Operation 204 - Chapter 38

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.