Yay Rabbit!!!! :dance:

Morning, all. :coffee:

Got up on time for once. You know, for years, forever it seems, I've always read a book after lying down, to "help me sleep". This is from my years and years of high carb eating, no doubt, when I really could not sleep at night. Lately, I've noticed, if I try to read, it actually just keeps me awake longer. If I just lie down, turn the light out, I'm asleep in about a minute and a half. :lol3: So, this is a lesson for me. No more reading at night unless I've tried sleeping first. This could help me get on an earlier wake-up schedule, which I'd like very much.

Rabbit, congrats on the weight/fat loss! Sounds like the Tom Venuto book is a good one. I haven't read any of his stuff yet.

Food is still POP, but the scale is back up today, probably because we didn't do much of a workout yesterday. Oh well, maybe on the next dip I'll see 159-something. It's not really important, the number on the scale, but I feel like, I just want to "finish" this thing all the way, so I can say I did it, and move on to maintaining within a few pounds of that, KWIM?

Mel, sorry to hear about the workout getting messed up at CF. I hear you on that. I love what CF does for me, but some days it's not what I want to do at all. (pretty much any day that's not heavy lifting or strongman :rofl:) I'll now consider myself lucky that we have our own gym, since I can do some of what I want in my warm-up, if I get there early enough, and we at least don't have to haul our equipment somewhere else to do the workout. Maybe they'll get big enough they can move out of there, soon. :crossed:

I'd better finish up here and hit the road. Might actually have time today for a good warm-up and some oly lift practice.

Mel - that is annoying about your CF workout! I don't blame you for bailing on it.

Cheryl - Reading doesn't help me fall asleep either, keeps me awake like it does you. You'll make that one pound in the next couple of days, I'm sure! :)

Rabbit - :high: on the workout! I used to use one of those gradual light clocks with the bird sounds, but at the time I was getting up when it was already starting to get light outside so didn't work too well for me. I also found myself desensitized to it when I heard actual bird sounds outside. :) Now that I'm trying to get up in the dark I might roll it out again.

Birch - I should have given you a :high: in my previous post for doing the crossovers! Impressive! They are also beyond me. :)

:wave: to everyone else!

I tried Mel's two hand exercise with my dumbbells yesterday, couldn't keep the 15 pound in the air for the squat part, switched to the 12s, made the squat but then fell flat on my behind when I tried to stand back up. :) Should have tried it at the beginning of the workout instead of the end. :dizzy: I also tried the DU again and thought I had accidentally done one (was mistaken, I know now), got excited and wrapped the rope around my head. That put an end to the jump rope for me.

One of the exercises in my WH workout was a 'Bulgarian Split Squat'. I'm doing it off the middle step if a stepstool, so right at 18" high I think, the exercise said not to go higher than 18" with the step. How in the world do you stay balanced on that kind of exercise? Is the intire top of the foot all the way to the ankle supposed to be on the step, or just the toes? Do you lean forward a little holding the dumbells? I could only do three or four before I tipped over every time.
http://i429.photobucket.com/albums/q...SplitSquat.jpg
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Yesterday's workout:
- 30 second jump rope
- with the empty barbell: 5 good morning, 10 deadlift, 1 pathetic attempt at a clean, 10 squats
- The Wednesday WH workout a day late., about 40 minutes. I tweaked it a little - where it had side plank resting on the forearm for 20 seconds I turned from full plank with my arm extended and held for 30 seconds, shortened the rest between each exercise a little, kept in the rest between each set. Next time I'll put push ups in on the plank t-reach like Pat's workout, didn't think of it last night.
- Several attempts at Mel's exercise
- 10 15lb db curls, 10 15lb db shoulder presses - thought for some reason they would help with Mel's exercise
- 1 more failure at the above exercise. :)
- 3 mins of jumprope, attempting the DU, hitting myself in the head
About an hour total, HRM said it burned 527 cals. Feel pretty sore today, so the WH workout was more effective than I expected it to be just from reading it.

I just watched the ketteball exercise video again - I'm thinking actual kettleballs would be easier than dumbbells because I wouldn't have to get as close to the floor to pick the kettleball up! Might not fall backward onto the bottom that way! :lol: I think I know what I did wrong, going to try again when I get home. Need to put the video out on my iPhone.

Shannon, I've done those split squats and they kicked my quads' butt. (Do quads have butts? :lol:) I did it with my toes on the step, not the top of my food. My toes are flexed, kind of how they go when you stand on your toes. Boy it's hard to explain these things in writing!

