Workout M#3: Whee! That is all.

I had a fantastic workout on Saturday!! And I finished about the same
time Patrick and Travis did! :D

Patrick was working out with Travis on Saturday (doing chest and back stuff) while I was doing my workout. I am very pleased because we finished at about the same time -- even with me doing 10 minutes of Insanities at the end of the workout. I loved that! I also love seeing him around in the weights part of the gym (rather than not seeing him when he's upstairs in the cardio room). That makes me happy.

Patrick's appointment with Travis was at 10 am, so we went a couple of hours after an early breakfast. The timing worked out pretty well --we weren't even particularly hungry when we finished, so we went home to shower before lunch. (A lot of times we're absolutely *ravenous* when we're walking out of the gym.)

Workout M continues to be great, great fun, but also pretty exhausting. Which is part of the fun. :D

Saturday's workout was:

• Bridge Slides - 3 x 15 - Fifteen is still the correct number of these, though I'm thinking I'll eventually want to raise the number. They're definitely work on my hamstrings and glutes (keeping my hips up) and also my core (because keeping my core firm keeps strain off my lower back). 
• Kettlebell Swing - 3 x 30 seconds - I was going to use a 25lb kettlebell this time (like I did last time) but it had gone walkies, so I went with 20 and tried to swing faster. Though it's a pretty big movement so there's a limit to how fast it can possibly go. Still tons of fun with these and that's no joke! 
• Step Up and Press - 3 x 15 - Once again there wasn't a step box available -- or at least not the one I'm used to. There is a wooden box in the heavy duty weight room and I could totally use that (and need to remember to do so). Anyway, I just used the actual stairs and that worked fine. I did get confused about what I was doing and have to check my instructions -- I started pressing with *both* arms while stepping with one leg. Which would have resulted in 30 shoulder presses on each shoulder (with a pair of 15lb dumbbells). Reviewing my instructions showed me that it's a one-hand gig  -- the hand opposite the one I'm stepping with does the pressing. That's a lot more reasonable -- 30 presses on each shoulder per set would likely have been impossible. Or at least put a severe hurtin' on my shoulders.
• Alternating sets of: 
• Swiss Ball Reverse Hip Raise - 3 x 15 - For no weights being involved, these are a surprising lot of work. They also have to be done kind of carefully so they don't strain my lower back (by arching it too much). But I can definitely tell they're working the part of the body I want worked, so no complaints. 
• Swiss Ball Chest Press - 3 x 15 - These continue to be fun. And for 15 reps, a pair of 15lb dumbbells continues to be the right weight. By the end of the set they're getting hard, but my form doesn't fall apart or anything. Which is pretty close to perfect. 
• Alternating sets of: 
• Dumbbell Lunge and Rotation - 3 x 15 - I might try raising the weight on these next time. I used a 10lb dumbbell held up close to my chin, which isn't very much. I think it's supposed to add some resistance to the rotation portion of the program, because the lunge portion of the program gets plenty of resistance from my body weight. I might experiment with a 15lb weight next time and see how it goes. It might pull me off balance, now I think about it. 
• Neutral Grip Dumbbell Row - 3 x 15 - A pair of 15lb dumbbells was pretty much the right weight for these again on Saturday, though it'd be nice to go up to 17.5lbs. Unfortunately, this gym doesn't have those and I'm pretty sure I'm not ready to do 20lbs in good form. Also it's mighty convenient to use the same 15lb dumbbells for basically everything this workout. :D 
• Cardio Intervals - 10 x 30:30 Intervals of Insanity (Kettlebell Swings) - I wasn't really planning to do kettlebell swings for my Insanities, as I'd already done them as part of my workout, however, as mentioned above, the step box was missing, so I couldn't do step ups and the kettlebells were right there. (Yes, I know I'd already done Step Ups as part of my workout as well, but I do them so differently for Insanities that they seem totally different.) I used a 15lb kettlebell and really focused on going for speed. Which worked. By the end I was completely blown, which was cool. 

It was a great workout and great fun. And, as I said, I loved having Patrick around -- in and out of the area where I was working. That made me happy. 

