And now for the crash & burn post, I guess.

I ended up doing 2 cardio sessions yesterday, both 30 min sessions on the treadmill, my usual program of inclines and speed, about 3 hrs apart. DD wanted me to watch a dvd w/her, so I figured if I was watching tv, I could get on the t'mill again. Felt fine, everything ok.

This morning was time for my fbwo. I was just kind of not into it. Not strong, either, was really really challenged to finish my last sets, low energy, blah. I doubt it's overtraining, as my last session was Wednesday. No new exercises, my std fare, altho I did go up in wt for 2 exercises. I ate b'fast before lifting - 2 scrambled eggs with a slice of cheese, 2 slices w/w bread with one small pat of butter. After finishing up, I had my glass of nf milk.

It was interesting, bc at the store shopping later, I did feel light headed, kind of dizzy like I should sit down. It passed without incident.

So what is this - is this just as common as the days when you have GREAT sessions? I don't think I'm getting sick. It probably comes down to nutrition and finally making sure I'm getting enough calories and eating often enough during the day rather than winging it. Anything else you can think of? What normally causes days like this when you have them?

Hey Fran,

By the way, congratulations on the NSV. Functional fitness is why I do this too. What a great feeling that must have been yesterday.

So for the crash part. :chin: First, what were your post workout snacks? And, how was your overall nutrition for that day? You don't have to reveal in the post but just think about what you may have eaten and how your body may have found the sources it needed to regenerate for the next day. Also, did you get that snack in within the hour or two of the end of your workout? The sooner the better.

Second, you added a second cardio session to your day. This is a change to your routine and your body is perhaps telling you it has noticed. I've noticed that my energy will dip the next day on occasion if I add the cycling in the late afternoon/evening on the days that I did my morning cardio/lifting routine. Just don't have the same endurance or strength the next day. I think that if I were consistent my body would make the adaptations and I would be okay but schedules in the afternoon are hectic and so I can't commit to three or four days a week of cycling so I haven't been able to test this out.

Could also be that you are getting sick. :hug: I've learned that when I'm feeling a little out of sorts during my workout it means that something just below the surface is developing and will rear it's ugly head within the next three days or so. :crazy: Not always, but often enough that when it does happen it makes me realize how much smarter my body is without my head than with it. :lol:

Anyway, not to worry. ;) Just make sure your are fueling up and giving yourself rest and recovery when you really really need it. If you add the extra sessions in the future it may be fun to make a personal log of the details of how you feel the next day and how you ate to see if there is any change over time. :^:

Hi Lydia, it probably was from not refueling properly in the evening yesterday. While I had 2 chicken quesadillas for dinner, maybe I was lacking something more carby or had a blood sugar issue. DH took the girls to Boston Mkt today and brought me home a side of mashed potatoes, no gravy, and I felt about 20 times better after I ate that. Hmmm......

On recovery food - you know, I don't have a recovery snack unless it's a weight workout. Should we be doing that for cardio too? I've just been relying on water for that. However, I have my chocolate milk ready to go now, so if you say yes, I'm ready! The solo milk again today killed my stomach, yet it doesn't in cereal, so i'm thinking the chocolate milk might actually be kinder to my stomach that the straight stuff, by giving it more to work with and help coat those milk proteins. We shall see!

Hey Fran,

You know, :chin: since I rarely do cardio sessions only I never really thought of post workout foods specifically for cardio and how the needs could or may be different than those where we lift as well. Even with my cycling I would eat something when I got home that was similar to my post cardio/lifting routines because it felt like a lot of quad work was going on and I just never considered it different.

Bottom line.

I would have the chocolate milk after the cardio session if you are bumping up your routine in something like intensity or duration. You are calling upon your body to do more than before and it is going to feel a little sluggish until it acclimates.

If you have been okay with your current cardio session without a post workout snack then you may not need to add it. I think that the intensity here is what needs to be considered. How hard you are working your body during those sessions. In both cases you are still depleting the energy stores in your muscles. However yesterday you asked it to do something more and it required a little more to rebuild it's energy stores. Usually the fuel is something that can be broken down quickly. Hence, many runners claim the virtues of chocolate milk. I knew a marathon runner who claimed Pringles chips (any flavor) got the glycogen stores back into her muscles quite efficiently. :devil:

When lifting we take in a protein and carb ratio that helps to repair the muscle we break down as well as replace the energy stores within our muscles for future activity.

