More fun than a stick in the eye

[Veronica]

but just barely more fun. :rolleyes:

Drop set bicep curls:

10 reps with a 50 pound bar
15 reps with a 40 pound bar
20 reps with a 30 pound bar.

That's a lot of weight to move around.

Veronica

[SheFly]

I'll take the stick :D.

Good work, V!

SheFly

[Veronica]

Thanks!

I'm surprised my biceps aren't sore today.

Hips and glutes are sore from one legged burpees with a shoulder press.

Veronica

[Veronica]

I just finished up Spinervals Recharge video. It's a good one for me when I'm not feeling particularly motivated to get on the trainer at 5 AM. It's funny how some mornings I'm just feisty as all get out and I'll do the hardest video I have. And other mornings... not so much.

Spinning definitely helps alleviate my muscle soreness from weight work.

Veronica

[Catrin]

but just barely more fun. :rolleyes:

Drop set bicep curls:

10 reps with a 50 pound bar
15 reps with a 40 pound bar
20 reps with a 30 pound bar.

That's a lot of weight to move around.

Veronica

That is indeed a lot of weight - sounds like the same level of effort for our "squat a ton and run" workout. I still think I would take it over the stick though ;)

[Veronica]

Wednesday is leg day.

The fun round today was:

50 lunge jumps holding a 6 lb medicine ball over your head
30 1 legged leg press @ 230 lbs, repeat for other leg
20 kettle bell swings with 26 lb kettle bell, followed by 40 mountain climbers, repeat 2 more times

3 sets of this. Boy, am I hungry!

Veronica

[Catrin]

Wednesday is leg day.

The fun round today was:

50 lunge jumps holding a 6 lb medicine ball over your head
30 1 legged leg press @ 230 lbs, repeat for other leg
20 kettle bell swings with 26 lb kettle bell, followed by 40 mountain climbers, repeat 2 more times

3 sets of this. Boy, am I hungry!

Veronica

That is one good leg workout, no wonder you were hungry :) Your fun round today includes two of my three favorite things (leg presses and KB swings - deadlifts are my third favorite thing). I like the sounds of the lunge jumps, we do them but not with an overhead weight. I am going to remember that for when I am cleared for over-head stuff again...

[Veronica]

Today's workout

3 minutes of jump rope
1 minute of push ups - repeat 3 times

My push up count was 22, 26 and 30 - real push ups.

Did some ab work - leg lifts and crunches holding a 45 pound bar over my head. Oy!!!!!

Then we did some weird kettle bell figure 8 things around your legs. 30 of those followed by a minute of burpees. Repeat 3 times

My burpee count was 20, 24 and 30.

Veronica

[Veronica]

Tough shoulder workout today. I hope I don't need to write much on the whiteboard!

Veronica

[Catrin]

Tough shoulder workout today. I hope I don't need to write much on the whiteboard!

Veronica

Where is the like button? We are still trying to persuade my left shoulder to actually ACT like a shoulder, so I am a bit jealous to hear about your great shoulder workouts :)

[Veronica]

Since my big event this year is an Aquabike, instead of a tri and I've set a pretty fast swim time as my goal. we're spending a lot of time really fatiguing my shoulders and back - moderately heavy weights, lots of reps!

One of the women who works out with me has decided she wants to enter a Power lifting contest. I am envious of her low reps. Not so envious of the heavy weight... :D

Veronica

[Catrin]

I think you are going to have a lot of fun with the Aquabike!

Since my shoulders are limiting me right now, I really want to focus on lower-body strength this year. I can leg-press over 4x's my weight (I actually don't know my 1-rep max for leg presses right now). I want to get away from the leg press machine however and focus more on compound lifting such as deadlifts and back squats. Front-squats are problematical with my shoulders, but back-squats are fine if approached properly. I think compound lifting is far better for me in the long-term than leg-presses. I would LOVE to do some power lifting competition, but I doubt that is in the cards with my shoulder as it is.

Keep us posted, I enjoy reading about your workouts :)

[Veronica]

I have no idea what my max leg press would be. I know I can do 450 pounds multiple times. :D

How about weighted step ups? I always feel those in my glutes.

