Winter workouts

Well, i'm back after a few weeks of dillydallying..

I was worried that working out was harming my poor torn rectus abdominus and still weak pelvis, so i took time off - but it ends up that aches and pains are just part of being my age (39 - how'd that happen?), and I'd rather be working out and feeling great than not working out and still being achy.

So, because our family motto is "We Do Things The Hard Way" (no seriously, it is...), i woke up early and met Coach at the gym in town before he went to work.

Baby is five months old now, and sleeps like a dolly - so her teenaged sister said she'd listen for her, and twice this week now i've gone in the early hours (today we left closer to five than to six... yikes!) and gotten back to a quiet, peaceful household and a soft, warm little baby still cuddled in her cradle.  So in love....

Anyway, about working out.

Our home gym is pretty chilly now that the snow has come - up North where we live, it's come with a vengeance and i'm shovelling snow (it counts for exercise!) as well as enjoying the warmth and community spirit at the local gym.

We scrape off the cars, drive out to the Multiplex, take off our boots, get our wristbands, and walk upstairs to the gym.  It's warm, music is playing, and even right at 5:30 there are already dozens of people in there - warming up in the calisthenics area, on the treadmills and elliptical machines, on the free weights and weight machines.

I'm choosing to do simple exercises, but i'm having to learn gym etiquette.  At home, we set up our weights and then work a circuit, usually.  But at the gym,  it's considered inconsiderate to set up three machines with your weight and go between them.

Sigh.

So, the smith machine for squats got a lot of work from me today, and the bench press station, but also a neat inverted ab stand (since i can't do jack knife movements), a seated cable row machine, and some kettlebells in the calisthenics area.

I'm even planning to join a friend for a class one of these days!

I think this will be a good way to workout through the winter.  We have the family pass for the pool, but the gym is included, and why not make the most of it?  I'm especially looking forward to the indoor running track, one of these days...

Workout : Getting Complicated

Okay, i will be posting less now that school is officially back in session.  The last two weeks my Coach has been back to work, not full time, but more and more, and now this Tuesday marks the beginning of real school for him, students and all...  So our workouts will be less, his workouts at the big gym will be happening more, but hopefully i will still get both workouts and clean food...  My goal is two posts a week - one workout and one fuel idea!

Our last workout i posted on fitocracy, and i honestly don't even know how to begin to title it.  But i will try to describe it.

First of all, squats (i just used the bar, which weighs 45 lbs).  Coach T is trying to get me to squat LOW - and lighter weight makes this easier for now, for me to learn the proper mechanics.

I did 20 low bar squats.

THEN,

barbell presses - i started with two barbells each weighing 15 lbs, but Coach moved me up to 20 lbs each.  I guess i am getting stronger.

I did "as many reps as i could" per set - four sets.

THEN,

a ladder - this time, ring pull ups and then to the mat for pushups - i did ten of each, then nine of each, then eight, 76,5,4,3,2 and finally a set of one and one.

I am really liking Fitocracy.com for the intangible encouragement.  I know it's basically like a robot telling you you're awesome (okay, it *is* a robot telling you you're awesome...) but somehow the random allotment of "points" that might push you to the next "level" seem to be a motivating factor for me...

And now, to get back to my workout!

Workout : Dumbbell Complex (The Bear)

He told me how to do it wrong last time.

This is *really* how you do The Bear :)

First, the easy version.

I used 15lb dumbbells

5 sets of this:

hang clean :

squat
push press
squat
push press

Repeat five times without putting the weights down at all.

So, you'll do 25 hang cleans, 50 squats, 50 push presses.

And you will feel much tiredness, and probably lay on the floor after you stretch it out afterwards.  (Coach T says stretching is all in the mind, and useless - but my poor body says if i don't stretch, i just hurt nonstop all the time!)

Coach T's version of The Bear

He used a barbell with 135 lbs

5 sets of

hang clean
front squat
military press
back squat
military press

Repeat five times without putting the weights down at all.

Workout music supplied by the Songza app on the ipad :) hooked up to computer speakers we stole from the kids' computer...

Workout : Buns o' Steel

Coach T asked me what exercises i wanted to do.  As if i know!  That's why he's the coach.

But i told him i wanted buns of steel :) and he promises i will feel this workout tomorrow every time i sit down!

21-15-9

This means, three sets - the first will have 21 reps of each exercises
The second will have 15 of each exercise.  And the last set will have nine reps of each  exercise.