If you are going to routinely add more to your cardio sessions then add the chocolate milk post cardio. Track how you feel with it as well as without it. If you find that you have difficulty maintaining or losing after adding this to your diet then make adjustments with other foods to make it fit if you wish to continue to use it.

Oh. and mashed potatoes. MMMM. Lucky girl. :D

Post cardio- hydrate, hydrate, hydrate! I do cardio first thing in the am, ore-breakfast, so it's not an issue. When I used to do it in the middle of the day, I just made sure I was getting adequate water intake, then ate on my normal schedule. Unless you are dong endurance work of 2 hours plus, you don't need a recovery meal. If you are doing that kind of exercise, you need to eat completely differently and refuel DURING your sessions.

It's cold out there! Happy Monday :)

Mel

Water! What a great idea. :rofl: Fran :sssh: Did you have enough (water) to drink that night? :p If not, have a glass, with lemon, if you like. (I recall these are good for you too right)

Man, I am still sick. I thought I was over this thing but no! I woke up this morning and now I have the stiff neck on the OTHER SIDE! AAAAGGGGGHHHHH! Low grade fever...at least my energy level has returned. I went in for some cardio today but no lifting. I think I'll just have to be a slacker this week. :s:

Speaking of ball pulls - we did them today at a Pilates class. I went to check out another gym; closer to where I work - I have the option to upgrade my regular gym membership and for extra $15 a month have access to the other gym. Unfortunately, it turns out it is a bit too far for my liking and it looks like they don;t have any weight machines (? Is it even possible?) I have to take a better look the next time. Right now, I have a card for 5 free sessions, so I think I will just use them up and that will be it. It takes me over 10 minutes to drive there, over 10 to get back, let's say 5 to change (2x) and almost half an hour is gone, which does not leave much time for the actual work out.

But I did enjoy the ball pulls, this was the first time I did them and I have to add them to my routine. So when you do it with one leg only - what do you with the other one? Hold it straight out above the ball?

Lydia, you are TOO funny. But yes, I guess I will need to reconsider my consumption since obviously my 132 oz a day isn't doing it for me anymore! ;)

I'm going to do the ball pulls just flat on the floor to start and not as a bridge. I didn't do any of them on Sunday bc I was so worn out by the end, but will hit it on Weds.

Did another 2 cardio sessions today. Will see how I feel in the morning.

Tomato- Yes, when you do the pulls one-legged, hold the other leg at about a 45 degree angle straight over the ball, and DIG the heel of your working leg into the ball. This really targets the hamstrings. If you feel a muscle cramp start, immediate stretch. The cramping goes away as you get better at it.

Lydia- hope you feel better soon- this sure has been a long siege.

I woke up stuffed up and run down feeling, and skipped am cardio. We all got to bed way too late. Excuses, excuses...but if I get too run down on TUESDAY, I won't make it through the week. Legs at lunch, and I'll do a catch-up cardio tonight.

Mel

I went to bed exhausted and I woke up exhausted. Doing physical therapy and running on the same day wipes me out. I stopped doing NRLW because of my physical therapy. The doc says I need to concentrate on the leg exercises he gives me. For upper body, I've been doing the 100 pushup challenge. The other day, my lats were sore from it which amazed me. I've been struggling with food (yet again). I did resist muffins this morning though. I wish I didn't love bread so much.

Thanks Mel. I am planning to do a half hour of ab exercises tonight (I did not wake up early enough to squeeze them in in the a.m.) and I will add the ball pulls as well.

I finally kicked myself hard enough to get started on NRLW and did 1A this morning. I’ve had the book forever, read about ¾ of the way through it and got derailed by I don’t even know what but have carried that stupid thing around with me every place I went hoping I would get a chance to get back and finish reading it. Well yesterday my boss came in gimping around, he and his wife had started a new workout program and he was feeling it in almost every muscle in his body but he was in such a good mood for getting up and working out that it gave me the push I needed. I rolled out this morning with bells on and had my workout in before I left for work. I did my usual walk during lunch, food is right on plan and man I am just in so much control it is scary.

Tomato, I feel like such an ab slacker! I see the peeps at the Y just doing all kinds of ab exercises, and I know about TWO, lol.

