Workout F # 6 and a cardio day: Look, ma! No hands! (Workouts 38 and 39)

Took forever to post about it, but the workout was excellent! 

I haven't gotten a chance to post about last *Wednesday's* workout, but I really did go and it was really excellent (as workout f has tended to be). But then on Thursday, I had hand surgery and then I've been mad busy. Today I have a moment to catch up with myself. 

Wednesday's workout was the last of Phase 3 -- round six with Workout F means it's time to move on. I haven't yet (still) figured out what I'm going to be doing for Workouts G and H, but I have a little time (another whole week, darn it) to work it out. 

The reason I have this time is that I had (extremely) minor hand surgery last Thursday to remove a lump that I've had for, seriously, decades, but that finally started bothering me and being quite uncomfortable right around when I started lifting weights. Or maybe a bit before. Anyway, while my hand is fully functional for normal things like typing (clearly) and writing and drawing and holding (most) things, anything that puts a stretch on my palm tugs at the stitches uncomfortably and unpleasantly (and makes me feel like I'm going to tear one out). 

You'd be surprised at all the things that put a stretch on one's palm, by the way -- toweling off after a shower has been the big unpleasant surprise. 

The stitches come out on Saturday (Oct. 31), if I have to find a random stranger on the street to do it for me. (The surgeon says anyone can do it.) Once they're out, I'll be able to get back on track with Phase 4 and Workouts G and H. 

In this post-hand surgery time, I'm kind of making do. 

Saturday, I did a cardio day -- walked for 45 minutes at a good incline and a really stiff pace. It was fine, but not as satisfying as lifting would have been. On the other hand, it was way more satisfying that tearing out a stitch would have been, so I'm okay with it. 

For tonight and Wednesday, I'm going to try to figure out how much of an actual workout I can do without using my hands. I figure I can do body weight squats (or jump squats, though I may save those for Intervals of Insanity), body weight reverse lunges, hip raises (maybe even with a weight plate, because I can hold that with my right hand) with both legs, step ups (maybe with raising my knee high as I go up), plank, side plank. So that's quads (both with one leg working and with both legs working), hamstrings and glutes (ditto) and core. I can't find a chest or shoulder exercise that doesn't use the hands, but Y-T-I raises on the floor would work my back some. 

But that's looking ahead. Wednesday's workout was: 

• Cross-body Mountain Climbers - 2 x 30 - Doing these fast makes all the difference in the world as far as how well I feel it's working me. These may make it on in the next round, because I do deflinitely enjoy them, though I'll need to raise the stakes somehow with them. 
• Elevated Explosive Push-Ups - 2 x 10 - if these are going to go on, I need to make them harder. Which I really want to do because I think they're doing me a world of good. Maybe I can figure out how to go lower or something. As with so many things, going faster makes a huge difference in how much work I feel I'm getting. 
• Alternating sets of:
• Dumbbell Front Squats - 3 x 12 - I used a pair of 17.5 lb dumbbells again, because these put so much work on my core that I just can't go higher. I can tell they're not working my quads as much as I'd like, but I get that quad work elsewhere, so I guess that's okay. 
• Rear Lateral Raises - 3 x 12 - I used a pair of 7.5 lb dumbbells. These are almost certainly going to make it into the next round. I love these. They're crazy difficult, don't get me wrong, but I think they're doing very good things for me. 
• Alternating sets of: 
• Single-leg Hip Raises - 3 x 12 - I went up to a 10lb weight plate held on my lower abdomen for these this time, to raise the difficulty and make my hamstrings and glutes work harder. It was a good thing to have done because I could definitely feel that my glutes had been worked hard. It was excellent. 
• Cable Chest-Presses - 3 x 12 - I'm still at 25 lbs on these and they are plenty difficult at that weight. I might switch to a more "classic" chest press (like a bench press maybe) in the next phase but I need to ponder that. I like these pretty well and like that they keep me standing and work my core. 
• Coordination Rows (Single-leg, Single-arm Cable Rows) - 3 x 12 - I did one whole set, both legs, without having to put a foot down to keep my balance!! When I started doing these (two months ago), I couldn't even do one whole rep without having to touch. :: happy dance :: Doing them with every exercise is making a big difference, but I probably won't keep that up in Phase 4, when I can do the reverse lunge cable rows as an alternate whole-body exercise. Still at 15 lbs. 
• Cardio Intervals - 10 x 20:40 Intervals of Insanity -- ALL JUMP SQUATS!! For 10 rounds!! And I didn't die. :D It was fantastic. Absolutely fantastic!! 

Saturday's workout, as mentioned, was just a cardio day. 50 or so minutes of walking at around 4 miles an hour with the treadmill set at incline 6. I watched an episode of Castle on our tablet. It was fine and I worked up a good sweat. But I missed a proper workout. 

