Phase 2

amysj303

Well, the holiday threw me off a little bit. I did the cardio yesterday but didn't get to the gym so today I am going to do the strength training for Day 29 and 30 and another cardio session at the end.
I am hopeful about being able to do legs tomorrow, no cardio, but I just looked at the workout and they have donkey calf raises, which I had never heard of until last week, I saw the machine and I thought, I am never going to do that! I even took a picture of the demonstration pic to make fun of with my friends, ha! the video on JELF shows a guy with a girl straddling his back while he does it, but the picture on the machine shows a women bent at the waist, raising her butt into the air, way to embarrassing for me I guess.

karinefitness

I also saw the donkey raise and thought... NO WAY! We don't have the machine at the gym and there's no way I am asking someone to 'assist' me in doing this exercice!

Instead, I will use the leg press machine as suggested.

I did workout 29 (back & cardio) and 33 (shoulders) today since I didn't go to the gym yesterday. Will do legs and another 30 minutes of cardio tomorrow morning.

amysj303

It took about an hour and a half to do the two workouts and the cardio and I really skimped on the abs stuff so I might have to do some tonight if I have time after the legs workout.

lexagon

Just use the leg press machine and do calf presses, it's the same basic exercise. We don't have one at my gym but I looked at it and laughed when I saw it. As long as you are getting a good calf workout you are good

amysj303

for your amusement:

amysj303

course, that machine is nothing compared to having someone straddle your hips:laugh: I can just see myself asking for that at the gym:embarassed:

karinefitness

Just use the leg press machine and do calf presses, it's the same basic exercise. We don't have one at my gym but I looked at it and laughed when I saw it. As long as you are getting a good calf workout you are good

I used the leg press but I felt like I was doing the exact same thing as the standing calf raise. Maybe I wasn't doing it properly?

I've also discovered we have a sitting calf raise machine at my gym, but I never knew it was there before today! Woops!!

amysj303

Did the legs workout last night, all my calf raises were on the leg press.
My food choices were a bit of a fail. I am really going to try and be 90% with my approved foods. It's hard when there are social plans, like last night, it was 10 friends at an Italian place. I could have had a salad with grilled shrimp but I was hungry and pizza looked so good...

amysj303

I am needing to manage expectations, I guess. I just compared my before and after phase 1 pics and I really can't tell any difference :grumble:

amysj303

Did shoulders and cardio yesterday and legs today. Tomorrow is rest. Happy new year!

jawolfe

It's rest for me tomorrow too, last one before Phase 2! Happy New Year!

amysj303

rest day today but looking forward to back and cardio tomorrow, going to the store and making chicken chili and pumpkin bars on my day off tomorrow.

jawolfe

It was back day for me today too (day 29). Those super sets are a killer!

amysj303

Day 36 for me and the gym is way too busy for super sets! It's driving me crazy already. I made some pumpkin bars tonight and going to make chicken chili tomorrow

amysj303

I ended up getting the same protien powder where I went they didn't carry Promasil, so I got the one with sucralose again. I don't know whether it is really bad for me or not. It is derived from sugar, but I don't know why Stevia is better.

jawolfe

Here are the weights I've been using...

Yesterday was Back & Cardio:
overhand pullups - used the assist at 125lb. I used to use 110lb. Not sure if I got weaker or if it's b/c I put on 10lb...probably both.
Bent over barbell row - 15lb. Unsure of weight of bar
seated cable row - had to use machine at 60lb; couldn't get on the cable row
wide grip lat pull down - 70lb
one armed row - 20lb
close grip pull down - 70lb; prob could go heavier
back extensions - with 10lb weight

Today was chest...ugh, it was a killer!
wide grip barbell bench press - warmup - empty bar, don't know how much it weighs, regular sets 10lb, negatives - didn't know what this meant so i used the empty barbell and went down very slowly to a count of 5
wide stance pushups - 12 rather than 15, I'm so pathetic at pushups!
cable crossover - 20lb; light i know but learning these for the first time so focusing on form. ouch!
smith incline barbell press - 10lb, 15lb, 15lb
cable crunches - 70, 80, 90; was trying to figure out how to do these, could probably go higher even

It's only the 2nd day in Phase 2 and I'm already feeling like I need to eat more, especially more protein! How's everyone doing??

amysj303

Thanks for sharing your weights jawolfe. I had back and cardio yesterday, this is what I remember:
Here are the weights I've been using...

overhand pullups - used the assist at 110lb. usually I can do a couple at 95 assist but not yesterday!
Bent over barbell row - 40lb. the whole thing is one piece and that is the weight printed on it.
seated cable row - 60 lb
wide grip lat pull down - can't remember!
one armed row - 15lb
back extensions - one without and one with 10lb weight. some other guy wanted to use it so I missed the last set.

I wonder why I am not getting stronger and I think maybe I am not eating properly for muscle growth?! I really don't like to eat when I am not hungry. But also, I have a bad habit of thinking that hunger is the feeling of fat cells dying and I really think going to bed hungry means losing body fat.
For Phase 2 I am really going to try hard to get my protein. But also, really try getting the eggs morning and night. I am a little wary of drinking egg white in a smoothie but I might have to, especially at night, I am not wanting to eat eggs then.

jawolfe

Thanks for sharing asjerven! that's very helpful. Hey strength is relative, so long as we start seeing some improvement, right? At least we are doing it. I know that my nutrition over the past 2 wks has been awful. But I've been off work with my husband and didn't want to be too hard on myself. I'm with you, I"m going to start focusing on making sure I get enough cals and especially protein. Going to get my eggs and ground turkey tomorrow! Thanks for sharing!

amysj303

oh, and FYI, my name is Amy. I hate my screen name, I didn't know my login would create my screen-name and now I don't want to change it to something else, I guess.
Anyway, here's to us and eating right:drinker:
I have been checking out paleo sites for dinner ideas since they are pretty low in carb and sugar, sometimes a little high in fat, though!

karinefitness

Amy, I might be wrong but I think the progress might be less noticeable in people who don't have weight to loose (ie: you). The progress pics I've seen were mostly of people who wanted to loose weight; and they did! But maybe they weren't active at all before the program and this is why their progress is amazing?

I also wonder if I've made any improvement during the first few weeks of the program. I am lifting more than I was last week and in Phase 1, but I guess I am impatient and would like to see more (muscle) gains.

Of course eating enough protein is crucial, as well as lifting heavy. Maybe you can try the go up in weight in most of the exercices next week? I sometimes do that and if I cannot do a set I just do a few reps and then go down in weight.

I haven't taken pics yet, I only have my 'before' pic but I don't feel much different yet... But I'm unpatient to see results... ;-)

karinefitness

I'm also planning on doing the trainer a second time once I finish Phase 3, hopefully there will be more gains this time! We'll see! We still have 6 weeks to go!