Weekly post and icons

[cereta]

I know it's been a while, but: what did you do this week?

Also, I don't know about anyone else, but I would love an icon for posts about lifting heavy things. So I'm putting out a call. Ideas? Icons you want to share?

Comments

[cereta]

I've started working with a trainer again, so there was lifting this week. We're mostly concentrating on upper body and core right now, although I am very, very proud that I can do a near-perfect squat with no balance aid, and have slowly started adding weight to it. I'm up to eight squats with 10 lb dumbbells in each hand.

The core stuff we're doing is brutal, mostly involving lots and lots of planks with variations. For example, the newest one is a push-up plank where I bring one leg forward (toe on floor in line with my other knee), hold for 3-5 seconds, then put it back and do the other leg, and repeat as many times as I can. I'm up to three reps, although the thing that inevitably causes me to fail is my hands or feet slipping or my arms giving out. I'm doing lots of stuff like that, push-up and elbow planks where I lift a leg, or switching from one to the other. If I may boast a little, my trainer says I'm way ahead of the three basketball players he's training in the plank area.

What's shocking to me with all that is that I have very little soreness the next day (or the day after; I'm told 48 hours later is max soreness). I don't know if that's good or not ;).

[supermouse]

I have to say that, from where I am, where you are seems unimaginably far away. It's great to read.
If it is bad to not hurt, your trainer will no doubt pick up on your lack of progress quickly enough. Keep on rocking!

[cereta]

Heh. In fairness, my endurance is crap, and I lost ground from last spring on lifting. But I had been keeping up the elbow planks on the WiiFit, so I have the basic plank down pretty well. These variations are brutal, though. I kind of love them ;).

[rydra_wong]

I commend the plank party to your attention. *g*

[tellitslant]

Wow. That plank sounds brutal but, yes, kind of fun.

[cereta]

It makes me feel very powerful ;).

[supermouse]

I did some shovelglove - exercises with a sledgehammer-wrapped-in-a-jumper, used while imagining various pre-industrial tasks for fourteen minutes or less a day (I usually manage about two). The imaginative aspect of it makes it non-boring to me. You buy heavier sledgehammers as you get stronger. Mine is quite light.

[cereta]

Ooh, fun! My trainer has me doing a sledgehammer swing, albeit with a dumbbell ;).

[supermouse]

I 'chop wood' and 'fight orcs' and 'wash the blood out of clothes' mostly.

[rydra_wong]

I like your narrative here!

[yvi]

I did a really good, exhausting work-out on Sunday, with lunges and front squat/push presses and step-ups and a few other things. I felt nicely sore the next two days. Unfortunately, on the day I wanted to continue, Tuesday, I had a car accident. I sprained my wrists and have some back pain from the impact and hence, haven't done anything since then. But I'll continue tomorrow.

[sophiap]

Ack! You poor thing. I hope you have a swift recovery from the accident.

[daedala]

I'm just finishing my fourth week of New Rules of Lifting for Women! We haven't missed or put off any workouts, and I've been doing well with everything except the stupid lunges. Tomorrow, I have the first workout of week 5 and a massage scheduled for after.

[supermouse]

Congratulations!

[sophiap]

Awesome! I did the program last year and loved it. I'll be doing a variation of it again later this year, once I'm done with this new program.

[daedala]

ISTR you mean the Abs one -- is that right? Because if you could report on it, I'd be grateful. I'm totally planning on doing that next.

[sophiap]

Yup! That's the one! I do plan to do a write-up in the near future.

[rydra_wong]

This week, I have mostly been being grumpy because I strained my back. So, nothing except climbing (traversing only).

But I can make icons ... *cranks up GIMP*

[tellitslant]

Back to the gym after so very long away today! In terms of lifting I mostly did some arm and chest machines, because after running on the elliptical for an hour I don't really want to a) think or b) work my legs much further. But oh it felt good! :D

[resolute]

Wednesday was a lifting day, so today will be as well -- we're heading to the Y in an hour or so. I am ALMOST back to where I was before I bunged up my left rotator cuff. (My diagnosis, not a physician's. But six months of rest followed by gentle stretches and lifting seem to have done the rehab.) I go back and forth between doing fewer squats with more weight, or more with no weight. Both seem useful. And I have decided to really dedicate myself to shoulder work.

[supermouse]

Best wishes with healing quickly.

[xenacryst]

Wednesday was my day at the gym, and I did a mile on the elliptical. My leg and ankle is doing sooo much better, and I did tai chi for a while with 5 pound weights in each hand. Then a variety of things on various arms and shoulders machines, a bit on abdomen, and finishing up with a leg machine thingy that I'm using until I'm strong enough to do squats again. Then I spent 10 minutes in the sauna.

