Bad morning turned into great workout

Lying in bed, getting up and ready for the Treadmill Interval class was not appealing. I remembered that the gym was considering canceling it and got up and ready anyway, rushing, knowing I was late. On arrival, every treadmill was taken- Damn! So I went downstairs and took a minute to regroup, and decided to lift. In case it isn't obvious, I dress for the occasion, and running with a group of women is a completely different occasion from lifting with mostly guys. For running, not only are the shoes completely the opposite of lifting shoes, so are the clothes. Instead of being comfortably covered in a soft, sweat-absorbing tee and yoga pants I was wearing running shorts and a couple of sports bras. But oh well, time to suck it up and lift.
This wasn't the most comfy I've been, and the check-out looks were distracting, as well as the conversations started by guys who usually smile and nod then go about their business. It really is all about the skin showing I guess. I got a good workout in, squat 70 lbs, bench 65, deadlift 135. Yes- 135 lbs! Personal record there and met my goal for this month.

Happy Birthday Heidi!

After checking out the stats showing where my blog views come from, I was happily surprised to see a lot of other countries, Poland, Iran, Latvia and others. So hey if any of you are also blogging shoot me a comment so I can check out your blogs too, it doesn't have to be a nice comment ( but that will help its chances to be published haha). Thank-you all for taking a peek.
Now, onto Project Runway. Why oh why are they allowing Gretchen's awful and weird Chico's style clothes a show and rejecting Michael Costello's awesome Copper Cher Collection? So, part of the finale I can't wait for, sort of, is going to be wasted on her lame-ass old-lady hippie stuff. I've been watching this show since the beginning and it never fails to disappoint. At least Heidi Klum finally pushed those hideous bangs to the side and hey, there is a gorgeous woman under there!
In workout news, had a good one, Pilates was first. It reminds me a lot of yoga but not as challenging. There is soft music and the instructor leads you into positions that get difficult quickly but somehow it just seems easier then yoga did. Maybe its the lack of positions on the wrists. Anyway, got abs done there and took Spin after. Coming home to my peaceful house and some wine was wonderful. Good night all!

So freaking close!

Being a delicate flower, checking out my weight regularly does too much to my mood for the day so there was a need to keep an eye on progress in a less emotionally loaded way. Thus the 'fit shorts'. Three months ago I came across a forgotten pair of Old Navy shorts in a drawer, the kind one wears to wash the car or run to the grocery store, nothing great. As my plans for that moment were nothing great, I pulled them on. Tugged them on actually and to my horror once they were up, strangling my thighs and ass, the button and buttonhole were a good three inches away from each other. That is when this blog changed it's focus from marketing and consumer stuff to fat.
Its been three months, and the shorts are just shy of fitting perfectly, in fact a lot of people would wear them the way they fit now but I demand total comfort from knockabout clothes so when they are loose enough they will be accepted back into rotation. I'm sure to have something else around here that is tight to become the new 'fit shorts'.
Yesterdays workout has me a bit sore and creaky, my wrists did not feel good last evening but are okay now. I hope the stress on them is causing increased strength. Some kind of cardio is in store tonight.

So much beautiful

This is how Vogue rolls at their finest

Image thanks to the Project Rungay guys.
Can you even stop looking? Anne, dripping with diamonds, holding that adorable clutch. This picture makes me forget about world conflict and float on the pretty.

Dizzy after training today

So I had it all figured out, my squat stalled because I needed more recovery time. Then I read more stuff (Damm that reading!) and came across a blog that said women need less recovery time then men. That, combined with being less then thrilled about the pilates/Spin class plans for tonight led to barbell training a day ahead of time instead. Since squats are a sticking point, the new plan is to practice the hell out of them and do my best while keeping it low and good form. Presses were light today too, just 50 lbs, then followed them with Romanian deadlifts at 95 lbs. Had a twingy back so okay with that weight for now. Power cleans wrapped it up at 55 lbs and a set on those inverted back things (sorry brain stall). Sounds like an easy day but I was drained and dizzy after, needed to take a seat for a few minutes before hopping in the shower and still feeling Gumby-ish. Also I broke a nail but that's fine, am cutting them all down to prepare for the hiking trip in the mountains next week- WHOO Hoo!

