[WaterRat]

Hmm, sounds like too much a total experience for me too, Lydia. I'd like the pool though. We have only the local HS pool here, and in addition to be heavily clorinated, and having dreadful times for lap swimming, the dressing/locker rooms are appalling - ewwwww. When I do go, I just whip my suit off, throw on my sweats and go home. At least at the gym I don't feel like I'll catch something, and they have real mirrors, not metal.

[Mel]

I belong to a gym somewhat like that with a salon (lavender-rose petal facial after my leg workout? ) because it is less than 5 minutes from my office and the only way I can lift during my lunch hour. It's also the closest gym to where I live but I'd always laughed at it as the "unfitness center" or country club health club. It does have a good free weight area, loads of free motion machines and wonderful cybex functional trainers.

I've never used the pools or salon, but I love the convenience.

Lydia, if you really want a new challenge, why don't you try one of Mike Davies boot camp classes or trainers? His office is (I think) somewhere pretty close to you.


I tried a set of Overhead Squats today- I just couldn't resist trying them before I got on the treadmill this afternoon. Oh my. I used a naked olympic bar, squatted really deep and managed 12 before my arms gave out. How much weight do you think that woman on the crossfit video was using? I know they were rubberized plates so a full size plate isn;t necessarily 45 pounds.
Baf- they will certainly improve your squat form if you have problems keeping your upper body upright- you have to!

I'm off work tomorrow. Yippeeee!

Mel

[Meg]

Mel, if I'm reading the video right, it looks like she was doing body weight on the OH squats at 123 pounds. Now I've got to try them today, but with my repaired rotator cuff, I'll start with the 35# bar and see how it goes.

[Mel]

Meg- I read that and it didn't make sense to me. Thanks. So those plates were about 35 per side If someone helped me get the bar up there, I might do 2


I had several vials of blood drawn this morning and am debating how long and how much water I need before my workout. I desperately need to workout!

Mel

[Lifeguard]

I've been sitting here giggling as I read this thread this morning.

I'm off to spanish class & then to the gym. I'll report back later. For some reason my legs are still sore from Friday, which seems especially crazy as the only legs I did was lunges - darn pms!!!

[4rabbit]

Hi LWL,

Lydia - what a hilarious description of the other gyms. I can't think why one would want a hairdresser or a beauty salon in a gym. Maybe more into the "wellness" thing? You might actually scare people there with your workouts !

Mel - DS is 16. I do so hope that his school attitude is temporarily off and will perk up before he finished secondary school (in another 2 years).

Meg, mel - thanks for the info about the amount of weight in the OH squat video. It is incredible!!!NOt that she weighs 123 pounds 9I believe that easily) but that she OH squats that amount!!!

I did the 2nd round of stage 1 workouts of NRWL this morning after getting out of bed. The stuff is so quick I can actually do this at home before i hop under the shower. I am done in 25 minutes, quite incredible. And i had upped my weights to 18 kg (including the bb at 10 kg), so about 40 pounds, and it went fine. Maybe i'll put another 2 kg plates on for my next 1a. AND I did real pushups again, 10 of them. it is still very hard and i could only do 9 on the 2nd set.

Have a great day all,
Rabbit

[Lydia227]

Originally Posted by 4rabbit

Lydia - You might actually scare people there with your workouts !
Rabbit

I could tell I was annoying to the sales guy. I saw him perplexed when I confirmed that there was only one flat bench. Plenty of adjustables though. I have found the adjustable benches don't provide enough support for me. Something about that open space bothers me. But as far as scaring other members I really doubt it. This place was so big I could go everyday for a month of Sundays and still be incognito.

Mel: Oh yes, thank you! We talked about Mike Davies bootcamp last summer. I just forgot the name. I have to say that the website is a wee bit intimidating but this might just be the experience I'm looking for. I have to contact them to find out exactly where they are. The website doesn't give an address which means I have to reach out to contact them. Am I really good enough for this. http://www.mikedaviesfitness.com/ Oh but what is life for if not to be lived with some personal risks.

After my gym shopping yesterday I went back to my old haunt to get some leg work in. I also did some incline work on the treadmill which I haven't done in at least six months. As much as that wore me out I'm going to need to bring that back into my rotation. About those OH squats. I'm thinking I'll practice those in my basement with a broomstick before using one of the lighter bars at the gym.

[baffled111]

Morning everyone.

Lydia, my current Y is the most low-budget establishment imaginable, but I once belonged to a beautiful gym in Australia. All the walls were painted colors and everything was shiny. It didn't have a salon (wtf???) but it did have a coffee/snack bar. I loved that part actually. I'd finish my cardio and then grab a nice espresso before going about my day. There was even a little seating area overlooking the pool. And, they had giant bowls of Pria bars that you could grab for free on your way out if you needed a snack. It was a nice gym. My Y hands out sweat towels for free so I don't have to bring my own. That's as high class as it gets.

[Meg]

OK, I tried overhead squats this morning. Being a chicken, I grabbed a 25# bar to start and immediately felt it in my lower back. There's definitely a sweet spot overhead to hold the bar and once I adjusted (my hands were actually behind my head on my first try), my back was OK. I went up to the 35 and then 45# bars (only got 10 at 45, Mel!) (I used the squat rack for the 35 and 45s)

The whole time I was struggling with my form and I'd like to hear from any of you who have tried OH squats. I was trying to use classic squat form with feet about shoulder width apart, toes straight ahead, and weight on my heels. But my knees were definitely coming over my toes and my knees were splaying out all over the place. I felt like my weight wanted to be more on my toes than my heels.

