It's over 9000!

[Melanie]

Hey everybody!

 

I have been lurking around for two and a half weeks now, reading up on paleo and life style changes and now it's about high time I introduce myself (very briefly) and post my current workout regiment

 

My name is Melanie, I'm 26 (27 in a week) and originally from Germany, but moved to London 2 1/2 years ago where I work as a video game localization tester (yup, I get to test/play games for a living ^^). I have been hitting the gym at the beginning of last year for three months and was able to do some real nice improvements until life got in the way, I had to move and me and a friend of mine with whom I had been working out stopped going.

 

Anyway, I was doing some exercise at home until I caught a cold twice within a couple of months and eventually I stopped altogether (I was not happy with my progress at home compared to the one at the gym which was really demotivating).

 

Nonetheless, I REALLY wanted to start working out again (I always went to work with a big smile on my face after the gym, because it made me feel incredibly good - and sore ;P), but I simply couldn't get my friend to come back to the gym with me (he is the one who pretty much 'designed' our workout routine and sometimes we would get stupid comments from the staff at the gym which really bugged me as well) and it was no fun going alone either.

 

SOOOO... (after an even longer introduction than initially intended), I stumbled upon this site, read about some awesome transformations and the paleo way of life and was thinking 'Yeah, sounds reasonable'. So I went full paleo (with a few amendments since I'm vegetarian - however, I do eat fish) two weeks ago (I have never had that much energy and I don't even get tired at work anymore!) and started to work out again last Friday in a 'one day exercise, one day rest' routine. 

 

So, here comes my living room exercise regiment:

 

1. Jumping Jacks (Target: 200 / Currently: 250)

 

Short stretching (although I'm planning on extending this period with some further strength exercises we used to do at the gym - body weight only)

 

2. Body Weight Squats (all the way down to the bottom with a straight back) (Target: 30 / Currently: 50)

 

3. Push ups (nose touching the floor) (Target: 10 / Current: varies inbetween 3 - 7)

 

4. Body Weight Squats with one step forward when coming up (each side Target: 20 / Current: 20)

 

5. Dumbbell Lifting (the exercise Steve shows in the Beginner Body weight Routine - using my friend's 18kg dumbbell) (each side Target: 5 / Current: 5)

 

6. Planking (Target: 60 sec. / Current: 60 sec.)

 

7. Stomach training (I attach one weight of 2kg? - not sure, would have to check - to each leg, lie down on my back, arms under the couch, legs straight, and then move my legs up together over my head - towards the couch - as well as down to the right, then up and down to the left and back up which counts as 1 (Target: 10 / Current:10)

 

That's it - my progress so far after training four times. Usually by the time I get around to my Squats with step forward I'm sweating like crazy. My soreness level is pretty low so I think the one day exercise one day off pattern does the trick (even though I regularly end up walking down the steps with legs feeling like pudding, haha ). I can see that I'm toning up and my muscles are getting stronger, but I fear I need to drastically cut down on my fruit intake (still need to figure out what I can take to work with me instead...).

 

Thanks for reading ^^ Any comments, tips, questions etc. are welcome

Mel

[Melanie]

Today's log:

 

1. Jumping Jacks (223)

 

 

Short stretching

 

 

2. Body Weight Squats (70)

 

3. Push ups (3.5)

 

4. Body Weight Squats with step (20 each side)

 

5. Dumbbell Lifting (8 each side)

 

6. Planking (70 sec.)

 

7. Stomach training (12)

 

I ought to point out that I went grocery shopping prior to working out (ending up with 5 bags and a full backpack while walking from one end of the city to another - I like to take my time as I find it quite relaxing...). At the end I came back home after 3!! hours (sad new personal record) so my arms were quite worn out already (man, veggies are so heavy ><). Anyway, I regard this as little extra training (doesn't mean I get extra treats to eat, no sir!). I would love to take up something on top of my training like climbing or some martial arts training on a regular basis (will have a chat with my friend to see whether he would be up for it). I just feel like I'm not doing enough as I am still full of energy even after exercising (especially my legs seem to be like 'What? That was it? Pffff... ridiculous!' in a very mocking sort of way). So yeah, will do some research on more challenging leg exercises (maybe I will have to return to the gym after all ).

[Melanie]

Today's log:

 

1. Jumping Jacks (250)

 

Short stretching

 

2. Body Weight Squats (70)

 

3. Push ups (7) - WTH, where did THAT come from? Oo

 

4. Body Weight Squats with step (25 each side)

 

5. Dumbbell Lifting (9 each side)

 

6. Planking (75 sec.)

 

7. Stomach training (12) - tried to do 13 - my stomach muscles thought otherwise xD

 

 

All in all, massive improvements throughout (one time lucky?). I can feel my stomach muscles (in a good way like you do when you are improving and everything gets more and more toned - at least a tiny bit, but it's definitely a huge morale boost to keep on trying my best ^^). So far no sore muscles whatsoever. I also reduced my fruit intake to 1-(max.2) fruits a day and the rest is all veg, fish and brazil nuts (about 6ish). Time to get ready for work. Will write again the day after tomorrow.