Next workout is scheduled for tonight.  I'm sort of developing a plan, which I will finalize before we get to the gym. Goal for the workout -- don't hurt my hand but feel as though I've really worked hard. 

Workout F #5: Killing it with the cardio!! (Workout 36)

Saturday's workout was excellent! The Cardio Intervals of
Insanity were insane!

We worked out on Saturday, but I didn't have a great chance to post about it Saturday (errands, fun, and arts & crafts) or Sunday (same, minus the errands). Here at the office, when work is a mite slow, I can't be doing any of those other fun things and it's a great time to post. :D 

It was a fantastic workout -- as I've noted here before, Workout F is always a great time. I raised some weights and pushed myself harder on some things, which was muy cool. I also ramped up the Intervals of Insanity and that was amazing! 

I haven't put much thought yet into what will be coming next after I finish this phase -- projected last workout in Phase 3 is this Wednesday. Part of why I'm so behind this time is because of the aforementioned fun and arts & crafts. A lot of it is because I'm having a minor procedure on my left (dominant) hand on Thursday, so I'm not 100% sure when I'll actually be starting What Comes Next. I'd like not to miss a workout (and will go and bust my heinie on the treadmill on Saturday even if I can't lift), but I don't know exactly what's going to be up with my hand. As important a reason as those two: I'll have all day Thursday after the procedure at home to do some research and pondering. I'll think up a plan then. 

I definitely want to spend one workout running through all the exercises to sort out starting weights and logistical issues again. That worked out *so* well at the beginning of Phase 3. If I can get it together enough to do that on Saturday, that will also give me a sense of whether my hand is going to be an issue.

Saturday's workout was:

• Cross-body Mountain Climbers - 2 x 30 - Going faster definitely makes a difference with these, but I still need to ramp something up for next time. I don't think I want to do another whole set. Something to consider for What Comes Next. I know that I can keep my focus on keeping my core tight as I go -- that will ramp it up some. :D 
• Explosive Elevated Pushups - 2 x 10 - I'm still going off the hip-high railing (because it's the best thing available) and they're still hard, but not as hard as I'd like for them to be. I'm aiming for faster and made a note for next time to be sure to work on that. I like these a lot, really. Kind of better than regular pushups, though I can't imagine why. 
• Alternating sets of:
• Dumbbell Front Squats - 3 x 12 - I went with 17.5 lb dumbbells again. The first set was really hard (hence the little "OMG!" in my notebooks) but for the second and third sets I did better at keeping my weight back on my heels, so they didn't work my core as hard. So I was actually kind of able to feel that they *don't* work my quads as hard as regular squats. I'm not quite sure how I feel about that. 
• Rear Lateral Raise - 3 x 12 - 7.5 lbs again and that was good. I'm sticking with that weight for next time. It might be a little light next time, but I think it will be in that celestial alignment state of perfection. I hope. I love that feeling. 
• Alternating sets of:
• Single Leg Hip Raises - 3 x 12 - Doing these with the working leg on a bench wasn't quite working my hams and glutes as hard as I wanted so I checked in the Women's Health Big Book of Exercises for a variation to scale it up some. What I found was holding a weight plate on my lower abdomen (right where my hips hinge) so that my hams had a bit more weight to raise. I used a 5 lb plate and next time I'll use 10. But that was definitely good and a bit more hamstring/glute focused than Step Ups. 
• Single-Arm Cable Chest Presses - 3 x 12 - I had planned to go up to 25 lbs, but forgot that for the first set (and for some reason didn't check my notebook). I did go up for sets 2 and 3 and had no problems.Working out on Saturday around noon is fun because the gym is pretty close to empty, so I plenty of room to work on the cable machines. I might change to some sort of bench press for next phase -- though I prefer not to sit down during my workout. 
• Coordination Rows (Single-Leg, Single-Arm Cable Rows) - 3 x 12 - Getting better all the time!! So exciting. I'm not sure if my body is just finally *getting* these or if doing them with both workouts (instead of just one) is making the difference, but I like it. That said, I'll still probably go back to doing these in only one workout in the next phase, just to get more different kinds of work in. 
• Cardio Intervals - 8 x 20:40 Intervals of Insanity -- This totally sounds like I was slacking (only 8 Insanities instead of 10) except that I did Jump Squats for ALL of the Insanity intervals. Thursday, I caught myself thinking of the Jumping Jacks Insanity intervals as the easy ones, or like I could rest a bit more during them, but I couldn't figure out any way to ramp them up (I was already going as fast as I could). So I just cut them out and went with nothing but Jump Squats. Which was just an awesome killer! Loved it! 