E, congrats on your first NROLW workout! I've been needing a kick in the butt myself, and just finally got my exercise back on track the past 2 days.

Speaking of which, that's why I'm back...yesterday was running, but today, I finally got back in the weight room. Did chest, shoulders and triceps today. I did flat bench today (bb), and it was plain I hadn't been working out. My sorry (censored) was busted back down about 15 lbs on all my chest exercises. Well, it was a good workout, and that will be a good lesson for me, not to let life get in the way of my workouts.

Here ya go Cheryl,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mu2D...eature=related

Great fun, just be careful not to kiss the bar. I also like to keep a towel under my knees.

Good for both of you EofAZ and Cheryl in getting back into the gym. You know when I first began lifting about a year or so into it I wondered how it could be incorporated into a lifetime practice. I had accomplished a lot that year but wondered what the future motivation would be to keep doing this day in and day out. The funny thing that happens is just what you both described, "Life gets in the way." Projects for the kids, physical ailments, changes in schedules etc. Once the dust settles and we are able to get back into our lifting routine we find out we may have a little ground to catch up on again. It's okay. It certainly keeps us from getting bored and allows us to really appreciate all the gains we make all over again. Only this time, we know how to do it perhaps more efficiently. Let's hear it for muscle memory :yay:

Quote:

Life gets in the way

Yes, it does. BUT....life is so much better if you figure out how to incorporate healthy living into life which includes exercise. I keep reteaching myself this lesson. Yesterday I skipped am cardio because I went to bed too late, and all day felt like I never woke up. Another reminder that even tired, I feel better when I exercise. I don't "like" getting up at 5:15 (I know that's late for some of you!) but I sure feel better during the day.

My eating has been off- life got in the way of that too, so I have no right to be up on a soapbox! That is ENDING today. The world financial crisis is not going to be affected by my caloric consumption, and my 401K doesn't grow along with my waist, so I might as well face reality and stop eating in inverse relationship to the direction of the stock market ;)

Have a good one!

Mel

My cardio especially, but also weight lifting, is the only thing keeping me sane during this time of economic turmoil. Seriously. I can just see myself making goal and when people ask what worked for me, I'll have to say "the economy. It was either exercise or go crazy!"

:lol: Fran!

What kept me going to lose 70 lbs in 2000? - my DH's cancer diagnosis/treatment. Although I had lost the first 30 before he was diagnosed, working on weight loss gave me something to control when the rest of my world was definitely not in my control. It also helped that I was 1500 miles from home, and knew no one and interacted only with salespeople and medical personnel. :) Now that I'm back living "real life" it's much much harder to lose.

Wow, Pat, I didn't know that story. I'm glad you both made it thru the storm and that you had a good outcome to show as well.

Well, I did have a good outcome for awhile. I had a major relapse - though not the whole 70 lbs - which I'm still trying to lose. :( Amanda started a good thread in Maintainers about whether BMI is an acceptable measure and some other thought provoking stuff. After reading that I feel a lot better about my goal of being healthier as opposed to just being skinnier (not that I want to stay this weight, but I'm not as frantic about getting to a number on a scale, just about being healthier).

But yes, DH had a stem cell transplant, and has been in remission since May of 2000. And really well for the past 3 years or so.

Last October we had an announcement at work that they were going to transfer the manufacturing operation in AZ out of state and close down the Tucson plant. We got 2 years notice (that is how long it is suppose to take to transition our equipment) so that has been hanging over my head but you just can’t walk away and leave the severance package on the table. Then comes along the economic turmoil and I get to watch what little I did have saved towards my retirement dwindle away. This is about as stressful a situation I’ve ever been in and you know what I have learned from all of this? That I’m not a stress eater! Ha, I always thought that was my biggest problem and it apparently isn’t so now I understand more about myself and that is so good.

Well I have my cardio in, didn’t get it done before work (decided to get some household chores done instead) but got out during lunch and put in 3 miles so I’m very happy with that and am looking forward to tomorrow morning and my date with my weights.

Stem cell transplants are a wonderful thing - you must have a real hard time being from Alaska right now, huh? ;)

I just downed my chocolate milk via my post-lifting snack. It was good and made me much happier than white milk. I must say, it's got me looking forward to my next weight lifting session! ;) But 29 g of sugar, 9 g of protein, and the dreaded hfcs very near the top of the list. Did I buy the wrong milk? Dh got me Nesquick and it doesn't expire until late November. Indicator #1 that this stuff may not be real 2% milk in there. I will have to check out the brands myself next time.