Coach T's exercises were:

~Ring pullups (video)

~hanging knees to elbows (KTE) (video)

~handstand pushups (video)

My exercises were:

~low bar squats (video)

~jumps (video)

~pushups (video)

Here's a website with info on ladies squatting that might encourage/help, too! (****warning**** bad language)

http://www.stumptuous.com/

Workout : Inspiration!

While we are still working out in our home gym, while the Olympics are on, we're finding inspiration watching people doing some of the same lifts we are doing.

Instead of only lifting the bar, these women can really lift! (And of course, the men are pretty good, too!)

Coach T recommends vegging out and watching - he thinks that by watching superior form and technique, we internalize better ways of lifting, and hopefully we can incorporate some of what we *see* into what we *do*.

Baby Octavia approves, as well!

Workout : 5, 10, 15...

Today's workout is one i kind of like.  Because it doesn't require a lot of set up or thinking.

Do five pullups

Do ten situps

Do fifteen pushups

Repeat as many times as you can in twenty minutes.

I did fifteen sets!

Workout : Angie

This is an easy one!  Get going!  The only equipment you'll need is something to pull up on :) _ the rest is all you.  Break it into as many little sets as you need to, and add them up to one hundred of each exercise!

I'm splinting while i do the crunches- if you have a little pooch from having a baby - you may have diastasis recti- and shouldn't do traditional sit ups.

Instead, you need to splint (hold the sides of the muscle together) while doing a very very simple crunch (just lift head, not shoulders!)

(This website has great information with videos! including how to see if you have a diastasis.  Many pregnant women do get this, and it's fixable! )

And Teresa Tapp's "Putting Organs in Place" (she has generously put this in her "try Before You Buy" section of her website!)  maneuver works really well, not only before any ab work, but at random times during the day.  It works by just kind  of adjusting the organs that want to take advantage of a weak postpartum rectus abdominus muscle!

Workout : 21 Jump Street

Today's workout sounded fun!  Like Sesame  Street, but for moms in home gyms...

"Pick a spot 12 inches above where you can reach," he said.
"It will be fun," he said.

And it kinda was.

After he stopped laughing hysterically at my lack of "vert".

I tried to defend myself saying i had gained and lost 40 pounds eight times in the past seventeen years, but he has me beat there, too - he's been one hundred pounds of difference from his lightest to his heaviest.  

Anyway, here is the workout:

Four Sets of:

30 jumps to reach your spot 

(mine was a little red thingy hanging from the garage door opener)

Also, my spot was maybe 5 inches above my reach - Coach T's was a full foot...

20 pushups (Coach T did pull ups)

10 ring rows (Coach T did handstand pushups)

The pushups i think i need to graduate from girly ones to boy ones - the ring rows were made possible by two huge carabiners bought at Princess Auto yesterday :)

And, as usual, we had not only one tiny somnolent  cheerleader, but two more little girls, one who added an appropriately Olympic touch with her gigantic vuvuzela...

Workout : Powerlifting Workout

For this workout, you do need some equipment.  The good news is that if you are a busy mom who isn't too big and strong, young boys buy workout gear, then quickly grow up, leave home and rarely take it with them. So, if you want to try these exercises, you can probably get a bench and bar just for the asking on freecycle.org :). For bench press you'll also  need supports to hold the barbell and to rack it after each set.

If you're worried about getting bulky from weight lifting, maybe take a long look at the squats video i link below.  These girls are not bulky, and look downright pretty :)  Check out this website, too!  These are the female champions of the Crossfit 2012 games!


Here are some videos on form:

Coach T's tips:

When deadlifting, keep the bar as close to the body as possible, pull the shoulders back (make the chest big), keep your head up.

When doing squats, head up, big chest - let knees follow feet (i.e. point your feet a  little out to the sides, and your knees follow that invisible line your foot makes as you go down).  Squat to parallel at least (your butt gets as low as your knees - ideally!)


When doing bench press, align the bar to your chest at the bottom of the move, and press up over your face (to your eyes). It's not a straight line, it's an arc movement!  Don't let your elbows flare out, keep them tucked in close to your sides.

Workout:

Deadlift

Coach T                                      mama

135lbX10 reps                            3 sets of 10 reps with the bar!

225X10 reps

315X10 reps

365X5 reps

ran out of weight!

