Tag Archives: workout

Exercise and espresso

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Today: 15 minutes walking on the treadmill, 2% incline at 3.5 mph. Then, 30 minutes elliptical, kept the heart rate in the 140s. Then, bw squats, biceps and shoulder press with band. Taking it easy these days. I gained a little more weight these past four weeks than I should have, no doubt due to the fact that I’m not exercising as much as I used to. Oh, and I suppose the cookie baking, Halloween candy eating, mocha imbibing has something to do with it.

My favorite beverage of this season: a tall decaf reduced-fat eggnog latte. The decaf, yeah, it’s kinda lame, but whatev. I’m over it. Egad. Nevermind. I just checked the web site and apparently one of these suckers is 370 calories. The runner-up, tall nonfat with whipped mocha is “just” 230 calories. A bit easier to digest, so to speak.

Stage 7, the final countdown

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Boss is away, so the kids play. Actually, not so much. It was kind of a downer day today, with lots of junk coming down on us (this is when you don’t want the boss to be away, actually).

But, I managed to get to the gym at lunch anyway and snuck in a quick circuit-training type of workout. This is NROL4W, Stage 7, #2. (* denotes alternating sets):

  • *Barbell Incline Bench Press, bar/8; 55/8
  • *Seated Row, 75/8; 80/8
  • **DB Squats, heels on plate; 20#
  • **DB Shoulder Press, 17.5#
  • **Step-ups, 20# ea
  • **Underhand lat pull down, 80#

The first two exercises: 2 sets of 8 reps. The last four: 4 sets of 15 reps. 30 seconds in between each exercise.

Surprisingly sweaty after this. These weights aren’t super heavy. I could probably go a little heavier next time and will probably adjust.

Because of the aforementioned downer day, the officemate and I went to the cafeteria in the afternoon for some chocolate pudding. The real sugar stuff. Whipped Cream. Fake cherry. Yum.

Getting over the hump

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Last week I joined the gym that is down the street from me (maybe a 2-minute bike ride on the Burke Gilman trail or so). It’s their summer special … 3 months for $100. I don’t join the thing full time because I already belong to a gym. That gym is free thanks to the perks from The Firm, but that gym just happens to be about 13 miles away.

It’s been nice to roll out of bed in the morning and work out, and in fact has jumpstarted my NROL4W status as well. Here’s the update:

Stage 2, Workout A. Each exercise is 2 sets of 10 reps. The (*) represent alternating sets:

  • Front squat/Push press, bar
  • *Step-ups, 20 lbs (each)
  • *DB One-point rows, 15 lbs (each)
  • **Static lunge, rear-foot elevated, 15 lbs (each)
  • **Push-up, BW holding for 2 sec when elbows are bent
  • ***Plank, 60″
  • ***Cable horizontal wood chop, 4#

Stage 2, Workout B. Again, 2 sets of 10 reps:

  • DB Squats or Romanian DL (The book says Wide-grip deadlift from box. But I frikkin hate those so much, and am nervous about hurting my lower back that I’ve replaced it with another squat exercise)
  • *Bulgarian split squat, 15 lb
  • *Underhand-grip lat pull-down, 80 lb
  • **Reverse lunge from box w/forward reach, 15 lbs (each)
  • **DB prone Cuban snatch, 10 lbs (sorta hard and awkward, working on posture for this one)
  • ***Swiss-ball crunch w/weight, 25 @ 10lbs
  • ***Prone cobra, 60″

If I have extra time (read, not lifting in the morning), I’ve added a Body Weight Matrix or Intervals. Body Weight Matrix: 24 squats; 12 lunges (ea leg); 12 lunge jumps; 24 squat jumps. Rest for 2x the amount of time it takes to do the matrix, then repeat. Dang, I can feel the burn just thinking about it.

This week went well schedule-wise:

  • Sunday, light workout, including BW Matrix, to re-familiarize myself with the new gym surroundings.
  • Monday: Workout A-1 + BW Matrix
  • Tuesday: rest
  • Wednesday: Workout B-1
  • Thursday: Intervals (25 minutes) and Steady State (20 minutes) on Elliptical
  • Friday: A-2
  • Saturday: Row
  • Tomorrow the plan is Workout B-2 w/Intervals

I’ve liked mixing it up. Just new surroundings alone has been helpful in keeping me motivated and moving. Hope to be this consistent for the rest of the summer (and beyond, of course).

NROL

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Riding home on the Connector provides an opportune time to update the blog. Thanks, Connector!

New Rules of Lifting for WomenJust got back from the gym. I think this could be a nice once-a-week routine … going to the gym after work, walking to the Connector bus stop and taking the bus home. It’s a 15-minute walk from the office to the gym, workout, then a 15-minute walk from the gym to the bus stop, all while carrying a hefty laptop backpack. I’ve tried this twice now and I’m liking it, even if I am a morning workout kind of person.