I did vanilla soy milk after my run last night and chocolate soy milk after my run this morning :)

My news this morning is I've been practicing squats and have had trouble doing deep squats. I just don't quite have the flexibility. I've been practicing with my flexibility and this morning I was able to do a few deep squats.

I always thought you were not supposed to go beyond a parallel with the floor on squats and was surprised to see one of the Crossfit videos having a girl do total knee-bend, butt to floor, on squats. I guess things change over time.

Well, the bunny miilk was a success I guess. No stomach cramps at all for me, so for that reason alone I like it better than the white stuff. And, then I had a 3 lb drop overnite after LIFTING last nite people. What's that about? I'd been stalled all week, so it works itself out in the end I guess.

Has anyone ever noticed being extremely cold (unless if it's summertime I guess) the nite before a major weight shift? I could not get warm last nite - again after LIFTING - which is weird. I had my jammies on, socks, sweatshirt, 2 blankets, flannel sheets - had to finally turn up the heat after a couple of hours of misery. It was very odd but I wondered if it was related to my body exorcising/burning out some fat or something.

Oh wouldn't that be great? I've been cold for several days but I won't weigh til next week. Our scale died, I don't trust the one at the gym any longer, so it'll be next week at the doc's. I was shivering when I got done swimming last night - boy did that hot shower feel good. :) I think that as much as the exertion, the class is at a time when my body is winding down for the evening. We don't start til 8:30, and 10 pm is my usual bedtime. Took forever for my feet to warm up since I cannot convince the cats to sleep on them, and DH objects to me putting them on him. :rofl:

Good grief, Pat! What are husbands and cats for if not warming feet? :devil:

Fran- Have you looked at the thermometer lately? It IS cold! I never noticed that, but I do notice that I'm a lot colder all the time at my current weight than I was 60 pounds ago. And on a high carb day, I'm boiling, but a low carb day has me all bundled up.

Nelie- I've been trying to work on my flexibility too. I can get my butt all the way down on squats, but a lot of yoga poses are an incredible challenge.

Lydia- How are you doing? Do you still have the flu?

I had a great back and chest workout today, and did a short yoga video while dinner cooked. I still don't particularly like it, but I really do want to work on flexibility.

Mel

Yeah, but here it's been cold for a week already. Last nite was the first time it Bothered me that way, to where I couldn't even sleep. I've had the flannels on for a week, etc.

Interesting tho about your high carb/low carb days and your thermal heat level.

Evening, everyone!

I've mostly been lurking for the past, oh, while, but I have to chime up to share new of a new bench PR. Only fellow lifters understand how much work goes into one of these things, and my "in person" lifter friend moved away this fall. :(

Without further ado: I benched 3x140, in the third set (1st two were 7@135 and 5@135). I thought it would just wipe me out for other chest/tri excercises, but it must have had the opposite effect, because I also managed a PR on dips -- BW + 25 lbs. Now, if only I could make progress on squats and scales...

53 days until I leave for Hawaii. I'm looking forward to it, of course, but I feel a bit bad about taking a vacation like this in the current economy, when so many people are struggling or nervous about their jobs/houses. A bit: we've made plenty of tradeoffs elsewhere in our lives ... plus our tickets are nonrefundable.)

Be strong,
Kim

Mel and Fran :rofl: on being cold where you are! It was 16 this morning, and now it's snowing - again - the real small flakes, and lots of them, looks almost like rain, but they're snowflakes. Good thing I've got an appt to get my snow tires on in the morning!

But I need to stoping whining about winter cold and dark already. There's just too much time to go to start now - you'll all kick me out!

Tonight is the first night I've been home all week, and I intend to either read or catch up on some TV. :) On that note, I'm off to make some dinner.

Whoops, meant to tell you Kim, that your vacation may keep some service related folks employed a little longer - you're doing your part for the Hawaiian economy. :lol:

Whoa! KAW! 140 is fantastic!!! and heavy..... :bravo:

I have the most ridiculous injury that is making lifting difficult: I sprained my thumb. Or I have arthritis in my thumb joint :( In any case, holding heavy dumbbells is painful.

