Wow Cheryl, you've got a lot on your plate today and in the near future. Good luck with the roof. I'm still impressed with your carpentry work. Cripes, I can't even hang a shelf and I totally love the 3M velcro sticky things to hang pictures straight. DON'T LAUGH I really do that. Hey, no holes in the walls and no patch work when it comes down. Why make more work.

Your new gym location sounds wonderful. I keep meaning to mention the move but I get distracted lately. What a huge undertaking this must have been. I hope all of you will really enjoy the spot. Quieter floors sound awesome. Are there other benefits to the new location as well? Hope it's not a further drive for you.

Best of luck as well with dropping weight. When's the contest? Problem with that is that obviously you lose strength as well. Kind of a tough balance. Do they have any suggestions?

My gym is kind of interesting. It's in a warehouse that sits right next to the Virginia Rail Express, VRE. When the VRE comes through just before 8:00am I can hear it over my headphones.

They have Lifetime Treadmills and Precor EFX 564 elliptical trainers which get the endurance cardio work done. I'm particular about stride length on the ellipticals and fortunately, these are long enough. (kind of funny as I walked through these gyms they always try to show you what THEY want you to see but I'm asking things from my mental list and it totally throws a lot of them off from their script) Do you know that few of them knew what model of elliptical they have and they stand around them all day long.

Anyhoo. There are York dumb bells with football grips that spin but the heads are not hexagonal. I prefer hexagonal rubber head with football grip. Spinning is a feature that I haven't used but was informed that they are great for practicing Oly type lifts with dumb bells.

Benches are fixed and a decent height for step ups, overs, jump ups. Believe or not one gym I walked into had benches so short I couldn't imagine using them for step ups. I immediately felt my strength levels diminish just walking past them. But they would have been great for my 5' client last winter who's feet didn't touch the floor when doing chest presses...great for her.

There's a cable cross, squat rack although not really one I"ve ever used before, it uses pins and I don't really recall seeing removable bars that would be used for deadlifting. Kind of a bummer because I like to play with the freebar, rolling it back and forth between my rack pulls while I refocus. Cripe, I'm really going to miss my old gym...

The stretching/cooldown area is a loft built over the restrooms. Wooden floor with carpet tacked down. A couple of med balls, body bars, a jump rope, an erg, and two spinning bikes.

In short, it meets my needs for now. Its not in any means fancy. Truly a gym but I don't think I could stomach joining the Washington Sports Club. I looked it over and it was just too commercial. I need good, quality equipment and the space to do it in. Not stuff that looks pretty but is down right wrong to use. (Still trying to figure out what to call their version of a smith machine that was not really a smith machine. What the was that thing.)

Anyway, the place I joined is really inexpensive without any contractual agreement. It feels like the kind of place where people go to actually get a great workout in if they already know what they are doing. Personally, I'd like to find a place with the dumb bells and power cage that I prefer. Freemotion cable cross would be a bonus. So, if I find that great. In the meantime, I've got this and I'll just bring in my own toys as I need them. They guy who showed me around said he has no problem with me bringing in my own things and said that basically, people just make this place "work for them."

The guy who runs the local CrossFit in Burke tends to workout here too I found out. I have his business card. I have hesitations about joining that particular Crossfit because I don't think he has an actually building but meets his group at a community center. I should email and find out more but my concern is that most of his stuff is going to be bootcamp like and none of the Oly. stuff. I can do bootcamp till the cows come home. I can program that myself. Lifting. That's what I need to learn. I may have to suck it up and spend the 225/month and drive over the Alexandria to accomplish this. It's just not going to be right a way. It's way too expensive for us right now and I really need to get myself "centered" here. I've got so much "new" around me my head spins by the late afternoon. Cripe, I'm still trying to figure out which light switches work around here and finding my way to the kids' schools, library, and said gym. I even have a new vacuum cleaner I don't know how to operate without "thinking" about. So, actually taking on CrossFit probably would be too much of a strain until I get some bearings around myself here.

I still think there is room for something better here. I just need to fill in the gaps for myself before I entertain this. Ya know Mel...DH said there is no reason why there could not be two locations for the concept gym. "How much of an inconvenience for you would it be to HAVE to fly to Columbus to "check" on the business. I mean ya know, your family is there, your girlfriends, favorite hairdresser...:"lol3:

Wow. Long message. Sorry everyone. Well, more to unpack here.

