I've defined myself

... by completing the Define Yourelf phase of Female Body Breakthrough!

I've got my logs all made up for the next phase, Dial It In.

Today's workout ended up in the afternoon, thanks to some strong storms last night.  The storms plus the extra squirmy kids in bed didn't make for enough restful sleep to get up early.
I felt strong. I upped the weights used and the intensity.  I'm ready to move on, though.

Define Yourself B4
0:57
Foam rolling and warm up
Reverse Wood Chop - 8ea/32.5#, 8ea/35# (rope attachment)
Prone Jackknife - 2x8 (rolled farther out in plank so that arms were out and not perpendicular to the ground... this really increased the intensity!)
Stepup - 2x8ea/20#ea (7 risers)
T Pushup - 2x4ea/8#ea (much better form and ability than in recent past)
Single-Leg Squat - 8ea with 7 risers, 8ea with 6 risers (!)
Alternating Lateral Raise - 2x8ea/10#ea
Supinated Hip Extention with Leg Curl (SHELC) - 2x8
Inverted Row - 2x8

Various

There are are few more things to report.
At my hotel last week, I had access to an excellent fitness center.  Having a real cable station was soooo nice.  I wish I had the means to buy one without guilt.  So, I was able to fully complete my next FBB workout: (I will have to verify the numbers later.)

Define Yourself A3
Foam rolling and FBB warmup
Wood Chop - 8ea/40#, 8ea/42.5#
Plank - 2x90s
Dumbbell Squat with Offset Load - 2x8ea/12kg (used kettlebells)
Dumbbell Alternating Overhead Press - 2x8ea/25#ea
Single-Leg Bent-Knee Deadlift - 8ea/5#ea, 8ea/7.5#ea
Chinup with Band - 2x8 with 1/2" and 3/4" bands together
Alternating Lateral Lunge - 8ea/15#ea, 8ea/20#ea
Two-Point Dumbbell Row - 2x8ea/45#

Then, over the holiday weekend, I got up early and worked out with my friend.  It was great to have the mutual encouragement to workout and not be completely slothful!  The first day, we jogged.  At mile intervals, we stopped and did other stuff, like push-ups or squats.  I wasn't wearing my jogging shorts, though, so at about 3.3 miles in, I had to walk, otherwise I would have some raw skin.  That kinda sucked, but at least we got out and got moving.  The next day, we did a timed circuit.  30s each of 6 stations for about 25 minutes.  Then, we went for a walk and took the stairs to the 7th floor.  I think that helped counteract to some degree my poor eating for the weekend.

This morning, I got up for my lift.  It felt great!  Not much else to say about that.

Define Yourself B3
Foam rolling and warm up
Reverse Wood Chop - 8ea/30#, 8ea/32.5# (rope attachment)
Prone Jackknife - 2x8
Stepup - 2x8ea/17.5#ea (7 risers)
T Pushup - 2x4ea/8#ea
Single-Leg Squat - 2x8ea (to bench, then to step with 7 risers)
Alternating Lateral Raise - 2x8ea/10#ea
Supinated Hip Extention with Leg Curl (SHELC) - 2x8
Inverted Row - 2x8

Some outdoor fun and another lift

Yesterday, the sun broke through for a while. Before lunch, we decided it would be a good time to get in a quick walk/bike ride.  The kids would rather ride their bikes, but I need to be on foot, ready to help my daughter.  So, we set off with my son noting how slow we were going and my daughter working on getting over that initial terror.  (She's very afraid at first, but wants to ride so bad, she does it anyway.  Plenty of screams and maybe even some tears.)  She's only four, but she's doing great riding a regular 16" bike with no training wheels.  About a block down the road, we stopped to talk to some neighbors, the family of a friend of my son.  During this time, my daughter got VERY impatient.  We said we were going to ride bikes, so LET'S RIDE BIKES!  We ended up leaving my son to play and my daughter and I continued on.  After a while, she mostly forgets she's afraid and I have a nice walk/jog while we talk.  Before too long, she's zooming along and I'm barely keeping up!  At this point, I no longer have to keep my finger on her back.  When she's scared, she likes the reassurance of my finger/hand lightly touching (i.e. not helping) on her back.  It's funny.  Anyway, I got in over a mile of jogging!

