Good day everyone! This post is a bit late, but I am combining two workouts into one post. I am posting about Tuesday's workout with Karissa and today's cardio workout.
Tuesday was a tough day. Karissa and I decided that we would work on shoulders and abs. Take it from me, never do this combination with a trainer as that person will create some exercises that should never have been created. Mine was a Karissa creation and she even said that it was going to be hell. When a trainer says a workout is going to be hell, you know you are in for it.
Tuesday was made up of just 2 supersets. Actually it was just one superset and one drop set. So, let's start with the superset.
This time, the superset consisted of 7 exercises with no break in between. This was a test to see if I could complete all 7 exercises then take a moderate break and get right back into it. Some of the exercises were timed, some were distance, and some were reps. It was all over the place, but it was a monster workout.
We started out with getting into the plank position and walking forward down the hallway while maintaining the plank. The hallway is about 50-60 feet long. At the end of that piece of hell, I had to to standing side crunches (don't know if that's the name or not, but that's what I'm calling them). This movement meant reaching high with one hand then crunching down while raising the opposite knee to meet the elbow. 15 per side for this one.
The third exercise meant getting back into a plank and walking sideways back down the hallway. After that movement, we started exercises four, five, and six. Exercise four was a standard crunch with the legs in the air (thankfully I could keep my knees bent). Exercise five was a crunch with a twist - legs still in the air. Exercise six was one that Karissa called a dead bug. This one meant laying on my back and straightening both legs and pointing them to the sky. Also, point both arms to the sky. From this starting position, lower one arm and the opposite leg then return them to the starting position. These three exercises were done for one minute each. Damn, but it was painful. Very hard to do.
The last exercise in this superset was to get back into the plank and side walk down the hallway again. Finally, I was allowed to take a break. My shoulders and abs were killing me after just one rep. We did this two more times. Karissa was right, it was hell!
After we did these wonderful exercises we moved onto some lat raises to really tire out the shoulders. This is where we did the dropset. We started out by warming up with 10 reps at 7.5 pounds. We did this twice. Then we actually moved onto the set. We started at 12.5 pounds and did 10 reps. Immediately after, we dropped the weight to 10 pounds and did 12 reps. Immediately after that, we dropped the weight to 7.5 pounds and did 15 reps. At the end, I wasn't sure I was going to ever be able to raise my arms again. To make this harder, we did it seated so I couldn't use the mechanical advantage gained from standing. Plus, as the weights never came in front of me, I couldn't use my chest to build some momentum.
Needless to say, this workout was tough. Karissa did tell me that she wouldn't have most of her clients do this as it is a lot of work and she knew my shoulders could handle it. High praise from her indeed.
That leads me to today. Today was cardio day. Remember how I mentioned that I was planning on trying the treadmill instead of the elliptical. Well, today was that day. The plan was to do one hour on the treadmill. Again, the plan was to keep the heart rate at my training rate of 154 bpm. Well, somehow I finished it. The last 15 minutes were extremely painful. I even developed a blister on the bottom of my right foot. I think the sock bunched on that side. As I sit here typing this, my legs are tightening up and becoming quite sore. Ah well, I don't need them for a few days.
Here are my stats as taken from the treadmill.
Elapsed Time: 70 minutes
Calories: 686
Distance: 4.87 miles
Distance Climbed: 55 feet
Average Speed: 4.18 mph
Average Pace: 14:20/Mile
Average Heart Rate: 153
The heart rate was high and the climb was low due to a couple of factors. I started out at 5.4 MPH and was handling that quite well. The treadmill adjusts the incline based on the heart rate to keep it at the target. It was up to 2.1% incline when my heart rate hit 154 and went screaming past. The incline soon dropped to zero and stayed there. Plus the treadmill kept slowing down to get my heart rate down. It became almost too slow for my gait, but I'll talk to Karissa about that. Maybe my target is too low or something like that.
Anyway, my first foray on the treadmill was a success from my standpoint. I feel great tonight.
As a final point, and most of you will hate me for this, I lost weight over the holidays. I am down to 210 pounds. Very close to my goal of 204. I won't hit my goal by the end of the year obviously, but I am still shooting for the 204. Once I get there, I will readjust my goals. It may be time to think even smaller.
No Karissa next week as curling is taking precedence, but I will try to get a cardio workout somewhere in there. If I do, I will tell you all about it.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Operation 204 - Chapter 37
I am a bit early with this update, but that is because I am not working out tomorrow. Something about it being Christmas Eve! So, we moved my workout to today.
I wanted to work on some specific areas today as I have noticed there seems to be some imbalance between my right side and my left side. Unfortunately, curling creates a body that promotes one side over the other to tighten up and get stronger. For me, it's my left side. The left side is definitely stronger than the right side and it looks tighter.
So, today was upper body work with more emphasis on the right side than the left. We started with single arm incline bench press using the machine. On the machine you sit as opposed to lay down. We did 12 reps at 25 pounds per side where both arms pushed at the same time, then we switched to doing single arm pushups while holding the other arm at arms length. This was just to find out if this was going to work. Then we moved to the seated bench press machine where we did the same thing. We liked how this looked, so we started the 3 sets of doing incline press then bench press. The part that was different is that we pressed twice with the right side and once with the left side. Very tough at the end. We also dropped the reps to 10 instead of 12.
The second superset we did was focusing on the back. We did single arm lat pulldowns first then moved to single arm rows. Again, we did more on the right side than the left. We first did a set to see if it would work then moved onto 3 sets of 10 reps again. This time for the lat pulldowns, instead of holding the weight at arms length, I had to hold it down. Alternate arms and do twice as many on the right as the left. The rows were the same.
So, now I am at home and I am not sure I am going to be able to lift my arms to wash my hair in the morning. It was a tough workout.
There was one scary part of the workout though. I discovered a strange lump on my chest. It is right above my sternum, dead centre of my chest. Not sure what it is, but it hurts to touch it. I will be calling my doctor about it, but probably won't be able to get into see her until January. I don't think it's anything, but I want to be sure.
Anyway, I am not going to be working out until Monday when I do my cardio again. My next weight lifting workout will be on Tuesday due to the holiday schedule. I am also curling starting on Boxing Day, so I am sure I will get some exercise.
See you next week and have a very Merry Christmas!
I wanted to work on some specific areas today as I have noticed there seems to be some imbalance between my right side and my left side. Unfortunately, curling creates a body that promotes one side over the other to tighten up and get stronger. For me, it's my left side. The left side is definitely stronger than the right side and it looks tighter.
So, today was upper body work with more emphasis on the right side than the left. We started with single arm incline bench press using the machine. On the machine you sit as opposed to lay down. We did 12 reps at 25 pounds per side where both arms pushed at the same time, then we switched to doing single arm pushups while holding the other arm at arms length. This was just to find out if this was going to work. Then we moved to the seated bench press machine where we did the same thing. We liked how this looked, so we started the 3 sets of doing incline press then bench press. The part that was different is that we pressed twice with the right side and once with the left side. Very tough at the end. We also dropped the reps to 10 instead of 12.
The second superset we did was focusing on the back. We did single arm lat pulldowns first then moved to single arm rows. Again, we did more on the right side than the left. We first did a set to see if it would work then moved onto 3 sets of 10 reps again. This time for the lat pulldowns, instead of holding the weight at arms length, I had to hold it down. Alternate arms and do twice as many on the right as the left. The rows were the same.
So, now I am at home and I am not sure I am going to be able to lift my arms to wash my hair in the morning. It was a tough workout.
There was one scary part of the workout though. I discovered a strange lump on my chest. It is right above my sternum, dead centre of my chest. Not sure what it is, but it hurts to touch it. I will be calling my doctor about it, but probably won't be able to get into see her until January. I don't think it's anything, but I want to be sure.
Anyway, I am not going to be working out until Monday when I do my cardio again. My next weight lifting workout will be on Tuesday due to the holiday schedule. I am also curling starting on Boxing Day, so I am sure I will get some exercise.
See you next week and have a very Merry Christmas!
Monday, December 20, 2010
Operation 204 - Chapter 36
I know, another Monday and another update. You can't believe it. I am not sure I can either. I decided that I need to keep up the cardio work that I started last week. Today I did another 65 minutes. However, this time, I remembered to save my results from the elliptical.
Total elapsed time: 65 minutes
Total calories burned: 726
Total distance: 7.32 miles (11.78 km)
Average speed: 6.75 mph (10.86 kph)
Average pace: 8:52 / mile (5:33 / km)
Average heart rate: 149 bpm
Target heart rate: 154 bpm
I know for those of you who workout or run a lot more than I do these numbers are quite sad. But for me, I think they are amazing. I wasn't sure that I could complete another 65 minutes on the elliptical, but I did.
This time, the first 20 minutes were tougher than last week, but I was able to fight through that and the last 40 minutes were a bit easier. The last 5 were really easy as that's my cooldown period so I get to take it easy.
Weigh-in today showed another pound gone. Dropped to 211. I am happy with that, but want to continue dropping.
Also, here's a quick update on Friday's workout. I have been fighting a cold for the last 10 days or so. Friday, as you will remember, we did 30 minutes of abs. It was very hard to cough yesterday during day two stiffness. Coughing hurt! Not sure how I am going to pay Karissa back for that one, but I will find a way!
See you Thursday - had to move my next session up as Christmas comes this weekend.
Total elapsed time: 65 minutes
Total calories burned: 726
Total distance: 7.32 miles (11.78 km)
Average speed: 6.75 mph (10.86 kph)
Average pace: 8:52 / mile (5:33 / km)
Average heart rate: 149 bpm
Target heart rate: 154 bpm
I know for those of you who workout or run a lot more than I do these numbers are quite sad. But for me, I think they are amazing. I wasn't sure that I could complete another 65 minutes on the elliptical, but I did.
This time, the first 20 minutes were tougher than last week, but I was able to fight through that and the last 40 minutes were a bit easier. The last 5 were really easy as that's my cooldown period so I get to take it easy.
Weigh-in today showed another pound gone. Dropped to 211. I am happy with that, but want to continue dropping.
Also, here's a quick update on Friday's workout. I have been fighting a cold for the last 10 days or so. Friday, as you will remember, we did 30 minutes of abs. It was very hard to cough yesterday during day two stiffness. Coughing hurt! Not sure how I am going to pay Karissa back for that one, but I will find a way!
See you Thursday - had to move my next session up as Christmas comes this weekend.
Friday, December 17, 2010
Operation 204 - Chapter 35
Good day!
Today was my regular Friday workout again. I barely have the energy to write this post, but write it I will.
Now that I am working out with Karissa once per week, we have been discussing areas to work on and like an idiot, I said that I need to work on my abs a bit more. Well, today we did. We also worked on my back, chest, and shoulders.
We started with some light warmups consisting of T-push ups with a pushup in between each T and lat pull downs. We did three sets of these.
After that, we moved to the cable machine where I did a form resembling an incline pushup, followed by an upwards row, followed by a form resembling a decline pushup, followed by a downwards row, followed by a side twist. These were all done one immediately following the other. But, we only did two sets of these. Also, these weren't done to number or reps, these were all done for 1 minute for each exercise. I hate that as I previously mentioned. I don't know when the end point is coming so it is very hard to keep going for the entire minute.
For the last thirty minutes, we moved onto the ab work. I don't remember all of the forms that we did, but I will try to list them here.
That was it. Once we were done the ab work, I was done for the day. I was tired, but it was a good tired.
So, that's it for this post. I will be working harder over the next few months as I want to increase the gains that I have made to date. Keep watching for future updates.
Today was my regular Friday workout again. I barely have the energy to write this post, but write it I will.
Now that I am working out with Karissa once per week, we have been discussing areas to work on and like an idiot, I said that I need to work on my abs a bit more. Well, today we did. We also worked on my back, chest, and shoulders.
We started with some light warmups consisting of T-push ups with a pushup in between each T and lat pull downs. We did three sets of these.
After that, we moved to the cable machine where I did a form resembling an incline pushup, followed by an upwards row, followed by a form resembling a decline pushup, followed by a downwards row, followed by a side twist. These were all done one immediately following the other. But, we only did two sets of these. Also, these weren't done to number or reps, these were all done for 1 minute for each exercise. I hate that as I previously mentioned. I don't know when the end point is coming so it is very hard to keep going for the entire minute.
For the last thirty minutes, we moved onto the ab work. I don't remember all of the forms that we did, but I will try to list them here.
- Around the world crunches (they look like the letter u)
- Side to side knee touches (a diagonal crunch)
- V sit twists
- There were a couple of leg lift moves
- There were a couple of plank moves
- There was something else painful
That was it. Once we were done the ab work, I was done for the day. I was tired, but it was a good tired.
So, that's it for this post. I will be working harder over the next few months as I want to increase the gains that I have made to date. Keep watching for future updates.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Operation 204 - Chapter 34
Good day everyone!
I know, it's been a while since I have last updated this blog and I thought that tonight was a good night to bring you up to speed. A lot has happened since my last update, but I won't be going into a lot of details here. Just the high points.
Since my last update in September, I started curling a lot more often. This changed my workout plans as I could no longer workout on Tuesdays nor Wednesdays. My trainer, Karissa, couldn't train me on Mondays or Thursdays. I like my weekends, so I could only workout on Fridays. Once per week wasn't enough to increase my fitness levels so we chose to begin my maintenance phase. We will begin strength training again once curling is complete.
So, on Fridays we have moved to a more general workout style that is sometimes whole body and sometimes just a couple of specific areas. The workouts haven't been any easier because we are in maintenance, but they have been more imaginative. Somehow, I still surprise Karissa with what I can do. I must say that my balance has improved immensely.
Also, during this time, I have been quite ill. I ended up seeing a specialist as I really couldn't eat. I had to change my eating habits completely. For the most part, I cut out foods that made me too full. I stopped eating bread and pasta. I stopped eating anything that might be too spicy (which meant tacos and chili - two of my favourites). I stopped drinking alcohol entirely. True, I hadn't had anything since July anyway, but I continued this. I stopped eating out entirely and really watched what I ate at home.
The funny thing was, I began to eat properly. I always ate healthy, but now I started to eat properly. I actually ate more in the long run than I normally did before. For example, prior to becoming ill, I would have an Nestle Breakfast Anytime to start my day. At noon I would eat lunch (cottage cheese, sandwich, sugar snap peas, a small rice pudding cup, an apple, and a rice crispy square), then at around 6 pm I would eat dinner (normal dinner - protein, starch, veg). That would be it for the day. After I became ill, my eating changed. Breakfast was still a Nestle Breakfast Anytime, 10 am for a snack (All Bran Bar usually), noon for lunch (cottage cheese, sugar snap peas, rice pudding cup), 2:30 pm snack (apple and rice crispy square), 6 pm dinner (protein, vegetable, starch), 9 pm snack (usually ice cream). So, you will notice I actually ate more.
The end result of all of this increased eating - a loss of 31 pounds. When I stepped on the scale on Monday it read 212 lbs. I am not sure I have weighed this much since high school. It's amazing. For a while, I was losing anywhere from 3 to 4 pounds per week. And I feel great.
My illness hasn't completely left yet and I am still on medication so still no alcohol, but I have been able to add some breads and pastas into my diet. I have also been able to bring in some spice too. All in all, the illness worked out for me. Hard to believe.
So, now that you are up to date on that, I will be keeping you up to date on my workouts. This week, I started with 65 minutes on the elliptical machine with an average heart rate of 149 (including warm up and cool down). My target heart rate is 154 so I was quite happy as I sustained that for 55 minutes.
Friday, I return to Karissa for my next workout. She has already warned me that we are working on abs a lot for the next while to help tighten the areas where I have lost the weight.
It looks like 204 is right within reach, but I may end up passing it as I am starting to like the way that I look - for the first time in a long time.
