Just got back from my doctor's appointment and everything looks good. I am cleared for lower body exercises, cardio that doesn't involve the arms, no upper body work until after week 6. I can live with that. Now I have to find lower body exercises that I like that don't involve the upper body. I'm thinking I'll try that lifting the exercise ball between your feet while lying on the floor thing tonight or tomorrow and see how it goes...

Great Shannon! Can you run/power walk? I'm thinking that doesn't involve arms, but then again, it's kind of hard to do w/o moving your arms.

Yah, but she wouldn't be lifting her arms overhead, or carrying any weights, etc.

And I think that Mel has read and reviewed that Burn the Fat e-book, quite awhile back - like last spring? You could do a search for the thread. I've not read it.

And ennay, I agree about making great strides at first, and then working harder and longer to up your weights.

Tom Venuto's book was really enlightening when I first read it when it came out. I think if you have NROLW, you'll find a lot of the same information. It is definitely a worthwhile read. He also has a new book out "The Body Fat Solution" which I haven't read. I think Meg has it and either has read it or is in the middle of it.

BFFM has a lot of explanation for WHY and the science behind the nutrition, cardio and weight training triumvirate. I don't remember much about the actual exercise program, and I'm not sure there really is a daily program laid out. He does emphasize customizing for YOUR body more than BFL.

Shannon- Great on getting cleared to work out! How about walking lunges, hamstring ball pulls, one legged "stand ups"....no arm involvement, don't even need to hold weights for most of them.

I was cleared to do impact exercise again- no blood clots I've been doing the elliptical every day since the bizarro leg bleed, and it sure was nice to get on the treadmill for a quick HIIT after work today.

Mel

Mel: I'm so glad that you do not have a blood clot in your leg. You just can't have something like that. It doesn't fit into your lifestyle plan. I bet it was great to get back on the treadmill today!

Shannon, it sounds like your doing great! Six weeks without lifting upper body? Do I remember that correctly. If so, don't worry, it will go quickly. The beauty of this is that this is another opportunity to watch muscle memory in action. When you go back to lifting again you'll be able to see if you recover and develop more quickly than you did first time around.

So. Today was my first day at the new gym. The owner remembered me by name and had all my stuff ready when I walked into the door. Nice. It was quiet at 5:30am but the cardio room was busy. It's a small room with the equipment facing the walls. There are individual tvs for visual stimuli.

The weights, Freemotion equipment and general toys are in a much larger room. As I entered, for my lifting session there were only two other people there. Half way through the workout, I was the only one in the room. This was a great opportunity to walk around discover where everything was located without tripping over other members doing their routines.

It is going to take some time for me to acclimate though. I had a really nice view while doing cardio in my previous gym. Floor to ceiling plate glass windows and I could do all the "people watching" I wanted. Now I face a wall with a tv screen. ~sigh~ It's just going to take some time. And, I'm there to learn which is not what was happening at the other place. I'm self taught. Well, kind of, there's you ladies. What I'm looking for are people who are as passionate about teaching fitness and lifting as I am about learning. I have an upcoming session to discuss goals next week. Its the first of three meetings in the orientation. I want to give this some thought before I meet with them. Could be interesting.

Ok so I've been majorly slacking on exercise and motivation.

Yesterday, I bought "My Fitness Coach" for the Wii. It is a bit cheesy but I kind of like the novelty of it and I'm going to give it an honest chance. This morning, I told it I wanted to do a 15 minute workout so it gave me a quick workout. I groaned a bit yesterday as I was doing weight exercises without weights per the workout but it asks for feedback and I said it was easy so we'll see how it adjusts.

Tonight, I plan to do some kettlebells or something.

Yay to Mel and Shannon! Nice to hear you are both doing good.

Lydia, I imagine that I would not be thrilled having to stare at a TV compared to what you had at the previous gym. But, you will get used to it. Somehow ... we always do, right? The company I work for decided to squeeze 50 more people on each floor (only God knows where they are going to park) .... so out with the cubes [that gave you some semblance of privacy & your personal space] and in with the dog-bone workstations! It will be loud, crowded, no privacy, no storage space .... and I will lose my prime spot on the floor to ceiling wall overlooking a park and a lake. [Grrroan]. But, I will have to get used to it .... what choice do I have?

My lower back is not doing too good ... it feels a bit stiff again. I wonder if it's from shoveling or from workouts at the gym? Maybe deadlifts are not a good idea right now .... I am worried about this because I have been feeling it for the last 2 weeks or so ... i am not in pain but I know my range of motion is limited and bending down feels awkward.

The good news is - it's 45 days til SPRING!

