What happened to my de-load week?

My de-load week went out the window. I went to the gym today with the intent to start the new program I picked out but take it easy. I dropped the weight 5-10lbs but with the higher reps it was still enough to burn me out. I can say though that I am extremely happy with my workout today. I was in and out of the gym in less than an hour. It was amazing.

Today was back and biceps and there were only 4 exercises. Barbell burls, alternate seated curls, bent over rows, and underhand pull-ups (I did the lat pull-down since I can’t do pull-ups). Even though it’s really simple I got a good work out in. I killed my biceps. I like that every exercise hits them in some way.

The program has me doing 2 sets at 10-12 reps and 1 set to failure. I dropped the weight to be able to do 10-12 reps, I slowed down really concentrating on the muscle, squeezing and making sure my form was good. After my first set of curls my arms were already burning. I think this whole time I have been lifting I was just doing the movements and not concentrating enough because I don’t think I have felt my arms burn this way since first started. I don’t really feel it in my back but I may have been using too light of weights so next time I will go a little heavier but still work on slowing down and squeezing.

I still have to go back later and do the cardio. I’ll do that after I get off work. So far I’m really happy with my decision to switch programs and I like this one a lot so far.

My Mind Is Made

I have made a decision. I am going to switch programs. After my workout today it is clear that I am spending too much time in the gym. My work schedule changed and I can’t go to the gym whenever I want anymore. So today when I slipped out to go I had to leave early to be back on time, and by back on time I mean I was already 20mins late. Good thing there is no one really there to notice but I didn’t want to be gone any longer than that. I ended up leaving with two exercises left to do. I really did get a lot out of this program. I learned a lot, I am stronger, my body looks better but I feel that it is no longer realistic for me with my schedule.

That being so I have decided on the plan that I want to start doing. I am going to start Lee Labrada’s 12-Week Lean Body Trainer. I am excited about this program. It’s a three month program designed to make you stronger and leaner. The best thing about this program is that the workouts are only 30-45 minutes. There are no actual days off though. The program goes on a cycle of 2 lifting days and one cardio day with the addition of cardio on back and bicep day. I can’t wait to start.

I am going to start a de-load week tomorrow and then I will hit the gym hard with the Lean Body Trainer. If you don’t know what a de-load week is I will explain. A de-load week is when you take it easy for a week. You lower the weights, you don’t push yourself too hard and you let your body rest and recover. From what I’ve read it’s good to do this if you get stuck and haven’t been making any gains in a while. I figured this would be a good thing for me to do since I have been lifting heavy for 7 weeks now and I am about to start a new 12 week program.

I’m going to rest up, recover and then go back full strength. I can’t wait to see how it goes and I’ll be sure to write all about it.

Debating a Switch

I have started week 7 of the Live Fit program by Jamie Eason. I have just these last two weeks before phase 3 (the last phase) begins. I am having some issues with how long I am spending at the gym. Every lifting day takes at least an hour and 20 minutes. Then there is 30 minutes of cardio four times a week. Some days I am able to do the workouts together and I’m at the gym for close to 2 hours. Why are these workouts so long? Yesterday was arms. There were 5 exercises for triceps, 4 for biceps and then 3 for abs and then 30 minutes of cardio. I’ve started to superset almost every exercise just to get done faster. She does use supersets but only for one or two sets. Also this week she jumps from doing 3 sets per exercise to doing 4 sets for several exercises. That adds on a lot of time. I also have not noticed any weight loss. I’m not using a scale or anything because I know I am gaining muscle. What I mean is I still have that stomach pooch and it doesn’t look any smaller. I know this is an area that is hard to burn that most women struggle with but I would really love to see something happening there. My clothes don’t feel any loser either. I have not taken measurements I probably should have because then I would know for sure but to the eye there doesn’t seem to be a change. I can see little muscles in my arms and legs but I feel that they would show so much better if I was burning more fat. I have been struggling to eat properly since I am deployed and can’t really follow the meal plan, but I try my best. Except for yesterday, it was my birthday. I needed cake.

