Stage 6 completed... again!

I don't know if I made any real progress, but I completed Stage 6 of New Rules of Lifting for Women again.  This B workout was better than the A one two days ago.  No AMRAP!

Stage 6B5-2

Warm-up - FBB (10:10)

Reverse Lunge, One DB at Shoulder - 2x10 @25#

DB 2-pt Row - 2x10 @37.5#

DB Push Press - 2x10 @25# each hand

Hip Thrust - 2x10 @25#  (subbed for back extension)

Hanging Leg Raise - 2x10

Oh my aching arms!

If anyone tells you rests between exercises don't matter, let them do this workout.  The lat pulls went down to 15 seconds between sets and it is killer!  Yikes.  I'm surprised I only had to drop 5# off the weight to finish.  You better believe I was grunting and making all kinds of contorted faces.  I went up to a 2 second pause in the down position on the push-ups.  Oh my.  How humbling.

Today was Stage 6A4-2.  I'm almost done with this stage for the second time.  I don't know if I improved much or not!  I'm definitely working my arms, though.

Stage 6A4-2

Warm-up - FBB (10:54)

Negative Chin-up - 19s@17.5#, 15s@17.5#, 14s@17.5#

Underhand-grip lat pulldown - 2x2@115#, 1x1@115#, 7x2@110# (15s rests between sets)

Barbell Split Squat - 3x4@24#

Push-up with 2 second pause in down position - 1x4, 1x3, 1x4 (had several attempts at 4th rep of 2nd set and paused and stretched before 3rd and 4th rep of the 3rd set)

Going heavier

When I started out today, I thought I wouldn't be able to increase my weights much.  I thought I might in one or two exercises.  But, I increased in all!  And not by a little, really.

I was unhappy with how the back extensions were feeling, so for the last set I did the hip thrust, ala Bret Contreras (since it seems there are different exercises with this name).  Duh!  Why didn't I think of that before?  The back extension is mainly a glute exercise.  I was doing it on a weight bench with my legs under the safety bar of my squat cage.  So, I didn't have a large range of motion and at the bottom, my nose was almost touching the ground.  I was not looking forward to missing a lift and breaking my nose!  So, I basically flipped it around and but my upper back on the weight bench and did the hip thrust with the same weight.

Again, I subbed the hanging leg raise for the incline reverse crunch.  I think I'll need to do something harder next time.  But, this time I focused on keeping my shoulders down, which apparently should help with pull-ups eventually.

Stage 6A4-2

Warm up - FBB (10:55)

Reverse Lunge, One Dumbbell at Shoulder - 6@22.5#, 6@25#, 6@27.5#

Dumbbell Two-Point Row - 6@37.5#, 6@40#, 6@42.5#

Dumbbell Push Press - 6@25#ea, 6@27.5#ea, 6@30#ea (last set HARD!!)

Back Extension - 2x6@30#

Hip Thrust - 1x6@30#

Hanging Leg Raise - 3x6

Another lifting session

I like how I can do Stage 6 workouts back-to-back without much problem.  Today I did Stage 6A3-2, even though I did 6B2-2 yesterday.  The kids joined me for a while, but they were really annoying, so hubby took them upstairs.

There aren't many exercises to this workout, but that doesn't mean it's easy!  Those ten sets of lat pulls are killer.  Also, the negative chins zap all you have.  The BBSS aren't easy, and by the time I get to the push-ups, I feel like a wimp.

I still love my gym setup.  I'm SOOO glad I got the cage with the cable station.  Totally worth it.

Stage 6A3-2

Warm-up - FBB (11:00)

Negative chin-up - 21s@15#, 17s@17.5#, 17s@17.5#

Underhand grip lat pulldown - 10x115#

Barbell split squat - 3x65#

Push-up - 3x6 with 1 sec pause at bottom

Lifting and kettlebells

After walking around the zoo for several hours yesterday, I was exhausted.  This morning, I slept in and recovered, but I did get to the basement this afternoon to do some lifting.  The kids were severely annoying me, so I needed it. They did follow me, but they were out of their funk then, and we had a good time.  My daughter (3 years old) did a lot of my warm up with me.