Squats

Coach T                                      mama

225X12 reps                              1 set of 15 reps with the bar

Bench Press

Coach T                                      mama

225X18 reps                              3 sets of 10 reps with the bar

275X10 reps

315X5 reps

Don't worry if you look  like this as you lift!

Workout : Coach T's Crossfit WOD

This workout has no real name, since Coach T made it up.  But, it got me 600 points on Fitocracy :) so it must be good! (my username is mamazee - if you wanna join me there, I'd love to hear from other moms or paleo friends :)...)

This is what we did:

Three rounds: as fast as you can!

Row 1000m 

(we have a C2 rower - but a rower is a great thing to have - it really is a whole body exercise!)

50 pushups

50 crunches 

(i did the Tupler variation, where you splint the diastasis recti)

Coach T and I took turns on the rower, and our little minions held baby O's hands and cooed at her so she would be happy...

Workout : With Teens

We just finished a "weightlifting session" with Wy, our almost 17 year old.  He is not near as passionate as his dad about fitness!  But he has to complete 80 hours of various activities as part of his PE 10 course - so here we are!

Things that went well - kept the lessons short, lots of demonstration, posters on the wall with good information, and a fitness partner (mom) who is less in shape than he is, so he isn't too scared to try in front of dad.

Things that were challenging: a reluctance to look foolish or fail in front of dad, a reluctance to try new things.  A lack of flexibility.

This is weight training with our teen :) - with our next one, who is 14, it would be different issues.  But physical exercise is such a great benefit to your children, and i think we're more likely to stay faithful in working out if we *can* include them.  Not feeling obligated to do it every time, but so far everyone down to our four year old is able to do *something* with us out in the home gym, and has :)

Workout: Barbara

Thus begins the girl named workouts.  Sigh.  She kicks my butt.  Actually, baby Octavia kind of kicked our butts this time.  She slept through most of the workout, even with the loud,  pumping music, but eventually woke up and we ended up taking turns the last set - he did a set, then i did mine.  We still only did four sets instead of five.

But even four sets was a good workout!

Barbara

Coach T                               mama

5 sets of:

20 chinups......................body rows

30 pushups

40 situps...................Tupler recovery

50 squats

3 min rest between each set

friendly little bunny who just needed hugs

my little cheering section (and a serious looking Coach T)

Workout: JT

our cheerleaders, ready to either workout, skip rope, or cheer!

Out in the garage, and ready for another workout.  This is only three sets - in the first set, you do 21 repetitions of the exercises (reps), in the second set, you do 15 reps, and the last set is only nine.

Now, i am just getting back into this, and nursing along a diastasis recti (that i think i wrecked by doing too much too soon - argh), so if any of these are putting too much stress on my abdomen, i will sub another exercise, and if i'm too weak, i will break down the reps into little chunks to get it finished.  I don't take a big break, but i will put the weights down and take a few big breaths, stretch out, and take it back up...

JT

sets of 21, 15 and 9

of 

Coach version                        Mama version

Handstand pushups                    Shoulder press with 

                                                           20 lb dumbbells (switched to                                                                                                                                                                      15 lb dumbbells partway through the second set!)

Dips                             Body rows

Pushups

L-sits 30 seconds                     Kettlebell swings 15 lbs

baby O helps by sleeping through the workout...

Tonight's workout:

3 rounds of this:

1 minute rowing machine

1 minute kettlebell swings (i used the 8k baby one)

1 minute jumping pullups (like a chinup, only you jump up and lower yourself slowly - killer)

1 minute shoulder press thrusters (i used 8 k dumbbells)

1 minute squats

1 minute rest

And i should confess (do i have to?) that although breakfast and dinner were both paleo, the middle of the day was a total write off - six of seven littles were sick, and so was i, so we voted to do school on Friday instead and take Monday off. Very sweet. I don't feel much better, but we'll have to get the show on the road tomorrow - i don't think i can handle that much nothing :)...

Anyway, no cookies tomorrow! I'm turning a blind eye to my 3 yo sneaking into the kitchen as i write - i know it means one less butterscotch almond cookie to tempt me...

T downloaded the Robb Wolf podcast for me to listen to, and has an abstract (?!) of the book "Good Calories, Bad Calories" - less about a specific diet, more of studies on nutrition. We'll try to keep to this for now. Sometimes it's just too hard for me :) But i want it to work! Tomorrow's a new day...