I also did 10 minutes of warm-up walking on the treadmill -- when I was warming up on the elliptical, I could burn 100 calories (according to the machine ) in 10 minutes but on the treadmill I was barely making it to 80 calories in 10 minutes. It was a bummer. But on Saturday, I got up to 93 calories in 10 minutes -- mostly by raising the incline. Knowing that, I think I can get up to 100 calories in 10 minutes, which totally makes me happy. 

Next workout is scheduled for tonight -- it's my last time with Workout E. Goal for the workout, finish STRONG! 

Workout E #5: I can do reverse lunges again! (Workout 35)

Nothing's scratched out! I did a whole workout! :D

After about 10 days of giving my quads the babying treatment so they would recover from whatever insult they felt they had received, I was able to do Reverse Lunges again!! I didn't push them too hard -- no weight but my own body weight -- but they handled that with no issues at all. So yay!! 

In addition to that bit of excitement, I did well with everything -- I went up with the weights on the Romanian Deadlifts (from a total of 60 lbs to a total of 70) and the the Squat Jumps (from a pair of 20 lb dumbbells to a pair of 25 lbs dumbbells). I continue to improve by leaps and bounds at the Coordination Rows. 

I also got more data for my question about the Lat Pulldowns -- if the type of high pulley (fixed on an arm out from the machine or adjustable makes a difference in how hard they are (which I'm sure is a function of which muscles are being worked).

Yesterday's workout was:

• Cable Half-Kneeling Chop - 2 x 10 - I raised the weight on these for the second set, because they still seem like not enough work. Or too much worko n the arms and not enough on the core. Or something. On the other hand, today, I can definitely tell that my core has been worked, so maybe I'm not doing as badly as I feel like I am. 
• Dumbbell Jump Squats - 2 x 8 - I raised the weight from 20lb dumbbells to 25lbs because I hadn't really felt like I was working hard enough last time. Increasing the weight definitely helped a lot, I must say. Though I might work my way up toward doing sets of 10 of them eventually. 
• Alternating sets of: 
• Romanian (Straight-leg) Deadlifts - 3 x 12 - As mentioned above, I raised the weight on these from a total of 60 lbs to a total of 70. And they still felt really good. I'll stick at 70 again next time -- just because going up another 10 lbs would be rather a lot. I haven't decided what's going to be coming in the next phase yet, but I really like deadlifts so I wouldn't be surprised if I'm still doing them. :D 
• Scaption and Shrug - 3 x 12 - Still doing 10 lb dumbbells and still really having a hard time with them. These are *difficult*. Or I just have no back/shoulder muscles. Which is also entirely possible. The only way to make them stronger is to work them and these are definitely work. I can't say I enjoy them, but I'm getting better at them, so I think they're doing their job anyway. 
• Alternating sets of: 
• Reverse Lunges!! - 3 x 12 - I'm back in the Lunge business!! Well, not really a business as I don't make any money or anything, so I guess I'm back in the Lunge hobby. But still, hooray! :D I had absolutely no problem at all with bodyweight lunges yesterday. They didn't feel like a great big ton of work, but I was happy to be doing them. I've only got one more time with Workout E and will probably do bodyweight reverse lunges again just because I don't particularly feel like pushing my quads too hard. 
• Kneeling Cable Lat Pulldowns - 3 x 12 - As mentioned above, and building from the lengthy babbling about these in my previous Workout E post (from last Saturday), I did these from the adjustable pulley at its highest point, rather than the overhead arm fixed high pulley. They were still hard but from the high adjustable pulley, I felt like I could maybe raise the weight. From the overhead fixed pulley I can barely make my reps. At the same weight. That probably means I should alternate them, so I don't neglect the muscles that are getting used with the more difficult ones. I actually went up to 75 lbs (from 72.5) for the third set. Woo hoo!! I've been at 72.5 lbs for like a month or more. 
• Coordination Rows (Single Leg, Single Arm Cable Rows) - 3 x 12 - I may be moving up the weight on these before Thanksgiving! There was a time when I was thinking I wouldn't be moving the weight until 2016. Improvement is improving! I love it! 
• Cardio Intervals - 10 x 20:40 Intervals of Insanity, alternating Jumping Jacks and Jump Squats during the 20 second Insanity intervals. I may need to stop with the jumping jacks and just do all jump squats all the time -- I'm not getting worn out enough anymore. :D 

So all in all it was a good workout. I'll be doing my last Phase 3 workout next Wednesday so I totally need to get cracking on what I'm doing for Workouts G and H. Before that I need to figure out if I'm circling back around to phase 1 (and thus doing Workouts A1 and B1), but I don't think I totally like that idea.