I started looking a head at phase 3. What Jamie wants us to do is lift and then do active rests. I am really not sure if I can do that. I can’t just whip out a jump room in the gym here and start jumping rope while everyone is trying to work out around me. There isn’t enough space. I have started to consider switching programs once I finish week 8. I need a program that is more realistic with what is available at my gym and with my schedule. I can’t spend 2 hours at the gym everyday and I can’t just start jumping rope between reps. I feel bad about this because I don’t know if it makes me a quitter. I am not going to stop working out and getting fit. I am as determined at ever. I just think I need a different program. I still have a couple of weeks to make up my mind. I will write about whatever I decide to do once I figure it out.

My Stats so Far

I was sitting at my desk when I decided I wanted to write out my gains so I could see just how far I have come thus far in my program. Then I decided why not do it as a post for my blog so everyone can see. I am not saying that what my numbers are will be typical of someone else doing this program, but maybe it will give you an idea. Everyone is different, not everyone will start out using the same weights that I started out using and I’m sure some people will be getting stronger faster and pass me up. But I am proud of what I have accomplished so far and that I have stuck with the program.

I have my own code for writing down what I did. If a number is by itself that is the most I could do for three sets. When a there are two numbers written like this 10/20 the first number (20) is the weight I used and the second number (10) is the reps I was able to do. I don’t add on the weight of the bar when I use a long bar, I only write down the weight of the plates I use. The number of sets change because the program switches to less sets and higher weights. Not every exercise I do is on here because a lot of the exercises change and switch up so I can’t do before and after with everything.

That being said I will begin.

Week 1: ————– Now (week 5):

Push-ups -12 —————20
Dumbbell bench press -25/12————–wide grip bench press-16/8
dumbbell flyes-15/12————— 20/10
overhead triceps dumbbell extention-20/12————- 25/10
dips-10————————– 15
Wide grip lat pulldown-60/12———————— 80/8
one-arm dumbbell row-20/12———————- 30/8
seated cable row- 40/12————————- 50/8
dumbbell curl-15/12 ———————-20/12
leg extensions-65/12—————————– 105/10
squats-50/12——————– 80/8
standing calf raises-50/12———————- 70/20
front raises – 5/12————————— 10/10
lateral raises-5/12——————————– 10/10
roman chair- 5 ——————————–10

After looking at the numbers it is neat to see where I have gotten a lot stronger and where I have only gotten a little stronger. My pushups have really increased. My leg extensions have increased by a lot. Everything else seems to have a slow increase.

It is hard to go up in weight when doing exercises with dumbbells because they always go up by 5 pounds. When I’m doing curls with 20s I feel like I can do more but 25 is too hard, so I stay at 20. Perhaps I should start with 25 do two or three then switch back to 20 and do the rest of my reps until I get strong enough to stay at 25.

I can’t wait to see where I will be by the end of the program. I’m happy for my increases even though some is only by a little for 5 weeks of hitting the weights. But this will motivate me to try even harder.

First Week of Phase 2

I have just completed the first week of phase two doing the Live Fit program by Jamie Eason. Well technically I have one more session of cardio to do. I was feeling a little sick yesterday so I didn’t do the cardio but I will make it up tomorrow on what should have been my rest day. I would do it today but my evening is already full. I do yoga because my good friend is the yoga instructor and she teaches 6 classes a week for free. When am I ever going to get the chance to go to yoga for free again? Also tonight we are doing a hash run because it’s a blood full moon. I guess I could count that for my cardio but I don’t because it’s just a part of my normal routine, nothing extra. If you don’t know what hash running is you can read about it here.

As for my first week in phase 2 this was a hard week. With the addition of cardio and the changes during the lifting portion I am worn out. On the plus side I am sleeping better. She adds on a lot of new exercises and changes it up with the number of sets and reps. Sometimes its heavy weights and lower reps sometimes its lighter weights with more reps. So far this week has been the hardest. I cant wait to see it all pay off. One day I will get the courage to put up before and after pics. I need to at least get through the program first though.

My Legs Are Done

Oh crap my legs….

Before I talk about my workout today I am going to back up to yesterday when I wrote about not getting to do the cardio I was supposed to do. It is almost 1:30pm and I have not made up the cardio yet. Last night when I got back from my outing it was 1030pm, which is way too late for me to go running. I thought about getting up early to make it up but I really needed my sleep so I slept. My plan is to do it later this afternoon or this evening since I get off work early today at 2pm. I just hope I can walk let alone do 30mins cardio. And on to my workout for today.