 

Btw, I created my own trend chart in an Excel document on day 1 where I also keep track of my progress (also very good for my training morale to have something visual - even though I'm not training to do a certain number of push ups etc., but rather do it properly, i. e. I rather do 3 proper push ups with my nose touching the ground than 7 half-assed ones ).

[Melanie]

Today's log:

1. Jumping Jacks (280)
 

Short stretching
 

2. Body Weight Squats (81)

 

3. Push ups (4.5) - So it was one time lucky when I did 7 ^^;;;

4. Body Weight Squats with step (25 each side) - absolute max. for today, couldn't have done more

5. Dumbbell Lifting (6 right / 5 left) - I'm going to categorize this in left and right now as it seems that each arm has a different strength/progress level

 

6. Planking (80 sec.) - NEW RECORD! (and I wasn't even sure whether I would make it to 60 sec. - I felt like giving up after 40 sec. :S)

7. Stomach training (10 with star!! - LEVEL UP +1) - Why? Usually I have to counter balance with my arms a lot (my stomach muscles are weak) and I end up with the couch moving several centimeter away from the wall. BUT, today I did 98% of the exercise by only using my stomach muscles and not only did the couch hardly move (5 millimeter max.!), but I could feel an immense difference in my stomach (thus 'only' ten, but thousand times more effective). Definitely 1 LV UP!

 

My arms seem to have good and bad days, but then again I'm used to that from when I still went to train at the gym. I would hardly make any progress for days or even up to two weeks and then form one day to another - BAM! - I would be able to do several more push ups or assisted pull ups by far (like last time when I suddenly did 7 push ups). 

 

On a whole different note: my diet is a bit of a disaster at the moment (so much so that I will post another article on this and link it back).

 

Anyway, time to test my new aloe vera oil as shampoo/shower gel replacement (let's see how that goes).

 

Update: for anybody who was curious about the aloe vera experiment (gosh, I experiment a lot lately ^^) = has been amazingly moisturizing for my body and scalp, but my hair was greasy as hell - even after rinsing it very well and 'trying' to blow dry it (my hair looked like I hadn't had access to a shower for a year...). I then washed it again using normal shampoo and conditioner and it was okay (plus I still got my 'extra moisture' for my hair ^^).

 

So long

[Melanie]

Today's log:

1. Jumping Jacks (281)

 

 

Short stretching
 

 

2. Body Weight Squats (85)

 

3. Push ups (4.5)

4. Body Weight Squats with step (25 each side)

5. Dumbbell Lifting (7 right / 5 left)

 

6. Planking (90 sec.) - NEW RECORD AGAIN! (again, I wasn't even sure whether I would make it to 60 sec. - I felt like giving up after 40 sec. :S)

7. Stomach training (10 with star!! + 2 more just going down in the middle - no left/right ones). I think I need to amend this exercise and only do

the middle ones as I can feel the best results when doing those whereas for the left/right ones I'm more using my leg strength than anything else.

[Melanie]

Hello guys!

 

My last battle log was actually due on Sunday (yesterday), but since it was my b-day, I decided to 'just relax' and take it easy

 

I did some research on different types of body workout exercises so I can upgrade/fine tune my training regiment. Why? Simply because I want to build some nice lean muscles mass and get toned, so in order to achieve that my workout needs to aim at max. strenght training with a low repetition rate (6-10 times, 3 sets max.). Therefore I did some amendments after my little research session and checked my new workout plan this morning.

 

It still needs some adjustments as some of the exercises were too easy.

 

Anyway, my new workout plan looks as follows (numbers not included, will have to update them later on because I'm at work right now):

 

1. Jumping Jacks (220) - Yup, they remained. I think it's one of the easiest and fasted way to get your heart pumping fast (and less noisy than using a skipping rope where I can only do so many jumps without having to pause and declutter xD - plus not very good when you do your workouts in the living room on the 2nd level - that's 3rd level for my American readers ).

 

Short stretching
 

2. V-Up (3x10) - need to do some further reading on them. Seems to be medium difficulty (I should probably include weights on my legs - the once I've been using for my stomach training).

 

3. 1 Leg Body Weight Squats w. weights (3x10) - each side: one while other leg was stretched out forward (could only go down a few centimeters - was not very effective), 2nd looks like a 'T' where one leg is on the ground and your upper body forms a straight line with your other leg which is stretched out behind you (easier to go down and do some 'real' exercise, but only medium difficulty) and 3rd one was my usual body weight squats with one step forward when coming back up (only that it felt twice as tough as without weights = definitely advanced level - loved the exercise even more!!).

 

4. Push ups (5.5) - they remain as well. I could do some elevated push ups by putting my feet on the window sill (which I can do fine as well), but for some reason the normal ones are more challenging for me (I'm weird).
 

5. 1 Leg Body Weight Squats against the Wall w. weights (2x 5-6 sec.) - you assume a position that looks like you are sitting on a chair (only you're not) with your back against the wall and then stretch one leg out in front of you and try to hold it for as long as possible (quite tough, I can tell ya!).

