ooo new shoes...

Lifting day today. Since it's my day off from work, I went mid afternoon instead of night. I'm going to make Thursdays be my earlier lifting days, though I know one week coming up I don't have it off as I have Friday off instead. But this way, I am not lifting late the night before my longest run as I'm doing my long runs on Fridays. Fair amount of people but was able to get things done. And I saw two women doing hip thrusts, which is braver than me cause I wait till after midnight to do those when no one is around. But it also was nice to see someone actually do them cause I always question my form as it's an awkward one.

Stage 5 - B3

warm up low bar squats 3x5 @ 115 - heavy and I'll keep at this one next time

barbell romanian deadlift/bent over row 4x4 @ 80 - still heavy on the rows

goblet squat 4x4 @ 45 - harder on arms to hold the heavier dumbbells
lat pull down 4x4 @ 80 - still heavy

back extension 4x4 @ 25 - might try 35 next time

YTWL 4x4 @ 7.5 - still blah but will try 10 next time, it's the T part that is hard

bench press 3x8 @ 75 - okay but tad tough since i don't bench on a regular basis

OHP 3x8 @ 40 - not bad
bicep curl 3x5 @ 40 - used same bar as OHP, heavy for this lift

Now I'm hungry as I ate a little before but not a lot. Need shower, dinner and to work on stuff online.

Beeps, ouch! Hope it went as well as can be expected

Dna, I am just finishing S&P2 this week (should have finished last week but my son got strep throat so I couldn't make it to the gym as much) and for both 1&2 I did bicep curls and tricep extensions for Free Zone. I did them at the end of every workout. I have noticed quite a difference in these areas since doings three sets of these exercises three times a week for eight weeks now. Kinda nice doing a couple of exercises for the smaller muscle groups. I'll likely keep these moves for S&P3.

Speaking of, what to do after I'm done Supercharged? It will be mid-summer here and I want to be able to do the new Strong program once it comes out in November, or at least in the new year. Is there something I could do, like Strongcurves or another program, for roughly five months? My other option is to move to a four day split for lifting (likely upper and lower) once both kids are back to school, which may be nice. I can just create my own program.

New Schedule

Didn't want to get out of bed this morning when it was almost time for alarm to go off, stomach wasn't too happy. So, I slept in a little longer than planned, then spent time on the couch with the cat. Not overly hot yet so managed to get jog in near apartment instead of driving all the way to the park. I had to go up and down various streets just to keep jogging long enough. Sunday is the medium length days so I did 35 minutes but struggled to keep going over half way through.

Now to do stuff before I have to get ready for work.

Absolutely Beeps! Blurry is better than nothing Glad it all went well.

Dawn, well done on getting the jog in. Schedule re-arrangements do my head in, but it's always nice when you can work around it. And more sleep is always a bonus. Hope your stomach settles down.

Pudding, thank you! I did the bi/tri thing today and it worked out well. I was looking at the exercises a little dubiously, but let's just say that after having to do them for 5 minutes, they are more than enough LOL It also rested my legs enough to get a short HIIT session in afterwards. So I shall keep on with those!

As for finishing Supercharged, I've only just started S&P so I have a little bit longer to go. I was just going to deload for a bit and head back to BT3 or 4 and work back up again. Either that or try out some of Nia Shanks stuff. But, knowing me, I really like the flexibility of choosing my own exercises with Supercharged, so I may just cycle through it again, with different variations.

I'm very interested in the new Strong program when it comes out.


I was feeling very 'blah' this morning, but I got some work done, and hit the gym.

I feel so.much.better.

I may not be able to sit properly tomorrow, but for now I feel awesome.

S&P is shaping up to be a great stage. I like the variety a lot. And I added HIIT onto the end for a little extra heart rate action. I know my body needed the rest week last week, but it's so nice to be back at the rack.

*sigh* I love lifting weights....

Good job, amy_j28. Nice work getting it done.

Tuesday's are going to be interesting on my new schedule. Morning is cardio but the short run that actually stays the same length the whole 10k program. Supposed to be 2 miles but I just did the 30 minutes since that is what my playlist had even though it's a little over 2 miles for me. Might drop a short song and make it closer for next time. Managed to go before 9 am as the start time but it was still pretty warm this morning. Probably need to wake up at 7:30 instead of 8, blah. I don't work today but will most Tuesdays and in the evening I will go to the gym to lift. Today is last day of Stage 5.

Julie - Thanks. 115 is just blah weather. Hope you get through your slump soon.

I finished Stage 5 at last. Yay! No more YTWL ever because I refuse to do it again, lol. Glad to be done with the stage but also not sure how Thursday will go with Stage 7. It looks challenging and I have a 7.5 hour freight day work shift to do afterwards, plus long run on Friday. But first, tonight's lifting report and a nice rest day for Wednesday.

Stage 5 - B4

high bar squats for warmup 3x5 @ 135 - not bad, might do this next time for the 2x6-8 reps for the first lift in the stage

barbell romanian deadlift/bent over row 4x4 @ 85 - not bad with the regular bar and added weights but row challenging, can't wait to do rdl on its own and not on one foot either

goblet squat 4x4 @ 50 - awkward to hold but not bad squat wise
lat pull down 4x4 @ 80 - no improvement, should have de-loaded and worked up but oh well

back extension 4x4 @ 35 - hard to hold the big plate but did okay

YTWL 3x4 @ 10 - not great but made it through. I can't do the Y or T well at 10, but I'm done with it, yay

db bent over row 3x8 @ 20 - thought I'd try it to prepare for thursday's 15-20 reps, tad awkward

deadlift 2x6 @ 135 - okay since it's 135, didn't need mixed grip

good morning 3x10 @ 55 - the usual here

hip thrusts 3x10 @ 50 - awkward and shoes were slipping a little, haven't tried the regular bar yet cause seems awkward with the way the benches are set up.