I did the 2nd workout of New Rules of Lifting for Women, Stage 6, Workout B.  It's not a super-intense workout, but still challenging enough given heavy enough weights.  Afterward, I did some practice with kettlebells using Pavel Tsatsouline's Enter the Kettlebell DVD.  It's rather cheesy, but very good instruction.

Stage 6B2-2

Warm up - FBB (10:00)

Reverse Lunge, One Dumbbell at Shoulder - 1x8@20#, 1x8@22.5#, 1x8@25#

Dumbbell Two-Point Row - 3x8@37.5#

Dumbbell Push Press - 3x8@25#ea

Back extension - 3x8@25# (on bench with legs under squat rack safety)

Hanging leg raise - 3x8 (subbed for incline reverse crunch)

Sore lats

Saturday, I got to the basement to lift in the morning.  I did New Rules of Lifting for Women Stage 6, A2.  (Again, this is my second time doing this stage.)  As I was working out, the kids came downstairs and played.  They also watched me some.  I was grunting a bit on the lat pulls and my son, in his infinite wisdom asked me if he should remove some weight to make it easier.  It was funny at the time.  I forgot to alternate the split squats and the push-ups.


Stage 6A2-2

Warm up - FBB (10:00)

Negative Chin-up - 25s @BW, 20x @backpack with 10#, 13s @backpack with 15#

Underhand-grip Lat Pulldown - 10x2 @115#

Barbell Split Squat - 2x8 @60#

Push-up - 2x8 on floor (not the best form, i.e. not quite deep enough toward the end)

Afterward, I foam rolled.

After my son's soccer game and my daughter's gymnastics class, we went with friends on a nice bike ride.  It was from Slater to Ankeny on a bike trail for about 13 miles.  A nice ride on a very nice rail-to-trail path.

This morning, I got out for a run.  First off, I had forgotten to charge my phone, so no music for me.  Pooh.  So, I set out with nothing but the clothes on my back, so to say!  It took me a good two miles to get into the run.  Then my mind started coasting and my legs started going on autopilot. The start was a bit hard because of the soreness in my lats and arms from yesterday's lifting.  That got a little better after about a mile or so.  It was not an overall easy run, but I made 4 miles.  I plan on increasing my long run length over the next few weeks in preparation for my 10k on October 2 and my half marathon on October 17.  I hope to get two 2.5-3 mile runs during the week.

I just purchased a running belt from iFitness.  I got the dual pouch version.  It's not supposed to bounce or ride up and it is also water resistant.  That will be nice when I go to the coffee shop after a long run.  I hate giving them moist dollar bills!  It should also hold my phone and gels.  I'll report back on how it does for me.

Before lifting workout on Saturday, I replaced the battery in my Garmin heart rate monitor strap.  It had been getting some very poor readings lately.  The readings were less sporadic, but there were still some spots where it obviously wasn't reading well.  I probably need to shorten the strap some, since the elastic has stretched some and I'm at the limit of how much I can adjust it tighter.  I have cleaned the contact area, so I don't think that is the problem.  I know for sure my heart rate did not dip to below 110bpm on my run today!

Look at the graphs below for two of my runs.  The red track is my heart rate and the blue track is my pace.

Before the battery replacement (8/27/2010)

After the battery replacement (8/29/2010)

Careful with those legs!

I was!  I didn't want to wear out my legs too much in prep for my long run tomorrow.  I got down to do Stage 6 B1.  Felt great!  Not very hard, though.  Figuring out how to do the back extension was interesting.  I put my legs under the squat cage safety and my hips on the bench.  It was awkward, but it worked. Instead of the incline reverse crunch, I did hanging leg raises.

Hubby came down while I was working out.  Now I know why I don't lift with him.  He makes me laugh too much.  Try doing push presses while you are laughing.  It's impossible!

Stage 6 B1-2  

Warm-up - FBB  (11:24)  

Reverse Lunge, One DB at Shoulder - 2x10 @20#  

Dumbbell Two-Point Row - 2x10 @35#

Dumbbell Push Press - 2x10 @25# each hand

Back Extension - 2x10 @20#

Hanging Leg Raise - 2x10 (subbed for Incline Reverse Crunch)

Not so New Rule of Lifting for Women

The "new" rules aren't so new anymore because I've finished the program!!  Yay for me!  It took me 10-1/2 months.  I had to mod a bit due to a knee issue, but overall, I stuck pretty well to the program.  It has been an excellent experience and I would recommend it to anyone!  Now to figure out what to do next.  I'll probably take a week off and then start on whatever I come up with.

