Mshrmit

This only works, though, if the furniture doesn't move around. Everything in my house seems to slide.

I've been quiet lately, because I have been on a bit of a hiatus. First, I got whiplash at a water park and was forced to take it easy for a few weeks, and now I am about to have sinus surgery that will lay me out for another few weeks. It won't be a respawn per se, but it will feel a bit like one when I can finally start my workouts again. Technically, I can workout now, but with only a week and a half until my surgery, I would rather rest up. If I hadn't been forced to lay off for a while just before this, I would have kept up with my workouts, just so I would have that base, but I will already have to start basically from scratch, because of my lung issues. Hopefully those will be resolved when the sinus drainage does. If not, though, I will have to see a pulmonologist. It might be asthma, but my dad died from lung cancer and I was exposed to asbestos, lots of propane, and heavy smoking when I was a kid, so I want to rule any abnormalities out. Besides that, it doesn't feel like how asthma has always been described to me. Instead of my throat constricting, it feels like my lungs are heavy and filled with fluid -- sort of a constant mini-pneumonia.

Welcome to the Rebellion!

If you beat the general, you are doing pretty good. Those boss battles are hard! I just wish they had a life bar on them, so you knew how close you actually got.

Tuesday: Gym 3A -- The gym went really well. I need to move up to a higher weight in everything, which is terrific. Wednesday: I ran for a mile. Normally, I would have gone for longer, but I was much more sore than I thought I would be. Short and easy is the key. Thursday: Off-day. I was still too sore from squats. Friday: BW3B -- Everything went great. I could even do 2 sets of the Romanian Dead Lifts on my right leg without using the wall as a support. The last set of chinups irritated my right quad. Saturday: Off-day. Somehow I pulled my left hamstring. Sunday: Off-day. I am still recovering, but should be good to go again tomorrow.

The leg lower downs are rough on me as well. Those and full bodyweight pushups are my nemesis. I am improving, though, and that is what counts.

Monday & Tuesday: Off-days due to early alarm clocks and trainings. Grrr. Wednesday: BW3C -- I am finally ready to move up on my shoulder rotations and I am improving on my leg lower downs and my bar hangs. Thursday: I ran for 30 minutes on the Lake Sylvia trails. I was slow on the uphills, but otherwise good. Friday: BW3A -- All four sets of my pushups were halves! I am not ready to attempt full pushups yet, but I am getting close. The planks were difficult, but manageable on the left side. Also, I touched my toes on the full hurdler stretch for both feet! I can't remember the last time (if ever) that I was able to do that! Saturday: I hiked to the Halfway House. It was a long 10 miles, but good and not very steep (only 400 ft. elevation gain). My shoulders and calves were pretty sore. Sunday: Off-day. Monday: Off-day due to getting a new kid and making plans to lift weights at the Y tomorrow.

I haven't been posting much lately due to teenage drama in my household. My son has decided he no longer needs to do any of his chores. My husband and I disagree. Things have been stressful. Wednesday: I swam, but it was more for fun than fitness. I did a few laps, but mostly I drifted in the lazy river. I did BW3A. For the first time, I could do the planks for the full time, on both sides, on both sets. Yay me! I moved up to the purple band, and wow did that hurt. The biggest improvement, though, was that I was able to do a full set of half bodyweight pushups (raise up on my knees, but lower down the entire way). Even without changing the style of pushups, like NF had me do, pushups have always been difficult for me. Thursday: I listened to my body and took the day off. Friday: I ran two miles, but I was sluggish. Saturday: BW3B -- I might be getting close to not needing a wall for my one leg Romanian deadlifts. Also, my abs were super sore, which I am taking to be a good thing. Sunday: I ran three miles with intermittent walking breaks. I am definitely building muscle and my legs were dead.

I decided to only run one mile today. I may have stayed active during my vacation, but hiking does not quite use the same muscles/cardio. It felt good, and my muscles weren't nearly as stiff as they were yesterday.

My vacation went great! Between running, hiking, swimming, and bodyweight workouts, I worked out almost every day. The highlight was hiking to a waterfall with a wonderful swimming hole (no snags, so you could actually swim) and then hiking back and seeing a bear cub and it's momma right next to the trail. Today, I did Bodyweight Level 3 C. I had to modify my leg lower downs and my bar hang, but the bar hang may have been because I was using a tree branch and couldn't wrap my hands all the way around. Buying more mounts for my pull up bar is a must. I might be able to beat Beserxes, since the only part of the challenge I can't do is the bar hang, but I feel like too many of my exercises need to be modified right now. Before I attempt the boss battle, I want to be able to either do the full BW pushups or the full 40 seconds on the side plank, in 3A, and I want to be able to do either the full leg lower downs or the complete bar hang, in 3C. In the meantime, I will keep modifying the other exercises up as needed. Things I need to modify up: I need to start doing the Bulgarian Split Squat instead of Step Ups. I need to move up to a stiffer band for the Band Pull Aparts. I need to use a higher weight for the Farmers Walk. (I don't like using backpacks, although I did use water jugs while camping.) Things I think I am close to modifying up: Jumping Squats and Extended Shoulder Rotations.