See you Friday!
I know, it's been a while since I have last updated this blog and I thought that tonight was a good night to bring you up to speed. A lot has happened since my last update, but I won't be going into a lot of details here. Just the high points.
Since my last update in September, I started curling a lot more often. This changed my workout plans as I could no longer workout on Tuesdays nor Wednesdays. My trainer, Karissa, couldn't train me on Mondays or Thursdays. I like my weekends, so I could only workout on Fridays. Once per week wasn't enough to increase my fitness levels so we chose to begin my maintenance phase. We will begin strength training again once curling is complete.
So, on Fridays we have moved to a more general workout style that is sometimes whole body and sometimes just a couple of specific areas. The workouts haven't been any easier because we are in maintenance, but they have been more imaginative. Somehow, I still surprise Karissa with what I can do. I must say that my balance has improved immensely.
Also, during this time, I have been quite ill. I ended up seeing a specialist as I really couldn't eat. I had to change my eating habits completely. For the most part, I cut out foods that made me too full. I stopped eating bread and pasta. I stopped eating anything that might be too spicy (which meant tacos and chili - two of my favourites). I stopped drinking alcohol entirely. True, I hadn't had anything since July anyway, but I continued this. I stopped eating out entirely and really watched what I ate at home.
The funny thing was, I began to eat properly. I always ate healthy, but now I started to eat properly. I actually ate more in the long run than I normally did before. For example, prior to becoming ill, I would have an Nestle Breakfast Anytime to start my day. At noon I would eat lunch (cottage cheese, sandwich, sugar snap peas, a small rice pudding cup, an apple, and a rice crispy square), then at around 6 pm I would eat dinner (normal dinner - protein, starch, veg). That would be it for the day. After I became ill, my eating changed. Breakfast was still a Nestle Breakfast Anytime, 10 am for a snack (All Bran Bar usually), noon for lunch (cottage cheese, sugar snap peas, rice pudding cup), 2:30 pm snack (apple and rice crispy square), 6 pm dinner (protein, vegetable, starch), 9 pm snack (usually ice cream). So, you will notice I actually ate more.
The end result of all of this increased eating - a loss of 31 pounds. When I stepped on the scale on Monday it read 212 lbs. I am not sure I have weighed this much since high school. It's amazing. For a while, I was losing anywhere from 3 to 4 pounds per week. And I feel great.
My illness hasn't completely left yet and I am still on medication so still no alcohol, but I have been able to add some breads and pastas into my diet. I have also been able to bring in some spice too. All in all, the illness worked out for me. Hard to believe.
So, now that you are up to date on that, I will be keeping you up to date on my workouts. This week, I started with 65 minutes on the elliptical machine with an average heart rate of 149 (including warm up and cool down). My target heart rate is 154 so I was quite happy as I sustained that for 55 minutes.
Friday, I return to Karissa for my next workout. She has already warned me that we are working on abs a lot for the next while to help tighten the areas where I have lost the weight.
It looks like 204 is right within reach, but I may end up passing it as I am starting to like the way that I look - for the first time in a long time.
See you Friday!
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Operation 204 - Chapter 33
It's been a while since I last updated this blog, and it seems fitting that I am updating it with another workout update.
It has been a while since I have worked out, but that is because I am battling an illness. Still not sure what it is, but the latest thinking is that I have ulcers. We are also looking at my gallbladder as it could also be the culprit, but for now we are treating the illness as though it is ulcers. The problem is constant pain and I can't eat much. The bonus is that I have lost 10 pounds in the last 2 weeks. That is bringing me closer to my goal of 204 as I am now at 229.
So, today I finally felt well enough to try and workout again. I was willing to give it a try last week, but Karissa thought it best that I take another week to see if I could really get back into it. She is really looking out for me as I believe today that she made the right call. I was dreading today as I haven't been in the gym for two weeks and knew that today was going to be tough. It was.
We only had 2 supersets planned for today to ease me back into the workouts. The first superset was made up of 3 exercises. The first exercise was a rear leg kick with the leg attached to the cable machine. I don't know what weight Karissa set me at, but I could sure feel it in my hamstrings. We did this 12 times per leg. The second exercise was mimicking the sweeping motion in curling using the resistance band. Very tough as this was done for 30 seconds per side. The final exercise in this superset was twisting to pull the cable weights - a good core exercise. This was done 15 times per side. However, this last exercise changed slightly each set. The first set had my hands in tight to my chest, the second one had my hands about half-way extended, and the last had my hands fully extended. This kept bringing the shoulders into play each set.
The second superset was also made up of 3 exercises. The first exercise was lunges with the back leg strapped into the TRX. 12 per side. The second exercise was scapula push-ups - 15 of these. The last exercise was TRX rows - the one where you row your entire body - 10 reps. I was only able to complete 2 reps of this superset as I was too dizzy to continue. My illness hurt me here as I was very dehydrated and it hit me at this point. The reason for my dehydration is that it hurts whenever I put something into my stomach, so I avoid eating and drinking. I am going to have to find something that works for me here as I want to continue my workouts.
A couple of other things that I should mention here. I have had to give up coffee, chocolate, bread, pasta, and anything too spicy. Oh yeah, I also haven't had a beer in over a month. These restrictions on my diet - all self induced - really suck, but all of those things hurt more so I have given them up until I heal.
Anyway, my workouts now move to Fridays so I will update this story then.
It has been a while since I have worked out, but that is because I am battling an illness. Still not sure what it is, but the latest thinking is that I have ulcers. We are also looking at my gallbladder as it could also be the culprit, but for now we are treating the illness as though it is ulcers. The problem is constant pain and I can't eat much. The bonus is that I have lost 10 pounds in the last 2 weeks. That is bringing me closer to my goal of 204 as I am now at 229.
So, today I finally felt well enough to try and workout again. I was willing to give it a try last week, but Karissa thought it best that I take another week to see if I could really get back into it. She is really looking out for me as I believe today that she made the right call. I was dreading today as I haven't been in the gym for two weeks and knew that today was going to be tough. It was.
We only had 2 supersets planned for today to ease me back into the workouts. The first superset was made up of 3 exercises. The first exercise was a rear leg kick with the leg attached to the cable machine. I don't know what weight Karissa set me at, but I could sure feel it in my hamstrings. We did this 12 times per leg. The second exercise was mimicking the sweeping motion in curling using the resistance band. Very tough as this was done for 30 seconds per side. The final exercise in this superset was twisting to pull the cable weights - a good core exercise. This was done 15 times per side. However, this last exercise changed slightly each set. The first set had my hands in tight to my chest, the second one had my hands about half-way extended, and the last had my hands fully extended. This kept bringing the shoulders into play each set.
The second superset was also made up of 3 exercises. The first exercise was lunges with the back leg strapped into the TRX. 12 per side. The second exercise was scapula push-ups - 15 of these. The last exercise was TRX rows - the one where you row your entire body - 10 reps. I was only able to complete 2 reps of this superset as I was too dizzy to continue. My illness hurt me here as I was very dehydrated and it hit me at this point. The reason for my dehydration is that it hurts whenever I put something into my stomach, so I avoid eating and drinking. I am going to have to find something that works for me here as I want to continue my workouts.
A couple of other things that I should mention here. I have had to give up coffee, chocolate, bread, pasta, and anything too spicy. Oh yeah, I also haven't had a beer in over a month. These restrictions on my diet - all self induced - really suck, but all of those things hurt more so I have given them up until I heal.
Anyway, my workouts now move to Fridays so I will update this story then.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Operation 204 - Chapter 32
The weekend is over, Monday is past, and today was another workout day. I am writing this 3 hours after the end of the workout and I am still wiped. It was a tough one today with a bunch of new exercises in store.
I knew that today was going to be tough because I was finally able to get even with Karissa. I will talk about that more at the end of this post. She had set a very ambitious plan for today, but it was a bit too ambitious as we weren't able to get through it all. We could only get through 2 of the supersets. Two of the most deceiving supersets ever.
The first superset wasn't that bad...on paper. Once I actually started it though, it got a lot tougher. It was another 3 exercise superset. The first exercises was one where we put a single handle on the cable row machine. I had to hold it in front of me and lift the weight by twisting my body. No shoulders, no arms, no legs, just abs. It's a lot tougher than it sounds. Especially when you have to do 12 per side. The second exercise was 24 t-pushups while holding a weight in one hand - 12 per side. The last exercise was 12 cable rows. We repeated this superset 3 times. The shoulders were screaming at me during the final t-pushup set, but I was able to get through it.
So, if I thought my shoulders were cranky after that, I was in for a rude surprise for the second superset. Again, it was a 3 exercise superset and another piece of equipment was introduced. The first exercises was walking planks down the long hallway and back. To do this, get into the plank position and move yourself sideways down the hallway. Murder on the wrists and abs. The second exercise was done on the RBK platform. Imagine one board attached to another by suspending it over the second board by a spring in the middle. This make the board very unstable - essentially a wobble board that moves in all directions. So, for the second exercise, I had to do a plank on the RBK and twist it back and forth like steering a car wheel extremely quickly. This was done for 1 minute. The final exercise was a sidestep squat down the hallway and back again. To do this, you step one foot out, squat, then bring the other foot to the first. Repeat another 25 times or so, then return back to where you started.
All of that was repeated 3 times. Those walking planks were one of the most painful things that I have ever done. I had to stop frequently as my wrists were killing me. That is a lot of weight to be placing on my wrists for an extreme amount of time.
We did have one other superset planned, but we ran out of time. I think that I am glad that we ran out of time as they sounded nasty.
Now that I have updated you on the workout, here is the story about how I got even with Karissa. As I told her when I started my program, the reason for all of this work was to improve my curling. As she hasn't really curled before (there are pictures of her curling a game, but the form was really bad and sweeping wasn't really a priority) I wanted to take her out on the ice to show her how I curl so she could create my program with that in mind. Sunday was finally that day.
I picked her up and took her to the Saville Sports Centre where I had booked a sheet of ice for an hour. I had already had 1 game and 1 practice under my belt this season, so I already had my "sea legs" and the ice wasn't any problem for me. However, Karissa wasn't ready for it at all. She had also done a killer leg workout on Saturday so she was already sore. This wasn't going to help.
To start with, we just went up and down the sheet to get her used to the slider and the feeling of "slipping" on the ice. After that, a couple of practice slides (where she didn't fall down...until the second one), then it was onto throwing rocks. At first, her position was horrible. It looked like every beginner's slide. I was able to get her into a proper position after just a few rocks. She had her foot behind the rock, trail leg extended, and shoulders square. She looked great out there.
Once we had thrown our rocks to the other end, it was time to show her how to sweep. The first time she went down with a rock, it was one of the funniest things I have ever seen. I have never seen anyone hold the broom where she did and her footwork was comical. I did have her take off her slider for this so she could walk with the rock as I didn't want to kill her...at that time.
I was able to show her how to sweep properly and how to get more downforce on the broom. By the end of it, she looked better, but there is much room for improvement. We alternated between throwing the rocks and sweeping each others, so it gave us both a bit of a break between sweeping. She was doing fine, until she threw her last rock. She threw it well, but as she went to stand up, both feet slipped and she went down hard. It looked like it hurt - turns out it did. On the drive home, she decided to take a look at her knee and she had a nice big bursa on it. It was swelling up nicely. On a side note, she has awesome legs. Like I mean exceptional legs. Just had to get that out of the way.
I did get an update today on the knee. The swelling has left, but the knee is still a bit sore. It's nothing too bad, but she did land hard. Now, even with that, she learned that the sport is a lot tougher than it looks. She always knew that, but now she also has the feeling for it too. I think that it has given her some ideas on some new exercises to help work those specific muscle groups, so we will see what happens as the workouts continue. Also, she is interesting in hitting the ice again, so I may take her out again later in the season.
I am really going to miss Karissa when my sessions are complete. Not sure how I am going to deal with that day.
No update on Thursday as Karissa is busy and so am I. Off to the 306 on the weekend, so another chapter next Tuesday.
I knew that today was going to be tough because I was finally able to get even with Karissa. I will talk about that more at the end of this post. She had set a very ambitious plan for today, but it was a bit too ambitious as we weren't able to get through it all. We could only get through 2 of the supersets. Two of the most deceiving supersets ever.
The first superset wasn't that bad...on paper. Once I actually started it though, it got a lot tougher. It was another 3 exercise superset. The first exercises was one where we put a single handle on the cable row machine. I had to hold it in front of me and lift the weight by twisting my body. No shoulders, no arms, no legs, just abs. It's a lot tougher than it sounds. Especially when you have to do 12 per side. The second exercise was 24 t-pushups while holding a weight in one hand - 12 per side. The last exercise was 12 cable rows. We repeated this superset 3 times. The shoulders were screaming at me during the final t-pushup set, but I was able to get through it.
So, if I thought my shoulders were cranky after that, I was in for a rude surprise for the second superset. Again, it was a 3 exercise superset and another piece of equipment was introduced. The first exercises was walking planks down the long hallway and back. To do this, get into the plank position and move yourself sideways down the hallway. Murder on the wrists and abs. The second exercise was done on the RBK platform. Imagine one board attached to another by suspending it over the second board by a spring in the middle. This make the board very unstable - essentially a wobble board that moves in all directions. So, for the second exercise, I had to do a plank on the RBK and twist it back and forth like steering a car wheel extremely quickly. This was done for 1 minute. The final exercise was a sidestep squat down the hallway and back again. To do this, you step one foot out, squat, then bring the other foot to the first. Repeat another 25 times or so, then return back to where you started.
All of that was repeated 3 times. Those walking planks were one of the most painful things that I have ever done. I had to stop frequently as my wrists were killing me. That is a lot of weight to be placing on my wrists for an extreme amount of time.
We did have one other superset planned, but we ran out of time. I think that I am glad that we ran out of time as they sounded nasty.
Now that I have updated you on the workout, here is the story about how I got even with Karissa. As I told her when I started my program, the reason for all of this work was to improve my curling. As she hasn't really curled before (there are pictures of her curling a game, but the form was really bad and sweeping wasn't really a priority) I wanted to take her out on the ice to show her how I curl so she could create my program with that in mind. Sunday was finally that day.
I picked her up and took her to the Saville Sports Centre where I had booked a sheet of ice for an hour. I had already had 1 game and 1 practice under my belt this season, so I already had my "sea legs" and the ice wasn't any problem for me. However, Karissa wasn't ready for it at all. She had also done a killer leg workout on Saturday so she was already sore. This wasn't going to help.
To start with, we just went up and down the sheet to get her used to the slider and the feeling of "slipping" on the ice. After that, a couple of practice slides (where she didn't fall down...until the second one), then it was onto throwing rocks. At first, her position was horrible. It looked like every beginner's slide. I was able to get her into a proper position after just a few rocks. She had her foot behind the rock, trail leg extended, and shoulders square. She looked great out there.
Once we had thrown our rocks to the other end, it was time to show her how to sweep. The first time she went down with a rock, it was one of the funniest things I have ever seen. I have never seen anyone hold the broom where she did and her footwork was comical. I did have her take off her slider for this so she could walk with the rock as I didn't want to kill her...at that time.
I was able to show her how to sweep properly and how to get more downforce on the broom. By the end of it, she looked better, but there is much room for improvement. We alternated between throwing the rocks and sweeping each others, so it gave us both a bit of a break between sweeping. She was doing fine, until she threw her last rock. She threw it well, but as she went to stand up, both feet slipped and she went down hard. It looked like it hurt - turns out it did. On the drive home, she decided to take a look at her knee and she had a nice big bursa on it. It was swelling up nicely. On a side note, she has awesome legs. Like I mean exceptional legs. Just had to get that out of the way.