Patrick's getting another session with Travis the trainer -- maybe on Wednesday evening (as Travis is taking this weekend off) -- to work on leg exercises. Then he'll be able to put together a couple of good workouts from things he learned. After that -- maybe Thursday or Friday -- I'll get together my thoughts for Travis about what I want to learn. I'll probably post them here before I email them to him, just to get my thoughts together. I've already warned him that I can (and have) write 5 pages on my grocery list, so it might be a long email. But I'll try to stay focused. 

Our next workout is scheduled for tonight (Monday). My goal for the workout is to try and finish about when Patrick does at least the main workout if not the Insanities. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wednesday's workout N#2 was:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Anyway, that's for the future! Exciting!

For now...Monday's workout was:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hrm.

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

(Just kidding, babe!)

Saturday's workout (N#1) was:

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

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

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

Workout M #1: Phase 7 begins

New Phase, new workout log book! It's a little larger and
a little better made. I'm pleased! 

I started Phase 7 on Monday with my walkthrough -- one set of each exercise in both workouts so I know my starting weights and work through some of the "What am I DOING?" issues. I'm going for a lower-weight-higher-reps phase this time -- doing 15 reps per set as opposed to the 12 I was doing in Phase 6. .

(This was perhaps a bit of a bad decision, because I'd been very excited that I was finishing about the same time Patrick was and getting to do Intervals of Insanity (cardio intervals). If I take longer (which more reps inevitably will), it'll be harder for me to do Insanities without making him wait. 

Phase 7 may wind out getting shortened (though I doubt it) -- Patrick and I signed up for 5 sessions with Travis (one of the trainers at our gym). Patrick is getting the first two sessions so he can work with Travis on a program with weights that he can do. Patrick has been All Cardio All The Time for a couple of months and I'm glad he's going to be getting some resistance exercise.

The third and fourth sessions with Travis, I'll get so he and I can figure out a new structure for my workouts -- I've been changing workouts approximately monthly for approximately six months but the structure has been the same. Both of the workouts start with: Core (either stable or dynamic), Power (one workout works upper body power the other lower body power), Combination (something that moves multiple muscle groups). After that one does:  Hamstrings/Glutes (both legs at once), Chest, Quads (one leg at a time), and Upper Back. The other workout does: Quads (both legs at once), Lats, Hams/Glutes (one leg at a time), Shoulders. I've been mixing up what slots into those slots, but not changing the basic structure.

I want to get a new structure from Travis. Or a new basic *theory*. Even if I alternated -- one phase following this structure and one phase doing something completely different that seems like it would be good, right? I'm going to send Travis an email about a week before he and I start working together.

Anyway, since the next month is going to be spent working with him, and will start with Patrick working with him, I decided to go ahead and do Phase 7, even if I cut it short.

(For completeness: The fifth session will either be for Patrick and I to have a workout together with Travis OR if one of us needs more time with him it can go to that person.)

Anyway, Wednesday was Workout M #1 and it was a heap of fun! Workout M has some of the elements that made Workout K so much fun (Kettlebell Swings and Swiss Ball Chest Presses), so I think I'm going to really enjoy it.

Workout M #1 was:

