I thought it would be fun to share our workouts this month! I've been feeling kind of stale and blah in the gym and would love to hear what everyone is doing and share ideas.

It doesn't have to be gym workouts, of course. It can be any kind of fun activity that gets us up and moving! And burning calories and building muscle!

So ... let's hear about your movin' and groovin' in the month of March! And by the time we get to the end of the month, maybe spring will be here?

I'm in. My workouts aren't always the most exciting, (or the most consistent the last few weeks) but I'll put them out there!

I really want spring to be here...

Sounds good to me too!! I like to keep track of my days/minutes exercised each month.

Good one Meg! Just what we could use to sail into spring!
Well, yesterday I had a lovely run and this morning I did a spin class. I had this thought during my class, "you know it's a good work out when you are blinded by your own sweat"

Maybe you all can help me out tomorrow. Here'sthe deal. 2 weeks ago I took a power surge interval weight training class. It way took me out of my comfort zone and hurt like a b****, actually for days (in a "good" way, no injuries). Last week I did not return. Goal: be there tomorrow.

Happy march Monday

Good idea, Meg.

As some of you know, I'm entering week 6 of some viral/bacterial/cough/cold/far too much catarrh bonanza. No need for medical advice or caution, friends. Me and my body go back a long way and we've taken the necessary sensible steps!

So weeks 5 and 6 involve Gymn Re-entry, viz, gentle, gentle cardio to get the muck moving and gentle, gentle stretching/yoga poses to do same. And both to increase antibodies, increase blood volume and amount of oxygen in the blood. Have just done Day 4: TM 20mins @ 2.8mph; recumbent bike 10 mins fairly slowly; stretching 20 mins.

(Show-off corner: my gymn trousers feel a *little* loose around the thighs. Could be worn-out lycra or could be ... fat loss!)

Well, after a horrible night's sleep I did manage to get in a workout, but not what I had planned. I was going to do 20 minutes on the elliptical followed by 10-20 minutes on the treadmill (a repeat of Saturday's workout) but I only managed a 30 minute walk (2 miles).

The best part is DH got his restricted license so I don't have to drive him to and from work any more. I have more time back in my mornings and can leave work at an earlier hour!

I got my workout done for today on the treadmill at work:

5 min warmup @3.5-4.2mph
15 min HIIT: 2 min @5.3mph, 1 min @6.3mph
5 min cooldown
5 min stretching

Total was 1.99 miles.

Oh yeah, and I wanted to add -- I am constantly amazed at my progress. Since when is 5.3mph (11:19/mile) my "recovery" pace??? Who is this person??? Certainly not the same Jessica who couldn't even jog 1/4 lap around the (1/4 mile) track in high school.

THAT is the best thing about maintenance.

Jessica - I've thought the same thing on the treadmill before. The 5 mph feels leisurely to me most of the time now. Love it!

Am going to exercise tonight when I get home. I swear. No matter what I feel like. Putting my foot down right now.

Sounds good, especially since I'm working out again. Also, I participate in the President's Challenge, which can be a nice motivational tool. I like working toward that goal, although it's slow going since I'm at the platinum level.

Today I did 40 minutes on the elliptical with some HIIT thrown in there. Then I went to another place to do an hour with my new trainer who like to kick my butt. She really likes to work several muscle groups at once, particularly working core stuff into every exercise. I'd never worked with those kettle bells before either. I'm hoping to regain the strength I lost during my weight lifting hiatus.

This morning I did 30 minutes on the treadmill. I had scheduled a full body workout, but my knees were very stiff, so I rearranged Mon/Tues. It's all good.

Today I went to "boxing boot camp" for 70 min. I won't exercise tomorrow since I work both of my jobs. I like to keep track of how many days and minutes I exercise each month, so for March so far:

1 day
70 minutes

This morning I met trainer Tim & training partner Kathy for benchpress training for 1+ hour. After warming up we did:

-Close-grip benchpress w/ barbell (to emphasize tris), 5 sets x 8 reps, 75-90# (this was our "light" day, Tim is so amusing, ha ha)
-Dumbbell benchpresses lying on the floor, 2x35#, 3 sets x 6-8 reps (I did 7,7,6)
-Stretch band pull aparts - stand w/ arms straight out ahead of you holding the band, pull it out until your arms are straight out to your sides, 2 sets x 12
-Rear delt row (machine), 3 sets x 6-8 reps (I did 100#, 7, 7, 6)
-EZ-bar shoulder lifts (making up names now!) - take the 15# EZ bar in a wide grip, hold it up about at your nose, lift it back and forth over your head to about halfway down your head, front, back, etc. 2 sets of as many as possible. I told Tim I was concerned about rotator cuff injury for this one, what do you ladies think?
- Lying on a flat bench, start w/ 2 dumbbells extended straight up, touching. Lower to your chest, keeping the tops of the dumbbells touching, and letting the bottoms come apart to touch your chest. 3 sets x 10-12 reps (I used 20# dumbbells, was pretty tired by now!)

I'm trying to hit all my major muscle groups once a week to balance out the chest training (back, glutes, quads, hams, abs 2-3x a week), and also keep up with cardio. This isn't really a good formula for me losing weight, which is what I need to do right now...

Megan, very impressive weights!

In my opinion, no one should ever do a behind the head/neck exercise. One of the tenets of safe weight lifting is that we maintain a neutral spine throughout the lift. And it's impossible to maintain a neutral spine while lifting behind your head. Try it and see -- your head will jut forward. And that puts a lot of stress on your spine, along with your shoulders. I think you're OK with a military press so long as keep the bar in front of you.

The other big rule for protecting shoulders is never to lift shoulders to failure. It's OK for other muscle groups, like back or legs, because those are big muscles. Shoulders, in contrast, are a a set of tiny muscles that are easily injured. In the memorable words of my physical therapist: "Failure is the edge of injury", meaning that working shoulders to failure is risking injury. And it's so not worth it!

So you need to judge for yourself whether the weight you're using is too heavy or whether you're pushing for too many reps. Stop when your shoulders muscles are fatigued and on the edge of exhaustion, but don't work to failure.

My two cents.

Megan, I did some of those shoulder things, but with no weight, just a pole (like bamboo), and the behind the head motion bothered my shoulder. So we just went down a little way in the back. I'm going to have to ask her the reason for going behind the head.

No formal exercise today, but taking lively dogs out of the kennels can be pretty aerobic, and holding on to them works out the arm muscles, for sure.