Yesterday, hit the weight room for some core work. First did a 30 minute spin class (I was late.). Then, did the following workout: 2 sets of 10 push-ups with bosu ball 4 sets of 25 sit-ups on incline with 12 lb. medicine ball 2 sets of 20 leg/knee lifts 100 bicycle crunches Today, meant to have an active rest day, but got in a very small workout while encouraging kids on son's cross country team. It was 100 degrees when practice started. Got in 1/2 mile walk/jog to warm-up and then did 3 x 400 jogs with them, trying to encourage those who were struggling on the second half of a 6 x 400 set. Then did a 1/2 mile cool-down. Despite the heat, everybody was in good spirits after the practice. Tomorrow, hope to slide into the club pool for a 2,000 meter workout before it opens up for 4th of July activities. Each year our pool has a greased watermelon water polo match on the 4th. Lots of good pizes for team that wins. Always all-men and a real macho kind of contest. About 7 years ago, I snuck in on the contest and those guys didn't know what to do. Rednecks have honor when it comes to women, so I was able to get away with much more than any of them ever could. If I think about it, I will post a pic tomorrow of the brawl.
Summer training is fun but can be a challenge. Vacation and changes in pool schedule can make it hard to stay on a schedule. The last two weeks have been busy, busy, but got in a few runs, swims, and lifts. I have gotten started on my high reps/low weights program. Wow! What a whole different workout! It plain old wears me out, but that is a good thing. My weight-lifting guru contact said that 3 sets of 15 was plenty. I had planned to do 5, but he said that many sets was overkill. Today, did the following workout: Warm-up: 8 minutes on the gauntlet Bench press: bar x 10, 3 sets of 65 x 15 Lat hi row: 3 sets of 90 x 15 Overhead press w/dumbells: 3 sets of 20 x 15 Lat pull-down: 3 sets of 100 x 15 Leg press: 3 sets of 150 x 15 Leg curl: 3 sets of 20 x 15 Leg/knee lifts: 3 sets of 20 Calf raises: 3 sets of 70 x 15 Cardio workout: spin bike bike for 15 minutes, brisk walk (4.0 mph) for 15 minutes, 10 minutes on gauntlet
Got my run in on Friday evening. Did 3 miles straight running at a 9:16 per mile pace. Followed run with a 15 minute walk. Saturday morning, got up early and did a swim at the club pool before it opened. Workout was as follows: 300 free 200 dolphin kick with board 300 back 200 breast kick with board 300 free 200 dolphin kick with board 3 x 100 fly - 3 rt/3 lt/3 full 200 breast kick with board 2000 SCM
Finished up three weeks of heavy lifting and will now take one week of active rest on the weights to deload. On my next round of weight-lifting, I am going to be doing higher reps and lower reps. I need to debulk a little bit without losing too much strength. I've been on my program for two weeks and have had some modest results but really would like to see a five to eight pound drop. Whether it is muscle weight or fat, I have an ideal weight I race well at and I would really like to get down to that weight. Upon checking, I have had a 1-2% drop in body fat since starting a couple of weeks ago, but no weight loss. I guess that it is the better way to aim for losing weight - make my body become a better calorie burning machine. Still, I do need to drop pounds and lifting heavy weight probably is not going to make it happen too quickly, so after next week, I think I will go to doing 5 sets of 15. I know it seems like a bunch of volume, but it has worked well before. Also plan to go from 30 minutes on my cardio to 45 minutes. Yesterday, I actually went up on time on my cardio. Did a 50 minute moderate ride on my road bike averaging just 16.2 nph. Today, hit the weight heavy for the last time before going into deload. Here is what I did: Warm-up: 8 minutes on gauntlet, stretching Bench: bar x 5, 3 sets of 105 x 4 Hi row: 90 x 5, 3 sets of 110 x 8 Military press w/dumbbells: 3 sets of 40 x 8 Lat pull-down with cable: 3 sets of 100 x 6 Hammer curls: 2 sets of 15 x 10 Triceps press: 2 sets of 40 x 10 Squats: bar x 5, 95 x 20 Captain's chair leg raises: 2 sets of 20 Calf raises: 2 sets of 80 x 10 Twist crunches: 2 sets of 25 Cruches with 12 lb med ball: 1 set of 25 Knee raises on bench: 2 sets of 25 Hoping to take a short run in a little bit.
