Morning, everyone.

I thought I'd do a little work this morning, but my 'puter keeps crashing. I hate windows, but can't switch to mac for a variety of reasons that are too boring to relate. My browser works, though, so here I am.

I made the mistake yesterday of working out at 5 pm. uggh. Luckily, it was a strength day, which entails fewer equipment changes than a typical cross-fit WOD. Once I got a power rack, I just stayed there through the entire workout (cleans, bench, and oh squats -- fun, fun!) But I still don't like working out with 50 college-aged young men. (As usual, the only other woman there was checking IDs at the door.)

I really need to get back to working out in the mornings. I get up early enough -- I'm usually up by 5 or 5:30, sans alarm. But I think I get up *too* early: by the time I've packed The Boy off to school, I've already started my work day and don't want to interrupt it for gym time. Plus, I've gotten spoiled by showering at home.

Suck it up, Kim!

Greetings to all, and to all a good day. Nice to "hear" what's going on with everyone: makes me feel better about the usual gender and age ratio in my gym.

be strong //
K

Hello all!

I'm with Alena in the ouchy back department. It's getting better, but slowly, and I fear the scale is creeping up again. Gotta get back on the perfect eating schedule!

K, not interrupting the work day for gym time is exactly what gets me in trouble! Hope your computer gets better soon.

Gotta dash, but hello all & keep those workouts!

Somewhere between the computer screen and the elliptical machine, I messed up the directions for the workout I was doing. Seemed to be taking an awfully long time
I'm acutely aware that I am not what I once was ... but I feel OK having done something. Form felt good, no trouble with hip or lower back. I can definitely increase the weight next time.

Homestyled CFish ... 250 m elliptical, 7 10 lb thrusters ... seven times through.

Rabitty Rabbit,
We should schedule a 'home improvement' vacation together. Wouldn't that be fun? I am quite handy, thank God, and I love doing stuff like that. Right now, there is a tile cutter that sits on my desk next to the computer - a loan from a colleague of mine. It's just the basic one, not the wet one, but that should be fine.
I have done a number of jobs - in my previous house, I installed floating laminate flooring on the entire first floor (not that it's difficult, it was the kind that you click together), I ripped out a toilet, installed a new subfloor, installed a new toilet and it worked! I am a proud owner of compound mitre saw that I bought years ago not because I needed it but because it was an after-Christmas sale event (with a very significant discount - they are not that expensive any more) and it came very handy when I was doing the floor a year later. I love my power tools - my latest additions are a compressor and a nailer.
So let's plan something!

I just returned from my appointment with a physician at the Sports Medicine Centre. Coincidentally, it was the same doctor whom I saw for my plantar fasciitis. His diagnosis is that it is my facet joint that causes the problem (I never knew there is such a joint in my body). My back is crooked (I have been told that before) and later on, he may decide to have my legs Xrayed because one of my legs may be shorter than the other. I don't have a problem bending forward - I can easily put my entire palms on the floor but leaning backwards is problematic - see, I always suspected my back was aggravated by back extensions! He told me not to do them at all and once I feel better, I should start doing yoga again. So we shall see.

Kim, I would love to exercise again in the early a.m. but smart Mel told me that early morning exercise is not good for people with back problems. I do find that it is worse in the morning than later in the day. Hopefully, one day I will be able to get my workouts in the morning again.

We had a few days of milder weather but today the wind is coming straight from the North Pole, or at least it feels that way.

Have a nice day, everybody. I hope spring will be here soon.

Denver:

P.S. Zumba last night.

Cheryl: How's the purging going? I just finished reading "It's All Too Much." It was a good thing to read since in the back of my head I know I have to pack all this stuff up this spring. My thought was, "Do I want to unpack this when I relocate in June"..or "Is this something I really want to take with me into the next stage of my life." I even stood there with my wedding dress thinking of donating it or throwing it away. Close, but didn't do it. Yet. Anyway...hope your are enjoying the change of pace this week.

