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 : Rowing combination

Tonight's workout:

4 sets of

Row 500m

20 pull ups

20 crunches

Instead of pull ups, I do bodyweight rows.  Which I've mentioned here.  (All of those exercises are links to videos that show proper form!)  And instead of crunches, tonight i did TTapp's "Putting Organs in  Place" followed by "Half Frog Sequence".

It's funny - i felt so fat Saturday - went shopping and most things looked depressing on me.  But once i just put on my shorts and shoes and got down to the workout, my *body* felt happier :).

Try it!

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 : Complex Bears!

"It's a complex, not complex" he said.

We were up a little earlier this  morning, and i looked at him blankly.

"It's called a bear.  Here's how you do it."

Picking up two dumbbells, he did five squats in a row.
The dumbbells just hung from his hands.

Then, he cleaned them from his waist to his shoulders, five times in a row, bouncing lightly on his feet.

Then, push pressed from his shoulders to up in the air.  Bending his knees and pushing up with the strength from his legs.  Five times.

"Do that.  Five sets."

"I can do that!"  I said.  And i did.

Then i rowed 500 m on the rowing machine, and logged my workout on fitocracy.com (where i am mamazee!)

All you need for this workout is a pair of dumbbells - i used 15 lb ones - and if you don't have a rower,  just go for a run around your block :)

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 : Powerlifting Starting Strength B

Today's workout:  Click on the video links!  It's better to do one repetition with impeccable form, than a whole bunch with bad form :)

warmup - 

Coach T                                         mama
overhead squats (just the bar)       Tupler technique crunches,
neck harness (90 lbs)                     splinting the diastasis
ab work

actual workout -

squats

4 sets of 5                                      3 sets of 5 repetitions
225 x 5                                           just using the bar
275 x 5
315 x 5
315 x 5

standing barbell presses

135 x 5                                          15 lb dumbbells x 5
185 x 3                                          20 lb dumbbells x 5
185 x 3                                           20 lb dumbbells x 5

power cleans

185 x 5                                           3 sets of 5 repetitions 
225 x 5                                            just using the bar
185 x 5

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...

Workout - Magnificent Seven! (or three...)

Today we started out with high hopes...

Here we go!

Coach T named our workout "The Magnificent Seven", but once we got started (immediately after supper, which was weird), we realized that three sets would be more doable...

This workout is a little more complicated, so i will link to explanations for each exercise.  I would post video of me doing the exercises, but i don't think that would be very pretty ;)...  Especially the burpees.  Painful!!!  Funny how i hate them just as much as i did in elementary school - the awkwardly undignified name titters at an involuntary bodily function, and the exercise itself is probably the least graceful and flowing of all exercises (except when Coach does them...)

And..... here's the workout!

The Magnificent Seven

Coach version  :                              Mama version:

Seven sets of....

Handstand  pushups                        Shoulder presses with 20 lb db
Push Press                                       Push Presses with 20lb db
Knees to Elbows                             TTapp "putting organs in place"                                                      
                                                        & half frogs
Deadlift 225                                   deadlift 15lb kettlebell
burpees                                           burpees
kettlebell high pull 50 lb               kettlebell high pull 15 lbs
chinups                                          bodyweight rows

We've got passes to our local pool, so i told Coach we should add a little incentive - once we are done our workout, we'll go swimming!  He's on summer vacation right now, and we're missing three children (birthday party, and two at Oma's house), so we took the five that remained to the Multiplex.  Not a good workout, as one of those is only six weeks old, but so relaxing on a hot summer day, after a sweaty workout!  If you can find something that will be an incentive, it sure helps motivate you to get out there, get the exercises out of the way.  All the better if it's something that doesn't cost any money :)  Because hopefully you'll be working out a few times a week!

exercise and paleo jambalaya

Tonight's workout:

20 rows

30 pushups

40 situps

50 squats

I did one set, then 20 rows and 30 pushups - and that was all i was capable of. We've had the flu around here, and on top of being sick, baby wants me all day long - which is very sweet - she's getting so big and runs around from friend to friend - but when she's sick, she's my little girl again...

Still, something is better than nothing!

And T made a delicious dinner -

For Christmas I received not one, not two, but THREE cookbooks!