Today I went to the gym and punched out 7-6, the last workout of Stage 7!
I worked hard today.  I felt better than the last couple times I was in the gym.  So, I decided I would try to increase weights as much as possible without keeling over and dying.  I did manage to increase some. I even got to the BIG GIRL PLATES on my deadlifts!!  Woo hooooooo!!!

It's Saturday morning, so the gym was almost empty.  Only one other guy there and he did cardio until he came over to use some machines.  Luckily he managed his entire use of the pulldown cable station between my 3rd and 4th sets.


Deadlift - 1x6@125#, 1x7@135#  (big girl plates!  I did the 7th rep because I had to rack the bar, LOL)

DB squat, heals raised - 3x15@15#ea, 1x(10@20#ea,5@15#ea) (did these in groups of 5 with resting breaths between... squats are still a big weakness of mine)

DB shoulder press - 2x15@20#ea, 1x(5@25#ea,10@20#ea), 1x(8@25#ea,7@20#ea)

Step-up - 1x15@12#ea, 2x15@15#ea (last set had extended break between sides, did much better with not pushing off, placed non-working leg so it rubbed on bench)

Underhand lat pull-down -  4x15@87# (yikes, that's a lot of reps!)

Almost done!

Today was 7-5 of New Rules of Lifting for Women.  That means one last workout and I've completed the book!  Woo hoo!

Today when I got to the gym, I was excited because there wasn't anyone there yet.  So, I had the cage for my incline bench presses!  What's cooler is they have a second Olympic bar now.  The old one is just on the floor.  So, I used that one for my Romanian deadlifts.  I would still need the cage for bench presses and squats, though.

Today went well.  I increased some weights.  Afterwards, I'm wobbly!  That's nice.

Time: 45 minutes

Warm-up: incline bench press -  4@45#

Incline bench press - 1x6@60#, 1x6@65#
Seated row - 1x8@83#, 1x7@89#
Static lunge, rear foot on step - 4x15@15#each hand
Push-up - 1x15 on floor (bad! incomplete ROM), 3x15 hands on step (better, arms not in, some pauses)
Romanian deadlift - 4x15@105#
DB bent over row - 4x15@30# (last rep of 3rd set was incomplete)

Not my best day ever

I could tell as soon as I got to the gym that this wasn't going to be the best day ever.  My squats were not feeling good.  I struggled to find a position where my knee wouldn't click and my legs were wobbly.  Everything seemed harder than it should.  I did manage to stick with the higher weights from my last workouts and not drop back at all, but I didn't increase.  I guess I should remember that getting out on a Saturday morning is itself an achievement.

In total, I took 56 minutes.  Several times I had to stop to pause.  I kept getting a bit light headed on the squats, so the pauses were necessary.  For some of the sets, I had to break up my counting to thee mini-sets of 5 to get through it.  Sometimes I would pause between mini-sets, sometimes I wouldn't.  I think part of the difficulty with this stage is mental.  It's hard to imagine 15 reps and on top of that, it's hard to imagine holding out for 4 rounds of those 15 rep sets.

Today's workout was Stage 7 Workout 4 of New Rules of Lifting for Women.

Squat - 2x6@55# (didn't go deep enough on some reps)
DB Squat, heals raised - 4x15@15#ea (heals on 2# DBs)
DB Shoulder press - 4x15@20#ea
Step-up - 4x15@12#ea (on padded bench, better with not pushing off)
Underhand lat pulldown - 4x15@87# (hard, hard, very hard, extremely hard!)

My turn to hog the power cage

Today was a quick lifting session, but VERY hard!  I sped out of bed and to the gym so I could be the first one there.  I wanted the power cage for my deadlifts.  I guess I could do them with dumbbells, but I have been waiting to do regular deadlifts again for so long, I would have been disappointed.  Since I also used the barbell for Romanian deadlifts, I used the cage for the entire half hour.  The guy I knew would come in and probably want the cage, came right after I started my lifts.

This was stage 7 workout 3 from New Rules of Lifting for Women.  It was a killer!  It only lasted 32 minutes after a quick warm-up, but that was plenty!  I'm getting really close to the big girl plates on my deadlifts!!  (Those are the full-sized 45# plates. I used 35# plates plus 5# plates today.)