• Bridge Slide - 3 x 15 - (You can see a photo and a description of this here.) Hip Bridges (also known as Hip Raises) are an exercise I've done as a glutes/hamstrings exercise. With the addition of putting my feet on sliders and extending my legs, alternately, I'm doing them now as a dynamic stability thing for working my core by staying still in the face of moving parts. They're pretty effective for that. Also a good glutes and hams exercise, though I do more of that later in the workout as well. 
• Kettlebell Swing - 3 x 30 - (You can see a video of someone doing these here, except I'm not doing them one-handed.) I'm using a 20lb kettlebell and I do them with both hands, facing a blank wall with an emergency exit door (rather than the mirrors that are on most of the walls) -- that way I've got extra grip on the kettlebell and if it does fly out of my grip it won't hurt anyone or anything. I was doing 2 sets of 10 last Phase, now I'm doing 3 sets of 30 seconds with a 30 second rest in between. These are an absolute blast -- it's all "Wheeee!!" as the weight is flying around. On days when I'm not doing them as part of my workout, I might do them as part of my Intervals of Insanity because they're That Much Fun! 
• Single Arm Step Up and Press - 3 x 15 - (You can't really see a video of someone doing this here, though you can see a video of someone doing the single-arm shoulder press part. Just imagine that he's stepping up onto a step with the leg opposite the arm with the weight.) I'm doing these as a combination or whole-body exercise and they're pretty effective for that. Not especially fun, but I've been neglecting my shoulders a bit and it's good to get back to them. I'm using a 15lb dumbbell for them right now. I'm not sure when that will go up -- I don't have strong shoulders and I don't want to hurt them. 
• Alternating sets of: 
• Swiss Ball Reverse Hyperextension (Reverse Hip Raise) - 3 x 15 - (You can see a video of something along the lines here only I'm doing them on a Swiss/Stability Ball instead of a weight machine.) These were awkward like *crazy* at first -- I couldn't figure out how to get my belly on the Swiss ball so that I was doing anything at all with the reverse hyperextensions. Once I figured out that the ball needed to be under my hips, and I was stabilizing myself with my arms, they worked fine. No weight (and I can't quite see how adding weight will be possible, though maybe I can hold a dumbbell between my feet or something. My guess is that ramping these up is going to be a matter of increasing reps. 
• Swiss Ball Chest Press - 3 x 15 - Swiss Ball Chest Press - 3 x 12 - (You can see a video of someone doing these here.) Basically, these are like dumbbell bench presses only instead of a bench the upper body is on a Swiss (stability) ball. They're actually kind of great -- though they're pretty tricky. I like these a lot and it seems like it's going to be fun doing two Swiss Ball exercises alternating. I used a pair of 15lb dumbbells for them and that's a good weight at this number of reps. In the previous phase, doing 12 reps, I'd gotten up to 20lb dumbbells, and I'll probably be back there soon. 
• Alternating sets of: 
• Dumbbell Lunge and Rotation - 3 x 15 - (You can see how to do this here. It's not really a video, but you can move the slider along under the picture and he'll move.) I'm working on some extra rotational movements this phase  and this is one of the ones I'm dong for this. I'm hoping to get my obliques and sort of twisty muscles in on the getting healthier party. Also they're kind of more fun than regular lunges. :D I used a 10 lb weight for this, because I'm not sure how I'm going to do with the front/high weight with the lunges. I'll probably be going up almost immediately though. 
• Neutral Grip Dumbbell Row - 3 x 15 - (You can see a video of someone doing these here.) I'm using a pair of 15lb dumbbells for these, which seems about right for 15 rep sets at this juncture. We'll see how quickly I go up with these. I haven't done rows in a while and when I was I wasn't using a neutral grip palms in toward each other like the dude in the video). I actually like these better than the palms back rows I was doing. 
• Cardio Intervals --- Alas, though I have been getting right back in the habit of doing Intervals of Insanity, I couldn't do any last Wednesday, as we didn't get to the gym until nigh on 7pm and didn't want to be there until forever. So I skipped the Insanities. 

Finishing the post several days later: Coming up soon -- a post on Workout N #1, which I did on Saturday while Patrick was working with Travis. Workout N is going to be good too, but it doesn't have Kettlebell Swings or anything on the Swiss Ball, so it's not nearly as much fun. :D 

Tonight's workout will be Workout M #2 and I'm quite looking forward to it. 

I've missed a bunch of posts...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Okay, so now, Workout L.

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

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

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

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

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

Workout K#1 and the pre-Phase 6 walkthrough: Starting strong (Workouts 69 & 70)

This was last Wednesday's Workout. It's been a busy week
with no posts. Sorry 'bout that. 

I'm way, way behind on posting about workouts. Sigh. It's been a busy time -- we're settling in at the new gym, I'm learning how to draw Celtic knotwork, we had a big blizzard, I'm working on a knitting project (actually two, one for me and one for a friend). Life is good, but spending time on the computer just keeps not happening.

I did my Phase 6 walkthrough on January 18 -- I'm taking advantage of some of the things our new gym has that our old one didn't -- Swiss balls, slides (or an ab roller, depending on what I can find), kettlebells. It's a ton of fun. I love having all these options and more.