Tuesday, got in a good swim down at the club pool. Love swimming in cool water and the outdoors! So much easier! Warm-up: 1000 - 200 kick, 200 swim, 200 pull, 200 kick, 200 swim 4 x 50 fly with fins: 25 kick/25 sprint on 1:15 100 easy 4 x 50 back with fins: 25 kick/25 sprint on 1:15 100 easy 4 x 50 free with fins: 25 kick/25 sprint on 1:15 200 easy 2000 SCM Followed by 2 mile run/walk - Alternated 4 minutes run with 1 minute walk Wednesday - 1.5 mile walk Thursday - A busy day ahead, so just got in the pool to warm-up basically: 200 kick on side with fins 200 breast pull with fins 4 x 50 fly 3 rt/3lt/3 full 200 back with paddles 4x 50 fly: 3 rt/3 lt/3 full 1000 SCM
Updated June 15th, 2012 at 04:56 PM by elise526
Not much time yesterday, but got in an upper body workout: Warm-up: 5 minutes on treadmill Bench: bar x 10, 3 sets of 105 x 3 Hi row: 90 x 10, 3 sets of 120 x 5 Military press w/dumbells: 2 sets of 15 x 10 Lat pull-down with cable: 2 sets of 85 x 10 Hammer curls: 2 sets of 15 x 10 Leg/knee lifts: 2 sets of 20 Followed with 1.5 mile walk Today did another brisk 1.5 walk. Hoping to swim and bike tomorrow.
Hit the weights and did the following: 8 minute warm-up: 4 min. on treadmill, 4 min on rowing machine Bench press: bar x 10, 70 x 6, 90 x 4, 105 x 2 Hi row: 90 x 5, 3 sets of 110 x 8 Military press: 2 sets of 30 x 10 (used barbells) Lat pull-down (machine): 90 x 5, 2 sets of 120 x 8 Squats: bar x 10, 1 set of 65 x 20 Leg lifts: 2 sets of 20 Bicycle crunches: 1 set of 100 Prone Back Extension: 2 sets of 10 Followed workout with 30 minutes on gauntlet - Level 11 - Fat Burner.
Updated June 15th, 2012 at 04:59 PM by elise526
Tuesday morning hit the pool for a swim workout and followed it with a spin on the Schwinn Spinner bike. Did a long warm-up as I am not a morning person. Workout went as follows: Warm-up: 100 swim, 100 kick,300 pull 2 x 200 dolphin kick on back with fins 1 x 100 back pull with paddles Sets: 4 x 75 with fins on 1:45 - 25 drill/25 kick/25 swim - odds were fly and evens were back 3 x 200 - 100 pull/100 kick - odds were free, #2 was back 100 easy Followed immediately with 30 min spin on stationary bike. Sweated buckets! Wednesday Active rest - walked 1 mile with dog Thursday 30 minute sprint run/walk with dog - 2 minute warm-up walk and then alternated 3 minute run with 2 minute walk. Once I had done about a mile, I really pushed it and sprinted the runs. Got 2.5 miles done in 25:17(this includes the 2 minute warm-up walk). Walked another 5 minutes. Followed run with a 30 minute ride on my bike. Love biking in my neighborhood - very few cars and I know where the dogss are. Did 8.25 miles, averaging 16.3 mph. Average HR was 152.
Updated June 7th, 2012 at 08:50 PM by elise526
I am a day behind on blogging my workouts, so this is actually yesterday's workout. Still following my resistance workout/cardio plan. Hit the weights as follows: 10 minute warm-up on treadmill Bench: bar x 5, 65 x 5, 2 sets of 95 x 8 Lat hi row: 90 x 5, 2 sets of 110 x 8 Military press: 30 x 5, 2 sets fo 50 x 8 Lat pulldown with cable: 3 sets of 85 x 8 Hammer curls: 2 sets of 12 x 10 Squats: bar x 10, 2 sets of 95 x 8 Captain's Chair knee/leg lifts: 2 sets of 20 Seated calf-raises: 2 sets of 70 x 8 Hit the gauntlet and did 30 minutes of the fat burner workout at level 10. I was pouring sweat by the time I was done. According to the machine, supposedly I burned 380 calories in 30 minutes, but who knows how much I really burned. Guess I should have worn my HR monitor.
