Wow indeed. Very awesome Jo! *has arm envy* Great flex shot.

I'm tired. After yesterday's lower hypertrophy workout I had an 8 hour close shift at work and it was freight day. Then I ended up having a schedule change so I worked an open shift today. I didn't want to get up super early to do long jog so I did it after work, then a few errands. Finally got 30,000 steps in one day but my legs and bum were sore before I jogged so going to be feeling it tomorrow.

Cardio day = 5.5 mile jog

Awww thanks everyone.... it's been a long journey but finally starting to see what I want :-)

Dawn - that's a heck of a lot of steps! Good work
Dna - weather is awesome here too :-)

Did combat (new release) today. Was good. Having a celiac flare up though and otherwise feeling bloody awful. This afternoon my total step count is probably about 20. To bed and back. My whole body is complaining. So annoyed with myself, but hoping it will pass quickly. Really want to feel better already!

13 - Upper Power

bench 4x3 @ 100 - barely got it up on the last reps on most of the sets but pushed through
db incline bench 2x10, 1x9 @ 30 - same weight, didn't get the very last rep on last set
bent row 3x4 @ 100 - tried 100, eh. Not sure if I'm pulling close enough to body on these heavy ones
lat pulldown 3x9 @ 70 - managed fine
OHP 3x4 @ 75 - struggled but pushed through
bar curl 3x8 @ 40 - eh, curls
skullcrusher 3x8 @ bar+5 - tough near the end, will stick to this weight for a bit

Now to get to work with online stuff and going to enjoy my day off tomorrow.

For those of you wondering about Strong (which I have preordered: release date is Nov. 10 I believe), this was posted on the NR FB page recently when someone asked about the new book:

Kristen, that's a complicated question. Alwyn Cosgrove's program starts at the beginning, which means it's appropriate for someone brand-new to lifting. But those same workouts will be very different for an experienced lifter. They may look simple on paper, but they're as challenging as you want to make them.

Here's why: The more advanced you are, the better you are at coordinating muscles and recruiting motor units. That means you can generate more force per rep, and accumulate more fatigue per set.

At the same time, there's going to be some inefficiency in your movements, since you're returning to exercises and techniques you probably haven't used in a while. You'll have more energy leaks than a rusted-out Chevy. That's also a source of fatigue, and it's entirely intentional.

Alwyn and I have talked a few times about one of the tenets of his training philosophy: If an aspect of muscular fitness is important to develop, then it must also be important to maintain.

And yet, every one of us abandons some of the most basic fitness qualities so we can focus on something else that seems more important. It's always a wake-up call to go back to workouts that focus more on muscular endurance and joint stability and realize how challenging simple exercises can be.

The flip side is that it feels like you're abandoning pure strength and other advanced qualities. But of course you aren't abandoning them. You're simply giving your body a tune-up before you get back to all-out strength and hypertrophy training.

For that, Alwyn has some techniques that are far more advanced than anything he used in NROL for Women, and a couple of evolutionary steps beyond Supercharged.

School went back today for Term 4... I know this term will be insane with all the end of year/Christmas/school fete etc etc stuff happening. There will be a swim meet in there somewhere and a couple of excursions too.


In relation to programs, I'm going around again with Supercharged. The weights I am using are at least 1.5x to double what I used when I first started it last year. And I can definitely see re-doing Basic Training as a "tune up" - a bit of a break from the toll that pure strength puts on the body and it's a bit of a shake up. I'm interested to see where I end up at again... but for now, I'm enjoying mixing it up a little and using some of the things I learned the first go through.

My goals have shifted too. I'm not interested in pure strength, I know I will get stronger, so there's no hurry. And I'm not interested in overall aesthetics (I mean, it's nice and all, but I have to acknowledge that there are some things my post-children body just can't achieve any more lol and I'm not willing to cut down to a lower body fat %... I would hazard a guess I'm about 20% now, which in the overall scheme of things is pretty darn good). My current goal is purely health related - mental and physical. Exercise is my treat, my reward - get my work done and I get to go be sweaty in the gym/go for a run/swim laps... which reminds me, I have to hang out the washing if I want to do cardio circuits this afternoon lol


I find it fascinating how things change over time. The more we learn about ourselves and our bodies and generally what we want in life.


Pudding & Jo, I hope you're feeling better soon

Hey guys. I have been really struggling to stay motivated lately. I started a new job a month ago and since then I have been staying with a friend while house hunting. I also went away on holidays last week so only got around to joining a new gym yesterday. Lifting after taking a month off is not a good idea! Today I can barely move! But it is great to be back at it.
I feel your pain beeps on the tight jeans, I need to get more focused on my diet and drop some of the fat that i have put on lately.
Jo, you look amazing!!Can I have your arms please??

Thanks for all the lovely words ladies. I wasn't feeling down about feeling bigger, just needing to check I was on the right track. And I went for my DEXA today - results after 3 months;

Body fat % DOWN from 20.8% to 19.4%
Body fat mass DOWN 800g
Lean muscle UP 500g
Visceral fat DOWN from 13g to 0g! YES!
Abdominal fat DOWN 3%
Bone density - IMPROVED (91st centile to 93rd)

Was no way expecting such good results. Especially as I am finding shorts etc not fitting. The technician today however pointed out that about 90% of my lean muscle gains was legs, LOL, hence them being bigger. I knew I wasn't imagining it. Arms are definitely leaner too.

Honestly, I don't know how I'm doing it. I eat so much and don't always feel like I've smashed it at the gym. I'm very pleased I've finally found a balance that is working though. And f**k squats lol - switched to leg press and finally get some quads, hahaha

Lifted before work. Second time trying a little pre-workout but eh, not much different than energy drinks but I've had less of those lately since none are on sale. Didn't help me get more reps though, lol. I actually failed on the barbell incline bench press, which was a slight struggle since there is no lower rack spot like the flat or decline benches. I had to settle it on my lap, then on the bench before I took a couple of plates off since I wasn't sure I'd be able to clean 70 at that moment before awkwardly getting the bar back up where it belonged. Many people at gym, no one came over and just got a few glances as I was trying to get it back to position. I could have let the weights slide off and such but eh, this was fine.

15 - upper hyper

incline bench press 1x7 @ 70 then 3x8 @ 65 - last time I'd managed 4x10 @ 65 so less stellar for sure today
bench db fly 4x9 @ 15 - these were okay
seated row 4x12 @ 60 - tough by the end but not bad, might increase next time
one db row 4x10 @ 22.5 - kept same weight but might try 25 next time
db lat raise 3x8 @ 15 - increase so was challenging
seat db curl 3x9 @ 17.5 - increase and okay but curls so meh
cable tri extensions 4x12 @ 50 - okay but only increases in 10, and odd cause hits my stomach sometimes when pulling the rope down


Next up is food then getting ready for work as it's freight day.

I have caffeine... may have needed the double shot though

Slept in this morning, so I'll hit the gym before lunch. At least Basic Training is relatively short.

My sleeping sucks lately. The husband is using our bedroom for his study, and he has an exam next week. Which means I haven't been able to go to bed when I need to and have been staying up too late. I think I'll make up the bed in the spare room until he gets the exam out of the way. Or, you know... he could use his damn office instead.

Okedokee... slow work day (thank you Friday), so I'm going to patch the boy child's school pants... they just have to make it to the end of term...