Some lifts I liked in this stage and some I won't miss at all. Now to rest in preparation for the final 6 workouts coming up (maybe 12, we will see but probably 6). I should also really start looking at other programs so I can decide what to do next. hmmm

Early day lifting for me. I have work now on Thursdays instead of having it off so this should be interesting since currently Thursday is freight day. I managed to get up and to the gym before 10 am, though had to spend a little time warming up before lifting since I didn't have the 6-8 hour work shift beforehand. Made it into stage 7 and I'm tentative to say this but to bad so far. I dropped down the weights cause anything above 10 reps is crazy, which helped me make it through the reps and very short rests. For the first time, I actually timed my rests with the timer instead of just glancing at the gym clocks on occasion. My arms are the only thing feeling it so far. They got tired the most during the lifts, so naturally I did a couple shoulder/arm accessories at the end. lol We will see how freight lifting goes tonight followed by how I feel tomorrow.

Stage 7 - Workout 1

barbell squat 2x6 @ 135 - not bad, I might do the 8 reps next time

static lunge 4x16 @ 20 db - okay ish, used step from aerobic classroom (8 per leg)
push up 4x15 using bench - wasn't going to try on ground with 15 reps, struggled at the end
barbell romanian deadlift 4x15 @ 60 - fine on legs and such, arms got tired at the end
db bent over row 4x15 @ 20 - okay, just the lift in general gets tiring past ten reps


Accessories:
db overhead press 3x8 @ 15 - okay
db one arm bicep curl 3x8 @ 15 - figured since i had them for OHP would curl too

db shrug 3x10 @ 30 - felt heavy but managed okay


Now I'm going to finish eating lunch as I stopped and got a spicy chicken sandwich, then it's shower and get ready for work. Fun times. I didn't eat before lifting, though I had a trail bar right after cause hungry. I am a little hungry at night after lifting too but nice thing about hunger after morning lifting is I have all day and all my calories left still compared to after midnight and minimal calories remaining. Nice to mix things up a little.

No long run today after all. Alarm clock went off this morning and I went back to sleep. Oops. Shoulders are sore from yesterday plus had a headache. It's going to be a hot week here. Needed an ice pack on me to help me fall asleep last night even. Will have to work on the running thing as I'm the least motivated upon first waking up but it's too hot to run any other time.

Need to go walk around stores for their AC and to get some food that doesn't involve too much heat or cooking.

Late night. Didn't get done with work until after 10:30 pm then helped coworkers so she could leave her car for her husband, who had to work later than usual.Didn't get to the gym until about 11pm. I skipped doing any accessories and the timed rests do help keep things going. 2 down and 4 more to go. Though if I can't pick a new program I may have to do 12 instead of 6.

Stage 7 - Workout 2

barbell incline bench press 2x8 @ 65 - awkward but okay

seated row 2x8 @ 80 - challenging and I did separate from bench cause didn't want to go between the two

db squat heel on plate 4x15 @ 20 - odd but manageable
db should press 4x15 @ 15 - not hard but the reps make it challenging by the end
step-up 2x16 @ 20 - short step and did 8 per leg
underhand lat pull down 2x15 @ 50 and 2x15 @ 60 - I tried 40 but too light so did 50 then tried 60, 60 seemed a good one


That is all. Now it's late and hot still. We will see if I can coax myself up in the morning to jog if I promise myself a nap and iced coffee before work.

Dawn-you're a committed machine!! So impressed! I'll bet you look and feel great! Kutgw!
Jo-hope you like the results, you sure are lean!
Beeps-hope you're healing well.
Pudding-thanks. I'm hoping to get to the gyms at least twice this week .

No exercise but survived a double birthday sleepover and 2 full day bday celebrations for my girls. Whew! Going to spend a lot of time with my mom this week. We are signing her into assisted living and moving her the end of the week. There will be lots of cleaning and packing...so that'll count as cardio in my book .

Hope you're all doing well!

Julie, a double birthday sleepover sounds like a huge accomplishment that must have required alcohol, no?

I started Strength and Power 3 today. I got my deadlifts up to 150! That's huge for me. I really liked the first workout of this stage but am kind of looking forward to being done. Has anyone done NROL Abs? Any reviews?

2 early shifts, a million kids activities, SIL arriving tomorrow and a crap tonne of housework in preparation. I'm on my second drink....

I just popped in to declare my surprise that I caught myself looking forward to my jack knives tomorrow!

I have no more vodka left!!

Tomorrow I drive the munchkins to the farm!!!! (of course I'm not excited... ) I'm going to do the insane thing and drive down and back in the one day, just because lol

Janie, awesome!! I have some exercises that I really don't like. But I find myself scheduling them in purely because I know I don't like them because they make me work hard lol

Sam, I've been doing the bicep/tricep thing suggested in the book for free zone and it's kinda fun - simple and it's nice to do something purely as an extra. I've also been doing a short HIIT session after... but as I mentioned, I have an insanity problem


Must ring my mother and work out if I need to get to the shops. And pack bags for the children and whatever. The car went in for a service today, so it had better be good to go tomorrow because I can't drive the husband's car. As in, I actually, physically can't drive it safely.... my legs are too short