Veronica

[Catrin]

I have no idea what my max leg press would be. I know I can do 450 pounds multiple times. :D

How about weighted step ups? I always feel those in my glutes.

Veronica

Our trainer has us doing this pretty often - I don't feel them in my glutes however (doesn't mean it isn't working them), for me I feel them in my quads. The box he generally has me use IS pretty high though, at least for a short person. I've been up to ~475 pounds multiple times on the leg press :) I start feeling it in my cranky knee around 450ish, so I really don't want to take it any higher than that...

[Veronica]

I set a new jump rope PR today - 4 minutes straight through. I finished with a big grin on my face. :D

Veronica

[Irulan]

How many is that? That I can finally get to 100 is a big deal for me.

[Veronica]

I don't know, I wasn't counting.:cool:

When she has me go for just a minute I can get 250 - 300 jumps, but I didn't even try to go that fast. I would guess 150 a minute.

Veronica

[Irulan]

I have to go pretty slow or I trip over the rope and my feet.

[Irulan]

I don't know, I wasn't counting.:cool:

When she has me go for just a minute I can get 250 - 300 jumps, but I didn't even try to go that fast. I would guess 150 a minute.

Veronica

Are you sure about that, 250 a minute is 4 jumps per second....that would be pretty impressive.

[Veronica]

Yep, it's flying! I need to videotape it. The rope sounds really cool as it whizzes through the air.

Veronica

[Catrin]

Yep, it's flying! I need to videotape it. The rope sounds really cool as it whizzes through the air.

Veronica

I would love to see that if you ever get a chance to tape it. I am SUCH a klutz where this is concerned, but I've not done it for over 40 years...

[Veronica]

Now I'm tired. It's been a busy 24 hours: 80+ minutes on the trainer yesterday after work, workout with Shawna at 5 this morning - legs, and another 80 minutes on the trainer after work.

I'm glad tomorrow is our day to sleep late!

Veronica

[Veronica]

Today's fun:
leg press - 270 pounds 30 reps, followed by 20 squat jumps holding a ten pound medicine ball over my head
round 2 - 360 pounds, 20 reps, 30 squat jumps w/ ball
round 3 - 450 pounds, 10 reps, 40 squat jumps w/ ball


I also did deep squats, with chains attached to the bar, jumps onto the 24 inch box and hamstring curls. :p

Veronica

[Catrin]

Sounds like a lot of fun! I really like the leg press/squat progression and I am sure your legs are/were talking to you. Trying to picture how it worked with the chains, I've not seen that.

[Veronica]

http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/486061_554258344586675_1056599484_n.jpg

The chains hang off the bar outside the weights and weigh 20 pounds each. As you go down, it gets easier because the chain starts to sit on the ground. Going back up is a bit tougher. :D

If my trainer posts any pictures of the cage with the chains, I'll snag it.

Veronica

[Catrin]

The chains hang off the bar outside the weights and weigh 20 pounds each. As you go down, it gets easier because the chain starts to sit on the ground. Going back up is a bit tougher. :D

If my trainer posts any pictures of the cage with the chains, I'll snag it.

Veronica

Nice! We use olympic bars and a rack for our squatting so this wouldn't work for us (when the squat isn't part of a barbell complex) but I like the dynamic change that occur as you change directions. You get a little relief on the way down, and more effort standing up. Cool!

[Veronica]

I am happy to see that all the work I have been doing is paying off. After a good ten mile warm up on yesterday's ride we got to a section that is lots of rollers and is just fast and fun. I was leading and keeping a pretty steady twenty mph pace when my HRM told me it was time to drink. I felt like some guy in the pro peloton as I reached down, grabbed my bottle, drank and put it back, all the while maintaining that twenty mph pace.:D BTW - it was 20 mph through this section. Other parts were much slower. :rolleyes:

Further into the ride there is a long shallow hill that I just flew up. Thom had his music going and a good song came on and I just took off. The same song came on as we turned onto the last hill to come home and I did a nice, standing spin at 15 mph - UPHILL :p. I've been doing a lot of Spinervals in addition to weight work and it's kinda fun to just have that ability to suddenly sprint.

Veronica

[Veronica]

After 4 rounds of squats, drop set leg extension (ugh!), hamstring curls and ball curl ins, I got to do something fun.