Today was my first leg workout in phase 2. Everything changed this time compared to all the other leg workouts Jamie Eason has had me doing. Some exercises where less sets, light weight, and really high reps. Some were more sets, higher weights and less reps. And there were 2 new exercises that I haven’t done before. I spent almost an hour and 30 mins at the gym doing this workout. It could have been quicker but I was waiting about 2mins between sets. After doing 20 walking lunges per leg with a 30lb barbel on my shoulders I needed a couple mins before I could do it again. I definitely feel like today was the most intense leg day since I started the program. I was super sweaty, my heart rate was up, I felt so thirsty.

I hope my legs are up for some cardio later. If I don’t feel like I can run then I will try just walking on the treadmill with a good incline. I brought my running clothes with me to work today so I could run right after I got off work but I think im going to need a few hours before I can go. My legs need time to recover somewhat. But I didn’t get to the gym as early as I wanted this morning. I was hoping to sneak over there around 930am-10am but it was around 11am before I made it. I’m just so glad I am able to take the time during my work day to go. It makes it so much easier. I would have no life if I had to wait till after work. Things are really going to change after this deployment because I’m sure I’m not going to find a civilian job that will let me do that.

I did start something new today. I decided to start counting my calories. This is something that Jamie said not to worry about doing, that as long as you follow her nutrition plan you should be fine. Well, I can’t follow her plan. As a vegetarian and being deployed I don’t have much control over what I eat. So since I can’t eat the meals she wants me to eat I decided I’ll just try to match the calories. I downloaded the ap myfitnesspal to help me keep track of what I eat. I hope it works. I can’t wait to see how the rest of phase 2 goes for me. So far on this program I really don’t think I’ve lost any weight. My stomach doesn’t look any flatter to me and my clothes don’t fit any looser. I think that this is because I cant eat the way she wants. So hopefully now with watching my calories and adding in the cardio I’ll really start to see a difference. I know I have put on some muscle because I am stronger than I was before, and I can see it a little in my arms so I can’t wait to really start to see a difference.

Starting Phase 2

Today was my second day doing Phase 2 with Jamie Eason’s Live Fit program.  During this phase she adds cardio to the program, 30mins 4 times a week.  I have to split up my work out since with the cardio my gym time is now at least an hour and a half.  I take an hour during my work day to lift and after work I change and go back for the cardio.  I think I am going to start to bring my running clothes with me to work so I don’t have to walk all the way back to my room and then come back to where the gym is.  If you haven’t read any of my other posts, I am in the Army and I am currently deployed.  I work past the gym, so having to go back and forth so much is time consuming.  Especially because I have to walk everywhere, but I guess it is just extra cardio.

Yesterday was back and cardio.  I had a good back workout.  I can feel that I’m a bit sore today.  She changed up the exercises and I like that.  It’s not the same things every time.  Then after work I can back and did 30mins on the elliptical.  Then I had to walk back to my room, change and go to dinner.  You cannot go into the dining facility here in gym clothes.  That is another reason why I should just start to bring my clothes.  I did a lot of walking yesterday.  On the plus side, I slept like a baby last night.  And that was amazing.

Today was chest and cardio.  I just got back from the gym a little while ago.  I did the chest workout; I still have to do my cardio later this evening.  I have a huge feeling that I am not going to want to do it.  Right after work today I am going to celebrate a birthday for another soldier in my unit that is out here.  There’s a whole group of us going out to eat.  It will be pretty late by the time I get back.  Close to 10pm I think.  I’m sure you are thinking 10pm isn’t that late but for me it is.  I usually have to work at 630am so I wake up by 520am.  That doesn’t leave me with much time to sleep.  Tomorrow is not a cardio day so perhaps I will do today’s cardio tomorrow.  I could also wake up early and do it before work, or just do it tonight after we get back and suck it up that I will be tired tomorrow.  Tomorrow is a short day at work; I get off at 2pm instead of 5pm.  But tomorrow is leg day.  I am not sure if I am going to want to do cardio after I kill my legs.  I also don’t have to be at work tomorrow until 8 since it is Saturday. Oh decisions, decisions. I guess I will just have to see how I feel after we get back this evening.