Pat: I'm sorry things are looking grim. The rain on top of not feeling well... which probably means you are not doing all the social things you enjoy with friends or your workouts, wonderful extrovert that you are. Wish I could loan you my light box till this thing gets better or at least the rain stops.

Right. Off to unpack more boxes...and be Mom for the rest of the day.

Listen, friends. I have Absolutely No Idea what a concept gym is. 'Concept' could go along with 'boutique', 'bijou' and 'chi-chi' in my mind but something tells me I'm on the wrong treadmill here. Enlightenment? (But I'm no business angel, I'm afraid.)

No weights but I've just rewired a lamp for my mother. And done her tax return. Oh, I'd love to go to the gymn. Swimming tomorrow.

Hey Silver: My reference to a "concept gym" is a gym that is new, different and appeals to a specific market. Something that doesn't yet exist but in my own head. Just something that's been percolating in my head for a while.

Lydia, just reading what you had to do today made me tired. But, it seems you survived it all.

On the 3FC boards under "Protein Shakes Harmful" someone has posted a Consumer Reports piece on the shakes and heavy metals. You might want to read it.

Rhonda

Hi all,

Rhonda - thanks for posting the WO. I read it and thought I knew all the exercises, so I've copied it so I can use it here at home when I'm back on the gym track.

Silver - yeah, pudgy around the tummy...that would be me. Something Definitely Needs to be Done, but it is fighting for time with a lot of other stuff

Lydia - thanks for the great read on the gym and how you are doing. I am feeling all excited for you..a whole new world to explore with your family! Re: vacuumcleaner... I treated myself on a new refurbished roomba and scooba while on holiday in california and they are wonderfull! New roomba has learned to do my thick carpets as well, and new scooba can now also do my downstairs uneven floor without getting stuck. So I have effectively outsourced my floorcleaning...and have some extra time freed up from vacuuming.

Pat - i hope you are feeling better. I think I missed what you are taking the meds for...hope you"ll get over it soon!

Cheryl - sounds you are pretty busy. I hope the weather held up so you could get along on the roof repairs.

Re meds...I started HRT (hormone replacement therapy) and got good rsults initially...less hot flashed, 1 night unbroken sleep...and then depression & panic started in. So I've stopped them and I'm back on tired, broken nights & hot flashes. Sill working my way around the hormone issues here, but on the positive side it seems like I'm addind another couple of hours to my workable portion of the day, so that is a really good thing.

Fun day today...DD is turning 16! I 've sceduled working from home, she baked a birthday cake yesterday with a friend, we'll go to dinner & movie with another friend this afternoon, and tomorrow there will be still more friends & some family visiting. And I bought some apple cider for her as she is now legally allowed to drink. Should allo be great fun for her!

have a great day all,
Rabbit

Rabbit, I'm glad that posting the workout was useful to you. Here is yesterday's workout:

With 15 pound dumb bells:

Incline press 15 reps, 3 sets
single arm db row, 15 reps, 3 sets

With 10 pound dumb bells:

"Arnold Press" 15 reps, 3 sets
If you don't know this one, you can find it on the 'net

Single leg presses, 90 pounds, 15 reps, 3 sets

RDLs, 75 pounds, 12 reps, 3 sets

Dumb bell shrug, 30 pounds, 12 reps, 3 sets

And, HRT...I tried it also for insomnia, hot flashes, etc. Then I got horribly, seriously depressed, beyond anything I had ever experienced in my entire life. I woke up one morning and believed very strongly that if I didn't stop the HRT I was not going to pull out of the depression. I stopped the drugs cold turkey and had a few days of lightheadedness and the depression lifted. Never again! Good luck with all of that. It's rough, I know, first hand.

Rhonda

Tejas - Maybe Mel or even Lydia can correct me if I'm wrong but I thought Arnold presses were really bad for your shoulders and should be avoided? I used to do them once in a while but had since read that they were advised against.