Next workout is scheduled for Saturday. I'm going to stick with the single leg hip raises for Saturday, but maybe the next time I'll go back to the bench step ups. Goal for the workout: Have a blast -- Workout F is a ton of fun. 

Workout F #4: Loved it!! (Workout 34)

Did the single-leg hip raises again, rather than the step ups, but
that still makes for an awesome workout. 

Yesterday evening's workout was epic and awesome! I had such a good time. Workout F is pretty much a blast through and through. (Workout E is good too, hard work and lots of it, but I don't seem to have as much fun with it. Maybe because the Mystery of the Lat Pulldowns stresses me out.)

Anyway, last night was awesome. I've got three exercises that I'm ready to improve. Maybe four. I'm ready to raise the weight on the Front Squats (which I didn't think would ever happen), though only by a little bit (from two 15 lb weights to two 17.5 lb weights), but still. I also need to ramp up the Explosive Push-ups. I wish there was a lower bar to work from that's not as low (or as inconvenient) as the windowsill, but there's nothing really available so I'll escalate by going faster and trying to push higher. The Crossbody Mountain Climbers I'm already doing as fast as I can, so I'm going to either go up to sets of 35 or to thirty second sets. I'll see how long it takes to do 35. :D

The one I'm not sure about raising is the Single Arm Cable Presses. I think I'm ready to go up to 25 pounds, but I want to revisit my instructions to make sure I'm doing them Just Right before I do that. 

Last night's workout was: 

• Crossbody Mountain Climbers - 2 x 30 - I did these well and did them fast. The second set, I put my hands on a mat, which wound out being something of an error because my hands were sliding. On the other hand, that instability probably added to the core workout so maybe it was good. I'm not sure I'm willing to do it again though. 
• Elevated Explosive Push-Ups - 2 x 8, 10 - Hmm, maybe I'm not ready to find a lower bar for these. I wrote down that I wanted to do two sets of eight, but last time I did sets of 10. No wonder they seemed a bit easier. I actually did 10 for my last set because I sort of got in the zone. So next time I'll do two sets of ten -- and still see if I can go faster and push higher. 
• Alternating sets of: 
• Dumbbell Front Squats - 3 x 12 - As with last time, I could really feel yesterday that these work my core way harder than they work my quads. I'm not really sad about that -- I'm getting plenty of work and my core definitely needs it. But I think I'm ready to give my core a bit more of a challenge with these and move up the weight from a pair of 15 lb dumbbells to 17.5 lb dumbbells. It's not a huge jump and I think I can do it. 
• Rear Lateral Raises - 3 x 12 - These are getting better, though still extremely hard. I don't think I'm ready to go up from the 7.5 lb dumbbells I've been using for a couple of times, but I'm definitely getting better able to handle these. Some kinda work these are. 
• Alternating sets of: 
• Single-Leg Hip Raises (with my foot on a bench) - 3 x 12 - I need to see about making these harder without actually having to tote a weight over from another part of the gym. Of course, if the reverse lunges in Workout E on Thursday go well, I might try the bench step-ups again, which would solve that problem. :D We'll see. 
• Single-Arm Cable Chest Press - 3 x  12 - I'm still at 20 lbs with these though I think I'm ready to go up. This is another one where I need to review my instructions to make sure I'm doing them just right -- I think I am but I want to be sure. I'm definitely getting better with them, especially with controlling any rotational stress on my shoulder. 
• Coordination Row (Single-Leg, Single Arm Cable Row) - 3 x 12 -  I did one whole set of these without having to stop and correct my balance. A whole set!! (Well, okay, half a set, because I was only able to do it on one leg. But then I did it on the other leg a couple of sets later.) I might actually make it next time. This, like the chest presses, is one where it's important to coordinate which leg is working with which hand -- this would seem to be totally obvious, but I'm left-handed and therefore a bit backwards about the whole "right and left" thing so I get muddled up sometimes. I wonder if that isn't part of why these are sometimes harder than others -- I think balance is maybe easier when doing them right, but I'm not sure. 
• Cardio Intervals - 10 x 20:40 Intervals of Insanity with Insanities of alternating Jumping Jacks and Jump Squats.  I don't think I could possibly do all jump squats for these intervals, but the Jumping Jacks are maybe a bit too easy, even though I"m trying to do them as fast as I possibly can. I'll look around and see what else I can find for when I move into the Next Phase. 

It's starting to get around to time to think about what I'm going to be doing after Phase 3 -- if I were following New Rules of Lifting For Life exactly (which I'm not), I'd loop back around and do something like Phase 1 all over again, only with exercises and weights suited to my current level of ability. The problem with this plan, however, is that I wouldn't be keeping up with the coordination/whole body exercises and I really feel those are helping me tremendously. I don't want to let them go, really. 