Saturday night workout

T's taking care of me in that "tough love, make me workout and cook me paleo meals" kinda way. When i say it that way, it sounds pretty stupid to complain, doesn't it? He's a good man. I'm gonna lose those last 15 lbs.

somehow.

Tonight's workout:

Tonight's workout:

21 thrusters (with 20 lb dumbbells)

21 rows (on chin dip station)

500m row

15 thrusters

15 rows

500 m row

9 thrusters

9 rows

500 m

tonight's paleo dinner:

Smokey Cauliflower and Sausage from the Low Carb cookbook - delicious! All melty with cream cheese and cheddar - very very rich, but the spicy sausage cut through and the cauliflower was perfect. I think i love fauxtatoes almost as much as the real thing. Almost. I am part Irish :)...

thursday workout

for me, Thursdays are the new Fridays... We only homeschool four days a week, so that i can get caught up on appointments, shop, do mom stuff like practice my mandolin, or knit or sew (i have the cutest little purse cut up and half sewn, just calling my name around the corner here)...

So tonight is my "hooray, pressure's off" night. Dh, not so much. He bought some red wine on the way home from work, we did a hard workout, and he's up in bed, waiting for me. So this had better be quick! I hate when he falls asleep before me...

Tonight's workout (which i was dragged into kicking and screaming - bad attitude tonight, but I STILL DID IT and that's the moral of the story, that or T's angelic nature for putting up with me, even when i decided after the fourth set to actually go change out of my jeans so i could get my feet in the tubing for the chin ups... oh, let's not split hairs...)

Tonight's workout:

Tonight's workout:

10 sets of

3 deadlifts (so basically, a dumbbell complex, followed by chinups

3 power cleans and i used 15 lb dumbbells, and i probably should

3 forward squats have used 20 lb ones, but like i say every time,

3 thrusters NEXT TIME!!!)

5 chinups

Paleo, yes, i have been *pretty* good. I had a few french fries yesterday but apart from that, i've been clean all week, and tomorrow is CHEAT DAY! You have no idea how much i look forward to cheat day...

I'm looking into GFCF for my second son, and groaning inwardly at the thought of yet more dietary gymnastics. But i think i really do need to try this and see if it will make a difference. The good news - we're already halfway there by eating paleo - so long as we cut out the dairy. The sad news - i need to seriously beef up the excitement factor of eating paleo if i want to get my 9 yo to eat this way for weeks on end. So looking for excitement. paleo cookies and chocolate almond balls to start out, but i need variety to get me to longevity. Combing blogs that are GF give me ideas for *him*, but i need paleo ideas i think, so i can still keep the eaters in this family into two camps - paleo, and not...

These are my concerns :) and my workout, and the end of my day!

Tonight's workout and a pork roast recipe...

Tonight's workout:

30 rows on chin dip station

50 swings with 15 lb kettlebell

50 situps

15 standing press with 15 lb dumbbells

30 squats

25 rows

30 deadlifts with 15 lb dumbbells

15 knees to elbows ( call this captain's chair, but it's T's workout)

50 pushups (i did girl ones since my arms are aching from yesterday's workout still..)

Tonight's dinner:

T's tomatoey pork roast

a nice sized pork roast (enough to feed a family of nine!)

cooked with a can of tomatoes

a couple tablespoons of apple cider vinegar

worcestershire sauce

two diced onions

four cloves garlic

a couple of cloves

a couple of Tbsp chili powder

Oven at 350, 45 minutes

side dish - spaghetti squash...

it was tender delicious!

Deck of Death

Today we went down to "the valley" to check out the new butcher shop - it's called Yukon Sausage, and we picked up a whole bunch of meats to try out. So far, i can vouch for the deli meats - shaved thin like butterfly wings... mmmm

Then we got home, had some potty excitement with Mimi (she rocks! She is totally doing this all by herself - i just have to help her get up on the potty!)

THEN.... the Deck of Death.

And it sure was. it wasn't a lack of strength - in fact, i think i need to step up to the 20 lb dumbbells.. But i have no power! No endurance! I've had a whole week off, and no sleep for 2 weeks (well, almost three weeks) now... (with the shining exception of last Wednesday night on which babe Meow slept angelically all the way through...

Anyway, Deck of Death may not have been explained on this blog before, so i will give a quick explanation of a neat little workout.

What you need: a deck of cards and whatever you need for four different exercises. I did rows (using our chin station), pushups, captain's chair (again using the chin station) and thrusters, using 15 lb dumbbells...