Alena

Alena: Spring in 45 days! That is the best news. How frustrating that your work floor is about to be restructured. I am a very private person and loud environments really can set me on edge. What you are describing sounds like it would be a huge adjustment. But it is as you stated, we just have to acclimate. At least until we can make different arrangements for ourselves.

Nelie, I saw the ads for the Wii My Fitness Coach and wondered how it was. Let me know what you think as you progress. It looked interesting.

Today was day 2 at the new place. I snagged a treadmill and had a nice run. I was due some SS cardio after yesterday's HIIT. Unlike yesterday, the place was busy with trainers doing group training in the free weight area. Nice to see all of these people working hard at some functional training. I saw a lot of really great things and heard good instructions. I think I will check the online schedule to so that I will know what things might look like tomorrow. Overall, it's really nice not to have to rush through my workout due to travel time.

Morning, ladies!

I'm all about starting over in Feb, but for me it's the workouts I need to keep OP with. I think I just get too intense, then after a few days I am sore and don't want to do anything. Moderation is not my strong suit, lol.

First time back at the Y last night, since before new year's. OMG! It was packed! I ended up with a pretty random workout, because I had to wait for everything, even the oly lifting platform, which is usually deserted. I got a new PR on my deadlift, though, 155 lbs on my last 5 rep set! My previous best was 111, so it was my first time getting to use the 25 kg bumper plates. Very exciting! After my LB lifting workout, or what passed for it last night, I did the crossfit WOD, or the scaled down version, which was 60 pull-ups/60 dips. Got to play on the assisted pull-up machine. Last night I was wishing that thing had a straight bar across the middle, so I could do chins. Every other possible grip was killing me by the end. UB lifting today. I want my mommy.

I need more caffeine, have to poke the boy and get him going this morning, then I'll be back to do replies and check the BFL thread.

Thanks for all the suggestions for exercises guys! I'm not 100% sure about running, I forgot to ask about that part, but I know I can power walk or even 'light jog' whatever that means. And I may only have four weeks left to go on the upper body, because I'm thinking he meant six weeks post surgery, not six weeks from yesterday... I'm definitely going to try some of the things listed.

Mel - glad to hear you are cleared, too!

Lydia - Good luck at your new gym. Change is always hard, isn't it?

Nelie - the Fitness Coach sounds interesting. Definitely let us know how it goes.

Alena - is your company squeezing in more people to save on office space? I hate those cubicle free work areas - there are studies on top of studies on how productivity decreases in those setups... Hope your back feels better soon!

Cheryl - way to go!

Cheryl -

"A new PR on my deadlift" - what's PR please?

PR = Personal record

SIXTY PULL UPS????????

Holy schmoley!

Lydia- The new gym sounds wonderful! Too bad about the view on the machines, but the rest of it sounds better.

Today I did legs heavy. I was doing dumbbells squats standing with each foot on a flat bench do I could get deep enough and dropped a 120 pound dumbbell (don't get too excited, these are SINGLE db squats!) between the benches Made quite a clatter!

I just ordered Tom Venuto's new book The Body Fat Solution. I'll let you know what I think

Mel

Mel: 60 pullups, yeah, I know, look at her! What about you and the 120lb dumb bell. Suspended between two benches. Will you be careful out there!

I'm going to like the place. Today, I did back squats in front of a floor to ceiling mirror. I have this really large vein that pops out from my delts when I'm doing this. Too cool. I had no idea. What a difference lighting and a mirror can do.

No seriously, once I got myself over to the squat rack and did my sets I felt much much better about the new place. I didn't think that would be a trigger for me but it was,

Anyway, when it came time to do my core work I wandered into the group training room. It was empty. I had the whole room to myself with ALL OF THE TOYS. OMG. I could do my entire workout in there. I was so excited. Jump ropes, steps, free bars, balls, mats, ab wheels, dumb bells. So. Very. Nice. I can deal with the cardio equipment now.

Wow, Lydia, sounds like a great place! Maybe you can just zone out to music doing your cardio and not worry about the view? My gym has been adding new machines, and rearranging things. There are still free weights in several areas, but they've moved the balls upstairs (where there are weights too) but the cable machines are still downstairs. I was doing NRLW last night and found myself going upstairs a couple of times to do things in order. I do like that there is also a set of free weights right by the cable machines so I can easily alternate lunges and seated rows; or overhead presses with lateral pull-downs. They also expanded the whole building, and while most of it is rental space (new massage place, a GNC type place, etc) the gym itself is about 10' wider. One new area is a room for spinning. THey used to have to move the machines into the aerobics room everytime they had a classs. Now they're in a place they are left out and anyone can use them when there's not a class.

Tonight is an HIIT night - my iPod is charging on my PC as I type. Can't afford to run out of music.