This one was from my inlaws, called 500 Low-Carb Recipes by Dana Carpender

And tonight T made us Shrimp and Andouille Jambalaya (page292)

Shrimp and Andouille Jambalaya

If you can't find andouille, just substitute the lowest-carb smoked sausage you can find.

(ours was pretty spicy!)

12 ounces andouille sausage, sliced 1/2 inch thick

1/4 c. olive oil

1 1/3 c. chopped onions

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 large gren pepper, diced

1 can ( 14 1/2 oz) diced tomatoes, including liquid

1 c. chicken broth

1 tsp dried thyme

6 c. cauliflower rice (i.e. shred a head of cabbage in your food processor)

2 c. shelled, deveined, medium sized shrimp

salt and pepper

tabasco

Brown the sausage in olive oil. When it's lightly golden, add onion, garlic and green pepper. Saute the veggies till the onion is translucent.

Add the tomatoes, chicken broth and thyme and bring to a simmer. Let it simmer uncovered about 20 minutes, to blend the flavours

Add the cauliflower rice and simmer another 15 min, until cauliflower starts to get tender.

Add the shrimp, and simmer another 5 minutes or so - just long enough to cook the shrimp (my husband also added in a can of oysters with the shrimp... yummy!)

Add salt, pepper, and tabasco to taste and serve. Our 9 year old had seconds!

Last day of a long weekend... feeling melancholy

We're also not sleeping much, due to baby's getting four new teeth at a time. She's up to nurse a few times a night, and we are both feeling a little giddy from lack of sleep.

This weekend has been a Godsend, though - having T home means more exercise, and less cooking, as he tends to take over the kitchen when he's home.

We had a delicious leftovers meal for lunch (from our paleo Thanksgiving) , and he's making something paleo for dinner in a casserole dish - it it's awesome, i'll post the recipe later :)

Anyway, we went for another run this afternoon - it was snowing a little more heavily, and we stayed on the pavement as i was a little scared of running up and down the steep hills when they are hard and icy - but the pavement ended up being more than my knees were used to, and we ended up walking a bit, too.

So there's my workout for the day - a 5k run. It's snowing outside, and the little boys keep running in and out of the house to use the little plastic sleds on the slope in our backyard and play with the cat who is no longer afraid of every snowflake, but pounces on them. If i didn't mind missing out on this lazy day, i would go have a nap while the snow covers us up...

Day Four...

It's Wednesday, and it's working...

First off, this picture has nothing whatsoever to do with what i'm writing - it's just a cute one of my two littlest boys and i had to share :)...

SO - T has me on the paleo diet and i've lost three pounds in 4 days but i was so irritable yesterday and today i just about passed out several times, and then my breath was so bad... i used the ketostix and i'm in ketosis - which wasn't a goal, but T seems to think it's a good thing...

and a good time for a workout!

Apparently my body is eating up my fat stores (T assures me i'm only eating my fat, nothing else - like bones or the minimal muscle i have holding my skeleton together)... so time to pour it on!

So - tonight's workout was

TABATAS!

I'm seriously really in love with the mix we use when we do tabatas - the songs always equal endorphins and relief (respectively) in their 10 and 20 second long snips...

And it felt so good to stop!

Oh =- and the self discipline thing? Here it is - this paleo diet means NO grains, no flour, no sugar, no peas, sweet potatoes, lentils, beans, rice, bread, cookies etc...

Today i took the littles out to KFC for lunch before starting on a long list of errands (after school!) - and i sat down and looked at my options - i could have diet pop - AND chicken - if i took the skin off. I love KFC chicken skin! LOVE IT! When Oprah confessed her love for chicken skin sandwiches i TOTALLY got it! And here's the truth - i skinned my chicken pieces and gave the skin to my skinny little children who can easily burn off the calories...

I have CHANGED.....

There are probably some deep spiritual truths here - i'd like to believe that self denial is finally becoming part of who i am... but it was probably just the fog from being on the weird diet in the first place. Anyway, i'm feeling no pain, no desires, no hunger, and that's got to be good news!

So - other meals today -

breakfast was two eggs (and i made perfect fluffy pancakes for the children and didn't eat even one, even without syrup... i am getting to be such a good girl!) - also tea with no milk or sweetener

lunch - KFC chicken - 2 pieces without the skin, and diet coke

dinner - chicken wings, raw carrots and celery sticks and a diet coke...

too much diet coke, probably... but a girl's gotta have a few vices...