I do feel bad about a part of my workout today. One exercise I was supposed to do was side to side pushups. I had to google what that was. I then I tried to do it and I could not do them. I went to my knees and I barely did 6. It was bad. I ended up skipping the rest. I am not strong enough to do those yet. I think I will try to find an alternate exercise to do if she has me do them again. I also had regular wide arm pushups and I waited to do those until I walked back to the office. I feel weird doing pushups at the gym. Everyone else is lifting and I’m just on the floor doing pushups. Let me know what you think about this. If you saw it would you think it was weird or would you not really think anything about it?

Not Feeling the Shoulder Pump

Yesterday was shoulder/ab day at the gym.  Following the Live Fit program soulder day consists of 6 shoulder exercises and 3 for abs.  This is the one day of the program where I just don’t feel it.  Everytime I got to the gym I lift heavy.  I push myself.  I try to do all the exercises with proper form.  Everyday I leave feeling satisfied and worn out.  On shoulder day I don’t feel it and I have no idea why.  I lift heavy, I do the exerises correctly.  I struggle to get my last couple of reps in for each set just like she says but after a few minutes my shoulders are ready to go.  I never feel sore the next day or anything after I work my shoulders.  I also feel like my shoulders are progressing slower than I want.  I really don’t know what I’m doing wrong on shoulder day.  Maybe I will switch shoulders to my two a week and really try to burn them out.  Do you ever feel like this with a muscle group and what do you do?

Pushing Too Far

I over did it yesterday. After having a killer leg workout, I ran with my hash group. I felt fine until about 30 mins ago when I walked over to my secondary office. This actually started about 4 weeks ago. I was running with the hash group on my second run with them and it was a 6 mile run. Around the 4th mile I could feel some pain on the back of my leg on the inside. It was more uncomfortable than painful so I pushed through it and kept running. I only run on Fridays with the group so my leg gets plenty of rest and heal time between runs, but I think I pushed too much on that 6 mile run. Every run after that I could feel the same uncomfortable pinch in the muscle, but it would go away. I think I may have torn the muscle a little or over worked it. I could still walk just fine, it didn’t really hurt but I could feel something there.

Yesterday was leg day. During this stage of my plan more exercises were added and more weight. So I was really killing my legs, it was a great work out. Probably running 3-4 miles later the same day wasn’t the best thing do to, but I really enjoy running with the group so I did. This time I lead the run with two others. When you lead you have to stay a head of everyone else, lay the path and try not to get caught. Everything was good until the last rest stop. They gave us a little head start to take off first but this run was just a straight shot back to the beginning. I am a slow runner but I didn’t want them to catch me so I pushed myself. About a block away from the finish I turned to look behind me and I see them coming. They were about another block behind. I gave it the last of my energy and took off. They didn’t catch me but they were close. I think that was when I really agitated it.

It’s a little after 5pm now and it was around 445pm when I walked over here and felt the pain. I didn’t feel any pain all day until then. My leg feels tight, I can feel the pain just sitting here. It isn’t horrible or anything but it’s there. I did noticed that I couldn’t take as long of strides when I walk as I normally do. I’m glad I didn’t decided to keep it at 2 leg days a week. There’s no way I would be able to do legs again this soon.

I am going to take it easy on my legs for at least a week. Next Friday I may not run, instead I can show up to hang out or walk to the main check points. I just need to see how it feels. After blowing my knee out so many times I get pretty protective of my injuries. I really don’t want to hurt myself bad.

One of my good friends is in amazing shape. She is a yoga instructor. She run’s for miles and miles. She beats most of the guys. She pushed herself too far about 6 weeks ago and hurt her hamstring really bad. She still cant run. I remember seeing her limping, and not being able to move the leg much. Sometimes she tries to test it to see how much it has healed and she still feels the pain. She is planning on doing a marathon in the fall. I hope she can recover and do it. I know how excited she is to go. Sometimes pride can blind you. You don’t want to be weak so you push too hard and get hurt. It’s like the people at the gym who lift way too heavy. I can always tell them because their form is awful. They lift as much as they can and throw their whole body into it to get the weight up. Then they end up getting hurt. I don’t care how much weight you use. Curling 50lbs and having horrible form does not impress me. All I think when I see it is stop trying too hard. Use less weight and do the exercise correctly. You wont hurt yourself that way. One of the guys in my unit hurt his should a few weeks ago from lifting. I’ve seen him at the gym and always used too much weight. His form is terrible. He lifts with another guy who is stronger than him but he always tries to do the same amount of weight. I am sure this is how he hurt himself. He didn’t want to seem weak by needing to use less weight, but now he can’t lift at all.

