3A2-2

My left knee was tweaky, so I paid attention to it. During the SLDLs, I really felt it, so I only did those on my right.

I have a little beef with the book on the SLDLs. They have you stand on a plate for more depth. What?? First of all, dumbbells are several inches smaller in diameter than a barbell with 45# plates, so even without a plate to stand on, if you could get all the way down on one leg to touch the ground with the DB (without twisting your upper body to make it happen... note, these are deadlifts, not Romanian deadlifts) you'd already have way more range of motion than a standard DL. Why would you want to add another inch or two to that? Who can actually do this without being tempted to break good form? I mean really, you'd have to pretty much be able to do weighted pistol squats to even approach it because I don't think it's even really a deadlift any more with that kind of depth, it's closer to a squat. Ok, rant over.

3B2-2
0:58
Split squat, rear foot elevated - 5x6/15#ea
DB plank row - 5x6/16kg
DB single leg deadlift - 4x6/25# only right leg
DB chest press on partial bench - 4x6/28.25#
Burpee + KB Swing - ladder 10 -> 1, 24kg for swings

3B2-2

Another good workout this morning. This time I tried waking up to making the kids' lunches before heading down stairs. It seemed to work. I didn't feel the urge to dilly dally. I'll keep trying that. I like these 10-minute "as many rounds as possible" sets. It insures that I don't spend too much time on them. I did still require extra pauses during  pushups, but overall things went well.

NRLA 3B2-2
0:51
Dumbbell (KB) reverse lunge with offset loading - 5x16kg
Dumbbell incline bench press - 4x28.25# each hand
Dumbbell one-and-a-quarter squat with heels on plate - 5x15# each hand
Close-grip chin up - 5x3 using red band
Bodyweight squat+ push up - 3,6,9,6,3 (paused every 3 push ups)

More backpacking practice

Another half session with stair running added in. This time I loaded my hiking back with stuff and wore that during stair sprints. Good stuff! I did feel some wheezes coming on during the stair sprints, so the practice is important.

NRLA 3B2-1
Alligator drag - 2x10yds (fun!)
Dumbbell offset farmer's walk - 2x24kg/15yds
Two-dumbbell overhead offloaded farmer's walk - 2x16kg/25#/15yds (hard!)
Jump squat - 3/45#, 3/55#, 5/55#
(added) Stair runs - 5x60s/60s with 20# backpack

NRLA 3A2-1

Another great workout. 5 back-to-back Turkish Get Ups at a time with a challenging weight are tough! This time I didn't add the jump chin ups. I'm still sore from yesterday's chin ups!

NRLA Phase 3 A2-1
Turkish get up - 5ea/10kg, 5ea/10kg (tough!)
Suitcase deadlift + lateral step up - 5ea/16kg, 5ea/20kg
Cable anti-rotation reverse lunge with chop - 8ea/25#, 10ea/25#
Jump shrug - 3/45#, 3/70#, 3/75#, 5/75#

Another half workout

Again, I did the second half of the workout I'm on: NRLA 3B1. It was just about the right length for me at this time. I'm happy to say I did the push ups at the end on the ground. I did have to separate them into groups of 3 with rests between groups, but at least I didn't do them with my hands raised. I'm also happy with the chin ups. They were assisted by the red band, but they were full range.

NRLA 3B1-2
Dumbbell (KB) reverse lunge with offset loading - 4x16kg
Dumbbell incline bench press - 4x27.5# each hand
Dumbbell one-and-a-quarter squat with heels on plate - 4x15# each hand
Close-grip chin up - 3x3 using red band
Bodyweight  squat+ push up - 3,6,9,6,3 (paused every 3 push ups)

Stairs!

While I want to follow a lifting plan, I also have some non-plan things I want to do, but don't have enough for a full day. So, so far this 1/2 plan thing is working out well. Today I did the first half of the next day. Then, as a preparatory move for the (I hope!) hike up Mt. Whitney later this year, I tacked on some rounds of stair runs! Another time, I might do the stairs with a loaded backpack.

NRLA 3B1-1
Alligator drag - 2x10yds (fun!)
Dumbbell offset farmer's walk - 2x24kg/10yds
Two-dumbbell offloaded farmer's walk - 2x30#/20#/10yds
Jump squat - 3/45#, 5/45#
(added) Stair runs - 5x60s/60s (up and down, up and down, etc.)

Back from vacation. On to Phase 3!

Over vacation, I wasn't super active, but also not sedentary. We went skiing twice in Austria... AWESOME! (Could have done with out the hour ride stuck in a gondola lift in high winds, though!) Hubby and I also had a wonderful brisk walk on New Year's Day around the local lake... 12 miles! I was pretty sore after that.