I did get an update today on the knee. The swelling has left, but the knee is still a bit sore. It's nothing too bad, but she did land hard. Now, even with that, she learned that the sport is a lot tougher than it looks. She always knew that, but now she also has the feeling for it too. I think that it has given her some ideas on some new exercises to help work those specific muscle groups, so we will see what happens as the workouts continue. Also, she is interesting in hitting the ice again, so I may take her out again later in the season.
I am really going to miss Karissa when my sessions are complete. Not sure how I am going to deal with that day.
No update on Thursday as Karissa is busy and so am I. Off to the 306 on the weekend, so another chapter next Tuesday.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Operation 204 - Chapter 31
Here is Thursday's update. Mixed feelings about today as I think I actually enjoyed today - but I can't admit that to Karissa as she might think that this is actually enjoyable for me.
Today was more all-over body workout again. Also, there was more balance work that I totally destroyed (ha ha ha ha).
For the first superset we did 2 exercises, but they weren't the easiest. The first one was doing the lunges with my back foot strapped in the TRX machine so I had to keep my balance in multiple directions. Not easy, but I was able to do it to completion. The second exercise was a three-part one using the bosu ball. Part one was to lunge onto the bosu. Part two was to lunge to the side (while still facing forward). Part three was to lunge backwards. This was repeated for each leg. For this superset, we increased the reps each time. We went from 8 to 10 to 12 reps. The 12th one was getting damn tough for all of the exercises as the legs were starting to scream.
For the second superset we moved back to three exercises and we did them all on the cable machine. This time we joined shoulder presses with tricep extensions and bicep curls. We also did a change up on this one where the first round was reps and the second and third rounds were timed - except for the shoulder press.
Round 1 - 15 shoulder presses, 45 seconds of tricep extensions at a high weight, 45 seconds of bicep curls at a high weight.
Round 2 - 15 shoulder presses, 45 seconds of tricep extensions at a high weight, 45 seconds of bicep curls at a high weight.
Round 3 - 15 shoulder presses, 1 minute of tricep curls at a low weight and high speed, 1 minute of bicep curls at a low weight and a high speed.
Finally we were able to move onto the 3rd superset. This time we moved to the mat for 2 exercises. The first one was stability ball abdominal extensions. This move was done by kneeling on the ground and leaning on the ball. From that starting position stretch forward and then use the abs to bring the ball back to the starting position. The second exercise was holding a weight and then pretending to stir a large cauldron for 1 minute - 30 seconds clockwise followed by 30 seconds counter-clockwise. We repeated this superset 3 times. My shoulders were ready to call it a life time after that one.
On another note, I am taking my trainer to the curling ice on Sunday night. It is my turn to show her how to play the great game - and to pay her back for a bit. I will teach her how to slide, throw rocks and, most importantly, how to sweep. I don't think that I will work her too hard as I don't want her to fall and hurt herself, but I want to make sure she has a sense of what I do so she can find some exercises that will work for me.
This ends a busy week of 3 golf games, 2 workouts, 1 curling practice, 1 curling game, and 1 poker tournament. Not a bad week if I do say so myself. And on the best note, Karissa was totally impressed with my progress so far.
See you Thursday.
Today was more all-over body workout again. Also, there was more balance work that I totally destroyed (ha ha ha ha).
For the first superset we did 2 exercises, but they weren't the easiest. The first one was doing the lunges with my back foot strapped in the TRX machine so I had to keep my balance in multiple directions. Not easy, but I was able to do it to completion. The second exercise was a three-part one using the bosu ball. Part one was to lunge onto the bosu. Part two was to lunge to the side (while still facing forward). Part three was to lunge backwards. This was repeated for each leg. For this superset, we increased the reps each time. We went from 8 to 10 to 12 reps. The 12th one was getting damn tough for all of the exercises as the legs were starting to scream.
For the second superset we moved back to three exercises and we did them all on the cable machine. This time we joined shoulder presses with tricep extensions and bicep curls. We also did a change up on this one where the first round was reps and the second and third rounds were timed - except for the shoulder press.
Round 1 - 15 shoulder presses, 45 seconds of tricep extensions at a high weight, 45 seconds of bicep curls at a high weight.
Round 2 - 15 shoulder presses, 45 seconds of tricep extensions at a high weight, 45 seconds of bicep curls at a high weight.
Round 3 - 15 shoulder presses, 1 minute of tricep curls at a low weight and high speed, 1 minute of bicep curls at a low weight and a high speed.
Finally we were able to move onto the 3rd superset. This time we moved to the mat for 2 exercises. The first one was stability ball abdominal extensions. This move was done by kneeling on the ground and leaning on the ball. From that starting position stretch forward and then use the abs to bring the ball back to the starting position. The second exercise was holding a weight and then pretending to stir a large cauldron for 1 minute - 30 seconds clockwise followed by 30 seconds counter-clockwise. We repeated this superset 3 times. My shoulders were ready to call it a life time after that one.
On another note, I am taking my trainer to the curling ice on Sunday night. It is my turn to show her how to play the great game - and to pay her back for a bit. I will teach her how to slide, throw rocks and, most importantly, how to sweep. I don't think that I will work her too hard as I don't want her to fall and hurt herself, but I want to make sure she has a sense of what I do so she can find some exercises that will work for me.
This ends a busy week of 3 golf games, 2 workouts, 1 curling practice, 1 curling game, and 1 poker tournament. Not a bad week if I do say so myself. And on the best note, Karissa was totally impressed with my progress so far.
See you Thursday.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Operation 204 - Chapter 30
Good day everyone. It's another Tuesday so that means another update.
Karissa returned from vacation and today was my first workout with her in 2 weeks. As you remember, the last 4 workouts were on my own. It turns out that she had spies at the gym to ensure that I was there and working out. It sounds like there was at least 3 of them. The report was favourable, I guess, as she said that she heard good things about my workouts. I didn't even pay them to say nice things about me.
How to describe today...pure hell seems to fit. I knew it was going to be bad, but I didn't know it was going to be this bad. I am sure that it didn't help that I have been unable to really eat for the past 3 weeks. I think it's time to see the doc again. Anyway, I digress.
It started out with me doing my warm-up on the elliptical and once Karissa arrived I was ready to leave that machine behind...she had different ideas. It turns out that we were to incorporate the elliptical into the first superset. That first one consisted of 2 minutes going as fast as I could on the elliptical - I found out that they have a limit as to how fast they will go. The machine kept stopping on me once I was over 16 mph. I had to keep it below that speed. Anyway, 2 minutes is very painful. Once that exercise was complete, we moved onto squats. We kept the weight lights (95 pounds) and did that 10 times, then we did a shoulder raise/squat move while standing on the bosu ball - flat side up. Karissa wanted me to do this while standing on one leg, but that wasn't going to happen. We repeated this superset 3 times.
The second superset didn't involve legs, but it was another tough one. Another timed event (which I hate). Come to think of it, I blogged earlier about hating timed events. Maybe that's why Karissa puts them in...I have to remember that one. The timed event was one where we used resistance bands and did alternate punches using the bands as the weight. This was done for 1 minute. We found out that the band on the left was much tougher to pull than the one on the right, so my left side got really tired. The second exercise was bench press - again low weight 75 pounds (10 reps) then 24 T push-ups. The shoulders were starting to complain on this one as we completed this superset 3 times.
The last superset was another 3 hellish exercises. Again, the first one was timed. This time I had to do alternating rows with the resistance bands for one minute. After that piece of hell, it was time for 10 lat pull-downs, then finally 12 concentration curls (per side). Repeat twice more for a total of 3.
I was completely done at the end of today. I had nothing left and had to rest a bit before I could even shower. It took me about 30 minutes to recover enough where I could move and get things working again. Very tough day. And from the sounds of it, Thursday is not going to be any easier.
Tomorrow, I have my first curling game of the season, so we will see if all this work is paying off. Practice on Sunday went well and I seemed to be a lot more comfortable on the ice than I usually am after returning from the off-season.
I also have some bad news for the guys reading this. Karissa is no longer single. That's right, the girl that wasn't looking for a partner has found one. He works out at the gym and is soon starting there as a trainer as well. Time will tell, but I think that she is going to be taken for a while. So, you all missed your chance. She is one very attractive and fun girl.
See you Thursday.
Karissa returned from vacation and today was my first workout with her in 2 weeks. As you remember, the last 4 workouts were on my own. It turns out that she had spies at the gym to ensure that I was there and working out. It sounds like there was at least 3 of them. The report was favourable, I guess, as she said that she heard good things about my workouts. I didn't even pay them to say nice things about me.
How to describe today...pure hell seems to fit. I knew it was going to be bad, but I didn't know it was going to be this bad. I am sure that it didn't help that I have been unable to really eat for the past 3 weeks. I think it's time to see the doc again. Anyway, I digress.
It started out with me doing my warm-up on the elliptical and once Karissa arrived I was ready to leave that machine behind...she had different ideas. It turns out that we were to incorporate the elliptical into the first superset. That first one consisted of 2 minutes going as fast as I could on the elliptical - I found out that they have a limit as to how fast they will go. The machine kept stopping on me once I was over 16 mph. I had to keep it below that speed. Anyway, 2 minutes is very painful. Once that exercise was complete, we moved onto squats. We kept the weight lights (95 pounds) and did that 10 times, then we did a shoulder raise/squat move while standing on the bosu ball - flat side up. Karissa wanted me to do this while standing on one leg, but that wasn't going to happen. We repeated this superset 3 times.
The second superset didn't involve legs, but it was another tough one. Another timed event (which I hate). Come to think of it, I blogged earlier about hating timed events. Maybe that's why Karissa puts them in...I have to remember that one. The timed event was one where we used resistance bands and did alternate punches using the bands as the weight. This was done for 1 minute. We found out that the band on the left was much tougher to pull than the one on the right, so my left side got really tired. The second exercise was bench press - again low weight 75 pounds (10 reps) then 24 T push-ups. The shoulders were starting to complain on this one as we completed this superset 3 times.
The last superset was another 3 hellish exercises. Again, the first one was timed. This time I had to do alternating rows with the resistance bands for one minute. After that piece of hell, it was time for 10 lat pull-downs, then finally 12 concentration curls (per side). Repeat twice more for a total of 3.
I was completely done at the end of today. I had nothing left and had to rest a bit before I could even shower. It took me about 30 minutes to recover enough where I could move and get things working again. Very tough day. And from the sounds of it, Thursday is not going to be any easier.
Tomorrow, I have my first curling game of the season, so we will see if all this work is paying off. Practice on Sunday went well and I seemed to be a lot more comfortable on the ice than I usually am after returning from the off-season.
I also have some bad news for the guys reading this. Karissa is no longer single. That's right, the girl that wasn't looking for a partner has found one. He works out at the gym and is soon starting there as a trainer as well. Time will tell, but I think that she is going to be taken for a while. So, you all missed your chance. She is one very attractive and fun girl.
See you Thursday.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Operation 204 - Chapter 29
I hated today's workout. Can't say it ant plainer than that.
The biggest problem with today's workout is Tuesday's workout. Tuesday's was so leg intensive that my legs are still killing me today. And of course, there was some leg work to do today.
Today was the same workout as Chapter 25. Pure hell. This one was 2 supersets comprised of 4 exercises each. The difference today was an increase in weight and reps for some of the exercises over what I did last time.
Superset 1 - Tabletop single hand ball toss and catch (heavier ball this time) 15 per hand, hand to forearm planks 10 per hand, lunge-punch combo on cable machine 12 per hand at 30 pounds, then squat-single hand row combo on cable machine 12 per hand at 60 pounds.
Superset 2 - Supermans x 15, Scorpions x 10 per side, stability ball side crunches x 12 per side, then the final insult - crunches with leg lift and reach to opposite leg.
I am completely dead after running through this group of exercises. I literally have nothing left after this one. Everything hurts and I lose enough water sweating as the heart pounds for the entire thing.
On a brighter note, today was my last one without my trainer. Karissa returns on Tuesday so I am sure she will have some fresh hell for me that she thought up while on vacation. Also, she will be all rested up and be raring to go. Ah well, I will be happy to see her even though I know that I am in for it. At least I have proof that I was there doing my workouts in her absence as some of the other trainers saw me.
Full weekend ahead with 2 golf tournaments and a poker tournament. Won't have much time to be here, but you never know. If not, see you all again on Tuesday.
The biggest problem with today's workout is Tuesday's workout. Tuesday's was so leg intensive that my legs are still killing me today. And of course, there was some leg work to do today.
Today was the same workout as Chapter 25. Pure hell. This one was 2 supersets comprised of 4 exercises each. The difference today was an increase in weight and reps for some of the exercises over what I did last time.
Superset 1 - Tabletop single hand ball toss and catch (heavier ball this time) 15 per hand, hand to forearm planks 10 per hand, lunge-punch combo on cable machine 12 per hand at 30 pounds, then squat-single hand row combo on cable machine 12 per hand at 60 pounds.
Superset 2 - Supermans x 15, Scorpions x 10 per side, stability ball side crunches x 12 per side, then the final insult - crunches with leg lift and reach to opposite leg.
I am completely dead after running through this group of exercises. I literally have nothing left after this one. Everything hurts and I lose enough water sweating as the heart pounds for the entire thing.
On a brighter note, today was my last one without my trainer. Karissa returns on Tuesday so I am sure she will have some fresh hell for me that she thought up while on vacation. Also, she will be all rested up and be raring to go. Ah well, I will be happy to see her even though I know that I am in for it. At least I have proof that I was there doing my workouts in her absence as some of the other trainers saw me.
Full weekend ahead with 2 golf tournaments and a poker tournament. Won't have much time to be here, but you never know. If not, see you all again on Tuesday.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Operation 204 - Chapter 28
As much as I enjoyed the workout last week, I disliked this one. This is one brutal set of exercises and as I didn't sleep well last night, I was extra tired today. I did think of not going, but then I would have had to explain that to Karissa, and I didn't want to do that. So, I went.
Today was the same workout as Chapter 24, so you would think that I could easily do it as I did it before. Yeah, not so much. This was one painful workout the first time and it was equally painful this time.
Same two supersets of which both had 3 exercises. And today was a a day where each exercise was repeated 4 times. The first superset was deep lunges, 5 different ladder runs, and one legged lunges with the back leg on the bench. Those final lunges are the worst. The legs are just screaming by the end of it. It was all I could do to complete these. So, in case you are wondering how many I did - 24 deep lunges, 5 ladder runs, and 24 bench lunges.
The second superset was also tough. Again it was 3 exercises to comprises the superset. This time it was 1-legged shoulder presses, followed by 1-armed power rows, and finally tricep extensions while standing on the bosu ball. The reps were 24 for the shoulder press, 24 for the rows, and 15 for the triceps. And again, this superset was repeated 4 times.
So, I was able to get through it - somehow. I now have Thursday to look forward to. I know Thursday is going to be painful as it had some very tough exercises as well and this time Karissa's notes tell me to up the weight and reps.
On a better note, this is a good week for getting some exercise. Monday was golf, today was the gym, Thursday is the gym, Friday is golf, and Saturday is golf. To complete my week, Wednesday is laundry and Sunday is poker. I think I need to find some time in there to go throw some rocks too as curling starts next Wednesday. Yes, you read that correctly. I should have some good posts from the curling season too.
See you Thursday.
Today was the same workout as Chapter 24, so you would think that I could easily do it as I did it before. Yeah, not so much. This was one painful workout the first time and it was equally painful this time.
Same two supersets of which both had 3 exercises. And today was a a day where each exercise was repeated 4 times. The first superset was deep lunges, 5 different ladder runs, and one legged lunges with the back leg on the bench. Those final lunges are the worst. The legs are just screaming by the end of it. It was all I could do to complete these. So, in case you are wondering how many I did - 24 deep lunges, 5 ladder runs, and 24 bench lunges.