Monday Monday

The Fugly Girls hate this dress on Katherine but I think it is pretty and sexy without being slutty-looking. The picture isn't flattering, the dress is fun.

The cat is going nuts, I'll be back later.

Finally increased squat weight!

Decided to lift at my brother-in-law's house and finally broke through to 85lb squats after lots of build-up sets. They assured me that I was indeed using a 45 lb bar when the 20 lb increase had me surprised. Now I'm wondering if the fact that there is no mirror in front of their rack made a positive difference, maybe old man Rip does know what he is talking about! Next challenge is to do it again and more in my overly mirrored gym. Overhead presses 55 lbs but only three rep sets to fail, and Romanian deadlifts 95 lbs 4 sets, the last set was ouchy. Getting that done this morning means I'll have a good long break today and can take Pilates (what? my abs need the help ya'll) and then Spin later today. So, yeah good work-out day :-)

125 lb deadlift, big wheels here I come!

They weren't pretty but I managed 5 reps for a personal best. This will be the weight for the next dead-lift session also, I need to make sure it's all good before going heavier. 65 lb squats, still getting used to the low bar position. The whole point of going low bar is to lift heavy weights, so if it turns out it just doesn't work for me back to regular high bar I will go. Either way, I refuse to give up on squats just because they are hard and sometimes disappointing. 65 lb bench-press too, nice and solid for all three sets so next bench session going for 70, about time I get back there. I actually did ab work- a set of crunches on the Swiss ball that Rippetoe hates so much and two sets of back extensions, one before and one set after dead lifting.

Saturday procrastination

Some things are easy to do. Going to the gym, getting a pedicure, shopping, all easy. Some things I dread, and one of them, coloring my hair will not wait one more day unless I am going for 'distinguished' as a descriptor. Where the dislike of doing this comes from I'm not sure, ok it's messy and takes an hour but that includes lots of activities I engage in and some are my favorites. The last time I had it done professionally was not satisfactory, took three times as long and cost tons more, maybe keeping that in mind will help.

Lifting was a serious consideration today but the muscle soreness in my hamstrings from the Romanian deadlifts I added to the routine Thursday changed my mind, so I took a Spin class instead. Definitely adding the Romanian deads in regularly on non-deadlift days as they worked my hamstrings, next thing I need to add is ab work. Yes, I am possibly the only woman who works out regularly who avoids ab work and it is becoming an issue as in, I suspect weak abs are interfering with my squats. Blah! I'd rather do two hours of cardio every day then work abs but that won't make them any stronger.

Don't take the interval treadmill class away!

Damn, attendance is spotty at the HIIT running class on Fridays and there is talk of changing it to an Ultimate Challenge class. Ultimate Challenge classes are a combo of HIIT and circuit training, sort of a Crossfit Lite thing, and they are good. Someone of average fitness could take them three times a week and add in a couple of steady cardio sessions and improve their fitness a lot. However, not me. Full sessions devoted to lifting and full separate sessions for cardio work better. Barbell full-body training and recovering from it is enough strength training and that interval class is a perfect added exercise for variety and cardio. So I voiced my opinion to the instructor and her boss and one rather loud-mouthed other instructor and going to hope for the best. In the short-term it isn't a big deal, the weather should be nice until June for steady-state cardio outside and I can take Spinning for variety too but those interval classes are kick-ass.

Cleans are dangerous!

Hoisting it up, working on form and sure enough I scraped my chin with the bar. Embarrassing! It made me laugh at least, and no blood was drawn. Today was a light weight workout, lots of barbell squats ass to grass, overhead presses, the dangerous cleans and wrapped it up w/ Romanian and stiff-legged deadlifts and back extensions. Sweat was pouring off me by the end of that 'light' workout. Tomorrow is the high intensity interval training treadmill class which is a wipeout too, in a good way.

How cute is this dress!