[lyorn]

I have started on the "New Rules of Lifting for Women" program and am currently at Stage 1, workout 3B. Weight progression is going nicely, and in general it's a lot of fun. All those planks are paying off, I find the prone jackknives and the crunches very easy. The barbell is still scary.

Best thing is that I found that my still-hurting shoulder is completely indifferent to overhead movements or large movements in general (e.g. lifing instead of curls). Very little pain!

[xochiquetzl]

I lifted heavy things! :)

I do a split routine in the mornings: chest, triceps, and shoulders on Monday and Thursday, back and biceps on Tuesday and Friday, and lower body on Wednesday and Saturday.

I need heavier dumbbells, and the place I used to buy them at closed. Woe!

[rydra_wong]

FWIW, I found it extremely useful to get an adjustable dumbbell set -- something like this:

http://www.amazon.com/Cap-Barbell-40-Pound-Dumbbell-Set/dp/B000VCDXNS

You don't have to buy new dumbbells each time you want to go heavier, and you also get the weight plates to play with (three of mine are currently strung on some sturdy webbing for exercises to fix my finger tendons).

[daedala]

Agreed on adjustables, but that particular set seems pretty light -- I've just restarted working out, and it wouldn't be anywhere near enough. (40 lbs total = 20 lb each dumbbell... I started workout out again four weeks ago, and I need more weight on squats, deadlifts, and one-arm rows). I'd suggest something that went up to at least 40 on each side, preferably more.

[rydra_wong]

Good point.

My thinking is that beyond a certain point, it may be cheaper to check out a gym and use the barbells (I am not getting a barbell set at home, dammit*). But that may be partly because I've got access to a cheap local council gym.

I have a lightweight adjustable dumbbell kit for oddball stuff (often unilateral) at home, plus a couple of kettlebells and clubbells tucked into a corner.

... actually, we should totally have a "Show off your exercise equipment collection!" post.

{*Okay, this is because I wouldn't be able to fit a squat rack into my tiny abode.}

[daedala]

Yeah, there are more reasons to use dumbbells more extensively than cost. I don't drive at all and live in a city that is only kind of "medium good" for public transit. The extra forty-five mintues for commuting makes it much less likely that I'll go anywhere. My partner and I have agreed that when the dumbbells really aren't enough for me, we'll join a gym and he'll drive me. :) He doesn't care enough to do it for himself, though I'm sure he could lift much more than he currently is. I was amazed that he'd never done free weights before!

The problems are the squats and deadlifts -- I'm not sure many other exercises that really need lots of weight and can't really be substituted (for example: bench presses can be replaced with pushup progressions) and I've got quite a bit of room left in the deadlifts. Squats are more of a problem, since I'm trying to hold the weight up rather than just replicating the deadlift movement. What I've been doing is goblet squats + working range of motion on squat days, and not worrying so much about ROM with the deadlifts (though I am careful to keep good form in the range I can manage). I have really sucky flexibility, so this seems to work ok.

Ok, I suppose technically you can substitute pistols for squats and deadlifts, but see above: re sucky flexibility. :)

[rydra_wong]

I don't drive at all and live in a city that is only kind of "medium good" for public transit. The extra forty-five mintues for commuting makes it much less likely that I'll go anywhere.

*winces* Yeah, that's tough. And a very good reason to spend more on gym stuff for home.

[daedala]

It is worth checking out used fitness places for the adjustable dumbbells Rydra recommended -- I got a new set of powerblocks for about 50% off at a Second Wind (that store had a fair amount of new "accessory" type stuff to go with the big machines). I had to get a cab home and carry it up to my apartment in three trips, but it was totally worth it: they go up to 50 lbs in 5 or 2.5 lb increments, they're well balanced, and they're super sturdy.

Going on the last day of the month may help you get a lower price because they have month-end quotas -- I remain convinced that the set I got was not supposed to be on sale. :)

[sophiap]

What with work, I only made it to the gym twice this week. I'm doing the follow-up to New Rules of Lifting for Women* and enjoying it very much. I've found that the length of time I can hold a plank varies from workout to workout. I think the fact that I did yardwork today may have cut into my hold time.

* The rather misleadingly titled "New Rules of Lifting for Abs." It's heavy on the core stuff, and the authors have a generous definition of 'core' (they include lats). Good stuff so far, and it builds well on NRoL4W. I'll try to post a review in the next several days.