The second superset was also tough. Again it was 3 exercises to comprises the superset. This time it was 1-legged shoulder presses, followed by 1-armed power rows, and finally tricep extensions while standing on the bosu ball. The reps were 24 for the shoulder press, 24 for the rows, and 15 for the triceps. And again, this superset was repeated 4 times.
So, I was able to get through it - somehow. I now have Thursday to look forward to. I know Thursday is going to be painful as it had some very tough exercises as well and this time Karissa's notes tell me to up the weight and reps.
On a better note, this is a good week for getting some exercise. Monday was golf, today was the gym, Thursday is the gym, Friday is golf, and Saturday is golf. To complete my week, Wednesday is laundry and Sunday is poker. I think I need to find some time in there to go throw some rocks too as curling starts next Wednesday. Yes, you read that correctly. I should have some good posts from the curling season too.
See you Thursday.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Operation 204 - Chapter 27
I am not going to lie to you, I actually enjoyed today's workout. I know, strange isn't it. It's not because today was easy, not because I had to do it on my own, but...I don't know why. I just enjoyed it. Sick.
Anyway, today was my second of four workouts on my own. Karissa is still down east partying with friends and threatening to stay there. All I know is that she better not as she still has work to do getting me into better shape.
Today was the same workout as Chapter 23 in case you want to go back and read that one. I will go through the exercises here again, but today was a bit easier than last time.
The first of 3 supersets was bosu lunges (15 per side), sideways ladder work (3 times, then 4 times, then 5 times), and finally the much hated sippy bird things. I hate those, especially this time as I did have to hold weights while doing it. My legs scream at me by the end of the 12th rep on each leg as it is trying to balance me while doing all of the heavy lifting.
The second superset consisted of bosu squats (15 reps), bosu pushups (15 reps), and stability ball flys (15 reps). This superset, like all others, was repeated 3 times.
The third, and final, superset was another 3 exercise grouping. The first was tricep pull downs while balancing on one leg (10 per leg), Russian twists (15 per side), and lower back extensions (15 reps). I actually enjoyed the Russian twists this time. Again, I don't know why, but I did.
Also today, I had a good conversation with a fellow gym member names Mark. We discussed the benefits of hiring a personal trainer for the gym. We both agreed that hiring a trainer is a good thing. For both of us the trainer was more for motivation to get to the gym and use it. Mark looked like more of a power lifter, but said that his problem is that he works hard for about 3 months, gets to a point where he is happy, then ignores the gym for the next 9 months. He wants his trainer to ensure that he makes it longer than 3 months.
My motivation for hiring a trainer is a bit different. I have been a member of World Health for many years, but like many others, I didn't go to use it. I was essentially throwing my money away. I knew that I wouldn't go back unless I had a reason to, so that is why I hired my trainer. If I have an appointment, I am going to keep it. That gets me into the gym. Since then Karissa has given me a program that I am able to stick with for short periods while she is gone, but I am going to have to work on continuing to attend even when my sessions are complete. That is something that we will work on when she gets back.
Off for the weekend, so no workout updates until next Tuesday.
Anyway, today was my second of four workouts on my own. Karissa is still down east partying with friends and threatening to stay there. All I know is that she better not as she still has work to do getting me into better shape.
Today was the same workout as Chapter 23 in case you want to go back and read that one. I will go through the exercises here again, but today was a bit easier than last time.
The first of 3 supersets was bosu lunges (15 per side), sideways ladder work (3 times, then 4 times, then 5 times), and finally the much hated sippy bird things. I hate those, especially this time as I did have to hold weights while doing it. My legs scream at me by the end of the 12th rep on each leg as it is trying to balance me while doing all of the heavy lifting.
The second superset consisted of bosu squats (15 reps), bosu pushups (15 reps), and stability ball flys (15 reps). This superset, like all others, was repeated 3 times.
The third, and final, superset was another 3 exercise grouping. The first was tricep pull downs while balancing on one leg (10 per leg), Russian twists (15 per side), and lower back extensions (15 reps). I actually enjoyed the Russian twists this time. Again, I don't know why, but I did.
Also today, I had a good conversation with a fellow gym member names Mark. We discussed the benefits of hiring a personal trainer for the gym. We both agreed that hiring a trainer is a good thing. For both of us the trainer was more for motivation to get to the gym and use it. Mark looked like more of a power lifter, but said that his problem is that he works hard for about 3 months, gets to a point where he is happy, then ignores the gym for the next 9 months. He wants his trainer to ensure that he makes it longer than 3 months.
My motivation for hiring a trainer is a bit different. I have been a member of World Health for many years, but like many others, I didn't go to use it. I was essentially throwing my money away. I knew that I wouldn't go back unless I had a reason to, so that is why I hired my trainer. If I have an appointment, I am going to keep it. That gets me into the gym. Since then Karissa has given me a program that I am able to stick with for short periods while she is gone, but I am going to have to work on continuing to attend even when my sessions are complete. That is something that we will work on when she gets back.
Off for the weekend, so no workout updates until next Tuesday.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Operation 204 - Chapter 26
I have to day, today was the toughest workout that I have done so far. Not only did I have to do it on my own as Karissa is on vacation but of the 4 workouts she left me to do, today was the hardest. It was the timed workout - no set reps - everything was for a period of time. I can honestly say that I hate that. I think I know why, but I won't tell you until the end of the blog.
So, today was a workout of 3 supersets. This was the workout that we didn't have time to complete 2 weeks ago, so I made sure I completed it today. I took longer than the hour, but as I was on my own, it didn't matter how much time I took.
The first superset consisted of 3 exercises - 1) walking lunges with a twist to each side while at the bottom of a lunge while carrying a medicine ball; 2) side-steps while in a squat position down the length of the hallway and back; 3) side-steps with a cross over (foot in front, then foot behind) down the hallway and back. All 3 of these exercises were done for 90 seconds each. This superset was repeated 3 times. Pure hell! No other description fits.
The second superset also consisted of 3 exercises. This time I moved to the cable machine for the work. The first exercise was an upward chop, the second was a downward chop and the 3rd was one where I had to balance on one foot, squat and upon rising I had to pull the cable across my body. This time I had to do these for 45 seconds per side for a total of 90 seconds per exercise. Repeat 3 times. Not as much hell as the first superset, but my back really hated this superset. It started to bug me a bit too much, but I wanted to make sure that I got through it. I had to go a bit slower, but I did get through it.
The third and last superset was 3 very hellish exercises. This time it was bent-over alternating dumbbell rows for the first exercise, lat supermans for the second, and hands to forearms planks for the third. These were all done for 60 seconds each and each superset was completed 3 times. Even more hell than the first superset. This was back to the 7th circle of hell type of superset. The planks are the hardest thing that I have ever done. I honestly thought of stopping early, but then I knew that it would hurt even more once Karissa got back to work me over, so I completed it.
So, I was able to get through a day on my own, but I didn't enjoy it as much. It's nice to have someone there to push me. Also, I wanted to tell you why I hate this particular type of exercise. It is the time thing. I have a stopwatch to time things - it has a countdown feature so it's easy to set, but while doing the exercise, I can't tell how much time is left. I need to know where my end point is so I can push to complete the exercise. With the time, there is no end point (that I can easily see) and my brain wants to stop to check to see where I am at. At least when I am doing reps, even if the amount is huge, I can count and know where the end is. At least this was the only time day that I have - at least until Karissa gets back to enforce some other type of pain.
Ah well, the next 3 exercise days are on my own. It's going to be a trial.
So, today was a workout of 3 supersets. This was the workout that we didn't have time to complete 2 weeks ago, so I made sure I completed it today. I took longer than the hour, but as I was on my own, it didn't matter how much time I took.
The first superset consisted of 3 exercises - 1) walking lunges with a twist to each side while at the bottom of a lunge while carrying a medicine ball; 2) side-steps while in a squat position down the length of the hallway and back; 3) side-steps with a cross over (foot in front, then foot behind) down the hallway and back. All 3 of these exercises were done for 90 seconds each. This superset was repeated 3 times. Pure hell! No other description fits.
The second superset also consisted of 3 exercises. This time I moved to the cable machine for the work. The first exercise was an upward chop, the second was a downward chop and the 3rd was one where I had to balance on one foot, squat and upon rising I had to pull the cable across my body. This time I had to do these for 45 seconds per side for a total of 90 seconds per exercise. Repeat 3 times. Not as much hell as the first superset, but my back really hated this superset. It started to bug me a bit too much, but I wanted to make sure that I got through it. I had to go a bit slower, but I did get through it.
The third and last superset was 3 very hellish exercises. This time it was bent-over alternating dumbbell rows for the first exercise, lat supermans for the second, and hands to forearms planks for the third. These were all done for 60 seconds each and each superset was completed 3 times. Even more hell than the first superset. This was back to the 7th circle of hell type of superset. The planks are the hardest thing that I have ever done. I honestly thought of stopping early, but then I knew that it would hurt even more once Karissa got back to work me over, so I completed it.
So, I was able to get through a day on my own, but I didn't enjoy it as much. It's nice to have someone there to push me. Also, I wanted to tell you why I hate this particular type of exercise. It is the time thing. I have a stopwatch to time things - it has a countdown feature so it's easy to set, but while doing the exercise, I can't tell how much time is left. I need to know where my end point is so I can push to complete the exercise. With the time, there is no end point (that I can easily see) and my brain wants to stop to check to see where I am at. At least when I am doing reps, even if the amount is huge, I can count and know where the end is. At least this was the only time day that I have - at least until Karissa gets back to enforce some other type of pain.
Ah well, the next 3 exercise days are on my own. It's going to be a trial.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Operation 204 - Chapter 25
Thursday night and I am reporting after another tough workout.
This one was extra tough as my legs are still killing me from Tuesday. I thought I was over the DOMS, but no, they are back with a vengeance. This time it is in a new muscle area so the balance work is causing new muscle tears. Oh well, it will only toughen me up.
Tonight was all about the shoulders and core. Again, it was only 2 supersets, but they are enough to make one tough workout.
The first superset consisted of 4 exercises and we did 3 sets. The exercises were 1) table top on a stability ball while tossing a small medicine ball up with one hand and catching it with the other. 30 tosses later, I could move on to the next exercise. 2) Hands-to-forearms planks performing 8 on each side. 3) Lunges with a punch movement attached using the cable machine - 8 per side again. 4) Squats with a one handed cable row performed on the up stroke so the legs would help generate power - again 8 per side.
The second superset also consisted of 4 exercises which we did again for 3 sets. This one started out with 15 Supermans, then 8 Scorpions per side, then 8 side-crunches per side, and finally 30 alternating toe reaches. For that last one imagine doing a crunch while lifting one leg straight up and trying to touch the opposite hand to the raised foot.
I have to say that the last superset was the most painful. Everything was screaming at me by the end. The first superset was no picnic either as there was a lot of leg work included and they weren't happy, as I previously mentioned.
On another note, for the next 2 weeks I get to repeat the last 4 sessions on my own. My trainer, Karissa, is off on vacation (not sure who approves these) so she won't be there to push me. Somehow I am going to have to motivate myself to complete everything - and she wants me to up the weight that I am using while performing these exercises on my own. She is off to the eastern parts of Canada and the US for the next 2 weeks. I'll probably text her at odd hours just to drive her nuts while she is gone just to give her some grief. But, when she gets back I am taking her out onto the ice so she can experience curling and try to figure out some exercises that will mimic some of my movements. I am going to try and make her pay!
That's it for this week. Tomorrow I am off to Capital EX so I won't be back at the gym until Tuesday. Enjoy the long weekend.
This one was extra tough as my legs are still killing me from Tuesday. I thought I was over the DOMS, but no, they are back with a vengeance. This time it is in a new muscle area so the balance work is causing new muscle tears. Oh well, it will only toughen me up.
Tonight was all about the shoulders and core. Again, it was only 2 supersets, but they are enough to make one tough workout.
The first superset consisted of 4 exercises and we did 3 sets. The exercises were 1) table top on a stability ball while tossing a small medicine ball up with one hand and catching it with the other. 30 tosses later, I could move on to the next exercise. 2) Hands-to-forearms planks performing 8 on each side. 3) Lunges with a punch movement attached using the cable machine - 8 per side again. 4) Squats with a one handed cable row performed on the up stroke so the legs would help generate power - again 8 per side.
The second superset also consisted of 4 exercises which we did again for 3 sets. This one started out with 15 Supermans, then 8 Scorpions per side, then 8 side-crunches per side, and finally 30 alternating toe reaches. For that last one imagine doing a crunch while lifting one leg straight up and trying to touch the opposite hand to the raised foot.
I have to say that the last superset was the most painful. Everything was screaming at me by the end. The first superset was no picnic either as there was a lot of leg work included and they weren't happy, as I previously mentioned.
On another note, for the next 2 weeks I get to repeat the last 4 sessions on my own. My trainer, Karissa, is off on vacation (not sure who approves these) so she won't be there to push me. Somehow I am going to have to motivate myself to complete everything - and she wants me to up the weight that I am using while performing these exercises on my own. She is off to the eastern parts of Canada and the US for the next 2 weeks. I'll probably text her at odd hours just to drive her nuts while she is gone just to give her some grief. But, when she gets back I am taking her out onto the ice so she can experience curling and try to figure out some exercises that will mimic some of my movements. I am going to try and make her pay!
That's it for this week. Tomorrow I am off to Capital EX so I won't be back at the gym until Tuesday. Enjoy the long weekend.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Operation 204 - Chapter 24
Another Tuesday, another update.
A bit interesting today as I am writing this and am still recovering. Had a bit of a stomach flu for the past couple of days so today was a tough one. I almost cancelled, but then I would have felt worse, so I pushed through to get to the gym and to get it done.
Today was another tough day as it was more balance and speed work. Working on the endurance and balance is a real tough one for me. Karissa works me hard that's for sure.
We only did two supersets today. I say "only" like it was easy. It was anything but easy.
The first superset consisted of the deep lunges where I had to touch my elbow to the instep on the same side - 12 per side, then I had to do 5 different runs through the ladder on the ground finishing with a short run through low hurdles. The 5 ladder runs consisted of 1) both feet in then step with one foot on each side, then to the next space; 2) same thing as 1, but starting with the other foot, 3), side stepping the ladder by stepping both feet in then one foot off to one side, then back in and one foot to the other side; 4) running the same as 1 but backwards; 5) running the same as 2 but backwards. The final exercise in this superset was lunges with one foot on the bench 12 reps per leg. We tried with one foot strapped into the TRX, but I could not keep my balance at all on that. I will have to work on that. We repeated that superset 4 times.
The second superset consisted of another 3 exercises that we repeated 4 times again. This time it was much more balance work. The first exercise was shoulder press while balancing on one leg - left leg on the ground while pressing with the right and vice versa for the other side. 12 reps per side here. The second exercise was one arm cable power rows. This time we upped the weight to 35 pounds which sounds much lighter than it really is. On one cable machine it's 35 pounds and on another it would be 80. The point of this one was to row the weight with as much speed as I could generate on the pull stroke. Another 12 reps per side. The final exercise was tricep pull-ups while balancing on the bosu ball. Another 12 reps here.
So, what did I learn from today. First, I learned that I am down to 239 so I am dropping some weight finally. Second, I learned that my balance really sucks, but I get better quickly. Third, I learned that this particular workout is murder on my legs. Everything I did brought the legs into play. Fourth, I learned that my insight was correct. Ask Karissa about that. And finally, I learned something about my motivation.
I learned that I am not motivated by a desire to get into better shape. Don't get me wrong, I do want to get into shape to feel better and that is why I got back to the gym, but that isn't what is keeping me going. I am motivated to work harder so I don't disappoint my trainer. I work hard to ensure that she is happy with me. I think that if I disappoint Karissa, then I am failing. How screwed up is that - A motivation that is totally external to me and is nothing more than looking for validation from another that I am doing what I should. The worst thing about that is that I am not sure that I want to change it. The fact that I am motivated at all is still a good thing, so I guess if it's external, so be it.