Warm-up - 1x2@45# deadlift, 1x4@95# deadlift

Deadlift - 1x8@115#, 1x8@125#
Static lunge, rear foot on step - 4x15@20#each hand
Push-up - 4x15 in power cage, 4th hook from bottom (arms mostly in, did better this time, helps to go fast)
Romanian deadlift - 4x15@105# (wow!  huffing and puffing!)
Dumbbell bent-over row - 1x15@30#ea, 1x9+@30#ea, 2x15@25#ea

Barbell bench press!

Well, I managed to do the incline barbell bench press without killing myself! There were a crazy number of people there this morning, so someone would have been able to call 911 for me if I had crushed my windpipe with the bar. I didn't get to do it right away as it is written in the plan, so I was pre-fatigued and maybe would have attempted a bit more.

I was pretty disheartened when I arrived at the gym. I had gotten out to my car, which was not in the garage for various reasons, and the windshield was covered with frost. I'm so spoiled with my garage! So, I dug around in my car in a useless attempt to find a scraper. Then, I remembered I had taken them out in the garage when the possibility for frost seemed a lot way off. Anyway, when I made it to the gym, there was a guy there I knew would be using my power cage a lot, and he was. (I should write my name on it. Maybe that would help.) So, I started with the second group of exercises first. About half way through those, I saw an opening and jumped in to do the bench press and seated row group before continuing with the second group. I didn't want to wait until after the second set, because it is so high rep, I'd be exhausted. I didn't want to make my first attempt at a barbell incline bench press while exhausted!

All in all, things turned out fine. I was at it for about 47 minutes. Not bad. I got there around 4:50 (having wasted a lot of time finding a scraper!) and by the time I left, I counted 8 or 9 people at the gym. That's a lot for so early in the morning. I wonder why? I understand Friday, when people are trying to get in the workout early so they can have fun in the evening, but Tuesday? It's not January 2, either. hmmm...

By the way, my glutes are speaking to me... I think tomorrow is going to be interesting...

There is pretty much no way I can only rest 30secs, so I stopped trying and just went to the next exercise without pausing. Usually, that ended up at 45-60 seconds.

Incline bb bench press - 1x6x45#, 1x6x60# (30deg incline on bench, started after second? set of squats)
Seated row - 1x8@71#, 1x8@77#
DB squat, heals raised - 2x15@20#each (second set last few reps weak), 1x15@15#ea, 1x15@12#ea (heels on 2# dbs, a good use for Barbie-bells!)
DB shoulder press - 1x15@20#ea, 1x15@20#ea, 1x13@20#ea, 1x15@20#ea (had to use some pauses during sets)
Step-up - 4x15@12#ea (this time, stepping forward rather than sideward, much easier! I might still be pushing off a tad, though)
Underhand lat pulldown - 3x15@87#, 1x13@87#

Back home on wiggly legs!

I'm back from a two week vacation! Although I didn't really "work out" during that time, I got plenty of exercise. We were sightseeing, so I was walking and/or climbing steps or hills most days. The day before we came back, we went up 768 stairs to the top of a church tower ... and back down again. On the way down, my daughter was a bit scared, so I had to carry her down the whole way. I was sweat buckets with my down jacket on and was really glad for my improved strength and endurance! I was also glad I was in Europe where they aren't quite as sensitive to body smells, because I was not able to shower afterward!

Even though I ate like crazy, the activity balanced it out, I guess, because I didn't gain a pound! I'm thrilled about that, because I didn't hold back at all. This was mostly heavy, starchy German food (which I love) and the associated chocolates and cakes and Italian ice cream.

We got back Tuesday night. I was going to go back to the gym on Thursday morning, but my daughter, still somewhat affected by jet lag, woke up early and wanted to stay in our bed. She refused to stay there if I got up, so I decided that was a sign that I could also use a bit more sleep.

So, I headed to the gym today to start Stage 7 of New Rules of Lifting for Women. Holy cow, that was a hard workout. I warmed up with four squats using only the olympic bar, then an attempted (failed) chin-up and a negative chin-up. During the workout, I just couldn't hold myself to 30 second breaks. My heart rate got too high and I had to catch my breath. I was really sweating and huffing and puffing. In fact, I reached about 180bpm... with WEIGHTLIFTING. This isn't running!! See below for my heart rate graph. (The split lines mark the end of an exercise and the beginning of the next rest.) My average heart rate was 144bpm.

