Women's Anti-Sofa League

Hamstring Day and Happy Birthday

My friend Laurie has a new tradition. Two years running we have met up, exercised, and then headed for a nice breakfast at Ihop. Ummm,  ummm and it's nice for us mommies to get a leisurely breakfast where we can sip coffee and just talk. Loved it.

Before we did our workout together, I went ahead and did my hamstring workout. I'm trying to split hams and quads during this eight weeks. Two of the eight I have needed to combine them. Not sure if I like it, though. I may go back to a single heavy leg day for my next cycle.

Here's the workout:

4x15, 10, 10, 10 Leg Sled Presses (4x45 lb plates for warm-up then 6 plates for 3 sets)

3x12 Lying Ham Curls (65lbs) - PSA: if you do these please make sure you keep your hips flat to the bench. If you are raising your hips up you are using too much weight.

4x12, 10, 10, 10 Stiff Legged Deadlifts (75 lbs, 95lbs, 105lbsx2)

3x15 Sgl Leg Freemotion Squats (leg out front and pushing through heels x80lbs)

3x20 Standing Calf Raises (120lbs)

The other nice part of the day was an hour long walk with Mammy! Felt good to do some easy, outdoor walking.

Machines Have To Do It

I figured out last week in my training that without a spotter I have some lifts I just don't feel comfortable doing solo. Call me vain but dropping a DB on my head in the gym isn't a proud moment. It's painful, too!

So, this week I'm tweaking a few things to compensate. Today I had my long walk with my mom for our half marathon training. Since it was raining, we met at the Y and I did my chest/tri workout in the middle of the walk.

4x15, 12, 10, 10 Incline Machine Chest Press (wanted Hammer Strength but they only had a flat)

3x15, 12, 12 Incline DB Flyes

4x15, 12, 10, 10 Flat Tricep Chest Presses on Smith

3x15, 12, 10 Upright Bench Dips

3x15, 15, 12 Seated OH Cable Extensions

3x15, 12, 10 Straight Bar Pressdowns

As the week goes on I might change some other exercises. Shoulder day is flying into my mind. :)

Keeping a Workout Log

I have rarely kept good logs of my lifting. Sometimes I will record a workout but I admit a true log from week to week has been something I've neglected.

About two years ago I did work with another trainer and each week we recorded my lifts. Back then, I did lots of squats, presses, pull ups, and deadlifts. We would work these moves and try to do better each week. Not surprisingly my body changed a lot during that time without even trying to eat as "smart" as I do now.

I didn't eat bad back then but I didn't eat enough protein, no carb timing, etc. I was more into a shake after lifting and then just "diet food" the rest of the day. I made some improvements and today I'm taking the lesson to another level.

Now, I do eat pretty smart. I'm aware of clean eating. I eat complex carbs. My shakes have the right amount of protein in them. I even use creatine which I would never have done then. Water bloat, even if it is only like 2-3lbs for a woman, was something I didn't want. Even that goes away after your body settles into the creatine.

So, I'm combining the power or good eating and the power of workout logs.

My binder is divided into the following tabs:

• Cardio Log - blank paper and I just write down my routines so I always have one to do when I don't feel creative.
• Strength Log - my eight week plan where I write down what I lift, how many reps, and where I should start the next week. At the end of each set I circle the weight I should start with the following week and make a reps goal for set one.
• Journal - after my workout I write out how I feel, any goals, or just quotes to movtivate me.
• Weights/Mesurements/Pics - I log my progress monthly in this section so I can see if things are working.
• Food - I simply write down what I eat for the day. Most days I have a menu but I write it down because sometimes I notice I have days I need a few more calories.

This might seem like a pain in the butt. It's not. I save time knowing what I need to do and where I need to start. Each week I am lifting more and pushing myself more.

See, I'm competitive. Not so much with others but very much with myself. I love topping myself and it makes me feel good.

I can't wait to see what the progress will be. 39 weeks until Chattanooga!

Is Slow Walking Effective?

Plastic surgery is kicking my butt...literally. Since my tummy tuck, butt lift, and inner thigh lift, exercise has been tough to get back in gear. Fortunately, this week I feel more like myself than I have in awhile.

I signed up to walk a half marathon in October with my mom and several of the PNP clients. The first walks were super slow and now we're up to about a 22 min. mile. It's still slow, but I can tell that since I've been making slow walks part of the exercise routine that I'm getting better faster. My stamina is picking up, my flexibility is increasing without me getting hurt, and I think it's helping drop some body fat!

I read an interesting comment on a message board for figure athletes the other day. Essentially while you are trying to lose fat but build some muscle, the lower intensity zones a few times a week can help you with the cause.

I'm not talking about endless hours of fat burning zone myth stuff here, either. What I am saying is keeping your HR in the 55-65% zone a couple of times a week for an hour is good for helping you burn off the extra calories you need with taxing your muscles first.

Then, a couple of times a week do a boot camp type or HIIT routine that is metabolic for 20-30 min. All this combined with a strong lifting schedule should produce physique changes. You may not see much happen on the scale but you will see the body change and your body fat percentage drop.