Hey Rhonda: Don't want to step on your trainer's toes but I would phase the Arnold Presses out. Ask if just overhead presses would be okay, along with front raises and then lateral raises. Weights should be relatively light. What's tricky about the Arnold Presses is that it is working the shoulders in two planes of motion doing the same exercise and that could lead to injury if your form becomes less than perfect.

Also want to suggest that if you are doing front delt raises, hold the dumb bells so that the heads are perpendicular to the floor (straight up and down, thumbs are pointing up in your grip) instead of the more common grip of parallel to the floor. You will kind of have a movement similar to toasting a friend with a glass of wine or a beer stein depending upon your preference. No need to invite an impingement.

Had a nice workout this morning. Think I'm going to be just fine there. I was able to super set rack pulls AND back squats. Squat rack and a cage are perpendicular to each other and I had the area to myself : Noticed there were some aerobic benches stacked in the corner too with LOTS of steps. Yep, it's PLAYTIME!

Rabbit: These meds sound horrible. I'm so dreading this phase. I watched as my mother struggled with the same thing. She could not take HRT due to other meds she was taking at the time. I felt really bad for her but perhaps it's not such a bad thing after all. Panic and depression! Who needs to encourage that. We get enough of that in our everyday. Enjoy the birthday celebrations. 16! What kind of cake did she choose to make?

Thanks, Lydia, for spelling it out. Hmm. Interesting. An idea whose time will come?

Just unpack those boxes first!

Moving lots of stuff at my mother's. My plan is to engage the abs, move slowly and carefully and I shan't niggle any of my niggles. Working well so far.

Thanks for the various tips and advice, folks. I have just the way to get out of doing the Arnolds. I'll say that it aggravates my forearm (which is vulnerable because of the neck issues).

Rhonda

Hi all,

Rhonda - thnx for posting the WO!

Lydia, Nelie - thnx for the adaptations!

Lydia - seems like you are going to be just fine in the new gym!

Silver - still in London? Have fun! and watch that back with the boxes!

DD's birthday party today! She baked a 2 tier chocolate cake, one friend came yesterday and we went to dinner, movie & icecream afterwards. Had a good time and when we finally arrived home DS was there! He was sceduled to come today but came 1 day early as he is joining a fraternity (?) and wil be in his introduction period in the next 2 weeks. He'll be doing all kind of weird initiation things and is looking forward to it very much. I am amazwd, as always, that this big young man is actually my son.

Re depression: I've been there before and I noticed anxiety and negativity shooting up in 3 short days. Pity, since the pills did work for the hot flashes, fatigue and bad sleep, but no way am I going back to depression. I'm now working my way through some literature about alternative approaches, and am assigning myself the task to Do More Fun Things!

to all

have a great day all,
Rabbit

all

Rabbit - back at my mother's for last few days. Leaving today for week of home & work. Then a long weekend for my birthday.

Add some tofu or miso into your diet? Happy b/day DD! Have a lovely time.

In haste. Have to pack.

I

still here!

I agree whole heartedly with Lydia about the Arnold presses...

Yesterday I took a complete rest from workouts and feel human again. We've been doing a lot of really challenging w/o at Crossfit, I've been doing lunchtime yoga, and morning elliptical and I just feel beat up and exhausted most of the time. Sleeping an extra half hour and NOT running and jumping after work made a huge difference. I dom't THINK I gained 15 pounds overnight....

OK, off to work. Have a great day!

Mel

Hi all! Been reading!

Lydia, thanks for the in depth info for how you looked for a new gym. It was hard to me to identify what I am looking for, but now I feel more confident in taking my time and asking lots of questions. It's interesting what the gym "tour guides" focus on when they show me around: rows of ellipticals, aerobic classes, 30 minute machine "fitness circuits." And I'm like, "Hey just show me the free weights."

Morning, ladies! Flyby, since I rolled over this morning and overslept.

Mel, like you, I've been burning it at both ends, between work schedule, trying to rescue my own house/yard work, and crossfit (been doing a lot of "strongman first" then the regular wod), and just feeling beat up and drained for energy. Capping off the week with the rowing extravaganza didn't help, I think. I've taken a few extra rest days this week, without taking totally off, and that seems to have helped. Will do a wod today and see how I feel. to everyone!