Good morning!

Pat - thanks for the reminder that it is my program! I get so set on pattern and structure that I will sometimes follow the prescribed course even when it isn't a good idea. It wreaks havoc with my cooking sometimes... I have a really hard time thinking outside the lines...

Susan - sounds like a good workout this morning!

Mel - I believe I remember reading that you used a bosu? I'm putting one on my Christmas list but can't decide which one to get. There is one that has a frame included with a rail. Do you recommend that or just go for the one that doesn't have that prop?
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...500_AA280_.jpg

I did some stretching last night with a pretty generic total body warmup, the calves can handle most activity, it is just the walking motion that is hard. I did some squats and lunges in the warmup, and while they twinged a little they didn't actually hurt. Focused on UB for the workout. Used the stumptuous workout plus a little playing on the new Weider. Started out really light on the exercises on the machine because I wasn't sure of my form yet. The workout called for dips or assisted dips, had to use my parrallettes (feet propped up on a bench for most, can't do them with my knees pulled up or legs unsupported yet...) for this, because I don't have dip handles on the new Weider. I think it is an optional part I can buy. Are the parrallette dips a good substitute for the dip handles or is there a better exercise to sub in there?

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DB Press - 3x10, 15 lb DBs
Standing shoulder press - 3x10, 15 lb DBs
Dip - 3x10
Ab curl - 3x10
Butterfly - 2x10, 20lb + weight of carriage
Lat pulldown - 2x10, 20lb + weight of carriage

5 of an exercise I cant remember the name of - I stood on my knees on the bench facing towards the head of the bench, hooked my feet under the pads, crossed my arms over my chest and lowered myself down to lying flat on my face on the bench and raised back up using my legs to pull. I was trying to stretch my tight quads and hamstrings without killing my calves. I think I got it from one of Pat's workouts. :)

Good day everyone!

So here's a link to my 15 minutes of fame in our small-town paper Library ArticleThe photographer was threatening (jokingly) that he could change my hair color to anything I wanted. I guess I'm just used to being gray now.....

It is in my LBWO for this 4 week session. It's called a glute-ham negative raise. I'm always afraid I'll fall on my face. :lol:

I had a good UBWO myself. I was able to up my weights on some things:
(1a) Bent-over alternating DB row 3 x 9 @ 25 lbs
(1b) Slight-incline alternating DB press 3 x 9 @ 20 lbs
(2a) Lean away supinated grip cable pulldown 2 x 12 @ 65 lbs
(2b) Standing seesaw press 2 x 12 @ 10 lbs
(3a) Dips 3 x 8 (assisted at 120 - better, but still a lot of assistance)
(3b) Seated close-neutral cable row 3 x 8 @70 lbs
(3c) Cable push-pull 3 x 8 @ 30lbs on the low side; 40 lbs on the high

Amazingly I can still lift my arms with only a little pain :) The cardio was poor however, what my DH calls a "place holder." If our city council meeting is short tonight - and it should be - I'll go to the gym and see if I can't get a better cardio workout done.

Susan - I'll tell you it doesn't take long to vacuum a house that small......

Shannon - I've never seen a bosu with a rail. When I've used one at the gym or physical therapy I've just put it close to something I could grab when I lost my balance. I can see good and bad points about the rail. Is it removeable?

:wave: Another person who lives in a tiny house here. I'll measure it to compare, Pat! It may not take long to vacuum but that doesn't mean it happens very often, I'm afraid! Small houses are cheaper to keep warm, of course.

But you do have to move the furniture quite a lot.

How's it going, everyone?

Light box, Lydia?

Nice pic in the paper, Pat.

Shannon - bosu on the Christmas list is a great idea.

Rabbit - have you got terrible winds and rain? It's very bad biking weather here.

Susan - you impress me too, my dear.

Cheryl - you are going great guns.

Mel - are you there or painted into a corner?

Looks like it is removable, is a standard bosu without it.

I like looking at your workouts, Pat. They inspire me. :) I actually printed out days 1 & 2 when you posted the links to those so I could look them up later and try to remember them. Of course then I forgot where I put them...

Pat, that's a nice article, and you look great in the picture! My son and his friends always meet up at our library, too. They practically spend the whole summer there, and weekends in the winter. They meet up there, get on the computers, walk over to buy some fast food lunch nearby, go back, read books, etc. It's definitely a gathering place for a lot of kids around here. I'm glad to hear that your library is getting the support of the city council.

Lydia, I hope you get your lightbox, soon. The darkness doesn't affect me that way in winter, but I know my sister Sue and my BIL both have a hard time with it, as they are newer here, and come from sunnier parts of the world.

Speaking of shorter daylight hours, though, I'd better get on the road. Have to put up a shelter for my sister's dog today, since it's probably going to be raining after tomorrow, and the DST stole and hour of daylight off my afternoon, dangit!