Out into the cold :lol:

Mel

:yikes: I honestly had to look at this twice and match it back up with your name on the thread because I couldn't believe you would actually OWN a yoga video much less use one and before dinner too. :lol3: ~whew~ Okay. I'm all done ribbing you. Your using it for a great reason, flexibility. It took me a while to find a place for it in my program. My focus for so long had been cardio and strength. Once I understood the importance of flexibility :light: (especially in my hips) to my lifting and running I made time for the yoga.

Kaw: :high: on your PR of 140. That is just fantastic! And please do not feel guilty about your trip. :hug: You are doing your part to keep the economy moving by doing what you would normally do. ;)

Fran: I've noticed the freezing experience correlates more with an evening workout. This summer I would need to shower after my ashtanga yoga class (7:30 to 9:00pm) and then wear my winter jammies just to warm up again. Wacko that I am I actually looked forward to this.

Oh, and yes. I am still sick Mel. I just made an appointment for Monday to get it checked out. It's morphing into a head cold but the stiff neck is still there and it's been going on for three weeks which is too long. My eating is a little heavier in the carbs than I usually do but I think maybe I'm burning a lot of it off trying to fight this because there has been no scale gain. :dunno: Oh well, the good news is it's keeping me down enough to get a lot of reading done. :D

I imagine Mel doing yoga while bench pressing a donkey (or something like that) :)

I need to do some yoga although I have been doing good with my stretches. I saw the physical therapist this morning and he thinks I'm progressing with my flexibility but says STRETCH, STRETCH and then STRETCH some more.

My GF (from NV) and I are planning on a meet-up for some girl time while DH is hunting this fall. One of the places we considered was Payson, AZ up in the pines because it might be cool enough there to burn a fireplace. We chickened out and selected Lake Havasu instead because neither of us have much current experience of driving in snow and didn’t want to risk getting into trouble. (we’ve both lived in the desert for about 20 years) It is supposed to get up to 88 hear today. So I took lunch at 10:30 and got my cardio in BEFORE it reached 88.

So, I’ve got my cardio done for today, did my 1B workout last night. Shocked myself on how little I could lift. I intentionally went light just to get back in the groove figuring I would repeat 1A and 1B again next week with what I r-e-a-l-l-y thought I could lift. Well I certainly over estimated my strength and had to push myself to get it done. The things I thought I would struggle with (jack knife) I did much better then expected. The things I figured I could do a lot more but would start with something easy to just limber up (dead lifts) I was shocked at how little I could lift. Regardless it still felt awesome to hear the weights clanking around and felt so incredible when I got finished.

Hiya ladies!

I think you will have to give me some spanking - obviously my muscles are made of jello (and I thought I have been working hard lifting weights???)
I am still trying to decide if I will upgrade my gym membership so that I can go to a different gym at lunch time (you would all laugh, although brand new it is very tiny and it was obviously dumbed down for the little ladies - a few recumbent bikes, 3 TMs, 3 ellipticals, 3 stairmasters and I think maybe 5 Nautilus machines and a tiny yoga studio).

Anyway, so I went yesterday and since my hip continues to be a problem, I decided to get on the elliptical. I have been never on the elliptical for more than 8 minutes (I use it for warm ups prior to lifing weights at my reg. gym). So yesterday, I went for the hill climb and I set it for 30 minutes. Geez!! My arms feel like rag doll arms today - I could barely lift up my mug with coffee heehehehe.

Today, I just returned from a half hour core class (on the ball) and one full hour of Zumba. I am totally Zumba'd out!!!!
Another half hour of core planned for tomorrow and I will attack the weights afterwards.

Wishing you all a lovely weekend.

I ran into an old friend at the gym this morning and she talked me and my workout partner into doing 1/2 her Zumba class after we finished lifting. :rofl: I am a klutz! It was fun. She is a tiny Brazilian bombshell and all I could think of was that it would have been a lot more fun after one of the mohitos she served the last time I was at a party at her house!

Lydia- I actually do own a yoga video, but is is too basic even for me. I discovered that we get Exercise TV On Demand and there are all sorts of things on there!