More swimming to come. I promise. Have been out of town the last few days taking a personal trainer certification course. I'll know in a couple of months if I passed. Kind of excited to start training people as working out is my passion. I have lots to learn because I am pretty old school on my weight room stuff. Learned a bunch of things with the stability ball - something I have used before but rarely use now. Also, learned a bunch of new exercises to work the core. Also, I am excited about a plan for my training that a personal trainer came up with. This guy is a guru - has a special ops background and has trained others for the same. Anyway, I have finally come up ith a plan where I can try to lose a few pounds, drop the body fat, yet still stay strong. First, I've been told I will have to train in the morning to get my metabolism going. Not wild about this as I am not a morning person but it can't hurt, especially since I have hypothyroidism and take my meds in the morning. I wake up with a slow metabolism until the synthroid can get in my blood, so working out in the morning is probably not a bad thing. Second, I am to follow my resistance workout with 30 minutes of cardio. So I will lift weights first and follow it with a 30 minute workout on the treadmill. Of course, I will warm-up 10 minutes before lifting weights. I am going to treat my swim workous like a resistance workout because I train for power and speed, using fins a good bit. I will follow each swim workout with a 30 minute spin on the bike. I plan to try this for one month and see how it goes. Before starting my plan last week, I got 2 miles of easy running in on Wednesday, May 30. I officially started my plan on June 1 and did as follows: 10 minute warm-up on gauntlet Bench press: bar x 5, 65 x 5, 2 sets of 95 x 6 Lat hi row: 90 x 5, 2 sets of 110 x 6 Hammer curls: 2 sets of 12 x 10 Squats: bar x 5, 2 sets of 95 x 8 Seated calf-raise machine: 2 sets of 70 x 8 Captain's chair: 2 sets of 20 bent knee/straight leg raises 30 minute workout on treadmill: 1 mile alternating 2 min walk at 3.5 mph with 1 min run at 7.0 mph, 1 mile alternating 1 min walk at 3.5 mph with 1 min run at 8.0 to 9.0 mph, 5 min. cool-down walk. Last night, feeling inspired, I did a treadmill workout at the hotel: 5 minute walk, 2 miles alternating 2 minute walk at 3.5 mph with 1 minute run at 8.0 moh, 5 minute walk. Did lots of exercises at the personal training seminar today, so think I will call it a day. Looks like tomorrow will be another weights/run day as the weather is supposed to be crappy. Tuesday looks like a good swim/bike day.
Two mile trail run this morning with my dog. Surprisingly, the heat did not bother me too much. Still thinking about the squats and running thing. I might pick up the running but continue the squats but at a very low weight. I like the exercise for simple functional strength. This afternoon, I rode my bike in my neighborhood which happens to be very rural. I call it my workout mecca because it is the perfect place to bike and run. Little traffic and not too many dogs. As I was biking down one road, I saw an EAGLE, a real live one, sitting in my neighbor's front yard. It was huge! At first I thought it was a statue, but then I saw it moving and realized it was the real thing. It must have two feet tall. Anyway, I rode 10 miles, averaging 17.2 mph. My heart rate for the ride averaged 159.
Swimming in an outdoor pool has lured me back into swimming more often. How wonderful it is to breathe fresh air! This morning I did the following workout: 300 easy swim 300 pull with buoy and paddles 300 dolphin kick with board 300: 150 dolphin on back w/fins, 150 dolphin on side with fins 4 x 25 underwaters 2 x 200 back with paddles 4 x 50 - 3 rt/3 lt/3 full fly 100 easy 2000 SCM Yesterday, ran 2 miles in the morning and did the following weight workout: Bench press: bar x 5, 65 x 5, 3 sets of 95 x 5 Lat hi row: 90 x 5, 3 sets of 110 x 5 Hammer curls: 2 sets of 12 x 10 Squats: bar x 5, 95 x 10 Leg lifts in captain's chair: 2 sets of 20 Trying to decide if I should pick up more running and punt the squats or keep the squats and do just a little bit of running. I want to be strong, but I am carrying just a little bit more weight than I would like right now. Nothing works better to drop weight and body fat than running. Running more than 2 or 3 miles at a time though does not go well with squats, at least not with me. I may need to work up to doing some runs of 6 miles if I hope to see any drop in the weight. I might punt squats except for just doing the bar until the end of the summer and do some running right now.