Midwife - I felt like my quads' butt was kicked last night, so I believe mine must have one! :rofl: I found myself getting a cramp in my left foot when I had it up on the step, but I had most of my foot on there. Hm. I might need to step further out with the lead foot and try to use mostly the toes.

There will be some forward lean on a Bulgarian Split Squat, but it shouldn't be excessive. An easy check is to be mindful of the where the weight is distributed on your plant foot. Try to keep the weight on the heel or at least midfoot. Just focus on weight on heels, chest up, and shoulders back and you should be fine.

A fun variation of the Bulgarian that I recently saw and now prefer is the Wall Split Squat
http://www.tmuscle.com/free_online_a..._exercises&cr=

Morning! It was a cold one this morning, 20! :brr: But it's :sunny: and in the 50's now.

Depalma - thanks for the wall split squat. Seems like it might be a little more stable. I always do BSS on the bench of the cable station so I can have the post right there to grab if (when!) I start to lose it....

I decided to do another cardio today which will put me back into the program schedule as written starting tomorrow. I get so confused as to which day I'm on as opposed to what they're talking about. :lol: That makes tomorrow, Mon and Wed as strength day, with Sun and Tues as cardio, and next THurs a rest day.

Shannon - Interesting about your trial with Mel's exercise. As I said, our gym has only 2 KBs at all! and they're different sizes, so I may try it with DBs. We do have some that are larger, though still low enough weight (10#, 12#).

Mel - bummer about the CF workout. I'd have done the same.

Cheryl - reading only keeps me awake if I'm reading something really good and can't stop. :) I do sleep with my MP3 or iPod most of the time. The music or podcast turns my brain off from worrying about work. I find that I really only hear about 5 minutes then I'm asleep. I did locate the "sleep" function on my MP3 so it shuts off in a predetermined number of minutes and doesn't exhaust the battery.

Hey all. :wave:

Shannon, was going to say what Depalma said, but he said it better. Great job on the workout!

Midwife, I'm pretty sure every muscle in my body has a butt. :lol:

Pat, I used to go to sleep with the radio on, but same problem as with the books, keeps me awake if it's remotely interesting. Back in the carb insomnia days, I'd listen to Coast to Coast, which was often entertaining.

The CF report is below:
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Today was a hero wod for a former member of our gym who was killed in the Phillippines (sp?) a few days ago:

"Jack"

Run 400 meters
15 Thrusters
20 Pull-ups
- 5 Rounds for time -

Some of the guys got this one in 20-30 minutes, but it took me 44:49. :faint: It was like the Fran from Heck! I started out with 65# for the thrusters, which was the rx'd women's weight, but it just felt so heavy today, I could only get 1 or 2 at a time in the first round. I did about 8 the first round and decided to switch to 55#. MUCH better, so at least I could do a few at a time. I had to go up one band on the pull-ups, back to the pink band, because our trainer took the tape off the pull-up bars, which makes it slick and hard to grip. Everybody has seen their pull-up numbers/progress knocked down with the tape gone, but in the end it will be a good thing, at least for the people that go to competitions and such...for the rest of us, well, it will just suck and take longer to get our pull-ups.

I came home and had a higher carb PWO meal, plus a little extra protein. It was all good carbs, though, no cheats. I've been POP with the food, but felt weak today, so not sure what the deal is with that...just soreness from another workout, or diet, but maybe the extra carbs/cals at lunch today will help? If I still feel this way on Monday, I'll run my menu by my trainer, to see if he can spot what I might be missing.

Still need to do my sit-ups for the challenge today, then am skating tonight. Hopefully I can skate tonight, lol. Right now I just feel like I need a nap. :faint:

I'll have to try the wall Bulgarian. I do wall decline push ups like that and they are killers.

I do a bizarre combo of a Bulgarian split squat with a deadlift using a barbell. It kicks quads and butts. Too hard to describe and I can't find a picture.

Shannon- When you get good at the Bulgarians, try putting the foot that is supposed to be on the floor on the round side of a bosu :devil:

Tonight's CF workout kicked all of me. I think I was actually moaning during the workout, and was woozy and shaky about 5 minutes after the workout. I thought I was going to faint and one of the trainers brought me apple juice.

This workout is long and designed to completely confuse your body about how to generate energy. It's the rests that actually make it harder.