Perfect for someone with little boobies; sigh. When I find one for the busty ladies it will be posted too. You can find it at Nordstroms for $295 and I bet there are good less expensive versions floating around the department stores too.

Stupidest thing I've read this week

"THe bike:

Pro: good for rehabilitation purposes if you have a bad knee, ankle sprain, lower extremity problems, etc

Con: No core/upper body involvement..so you start to slouch cause your bike has a tv

THe treadmill--the worst :

Pro: If its a blizzard outside great for heart training, if you walk/jog/run without the holding the rail it is effective, especially with proper form.

Con: bad for knees and ankles for the majority when you don't have good level of propreoceptive training and not aware of a correct form of running. Proprioception is an important skill when running on the treadmill. Proprioception is basically intuitively feeling and knowing the position and motion of your body, feet, legs, arms, etc. at all times. It is being aware of all of the different actions of your running stride. So unless you practice on a wobble board for proprioception than go run outside --"the cushioning isn't the same as running outside, so you don't get the same bone benefits" "the pull of the treadmill on your ankles. Even though it is very very slight and you are jogging along just fine, technically, with the "ground" moving, it creates a slight pull against your ankle joints. It is possible that this can affect your knees or anything else up the chain as well. "
check this article from website for runners:
Runningplanet[/url]

Ok So the The winner is ....
The best Cardio Machine in the gym is... the Elliptical because your legs and arms are involved in the workout...simply as that."

(that was him, now this is me) Ok, did he just say that the treadmill is the worst machine for enhancing cardiovascular endurance and the elliptical is the best? Guess what, I don't need to practice standing on a wobble board before using a treadmill because I learned to walk at around two years old and have been doing so ever since. The elliptical, while fun and able to be used for either high intensity intervals or steady state endurance cardio, doesn't closely mimic any natural activities. This renders it virtually useless as far as improving functional fitness goes. The worst part of this is that some guy already complimented him on the great information. I need to get off of the Internet and start sharpening survival skills because with so many morons among us the collapse can't be far off.

Making it up as I go along

Looks like the simple beginner's routine I picked isn't so simple after all. Turns out that it is so focused on young males that the author barely acknowledges that old people like 40 year olds may be directed to the program and we need it to be tweaked. A lot. From what I have been able to glean from the Starting Strength forums, one nugget of information at a time, people who are not 15-26 y/o guys are not supposed to be squatting three times a week, need more recovery time and women- hey, I'm one of those- may not even need to do power cleans because of weaker wrists. Ya know, a chapter gathering all the information together rather then passing mention in a sentence or two in the humongous book would have been helpful.
But, it's just the second workout after de-load week and a good time for adjustments anyway. Now the plan is to double the warm-up sets, continue lifting as heavy as possible and take two full days between lifting sessions for recovery purposes. All-righty then! In spite of this the bod has improved, definitely not masculine at all but curvier and lifted. Also, the giant breasts are under control! Seriously, this is rambumctious boobs week and I was able to get a sports bra on with no struggling or jumping up and down. That alone makes training worth it.
So today, squat, bench, deadlift and take a 3mile run/walk this evening. So happy the outdoors is bearable again!
Almost forgot, I watched Thintervention last night. That show cracks me up. One can almost hear various exercise scientists' heads exploding as Jackie Warner traipses about spouting off misinformation to her clients. To lose weight one must eat every three hours (including protein shakes!), check. Put out of shape clients through torturtous long ass workouts, check. Berate the client who only lost two pounds that week, check. Put the ladies on a 1350 calorie diet, and be surprised and disappointed that she is STARVING and cheats on it, check. Those clients don't stand a chance of keeping the weight off. I suppose being on TV is reward enough?

Update on training today: I put another 5 lbs on my deadlift (yes those itty-bitty 2.5ers) and pulled 120 for 3 good reps. This possibly could have been better but the gym was a zoo today, I may try to describe it later. One of the few trainers who knows what he is talking about and I discussed my squat and he thought the issue might be hip flexibility. After demonstrating some weightless squats for him tho, we decided it is a strength thing I need work on. Also, broke through the weak bench press because somehow I didn't get the memo that one is supposed to grip the bar tightly. Yes, duh right? That sure makes a difference! Really great training today.