Burpees with the 18 inch step, hands on the step, do the burpee then jump onto the step - 20 reps. Followed by one legged burpees with the 12 inch step! One foot in the Trx strap, hands on the step, do the burpee and then a one legged jump onto the step. Eight reps per side. Three rounds of this.

I really like things that involve balance and jumping.

Veronica

[Biciclista]

you're a strong woman! best i could ever do was 25 pound bicep curls..!

[Veronica]

It's always fun to read through an old post. I think I set a new PR with bicep curls today. My first set was 15 reps with 50 pounds. Second set was 12 reps with 60 pounds. I could only do 10 on my own. Third set was 10 with 70 pounds. A whooping one by myself. :D

Veronica

[Irulan]

Jumping is fun. This first time I jumped onto the #2 box I just about peed myself I was so excited. I never thought I'd be able to do that.

[Catrin]

Kudos to both of you - that is seriously cool Veronica! Irulan, was today the first time you jumped on the #2 box? Is that the 20 or the 24 inch box? I've stopped box jumps because of my jumping related klutziness but it IS fun!

[Crankin]

I used to be afraid to jump up on the step with one riser. I couldn't do it 2 footed (is that a word?). I am ok with this now, and recently, I've been thinking about trying 2 risers, not just for jumps, which we don't always do, but for the tabata routines and other intervals we use the step for. I can handle the forward facing ones, but there are a few turning steps I worry about, that I might trip and kill myself. Once, when we were using the steps for some resistance work, or something that wasn't hard, our instructor (who is the age of my older son), said everyone had to use 2 risers. When I got a look of fear in my face, someone said, "you can do it," and I heard her (the instructor) say, "of course she can, I don't know why she doesn't." Over time, I have become one of the few who only uses one riser. The others have to do a much more modified routine than me, especially in terms of their cardio capacity. I think one of the things that scares me, is how short my legs are. It makes some of the steps a lot more challenging. I have the steps truly ingrained in my muscle memory,f rom teaching, but still...

[Catrin]

I hear you Crankin, it took me several years to learn how to jump 2-footed. I've never jumped higher than the 16 inch box (we have 12, 16, 20 and 24 inch carpeted boxes), but I've never braved the 20 inch. My former drill sgt. coach never pushed me either, he saw me fall on it just enough. If you don't feel safe...

[Irulan]

Kudos to both of you - that is seriously cool Veronica! Irulan, was today the first time you jumped on the #2 box? Is that the 20 or the 24 inch box? I've stopped box jumps because of my jumping related klutziness but it IS fun!

Not today, a couple of years ago. 20" maybe? I love doing it but it makes my knees hurt.

[Catrin]

Not today, a couple of years ago. 20" maybe? I love doing it but it makes my knees hurt.

It IS fun, but yes, it hurts. My KB coach has had me stop it along with a few other things (and adding new things). He IS preparing me for competition in 6 months, so it is in my best interest to listen. The proof is in the pudding, and with his coaching I am able to do overhead work that I was convinced (as was my last coach) that I would never be able to do!

How are you with jumping rope? I've still not really mastered that, apparently my feet just aren't that coordinated :o

[Crankin]

I can't jump rope, either. I couldn't as a kid, but had a brief spurt in my twenties, when I used to jump rope for 15-20 minutes, in my apartment, for my cardio! Nothing fancy, though. Whenever the jump ropes come out in class, which is not often, I pretend jump rope, so no embarrassment.

[Jolt]

Count me in as another member of the "can't jump rope worth a hill of beans" club. I hated when we had indoor recess (due to yucky weather) in elementary school and would jump rope...it was always embarrassing for me to be so bad at it next to the other kids.

[Catrin]

I can fake it, basically skipping with the rope, I can't jump with both feet at the same time. My cranky knee doesn't like it. When my former coach brought out the jump ropes we only had 2 options - 90 double-unders or 270 singles :eek:

[Irulan]

I finally can crank out 100 jumps non stop, sometimes. I found the key to not tripping or blowing up is 1. Slow down, pick a speed that you can maintain, and 2. Hands somewhat wide....that seems to really help. Comes down to whether it's a good day or a bad one though.