Shuffle the deck of cards, and assign a suit to each exercise - chin ups = hearts, pushups = diamonds etc. Then turn over the first card. Do however many reps of that exercise as the card is work - for instance, a face card is worth ten, so you would do ten reps of that exercise. Aces are worth eleven. And when you are very tired, it seems the whole deck is face cards. But it's not. I checked.

We're back on the paleo wagon today and with a fridge full of good meats, i'm excited about another week of healthy eating!

paleo, now with workouts!

well, we haven't done anything dramatically different lately, except for the breaking of our paleo vows for Christmas. Even though we weren't too too crazy, we still feel rotten - i drove home from my sister's beautiful Christmas two day party with a stomach like a lead balloon, but we are getting back to paleo foods (lunch was leftover chicken in tomato sauce with mozza melted on top - yummy!) and back to exercise.

My two (younger) sisters are both very beautiful and every time around this year i vow to get a new hair cut, buy some clothes (done!) and in every respect, be a worthy sister in the trio :) - so today starts our "at least try a little, Stephanie" regime...

Hair cut booked (by sweet T) for tomorrow, new clothes bought, paleo foods consumed, and exercises will forthwith be blogged here (instead of my homeschooling mom blog, which i'm sure might be a relief for some of my friends there)...

I'm behind by quite a few workouts - the month of December didn't leave a ton of room for blogging - as Yoda would say "Blog or workout. There is no both" (or something like that, maybe a little less dorky)

Today's workout:

Tabatas

(consisting of 20 seconds of full out exercise, then 10 seconds of rest - for eight minutes. We use a premixed tabata mix that has heavy metal/prog interspersed with beautiful classical or acoustic guitar so we don't have to check our watches)

These were the exercises today:

rows (i use the chin/dip station)

pushups

situps

squats

at some point, babe Meow decided she needed some mama love, so partway through my form got sloppy and i did one round of rows with her clinging to my neck and balancing on my chest (and almost puked then)...

I'm working in lightshop with all of our Christmas pictures (well, most of them) and i would like to get out of the house and enjoy a little more winter wonderland this week before T goes back to work, but there's a game today (football? hockey?) and it's his vacation after all, so we will veg in front of flickering boxes, and let the children run wild and forage for food amid the chocolate/cookie detritus...

"Am I good at workouting?" asks Lulu as we walk down the stairs to meet Daddy, beaming in front of a white board.

"I love workouting with you and Haven. Cause Haven an' me hold hands an' kiss in between our situps. We're best friends" he says matter of factly about his big sister.

We were down to only five children tonight - our littlest and our biggest girls were just wiped out today, and went to bed early.

Our workout was a little late, too, as i prepped for the school week, pulling books on the ancient Americas, photocopied worksheets, maps, coloring pages, wrote out my plan for the week, and organized everyone's day for tomorrow...

But finally we are down there and this is the workout:

"Race to One Hundred!"

Pick any exercise you like. You will do one hundred of that exercise. If you can do all one hundred in a big long stretch, bully for you! You will be done soon! If not, every time you take a break, you have to pay for your break before you restart the count, by doing ten burpees.

Burpees aren't my favourite.

I chose squats (body weight) and i got to 50 before my quads were burning (they've been the stars in our workouts lately so there's always a little stiffness the last few days) - and i did two sets of 50, with my ten burpees in the middle...

T is still working out, although the children have all run upstairs for a banana before bed, and i am not hearing any noise at all. We're all pretty tired i guess. Hopefully a good sleep will set us all right for a fun week!

Paleo is still going okay. I'm not as good as T at avoiding carby snacks. Especially when there are treats in the house for coffee, but the majority of what i eat is caveman, and during the week there is less temptation.

Tonight's dinner was delicious -

Travis' Awesome Indian lemon chicken

Chicken breasts on the bone

separate skin from the meat.

finely chopped jalapeno, ginger, and garlic

salt, pepper, curry powder, turmeric

a little olive oil

Mix all but the chicken together. Push the mixture under the skin of the chickens.

Salt and pepper the top.

Bake at 350. Squirt lemon juice over them two or three times during the cooking.

These were delicious, yellow, lemony and a hit with everyone at the table. Wy said it was his new favourite chicken dish...

T made basmati for the children to go along, but we cavepeople ate meat and savoured every bite...