This morning, I got in my lift.  Felt good!  I was able to increase some loads.  Nice.  These workouts may not use the heaviest weights, but I can tell they are beneficial.

Define Yourself B2
Foam rolling and warm up
Reverse Wood Chop - 2x8ea/30# (rope attachment)
Prone Jackknife - 2x8
Stepup - 8ea/15#ea, 8ea/17.5#ea (7 risers)
T Pushup - 4ea/5#ea, 4ea/8#ea
Single-Leg Squat - 2x8ea (to bench)
Alternating Lateral Raise - 2x8ea/10#ea
Supinated Hip Extention with Leg Curl (SHELC) - 2x8
Inverted Row - 2x8

Back to lifting... ugh to the push-ups!

The tent came down last night and I got my lift in this morning!  Woot!

A couple things to note.  I dropped my rows back down a bit because I was trying to finish off the last 2-3 reps of the set with back rotation.  For a lower rep set, I would be fine with 50#, but I need to complete all reps with good form.  Also, I was very disappointed with my push-ups.  I would think I should be able to bang out push-ups no problem, but I'm still struggling with more than a few reps.  Frustrating. I should probably go to an incline to fix them.

FBB Base Phase A81:08
Foam rolling (from SnG), warm-up (did all jumping moves)
Bird dog - 3x10
Forward Ab Roll - 3x10 (subbed ab roller for ball)
Stepup - 3x10/15#ea hand
Three-point Dumbbell Row - 1x10/50#, 2x10/45#
Partial Co-contraction Lunge - 3x10
Pushup - 2x10, 1x4 (some pauses, booooo)
Hip-Thigh Extension - 3x10 with knee pulled in
Bent-Over Reverse Fly - 3x10/8#

More FBB

Just a quick report on a great workout!I listened to TheFitCast podcasts during my workout.  I don't know why I didn't realize the great use of my cute little Netbook to do this before.  Great stuff.

FBB Base Phase A7
1:03
Foam rolling (from SnG), warm-up (skipped jumping moves)
Bird dog - 3x10
Forward Ab Roll - 3x10 (subbed ab roller for ball)
Stepup - 3x10/15#ea hand
Three-point Dumbbell Row - 3x10/50#
Partial Co-contraction Lunge - 3x10
Pushup - 3x10 (some pauses)
Hip-Thigh Extension - 3x10 with knee pulled in
Bent-Over Reverse Fly - 3x10/10#

New Toy!

I got my aluminum Oly bar in the mail yesterday!  It's 15 pounds.  I'm anxious to give it a try.  It seems well made.  It only has a weight limit of around 150#, so I will only use it up to the point when I could use the 45# Oly bar.  The sleeves seem to move fine, which was my biggest worry.

My heel is still getting sore, so I skipped the jumping moves in the warm-up.  Otherwise, I did everything.  My heel did feel sore afterward, but I took some ibuprofen and iced it on my way to work.  So far, it's not getting worse, but I would like it to actually get better!  Patience, patience.

I didn't increase any of my weights today, but I still felt like I got a good workout in.

FBB Base Phase A6
1:02
Foam rolling (from SnG), warm-up (skipped jumping moves)
Bird dog - 3x10
Forward Ab  Roll - 3x10 (subbed ab roller for ball)
Stepup - 3x10/15#ea hand
Three-point Dumbbell Row - 3x10/50#
Partial Co-contraction Lunge - 3x10
Pushup - 3x10 (some pauses)
Hip-Thigh Extension - 3x10 with knee pulled in
Bent-Over Reverse Fly - 3x10/8#

Increasing the sets

Before, I only did two sets of each exercise.  This time I moved it up to three.  Because of that, I didn't really increase my weights.  Same weights, more volume!

FBB Base Phase A5
1:09
Foam rolling (from SnG), warm-up
Bird dog - 3x10
Forward Ab  Roll - 3x10 (subbed ab roller for ball)
Stepup - 3x10/15#ea hand (getting better)
Three-point Dumbbell Row - 3x10/50# (still concentrating on form before increasing, left side making big improvements)
Partial Co-contraction Lunge - 3x10
Pushup - 3x10
Hip-Thigh Extension - 3x10 with leg straight
Bent-Over Reverse Fly - 3x10/8#

Bootay workout

Yes, this workout is definitely gear to work the rear.  I can feel it.