Anyway, I am not working out tomorrow as I am heading to Taste of Edmonton to sample some delicious food, but I will be back on Thursday.
A bit interesting today as I am writing this and am still recovering. Had a bit of a stomach flu for the past couple of days so today was a tough one. I almost cancelled, but then I would have felt worse, so I pushed through to get to the gym and to get it done.
Today was another tough day as it was more balance and speed work. Working on the endurance and balance is a real tough one for me. Karissa works me hard that's for sure.
We only did two supersets today. I say "only" like it was easy. It was anything but easy.
The first superset consisted of the deep lunges where I had to touch my elbow to the instep on the same side - 12 per side, then I had to do 5 different runs through the ladder on the ground finishing with a short run through low hurdles. The 5 ladder runs consisted of 1) both feet in then step with one foot on each side, then to the next space; 2) same thing as 1, but starting with the other foot, 3), side stepping the ladder by stepping both feet in then one foot off to one side, then back in and one foot to the other side; 4) running the same as 1 but backwards; 5) running the same as 2 but backwards. The final exercise in this superset was lunges with one foot on the bench 12 reps per leg. We tried with one foot strapped into the TRX, but I could not keep my balance at all on that. I will have to work on that. We repeated that superset 4 times.
The second superset consisted of another 3 exercises that we repeated 4 times again. This time it was much more balance work. The first exercise was shoulder press while balancing on one leg - left leg on the ground while pressing with the right and vice versa for the other side. 12 reps per side here. The second exercise was one arm cable power rows. This time we upped the weight to 35 pounds which sounds much lighter than it really is. On one cable machine it's 35 pounds and on another it would be 80. The point of this one was to row the weight with as much speed as I could generate on the pull stroke. Another 12 reps per side. The final exercise was tricep pull-ups while balancing on the bosu ball. Another 12 reps here.
So, what did I learn from today. First, I learned that I am down to 239 so I am dropping some weight finally. Second, I learned that my balance really sucks, but I get better quickly. Third, I learned that this particular workout is murder on my legs. Everything I did brought the legs into play. Fourth, I learned that my insight was correct. Ask Karissa about that. And finally, I learned something about my motivation.
I learned that I am not motivated by a desire to get into better shape. Don't get me wrong, I do want to get into shape to feel better and that is why I got back to the gym, but that isn't what is keeping me going. I am motivated to work harder so I don't disappoint my trainer. I work hard to ensure that she is happy with me. I think that if I disappoint Karissa, then I am failing. How screwed up is that - A motivation that is totally external to me and is nothing more than looking for validation from another that I am doing what I should. The worst thing about that is that I am not sure that I want to change it. The fact that I am motivated at all is still a good thing, so I guess if it's external, so be it.
Anyway, I am not working out tomorrow as I am heading to Taste of Edmonton to sample some delicious food, but I will be back on Thursday.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Operation 204 - Chapter 23
Another Thursday, another update. I know you are looking forward to it.
So while I type this one out, I am watching today's stage in the Tour de France (I PVR it every day so I can watch it in the evening). It is strange knowing that these guys can't do my workouts as they don't have the strength, but they can climb a mountain that has an average gradient of over 8% at a speed of 20 km per hour. There is no way I can do what they do. I am not sure that I can wrap my brain around the dichotomy.
Anyway, today was more of the third phase, which is cardio and balance. I have to tell you that today was mostly balance. My abs are going to kill me for the next few days I am sure.
We started out with some warmups by first doing lunges on the bosu ball (15 per leg), then we placed a ladder on the ground and I had to start at on end beside it and step both feet in then both feet out into each gap down the length and back up - speed was the word for that little exercise. We did this superset 3 times, but I had to increase the ladder portion each time - down and back 3 times, then 4 times, then 5 times in the last set.
After that we moved to a 3 exercise superset consisting of one-legged sippy birds with dumbbells (I'll explain), squats on the bosu ball with only my body weight, and finally push-ups on the bosu ball. Ok, the sippy birds - picture that stupid little desk toy that has the bird that bobs up and down. The exercise looks like that. One leg is stretched out behind as I bend over so you can draw a straight line from my head to my toes along that leg for the entire exercise. While holding dumbbells, this exercise really works the legs and the core as I had to keep my balance. We did this 12 times per leg. The squats and push-ups were 15 reps each.
For the third and final superset, we used a larger exercise ball. This superset consisted of flys while I was in a table-top position. The exercise ball was one end where I rested my neck and my legs were the other end. This position meant I had to keep my stomach really tight to maintain my balance. We then moved to tricep pull-downs while balancing on one leg. Thirdly, we did Russian Twists - again the table top position on the exercise ball but this time I had to twist to each side and maintain my balance. The last exercise was lower back extensions (essentially supermans but upper body only). For this superset it was done 3 times with the reps as follows: Flys - 15, triceps - 10 per leg, twists - 15, lower-back extensions - 15.
It was also an interesting day from a trainer-trainee perspective. For some reason, everyone thought that today was the day to talk to my trainer - Karissa was little Miss Popular today. She was busy trying to watch me to ensure that I was performing the exercises correctly and trying note to be rude to the people that kept coming up to talk to her. Maybe they just don't get that I pay good money for my hour, but oh well. Also, we discussed ways for her to set up a couple of her other students that she thinks would make a good couple. I will be looking for updates as to how that works out as the guy that thinks would be perfect for someone has a thing for Karissa. She doesn't know it (well maybe she does by now) so that could be interesting.
I will be back with another chapter on Tuesday but I may post more this weekend as I am off to the Edmonton Indy to watch some car racing and enjoy the weekend.
So while I type this one out, I am watching today's stage in the Tour de France (I PVR it every day so I can watch it in the evening). It is strange knowing that these guys can't do my workouts as they don't have the strength, but they can climb a mountain that has an average gradient of over 8% at a speed of 20 km per hour. There is no way I can do what they do. I am not sure that I can wrap my brain around the dichotomy.
Anyway, today was more of the third phase, which is cardio and balance. I have to tell you that today was mostly balance. My abs are going to kill me for the next few days I am sure.
We started out with some warmups by first doing lunges on the bosu ball (15 per leg), then we placed a ladder on the ground and I had to start at on end beside it and step both feet in then both feet out into each gap down the length and back up - speed was the word for that little exercise. We did this superset 3 times, but I had to increase the ladder portion each time - down and back 3 times, then 4 times, then 5 times in the last set.
After that we moved to a 3 exercise superset consisting of one-legged sippy birds with dumbbells (I'll explain), squats on the bosu ball with only my body weight, and finally push-ups on the bosu ball. Ok, the sippy birds - picture that stupid little desk toy that has the bird that bobs up and down. The exercise looks like that. One leg is stretched out behind as I bend over so you can draw a straight line from my head to my toes along that leg for the entire exercise. While holding dumbbells, this exercise really works the legs and the core as I had to keep my balance. We did this 12 times per leg. The squats and push-ups were 15 reps each.
For the third and final superset, we used a larger exercise ball. This superset consisted of flys while I was in a table-top position. The exercise ball was one end where I rested my neck and my legs were the other end. This position meant I had to keep my stomach really tight to maintain my balance. We then moved to tricep pull-downs while balancing on one leg. Thirdly, we did Russian Twists - again the table top position on the exercise ball but this time I had to twist to each side and maintain my balance. The last exercise was lower back extensions (essentially supermans but upper body only). For this superset it was done 3 times with the reps as follows: Flys - 15, triceps - 10 per leg, twists - 15, lower-back extensions - 15.
It was also an interesting day from a trainer-trainee perspective. For some reason, everyone thought that today was the day to talk to my trainer - Karissa was little Miss Popular today. She was busy trying to watch me to ensure that I was performing the exercises correctly and trying note to be rude to the people that kept coming up to talk to her. Maybe they just don't get that I pay good money for my hour, but oh well. Also, we discussed ways for her to set up a couple of her other students that she thinks would make a good couple. I will be looking for updates as to how that works out as the guy that thinks would be perfect for someone has a thing for Karissa. She doesn't know it (well maybe she does by now) so that could be interesting.
I will be back with another chapter on Tuesday but I may post more this weekend as I am off to the Edmonton Indy to watch some car racing and enjoy the weekend.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Operation 204 - Chapter 22
Here's the latest instalment of my workout saga. It was an interesting day today too.
Again, I didn't feel like going to the gym. It was a busy day at work. Busy enough that I didn't get to have lunch as meetings went long. This didn't help my mood at all. Also, my legs and butt finally stopped hurting yesterday from Thursday's workout. And finally, I have been losing my voice for the last 4 days so I think I am fighting something off.
Anyway, I was expecting another day of extreme weights but Karissa had different plans for me today. It seems that today was the day to shock my system again as we started phase 3 of my program by adding endurance to the list. Today was not about completing a set number of reps, but it was about continuing for a length of time.
For the first superset, it was walking lunges while hugging a medicine ball to my chest and twisting to each side at the bottom of each lunge. This was paired with side-steps and side cross-overs (shuffle sideways by crossing on leg in front of the other then in behind the other). That last exercise looks a lot like a dance move. Anyway, that superset consisted of doing each exercise for 90 seconds. That doesn't sound like much, but this was endurance, so speed was also a factor.
The second superset was on the cables where we started to mimic some of the motions that I will use when curling. Sweeping motions mostly, but also a little bit of balance work. Exercise one in the superset was what I can only describe as lawnmower starting. Two hands on one cable handle and pulling up like starting a lawnmower. Exercise two was a two-handed pull down on a rod attached to the cable to mimic the curling sweeping motion. Exercise 3 was one where I had to balance on one leg, dip, and then extend while pulling the cable across my body. All 3 exercises were 45 seconds per side, so 90 seconds each.
Superset 3 was one that we didn't have time to complete (thankfully) as it consisted of bent single-hand alternating rows then supermans where I had to bring my hands from an extended position down to beside my head and back to extended before dropping. I have done these before, and they are not nice. The last exercise in that superset was planks from hands to forearms and back to hands. 90 seconds for each of these as well.
As I mentioned, we didn't have time to get that last superset completed 3 times (like the others) and we only did it once. However, Karissa has told me that we will complete that one on Thursday.
I assume that we will be meeting on Thursday, but I can't be sure. I mentioned to her boot camp class that they may want to push her down the stairs at the Hotel Mac. Not sure if they will, but you never know.
Anyway, I'll let you know what happens on Thursday.
Again, I didn't feel like going to the gym. It was a busy day at work. Busy enough that I didn't get to have lunch as meetings went long. This didn't help my mood at all. Also, my legs and butt finally stopped hurting yesterday from Thursday's workout. And finally, I have been losing my voice for the last 4 days so I think I am fighting something off.
Anyway, I was expecting another day of extreme weights but Karissa had different plans for me today. It seems that today was the day to shock my system again as we started phase 3 of my program by adding endurance to the list. Today was not about completing a set number of reps, but it was about continuing for a length of time.
For the first superset, it was walking lunges while hugging a medicine ball to my chest and twisting to each side at the bottom of each lunge. This was paired with side-steps and side cross-overs (shuffle sideways by crossing on leg in front of the other then in behind the other). That last exercise looks a lot like a dance move. Anyway, that superset consisted of doing each exercise for 90 seconds. That doesn't sound like much, but this was endurance, so speed was also a factor.
The second superset was on the cables where we started to mimic some of the motions that I will use when curling. Sweeping motions mostly, but also a little bit of balance work. Exercise one in the superset was what I can only describe as lawnmower starting. Two hands on one cable handle and pulling up like starting a lawnmower. Exercise two was a two-handed pull down on a rod attached to the cable to mimic the curling sweeping motion. Exercise 3 was one where I had to balance on one leg, dip, and then extend while pulling the cable across my body. All 3 exercises were 45 seconds per side, so 90 seconds each.
Superset 3 was one that we didn't have time to complete (thankfully) as it consisted of bent single-hand alternating rows then supermans where I had to bring my hands from an extended position down to beside my head and back to extended before dropping. I have done these before, and they are not nice. The last exercise in that superset was planks from hands to forearms and back to hands. 90 seconds for each of these as well.
As I mentioned, we didn't have time to get that last superset completed 3 times (like the others) and we only did it once. However, Karissa has told me that we will complete that one on Thursday.
I assume that we will be meeting on Thursday, but I can't be sure. I mentioned to her boot camp class that they may want to push her down the stairs at the Hotel Mac. Not sure if they will, but you never know.
Anyway, I'll let you know what happens on Thursday.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Operation 204 - Chapter 21
Sorry this post is a bit late, but last night my computer just would not work. Couldn't get it to boot up at all, so that is why I am posting this today.
Also, there was no workout on Tuesday as Karissa had a migraine and I had no motivation to get my fat ass to the gym. I think the craptacular weather here is to blame.
Anyway, yesterday I was back in the gym to endure insane amounts of pain. I knew that it was going to be a tough day as I hadn't been in for a week and we had some catch-up to do. Also, my left hamstring was a lot tight, so I wasn't sure how it was going to behave.
The first thing I did when I got to the gym was to stretch out the hamstring. Once I had done that for about 5 minutes, everything felt better. I then moved on to the elliptical to warm-up before Karissa got there to work me with the weights.
Once Karissa got there, she informed me that we were going to kill the legs then move onto some cable work to start introducing some speed work while increasing the weight. I wasn't looking forward to the leg work as I was having problems with the hamstring, but I was able to suck it up.
For the legs we did a superset of leg presses, step ups, and walking lunges. However, this wasn't as easy as it sounds. For the leg presses we did 10 plates (10 reps). I found out that the machine starts at 21 pounds so for the leg presses I did 471 pounds. For the step ups we used a box that was 2 feet high and I had to bring myself completely up using one leg only. The other leg couldn't help out once it was on top of the box. 10 per side for that one. Then for the walking lunges, I did those while carrying a 40 pound barbell on my shoulders. We did 3 revolutions of the superset as I didn't have it in me to do a 4th. I was completely drained.
For the cable work we did two more supersets. The first one was flys, presses, and twists. I can't remember the weight we used for these ones. I know it wasn't insane, but the cable machine is a completely different workout as everything feels different. I think that we will increase the weight a fair amount the next time we use this set.
The second superset consisted of bent rows, bicep curls, and reverse chops. Again, I can't remember the weights we used, but the last few chops were getting tough. I am sure we will up the weight on these ones too next time.
So, after a day when I really didn't want to be at the gym, I was able to make it through and I know that it is better for me. On the way home though, the hamstring really acted up again so I made sure that I got enough water into me last night to help that. It feels better this morning.
See you all again on Tuesday.
Also, there was no workout on Tuesday as Karissa had a migraine and I had no motivation to get my fat ass to the gym. I think the craptacular weather here is to blame.
Anyway, yesterday I was back in the gym to endure insane amounts of pain. I knew that it was going to be a tough day as I hadn't been in for a week and we had some catch-up to do. Also, my left hamstring was a lot tight, so I wasn't sure how it was going to behave.
The first thing I did when I got to the gym was to stretch out the hamstring. Once I had done that for about 5 minutes, everything felt better. I then moved on to the elliptical to warm-up before Karissa got there to work me with the weights.
Once Karissa got there, she informed me that we were going to kill the legs then move onto some cable work to start introducing some speed work while increasing the weight. I wasn't looking forward to the leg work as I was having problems with the hamstring, but I was able to suck it up.