Mine (based on my scale) has dropped about 1.5% in the last four weeks since I added in low intensity walking with my lifting. I had to do this type of workout and I've been eating around 1500-2000 calories a day of clean food based on my hunger for the day.

Just in the last couple of weeks I've been able to mix in more hill work, a little stairmaster, some elliptical and all of that has served to be tough and my harder cardio days. Funny how quickly you can lose and then build your cardio fitness. I literally spent about 3-4 weeks in bed with minimal walks.

Anyway, I'm enjoying the lower intensity walking and it leaves me refreshed. I clear my mind, my body isn't overloaded, and it's easy to include friends and family.

Today's workout was back and legs. I'm getting back into action and loving it.

4x15, 15, 12, 12 Bentover Wide Grip BB Rows SS Non-weighted Step Ups on bench (first time to do these and it went good! I was nervous how the booty would hold up.)

4x15, 15, 15, 12 Close Grip Pulldowns Squatted SS side to side lunges

4x15, 12, 12, 12 Hammer Strengh Underhand Grip Seated Rows SS calf raises with weight plate

3x15, 15, 12 Hamstring Curls

1x15, 15, 15 back to back leg presses with light weight feet wide, reg, together

3x15, 12, 15 leg extensions

1.5 hour slow walk while working on laptop. I have a laptop workstation and I'm walking and typing right now. :)

Post Tummy Tuck/Thigh and Butt Lift Surgery Leg Workout

Here it is day two back to the gym and it feels good just to be back and doing something for my muscles. Each day I feel better being able to lift is wonderful.

Until this surgery I really under-appreciated the importance of weights. In just over two weeks my body went from firm and athletic to looking soft. I'm not saying I look bad by any means but it showed me how the composition of your body changes when you just do cardio and such. It's not the look I like. It's not enough to be thin for me. I like the look of someone who obviously takes care of herself and like I can carry my own crap without the help of someone. I just like looking strong and confident.

Today I did an easy back to legs workout. It's really going to have to be easy workouts for a couple of weeks. The suturing will prevent me from doing anything that stretches my backside or inner thighs too much. That means no squatting, lunging, bending over, sitting on my butt, etc.

After exhaustive research I found a few exercises I can do that won't stress the incision lines.

3x10 per leg Cable Leg Extensions (you stand away from the cable and place foot in a D-ring then do an extension)

3x10 per leg Standing Ham Curl (can't lean on the pad either)

2x25 toes in, out, and straight DB Calf Raises

30 min. walk as fast as I can without getting the HR up and swelling my butt.

There are a few other exercises I'm going to try on my Friday workout. Quad wise I can't find anything other than Cable Leg Extensions. If you read this and have an idea...drop me a line.

I'm Finally Back to Exercising

Well, it's been over three weeks since my last official workout and a little longer than that since I've been able to blog over here. I had my fitness camp for the PNP gals AND PLASTIC SURGERY! You can check the other blog for all kinds of pictures and details on that one.

Today was the first official day I can workout again. It's going to be a guessing game on the exercises. My restrictions are:

- can't get my heart rate up so that my rear doesn't swell anymore than it has to. Still working on getting the incisions to totally heal and stop leaking.

- watch how much pressure my abs feel.

- no lifting over 25lbs.

- no bending over, squatting, lunging, etc. Leg day is the toughest to work around.

That's about it. Other than those things I have to design my workouts to be effective but safe. I sure don't want to mess up Dr. Wagstrom's hard work.

My plan is:

Mon - Chest, Bi's, Shoulders

Tues - Legs (I can only do three exercises as of right now due to bending and squatting restrictions.)

Wed - Chest, Shoulders, Tri's

Thur - Back only

Fri - Legs

Sat - long walk

For cardio I will just walk while my training partner Lisa runs. It's all I can do for at least two more weeks. The schedule is designed so that I can workout with Lisa as much as possible AND I have so few exercises I can do that I'm doing some repeating for just a few weeks. I can't lift really heavy yet either.

Today's Workout and it felt GREAT! I did 30 second rests between all sets and weights were light enough to work the muscle but not raise my HR much.

5x10 Cable Crossovers

5x10 Incline DB Chest Press (I can brace my feet and keep weight off the tushy)

4x10 OH Standing Shoulder Presses

4x10 Lateral Raises superset with 10 Crossover Front Raises

4x10 Flat Bicep Curls

4 x10 Wide Bicep Curls

3x15 Rope Pressdowns (just wanted to try them before Wed)

One More Week Until Surgery!

It's getting closer and closer and I am wrapping up as much exercise and duties as I can!