In the end it seems we all do it. Whether running, or lifting we want to be stronger or faster so we do too much. Then we get hurt and can’t do anything. My new goal is to push myself but to listen to my body. No more ignoring the pain when I can first start to feel it. My body has been trying to tell me something I need to start listening to it.

Hash Running

According to the plan I am doing right now for my workouts I should not be doing any cardio until week 5 when I start phase 2. I do have to admit I break this rule every Friday. I am a member of the Dirty Djibouti Hash House Harriers. This is a drinking/running group. I had never heard of it before but as it turned out Hash Running is everywhere. The group identifies as a drinking group with a running problem.

The way it works is based off a game kids used to play called the hares and the hounds. Two or three runners (the hares) get a head start. The carry with them chalk and a pouch of flower with a tennis ball in it. As they run they mark their trail by dropping the ball leaving little circles of flower on the ground. They also use the chalk to make marks. The point of the calk marks is to tell us what to do. They can tell us to sing a song, dance, slap a good game to the runner in front of you and other things. (Since we are all military and we are on a military camp mostly its just silly things. I have heard that back in the States it can get pretty crazy. We keep it pretty PG13 except some of the songs they pick to sing can be pretty crude.) They also can leave false trails to throw you off and keep you guessing and looking for the correct way to go. After about 15 minutes the rest of the pack (the hounds) takes off trying to catch the hares. Normally the trail would take you around to different bars where you stop to get a drink but out here there are only two places that serve alcohol and we are only allowed to have two drinks in a 24 hour period. We usually hit one about halfway through the run, then we end at the other and stay there hanging out.

At the end of the run we gather in a circle and play a drinking game. We take a drink for every penalty we earned while on trail that night. There are weird rules and you get a penalty for every one you break. Here are some examples of the kinds of rules we have. There is usually a specific color shirt we are supposed to wear for each run. If you didn’t wear that color you take a drink. Last time we had to wear hats. I went to the one store we have and got a hat that ended up costing me $15.00 when a beer only costs $4.00 so the one drink from that beer that I would have had to drink if I had not had a hat would have saved me more money than if I had not gotten the hat, but it’s all for fun. Another rule is you can not point at anything or anyone with your fingers. You have to use your elbow or your foot or something. This one is easy to mess up because most people point with their fingers. If it is your first time running you get a specific shirt to wear. It is a white shirt with black tape on the front in the shape of the letter V. V for virgin because it’s your first time. While you run if the tape comes of it’s called losing your virginity. You are not supposed to lose your virginity on trail. If you do you have to take a drink. Most people end up losing their tape. Once you get sweaty it just does not stick anymore.

The whole point is just to have fun, have some drinks and do some exercise. You don’t have to drink if you don’t want to though. I’ve had just water before and drank that and that is fine. No one judges. Tonight will be my 5th time going. Once you have gone 6 times and been the hare once you can be officially named. Meaning that you get a nickname. All the runners who have nicknames already get together and pick out one for you. They are always embarrassing, sometimes sexual, but usually really funny. It wont be long before I can get my nickname. I am nervous about haring though because I am the slowest runner. The hounds will catch me for sure, and that is bad. I am also nervous about what they will pick for my name. Sometimes people don’t like their name. I hope I like mine. Last week three people were up for names but only one person got one. They had trouble thinking of a name for the other two so they were told they had to think about it for another week. I am not sure they know enough dirt about me to make a name up. So it could be very possible that I wont get one even when I meet the requirements if they can’t think of something. But I really love going to the runs.

I have already found two hash groups in Denver where I am from and I plan to run with them when I get back to the states. By that time I am sure I will have a name and hopefully I will be a much faster runner.