For the legs we did a superset of leg presses, step ups, and walking lunges. However, this wasn't as easy as it sounds. For the leg presses we did 10 plates (10 reps). I found out that the machine starts at 21 pounds so for the leg presses I did 471 pounds. For the step ups we used a box that was 2 feet high and I had to bring myself completely up using one leg only. The other leg couldn't help out once it was on top of the box. 10 per side for that one. Then for the walking lunges, I did those while carrying a 40 pound barbell on my shoulders. We did 3 revolutions of the superset as I didn't have it in me to do a 4th. I was completely drained.
For the cable work we did two more supersets. The first one was flys, presses, and twists. I can't remember the weight we used for these ones. I know it wasn't insane, but the cable machine is a completely different workout as everything feels different. I think that we will increase the weight a fair amount the next time we use this set.
The second superset consisted of bent rows, bicep curls, and reverse chops. Again, I can't remember the weights we used, but the last few chops were getting tough. I am sure we will up the weight on these ones too next time.
So, after a day when I really didn't want to be at the gym, I was able to make it through and I know that it is better for me. On the way home though, the hamstring really acted up again so I made sure that I got enough water into me last night to help that. It feels better this morning.
See you all again on Tuesday.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Operation 204 - Chapter 20
Another Thursday workout is now behind me. It was an interesting workout.
I was in a bad mood for today's workout as I had to spend the day in interviews and packing my office. We are having our offices reconstructed for the next week so we all had to pack up and move to temporary space. I hate moving. So, with that in mind, I went to my workout.
We wanted to do a body check to see the progress that I have been making. This didn't go well either. We tried Tuesday, but the machine was broken. This time it was working so we did the impedance test, did all of my measurements, and put everything into the computer. The computer spit out the results that I haven't changed at all. Not one bit. I know that I am stronger and I have more definition in my legs and arms, but there was no change anywhere. Weight was the same, measurements were the same, and impedance was the same. We aren't sure what this means so we will test again in 6 weeks to see if there are any changes happening. I will also be stepping up my cardio work to see if that will make a difference.
So, after that, we got to my workout. We were in a shortened period today because of the testing so we didn't do too many exercises. We started with the superset of squats, a strange dumbbell bench press and barbell tricep extensions. For the squats we were up to 70 pounds per side. With the bar and the weights, I am up to 185 pounds. We will push this as I could have done more on my third set. For the bench press, we used 35 pound weights. This one was strange as I pressed both weights then the right one then the left one. This counted as 1 rep. For the tricep extensions, I used a 60 pound barbell. Really pushing myself today. In fact, in the final set of the bench press, I did fail at 6 (couldn't get to the 8 reps that we are doing).
The second and last superset consisted of leg press, lat pull downs, and upright rows. For this one, the rows were at 90 pounds per side, the lat pull downs were at 120 pounds and for the leg press we really pushed it. We started at 8 plates (360 pounds) in the first set, then moved to 10 plates (450 pounds for the second set) and lastly up to 12 plates (540 pounds) for the last set. This was a struggle, but I was able to complete the 8 reps for each set. This means that we will be upping the weight again next time.
So, after setting personal bests again, I feel quite good. It still doesn't explain why my body isn't showing any changes, but who knows on that one. And finally, my lovely, beautiful, and talented trainer, Karissa, put me in a much better mood by the time we were done and she even offered to help me move once she got off work. However, I was done shortly after she was done at work so she wasn't able to aid me in that. But the offer was nice.
See you all next week.
I was in a bad mood for today's workout as I had to spend the day in interviews and packing my office. We are having our offices reconstructed for the next week so we all had to pack up and move to temporary space. I hate moving. So, with that in mind, I went to my workout.
We wanted to do a body check to see the progress that I have been making. This didn't go well either. We tried Tuesday, but the machine was broken. This time it was working so we did the impedance test, did all of my measurements, and put everything into the computer. The computer spit out the results that I haven't changed at all. Not one bit. I know that I am stronger and I have more definition in my legs and arms, but there was no change anywhere. Weight was the same, measurements were the same, and impedance was the same. We aren't sure what this means so we will test again in 6 weeks to see if there are any changes happening. I will also be stepping up my cardio work to see if that will make a difference.
So, after that, we got to my workout. We were in a shortened period today because of the testing so we didn't do too many exercises. We started with the superset of squats, a strange dumbbell bench press and barbell tricep extensions. For the squats we were up to 70 pounds per side. With the bar and the weights, I am up to 185 pounds. We will push this as I could have done more on my third set. For the bench press, we used 35 pound weights. This one was strange as I pressed both weights then the right one then the left one. This counted as 1 rep. For the tricep extensions, I used a 60 pound barbell. Really pushing myself today. In fact, in the final set of the bench press, I did fail at 6 (couldn't get to the 8 reps that we are doing).
The second and last superset consisted of leg press, lat pull downs, and upright rows. For this one, the rows were at 90 pounds per side, the lat pull downs were at 120 pounds and for the leg press we really pushed it. We started at 8 plates (360 pounds) in the first set, then moved to 10 plates (450 pounds for the second set) and lastly up to 12 plates (540 pounds) for the last set. This was a struggle, but I was able to complete the 8 reps for each set. This means that we will be upping the weight again next time.
So, after setting personal bests again, I feel quite good. It still doesn't explain why my body isn't showing any changes, but who knows on that one. And finally, my lovely, beautiful, and talented trainer, Karissa, put me in a much better mood by the time we were done and she even offered to help me move once she got off work. However, I was done shortly after she was done at work so she wasn't able to aid me in that. But the offer was nice.
See you all next week.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Operation 204 - Chapter 19
I have big news today. Well, big for me. You may not think so.
I had to tighten my belt a notch today.
Yes, you read that right. I had to tighten my belt - literally not figuratively. I haven't lost much weight, but I am slimmer. So, the weight loss can't be far behind.
Today's workout was a tough one. We are still on the strength building phase of the schedule so that's what we did. We did change up the workout a bit in that we worked the entire body instead of 1 or 2 areas.
We started with a superset of deadlifts, bench press, and upright rows. We started lighter on the deadlifts then finally found the weight that I would do for the superset. We did deadlifts at one 45 pound weight on each side. Finally up to the big plates. For the bench press we kept it light as my arm still doesn't like that movement. 10s on each side for that. And for the upright rows, we moved it up each set starting at 55, then 65, 70, and finally 75 for the last set.
After that superset, we moved onto another superset consisting of hack squats with 90 pounds per side, rear delt flys (while lying down on the bench for extra gravity pull) with small weights - 7.5 pounds I think, and then situps while holding one of the 7.5 pound weights above me while doing them - 8 times for each arm.
The final superset for the day was another 3 exercise set consisting of bicep curls (40 pounds), tricep extensions (70 pounds), and hamstring curls (20 pounds).
The weights may not seem like much, but I worked hard today. I know I worked hard just due to the fact that showering afterwards was tiring.
We will be trying to do an update on my body composition as well in the next week or so (the machine was broken today) so expect an update soon. That will tell me if I am on the right track or not.
See you Thursday.
I had to tighten my belt a notch today.
Yes, you read that right. I had to tighten my belt - literally not figuratively. I haven't lost much weight, but I am slimmer. So, the weight loss can't be far behind.
Today's workout was a tough one. We are still on the strength building phase of the schedule so that's what we did. We did change up the workout a bit in that we worked the entire body instead of 1 or 2 areas.
We started with a superset of deadlifts, bench press, and upright rows. We started lighter on the deadlifts then finally found the weight that I would do for the superset. We did deadlifts at one 45 pound weight on each side. Finally up to the big plates. For the bench press we kept it light as my arm still doesn't like that movement. 10s on each side for that. And for the upright rows, we moved it up each set starting at 55, then 65, 70, and finally 75 for the last set.
After that superset, we moved onto another superset consisting of hack squats with 90 pounds per side, rear delt flys (while lying down on the bench for extra gravity pull) with small weights - 7.5 pounds I think, and then situps while holding one of the 7.5 pound weights above me while doing them - 8 times for each arm.
The final superset for the day was another 3 exercise set consisting of bicep curls (40 pounds), tricep extensions (70 pounds), and hamstring curls (20 pounds).
The weights may not seem like much, but I worked hard today. I know I worked hard just due to the fact that showering afterwards was tiring.
We will be trying to do an update on my body composition as well in the next week or so (the machine was broken today) so expect an update soon. That will tell me if I am on the right track or not.
See you Thursday.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
My life as a caddy - Day 2
Well, my day 2 ended late yesterday and unfortunately, there won't be a day 3. My golfer, Jesse, battled but missed the cut by a paltry 4 strokes. We'll get to that.
This time we went out in the afternoon and started from the 10th hole. We were the last group to go out and it did hurt us a bit. The golfers' timing was thrown off as we had to wait on most holes. About the only time we didn't have to wait was after we played 18 as we needed to have a rules official come over to give us a hand.
The weather was nice for golf - not too hot and no wind, but it was cloudy which makes it hard to read the greens. Flat light makes it very difficult to see the breaks in the greens. That, and the greens at the Edmonton Country Club are very subtle and hard to see at the best of times.
On the 18th hole, Jesse hit his tee shot a bit long and it came to rest up against the viewing stands behind the green. The rules official came over and had us go through a full series of motions to find the correct spot to drop the ball. Once we got that all complete, a few minutes had passed. That put us behind the group in front of us, but we caught up to them again a few holes later.
Jesse did finish well and had some great holes, but some tiny mistakes that caught him. He was 2 over for the day (a score I will never shoot I am sure) and he did have a couple of drives that were 350+. This is coming from an 18 year old - once he ages a bit and bulks up, his shots are going to be scary long.
Being a caddy is a different experience. There is so much that you have to do to keep the golfer in the zone so he can just golf. I have a new respect for the guys who do this as their job and chase golfers around the course day after day. The bags aren't light and you spend a lot of time trying to keep up with your golfer. There is a lot to remember and you don't want to interrupt anyone out there. You need to interact with your golfer to keep him loose and focused plus you need to ensure that you are maintaining a good relationship with the other golfers and caddies in your group. You have to know the rules so you don't inadvertently break one. If a caddy breaks a rule, it hurts his golfer - there is no penalty for the caddy.
All that being said. I really enjoyed it. I am sure that my shoulders and legs have something different to say, but it was a great time. I saw the game from a different view. These guys are amazing. They hit the ball right where they want to. They manage the game so much better than us duffers. In places where we would hit a driver, they hit a mid iron to place the ball. The imagination around the green is something to see. Also, having a gallery follow you around the course is something different too.
Anyway, I am looking forward to the next one as I think that I want to do this again. I will schedule this into my calendar so I don't forget to take the time off work to volunteer again.
Too bad there is no day 3 to this story. However, I will be following the career of Jesse Gibson as he will be going places as a golfer.
This time we went out in the afternoon and started from the 10th hole. We were the last group to go out and it did hurt us a bit. The golfers' timing was thrown off as we had to wait on most holes. About the only time we didn't have to wait was after we played 18 as we needed to have a rules official come over to give us a hand.
The weather was nice for golf - not too hot and no wind, but it was cloudy which makes it hard to read the greens. Flat light makes it very difficult to see the breaks in the greens. That, and the greens at the Edmonton Country Club are very subtle and hard to see at the best of times.
On the 18th hole, Jesse hit his tee shot a bit long and it came to rest up against the viewing stands behind the green. The rules official came over and had us go through a full series of motions to find the correct spot to drop the ball. Once we got that all complete, a few minutes had passed. That put us behind the group in front of us, but we caught up to them again a few holes later.
Jesse did finish well and had some great holes, but some tiny mistakes that caught him. He was 2 over for the day (a score I will never shoot I am sure) and he did have a couple of drives that were 350+. This is coming from an 18 year old - once he ages a bit and bulks up, his shots are going to be scary long.
Being a caddy is a different experience. There is so much that you have to do to keep the golfer in the zone so he can just golf. I have a new respect for the guys who do this as their job and chase golfers around the course day after day. The bags aren't light and you spend a lot of time trying to keep up with your golfer. There is a lot to remember and you don't want to interrupt anyone out there. You need to interact with your golfer to keep him loose and focused plus you need to ensure that you are maintaining a good relationship with the other golfers and caddies in your group. You have to know the rules so you don't inadvertently break one. If a caddy breaks a rule, it hurts his golfer - there is no penalty for the caddy.
All that being said. I really enjoyed it. I am sure that my shoulders and legs have something different to say, but it was a great time. I saw the game from a different view. These guys are amazing. They hit the ball right where they want to. They manage the game so much better than us duffers. In places where we would hit a driver, they hit a mid iron to place the ball. The imagination around the green is something to see. Also, having a gallery follow you around the course is something different too.
Anyway, I am looking forward to the next one as I think that I want to do this again. I will schedule this into my calendar so I don't forget to take the time off work to volunteer again.
Too bad there is no day 3 to this story. However, I will be following the career of Jesse Gibson as he will be going places as a golfer.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
My first day as a caddie!
Well, the first day of the tournament is in the books for me and my golfer. I have to say, it was a lot of fun.
Our tee time was set for 9:30 this morning. The caddies were told to be at the course an hour early on the first day as there is usually mass confusion as no one know what the golfers look like, people don't know where they are going, etc. I got to the course at 8:15 as the traffic was so light today I had no problem getting to the River Cree to park and the shuttle got me to the course in record time.
My golfer was at the course already and warming up on the range when I got there under the watchful eye of his coach. I was introduced to both and Jesse continued to warm up. Jesse Gibson is the name of my golfer for the weekend. He was one of the qualifiers from the Monday event and had to survive a playoff to do it. He is an 18 year old phenom. Amazing player.
Once he finished up on the range, we moved to the practice green where he worked on his flat stick. I took the time to clean his clubs. They needed cleaning! By the time I was done, they looked new. Once Jesse was done on the practice green, we moved to the first tee.
Now, I got lucky in that Jesse doesn't own a large tour bag. He has a nice, little stand bag with the 2 strap system. It was very nice to carry. Don't get me wrong, it was still heavy, but much more manageable. I also found out as we went along that Jesse had enough food in the bag to feed the entire course :)
It felt good to walk the course and work with someone who knows how to golf and plays at a much better level than me. It was just great to see how well they play the game and the course management they use. I even mentioned that on one hole I could guarantee that all members of the course would use driver but everyone of the players in our group used their 3 woods to place the ball in a better spot.
Now, I also have a bone to pick with my trainer. Day 2 stiffness from my leg workout kicked in about the 3rd hole. It was starting to become a real struggle to complete the course. I did do it, but the legs are killing me now. It could also have something to do with the fact that I was standing for 8.5 hours straight - but the stiffness definitely is a factor.
Jesse ended up 2 over for the day and has a real shot at making the cut tomorrow. I hope he does so that way I will still be working for the weekend.
I will have another update tomorrow. In the meantime, if you want to see how Jesse is doing, check out the website for the Canadian Tour.
Our tee time was set for 9:30 this morning. The caddies were told to be at the course an hour early on the first day as there is usually mass confusion as no one know what the golfers look like, people don't know where they are going, etc. I got to the course at 8:15 as the traffic was so light today I had no problem getting to the River Cree to park and the shuttle got me to the course in record time.
My golfer was at the course already and warming up on the range when I got there under the watchful eye of his coach. I was introduced to both and Jesse continued to warm up. Jesse Gibson is the name of my golfer for the weekend. He was one of the qualifiers from the Monday event and had to survive a playoff to do it. He is an 18 year old phenom. Amazing player.
Once he finished up on the range, we moved to the practice green where he worked on his flat stick. I took the time to clean his clubs. They needed cleaning! By the time I was done, they looked new. Once Jesse was done on the practice green, we moved to the first tee.