When I came home, I watched the video again and noticed that the woman in it is taking a very wide, almost sumo stance, with her toes pointed out. Her knees were out over her toes. So what do you all think? Is this the right way to do them? Mel, did you adjust your form?

[dixied]

Lydia - That sounds sorta like my gym. DH's insurance pays for our gym memberships, but this list is limited, and the closest one to our house that's not Curves, is a spa/fitness center. It's okay, a little skimpy on free weights, but it will do for now. I can go with a different gym on a month to month basis, so eventually when I get up to speed I will transfer it back to one clser to my office. I do like that becuase most of their business comes from the spa part, the gym is usually empty. Most days I'm the only person in there at 6am. And I will admit to hopping into one of the tanning beds this morning before work.

I did my first NRL4W workout yesterday. OMG I didn't realize how sore I'd be today. I love/hate those step-ups.

[Lydia227]

Meg: Her wide stance was the first thing I noticed in the video. This is how I squat too. The shoulder width stance is just too uncomfortable for me and I naturally just stand a little wider. While watching her my concern was her speed, depth, and the strain she appeared to be under. She does look great though.

[baffled111]

Meg, I noticed it when I did the warm-up set the other day: something about putting your arms above your head and keeping your back upright seems to make my knees want to bend out rather than forward. Maybe it's a balance thing, or a mechanical thing.

I think these tabata squats might be the best friend of the quitting-smoker. I was feeling antsy in here (my office) a little while ago so I found a big online stopwatch and did 4 mins of tabata squats. It got the blood pumping and cleared my head right up! Yay! It's nice to be able to sneak in a little extra exercise to calm the nerves and alleviate anxiety. (It's also nice to have the kind of office where I can close the door and do aerobic activity without anyone else knowing what I'm up to in here. )

From the perspective of muscle recovery and etc, these tabata squats count as cardio, right? I can do them 8 times a day every day of the week if I want to, correct?

I'm a little freaked out. I've been doing random reading on the web and the consensus appears to be that each cigarette you smoke requires an extra 10 calories of energy as it moves through your system. 10 calories doesn't sound like much, but I was a 2 pack a day smoker and I'm appalled at the prospect of having to reduce my maintenance calories by 400 a day!!!! That's far too many! I'll starve to death! So if I do do 8 sets of tabata squats 8 times a day on top of my regular exercise, at least I'll be burning some extra calories. I don't want to be fat!!!!!! Or hungry. I want to be lean and well-fed.

[Meg]

Baff, that calorie burn is why cigarettes are called the number one selling diet drug in the US, unfortunately.

But you're doing the right thing for your body and health!! Don't go slashing 400 calories off your daily totals right away ... those numbers may not be right for you (remember what we always say about calorie calculators being guesses?) And perhaps your appetite won't be as big if your metabolism isn't artificially stimulated by smoking? Trial and error, with meticulous tracking, is the only way you'll figure this out. You're not going to get fat!

My vote is that it's OK to do Tabata squats every day. Even though you're using some resistance (your bodyweight), I don't consider it enough to break down muscle fibers and require repair, which is why we ordinarily need the 48 hour rest period. This is more of an endurance exercise than a strengthening one -- and you better believe that you're burning calories!

Another benefit of whipping off a series of squats when you're feeling antsy is that you may get an endorphin rush that could be a substitute for nicotine. Swapping an unhealthy drug for a healthy one?

Hang in there!

[Depalma]

I naturally do all my squats with a fairly wide squat. Don't ask me for OH squat tips, however. I'm god awful. I really pitch forward badly.

As for Tabata squats, I agree with Meg and don't see why you can't do these very often. Unless, someone is just starting out and bodyweight squats are someone's current resistance level, then you shouldn't be breaking down fibers. In fact, if you are well beyond BW, then this will probably serve as active recovery. Thus, it shouldn't be considered in your resistance training at all, it should be worked into your cardio/energy systems training. Personally, I wouldn't do them everyday, just as I wouldn't do HIIT everyday, but I would have no problem working them in 3 or 4 times per week. However, that's just me, and of course, like many things, it depends upon your recovery ability. 8 times a day, every day, though I don't think is sustainable. If you are going as fast as you can during the 20 second periods, then these are only 4 minutes, but a very intense 4 minutes. Your muscles will recover, but don't forget about giving your CNS a chance to recover as well. This type of intensity too frequently could quickly lead to overtraining. I would start with fewer sessions and add slowly. However, that's just IMO.

[JerseyGirl69]

Just a quick hi. All is going well. Am 281 and soon to break to the 70s, pleased with that. Doing it with Atkins which is the only thing that stabilizes my blood sugar (no diabetes, just insulin resistance). Atkins proved healthier than most think when you do it to the book--though it flies in the face of what most limitedly consider healthy. ANyway, feeling good.

Training is better as is stuff with my trainer. Giving it a chance to improve....

I've lost 8lbs and 8 inches in 2 weeks on the Challenge, but I think someone else is in the lead. ((shrug))

Haven't focused enough on strength and miss it terribly, but will return to it when I'm back to solo training in April.