12/15/08, Monday evening:

Single arm Dumbbell flyes, 40 lbs. dumbbell, 4 reps ----> higher by 15 lbs.
bent rows-pronated grip, 135 lb. barbell, 4 reps ----> higher by
(superset, then rest)

Bench press, 70 lb. barbell, 8 reps
Single arm Bent rows, 50 lb. dumbell, 8 reps
(superset, then rest)

Repeated 5 times.

A note on the bench presses: I need a flippin' bench! I do my laying down chest work on a 6-inch aerobic step. This means that when I bench I: a) clean the weight from the floor, b) squat really, really low and c) lay back while balancing the weight. There is a lot of room for error here. It is a good way to make the bench press a compound movement though!

Except for the 50 lb. db row, the weights were a little heavy for the reps. I got through it though.

I took a brief break, and then jumped into cardio. I just did a little bit of everthing. Jagar squats (thanks Debbie----though I don't think I'll be thanking you tomorrow! ) mountain-climbers, step aerobics, jump-robe, etc. I did an entire 30 minutes. It went pretty well. I then did about 5 minutes of intense stretching. I don't really stretch too often, but my flexibility is pretty good. I can touch my palms to the ground without bending my legs, and I can kinda do a split. Maybe I will work on flexibility more. It is sort of fun.

Yeah, ironically enough, the cable has snapped on the shoulder bruising calf raise, so I'd need to find something new until it gets fixed, lol!

Yeah, all the weights on upper body are per dumbbell - the only things I use barbells for are squats and deads.

Thanks for your encouragement, your workouts are looking good, and your flexibility sounds scary!!! (although intriguing, LOL )

Oh, I haven't been here for a while... there is a reason. I wasn't doing much. I did a circuit today.


Circuit A:
Horizontal pushing (push-ups, regular)
Quads dominant (goblet squats, 40 lb. dumbbell)
Horizontal Pulling (rows, 50 lb. barbell)
Hamstrings Dominant (RDLs, 50 lb. barbell)
Abdominal Exercise (reverse crunches)
10 reps/3x

no rest between exercises; very short rest between circuits.

Circuit B:
Vertical Pushing (military press, 10 lb. dumbbells)
Quads Dominant (jump squats)
Vertical Pulling (upright rows, 15 lb. dumbbells)
Hamstring Dominant (RDLs, 15 lb. dumbbells)
Abdominal Exercise (reverse crunches)
12 reps/3x

I feel like I could throw up right now. There is going to be no cardio. Ugh. I think it was the jump squats that got me.

I need a new routine. This one isn't really inspiring me anymore. I think it's a keeper in that I will use it in the future, but I've been doing it on and off since early Summer. I will be starting the weight training class soon, so I guess I can get a new routine then.

This is not good. For a while now, my left leg has been bothering me. It's the area between my calf and my ankle. It seemed to be swollen and it aches. It gets worse when I do stuff like jump rope. I'm not sure what it is. it doesn't feel like a shin splint because it's not in the front of my leg where the shin is. Maybe I strained it or something? In any case, I am going to sort of stay off of it. No more cardio for a while. I will see how I feel about exercise in general. I do not want to make it worse. I think with some rest it will be better.

My leg is not good. I mean, it is okay in general but I need to try to stay off of it when I can. The heel of my foot feels like it is bruised, and the calf/ankle area is tender. I'll just have to keep an eye on it. I don't want it to get worse, plus I need to be okay in order to take the gym credit I need at school.

I am having carbs today, so I wanted to get something in. Here is what I did:

Push-ups10x3 (bw)
SA rows10x3 (15 lb. dumbbell)
Military Presses 10x3 (15 lb. dumbbells)
Lateral raises 10x3 (10 lb. dumbbells)
Pullovers10x3 (15 lb. dumbbells)
Flies10x3 (15 lb. dumbbells)
Rows 10x3 (50 lb. barbell)
Upright rows 10x3 (15 lb. dumbbells)
Reverse Crunches 10x3 (bw)

I did each exercise 10 times, 3 sets before moving onto the next one. It went pretty well. It is frustrating to not work my legs. I walked around my room a bit in between sets but that's as far as I will push it for now.

Sorry about your leg. Could it be this: http://www.achillestendon.com/

Yup, I'm pretty sure that is what it is. Ugh. I was looking up stuff about it the other day and then stopped because I was getting freaked out.

I laughed when I saw they considered 2" a high heel. My everyday shoes are 4", I think. I've been wearing heels for years. I think what honestly did it was excessive jump-roping. I was doing a lot of it for a while there.

I bought some shoe inserts that are supposed to be supportive. And maybe I will ice it as well. Blah, I don't feel like dealing with this... it's always something. Although this something does dictate that I laze around...

Tuesday, June 1st

AM Fasted Cardio: precor elliptical, 405 calories burned

My plan as it stands now:

Monday: off

Tuesday: fasted cardio, legs & shoulders

Wednesday: off

Thursday: chest & abs

Friday: fasted cardio

Saturday: back & hamstrings

Sunday: off

I will do 4 exercises (3 sets, 10 reps) for chest, quads, back. I'll 2-3 exercises for abs, hamstrings and shoulders.

I'm not in very good shape anymore. I really just need to get back into the swing of things. It's tempting to fill my schedule to the brim, but all I'll end up doing is burning myself out. It'll be a bonus if I add in some additional workouts, but for now, this should work.

I'm moving my legs and shoulders workout to tomorrow. I'm not sure what possessed me to think I was going to have the energy to dedicate to a weights workout this evening.

I did however do a lot of moving around helping to set up for a luncheon tomorrow. I also did over an hour of rather heavy gardening/yardwork.