Now, I got lucky in that Jesse doesn't own a large tour bag. He has a nice, little stand bag with the 2 strap system. It was very nice to carry. Don't get me wrong, it was still heavy, but much more manageable. I also found out as we went along that Jesse had enough food in the bag to feed the entire course :)
It felt good to walk the course and work with someone who knows how to golf and plays at a much better level than me. It was just great to see how well they play the game and the course management they use. I even mentioned that on one hole I could guarantee that all members of the course would use driver but everyone of the players in our group used their 3 woods to place the ball in a better spot.
Now, I also have a bone to pick with my trainer. Day 2 stiffness from my leg workout kicked in about the 3rd hole. It was starting to become a real struggle to complete the course. I did do it, but the legs are killing me now. It could also have something to do with the fact that I was standing for 8.5 hours straight - but the stiffness definitely is a factor.
Jesse ended up 2 over for the day and has a real shot at making the cut tomorrow. I hope he does so that way I will still be working for the weekend.
I will have another update tomorrow. In the meantime, if you want to see how Jesse is doing, check out the website for the Canadian Tour.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
How I am spending Canada Day
Usually, I attend the festivities at Fort Edmonton Park every year to celebrate Dominion Day (Canada wasn't a country yet), but this year an opportunity came up that I couldn't pass up. I am going to be a caddie at the ATB Financial Classic presented by TELUS golf tournament. This is a Canadian Tour Event being held in Edmonton.
I have thought about volunteering for this for the past couple of years and this year it finally worked out. I am guaranteed to work for the first 2 days as I am on the bag for Jesse Gibson - an amateur out of Saskatchewan. If he makes the cut, then I will be on his bag for the entire weekend as well.
I know that I am going to learn a lot about the game while out there and I am going to have fun, but I am also glad that I have been in the gym lately as I am sure the bag is going to be heavy. The weather is supposed to be cooler and breezy so that won't be a problem but we go out in the last morning pairing tomorrow and the last afternoon pairing Friday. This means that we will be having 2 long rounds. Things get backed up as the day goes on so I am sure that we will be backed up a bit on Thursday and really delayed on Friday. Ah well, I get to hang with some serious golfers at one of the prestigious clubs in Edmonton - the Edmonton Country Club.
Anyway, I will post updates as to my experiences each evening if I have the energy. Stay tuned.
I have thought about volunteering for this for the past couple of years and this year it finally worked out. I am guaranteed to work for the first 2 days as I am on the bag for Jesse Gibson - an amateur out of Saskatchewan. If he makes the cut, then I will be on his bag for the entire weekend as well.
I know that I am going to learn a lot about the game while out there and I am going to have fun, but I am also glad that I have been in the gym lately as I am sure the bag is going to be heavy. The weather is supposed to be cooler and breezy so that won't be a problem but we go out in the last morning pairing tomorrow and the last afternoon pairing Friday. This means that we will be having 2 long rounds. Things get backed up as the day goes on so I am sure that we will be backed up a bit on Thursday and really delayed on Friday. Ah well, I get to hang with some serious golfers at one of the prestigious clubs in Edmonton - the Edmonton Country Club.
Anyway, I will post updates as to my experiences each evening if I have the energy. Stay tuned.
Operation 204 - Chapter 18
A special Wednesday edition of the workout updates.
With Canada Day being tomorrow, I moved my Thursday workout up to Wednesday. Yesterday we worked on legs and core and today we worked on chest, back, shoulders, and arms. I may have trouble washing my hair tomorrow.
We started with a superset of seated rows paired with hanging rows. Seated rows on the hammer machine with 125 pounds on each side. As this is a one handed machine, the other side can't help so there isn't a great way to cheat. The hanging rows consisted of laying under the TRX, grabbing two straps and lifting my own body by using the rowing move. Needless to say, I worked to failure doing both exercises. I needed some spotting on the seated rows and had to take a break during the hanging rows. Not a good start, but I don't mind working to failure as I know where my limits are. Just to finish we did some negative bicep curls with 50 pounds. Seven reps with a count of 7. One set only! Yay! Mainly because my biceps were activated in the 2 rowing exercises.
From there we moved onto some chest exercises with some single arm dumbbell bench presses. After five per side, I then had to hold the other weight at arms length while pressing the other one for another 5 per side. After that, I then did some flys to finish. This was done 3 times with 20 pound dumbbells.
After the chest work we did some shoulder presses (20 pounds), lateral raises (7.5 pounds), and tricep extensions (70 pounds).
To finish the day I did Supermans while laying on the bosu ball and holding a heavy pilates ball in front of me to add some weight to the exercise.
All in all, I think that I had a good day and I feel pretty good tonight. No cardio this week so no workout updates until Tuesday of next week.
With Canada Day being tomorrow, I moved my Thursday workout up to Wednesday. Yesterday we worked on legs and core and today we worked on chest, back, shoulders, and arms. I may have trouble washing my hair tomorrow.
We started with a superset of seated rows paired with hanging rows. Seated rows on the hammer machine with 125 pounds on each side. As this is a one handed machine, the other side can't help so there isn't a great way to cheat. The hanging rows consisted of laying under the TRX, grabbing two straps and lifting my own body by using the rowing move. Needless to say, I worked to failure doing both exercises. I needed some spotting on the seated rows and had to take a break during the hanging rows. Not a good start, but I don't mind working to failure as I know where my limits are. Just to finish we did some negative bicep curls with 50 pounds. Seven reps with a count of 7. One set only! Yay! Mainly because my biceps were activated in the 2 rowing exercises.
From there we moved onto some chest exercises with some single arm dumbbell bench presses. After five per side, I then had to hold the other weight at arms length while pressing the other one for another 5 per side. After that, I then did some flys to finish. This was done 3 times with 20 pound dumbbells.
After the chest work we did some shoulder presses (20 pounds), lateral raises (7.5 pounds), and tricep extensions (70 pounds).
To finish the day I did Supermans while laying on the bosu ball and holding a heavy pilates ball in front of me to add some weight to the exercise.
All in all, I think that I had a good day and I feel pretty good tonight. No cardio this week so no workout updates until Tuesday of next week.
Operation 204 - Chapter 17
Sorry for the late post on this one, but I had another curling meeting after the gym and didn't get home until late. I was way too tired to post an update, so I am doing that today.
Last night was another leg and core workout. I got there a bit early so I did a 15 minute warm-up on the elliptical to get everything moving. I had another treatment from my chiropractor yesterday too so my arm was bugging me a bit, but ice helped that problem.
To start the day, we set up a superset consisting of split squats and leg presses. We started with just the bar on the squats, then upped the weight. Three sets later we settled on 25 a side. Then off to the leg press where we started with 6 plates, moved to 8 plates, then added a 9th - a total of 405 pounds. Once we got that settled, we started the superset. Split squats first followed by the leg presses.
Once we completed that fun circuit 3 times, it was onto the next slice of heaven. This time it was squats paired with walking lunges. This time, we upped the weight during the superset for the squats so there was no warm-up round. Squats started at 35 per side then walking lunges with 15 pound dumbbells in each hand. Back to squats - this time with 45 per side then onto walking lunges - same weight. Final round of squats - 60 per side then walking lunges still with the weights. I'm not sure how, but the hallway always seems to grow longer for the trip back. Not sure how they do that.
For the core work, we did a superset consisting of Superman's with an added arm movement, decline bench sit-ups with a medicine ball and a double twist at the top of each sit-up, and finally an plank. Unfortunately - is that the right word...should I use fortunately...hmmmmm - we ran out of time and were unable to get to add weight to the plank. I tweaked my lower back a bit and we wanted to ensure that we didn't do more damage. We did run through this bit of fun twice (except the planks) so I am sure that Karissa will have more for me today.
Oh yeah, that is my other news, my next workout is today as Thursday is going to be a busy day for me. I mentioned that I was going to post about that too so I will do that when I get a chance. It is going to be a fun weekend.
Last night was another leg and core workout. I got there a bit early so I did a 15 minute warm-up on the elliptical to get everything moving. I had another treatment from my chiropractor yesterday too so my arm was bugging me a bit, but ice helped that problem.
To start the day, we set up a superset consisting of split squats and leg presses. We started with just the bar on the squats, then upped the weight. Three sets later we settled on 25 a side. Then off to the leg press where we started with 6 plates, moved to 8 plates, then added a 9th - a total of 405 pounds. Once we got that settled, we started the superset. Split squats first followed by the leg presses.
Once we completed that fun circuit 3 times, it was onto the next slice of heaven. This time it was squats paired with walking lunges. This time, we upped the weight during the superset for the squats so there was no warm-up round. Squats started at 35 per side then walking lunges with 15 pound dumbbells in each hand. Back to squats - this time with 45 per side then onto walking lunges - same weight. Final round of squats - 60 per side then walking lunges still with the weights. I'm not sure how, but the hallway always seems to grow longer for the trip back. Not sure how they do that.
For the core work, we did a superset consisting of Superman's with an added arm movement, decline bench sit-ups with a medicine ball and a double twist at the top of each sit-up, and finally an plank. Unfortunately - is that the right word...should I use fortunately...hmmmmm - we ran out of time and were unable to get to add weight to the plank. I tweaked my lower back a bit and we wanted to ensure that we didn't do more damage. We did run through this bit of fun twice (except the planks) so I am sure that Karissa will have more for me today.
Oh yeah, that is my other news, my next workout is today as Thursday is going to be a busy day for me. I mentioned that I was going to post about that too so I will do that when I get a chance. It is going to be a fun weekend.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Operation 204 - Chapter 16
I told you that I may have a post today, and I do.
I almost didn't have one today as I wasn't sure if I was going to make it to the gym or not. Today was the day that I needed to decide if I was going to the gym or going for beers. I can tell you right now, the beers were calling my name. It was a long week. So, near the end of the day, I thought about it and decided that the two events weren't mutually exclusive. So I did both.
I went to the gym and again was able to use the elliptical for 50 minutes (45 minutes at 75% of my heart rate and 5 minute cool down). However, unlike Wednesday, the elliptical made me its bitch today. It was tough. Not on the lungs and heart, but on my legs. After the week of leg workouts, my legs were ready to throw in the towel. I was able to fight through it somehow (I am paying for it now) and averaged 150 bpm for the entire 50 minutes. I think that the elliptical read my post from Wednesday and made it harder on me for pwning it then. It pwned me today.
Yes, I typed pwned. If you don't know the word, look it up. If you had to look it up, you better look up noob too.
After that workout is when I went for beers. They tasted even better because I worked out. And, beer is actually good for you after a workout. You don't have to believe me, but check out this story.
Anyway, I have some new news that I will deliver in a post tomorrow. No gym for the weekend, but Operation 204 will return on Tuesday.
I almost didn't have one today as I wasn't sure if I was going to make it to the gym or not. Today was the day that I needed to decide if I was going to the gym or going for beers. I can tell you right now, the beers were calling my name. It was a long week. So, near the end of the day, I thought about it and decided that the two events weren't mutually exclusive. So I did both.
I went to the gym and again was able to use the elliptical for 50 minutes (45 minutes at 75% of my heart rate and 5 minute cool down). However, unlike Wednesday, the elliptical made me its bitch today. It was tough. Not on the lungs and heart, but on my legs. After the week of leg workouts, my legs were ready to throw in the towel. I was able to fight through it somehow (I am paying for it now) and averaged 150 bpm for the entire 50 minutes. I think that the elliptical read my post from Wednesday and made it harder on me for pwning it then. It pwned me today.
Yes, I typed pwned. If you don't know the word, look it up. If you had to look it up, you better look up noob too.
After that workout is when I went for beers. They tasted even better because I worked out. And, beer is actually good for you after a workout. You don't have to believe me, but check out this story.
Anyway, I have some new news that I will deliver in a post tomorrow. No gym for the weekend, but Operation 204 will return on Tuesday.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Operation 204 - Chapter 15
Thursday's edition of my workout saga.
I have been told that I actually have readers. Not sure I believe them. There may be a test later just to see if people are actually paying attention. Anyway, enough small talk, let's get to the workout.
Today the arm felt good, so we decided to test to see how good. I have to say that it held up quite well today and only pulled a bit on a couple of exercises. Nothing major, so my chiropractor is doing a good job.
We started with some warm ups consisting of extreme drop lunges (ones where I have to touch my elbow to the inside of the ankle on the same side while doing a lunge) and some shoulder warm ups with a light weight.
From there we moved onto finding some weights to do my superset for the day. I think that my lovely and attractive trainer Karissa sometimes underestimates what I can do so it took longer to find the weights I could work with. The superset consisted of dead lifts, upright rows, incline flys and finally lateral raises with the addition of bringing the weights in front of me before swinging them back to my sides then down.
So on the dead lift we warmed up with a set with 10 per side, then a set with 25 per side, then a set with 35 per side. Karissa decided that this was the point that I would stay for the superset.
We then moved onto the upright rows. We did a set at 35, then a set at 45, then a set at 55, and finally a set at 65. This was going to be me weight for the superset for upright rows.
Onto the incline bench where we started with 15 pounds for the flys. We moved to a set at 20 and a final set at 25 which was where we stopped for that portion of the superset.
Sitting up on the bench we used 7.5 pound weights for the lateral raise portion. We did one warm up set with those to make sure I could.
The flys and the lateral raises tweaked my arm a bit, but it wasn't too bad so we continued on.
So, after finding the weights for my individual elements we started the superset. Start with dead lifts, move to upright rows, then onto the incline flys and finally the lateral raises. Three sets of 8 reps for each and my day was complete. This was another day where I could surprise Karissa with my progress so I am sure that I am going to pay for it on Tuesday when I meet with Karissa again. I am not sure if she hates me or likes me, but she keeps working with me so it must be less hate :)
Anyway, not sure if I am going to do cardio tomorrow or not as I think that I need a beer after work. I'll take my stuff just in case, but it may not get used until next week.
I have been told that I actually have readers. Not sure I believe them. There may be a test later just to see if people are actually paying attention. Anyway, enough small talk, let's get to the workout.
Today the arm felt good, so we decided to test to see how good. I have to say that it held up quite well today and only pulled a bit on a couple of exercises. Nothing major, so my chiropractor is doing a good job.
We started with some warm ups consisting of extreme drop lunges (ones where I have to touch my elbow to the inside of the ankle on the same side while doing a lunge) and some shoulder warm ups with a light weight.
From there we moved onto finding some weights to do my superset for the day. I think that my lovely and attractive trainer Karissa sometimes underestimates what I can do so it took longer to find the weights I could work with. The superset consisted of dead lifts, upright rows, incline flys and finally lateral raises with the addition of bringing the weights in front of me before swinging them back to my sides then down.
So on the dead lift we warmed up with a set with 10 per side, then a set with 25 per side, then a set with 35 per side. Karissa decided that this was the point that I would stay for the superset.
We then moved onto the upright rows. We did a set at 35, then a set at 45, then a set at 55, and finally a set at 65. This was going to be me weight for the superset for upright rows.
Onto the incline bench where we started with 15 pounds for the flys. We moved to a set at 20 and a final set at 25 which was where we stopped for that portion of the superset.
Sitting up on the bench we used 7.5 pound weights for the lateral raise portion. We did one warm up set with those to make sure I could.
The flys and the lateral raises tweaked my arm a bit, but it wasn't too bad so we continued on.
So, after finding the weights for my individual elements we started the superset. Start with dead lifts, move to upright rows, then onto the incline flys and finally the lateral raises. Three sets of 8 reps for each and my day was complete. This was another day where I could surprise Karissa with my progress so I am sure that I am going to pay for it on Tuesday when I meet with Karissa again. I am not sure if she hates me or likes me, but she keeps working with me so it must be less hate :)
Anyway, not sure if I am going to do cardio tomorrow or not as I think that I need a beer after work. I'll take my stuff just in case, but it may not get used until next week.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Operation 204 - Chapter 14
A special Wednesday edition of the Operation 204 saga. I think this may become a regular occurrence, so be prepared.
