference. It was still a good weight today. I might move up to 75 lbs next time (because I can raise the cable-machine weights in 2.5 lb increments). 
• Coordination Rows (Single-Leg, Single-Arm Cable Rows) - 3 x 12 - This is a *lot* more of these than I've been doing. I'd been doing 2 sets of 10. But this isn't exactly a strenuous exercise though it is a very difficult one for me. I have to say I did really well with it today. This thing requires coordination and balance and muscles moving in concert with one another and in the right order and I'm slowly, but noticeably improving. I'm not yet up to being able to go through a whole set balanced on one foot, but I got through *half* of the first two before I had to put my foot down to keep my balance. When I started I couldn't do a single row. I'm still at 15 lbs -- I figure that sometime in December I'll be to the point of working on increasing the weight with these. (The first goal with these is to do all the reps with good form, which means remaining balanced on one foot throughout the set. The second goal is to establish a rhythm and then speed up the rhythm so it's smooth and fast. The third goal is to make the movement powerful by really firing your hips and pulling on the cable hard. The *fourth* goal is to then start increasing the weight. After a month, I'm still not close to the first goal.) 
• Cardio Intervals - 10 x 20:40 Intervals of Insanity -- (Just a reminder: that means I did 10 rounds of 20 seconds of all-out, crazy intense effort followed by 40 seconds of rest.) I've been wanting to move away from doing these on the elliptical machine, because my legs become the weak point and I really want to work my cardiovascular system with these. Today I did alternating Insanity Intervals of Jumping Jacks and Squat Jumps. I need to figure out something to do to keep moving at least a little during the rest period -- on the elliptical I don't stop during the rest period, I just go into an easy cruising speed. The Jumping Jacks weren't too intense at first, but I went really fast with them which helped. The Squat Jumps (body weight only, I was too tired by that point to be jumping around with weights in my hands) were hard right from the start - I've got a fair amount of body weight to be launching even a little bit into the air. I was worried after the first couple of rounds because it hadn't been too tough. But as I went on, it just kept building and getting harder. By the end it was great. As these things always are. 

It was an excellent workout and I really feel like the time I spent Wednesday working out How To Do These New Things totally paid off. I didn't have much of the Baby Giraffe Awkwardness while I was working out today, which let me focus on what I was doing and making sure I was doing it with good form. And on how it *feels* -- I like the feel of my muscles working and moving, even when they're hitting the limit of  what they can do.

Next workout is scheduled for Monday. It'll be my first time with Workout F and I'm excited. Looking over it, Workout F is going to be a total snap as far as  the geography of the gym goes, which is nice. It would be nice if they both were, but it's good that one is. :D Goal for the workout: Kick off Workout F with gusto and awesomeness!

Workouts E #0 and F #0: Working through the new stuff (Workout 26)

I don't have a page in my workout log today, so I took a post-workout
picture of  myself. Sweaty hair and all. 

I wanted to take a day off of working out between Phase 2 (which I finished on Monday) and Phase 3 (which I'll start on Saturday). But I wanted to do it without actually skipping a trip to the gym. What I decided to do was to work through one set of each exercise in both of the Phase 3 workouts (E and F). I figured it would let me figure out where there are going to be what I think of as "gym geography" problems with the workouts (and I did find some and need to do some re-thinking). I also wanted to get past the baby giraffe awkwardness of doing Entirely New Things With My Limbs. It did both of those things and I was able to get at least a reasonable starting weight for everything.

So, here's what I learned today. 

Workout E

• Cable Half-Kneeling Chop - plan is 2 x 10 - I'd like to be able to post a link to a video of this one, but there isn't one on my usual resource (bodybuilding.com). This is a core stability exercise that requires you to hold your core still while moving weight with your arms and shoulders. I'm not sure how I felt about this one -- I didn't feel awkward exactly, just wasn't sure I was working what I wanted to be. I'm happy to stick with this. This will be the first exercise after my warmups and I'm doing it by itself (not as part of an alternating set) so it shouldn't pose too many logistical problems.  
• Jump Squats - plan is 2 x 6-8 - You can see a similar video here. (The video is without weight and I may be holding a pair of dumbbells at my sides, but that's the only difference.) This is an exercise to develop explosive power in my lower body. I was doing unweighted jump squats for most of Phase 2 and added dumbbells to keep the difficulty up. I'm thinking of seeing if I can somehow increase the difficulty without actually adding weights just because of geographical considerations. In either case this is a familiar exercise and one that works me hard. 
• Alternating sets: 
• Cable Pull-Through - plan is 3 x 12 - You can see a video here. As the New Rules of Lifting For Life (one of our key references) says, it looks kind of indecent, but I think it's going to be a good exercise. This is a hamstring/glute exercise, so it's working the same muscles as the Romanian Deadlifts (the ones I did in Phase 1) but feels very different. I think it's because the cable machine provides a different sort of resistance to the dumbbells. Anyway, because these are working the same muscles as the Romanian Deadlifts, I figured I'd be at about the same weight I was for those, which was 60 pounds. Hah! I'm going to be starting these at 20 lbs. Seriously. It feels that different.
• Scaption and Shrug - plan is 3 x 12 - This is another one where bodybuilding.com doesn't have a good video. This is a shoulder exercise replacing the shoulder presses that I've stalled out on. Basically one starts with weights at arms' length at your sides, then raise them with your arms at a 30degree angle. Once your arms are parallel to the ground, shrug your shoulders up. Then lower everything down. I'm going to be starting these at 10 pounds -- they're a lot more work than it seems like they should be. I can get a pair of dumbbells to take to the cable machine area so this shouldn't be too tricky unless there's such a crowd at the cable machine that I don't want to leave the station I've claimed for myself (doing the chops) to go get a pair of dumbbells. I need to come up with a backup plan in case that happens.
• Alternating sets: 
• Offset-loaded Dumbbell Reverse Lunges - plan 3 x 12 - You can see a video of a basic reverse lunge here. I'll be holding a single dumbbell on the side of the working (up) leg to add to the resistance and to add some extra work for my core maintaining balance. I've been using a pair of 30 lb dumbbells for reverse lunges (total of 60 lbs), so I figured that I could use a single 35lb  dumbbell as a starting point. I was wrong. This is another one that's more difficult than expected -- I'll be starting at 25 lbs. 
• Kneeling Lat Pulldowns - plan 3 x 12 - These are exactly the same lat pulldowns as I've been doing. I've gotten comfortable enough with the 72.5 lb weight I've been doing, that I think I can do two more reps per set at it and will start there. 
• Coordination Rows - plan 3 x 12 - These are the same cable machine Single-arm, Single-leg Cable Rows that I've been doing, only doing more of them. I'm absolutely crazy about the fact that I'm getting noticeably better at these. 