Last week I did my usual split followed with 20-30 min of moderate high intensity cardio:

Mon - chest and bis

Tues - legs (I did a PNP workout as a test for our women's retreat this weekend)

Wed - shoulders and tris

Thur - back

Fri - hams and calves

Sat - BOOTCAMPED myself at a hotel

Sun - DOR

This past weekend I got to watch my friend Bill compete. I woke up early and hit the small workout room where only the treadmill was working. I made up a TM bootcamp and here it is:

2 min. 3.5MPH walk at 8% incline

Off TM - 10 walkout push ups, 10 burpees with a hop

Back on treadmill for 1 min. recovery and then off for two more times through. So, the whole routine is 1 min. walking at 3.5/8% incline and off for some sort of circuit.

Circuit 2: 3x20 pop squats, 20 running toe taps, 20 mountain climbers

Circuit 3: 3x15 quad jumps with floor tap, 10 squatted hops

Circuit 4: 3x15 per leg sgl leg dips, 3x15 per leg sgl leg squats

Circuit 5: 3x10 pike walks, 3x30 sec planks ending with 5 toe push ups, 3x15 supermans

I ended with 1 min. of running 4.3 on 10% inlcine, 1 min. of fast walking at 10%, and 1 min. of backward walking for three rounds.

3 min. of various ab exercises.

It was just a mix of things that challenge men and worked my upper and lower body.

Two and Half Weeks Left to Workout

I'm making the most out of my time left to exercise before my plastic surgery. Last weekend I ran a half marathon in Notre Dame and this week I lifted five days with Lisa.

Today we went to watch the NPC Battle on the River Bodybuilding and Figure Championships in Chattanooga. All I can say is wow and I want to compete again next year. The diet is worth having the chance to stand on stage. Hopefully after surger my lower half will finally be something I can work with in the gym. I know I can lift, eat, and all that. Now I need to the surgeon to work her magic and fix what years of poor eating and laziness did to me. Grrr...at myself...my old self.

Tomorrow I am doing an outdoor cardio session to test for my clients retreat here in Nashville. Gotta punish myself before I punish them. :) I can't wait to give it a whirl. It will be 45 min. of GOOD work that will serve as body weight cardio.

This week our workouts were:

Mon - Chest/Bi's, 30 min. cardio
Tues - Quads/Calves, 30 min. cardio
Wed - Shoulders/Tris, 25 min. cardio
Thurs - Back, 30 min. cardio
Fri - Hams/Calves, 30 min. cardio
Sat - off
Sun - 45 min. bootcamp cardio

As you can tell I'm keeping some cardio in every day but the intensity is usually about 75-85%. I'm not looking to lose weight and this is really what a maintenance schedule looks like for someone who has lost a lot weight.

People don't realize the average person should get around 30-45 min. of daily exercise. If you've lost a lot of weight you are supposed to get in 60 min. a day. That's about what I do to maintain while eating 1800-2100 calories a day.

Ladies...Build a Good Back

I love working back. Forget it...I love strength training but back day is one that I always feel so strong. It's only second to legs in your largest muscle group and a good back workout can make a lot of the glamour muscles get some extra work.

We started a new routine last week and this week I had to move some stuff around and other things to accomodate a hip issue. Saturday I'm running a half marathon so I didn't want to flare it up anymore than needed. Bye-bye jump pull-ups!

5x15 (New exercise so it took me a lot of sets and reps to find what weight I needed. I will start much heavier and go for less reps next week.)  Standing Compound Row

4x10, 8, 8, 8 Wide Assisted Pull Ups

3x5, 3, 3 Negative Pull Ups SS with Barbell Rope Pulls

4x10 Squatted Lat Pulldowns

3x15 Standing Cable Pulldowns for Abs

I did some EASY warm up cardio beforehand. Friday is a day off as I am travelling and running tomorrow. Have a good weekend.

Today is National Running Day

My last half marathon for this half of the year is this weekend - The Sunburst Half. It will be bittersweet for me because in 30 days my plastic surgery will happen and I will take off about eight weeks from running.

Running I enjoy. I like to do it anywhere, but I am looking forward to having a structured break from races. I learned to run in a big body and this surgery will give me a chance to relearn how to run in the body I plan to live with for the rest of my life. I want to do it better, faster, and with more knowledge than simply lacing up my shoes and moving forward slowly.

The race will be fun. I'm doing it with three other PNP girls and we'll have a blast. I intend on soaking up every minute because I don't know when my next race will be. It's a strange feeling to have ZERO events on the horizon to accomplish. All that's left for me in June is Phat Camp. Wow.

This week since I have a race I did a light leg day. Monday was Chest and Bi's with Lisa and we did our program from the previous week. My chest is SORE today and my bi's were sore yesterday. Today will be shoulders and tris. I'm looking forward to it. I'll start with 20 min. of easy running, do the strength, and then finish with 20 min. of tougher running.

Light Leg Routine - 30 second breaks

3x20 Romainian Deadlifts

3x15 OH Squats

2x15 per side Javoline Lunges

3x15 Good Morning to Squats

3x15 Weighted Decline Crunches (25lb plate)

3x20 Serrata Crunches

3x10 per side Weighted Side Bends

30 min. Step Mill Level 9 - what a SWEAT!

My goal for the remainder of June is to lift hard, attack my abs, arms, and shoulders, and coast into getting these gams fixed!