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!
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