Nameless starts strength

[namelesswonder]

I've gone to the gym a handful of times since last week, several times with my husband. I'm doing his workout, since it's a good way for me to ease into things too.

 

-chest press (cable machine)

-overhead press (cable machine)

-seated row (with machine)

-step-ups (cable machine)

-leg press (no weights, damn that thing is heavy)

-some calf raises (machine)

-rowing (I can't move the ab machine so I figured I'd just do something I enjoy while he does that)

 

We're going again tonight. I feel like I am taking it easy enough at this point. I'm doing some reading about interval training with rowing machines, but mostly I'm just messing around to build an attendance habit.

 

I haven't been contacted by a personal trainer yet, but I'm sure scheduling will be difficult right before Thanksgiving anyway.

[namelesswonder]

My first personal training session is next Monday. I'm nervous!

 

I did sit-ups for ab work the other day and was a little sore the next time. Good! I'll do another 10x3 today. I think I'll do the leg press (found a sliding machine that feels better on my knees) instead of the step-ups. That didn't feel great for my lower back, though I did like how it engaged my glutes.

 

My warm-up has been things like air squats, lunges, plank holds, and light stretching.

[namelesswonder]

My personal trainer is quite nice. We only talked at yesterday's meeting, tonight we'll do a workout. I'm looking forward to it.

[namelesswonder]

My back hurts a lot today. 8/10 and the pain is radiating into my lower abdomen. Not the fault of my workout, it was hurting before that.

 

We did:

-one legged hip bridges

-(don't know what this is called) alternate extended arm & leg while on hands & knees

-Superman

-back hyperextension

-bicep curls with cable machine

-tricep curls (?) with cable machine)

-some kind of cross-body pull from opposite hip to arm out straight at an angle

-Two 20 sec plank holds

 

I think that was it. My hamstrings are a little sore. I'll try to do the same workout sometime later this week.

[namelesswonder]

I forgot that we also did some dumbbell pulls? Standing, you raise your elbows up until the dumbbells are basically under your chin, with elbows flared up and out to the sides.

 

I went to the gym yesterday. This whole workout is very short, but it works up a light sweat and is good for some conditioning. I have to take it slow if I want to avoid further injury. The arm stuff makes me feel pretty sexy though. My back felt a bit twingey after, but I used heat and then it felt fine.

 

-10x2 one legged hip bridges

-20x (don't know what this is called) alternate extended arm & leg while on hands & knees

-10-10-20sec hold Superman

-8x2 back hyperextension

-10x2 @ 7.5# bicep curls with cable machine

-10x2 @ 12.5# tricep curls (?) with cable machine)

-6x2 @ 2.5# (some pain) some kind of cross-body pull from opposite hip to arm out straight at an angle

-Two 30 sec plank holds

-10x2 @ 3# dumbbells pulls

[namelesswonder]

I think I'm going to reschedule my training session for tonight. My back hurts enough that it's making me nauseous. 8/10 for pain. I need to lay down with a heating pad. I hate how inconsistent this pain is.

[namelesswonder]

I cancelled last night's training session too. I'll call next week to schedule something. I got a corset and it helped with the pain immensely, I could tell the muscles in my back were not spasming after a little while. Unfortunately I need to order a different size. I'll be seeing the chiropractor on Saturday. Probably not working out until after that, except for shoulder PT (which I've been neglecting).

[namelesswonder]

I got X-rays done of my back on Friday and am supposed to follow-up with the doc that ordered them in a few weeks. I won't get to see them until then . He gave me naproxen for pain and said to use my anxiety med as well to see if that helps. The anxiety med is making me kind of dopey, so I'm slowly reducing that dose. I don't want to take it regularly. The naproxen helps a bit. Oops, did I even remember to take it today?

 

The chiropractor appointment was great... but the relief only lasted for about 30 min.

 

I finally had my physical therapy evaluation for my back yesterday. She gave me some really light exercises to start with, so I am going to do those diligently. I have another physical therapy appointment tomorrow so we can see if we can progress any of the exercises. The PT suspects that SI join is loose on one side and that is causing all the imbalance and resulting pain. She got to see the x-rays and said everything looked fine except for some slight scoliosis in the thoracic spine, which might be from the muscles spasming.

 

I think I might buy some hip bands. I don't know if it would help for the SI joints, but my right hip has been popping more and more since all of this started and it's annoying. It doesn't hurt, at least. That started several years ago when I was swimming a lot in the summertime.

[namelesswonder]

My back is feeling so much better, for no reason that I can figure, but then I caught a cold! My next personal training session is scheduled for next week on Tuesday. I will try to do some of the exercises at home while I get over the cold, and go to the gym at least once before then.