I've always wanted to learn fencing. Unfortunately, there are no schools anywhere near where I live.

My run didn't go well today. At about the mile and a half mark, I started feeling some twinges in my groin. They didn't go away, so I walked back. Tomorrow will be an off-day. At least I finished all three miles. I did, however, finally get my husband to install the cups for my pull-up bar. We need to buy more, but at least I have it set up for assisted chin ups.

"Life: Almost done with that boar. (Not that it knows that.) Spent much of my writing time looking up all the parts of a crossbow, which doesn't fire arrows but either bolts or quarrels. I'm not sure what the difference is between the two, if there even is one, but I'm saying they're firing quarrels in the story. I"m sure there's something interesting I can do with that symbolism, should I need it. Is it a good writing plan to set up metaphors/symbolism/reincorporation/arcs and such without being entirely sure I'm actually going to need it? Probably better to have it than not, I suppose. Easier to hit the delete key that to rewrite entire passages..." Crossbow bolts and quarrels are the same thing.

It was 89* today, but I still powered through my workout. First time through BW 3A was a mixed bag. The step ups were ultra-easy, like I knew they would be. I think I need to advance to the Bulgarian Split Squat, but I don't know if my knees will allow it (no cartilage on inside of knees). Any other ideas on how to modify these upwards? The chair I step up onto is already at max height. I could not do a complete pushup yet, but I was expecting this. On all but my first set, I did at least one full lower down, but that was pretty shaky. The knee pushups were ultra-easy, though, so I expect these to improve fairly quickly. The band pull aparts were harder than they looked, even though I was using my Level 0 band. Still, I expect to advance to a higher band by the time I am back from my trip. The 40 second side planks. Ow. I did not do as good as I did during my boss battle. Part of this is probably because of the heat, but part of it is because I wasn't well-rested as well. I have a feeling these will be my nemesis for awhile. Looking ahead to the rest of the Level 3 workouts, I might have to do one-arm rows and the farmers walk during my camping trip if I don't have any conveniently placed tree branches. Everything else, though, is very doable.

I ran today. My legs felt like lead the entire time and I have shin splints, but I ran.

We are going to Nashville for a couple of days and then camping for a week in the Great Smokey Mountains.

I passed The Widowmaker! Now I have to figure out the Level 3 workouts. I think I have decided to do a 5 workout cycle, going from the bodyweight exercises to the gym exercises, but we will see. To pass the gym boss, I have to have a 30 lb. weight, and right now my highest is 8 lbs. I might just save the gym workouts for the rare occasions I have a gym available, knowing that I won't progress nearly as quickly on those as I will the bodyweight. Not that I expect to pass this next level quickly. I have never been able to do a chinup.

Boot dryers work wonderfully for all sorts of shoes. If you don't have one already, I would get one. They aren't very expensive. Other than that, though, stuff your shoes with newspaper and set them in front of a heater. The ink in the newspaper deodorizes your shoes.

Your Battle Log sounds like the perfect place to complain and ask somebody to kick your ass.

I ran my two miles today. It went slow, but I felt great and even was able to add on a nice finishing kick. It was very muggy, though, so all my clothes were gross and sweaty when I was done. I was supposed to swim as well, but my youngest child decided to wait until the last minute before letting me know that her swimsuits were too small. If I had found out earlier, we could have left in time to buy a swimsuit for her first. *sigh*

Pups are always good pets to blame. Cats are good for that too. Especially the one staring creepily at me over the computer screen.

Do you keep an exercise log, other than this site? I have found that writing down my planned exercises before my workout helps keep me from forgetting one of them. Then I just fill in my reps and weight used in-between sets.

I did my Bodyweight 2B workout today. The lunges are easier and the external shoulder rotations weren't shaky on my left arm anymore. An even bigger plus is that I managed a full side plank on both sides for 20 (very shaky) seconds. Either Wednesday or Thursday, depending on muscle soreness, I will try The Widowmaker again. I am determined to beat that darn boss before I head off on vacation.

I am about to move onto Level 3 in the Academy workouts. Most of the time, I plan to stick to the bodyweight workouts (especially since my muscles are non-existent). However, I would like to add some variety by doing a gym workout every now and then, especially since my husband plans on using his gym membership more regularly. I know that I will probably progress faster through the bodyweight levels than the gym levels, because that is where my main focus is. However, there doesn't seem to always be a direct correlation between the bodyweight workouts and the gym workouts. For example, in Level 3, the bodyweight workouts seem to go arms/everything/legs, but both sections of the gym workout seems to focus mainly on arms. How do I know what gym workout to substitute in?

I spent all day walking around downtown Seattle yesterday, so I counted that as my workout, even though I didn't break a sweat. This morning, my shoulders were still sore from Friday, so I decided to jump on the exercise bike instead of a strength workout or running. I might have to take two days between strength workouts right now so I can beat the darn boss. Then I will go back to my regularly scheduled programming. Besides, I leave for vacation on the 29th, and I really, really want to beat the boss before then so I can move on to Level 3.