Today at the CF gym was a focus/skills practice day. Our assignment was to do max (baccar) ladders, max handstand holds, and max L-sits, 3 tries each. I'm not that good at any of those, so I just practiced them. Big news: I got to the top of the baccar ladder and back down, for the first time ever...twice! Still no luck on the handstand kick-up to the wall, but I did some walk-ups so I could do the handstand holds. L-sits are still pretty short, but improving a little each time.

On my own, I practiced double unders with the jumprope. I can get 2 in a row now, pretty consistently. I seem to start jumping at a faster pace when I start spinning the rope faster, so I need to focus on getting my feet to quit trying to keep up with my hands! I'm planning to practice these every day till I get them.

I also practiced some ring dips with a blue band, to see if I could do them. I can do 2 or 3 before I fall off, but that's an improvement. I also tried the "iron cross" on the rings, with a cheat I saw on the Crossfit Journal recently: you put your arms through the straps that support the rings, then grip the rings like you do for a dip...going through the straps gives some extra support. Then you jump to support, rings close to your hips/sides, then with straight arms, try to lower yourself...the iron cross is like a T with the arms straight out to the side. I couldn't do that, but did about 1/3 of that a few times, then could get almost to halfway and back to support...not too shabby for a first try, I think. :D

Okay, off to work. :wave: to everybody! and one of these :grouphug:!

Shannon, the one above is actually Day 3. I decided to do them in reverse order this week as I missed Day 3 last week and wanted to be sure I got it done. Besides I like UB the best - doesn't bother my knees at all. :)

Cheryl - you are one :crazy: woman! :lol: Doing iron crosses on the rings?! Yikes.

I'm here, just totally swamped with construction disaster after disaster. We woke up to a flooded kitchen (and an entire ceiling that needs to be replaced) on Saturday morning and that was kind of the high point of the last 4 days :p Luckily we found the offending screw through the pipe and the contractor is taking full responsibility. I was captive in an offsite company meeting from Sunday evening until 5 pm Monday- just enough time to race out of the city to get to CF. I did manage my 45 elliptical session at the hotel. Gotta love hotel gyms- at least they had really good precor ellipticals.

Cheryl- I never thought of using a band to assist on ring dips! That's brilliant. I can do 2 before I fail totally.

Lydia- did the light box arrive? I know mine helps.

Pat- You look great in the picture :) Nice article.

Shannon- The parallete dips are a good sub. If you have 2 medicine balls the same size, you can use them for dips and it introduces a little bit of instability for which you have to compensate. And get the plain BOSU!!! You will love it :devil::devil:

Welcome back, Susan!

I wasn't sure I'd be able to finish tonight's CF workout. I had to modify.

10 handstand pushups (I did 4 shakey ones before I switched to feet on a box, pike position pushups. Thought I would break my neck on #5 if I attempted it.)
20 yard lunges holding a 10 pound plate over head with locked arms
30 kettlebell Russian swings (high) with 35 pd bell
40 double unders or 160 jump ropes.

5 rounds for time.

I can't do double unders, so did a total of 800 jumps rope jumps :p:p:p:p:p
I also modified the handstand pushups (only 2 people could do them). One high school girl did ALL of hers. The other guy had to switch to a box midway through.

I can consistently get the handstands now, but the flexing my elbows part is terrifying!

Of to bed for me.

Mel

Nope. No box yet and it was supposed to be delivered by today. Eh. So I learn patience once again. I want it more for increased energy in the afternoon. Although I'm beginning to consider that we are supposed to slow down a pace in the fall in winter. :chin: Perhaps I shouldn't be messing with the natural rhythm of things. :dunno: I'll let you know how it goes...

PAT! LOVE THE PHOTO and INTERVIEW. Thank you so much for sharing this with us. It's so much fun to catch a glimpse of who we are in our other lives. :lol: You look great and HAPPY! It must be all those great workouts from PN right?

So the studying continues. I stayed home today and I feel pretty solid about the material I've covered so far. Only oh, I don't know, fifteen more chapters to go. :lol3:

It amazes me the difference in material that is covered between the two certs. (I probably should go into too much detail here) but I'm glad that I'm getting both.

One is much more detailed with respect to how the different systems work in the body. I was just one step away from sitting for the MCAT. For real. But programming...not so much.

The other cert just kind of gives you the very broad scope of how the heart/lungs/ muscle structure etc but does a better job with programming for the type of clients I want to work with.

My notes are crazy. I have two different definitions/stats for things each cert covers in common followed by their acronym. Otherwise I would make a mistake during the exam. Things like average bpm for one is considered 60 to 80 bpm, the other is 70 to 80. Another example is that one includes the larynx as part of the upper respiratory system, the other does not. :crazy: What am i doing....:rofl:

Have a great evening everyone!

Ack! Mel, your projects sound stressful. And yet, she eats no Halloween Candy. Amazing. Isn't she just amazing folks? :hug:

Pat! That's a smile that makes me smile! Nice article.

My food was sooo good today! I'll have to examine it in the morning to see how I can tweak my macro's just a wee little bit.