Today was cardio day. I wasn't sure that I was going to be able to after the leg workout yesterday, but I felt good after work so I decided to make the elliptical machine my bitch. I did.
I was able to get to my target heart rate within the first 6 minutes and then maintained that for the next 39 to total 45. The 5 minute cool down saw my heart rate drop to about 130 so the recovery is a bit slow. That will change as I go. My average heart rate for the entire 50 minutes was 150 which is just below my target of 154. Considering the warm up and cool down, I was able to be at 154 or higher for the entire 45 minutes.
I was able to get through this one fairly easy compared to last week. Amazing how cardio stays with you for a bit and allows the body to get to that level quicker. I will look at bumping my target heart rate to 80% of max next week. I hope to get one more cardio day in this week - possibly Friday.
Short update as I really didn't do anything else. See you tomorrow.
Today was cardio day. I wasn't sure that I was going to be able to after the leg workout yesterday, but I felt good after work so I decided to make the elliptical machine my bitch. I did.
I was able to get to my target heart rate within the first 6 minutes and then maintained that for the next 39 to total 45. The 5 minute cool down saw my heart rate drop to about 130 so the recovery is a bit slow. That will change as I go. My average heart rate for the entire 50 minutes was 150 which is just below my target of 154. Considering the warm up and cool down, I was able to be at 154 or higher for the entire 45 minutes.
I was able to get through this one fairly easy compared to last week. Amazing how cardio stays with you for a bit and allows the body to get to that level quicker. I will look at bumping my target heart rate to 80% of max next week. I hope to get one more cardio day in this week - possibly Friday.
Short update as I really didn't do anything else. See you tomorrow.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Operation 204 - Chapter 13
Another Tuesday, another ass-kicking.
I have to tell you, when I tell Karissa to push me, she pushes me. She is one amazing trainer. I am not just saying that because she reads this. I really mean it. I think she knows that I am not one to suck up here to get is easier on Thursday.
So, let's get into what we did today.
We started up with some warm-ups consisting of hockey lunges paired with shoulder raises while lying on the bench. This was more to stretch the shoulders out. I wanted to do more, but unfortunately, my arm won't let me. My chiropractor beat me up again but the arm is starting to feel better. Hopefully next week I can push the upper body a bit more.
After that, we moved onto some leg exercises. We did squats with larger weight this time and we upped the weight after each set. We will push that a bit more once I stop locking my knees at the top. That's an easy correction.
After the squats we did lunges but this time I held weights and had the back leg on a bench. Not an easy exercise and the legs were screaming by the end of it.
From the legs we moved onto chest and back. First with seated bench press which we modified somewhat to protect my arm. After that we did seated rows on the hammer machine and again we upped the weight each time. I surprised Karissa again with the weight that I could do. She didn't think that I could do it, but I did. We are getting closer to working to failure which is where I need to be right now.
I think that I am doing much better than I could have just 2 short months ago, but Karissa is the ultimate judge on that one. If she would just sign up on Google, she could comment here, but no, she doesn't want to do that.
Before I leave this post, I do have to say that my trainer has the best smile I have ever seen. I am going to soon start having to use new material just to ensure that I see it every workout. Time to start thinking up a new routine.
Hopefully I'll be back tomorrow as Wednesday is the day for cardio.
I have to tell you, when I tell Karissa to push me, she pushes me. She is one amazing trainer. I am not just saying that because she reads this. I really mean it. I think she knows that I am not one to suck up here to get is easier on Thursday.
So, let's get into what we did today.
We started up with some warm-ups consisting of hockey lunges paired with shoulder raises while lying on the bench. This was more to stretch the shoulders out. I wanted to do more, but unfortunately, my arm won't let me. My chiropractor beat me up again but the arm is starting to feel better. Hopefully next week I can push the upper body a bit more.
After that, we moved onto some leg exercises. We did squats with larger weight this time and we upped the weight after each set. We will push that a bit more once I stop locking my knees at the top. That's an easy correction.
After the squats we did lunges but this time I held weights and had the back leg on a bench. Not an easy exercise and the legs were screaming by the end of it.
From the legs we moved onto chest and back. First with seated bench press which we modified somewhat to protect my arm. After that we did seated rows on the hammer machine and again we upped the weight each time. I surprised Karissa again with the weight that I could do. She didn't think that I could do it, but I did. We are getting closer to working to failure which is where I need to be right now.
I think that I am doing much better than I could have just 2 short months ago, but Karissa is the ultimate judge on that one. If she would just sign up on Google, she could comment here, but no, she doesn't want to do that.
Before I leave this post, I do have to say that my trainer has the best smile I have ever seen. I am going to soon start having to use new material just to ensure that I see it every workout. Time to start thinking up a new routine.
Hopefully I'll be back tomorrow as Wednesday is the day for cardio.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Operation 204 - Chapter 12
A surprise Friday edition of my workout updates. Instead of going to the bar for a beer or 10, I decided to go to the gym instead and try to lose some weight.
Today was a cardio day. No weights, no lunges, no wall sits, no bosu balls, none of that at all. Today was just the elliptical. If you think it was easy, think again.
In order to do this right, I had to find a target heart rate to workout at. Because I am just starting my cardio work, we decided that 75% of my theoretical maximum would be a good point. I also know that the formula of 220-age is not a good one to use, so Karissa found a different calculation for me that takes into account reserve heart rate. The formula is (220-age-resting heart rate)*target heart rate (as a percentage of max)+resting heart rate. For me this came to be (220-41-80)*.75+80 = 154 bpm.
So for 45 minutes, I maintained a heart rate of 154 bpm and then had a 5 minute cool down to get the heart rate to come down to a more reasonable rate (it got to 128 by the time my cool down was done).
I was going along just fine for the first bit but then the legs started to go wobbly. There were a few times that I was thankful I was holding on to the handles as well as I almost went down. The last 5 minutes were a struggle to get through, but I did. I was able to get through the entire 45 minutes and felt good when I was done.
The thing I like most about cardio is the way my lungs feel when I'm done. It feels like I get a lot more oxygen in for the next few hours. Probably my imagination, but it's how I feel.
Anyway, I plan on adding 2 cardio days to my workout so expect extra updates.
See you Tuesday.
Today was a cardio day. No weights, no lunges, no wall sits, no bosu balls, none of that at all. Today was just the elliptical. If you think it was easy, think again.
In order to do this right, I had to find a target heart rate to workout at. Because I am just starting my cardio work, we decided that 75% of my theoretical maximum would be a good point. I also know that the formula of 220-age is not a good one to use, so Karissa found a different calculation for me that takes into account reserve heart rate. The formula is (220-age-resting heart rate)*target heart rate (as a percentage of max)+resting heart rate. For me this came to be (220-41-80)*.75+80 = 154 bpm.
So for 45 minutes, I maintained a heart rate of 154 bpm and then had a 5 minute cool down to get the heart rate to come down to a more reasonable rate (it got to 128 by the time my cool down was done).
I was going along just fine for the first bit but then the legs started to go wobbly. There were a few times that I was thankful I was holding on to the handles as well as I almost went down. The last 5 minutes were a struggle to get through, but I did. I was able to get through the entire 45 minutes and felt good when I was done.
The thing I like most about cardio is the way my lungs feel when I'm done. It feels like I get a lot more oxygen in for the next few hours. Probably my imagination, but it's how I feel.
Anyway, I plan on adding 2 cardio days to my workout so expect extra updates.
See you Tuesday.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Operation 204 - Chapter 11
Another Thursday, another workout. Pretty tired tonight after this one, and I'm not sure why. Don't get me wrong, Karissa put me through my paces, but I felt energized after today. It really hit me once I got home. Oh well.
I had mentioned that I was going to try for a cardio day yesterday, but after Tuesday, my hamstring tightened so much that I didn't want to push it on anything. It was still tight today, so we worked on stretching it out so I could complete my workout. We did some warm-up exercises to begin with a step lunge where I had to try to touch my same-side arm to the inside of my ankle. Then onto some shoulder warm-ups then onto squats while facing a wall and only being a couple of inches off the wall. Repeat that 3 times, then move onto the next exercise.
After that warm-up we had to work on the hamstring so we rolled it out and stretched it to loosen it up. Once that felt better we moved onto squats where we upped the weight after each set. We paired the squats with knee roll-ups but instead of using the ball we used the straps on the TRX. Much harder - both the exercise and getting my feet into the handles. Repeat 4 times.
After that we moved onto my superset for the day which were single-leg leg presses, scorpions (I'll explain in a bit), and what we call bosu belly floundering. Let me explain that too.
The scorpion exercise is one where you get into a plank position with your hands on a bench and one leg on the stability ball. From this position you twist your other leg under and over. Essentially a twisting motion while trying to keep your balance on the stability ball. Not sure why they call it a scorpion. I think it may be because your trainer is doubled over laughing which may represent a scorpion. Or they named it that to make it sound cool as opposed to what you actually have to do. It is extremely difficult is all I know.
The bosu belly floundering is the name for this strange movement when I had to balance on the bosu ball on my stomach then touch my heels with the same-side hand. You can imagine what I looked like on that one. I was floundering all over the place trying to keep my balance and twist around to touch my heels. I am so glad we aren't recording my sessions for as a teaching aid. It would hit YouTube a bit too fast for my liking.
Well, let's see if I can get to my cardio work tomorrow. Hopefully see you then.
I had mentioned that I was going to try for a cardio day yesterday, but after Tuesday, my hamstring tightened so much that I didn't want to push it on anything. It was still tight today, so we worked on stretching it out so I could complete my workout. We did some warm-up exercises to begin with a step lunge where I had to try to touch my same-side arm to the inside of my ankle. Then onto some shoulder warm-ups then onto squats while facing a wall and only being a couple of inches off the wall. Repeat that 3 times, then move onto the next exercise.
After that warm-up we had to work on the hamstring so we rolled it out and stretched it to loosen it up. Once that felt better we moved onto squats where we upped the weight after each set. We paired the squats with knee roll-ups but instead of using the ball we used the straps on the TRX. Much harder - both the exercise and getting my feet into the handles. Repeat 4 times.
After that we moved onto my superset for the day which were single-leg leg presses, scorpions (I'll explain in a bit), and what we call bosu belly floundering. Let me explain that too.
The scorpion exercise is one where you get into a plank position with your hands on a bench and one leg on the stability ball. From this position you twist your other leg under and over. Essentially a twisting motion while trying to keep your balance on the stability ball. Not sure why they call it a scorpion. I think it may be because your trainer is doubled over laughing which may represent a scorpion. Or they named it that to make it sound cool as opposed to what you actually have to do. It is extremely difficult is all I know.
The bosu belly floundering is the name for this strange movement when I had to balance on the bosu ball on my stomach then touch my heels with the same-side hand. You can imagine what I looked like on that one. I was floundering all over the place trying to keep my balance and twist around to touch my heels. I am so glad we aren't recording my sessions for as a teaching aid. It would hit YouTube a bit too fast for my liking.
Well, let's see if I can get to my cardio work tomorrow. Hopefully see you then.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Operation 204 - Chapter 10
Another Tuesday, another workout, another blog post. A couple of extra items in this one too.
First, an update to my last chapter. It turns out that I only did 10 minutes on the stair climber. It only felt like 15 minutes because I hate stairs. Karissa pointed that out to me but she didn't leave a comment as she didn't want to sign in to do so.
Second, I went to see my chiropractor today and asked about that damn pain in my arm. Turns out that it isn't anything too serious and he was able to work much of it out today, but there is more to go. It is an old injury that is well ingrained now so the muscles and tendons don't want to move much. It is right where the muscle attaches to the bone and that is why the pain when I use that area. It just doesn't want to move. I have to see him again next week, so I will keep you posted.
Finally, my workout. Today was not a good day and I really didn't feel much like working out, but my ever perky trainer Karissa was able to keep me motivated. Mainly by completely understanding what I was going through. Sometimes you just have to get through the workout. Missing is not good and it is only an hour. I worked through it.
This time we started with some warm-up exercises that included wide stance walkouts, drop lunges and some basic shoulder warms up using some light weights. From that we moved to walking lunges paired with lat pull downs. I think that I surprised Karissa again as I am maintaining my form as I perform these exercises. She doesn't have to correct me much during any of my workouts so that is a good thing. The legs were starting to go by the end of the lunges as I had walked a fair amount while golfing yesterday so it was a battle to get through them. Oh yeah, to add some extra punishment to the walking lunges, I had to do them while holding a bar parallel to the ground above my head for the entire walk. That makes it surprisingly tougher.
After that little slice of heaven we moved onto leg press paired with upright rows. Again I surprised her by not having to lose my form to complete the task. We also found a new norm for my leg presses. I think that I am going to get her to up the weight again. We are at 7 plates and I can power through 10 reps relatively easily. The hardest part of the exercise is getting into the damn chair.
From there we moved to my last double set of dead lifts and barbell shrugs. I know I haven't mentioned it to anyone here before, but I hate shrugs. They could possibly be the worst exercise ever developed IMHO.
That was it. The hour flew by but by the end of it my mood was a lot better. Somehow Karissa just has a way of making me feel better. I think it's her smile.
I have been warned that Thursday is going to be "fun". Fun for a trainer means new exercises that will cause them to go home and laugh themselves to sleep as they remember the forms their trainees took while floundering all over the place while trying to do what the trainer can do with ease. This is going to be one those times that I'm glad I don't vlog.
See you Thursday - unless I do an entry tomorrow after my cardio workout. We'll see what happens.
First, an update to my last chapter. It turns out that I only did 10 minutes on the stair climber. It only felt like 15 minutes because I hate stairs. Karissa pointed that out to me but she didn't leave a comment as she didn't want to sign in to do so.
Second, I went to see my chiropractor today and asked about that damn pain in my arm. Turns out that it isn't anything too serious and he was able to work much of it out today, but there is more to go. It is an old injury that is well ingrained now so the muscles and tendons don't want to move much. It is right where the muscle attaches to the bone and that is why the pain when I use that area. It just doesn't want to move. I have to see him again next week, so I will keep you posted.
Finally, my workout. Today was not a good day and I really didn't feel much like working out, but my ever perky trainer Karissa was able to keep me motivated. Mainly by completely understanding what I was going through. Sometimes you just have to get through the workout. Missing is not good and it is only an hour. I worked through it.
This time we started with some warm-up exercises that included wide stance walkouts, drop lunges and some basic shoulder warms up using some light weights. From that we moved to walking lunges paired with lat pull downs. I think that I surprised Karissa again as I am maintaining my form as I perform these exercises. She doesn't have to correct me much during any of my workouts so that is a good thing. The legs were starting to go by the end of the lunges as I had walked a fair amount while golfing yesterday so it was a battle to get through them. Oh yeah, to add some extra punishment to the walking lunges, I had to do them while holding a bar parallel to the ground above my head for the entire walk. That makes it surprisingly tougher.
After that little slice of heaven we moved onto leg press paired with upright rows. Again I surprised her by not having to lose my form to complete the task. We also found a new norm for my leg presses. I think that I am going to get her to up the weight again. We are at 7 plates and I can power through 10 reps relatively easily. The hardest part of the exercise is getting into the damn chair.
From there we moved to my last double set of dead lifts and barbell shrugs. I know I haven't mentioned it to anyone here before, but I hate shrugs. They could possibly be the worst exercise ever developed IMHO.
That was it. The hour flew by but by the end of it my mood was a lot better. Somehow Karissa just has a way of making me feel better. I think it's her smile.
I have been warned that Thursday is going to be "fun". Fun for a trainer means new exercises that will cause them to go home and laugh themselves to sleep as they remember the forms their trainees took while floundering all over the place while trying to do what the trainer can do with ease. This is going to be one those times that I'm glad I don't vlog.
See you Thursday - unless I do an entry tomorrow after my cardio workout. We'll see what happens.
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