Socially, this week has been quite wonderful. Friends visiting town and friends on a break from work have put together all kinds of gatherings that have kept me outside getting lots of sun. Have had a couple of celebrations this week for my birthday. What a great week it has been. Even got in my 3 cardio workouts for the week - 2 swims and a Zumba workout (my first). Also got in one weight-lifting workout. Am continuing to walk at least 1.3 miles each day. Really enjoy the Zumba workout and think I will make it a regular thing on Wednesday mornings. The walking also is quite enjoyable. On weights, I have resumed heavy lifting again. The workout was as follows: Bench press: bar x 5, 65 x 5, 3 sets of 90 x 5 Lat hi row: 90 x 5, 3 sets of 110 x 5 Hammer curls: 3 sets of 12 x 10 Squats: bar x 10, 2 sets of 95 x 10 Captain's chair leg lifts: 2 sets of 10 Today the outdoor pool opened and I got there just when the pool opened for the day. Got in 2200 SCM as follows: 200 kick on side with fins 200 dolphin kick on back 4 x 50 : 25 back/25 free 4 x 50 with fins: 25 rt/25 lt fly 4 x 50: 3 rt/3 lt/3 full fly 200 dolphin kick 4 x 50 3 rt/3 lt/3 full fly 4 x 50 free with fins 200 kick on side with fins 4 x 50: 25 AFAP fly with fins/25 easy 200 easy Followed my swim with a strawberry daiquari from the poolside bar. Plan to hit the pool again tomorrow.
Boy, did I ever take it easy this week. Guess my muscles love me, but I wonder if I will ever get back into swimming shape. Didn't get a chance to get to the pool this week, but haven't given up on my mission to get back in shape. Got two sessions in as follows: 1 mile walk to warm up. 3 rounds of the following: 10 push-ups 10 pull-ups 20 leg lifts in captain's chair (actually when I do this I alternate a bent leg lift -knee lift- with a straight-leg leg lift) Walked at least 1.3 miles each day.
Still trying to get back into the habit of blogging. Didn't get to it last week. Whoops! Got in two days of weights, one day of swim, and took a walk of least 1.5 miles each day. The swim was on Wednesday and is as follows: Warm-up: 200 swim, 100k, 200 pull 2 x 300 - alternate 25 heads up/75 swim - 1 minute rest between swims 8 x 50 with fins - 25 kick/25 swim on 1:15 6 x 50 with fins - 25 uw/25 swim on 1:20 200 easy 2000 yards Thursday, did last heavy workout to conclude three weeks of heavy lifting. Bench press: bar x 5, 65 x 5, 3 sets of 100 x 5 Lat pull-down: 90 x 5, 110 x 5, 3 sets of 140 x 5 Squats: bar x 10, 65 x 20 Hammer curls: 2 sets of 12 x 15 Leg lifts in Captains chair: 2 sets of 20 Today, started my deload week. Letting the muscles, tendons, and joints rest after three weeks of heavy lifting. 1.5 mile walk, 1 mile: 2 min run fast/1 min walk 3 rounds of the following: 10 push-ups with bosu ball 10 pull-ups on pull-up assist machine 20 leg lifts in captain's chair Walked another 1.5 miles this evening.
Saturday, May 5 Hit the weights. 5 minute warm-up on gauntlet Bench press: bar x 5, 65 x 5 2 sets of 95 x 8 Lat pulldown: 110 x 5, 2 sets of 130 x 8 Overhead press with dumbbells; 2 sets of 12 x 10 Hammer curls: 2 sets of 12 x 10 Squats: 3 sets of 65 x 15 Hip adduction: 2 sets of 130 x 8 Hip abduction: 2 sets of 130 x 8 Seat toe raises: 2 sets of 70 x 8 Captain's Chair Leg Lifts: 3 sets of 20 Wanted to run later that day, but legs were tired. I guess from squats. I don't thing running and squats go too well together anyway. Legs were sore for a few days, so I have been doing walks each day. On Saturday, Sunday, and MOnday, walked 1.5 miles at a pretty brisk pace. I have a hard time considering walking as real exercise, but I guess it counts for something.