This past saturday, I did some kettlebell work: swings and snatches. I'm trying to get over my fear of KB snatches. Then, I went to an hour of hot yoga. Then we went skiing for a couple hours!

Sunday, I started the third phase of New Rules of Lifting for Abs. Again, it was too long, so I decided I'd split each day into two. I hate cutting out parts of a workout, so this way I'll do it all, just spread out :)

NRLA Phase 3 A1-1
Turkish get up - 5ea/10kg, 5ea/19# (I could tell I hadn't done these in a while!)
Suitcase deadlift + lateral step up - 5ea/16kg
Cable anti-rotation reverse lunge with chop - 8ea/20#, 8ea/25#
(added) Jump up chin ups - 5
Jump shrug - 3/45#, 3/65#, 5/65#

Then, this morning, I continued on and did the rest of the workout. I don't know if it is because I skimped on the warmup or because I haven't done much single leg work in a month, but the single leg work today was absolutely horrible. Frustrating.

NRLA Phase 3 A2-1
Split squat, rear foot elevated - 5x6ea/15# (horrible!)
Dumbbell plank row - 5x6ea/16kg
Dumbbell single-leg deadlift with foot on plate - 4x6ea/25# (started at 44kg! horrible!)
Dumbbell chest press on partial bench - 4x6/27.5#
Burpee+KB swing ladder: 10 -> 1, 24kg for swings

Finished with Phase 2

I'm declaring myself finished with Phase 2 of New Rules of Lifting for Abs. Of course, I heavily modified toward the end, so the workout police probably wouldn't count it. Oh well. I'm not going to shoot for 8 rounds of Phase 3, I don't think.

Here is what I did:

NRLA Phase 2B-8 (modified)
Front plank and pulldown - 10ea/25#
Side plank and row - 10ea/25#
Swiss ball jackknife - 12
Cable kneeling cross-body lift - 10ea/25#
DB step-up - 3x8ea/20#ea 18" step
KB 1-arm push press - 2x8ea/16kg
DB offset load front squat - 8/30#R20#L, 8/20#R30#L
Mixed-grip chin up - 2x8 with feet on the floor for assistance

Yoga and Lifting

Hmmm, looks like I'm missing round 7 in the blog. Oh well. I'm sure your upset, but you'll live.

Monday I did a 45 minute yoga routine. It was nice and gentle. Wednesday was lifting again. And today was as follows. I subbed hip thrusts for the DLs, given that my lower back has been feeling a tad funny lately. It doesn't hurt, but there is a tightness on the right side. It's so low, it's basically over my right SI joint. I need a massage, I think! Yeah, that's it.

NRLA Phase 2A-8
Valslide push away - 12ea, one leg up
Swiss-ball mountain climber - 12ea slow
Cable half-kneeling chop - 10ea/27.5#
DB split squat - 3x8ea/25#ea
KB 2-pt row - 3x8ea/20kg
Hip thrusts - 8x65#, 2x8x85#
DB alternating chest press on partial bench - 3x8ea/27.5#ea

More lifting

The holiday eating really did a number on me. It was totally worth it, though. Now, back to normal. I had to sit out a couple days do to feeling sick, but this morning was great. I really have to cut down on the time, though.

Monday I did this:
NRLA Phase 2A-6
Warm up (full)
Valslide push away - 12ea
Swiss-ball mountain climber - 12ea slow
Cable half-kneeling chop - 10ea/27.5#
Extra strength - none
DB split squat - 3x8ea/20#ea
DB 2-pt row - 3x8ea/16kg
Wide-grip deadlift with feet on weight plate - 3/105#, 3x8/115#
DB alternating chest press on partial bench - 3x8ea/26.25#ea

This morning I did this:
NRLA Phase 2B-6
1:24
Warm up (full)
Front plank and pulldown - 10ea/25#
Side plank and row - 10ea/25#
Swiss ball jackknife - 12
Cable kneeling cross-body lift - 10ea/25#
DB step-up - 3x8ea/20#ea 18" step
DB 1-arm push press - 2x8ea/30#
DB offset load front squat - 8/30#R20#L, 8/20#R30#L
Mixed-grip chin up - 2x8 with feet on the floor for assistance

All alone

Yep, no mice this morning. Sometimes being alone is wonderful.

NRLA Phase 2B-5
Warm up (full)
Front plank and pulldown - 10ea/25#
Side plank and row - 10ea/25#
Swiss ball jackknife - 12
Cable kneeling cross-body lift - 12ea/25#
BB shoulder press - 6/51#, 4/55#, 2/57#, 6/52#
DB step-up - 3x8ea/20#ea
DB 1-arm push press - 2x8ea/30#
DB offset load front squat - 8/30#R20#L, 8/20#R30#L
Mixed-grip chin up - 2x8 with feet on the floor for assistance
I'll save the kettlebell swings for tomorrow!