So I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I could go back to lighter weights and sets of 15 reps, that was part of Phase 1 as well. 

I've got a week and a bit to think about it. 

Next workout is scheduled for Thursday, because Thursday really worked tons better than Wednesday last week. It'll be Workout E #5 (of 6), this is why I'm to the point of needing to think about my next workouts. I'm going to be giving the reverse lunges a try -- just with bodyweight to start and then I'll see if my leg is okay with that before even really thinking about adding weight. Goal for the workout: Do reverse lunges without hurting. If that is not possible, have the good sense to stop. 

Workout F #3 (Modified): Oh, that was good! (Workout 32)

The main modification I made was getting rid of the High
(Bench) Step Ups. But the replacement worked me hard , so
it was all good. 

I'm still babying my quads, specifically my right quad, though it hasn't actively felt weird in several days, so I'm working on a modified Workout F right now. I replaced the High (Bench) Step Ups, which put a lot of work on my quads, with Single-leg Hip Raises, which worked my glutes and hamstrings really well but didn't transfer any work to my quads. 

One of my warm-up stretches is a quad stretch where I go down on one knee and lean to stretch the down leg. On the left, I could get a very good lean and stretch going. On the right, I could feel it as soon as I started and essentialy had to back off a bit from "starting position" not to feel like I was doing too much to it. 

So that leg is not right at all. It just didn't stop me being able to get my workout in. 

That is a very happy thing indeed. 

The official trainer who works at our Planet Fitness (I think her name is Janet or Janice) was doing an abs class in the same corner I was working in when I was doing my front squats and rear lateral raises -- when we made eye contact she told me I was doing good. That was nice. :D 

Yesterday's workout was: 

• Crossbody Mountain Climbers - 2 x 30 - Sets of 30 was definitely right for yesterday evening. I was able to work fast and really get going on these though and they went well. I'm going to work on speed and stick with 30 for next time, but I'll probably go up to sets of 35 for the nest time. 
• Alternating sets of (notice this is out of order): 
• Dumbbell Front Squats - 3 x 12 - I'm finally getting to a point with these where I can feel how they're working me that's different from the squats I've been doing. I'm still using a pair of 15lb dumbbells for these and I could feel last night how hard my core was working to keep my form good and my back protected. I could also feel how hard my quads are *not* working -- most of the exertion is when I'm squatting down (keeping my torso as upright as possible) not when I'm raising my body and the weights back up to standing. So these are being more of a core exercise than a quad exercise at this time, but I'm cool with that. My core needs the work, for one thing. My quads are a bit tender for another. AND I get other quad work with the jump squats I'm doing as part of my Insanity. 
• Rear Lateral Raises - 3 x 12 - I went up to 7.5 lb dumbbells for this one and that worked really really well. It was hard -- I was dripping sweat off my chin onto the floor -- but it was good. (During these sets is when the trainer noticed me and said I was doing good.) 
• Explosive Elevated Push-Ups - 2 x 10 - I would normally have done this before the first pair of alternating sets but got a little mixed up and, well, didn't. Whoops. They went well. I'm pretty sure I'm not ready for a lower bar on these, so I just need to focus on being more explosive when I do them. 
• Alternating sets of:
• Single Leg Hip Raises - 3 x 12 - (You can see a video of hip raises (they call them glute bridges) here, but I"m doing them with one knee held to my chest.) I started these with the working foot on the floor for the first set and that was too easy. For the second and third sets I did them with the working leg on a weight bench, so I have to lift the weight I'm lifting higher. That was a lot better. This and the step-ups it's replacing (whether those step-ups were to a box or a treadmill deck or a bench) are in the workout as Hamstring/Glute exercises where I'm working one leg at a time. I've never really felt that, exactly, from the step-ups. I've always felt they were more of a quad exercise, even at the lower heights. This finally felt like I was really working my hamstrings and glutes. Perhaps it was a bit too isolating (I prefer to work muscles in concert with one another than in isolation), but it was nice to feel the work in the target area. 
• Cable Chest Presses - 3 x 12 - I moved up from 15 to 20 pounds on these, though there was a bit of a mis-step at first with the machine due to there being two different kinds of "high pulleys" on the cable machines -- the adjustable pulley moved to the top and the ones with a fixed pulley on an arm sticking out from the top of the machine. Working with the fixed high pulley these were virtually impossible at any weight and clearly going to do Bad Things to my shoulder (I gave about two test pulls and stopped). From the adjustable pulley moved to the top, they worked great. Huh. 20 lbs was a good amount of weight, but not too much. Yay! 
• Coordination Rows - 3 x 12 - I'm doing these in both of my workouts right now because they're doing me a world of good. The whole body/combination exercise I was doing in Workout F involved a lunge movement and that's not going to be happening for a while. So I'm just doubling up on the Coordination Rows. What I'm getting from them is about the balance and coordination, not so much the rowing, so I don't think I'm overworking anything. 
• Cardio Intervals - 10 x 20:40 Intervals of Insanity alternating Jumping Jacks and Jump Squats during the 20 second "go like crazy" intervals. Those are a pretty good combination of exercises to do for this, though the Jump Squats are a lot harder than the Jumping Jacks. Maybe I should do 30:30 intervals with the Jumping Jacks and 20:40 with the Jump Squats. I wonder if that would get too confusing around minute 8 when I'm starting to get pretty cooked and negotiating with myself over how much more I can do. ("I can do one more round of Jumping Jacks, they're not so bad." One minute later: "Heck, having done those, I know I can do one more round of Jump Squats.")