Rabbit: You are SuperMom indeed! I've had a few experiences with the lens hunt myself. One time I thought the lens was still in my eye when in fact it had fallen out on the floor...I was feeling slightly panicked looking for a lens in my eye that physically wasn't there. OMG, it must have rolled behind the back of my eyeball.

Shannon: How was the workout today? I did something fun the other day that I think worked my lats in a new way. I went into the empty group exercise room and did inchworm walks alternated with updogs up and down the length of the room.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y35U_BT7yhI

I'm sure it looked goofy...but it was a pretty decent full body warm up that made my lats ache for two days.

When in full extension at the bottom of the inchworm, I threw in an updog and held it, moved into downdog and then walked my feet back up into my hands. Just a suggestion for something fun...good fullbody warm up.

Alena: I'll keep your skills in mind as I continue the house hunt this spring. Perhaps after your are done with Nelie's place you can come over to do mine. I'm sure mine will be a "fixer upper".

Kaw: Oh the college kids. For the most part, the kids who come back during breaks/summer behave themselves. I think it helps that my gym is not a university gym but a family Y. But yes, sometimes, its amusing to both parties that we (a college athlete and a 41 year old stay at home mom) are eyeing the same piece of equipment.

Mel: Don't feel the guilt. I have no intention of feeling guilt when my sons are in college. There is a reason they are meant to leave the nest. That feeling of "I can't wait to get my house back" must be there so we don't weep, cry and clammer at their heels as they try to head out into the world to make their own way. It's much easier for us this way.

K. I also want to say how grateful I am to know all of you! Seriously. Today at the gym this big guy walked over to me and said I was "unnatural." Now, I know he didn't mean it to be an insult. I could tell it was a compliment by the other things he said, but my first thought was "No, our bodies were made to work this hard. I know women my age and older who could out lift and out run me on their bad day". But, he wasn't interested in hearing any of that. He made his comment and then scurried off to his incline bench for more presses. ~sigh~ Okay, fine. Maybe here I'm unnatural but in the world that I live in...

Okay. I need to stop. I'm not quite sure what the point here is. Except that its really important that we measure our success and our goals within ourselves.

If I would use others in my gym as a yardstick I would never have accomplished as much as I have. "Oh, I can't do xyz because I've never seen anyone else here do that...maybe it's not okay to do that.."

On the flip side, if I measured myself only against you wonderful ladies, I would end each of my workouts in serious frustrations of underachievement. Kaw is benching what now?!

Hungry. I'm trying to lean out right now. Guess I'll distract myself by getting a shower and dressed for the second half of my day. My next "feed" isn't for another hour. (really hate this part) I'm actually the same weight as I have been this time last year. It's just my annual quest to reach a bodyfat% below 19%. I'm close. So freakin' close...

Lydia - I like the looks of the inchworm, but as I can't actually touch the ground when I lean over I'm not sure how that would work for me. Could I bend my knees to get my fingers all the way to the ground and still get the same impact?

Have to fly, appointment this afternoon. Will be back later...

Lydia, Kim, Alena, Mel, Silver, Cheryl, Shannon, and all the others

It 's amazing to meet so many women that I can relate to. Like Lydia says, in real life I seldom meet women who

--try the crazy workouts and strange body moves that are proposed here
--do weight workouts
--actually have DBs and BBs in the house
--buy themselves a BB for their 40-something birthday ( I had mine delivered by mail, the mailman was not happy)
--work out at home
--do work on the car or other mechanical repair jobs
--do home improvements
--and mix this with having jobs, raising kids, and being secretly glad when the kids get out of our hair for a bit.

Alena - a compressor and nail gun? Wow! Have fun with the tile cutter!