I did Workout K #1 on January 20, 2016. I *love* Workout K -- it's an absolute hoot! January 20 was a bit of a pain though -- the gym was very very crowded and I had to change up the order on a lot of things. I think these are Resolutionaries working with trainers -- when you sign up at this gym you get two free sessions with one of the trainers that regularly work there. (There are several of them -- I believe they're contractors.) I'm hoping that after they've done their two free sessions, a lot of the Resolutionaries will sort of fade away...

My January 20, K#1 workout was:

• Rollouts - 3 x 10 - This is one where I made a change from what I planned, at least temporarily. What I wanted to do were what the New Rules of Lifting For Life calls Push Aways -- a destabilized push-up position. I've seen the slides for that at the gym before, but they're not always out. (I think they may belong to one of the trainers.) What I can always find, though, is an ab roller, so I figured I could do that if the slides weren't available. (You can see a video of someone doing Ab Rollouts here.) The trick with these is to really, really stretch out and unbend the hips because that's what makes the abs really have to work to stabilize the core. 
• Kettlebell Swing - 2 x 10 - (You can see a video of someone doing these here, except I'm not doing them one-handed.) I'm using a 20lb kettlebell. I think I'm going to have to ramp these up by increasing the volume (the number of reps and sets) because the next kettlebell up is 40lbs and that's a huge jump.)  I do them with both hands, facing a blank wall with an emergency exit door (rather than the mirrors that are on most of the walls) -- that way I've got extra grip on the kettlebell and if it does fly out of my grip it won't hurt anyone or anything. These are an absolute blast -- it's all "Wheeee!!" as the weight is flying around. 
• Reverse Lunge & Cable Row - 3 x 12 - I can't find a video of these but they're a very standard reverse lunge with a one-arm row on the cable machine, not much to look at. I'm using 30 lbs on the cable machine. It's a good exercise -- one that really gets the whole body working, which is nice. This was one that I had to do out of order and was afraid I wouldn't be able to do at all, because every single station on both of the cable machines was in use. Fortunately, just when I was finishing my last rep of the last exercise, one of the machines became free. I'm not doing the Coordination Rows this Phase -- I decided to give those a rest after four months -- and am doing these for a whole body exercise instead. 
• Alternating sets of:
• Back Extensions - 3 x 12 - These are the same back extensions, I was doing in Phase 5, but I'm doing them with a lighter weight and at higher reps. (You can see a video of someone doing these here.) I used a 25lb weight, which isn't hugely lighter than the 30 lbs I was doing these at for 8 reps, but it's enough to make the difference. 
• Swiss Ball Chest Press - 3 x 12 - (You can see a video of someone doing these here.) Basically, these are like dumbbell bench presses only instead of a bench the upper body is on a Swiss (stability) ball. They're actually kind of great -- though they're pretty tricky. I like them. I used a pair of 15lb dumbbells for them and that's a good weight. 
• Alternating sets of :
• Side Lunges - 3 x 12 - (You can see a video of someone doing these here.) With these, I just wanted a variation on the lunges I've been doing basically forever. It's enough of a different move and a different muscle working that I'm using a pair of 15lb dumbbells for these to start. 
• Rear Delt Row - 3 x 12 - (You can see a video of someone doing these here.) These use the same 15lb dumbbells that I'm using for the side lunges. These rows are from the posture article and I'm hoping they'll strengthen the muscles that keep my shoulders back (and by extension, my chest open). 
• Cardio: I didn't do any Intervals of Insanity because of time constraints. I really need to do something about that. In this case, I even cut short the pre-workout warmup to only 6 minutes. 

Even in a crowded gym, this workout is a ton of fun! The Swiss Ball Chest Presses are a challenge, but a really cool one. The Kettlebell Swings are really just pure fun. And the whole thing is just a great workout. 

We did try to get through the workout kind of quickly, because we were doing our evaluations with the  trainer we're working with (Travis) after the session. We'd been planning to do it on the 23rd, but the blizzard was pre-empting that, so we rescheduled for Wednesday after our workout. 

It worked out fine, but we got home very very late and didn't get dinner until late.