 

6. Inverted push ups (11) - I used my friend's pull up bar (the one you can hang up in the door frame) and did push ups the other way around (not to be confused with pull ups as my legs were touching the ground/supporting me). Was medium/advanced difficulty, however, I need to adjust the angle of my feet to make it a bit more difficult (next time I'll drag the chair from my room into the living room to elevate my feet on it and thus increase the weight on my arms).

 

6.1 Pull ups (10 micro ones) - I actually hadn't planned AT ALL doing pull ups (I cannot even do one!), but since the bar was already in front of my nose and the inverted push ups did not really challenge me I was like 'Argh, what the heck...!' and went for it. My arms have been parallel to each other in a sidewards position (like... umm... like - I got no example >_<.. no wait, like when you want to show off your arm muscles and you make fists you end up in the same position I used... more or less ^^;;; ). I managed to do 10 micro-pull ups as I call them (my arms moved upwards but only for like 2 Centimeter). But it was a success nonetheless ^^

 

7. 1 Leg push ups with weights (3x10) - I put one leg on the couch while the other leg was on the ground (each leg had one weight attached to it) and then simply stretched out my leg on the couch, i. e. moving upward (same motion you do when climbing stairs). It was way too easy so after the first set I put both weights on the leg that was on the ground... but that didn't really change anything Maybe I should just stay with my 70 normal squats instead? (I noticed some amazing changes in my upper leg muscles -quadriceps- already, so even if this exercise is a high rep. one, it seems to have a really nice effect - so whatever works, right? ^^ - I'm open for suggestions/improvements regarding this one ).
 

8. Dumbbell training (5 right / 6 left) - I wouldn't wanna miss them for anything... One of my fav. exercises


9. Stomach training (20) - the once I've been doing all along only that I entirely focus on the middle ones and leave the right/left ones out (I can feel the difference - seems to be more effective).

 

So yeah, a bit more fine tuning as I said. Did not feel nearly as exhausted as I did with my former workout due to some ineffective stuff I did that needs either improvement or replacement. I feel like switching to a daily workout routine with this plan, although I don't know whether my body will be very happy about having its one day rest period removed (and of course I'll do some research on that before proceeding

 

Diet wise I am on my way to establish an eating habit (at least that's the plan). I decided to have some fruits or juice (100%, no additives!) and a proper breakfast before exercising. Then lunch (off to work after that) and at work some more fruits - that's it. I'm not eating anymore when I get home, but rather go to bed straight so I can get up early the next morning and do more things instead of wanting to do something but being too tired (that's tyred for American people xD - sorry, but it's kinda fun ^^).

 

I must admit I'm eating bread at the moment, but only due to the fact that I have to order organic meat first before I can implement it in my eating routine (I couldn't even find ANY at the store and I went to three! different once in my area) and since I'm going to be in Germany from Friday night till Tuesday morning there is no point in ordering it now ;( Still have to figure out how to reduce the costs for my groceries, but I'm getting there - slowly (worst case scenario I'll stick with tuna on bread - it's something :S).

[Melanie]

Hello people!

 

This update would have been due yesterday and it's not like that I've skipped training again (after all, nobody got two birthdays per year ), but I had so little time...

 

Anyway, here's yesterday's battle log:

 

1. Jumping Jacks (300) - believe it or not! (I wanted to give up at around 200 *Berserk mode enabled*)

 

Short stretching

2. Pistol squats (10 micro each) - 'Micro' is like code for not done properly (only moved like 20% of the total movement range), but some things start small... (especially when they are freaking difficult ><).

 

3. 1 Leg behind Body Weight Squats  (10 micro each - 20-30%) - same as pistol squats, but leg is behind you

4. Body weight squats (70) - yes, I reintroduced them as they seem to work my quadriceps very effectively ^^ (man, my legs are getting toned!! Oo).

5. Push ups (6.5) - it's rising, the numbers are going up!!! (yeah, I know, it's not about numbers.... But I'M GETTING BETTER!!! wooohooo!!! xD).

6. Stomach couch exercise (30) - middle ones only (I can feel my stomach is building up as well ^^ - no visual changes yet ).

 

7. Inverted push ups (12) - one more than before xD (I need to grab a chair next time to elevate my feet and make it more difficult ^^).

 

8. Pull ups (10 micro ones) - it might be years before I'll be able to do a proper one . This is so much fun though that I decided to integrate it into my routine ^^

9. Squats with step + weights (15 each) - man, add just 1kg to each leg (I really don't think it's more than one) and it feels like you're moving in slow motion!! The impact

it has on my legs (especially after all the other leg exercises I did before) is HUGE!! Who would have thought? Oo

10. Dumbbell training (5 right / 5 left) - tired, but happy ^^

I feel very happy with my new exercise plan. I can feel that I'm improving slowly, but continuously and judging from the level of muscles soreness I got one day afterwards it's

having a positive impact on my body as well. Today is resting day so I hope I can continue with even more energy tomorrow morning!

 

So long (time to pack my suitcase for Germany ^^).