Again, I felt a twinge on the side of my left knee right after the side lunges in the warm-up.

FBB Base Phase A4
58 minutes
Foam rolling (from SnG), warm-up
Bird dog - 2x10
Forward Ball Roll - 2x10
Stepup - 2x10/15#ea hand (not ready to increase on left side)
Three-point Dumbbell Row - 2x10/50# (concentrating on form before increasing)
Partial Co-contraction Lunge - 2x10
Pushup - 2x10
Hip-Thigh Extension - 2x10 with leg straight
Bent-Over Reverse Fly - 2x10/8#

FBB Base A2

So far, I've managed to not get was my son has.  I kept feeling like something was coming, but it hasn't arrived yet.  I hope it can stay away for good!

I think I'm already feeling some benefit from the single-leg training.  I did a reset on the step-ups and started last time with bodyweight.  I feel like my form is much better than a year or so ago.  Now, I'm loading them back up slowly.  I'm not 100% sure I feel the muscle deactivation called from in the partial co-contraction lunge.  It is a good exercise, though.  I didn't burn all that many calories during today's workout, but it was still worthwhile.

FBB Base Phase A
54 minutes
Foam rolling (from SnG), warm-up
Bird dog - 2x10
Forward Ball Roll - 2x10
Stepup - 10/bw, 10/5#ea hand
Three-point Dumbbell Row - 2x10/45#
Partial Co-contraction Lunge - 2x10
Pushup - 2x10
Hip-Thigh Extension - 2x10 with leg straight
Bent-Over Reverse Fly - 2x10/8#

Pathetic pushups

Today, I started off by running my measly mile in about 10:30 on the treadmill at 1% incline. I'm not sure why my time went up a bit. I guess I accidentally started off a little slow. Monday, when doing yoga, I felt a little bit of the odd feeling in my knee. But, today on the treadmill, I didn't notice anything. That's good! The temperature when I run should be starting to get above freezing pretty soon, so hopefully some outdoor runs are in my future.

Weights went well. I did 1A8 of NRoLfW. This should be my last day of stage one, workout A. I might add on another time or two, though. I'm definitely noticing some progression. I'm still upping the weights pretty much every time. I've been trying to increase the weights for at least the third set. If that third set is still not hitting my max, I make a note to increase the weights next time.

Squats went better today. I don't think I was having as many problems with lifting my upper and lower body separately. I am still doing them from a full squat. I had to pause a lot during my first couple sets. I would get a little dizzy when I stood up. My heart rate gets decently high, too, up into the 150s, maybe even to the 160s, but since my wrist is behind my shoulders, I can't actually see my watch. The odd thing is that they go better as I went through the sets. I'm not sure why. Maybe warming up by doing some non-weighted sets would be a good idea! I always thought it would wear me out. By the way, I mention warming up with non-weighted sets rather than reduced-weight sets, because I'm only using 10# on the 45# bar. 10# worth of weight on a 45# Olympic bar looks really funny. But, that's where I am and it's going to stay like that until my ability increases!

My push-ups are rather pathetic when I try to do them by the book. If I let me elbows out when I lower, I can do lots of push-ups on a low setting on the Smith machine. But, if I try to do them with my elbows in, I hit an angle where I just can't support myself. It's kind of like the point on my squats just around or below horizontal, where the muscle just doesn't want to fire. (That's why I started doing them from a full squat. Moving through that point seems to work ok.) So, I wonder if there is a way to move through this weak point with push-ups. It seems like I would fall flat on my nose. I wonder what different muscles are being used between the two styles. It would seem like the elbows-in version would focus more on triceps and the elbows-out style might recruit more biceps? Hmmm....

The Swiss ball jackknives were hard again. It seems that 10-12 are about the sweet spot. Doing 15 is hard!! But, my form was a lot better this time. I kept my toes more pointed rather than flexing my feet. That way is more challenging to stay balanced on the ball.

Step-ups went better. I still get my heart rate up pretty high with these. I use a weight bench, so the step is pretty high. I have to pause to get my heart rate down between legs. I think at one point, I got up to 174bpm. But, I guess this is a rather dynamic exercise.