Thanks, all. I'm very happy with the way it came out. Of course there was a camera a foot from my face, and my deputy director and admin asst doing silly things to make me laugh.... I'm standing at a counter in our work room. The books behind me are actually duplicate books we store, and not our circulating books.

Lydia, hope the light helps you. My DH swears by his. ANd what's funny is that he'll sit there during/after breakfast with the light on, and one cat comes, sits on his lap and looks at it with him. :shrug:

Finished my budget presentation okay, but now I have a list of informational stuff the city council wants... sigh. Plus I'm supposed to be finishing up two grant applications and providing our phone company with information for their part of a federal grant we get for discounted phone service. I did at least get to look at book reviews and pre-order a books for a couple hours this afternoon. :) The very best part of my job.

Good morning!

My workout last night was mostly cardio, 10 mins of random warm up, 20 mins of kickboxing, 30 mins on the elliptical. Today may or may not be an off day depending on time, have to get DSS from daycare after work so might not get a good workout in. At the very least I'm doing some yoga after the boys go to bed. I gave in and wore tennis shoes instead of dress shoes to work today because I'm tired of not being able to walk every time I stand up. :mad: I'm stretching my feet and calves as I sit, so I'm hoping that plus the shoes will help. Of course, now I find I may have to go to the DOL for an appeal interview this afternoon in my casual tennis shoes and polo instead of what I normally wear to their offices. Blah.

Pat - glad the budget presentation went well, sorry about all the extra work it seems to have brought you! :dizzy:

Lydia - hope your light comes soon. Let me know how it works for you, I've considered ordering one myself.

Mel - that workout looks like fun. :devil: I still can't effectively do a handstand, much less a handstand pushup. Good for you for the four you did!

Cheryl - I second the 'wow' on the iron cross on the rings.

Silver - feeling better today? I think I read in another thread that you were wiped out in the last few days?

Good day everyone! :wave:

Mel, sorry to hear about the flood. That's no fun.

I have been fighting a really nasty cold since last week's Wednesday. A week later, I am only little better - it finally culminated on Monday and I am making only baby steps of improvement but I will take that. The colds are getting nastier and nastier. I never had problem with my sinuses but this time, my left sinus felt totally cemented up. I am still in the sniffly stage and I don't even remember how to get to the gym. That's terrible. The worse part is that I am feeling too miserable to care. Hopefully it will change for the better soon. Weather is supposed to be nice on the weekend - I still need to do some garden clean up - leaves are mostly gone now, so at least I don't have to worry about that any more.

How come we are now doing a thread for 2 weeks only?

Hi all,

Mel - ouch on the flooding and construction disasters. I hope stuff is going OK now. Great work on the handstand pushups!

Cheryl - sounds like a superman wo!

Pat - great picture & great article.

Birch-lots of storm & rain today..I whimped out and did not bike. Luckily, because an afternoon meeting planned for 1 hour went on for much longer, and I was pretty tired when I finally could go home.

:wave: susan, shannon, alena & all the others
No good today: did not bike to work yesterday, and also not today, had a very long day at the office wo my afternoon snack, so when I finally came home I overate and had wine to unwind before dinner. Tomorrow is another day to make up for this...I'll have to work a bit at home, but before that I'm planning on a lifting session.

Have a great day all,
Rabbit

Alena- the threads were getting really long for the whole month. I just like to break them up if they go over 5 or 6 pages. Over the years, we've done weekly threads, monthly thread, bi-monthly threads. It really depends on the level of participation and chattiness at any given time.
Sorry you are so sick and for so long. It's going around here too. Have some chicken soup with lots of garlic. Actually the most sinus clearing experience I ever had was at an Indian restaurant in Toronto where an Indian co-worker took me when I was stuffed up for a week or so as you have described.

Every inch of me is sore from overhead squats. That was our entire workout :dizzy:

Cheryl- I tried the band for rings dips and was scolded :rofl: Trainer's reasoning was that if you fail doing it that way, you can rip your shoulder to shreds. His alternative is toes on a box, with knees bent and progressively put less and less weight on your toes. My problem is that if there is a cheat, I use it. Bad Mel.

Sore, tired Mel is going to bed.

Got in a short UB workout after the boys went to bed, day 3 from the 3 day split I found on stumptuous. Day 2 was first, day 1 is planned for Friday. Legs are feeling a lot better so planning on trying the park tomorrow, where I'll be back to running on my heels I believe. :dizzy:

Mel - ouch! Get some rest tonight!

Alena - I feel like I've been fighting congestion all summer, too. Hope you feel better.

Rabbit - tomorrow is a new day. :hug:




tonight's workout
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deadlift - 3x10, 65lb
pullup (assisted by my foot on the bench, have to get some bands) - 3 x amrp, in my case 4,4,6. The last two on that 6 were weak...
Db row - 3x10 per side, 15 lb
back extension - 3x 10
25 crunches to round it off, not on list.