So that was my awesome workout. Moving to Thursday to avoid the crowds Wednesday evening worked well (though with only one data point, we can't really say anything for sure). It did have one unintended consequence, however -- Patrick didn't run into any traffic jams on the machines he was using, so he was able to go straight through his workout really fast. He was done with his entire workout, including the cardio (though he doesn't do the Insanity business) at the end, before I'd even started the Coordination Rows. So he had around 15 minutes to hand out and wait for me to be done.

Next workout is schedule for Saturday. I'm doing a modified Workout E. I'm going to see what happens if I replace the Reverse Lunges, which I'm not even going to be trying for another week, probably, with another quad exercise that works each leg individually. I'm looking at a Single Leg Stand Up (where you sit on a bench with one foot on the floor and the other sticking straight out in front of you then stand up using only the one leg). I'm not sure I can actually *do* those -- there seem to be some balance and center of gravity issues, among other things -- but I'm going to give them a try. I can also try Single Leg Squats, but a few test goes with those seem like they're going to be rough on my knees unless I can figure out how to modify them. (And seriously, my whole body weight is a lot to lift with one leg.) Anyway, goal for the workout -- sweat and be awesome without aggravating my quads. 

Workout F #2: Darn it! (Workout 30)

The ouch doesn't show on the front and I was in fact able to complete
everything. But...

In some ways, Saturday's workout went really well -- I feel like I'm ready to go to up on the weight with the Rear Lateral Raises and the Cable Chest Presses, which is awesome. I felt like I'd worked out a different way of doing the elliptical that didn't beat up my quads so much (and may have really succeeded with that, it's hard to say in light of what came later). For the most part, I felt like I had the *move* down for the Reverse Lunge/Cable Row. It was really good. Even the Dumbbell Front Squats went well and felt good (those are just really hard). 

What didn't go well is that my right quad is definitely and un-ignorably Not Happy. I think the High (Bench) Step Ups is what got me, because I was fine until that point. The extra height on those adds a lot more quad work to something that's in the workout as a single-leg hamstring exercise and those are just killers. I think that's what did me dirt, though that's not when I started hurting. I felt a sharp pain across the front of my right thigh when I was doing the Reverse Lunge and Cable Rows (specifically on the side when my right leg was stepping back and being the non-working, down leg, which is when I've always had problems). 

I've been holding off posting in hopes it would sort itself out over the next couple of days, but it hasn't shown any sign of doing that. Well, I mean it hurts less than it did, but even just sitting it doesn't feel quite right. I took an Aleve last night and that my have helped some, but I don't want to read too much into it either. 

As I've always said, you shouldn't be aware of your insides. If you are something's not working right. As I'm sitting here typing doing nothing at all, I can feel the muscle in my leg. It doesn't exactly hurt, but I'm aware of it. 

Not good. 

So, I'm going to have to figure out something *else* to do for my single-leg quad exercise, because reverse lunges are out of the question at this time. I'm also going to have to figure out something else to do for my single-leg hamstring exercise, because I do think that the high step-ups are the real, actual culprit. At the least they're *not* helping. And no more elliptical for me, at least for a while, because I know that's hard on my quads. In a few days, I'll see if I can do something like a single-leg stand up (sit on bench, extend one leg straight in front of you, stand up using only other leg) or a single-leg squat instead. 

Eventually. I'm not even trying for a few days at least. 

I'm not sure exactly how long I'll have to stop the Reverse Lunges and so on -- I'm hoping only for a few days, but I don't want to risk a serious injury. A coworker of mine tore a muscle in his arm a few years ago and had a bruise basically from elbow to shoulder and was in a lot of pain for a while. I do not want to have that happen.  