No good deed goes unpunished

Honestly, some people are so rude! A few months ago, when I decided to get serious about lifting, I checked out Bodybuilders.com. There is a lot of information there about different lifting programs and forums. On the forums it was posted over and over again that The New Rules For Lifting book was great, has a year of programming in it, etc. So, wanting to purchase the book I started at Amazon (of course! I'm an affiliate) and it was $18 plus shipping. I ended up buying it from a local bookstore for $17. The book is good and I plan to use a program from it when I've completed Starting Strength. Recently I looked for it on Amazon to add the link to a blog post, and found it for four dollars and change. First reaction, "Damn! I paid four times that." So, in an attempt to be helpful I posted the low price in the Bodybuilding forum. What happened? Nothing. Just a rude post that it is 'always cheap'. Yeah, always except when I wanted it. What kind of bitch responds to a helpful post that way? Internet rudeness at its finest.
In other, better news, it is finally cool in the evenings and run/walks at this time are incredible. Love the cool breeze while the stars are overhead and Halloween decorations beckon. Soon I will be hiking in the mountains with colorful leaves all around us, so looking forward to that.

Also, hello there Mr. Happily Well-Endowed! Ahhh, my goodness.

Delayed onset muscle soreness, in other words; Ouch!

My traps are feeling it today! The soreness isn't unbearable or even complicating freedom of movement, it's more of a vague stiffness and wanting to be rubbed. The wrists are feeling it too. The good news is that at the farmer's market today I carried many full bags of veggies with no problem at all, in spite of the offer to have then carried for me. This got me thinking about physical weakness. Today, the Disney Princesses are huge business and a cultural staple. When I was a child (the Medieval Times) it wasn't, however with the help of many early fairy-tales and a doting mom, I was the Princess. It even was my childhood nickname, as my sisters tease me about even now. Absorbing and embodying many stereotypical attributes of femininity; one of my most upsetting moments as a little girl was someone informing me that the name Terry could also be a boy's name. The horror! I immediately forbade anyone from referring to me in that way for, oh 40 years or so.

These notions of feminine gestures and movement are ingrained deeply in me, and others respond to them as well. The men I date and who are attracted to me are the type who open doors for me everywhere, carry the bags, work in the yard, the whole thing and I always accepted that as normal. I still like it and feel those behaviors show respect for the difference in gender and just make the day nicer but I wonder if I would be a stronger person today if things had been different way back when.

Powerlifting possibilities! Lionheart Fitness Center

Knowing that my friendly YMCA may become less friendly when the weights I'm lifting get heavy enough to drop, I did a little research and found this gym HERE. Steve is the owner and was very nice on the phone, a former competitive lifter who also trained at the same early hardcore gym I did back in the day. He assured me that his place has air-conditioning and a cleaning crew unlike the former gym, and that dropping the plates and using chalk is A-ok. I'm going to check it out soon, and wanted to post about it in case someone else in the area wanted a gym like this and didn't want to drive to Tampa to get one.

Today was the end of the deload, I squatted and seem to be stuck at 75 lbs. Seriously- I did not even keep good form all the way. Some people say pms interferes with strength but it comes back after. I hope so. Then overhead presses, still working on that form. Everything seems so easy until you read half of a Rippetoe chapter on it. Jeez there is a lot that goes into a lift. 50 lbs on the presses, then did some clean assistance work. Upright rows at 50 lbs and finally my sort-of cleans (I use the lowest safety bar setting on the power rack as the weights I'm on are to small to reach the correct height for the starting point of the lift. 55 lbs on my sort-of cleans- damn I was sweating up a storm and wrapped the whole thing up with back extensions, so no high heel wearing plans tonight.

Speaking of high heels (that is a smooth transition, no?) I am considering using Style.com's lookbook option and linking it here so everyone can be blessed with my good taste ha-ha. I'll see if there is time to do that, the last thing I need is total fashion distraction.