Socks

Another great workout. Yay for bright pink deadlifting socks!

NRLA Phase 2A-5
Warm up (full)
Valslide push away - 12ea
Swiss-ball mountain climber - 12ea slow
Cable half-kneeling chop - 10ea/27.5#
Extra strength - none
DB split squat - 3x8ea/20#ea
DB 2-pt row - 3x8ea/16kg
Wide-grip deadlift with feet on weight plate - 2/105#, 2/115#, 3x8/120#
DB alternating chest press on partial bench - 3x8ea/26.25#ea
Metabolic - 7x10reps burpees on the minute

Little visitors

No, this time it wasn't my kids visiting me in my workout room.  One of the negatives about working out in the basement is that that is where all the unwelcome critters like to be.  This morning, I noticed that there were more traps set. I had set out two measly traps. My husband, as usual, was much more thorough than I am and set out a bunch more. To my surprise, one located in the exercise room had caught a fuzzy guy. I looked around into our utility room and there was another one. Neither of my two traps had be sprung. I knew they had come in when the weather turned colder because I had seen a few "presents" left behind in my workout area. Hubby said he actually saw one last night, so I guess that's why he set out more traps. I can only hope these are the only two that got in. Now I'm a little paranoid, because every little dark spec of dirt could be another "present."

The little critters didn't stop me from working out this morning. Although, I was a little wary of stepping on a trap. Luckily, that didn't happen.

NRLA Phase 2B-4Warm up (full)
Front plank and pulldown - 12ea/22.5#
Side plank and row - 12ea/22.5#
Swiss ball jackknife - 12
Cable kneeling cross-body lift - 12ea/22.5#
DB step-up - 3x8ea/18.75#ea
DB 1-arm push press - 2x8ea/12kg
DB offset load front squat - 8/30#R20#L, 8/20#R30#L
Mixed-grip chin up - 2x8 with feet on the floor for assistance
Kettlebell swings - 11x12reps every 40sec 20kg

Two more

I'm still not back in a rhythm. I'm trying!

Saturday I did this:
NRLA Phase 2B-3
Warm up (full)
Front plank and pulldown - 12ea/22.5#
Side plank and row - 12ea/22.5#
Swiss ball jackknife - 12
Cable kneeling cross-body lift - 12ea/22.5#
BB shoulder press - 8/50#, 6/52#, 4/55#, 8/50#
DB step-up - 3x8ea/18.75#ea
DB 1-arm push press - 2x8ea/12kg
DB offset load front squat - 8/25#R15#L, 8/15#R25#L
Mixed-grip chin up - 2x8 with feet on the floor for assistance
Kettlebell swings - 10x12 20kg

I started to work out Monday, but got through the warm up and realized how very tired I was, so I quit and slept for another hour. I don't do that very often! This morning I did this:
NRLA Phase 2A-4
Warm up (full)
Valslide push away - 12ea
Swiss-ball mountain climber - 12ea slow
Cable half-kneeling chop - 10ea/27.5#
Extra strength - jump up eccentric chin-up - 8,5,3, with red band: 7
DB split squat - 3x8ea/20#ea
DB 2-pt row - 3x8ea/16kg
Wide-grip deadlift with feet on weight plate - 3x8/115#
DB alternating chest press on partial bench - 3x8ea/25#ea
Metabolic - skipped

No extra strength

In order to reduce the required time of this workout, I didn't do the extra strength this time. Also, I'm still not doing all 10 minutes of the burpees. That's partly because I feel myself losing form after 6 rounds and partly because I don't have the time. Six rounds of 10 burpees still gets my heart pumping and the sweat rolling! Next time, I might do the extra strength (chin ups) instead of the burpees.

NRLA Phase 2A-3
1:13
Warm up (full)
Valslide push away - 12ea
Swiss-ball mountain climber - 12ea slow
Cable half-kneeling chop - 12ea/25#
DB split squat - 2x8ea/18.75#ea, 1x8ea/20#
DB 2-pt row - 8ea/32#, 2x8ea/16kg
Wide-grip deadlift with feet on weight plate - 3x8/115# (increase)
DB alternating chest press on partial bench - 3x8ea/25#ea
Metabolic - burpees with jump no push up - 6 minutes 10 reps on the minute

Still soooore!

Those eccentric chin-ups Tuesday really did their thing. I am still sore today. I don't know if that is the cause or not, but I just wasn't as "with it" during my workout today. As usual, that leads to a little less focus and a little more time spent. I did leave off the deadlifts (extra strength), even though I love deadlifts. I just know how long it takes to do four sets of good quality deadlifts. I'd rather take my time with them than rush them, especially since that could lead to injury! I don't need that. My SI joint would thank me if it could talk, I'm sure.