[namelesswonder]

Unfortunately, the pain relief didn't last and I have no idea why it felt better. My back has hurt a lot this weekend. I'm going to see my personal trainer tomorrow evening anyway. I don't care if it hurts more after.

[SevenofSeven]

Hope your back feels better soon. Great job keeping the PT sessions going regardless, I would have wussed out.

[namelesswonder]

Thanks SevenofSeven!

 

My training session went well. I didn't feel like I got a chance to catch my breath most of the session, which means I'm hella out of shape. My quads are super sore! Let's see if I can remember what we did:

-4 min on the rower, level 5 (I love these things, it's the only way I can stand to do cardio)

-stretch quads, glutes, and hamstrings

-12x2 lunges

-10x2 squats (with slightly-incline squat machine, no weight added so should have been 45#) <--This was very challenging, but being able to handle that amount of weight is very encouraging! A standard barbell is also 45#.

-8x2 back extensions

-12x2 kettlebell swings, 10#. She had me use a very weird form for this, but it was plenty challenging. My legs were wider than I would normally have them for a kb swing, I dipped the kb straight down like a reverse deadlift and then as I came back up & clenched my glutes, I'd swing the kb up. I kind of want to do normal swings instead because this felt very unnatural, but I know I'd need at least 20# to feel anything with that amount of reps, and I don't want to go too heavy too soon.

-30 sec plank hold x 2 (started feeling like I might barf towards the end of the second, I definitely need to work on these every day).

 

As long as I'm feeling good, I hope to get back to do this routine one more time this week. I rested in our foam coach (sumo gigantor!) for a while last night and that seemed to help my back relax more. Some soreness in my lower back, but I think it's just from fatigue and not anything bad.

 

I have physical therapy today, I'll probably discuss the workout with the therapist and see what she thinks.

 

Oh my tentative food plan for after New Year's (kind of loosely implementing it now, at least for breakfast & lunch)

Breakfast

-3-4 eggs

-veggies

 

Lunch

-palm-sized portion of protein

-veggies

 

Dinner

-palm-sized portion of protein -or- 2 portions on training days

-veggies

-carbs on training day

 

Post work-out

-protein shake

-some kind of carb

 

My problem with this plan (which I got from an ebook) is that it seems low on calories to me and I have trouble feeling full when I eat like this. I also don't like eating a lot of veggies in one sitting, they get boring no matter how I dress them up. For breakfast, I'll have to experiment with quiches and frittatas to sneak more veggies in. Eggs alone are not very filling. Hopefully that will make lunch feel more adequate. Ultimately, I don't want to count calories, so I really hope I can make this work by "feel".

[namelesswonder]

Workout night followed by physical therapy the next day is maybe not the best combination. My back hurt so much by the end of the day yesterday. Relaxing in the sumo with some Ibuprofen and it felt a lot better after an hour or two. I am now using a throw pillow behind my back when I drive and it helps a lot.

 

I'm going to research mattress toppers.

[namelesswonder]

I went to the gym again last Saturday (the 19th) and did the same workout, minus planks at the end and kb swings (I didn't like the form she gave me and felt stupid doing it TBH). I recovered a lot faster from that workout. We have another session tonight. I imagine she'll be giving me another set of exercises to work with. I'm writing it all down to see what I like and don't like, to try to build my own routine over time.

 

It's very rewarding when a day-after-workout swell leaves you feeling sexy

[namelesswonder]

I had my last personal training session last night. I can't really remember what we did (tried to fill it in on Fitocracy). It was upper body stuff. She kept trying to tell me that physical therapists move too slowly for some people and that she could help me keep things from getting boring. You know, from how long it took for my wrists to recover from tendonitis this spring/summer, I am willing to go slow and be bored with those exercises. I just want to mess around on my own for now. Besides, when OrangeTheory Fitness starts in January, maybe I won't even keep going to Gold's Gym.

 

With the machines I'm using now, I could probably go to a Work Out World or Planet Fitness instead. It would be cheaper, but I'd have to go right before or after work (closest to work than to home).

[namelesswonder]

My upper body is still sore from that workout 2 days ago! That's always the way with new exercises. I'm insanely sore for 3-5 days, and then the next time I do the workout, I recover in 1-3 days. If I'm feeling up for it, I think I'll go back and do something at the gym tomorrow.

[namelesswonder]

It took quite a while to recover completely from that last workout, and then Christmas happened. 

 

I'm starting to think about what I actually want to do for a routine. I really just want to go to the gym twice a week right now. Maybe I should look into that Body By Science thing. I think that is only one workout per week?

http://www.bodybyscience.net/home.html/?page_id=301

 

Yesterday, I did

-4 min on rowing machine

-bodyweight lunges

-machine squats

-back hyper extension

-tricep pushdown

-bicep curl

 

I need to step up my plank game at home. I haven't made any progress from my 30 sec hold (toes & forearms) in a while.