Have a great evening!
Rabbit

Rabbit - my delivery guy wasn't very happy having to deliver my various home gym equipment either. Interestingly, the treadmill, elliptical, first Weider system and stationary bike were all delivered by a woman driver for DHL. She whipped those things onto hand trucks and got them into my garage no problem, even the giganticly heavy treadmill box. The last system came in seven boxes - 5 delivered DHL and 2 by UPS. Both were male drivers and both men complained about the weight. The guy who delivered the five boxes took three trips with handtrucks which he loaded with the electronic lift gate, fussing the entire time. None of the boxes individually weighed as much as the treadmill box that the delivery woman lifted off the truck on her back to carry down to position on the handtruck. It was fascinating to watch.

And it is great to have so many women to chat with who don't think parking in the driveway to make space for exercise equipment it crazy.

You guys should've seen when we bought our home gym system. It was delivered from the store by the store but the guys who had to deliver it and put it together weren't very happy, it took them a couple hours to assemble it! I'm not sure what we'll do if/when we move.

I'm working into getting back to morning workouts. But - whine - it's still below zero. Just the thought of that temp at 5:30 sends me back under the covers. When I do go in the mornings though, I come home and shower. It's not so much the gym's showers, but all the other stuff I have at home: hair dryer, curling iron, various toiletries, etc. necessary for going to work, plus bringing work clothes. I go in workout clothes with sweats over, come home in sweat with nothing under. Jump in the shower, eat breakfast and leave for work. Soon - like 65 days from now - morning workouts won't mean 5:30 am (of course, by then it'll be light and warmer at 5:30 and such an awful prospect). Cardio today - a nice session on the elliptical....

Pat - one more reason to look forward to your upcoming retirement! Early morning workouts that aren so early in the morning!

Hi all,

Pat- gym wo at 5.30 in the morning in an alaskan winter...ouch!

I'm easing myself into the morning wo habit..at home. I have the laptop & sweats next to my bed and the weights, gym mat and open staircase in the hallway.

Joining with Susan here..todays wod was CF-ish, from the "inspire" page. I looked up the mule kicks but found 2; 1 on the back, kicking a ball away, the other from pushup position, kickin backwards ala Bruce Lee. I did 3 rounds of 5 mule kicks (both version), 10 lunges BB 20 kgs, 15 DB swings, 8 kgs. Followed off with some yoga, RSI and neck are still bothersome but Larm is slightly improving, I can grip and lift little weights better now.

working from home again & better get started,
Have a great day

Rabbit

Quickie post-
Rabbit, the mule kicks CF style:
plant your hands on the floor like you were going to do a hand stand and kick both legs up and out. Land with a soft knee. I guess that is your a la Bruce Lee style. I like them slightly less than burpees

Gotta go- to much work!

Mel

I was thinking, what the heck is an inchworm? Now I know.
I wish though I had audio. I don't have speakers at work and at home, I never put them up after I emerged from my camping in the basement last fall. I keep promising myself a new PC (for home) but I don't when that's gonna happen. I need to buy a tankless water heater really fast, the old one is on its last leg.
Lydia, what do you mean by updogs?
I am going to try the inchworms though I am not sure how my back is going to like it. It does look like a good exercise though.

Re the book ("It's All Too Much" - if I remember ok, I am too lazy to open another window and scroll back). I have to read it. I am sure there is still a lot of stuff that can go out (from the basement). Otherwise, I am very happy that I stripped the upstairs to the bare minimum and I am trying to keep it that way.
I am a magazine junkie and I have a hard time letting go of old mags. (The moment you throw an issue out you will need an article or a picture that you know was there).

Alena

Another CF question...
I was reading an older workout on the Crossfit Brand X page and it said to substitute SDHP for rowing. What is an SDHP? I'm guessing that the rowing they are referring to isn't the seated row I can do on my cable machine, either?
Got a decent workout yesterday - an abbreviated db circuit, some ab exercises with DB & bosu, 13 miles on the stationary bike.

Alena - the corner of my office has become a messy pile of old magazines. Have to clean those out...

Rabbit - nice workout!

Good day everyone!