Saturday's workout was: 

• Cross-body Mountain Climbers - 2 x 30, 25 - I was finding lower numbers of repts way too easy for these, so I ramped up both the speed and the number of reps and that was *good*. Very very good. :D I'll probably stick with 30 as a target next time, because I didn't make my reps in the second set. 
• Elevated Explosive Push Ups - 2 x 10 - I'm still good at the hip-high railing for these because while I made my reps, that was really really hard. And I think I can go lower into the pushup-ness before pushing back up. And I can concentrate more on using my chest muscles rather than my arms. 
• Alternating sets of: 
• Dumbbell Front Squat - 3 x 12 - Glory be, these are hard. I need to keep a note in my book to keep my weight back on my heels and to push up through my heels when standing back up. I was rocking too far forward onto my toes. That doesn't make them easier, but it is the right form. I continued with a pair of 15lb dumbbells and will continue with those again next time because this exercise is *hard*. 
• Rear Lateral Raise - 3 x 12 - I used a pair of 5 lb dumbbells again and really felt good about it. The weights weren't quite singing, so I may stick at this level one more time, but they were close. So I may go up to 7.5 lb dumbbells (if those aren't in use). I'll see when I'm doing these next. They're definitely a good exercise for me. 
• Alternating sets of: 
• High (Bench) Step Ups - 3 x 12 - I'm still not using any weight for these (other than my bodyweight) and they're definitely very very hard. Less technically difficult than the Front Squats, but they just kick my butt. And my quads. I didn't make a note about my right leg hurting at any point when doing these, but I did note that they're *hard*. 
• Single-Arm Cable Chest Press - 3 x 12 - I think I've finally got the knack of these. The trick is to have the pulley behind the shoulder of the working arm, so there's not as much rotational and wobble motion involved. I did 15lbs again and will move up to 20 next time because now that I get what I'm doing, I feel I can totally move more weight. 
• Coordination Rows - 3 x 12 - Still improving, but not to the first goal of being able to stand on one foot while moving for 12 whole reps. Still at 15 pounds. I'm probably going to just do these in every workout until I can do the reverse lunges again. The work isn't in the rowing, it's in the standing on one leg, and that's not putting undue strain on my muscles. 
• Cardio Intervals - 10 x 20:40 Intervals of Insanity alternating Jumping Jacks and Jump Squats. Interestingly, perhaps oddly, despite whatever's up with my quads, these Jump Squats didn't bother them at all. Though maybe they got tired a little sooner. I didn't really notice that though. It does bode well for me being able to do jump squats tonight. 

Next workout is scheduled for tonight. Goal for the workout - do as much as I can without putting any additional strain on my quads. I'm going to be walking for warmups, because the elliptical is out of the question. My routine tonight is supposed to be: Half-Kneeling Cable Chops, Dumbbell Jump Squats, Romanian Deadlifts, Scaption and Shrug, Offset Reverse Lunges, Kneeling Lat Pulldowns, and Coordination Rows. I'm definitely not even trying the Reverse Lunges and I'll probably do the Cable Chops as totally kneeling rather than half kneeling. Everything else I'll *try* to see how it goes. Any twinge and I'll just move on to the next thing. 

Workout F #1: Oh, yeah!! (I feel like the Kool-Ade Man) (Workout 28)

My first time with Workout F was a success -- I need to make
some things harder. But the Step Ups are killers. 

I did well with my first time with Workout F for real. As with Workout E, my practice run-through to work out the kinks and figure out what to do with my arms and legs (last Wednesday) was a *huge* help. Though once again, I did have to adjust some of the starting weights I worked out last Wednesday. I'm okay with that. 

There's a guy who is there on weekday evenings -- he's a middle-aged guy, maybe a bit older than me, and he's usually either back working on the abs benches (in the area where I warm up) or on the cable machines. He does these huge, two arm, two cable machine things that just impress me immensely. He's also been quite helpful and nice -- he taught me how to move the adjustable pulleys (lift up a little, then pull the pin out to move them). I don't know if he even recognizes me, he's pretty well in his own space when he's working, but he's kind of an inspiration. Maybe someday a novice lifter will be there and I'll be able to help and they'll see what I'm doing and be inspired to keep going. 

Sorry about the digression. I had a kind of trying day at work (computer issues on a day when I didn't have the time for computer issues) and it was nice to see a familiar and friendly face at the gym. Of course, the most familiar and most friendly face was Patrick, who was back to lifting weights after a couple of weeks off (for too-much-work and a cold). I love walking through the gym and being able to say "hi" as I walk by him. And warming up on the elliptical machine next to him. That makes it all much much nicer. 

There are links to videos of many of these exercises in the Workouts E and F #0 post.