Overall, I took 45 minutes not including about 5 minutes for warm up. For some of the exercises, I had to pause a few times to finish the set. I aimed for 15 reps because 20 is just tooooo many!

Squat - 1x8@45# then 1x7@55# - I really felt my hams after this. I probably need to work on hamstring flexibility.
Static lunge, rear foot elevated - 4x15@15# each hand
Push-up - 4x15@level 4 on the Smith Machine (about 2 feet off ground) arms mostly in
Romanian deadlift (w/ BB) - 1x15@95# then 3x15@100#
DB bent-over row - 3x15@25#ea then 1x14.5@30#ea (last rep was about a 80% pull)

I had a yogurt+protein powder treat afterwards, finishing off my protein powder again. I'll have to get some more! I think I'll get the same stuff, NNW Healthy Whey Vanilla Carmel Swirl. Yum!

Finished Stage 6

Today was the last of Stage 6, workout 6B4 in New Rules of Lifting for Women. Next up is Stage 7, which I've heard is a killer!

Today's workout was harder than I expected. All of the exercises were 10 reps. Last B workout they were 4! The book wants you to drop back to the weights you used in workout 6B2, but that was mostly just down 5#. 10 reps really gets my heart pumping. I was up at 150bpm multiple times. My average was 122bpm, which is rather high, considering the rests were 60sec.

If I can't yet achieve a chin-up, I think I'll repeat this stage after I'm done with Stage 7, which is the last in the book.

Reverse lunge 1db at shoulder- 2x10@25#

DB 2-pt row - 2x10@40#

DB push press - 2x10@25#ea (last rep was hard!)

Back extension - 2x10@40#

Incline reverse crunch - 2x10@30deg (barely finished the last couple reps!)

6A5 Annoyance

What an annoying lifting day. The lifting itself went well, but there was a guy at the gym that threw me out of what I wanted to do on almost every exercise. Argh!

He was doing circuits using the power cage for bench presses and the Smith Machine for squats. (He was also doing leg presses on the leg press machine, which is... well... interesting.) He was using way more weight than I needed, so I didn't feel like even asking to work in for the split squats. I wanted to use the SM for negative chin-ups and push-ups. At least, I could do the pulldowns how I wanted.

Negative chin-up - All at 20#: ~16sec, ~15sec, ~12sec (Used the pull-up bars on the dual cable machine... I was kind of still shaken that I couldn't do these on the Smith Machine, also I had to take a wider hold and I couldn't jump all the way up with the bar being farther up and I had to stand on a bench just to reach the pull-up bars... I think I would have done better on the Smith Machine)

Underhand lat pull-down - 1x4@105#

Barbell split squat - 2x10@30#each shoulder (had to use dumbbells, wanted to use 65# on bar bell. These were hard enough! I had to take a little break in between legs and I still got my heart rate up to 148-152bpm.)

Push-up - 1x9.5 and 1x12 (couldn't use Smith Machine, so I did them on the floor with arms out a bit and letting elbows go out rather than keeping them in... still didn't get as low as I want)

Feeling strong!

Last night I attended a yoga class of a new yoga instructor at the gym. I was the only one there, so I got a private lesson for $5. I think I'll pay more than she's asking if I go again. That just isn't enough. It was really good and this was the first time in a long time I had a mirror to check my form in.

This morning was 6B4 for me. Next are the last two Stage 6 workouts!! Things went well. I even increased some of the weights. I realized that last time on the 2-pt row, I did both arms at the same time. Oops!

Reverse lunge 1db at shoulder- 4x4@30#total

Db 2-point row - 4x4@45#total (one arm at a time, this time! I run the weight parallel to my body, otherwise the width gets in the way and hits my body... maybe this isn't totally right, but it's the way I do them)

Db push press - 1x4@25#ea then 3x4@30#ea (wow, that's hard!! difficult to stabilize at top)

Back extension - 3x4@45#total

Incline reverse crunch - 3x4@30deg

Am I close to a chin-up yet?

Today was 6A4 of NRoLfW, otherwise known as the "armbuster." Well, I'm the only one calling it that, but it is true! I mean, 15 second rests? Yikes!