"Barbara"

20 pull ups (I used the purple band)
30 push ups
40 sit ups
50 body weight squats (butt to paralette)

rest precisely 3 minutes .
5 rounds for time

During the working phase, you are near the anaerobic threshold. During the resting, you body attempts to frantically generate energy via the the glycolitic pathway, then you fling yourself back into anaerobic mode. As someone else posted on the cross fit board

"the extended rest allows for a much more complete recovery of the phosphate/creatine pathway, much like a max effort barbell lift, allowing you to power through the first few reps of each movement. This is a heavily glycolitic workout like FGB, with cumulative aerobic stress, but with the longer rest period of 3 min vs 1 min, you train the ATP refueling process as well. Gobbledygook, ramble ramble...."

There was some clean up involved during the morning sessions :p so I guess almost fainting isn't that bad. :dizzy:

Mel

Depalma - Thanks for the info. I'm intrigued by the foot on the wall version. I might find it easier to balance that way, actually. Going to give it a try.

Pat - I'm a day off track on my current program, too, and it has me a little off, too. Did I tell you that I did the walking lunge with opposite shoulder press again last week and couldn't keep them straight for anything? I was raising the same arm I was stepping with, or trying to raise both arms, or stepping the same foot forward twice in a row... I really thought I was more coordinated than that... :dizzy:

Cheryl - hope you feel better! The extra at lunch should help some, I would think.

Mel - BSS on bosu? I think not. Glad you didn't contribute to the mess to clean up this morning! ;)That workout sounds brutal.

Went to the park this afternoon, cardio day for me too. Did 5.5 miles, of which I only walked 1.15. (.5 warm up, .5 cool down, .15 in the middle.) I thought it was pretty good for my first long run since Labor Day weekend!

Good night everyone!

Mel, you're scaring me. I haven't had to do that one yet! :brr: Glad you didn't puke, though! :hug:

Shannon, the extra at lunch did help, I think. One more workout to make it to rest day. (drag...crawl...collapse.. lol)

65 sit-ups done today...figured out how to fake an "abmat" using a lumbar cushion from the car. Worked great. The last 20 were torture, but I got the whole set without stopping.

3 hours of skating done. Lots of dance practice. Survived a visit to Taco Time without getting anything for myself, and made it though skating without buying anything, even though I was so hungry the last hour. (yay, me!) Ate a little ground turkey and a banana when I got home. I'm drinking one cup of tea, then off to bed. Shouldn't have any trouble sleeping tonight! :faint:

Morning!

Quick post to report I got to the gymn 5 days last week! Alternating cardio & FB. Must also tell you I *did* lose in September - all 1.5 lbs of it which I see as a victory. The scales have moved today, as well.

Rainy day today with clearing up after builders in view. Tomorrow is a local produce market and beaches,, to look out for mostly C19th wrecks (DB's history project this term. )

Have a good weekend. :wave:


ETA :wave: Cheryl!

Morning all!

Hi Birch, it's nice to see you are up and about! Kudos on the gym attendance & the loss!.

I'm still stiff a bit form the wo yesterday. Cardsio for me today. I'm undecided about going out for a run, staying in for a run or rowing in front of the TV. Ah, decisions decisions!. I made a great pow smoothie yesterday: banane, OJ, soy yoghurt & proteine powder. Delicious. a funny thing is that DS took up strenght training at the gym and beats me to the blender, the soy yoghurt and the proteine powder these days. It has not crossed his mind yet to wonder that my kitchen is stocked with smoothie material & a blender, & that there is a bench & weights outside his bedroom door. I wonder if he thinks all his friends have likewise at home.

Shannon- I remember the BSS from when I did NROL. Difficult movees & a killer on the legs

depalma - I like the wss, looks like something to try.

No real plans for the weekend apart from grocery shopping. I need to do a ton of chores to keep the house in working order. Maintenance on my computer system is long overdue. not to mention that I woke up at bird squeeking, so I'll have to search the house when I get up to dispose of the body. We have an enthusastic young cat & live in the country.

What are you all doing this weekend?

have a great day all,
Rabbit

Birch and Rabbit, just missed you last time, so a retroactive :wave: going your way. Got 7 hours of sleep, feel like I need about 7 more, or a LOT more caffeine, to get this day going.

Today is gym day...workout this morning, then cleaning the gym after that. Expecting a check in the mail today, and the mail thieves have been at it again on my street, about a mile from here. Trying to decide if I should skip the workout to wait for the mail, or make an extra trip home between the workout and gym cleaning. :chin: I have a locking mailbox, but haven't had time to buy concrete and install it yet. I need a clone.