Kind of like the idea of swimming with fins while I am working on my upper body strength. Will take the load off my shoulders. Hit the pool around 1 today and did the following workout: 200 easy All below is with fins: 4 x 50: 25 swim/25 kick on 1:05 4 x 50: 12.5 uw/12.5 kick/12.5 uw/12.5 swim on 1:00 4 x 50 on 1:05 - odds are 25 uw/25 swim; evens are 25 uw/25 choice 3 x 150: 50 kick (10 sec rest)/100 swim on 30 seconds rest 2 x 150: alternate 25 kick/25 swim 200 warm-down
Back in the pool for a good workout on Wednesday, May 2. Have to say I fell in love with swimming again. Swam outdoors in a long course pool with perfect weather. Also had my new fins on for the entire workout. The water sliding over me felt wonderful. I felt so much peace shutting out the rest of the world as I swam back and forth. It all reminded me of why I got so into swimming so long ago. I can't remember the entire workout as it has been a couple of days, but did a total of 2100 yards. My favorite set was a series of 6 x 50 on 1:00 where we did 25 kick/25 swim. Haven't posted since last week, so will just give a brief overview of what I have done and then will post the weights workout I did last night. Thursday, April 26 Ran 3 miles. Threw a little bit of walking in there. Friday, April 27 Weights. Included 3 sets of 5 x 95 on bench press. Was told I should move up to 100 next time I lifted. Saturday, April 28 Two mile run. Tuesday, May 1 Two mile walk Wednesday, May 2 Two mile run 2100 meter swim Thursday, May 3 Weights Warm-up: 5 min. run/walk on treadmill Bench press: bar x 5, 65 x 5, 3 sets of 100 x 5 (well actually got a little bit of help on number 5 rep of last two sets). Will hang out at this weight for a while. Lat hi row: 90 x 5, 110 x 5, 3 sets of 140 x 5 Hammer curls: 2 sets of 15 x 10 Squats: 1 set of 65 x 20 Seated calf-raise machine ( I have called this ankle extension machine in the past.): 2 sets of 90 x 8 Captains chair: 3 sets of 20 leg raises
Yes, I do spend more time talking in the weight room than I do actually lifting weights. I think I might have run an elderly lady off today when I was telling a friend about my take-home exam in history. I could not help but chuckle when I talked about southerners fears over communism and hippies during the civil rights period. I guess she didn't think it too funny for me to be so casual about it. I suppose if some current protest march in the United States was linked to al-Qaeda, we would all be quite concerned. In any case, after taking to my friend and giving a gag gift to another (a wooden sign I found at a thrift store that said, "I stopped running because my thighs rubbed together so much, my underwear caught on fire."), I got started on my routine. 5 minute on gauntlet. Bench press: bar x 10, 65 x 8, 80 x 6, 95 x 4 Lat hi row: 90 x 10, 110 x 8, 120 x 6, 130 x 4 Leg press: 130 x 10, 140 x 8, 160 x 6, 180 x 4 Hip adduction: 2 sets of 130 x 10 Hip abduction: 2 sets of 110 x 10 Ankle flexion machine: 2 sets of 70 x 10 Hammer curls: 2 sets of 15 x 10 Captain's Chair Leg Lifts: 3 sets of 20 This afternoon, went for a 2 mile run.
Well, I was quite shocked that I was not sore on Tuesday after the extensive weight workout that I did. I'm not going to get too excited about it though because the last thing that needs to happen is for me to be overconfident on my weights. Too easy to get hurt! I guess I didn't get sore because I am so well-rested after my two year taper. In any case, hit the weight room again today and did the following workout: 5 minute warm-up on gauntlet Bench press: bar x 10, 70 x 6, 90 x 4, 100 x 2 Lat hi row: 90 x 10, 100 x 6, 110 x 4, 120 x 2 Hammer curls: 2 sets of 12 x 10 Squats: Bar x 20 3 sets of leg lifts in Captain's Chair I am somewhat hopeful that I will not have lost too much in the pool. I haven't totally been out of the pool, having done some workouts over the last couple of years. I just haven't done a meet in two years. Meet shape is quite another story. Guess I'll have to enter some this fall to see if I have any hope of getting back to a competitive level.
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