Mel

Morning from the frozen north. :) It's actually a very pretty day - as long as you're sitting inside a nice warm house! I have a pot of veggie soup going and will let it simmer on the wood stove all day. I've been doing way too much stress eating (and like Mel I find it really doesn't help!) so I'm trying to get some foods ahead that will let me eat when I need to without the calories/fat/etc. of the junk that hangs around work.

My swimming classes ended last Wed, and won't begin again til January. In the meantime I'm hoping to swim 2-3 times a week to build up some endurance there, plus get back to NROLW on a regular basis. I think that getting my arms especially stronger will also help with swimming. It's sooo much easier on my knees (except for getting out - I have to swim over to the little kid stairs, on the reglular pool ladders I have to lift my body weight onto my knee with my knee at chest level - so not happening!) I have a regular checkup with my PC doc next Thurs. I'm going to ask him if he can write a therapy scrip or if I need to go back to the orthopedic guy (and spend the bucks for an office visit - they know how bad my knee is, but want to see you in person "just in case.").

Kim, that is an amazing lift on your BP! Very cool! :celebrate:

Lydia, thanks for the suggestion on the BB rollouts. I think I'll give that a try at home first, just in case I fall on my face, lol!

No cardio for me this morning, but I'll do legs around lunchtime. I've been sticking to my workout plan this week, but I think I need to tweak the plan a little, because by afternoon, I'm ready for a nap, which isn't an option. I've been doing lifting then cardio right after in the early morning, then a protein shake breakfast. I work the pulling dogs after, then home to get chores/work/homeschool going. I've been doing okay until early afternoon, then I just run out of steam. I'm thinking maybe if I split the cardio and lifting, maybe a workout early afternoon or before lunch would give me the boost I need to make it through the afternoon..? I figure it's worth a try.

Dogs?! Pulling dogs...you really are a busy woman. :faint:

Lydia,

The clip about the BB rollouts reminded me that I have this exercise gizmo:

Of course I used it a few times when I got it (years ago) and then happily forgot about it. It took me a while to find it (I moved to this house 3 years ago and I had no idea where it was hiding). It is very effective. You do 5 rollouts and the next your day your abs are screaming (of course, assuming that you are a couch potato that does not exercise at all). I will have to start using it.

Ladies, I have to tell you that today, for the first time I had to give up. I was about half way into my core class when I realized that every muscle of mine quivers. I guess the last couple of days I worked my harder than I had thought I did. I finished the class and then I moved onto doing weights, but after 20 minutes I simply called it quits. It was pointless to continue. I think I need some rest. :D

Otherwise, I am drooling with excitement - I found very reasonable sneakers for Zumba at Payless. Very flexible sole with hardly any traction, I can't wait to test them out.

Well, I had a good weekend. Actually got up early Saturday (ok, not dreadfully, but a change for me) to do cardio before taking dd to swim practice. How absolutely weird for it to be 9 am and be totally done with my cardio. I kept thinking about it all day and reminding myself that nope, I was good there, check!

Today was a fbwo and cardio after. I felt strong today - yeah! Slump, or whatever, over. Personally, I think it must be the chocolate milk! :drool: I mean, really, it could be making me stronger, it's not just the recovery portion! ;) I'm sold. I added in my balance ball roll outs today, with my body off the ground. I added them but stayed on the ground last time. I got 10 done without totally rolling off - it was fun. The worst was just getting calf cramps from trying to dig into the ball to keep from rolling. I'll keep working on it.

I think I'm looking younger in the mirror. I feel like I've already taken 10 years off my face. WIshful thinking to be sure, but it's an amazing thing that an all-day flush of color to the cheeks and natural tendency to smile more bc you feel "right" in the head, can do for your face value.

OK, I'll go spread my endorphins somewhere else now. :lol3:

:hug: That feeling. Wow.

Tomato: That looks like a fun toy. I've been thinking about getting an ab wheel to use at home. Just haven't gotten around to it. It sounds like you are wearing yourself out. Good idea to listen to your body and make modifications. I always find that my workouts will show a slight decline just before the symptoms of a cold sets in. Still, it always surprises me. :D

Speaking of which, bah. I'm still sick. And it's not even the kind that you just have a runny nose. I'm actually bone weary fatigued with this thing. I'm heading in for a doc appointment. Hopefully he can send me home with some drugs but if its just a garden variety virus I may just have to hang in there with my lemon water, tissues and naps: (The anti workout)^: