Using It - October 8 - 14

[Shadow]

Up and at 'em, everyone :D! This is my second endurance week before I move on to something else.

What's everyone else doing this week? Any special focus - or are you just trying to get it done and over with :razz:?

Sunday - Total body and abs/core
Monday - Circuit (cardio, total body, abs)
Tuesday - Cardio
Wednesday - Total body
Thursday - Total body and abs/core

[Mitra]

I'm starting the week with a continuation of the yoga practice I've been using for the last month. I have a lesson on Wednesday, so it will probably change then.

The new yoga course I've enrolled on is starting next weekend: Fri afternoon & evening, all day Sat & Sun morning. I think there are something around 12-15 people in the group, and I'll probably know all of them at least slightly. Altogether there'll be ten weekends, spread over two years, and we'll look at postures, breathing, meditation, therapeutic applications of yoga, yoga philosophy and ayurveda. Lots to keep me on my toes :cool:.

[banshee]

Wow Mitra, that sounds like some pretty intense weekends! Enjoy!

My plan is about the same - Biking for at least 45 minutes Monday, Tuesday and Friday, Strength training Wednesday and Saturday. I had increased weights on pretty much all my exercises last week, and I think after 5 weeks I'm probably getting close to the end of the initial rapid strength increases, so I'm guessing I'll be struggling along at the current weights for a while. But that's ok I guess. It's hard to adjust to not seeing those rapid increases, but I know that true progress takes a long time when you're trying to build true strength. ;)

I've finally decided on my long term goals for my exercise. The one without a timeframe is to be able to do unassisted pullups and unassisted dips. Oh, and of course, the goal I've been working toward for a while of making exercise a habit! :rolleyes: And I've set a size goal of comfortably fitting into a size 8 pant and a size 10 jean. (With jeans I usually have to go a size higher to be comfortable.) I'm hoping to be able to meet the size goal by Sept 2007. I know that probably seems like a long time, but I'm trying to be very modest with my goals. If I hit the goal before then, I'll be ecstatic!

[daisy]

Monday

ONE hour very brisk walk with dog (husky with long legs), in lieu of gym as i had appointment and couldn't make it, i'm getting better at doing something else and i managed to work up a good sweat, plus it started raining towards end so we ran all the way home :D

daisy xxx

[LisaS]

Sun: lower body - lunges, step ups, etc
Mon: modified "Helen" - sprints, swings, lat pulls

[banshee]

Monday: I "accidentally" did 60 minutes on the bicycle, so I exceeded my goal by 15 minutes. :p I was reading an ebook while I pedalled and got into the story. When I looked up, I had already done almost 55 minutes, and I still had to do 5 minutes of cool-down. :D I was a bit worried my speed had gone down and that's why I didn't get tired, but I actually was a bit faster than usual.

[daisy]

Tuesday - workout session with trainer

Resistance weights -

chest press - 15.5 kg - 3 x 15
straight pulldowns - 15.5kg - 3 x 15
chest press (different machine) - 17.5kg - 3 x 15
flys - 17.5kg - 2 x 12

Free weights -

flys - 4kg - 3 x 12 (single sides) then 3 x 12 together


crosstrainer 30 mins/level 12/fat burn

25 x 4 ab crunch with fitball

i'm tired lol daisy xx

[daisy]

Wednesday -

20 minute run on treadmill
15 minute walk at high incline for fat burn
30 minute brisk walk with dog

now i'm off to strip wallpaper from bedroom then shower!

happy wednesday, daisy xxx

[Mitra]

I'm having a yoga lesson this afternoon - hoping to be able to move forward again because my back has settled down over the last month.

[Gaelen]

What's everyone else doing this week? Any special focus - or are you just trying to get it done and over with :razz:?

I am up to three 10 minute sessions of machine pilates--roughly every other day--each week...it's been a long haul getting that far, but I have to go slowly enough to not aggravate the incisional abdominal hernia while still strengthening myself. And so far, fingers crossed, it's working!

On the off-pilates day, I walk for 30 minutes and do pilates floor stretches...

[banshee]

Tuesday: Did another 45 minutes on the bike. Unfortunately, I had to stop before doing the 55-60 I wanted to do because my knee started acting up. It's still bothering me a bit today. Dang it! :mad: I thought I had solved that problem by lowering the intensity and doing biking instead of walking. Odd thing, though, when I went to stretch, my Illiotibial Band wasn't sore at all, which makes me wonder if my walking problems were a combination of the ITB and something else in the knee. I've also been noticing some twinges in my knee when I do my quadriceps stretch. :(

I'm going to have to talk with my trainer tonight and probably totally revamp my workouts now. Sigh. I wonder if I can convince him that I should only do the weight lifting? :evil: He and the other trainers are all about the aerobics for fat burning, and I admit that I have been seeing some progress on that front with the program he's set up for me, but if my knee keeps acting up I'm not sure what I can do...

[Shadow]

Great work so far this week, everyone!

Oh Gaelen - that's absolutely awesome :thumbsup:!!!

Mary - FWIW, I've cut back on the cardio (knee issues, too, not to mention I just don't like it :lol: ) and it has had no negative effects on fat burning ;).

And Mitra - glad to hear that back is finally cooperating!

[Mitra]

I've been "allowed" to edge forward a bit more :cool:, then another lesson in a month's time.

[banshee]

So what do you replace the cardio with, Shadow? I want to continue the 4-5 days of exercise per week I've been doing for the past 6 weeks because I'm seeing an effect in my clothes (even though the scale doesn't show a weight or BF change). But if I drop the cardio, how do I get in 4-5 days of exercise per week and still give the muscles enough time to rest between sessions? I guess that's another question for the personal trainer tonight...

[Shadow]

Mary - I replaced one cardio day with a circuit day. The other cardio I cut out by not doing a double workout on Sunday ;). As for back to back weights, for me it isn't a problem as long as I'm not lifting to failure every day (in a home situation with no spotter, it's very hard to get to that point anyway :p ). But that's just what works for me - YMMV :).

[daisy]

Thursday -

Legpress - 88kg- 2 x 15
Legpress - 43kg - 3 x 20 (calf extension)
Leg extension - 30kg - 3 x 12
Hip abductor (inner) - 70kg - 3 x 20
Hip abductor (outer) - 55kg - 2 x 20
Oblique stretches - 22.5kg - 3 x 20 each side
Pull ups - 3 x 10 (hold bars at waist level and pull knees up to chest don't know what its called lol)

crosstrainer - 30 mins/level12/fat burn
treadmill - 30 mins/fat burn
stairmaster - 20 mins/level 8/fat burn
ab crunches - 3 x 25

daisy :)

[Mitra]

My teacher recommended that I hold off on starting most of my new programme until next week - it would be better to stick with what I know is working until after this weekend's course is past. So I just added one very minor change - that just increased the leverage slightly in one posture. And even with that tiny change, I could feel my lower back while I was doing it, and have felt conscious of it during the day, which I haven't for the last couple of weeks. It's not actually been painful, and sometimes I know there are slight sensations even while things are moving in the right direction, but obviously I need to progress very cautiously :rolleyes:. I really don't like having to give in to physical weakness :( (idleness is another matter - I'm quite happy to give in to that :lol:).

[banshee]

Wednesday: Did a full upper body and core workout, but decided not to do any leg exercises to let the knee calm down. The only exercises I did that involved the legs were my leg balances, on which I only did half the time, and leg raises, which are mostly an ab workout and I felt wouldn't mess with the knee. It was a good workout - I felt really strong for all of the arm exercises, like I may actually be making progress toward building some muscle.

I also reached another flexibility milestone - I hit the point of being able to touch my forehead to my knees a couple weeks back - now I can actually stretch my back out enough to curl my entire hand to the wrist around/below my shoes and touch my chin to my knees! :eek: Inner thigh stretches are also progressing - if this keeps up, I might actually become flexible enough to do the splits, something I've never done before in my entire life. :D

Leg balance
Chest press 1x22, 1x12
Assisted pullup 1x18, 1x12
Leg raise with ball 1x14
Leg raise without ball 1x14
Assisted dips 1x17, 1x14
Ab vacuums 1x10
Bicep curl to Arnold press 1x14, 1x8
Resistance band rotation 1x14
Low row 1x20, 1x12
Lat hyperextension 2x16
Reaching abdominal curl 1x10
Planks 2 x 45 seconds

[daisy]

Wow Mary thats fantastic, i've read your posts about your knee, i hurt my running outside a few months ago and i just used the crosstrainer (elliptical i think) for a while, i do a slow programme on that at a high level keeping my heart rate in fat burning zone :D, maybe you could try that with your upper body weights for a complete workout, its not fast and its low impact on joints so your knee may be fine with it like mine was????

Friday -

30 min run on treadmill
30 min crosstrainer/level12/fat burn
home to walk dog and now nice warm bath :D

happy friday, daisy xxx

[banshee]

Friday's aerobic workout consisted of 2 20-30 minutes sessions of brisk walking on campus to get to and from a lunch meeting. :p

Saturday strength training. Did some of my leg exercises - quit when my knee starting aching.

Chest Press 1x20, 1x14
Assisted pullup 1x20, 1x15
Abduction 2x18
Adduction 2x20
Low Row 1x16, 1x10
Leg Press 2x18
Bicep Curl/Arnold Press 1x12, 1x8
Assisted Dips 1x18, 1x15
Leg raise with ball 1x16
Leg rais without ball 1x16
Resistance band rotation 1x8 each side
Reaching curl (upper ab) 1x15
Back hyperextension 1x20, 1x18
Planks 2 x 60 seconds
Ab vacuums 1x10 15 sec hold