Anyway. Today’s workout nearly wraps up “Stage 1” from “The New Rules of Lifting for Women“. Stage 1 offers 2wo workouts which you alternate, each workout is done 8 times, and you increase your weights 4 times total per workout.

Here are my starting and ending weights (i.e. where I started with workout 1 and where I’ve ended with workout 8:

Workout A:

  • Squat: 27.5# / 40#
  • Push-Up: 15 BW / 12 BW, using medicine ball under one hand
  • Seated Row 75# / 90#
  • Step-Ups 12.5# / 20#
  • Prone Jackknife 8 / 15

Workout B:

  • Barbell Deadlift: 50# / 80#
  • DB Shoulder Press: 20# / 27.5#
  • Wide Grip Lat Pull Down: 75# / 90#
  • DB Lunge: 15# / 20#
  • Swiss Ball Crunch: 15 / 30 with arms extended overhead

Often times I would finish the workout and would feel the need to continue exercising. On those days I either did intervals or extra core after the workout. When I did intervals I mainly stayed on the erg but occasionally on the elliptical trainer. On the erg I would do 3 or 4 sets of a tabata row (4 minute pieces, 20″ on, 10″ off, resting 2 minutes in between each piece). Most recently I just did a 1-minute on, 2 minute-off interval, where I upped the intensity with each piece. The gym, by the way, recently increase the number of ergs. Oh boy I got to use a brand new one! Those are the best because no one’s messed with the chains too much yet. When I added extra core I would do 60″ planks; stability ball pass overs; medicine ball side rotations, anything I felt like doing.

Some things I learned … I do not like barbell dead lifts. Either I do them wrong or they are really hard. Or a combo of both … Prone jackknives are hard but fun, and the trick is to look at the floor near your hands, and not down at the ball … and, for some reason, if a book instructs me to increase my weights each week, I will. Why I don’t listen to the husband who has been telling me this for I don’t know how many years, we’ll never know. Trust me that it is a HUGE deal in the household that I would have the gall to follow a book’s instruction and not the husband.

I say I am nearly adone because all that is left in Stage one is the “AMRAP” where you do the exercises with the weights you used from your first workouts, but you do them to exhaustion, basically. And then I graduate to Stage 2, which I haven’t reviewed fully yet, but I believe I’ll be doing some form of a barbell deadlift. Oh boy.

In all, am enjoying this. Upping the weights so frequently makes it kind of interesting, and I am kicking myself for not doing that on my own.

Oh yes, THANKS, Kate, for recommending the book! And to Sis, for getting it for me for my birthday!

Work it, circuit

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Kate mentioned to me that she hadn’t seen any workouts posted lately. Eh. My workout notebook is a bit empty as I recently had been using my workout cards that Trainer Dan had given me. More recently I’ve been reverting to what works best when you are working towards a goal, such as making a San Diego boat or climbing 69 flights of the Columbia Tower. Makes for an awkward workout, though, when you see your old trainer in the weight room with one of his other clients, and he sees you’re obviously not doing what he’s instructed you to do. Not entirely true. I was already doing Yates and Push ups before we met. But, it’s like bumping into an ex-boyfriend. Avoid eye contact and pretend you don’t see him. Plug in the iPod so it’s harder to talk.

Yesterday I had about 30 minutes at lunch so I did a quick circuit-training session:
1×15 each exercise no rest in between, 2 minutes rest, then again:
Squat w/dumbbells
Standing Lunge w/dumbbells
Push ups (Bosu)
Bench Press (1-arm, on the ball)
Yates Rows
Shoulder Press
Then ended with super sets of Bicep Curls / Tricep Bench Dips (with legs on the ball)

My cool down was walking back to the office (a 5 to 10 minute walk). Not ideal. I prefer having more time, but work has been hectic since starting the new job, so I feel the need to spend as much time in the office as possible.

Kate suggests I try her Kettle Bell sessions, and even offered to change up the time so I can make it. This works well, so then I can lift on Thursday and do a cardio session on Fri instead of lift. Plus, the kettle bells will be something new, different. Change is always good. I’ll be sure to report back on it.

Today at practice:
Joe (cx), JW, RF, JP, AL, KT, TG, 2, JR.
Rowed by 6s, Drills, then attempted to do 5-minute pieces but was constantly interrupted in the crowded Fremont canal.
The first part of practice went well, I thought. Strong rowing by 6s. Focussed on pulling all the way through, especially at that finish. On top of the other things I think about all the time. The pieces later on weren’t as good as I would have liked; we gave some seats up to the other 8. I think we were tired near the end.

Tomorrow:
Howe St Stairs. Probably another set of 10. Am contemplating doing push-ups in between sets, but we’ll see. If it’s raining I may head to the gym instead. I am doing The Big Climb (the aforementioned 69 flights), which is why I’ve gotten so friendly with the HSS lately. The StairClimber at the gym might be a good way to go so I can practice using the upper-body to hoist up the stairs, which isn’t so easy at HS.

So, that’s the recent update.