I'm getting frustrated with the triceps pushups. They are just soooo much harder than when I let my elbows track outward. They feel so weak compared to all the other powerful stuff I'm doing.

It was a good workout. It took about 34 minutes. I'm wondering when I should attempt a real chin-up. Definitely not today or tomorrow!!

Negative chin-up - 1x25sec@10# then 1x20sec@15# then 1x17sec@20#

Underhand lat pulldown - 2x2@112# then 8x2@105# (yikes!! 15 seconds for resting is nothing!!)

BB split squat - 3x4@80# (for the last set, I didn't get down as far as I would like)

Push-up - 3x4 on the floor with arms in (argh! So frustrating... didn't get as low as I would like and did some dipping to get up a couple times...)

First use of the weight belt

Today was another day of negative chin-ups (would those be chin-downs??) and underhand lat pull-downs. Wow.

I have been able to lower myself longer than 20 seconds, so now I started adding weight with the weight belt. Boy, do I feel hard core with that thing. Although it would be cooler if I were actually doing regular chin-ups! Time for the chin-ups includes time to jump up to the bar on the Smith Machine, which took about a second, I assume. I had an issue with the belt in that I was using the SM bar only a little higher than me, so I would just bend my knees after I jumped up. But, the chain hung down farther than my knees, so I had to maneuver it out of the way while I was lowering! A good problem to have, for sure. I'll correct it next time.

I did the push-ups on the floor without worrying about keeping my arms in. I can do them fine like that. Maybe I need to do some triceps kickbacks to strengthen my triceps, LOL! (It's a NRoLfW joke.)

Negative Chin-up - 28sec@BW then 25sec@5# then 23sec@10#

Underhand Lat Pull-down - 2x2@112# then 1@112# and 1@100# then 7x2@105# (thirty seconds rest is sooo little! I don't know how I'll handle 15 secs rest!)

BB Split Squat - 1x8@65# (oops, forgot to chang rep #) then 1x6@75# then 1x6@80#

Push-up - 3x6 on floor with arms not held close

A good day at the gym.

I overcame my negative talk again this morning and had a great day at the gym. With these shorter programs, I can go a little later. At that time, there are actually people at the gym. Amazing! Luckily, nobody was using the equipment I needed. Except one guy was doing repeated sets on the back extension thing. He finished right before I was due to use it. The amazing thing was.... HE WIPED IT OFF WHEN HE WAS DONE! Wow. The guy who doesn't rack his weights was also there, but it was a cardio day, I guess.

Today was 6B2. I broke a sweat early, and kept it up the whole workout! Wow. It took about 28 minutes. I did not do any warm up or cool down or stretching. I kept the ending weights from the last workout, since the sets were increasing. I don't think I could have increased much if I wanted to.

reverse lunge, 1db AT shoulder - 3x8@25#

dumbbell 2-point row - 3x8@40#

dumbbell push press - 3x8@25#

back extension - 2x8@40# (bench at 45deg)

incline reverse crunch - 1x8@30deg then 1x2@40deg and 6@30deg (45deg is not a good angle for this exercise on this bench... it pops up, stick to 30deg)

On my way to chin-ups!

Today was my first day (6A1) of Stage 6 of New Rules of Lifting for Women. This is the stage that helps you along towards achieving chin-ups. After the first workout, I'm very optimistic that I will reach that goal by the end of the 10 workouts. Today's workout lasted only about 32 minutes. That was very nice!!

The first exercise is negative chin-ups, where you jump up to the top of a chin-up and then slowly lower yourself. The goal is to draw it out 20 seconds, which I could do from the start! Then you start adding weight. I tried to add weight by holding a plate between my feet, but that didn't work. It would work better if I had a different style of plate. These have the raised hubs. It fell down after a few seconds. I'll have to find the belt with the chain next time.

I can tell already that my arms and upper back are going to be sore tomorrow and maybe even today!

Negative chin-ups - 26sec, 24sec, 21sec (5# wt for ~5 seconds on last one)
Underhand lat pulldown (fast pull, wait 1sec, release for 4sec) - 1x2@75#, then 6x2@100#, then 3x2@105#
bb split squat - 1x10@45# then 1x10@55#
push-up - 2x10@Smith Machine number 5 (~2 notches from bottom)