The concern with this workout is not that there are four exercises on the cable machine. The concern is that the other exercises in the alternating sets with the cable machine exercises use dumbbells of different weights. I don't want to be a rude gym-goer and lay claim to all the weights I need for the whole workout, when I don't really need them the whole time. When I went through these exercises this evening, I didn't even try to work in the proper order -- I did everything on the cable machines together. But I think that was just me being shy because there were plenty of empty stations I could have used. I think I don't need to worry too much. (Fortunately neither the scaption nor the reverse lunges use a huge weight, so I won't have a punishing farmer's walk to put the weights back this time.) 

Workout F

• Cross-body Mountain Climbers - plan is 2 x 10. You can see a video of regular mountain climbers here. I'm adding an extra bit of twist component bringing my knee to the opposite elbow. Watching the video was very helpful, because now I know I need to do these fast, which may be a help because they were kinda not too challenging this evening and I was a little worried about them. This is a core stability exercise maintaining stability in the face of movement like the Chops in Workout E. 
• Elevated Explosive Push-ups - plan is 2 x 8 - 10. There's no good video, alas. I'm sure you can picture explosive push-ups -- where you push up so hard and explosively that your hands come off the ground. I can't do even regular push-ups on the ground, of course, so I'll be doing these at a waist high bar to start. This is an explosive upper-body power exercise. 
• Alternating sets of:
• Dumbbell Front Squats - plan is 3 x 12. You can see a video of someone doing front squats with kettlebells (instead of dumbbells) here, but the gist is totally the same. This is a variation of something I've been doing all along. I knew intellectually (and from book learnin') that having the weights so far above my center of gravity would make a difference, but I didn't know how much of one. I've been doing regular dumbbell squats with two 35lb dumbbells. I started with 30lbs for these, aware of the increased difficulty, but couldn't even do one good rep. I moved down the dumbbell rack and finally settled on 15lbs as being the right weight for these, at least for the first time. They really are that much more demanding. 
• Rear Lateral Raise - plan is 3 x 12. You can see a video of someone doing the same move with their arms while lying on an inclined weight bench here. I'll be doing them standing, because doing so makes them less of an isolation exercise. This is another new exercise entirely, replacing the rows for a time. I had no idea how hard these would be or how much weight I'd be able to lift this way. The answer is "almost none". My starting weight is going to be 5 lbs. Sigh. Ah well, the advantage of starting out so lame is that I've nowhere to go but up. 
• Alternating sets of: 
• High Step-up - plan is 3 x 12. I've been doing step-ups all along -- first onto a step box then (when those became unavailable) onto the deck of a treadmill. Having to hike over to the treadmills for these sets has been something of a logistical headache. For Phase 3 I'm going to be doing these onto a weight bench -- so a much higher step up. I'm not going to be using any weights to start because that high step (onto a padded and slightly squishy/unstable surface, I might add) is, honestly, enough of a difficulty increase. At least to start out. Stepping up onto a weight bench is going to eliminate a whole lot of geographical awkwardness because there's always a stray bench or two back near the cable machines . I think I'm going to be really pleased with these. 
• Single-Arm Cable Chest Press- plan is 3 x 12 - You can see a video of someone doing cable chest presses with both arms at once here, but I'll be doing one arm at a time. This is another one where I was kind of surprised by how low I'm going to be starting my weight at, 20 lbs. total. And by how different moving weight around feels with the cable machine. It took me a few tries to get comfortable with what I'm doing but I think they'll work out pretty well. And, since I'm doing the explosive push-ups, I figured I could do something completely new for my chest.
• Reverse Lunge and Cable Row -- plan is 3 x 12. There's no video of this. It's a combination exercise, like the coordination rows, specifically designed to train multiple muscle groups to work together with one another in coordinated ways. Anything that trains coordination is extremely sorely needed for me. I tried to work through the baby giraffe stage on these but I don't think I quite made it. I'll probably need to have the instructions with me for a few times just to make sure I'm getting it. 

I want to do something else for my cardio Intervals of Insanity -- the elliptical machine hasn't been working as well for that as I'd like for a while. I explored the Arc Trainer, which seemed like it might be something I can do Insanity on, though I didn't love it. I also tried the stair machines. I'm not sure how I'd modulate the intensity to get the Insanity effect of 20 seconds of full-on effort followed by 40 seconds of recovery. 

Other options include something like jumping jacks or split jacks. I still need to explore. 

Next workout is scheduled for Saturday. Goal is for Workout E to start awesomely!