Today's workout was:

• Cross-body Mountain Climbers - 2 x 10, 20. My plan was to do 10 of these, but that was way too easy and way too quick. Like exercisus interruptus. For the second set, I did 20, which was better, but still too easy. I'm thinking of either going up to 30 next time or going for two sets of as many as possible in 30 seconds. 
• Elevated Explosive Pushups - 2 x 8 - I think the railing I used today was lower than the bar on whichever machine I was nearest (maybe the triceps press machine) because these were a lot harder than they were last Wednesday. I did two sets of 8, but only just barely. The high end of the target range (10) would have been entirely out of the question.  
• Alternating sets of:
• Dumbbell Front Squat - 3 x 10, 12, 12 - I was absolutely right about the 15lb weights for these. Having the weight that far above my center of gravity really increases the challenge. It also makes the need for really perfect form that much more necessary, so I have to totally concentrate on squatting by pushing my hips back but keeping my chest as up as possible and my upper arms parallel to the floor. So it's a mental strain as much as it is a physical one. The reason I did ten on the first set is that's how many I was doing in Workouts C and D and I'm used to going to 10. It's going to take a little while to get my brain used to going to 12. 
• Rear Lateral Raises - 3 x 10, 12, 12 - Last Wednesday, I figured these for 5lb dumbbells, which is almost sort of embarrassing. I mean they feel so light when I'm carrying them. Almost like nothing. And the first set (when I only did 10), they really felt too light. So for the second set I went up to 10lbs and that was too much -- well, I made my reps, but I couldn't have made them for all three sets. Probably not for two. For the third set I went back to 5 lbs and with 12 reps that felt pretty good. I'll start with 5 next time and see if it feels too light. I bet it will. (Or maybe I hope it will.) 
• Alternating sets of: 
• Step Ups to Weight Bench - 3 x 12 - Oh, my stars, y'all! These are hard! That's a high step (the weight bench is only a couple of inches below my knee) and the surface is padded and therefore a bit wobbly and unstable. This is in the program as a hamstring exercise, but with that high a step it hits my quads like crazy as *well*, so my thighs are getting it front and back. Yowzers!! With the high step, I don't need anything more than my body weight. Probably for *months*. 
• Single-Arm Cable Chest Press - 3 x 12 - I worked through these last Wednesday to get clear on how my arms move and where my legs should be, but I did't quite get to it feeling like I was getting it right. I think I figured out that I was not lined up quite right with the machine. (The pulleys are on a hinge that lets them swing side to side and it would seem like it should be pretty much the same if I've swung to the side so I am out of someone else's way. In practice, it seems to make a big difference with these, though not with the Coordination Rows or the Reverse Lunge and Cable Rows (see below).) The third set, I finally felt like I was doing them just right -- the main trick is to have the pulley stick straight out and to have the weight straight behind me. Once I did it right, it felt like I need to raise the weight. I did these at 15 lbs today. I'll go up to 17.5 next time and see if I want to go up more. 
• Reverse Lunge and Cable Row - 3 x 12 - I did these at 20 lbs and found them quite hard. This is one of those whole-body, coordination exercises that are so good for me and so challenging for me. This one requires doing a reverse lunge, a move I've done plenty with dumbbells, while maintaining tension on the cable machine line, then doing a single-arm row as I stand back up. Multiple muscles moving at once, in the right order, producing a coordinated response. These are not as hard as the Coordination Rows (at least I don't have to balance on one foot) but they're taking some getting used to. Once I get the move down, I should be able to raise the weight, but 20 lbs was pretty good for now. This actually puts a fair amount of work on the stabilizer muscles in my back to keep the weight from pulling me forward and out of shape for the lunges. 
• Cardio Intervals - 9 x 20:40 Intervals of Insanity on the elliptical machine. I was so wiped out from the Step Ups and figuring out what the heck I was doing with the Reverse Lunge and Cable Rows, that I didn't want to have to think about what I was doing with these. So I went for the elliptical, which has the big benefit of being very un-complicated. (There's a timer om the machine, I start each interval at the start of a minute and go for 20 seconds. I don't have to think much.) They went a little better than they have been, which I was kind of not expecting given how tired my quads already were from the Step Ups. 

It was a good, hard, sweaty workout and I loved it. Some of the exercises are brutally hard but there's definitely room for some of them to get harder, which is *good*. I want it to get harder and to keep getting better. I'm not putting myself under the pressure I had in Phase 2 to be improving either the weight or the number of reps or *something* every workout, but I don't want to just cruise here either. If it's not hard enough, it needs to be harder. Enough said.

Next workout is scheduled for Wednesday. Goal for the Workout: Make Workout E work when the gym is  going to be *crowded*. It worked great when the gym was empty, but I'm still a little concerned about how the logistics are going to work out when it's full. (Though I think it would have worked out okay tonight. I think.)

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!