Given the sore arms and upper body, I couldn't even do a chin up with the band. So, I did them with my feet on the ground for assistance, making sure my torso stayed vertical. Still a great workout. I'm still really liking this program.

NRLA Phase 2B-2
1:18
full warm-up
Front plank and pulldown - 10ea/22.5#
Side plank and row - 10ea/22.5#
Swiss ball jackknife - 12
Cable kneeling cross-body lift - 10ea/22.5#
DB step-up - 3x8ea/17.5#ea
DB 1-arm push press - 2x8ea/12kg
DB offset load front squat - 8/25#R15#L, 8/15#R25#L
Mixed-grip chin up - 2x8 with feet on the floor for assistance
Kettlebell swings - 12 every 30 seconds for 4 rounds, then every 40 seconds for 6 rounds 20kg

More goodness

Another good workout today. Instead of doing the met work at the end in the basement, I went upstairs and started on the kids' lunches during rests! Ha!

NRLA Phase 2A-2
1:32
Warm up (full)
Valslide push away - 12ea
Swiss-ball mountain climber - 12ea slow
Cable half-kneeling chop - 10ea/25#
Extra strength - jump up eccentric chin-up - 8,6,4, with red band: 8
DB split squat - 2x8ea/15#ea, 1x8ea/18.75#
DB 2-pt row - 3x8ea/32#
Wide-grip deadlift with feet on weight plate - 3x8/105# (increase)
DB alternating chest press on partial bench - 2x8ea/20#ea, 1x8ea/25#ea
Metabolic - burpees with jump no push up - 6 minutes 10 reps on the minute

Back from a week off

This past week was crazy, so I decided to focus on getting enough sleep rather than working out. It worked and I ended the week well rested and without having the house in chaos!

Today, I started back up with my New Rules of Lifting for Abs routine. I'm still loving this program. Again, since it was Saturday, I did both the extra strength and the metabolic work. That is too long for a normal day. I don't quite get the timing on the met work, though. The instruction were to do 10-12 swings on the minute for ten minutes. They claimed this should be 1:1 or 1:2 work/rest ratio. KB swings usually work out to 20 swings in 30 seconds, give or take a couple. So, not wanting to spend too much time, I did 12 swings every 30s and rested the rest, giving me pretty close to equal work equal rest (1:1). So, I did  all the swings called for, just in half the time! It kind of surprised me that the book had this wacky timing, since I think I remember reading that Alwyn and Rachel went through the RKC program. Maybe it was just Rachel.

NRLA Phase 2B-1
1:25
full warm-up
Front plank and pulldown - 12ea/20#
Side plank and row - 12ea/20#
Swiss ball jackknife - 12
Cable kneeling cross-body lift - 10ea/20#
BB shoulder press - 8/45#, 6/50#, 4/52#, 8/45#
DB step-up - 3x8ea/15#ea
DB 1-arm push press - 2x8ea/25#
DB offset load front squat - 8/25#R15#L, 8/15#R25#L
Mixed-grip chin up - 2x3/red band
Kettlebell swings - 12 every 30 seconds for 5 minutes: 5x20kg, 5x16kg

Phase 2!

Moving on the next phase of New Rules of Lifting for Abs. Great workout today. I decided to try both the extra strength and the metabolic work. I only did half the met work and still ended up at an hour and a half. I'll reconsider next time! I wasn't even dilly dallying today. I got to it and did the rests as prescribed, maybe even a little short on the extra strength section. I started the weights out a little low to find the right level. Several will go up next time.

NRLA Phase 2A-1
1:29
Warm up (full)
Valslide push away - 12ea
Swiss-ball mountain climber - 10ea slow (very hard! pauses)
Cable half-kneeling chop - 10ea/25# (work on keeping shoulders level)
Extra strength - front squat - 8/50#, 6/50#, 4/50#, 8/45#
DB split squat - 3x8ea/15#ea (increase)
DB 2-pt row - 3x8ea/30# (increase)
Wide-grip deadlift with feet on weight plate - 3x8/105#
DB alternating chest press on partial bench - 3x8ea/20#ea (increase)
Metabolic - burpees with jump no push up - 5 minutes 10 reps on the minute (try to increase time)

Done with Phase 1 of NRLA!

On to new stuff next time!
I made a decent amount of progress over these 8 rounds.

Phase1B - 81:05
Full warm up
Anti-rotation static hold - 2x30s/side, used band
Elevated plank - (feet on bench, arms straight, one leg up) 10x10s on, 3s rest
Elevated side plank - (feet on bench, forearm down, arm and leg up) 5x10s on, 3s rest, L then R
Dumbbell single leg RDL - 2x12/legx50#
Dumbbell alternating OH press - non working hand held up w/weight - 2x12/arm x18.75#
OH squat - 2x12x35#
Cable kneeling pulldown -2x75#