[namelesswonder]

My shoulders hurt a bit from my last workout. I've been neglecting my shoulder PT exercises. I think I'll skip the upper body exercises for the rest of the week and just work with the therapy bands. I might go to the gym tonight (not feeling it mentally though).

 

The workout guide I'm thinking following has both a barbell-based and bodyweight-based option.

 

Barbell for week 1 day 1 circuit

-Back squats

-Pushups

-1 leg hip thrust

-Inverted row

 

Bodyweight for week 1 day 1 circuit 

-Paused squats

-Pushups

-1 leg hip thrust

-Bent over band/dumbbell/kettlebell row

 

End of workout core circuit:

-Plank

-Side-plank

-Holding glute bridge

-Prone Mountain

 

I think I can squat with a 45# barbell now, especially if it was only 5x3. I wonder if it would be better to start with paused squats though. I guess I'll try that first and see how it goes.

 

I can only do about 4 kneeling push-ups, but that's okay. It's somewhere to start! Only... I can't do those right now because it hurts my shoulders. Pretty much nothing I can do instead.

 

I'm not sure I'll be able to find a bench that's out of the way (because I'm insanely self-conscious) to do the hip thrusts at my gym. I could do 1-leg hip bridges instead of the hip thrust for now.

 

I could use some of those suspension cables for a row (not inverted). That means the only thing I really need the gym for is the cable or the dumbbells/kettlebells.

 

It looks like I can modify this workout guide to suit my capabilities for now. I'll just have to look at every day's prescribed workout and adapt as needed. I think I'll need to print these out to compare & write up my guide to bring to the gym. Then I'll record reps/weights as applicable.

[SevenofSeven]

Sorry to see your shoulder is still sore. Nice workouts though, pretty sure when you are all healed you are gonna smash these out!

[namelesswonder]

Sorry to see your shoulder is still sore. Nice workouts though, pretty sure when you are all healed you are gonna smash these out!

 

Thanks! Back to the gym tonight. I ended up doing a ton of cooking last night.

[namelesswonder]

I didn't go to the gym BUT I did my workout at home! I'm a little sore this morning so I'll take that as a good sign. I took it kind of easy, I just wanted to get a sense of where I'm starting from. I wrote up 6 days worth of workouts, most could be done at home, but I really want to get used to going to the gym (esp. for wider range of weights).

 

5 min warm-up (leg swings, jumping jacks, squats, things like that)

 

Rests between sets was about 45 sec.

 

3 circuits (1 and 2 are separate supersets)

1.a. 10x paused squats

1.b. 5 kneeling push-ups

2.a. 15x glute bridges

2.b. Bent over kettlebell row, 10x @ 15#

 

2 circuits

1.a. 20 sec forearm plank

1.b. 20 sec knee side plank

2.a. 30 sec iso glute bridge

2.b. 30 sec prone mountain (like superman, but arms are at your side and face towards the floor)

[namelesswonder]

I'm planning to go to the gym tonight. I'm scared! How busy is it going to be?! I don't like working out late

 

OrangeTheory Fitness starts on Saturday! I am excited. I hope I like it.

 

Today's potential plan:

-Eat dinner as soon as I can when I get home (after 4:30 PM)

-Get to gym around 7 PM

 

Exercise/reps (3 sets)

1.a. Glute bridge 20-25

1.b. Some kind of press 6-8

2.a. Walking Lunge (maybe weighted) 8-12

2.b. Pronated Lat Pulldown 6-8

 

Also 8x2 back extensions

 

After each workout  do the following core circuit two times, holding each position for 30 seconds.

1a) Plank 

1b) Side Plank

1c) Iso Hold Glute Bridge

1d) Prone Mountain

[namelesswonder]

I worked out at home with some adjustments. It's all updated on Fitocracy.

 

I just don't want to leave the house in the evening (too cold) and feel uncomfortable going to the gym without my husband right now.

 

Two things that need improvement soon:

1. Need to eat more. I'm still under-eating and that makes the cravings for sweets so much worse.

2. Need to get more/better sleep. Not sure what I can do about that other than keeping a strict bedtime.

 

If I don't work out Wed or Thurs, I'll wait till OTF on Saturday.

[namelesswonder]

I strained my shoulder, either from a workout or sleeping on my left side. Either way, no workout until Saturday except for some planks. Err... tomorrow. Tonight is the company holiday gathering and I'm going there straight after work.

 

I took yesterday off from work because I got such horrid sleep and felt like I might get sick.

[SevenofSeven]

Hope you feel better soon. Sleep deprivation is the worst, I always feel like crap, then drink far too much coffee and get the jitters!

I hate going to the gym too, but I think I will have to soon. I have reached the limit of my plates at home.