As for the excuses, excuses part of this post, I want to let all my regular readers and commentors know I appreciate your patronage even though I haven't responded, or returned your visit with a visit to your site, or dropped an entrecard on you as of late. I have a good excuse or three. My son came down with a case of conjunctivitis early this week and I had to pick him up at school and keep him home two days. Not to mention the frustrations of eye drops 4 times a day. The kid won't open his eyes!
If you don't think having an active eight year old home all day and up half the night (he isn't sick so much as bored) isn't an excuse to neglect your webly duties you don't have kids. (Or maybe yours are well mannered! Mine thinks I'm his personal Jeeves!)
On top of that, I'm going around with a bottle of Clorox Anywhere spray and paper towels cleaning every surface he might touch like an obsessive compulsive. Hey, I don't want him to reinfect himself or infect us.
Reason three, or is that four, is my kittens have learned to climb and so we spend time babysitting them when they're out of their cage / den playing. I'm trying to keep them in their den as long as possible at night to protect them. So when I want them to stay inside I have to turn the den into a fortress with strategically placed pieces of cardboard (on cardboard they can't get traction and climb out). Soon they'll be spending nights in the bathroom where there's a litter box.
So, my limited time to myself these few days was spent working out. After his Daddy gets home from work at 2:30 pm he has been making Bruno water his garden and help with outdoor horsey work to give me time. (Normally Bruno is at school or on the bus from 7:50 am until 4:30 pm). I chose to work out instead of web surf...I have my priorities folks and my body trumps your websites. Sorry.
(Tip: the use of variables in weightlifting makes your workouts more effective by hitting more muscles and at different angles. For example, squats, calve raises, and lunges should be performed in wide stance, narrow stance, and medium stance. Calve raises can be done with toes straight, pointed out, and pointed in. Use of equipment like the BOSU, Urban Rebounder, Go Fit disc, uSurf, and a step change the height and stability (you want instability) of your work surface and recruit muscles in different ways. All these variables equal more muscle involvement and more muscle mass gain).
Monday I did a Chest & Back workout: 10 sets each of 15 - 35 reps of
1. Pull Ups (25 reps)
2. Push Ups on the Bosu (35 reps)
3. Back Rows with 15 pound dumbbells (15 reps - time to up the weight!)
4. Chest Presses with 45 pound bands (15 reps)
5. Lawn Mowers with 15 pound dumbbells (15 reps)
6. Chest Flyes with 45 pound bands (15 reps)
7. Pull Ups (20 reps)
8. Push Ups alternating one hand on the Go Fit Disc, one hand on the floor (15 reps per side, total 30 reps)
9. Back Rows with 15 pound dumbbells (15 reps)
10. Chest Flyes with 45 pound bands (15 reps)
REPEAT.
Tuesday - Leg Day was 10 sets each of lunges, squats, calf raises.
Set One
1. Sideways lunges one foot on the floor, lifted leg moved onto the Urban Rebounder,
(25 reps per leg)
2. Squats with 15 pound dumbell (25 reps)
3. Straight calf raises (45 reps)
Set Two
4. Front lunges onto Urban Rebounder (25 reps per leg)
5. Wall Squats, 20 second intervals per angle (5 reps each at two angles)
6. Calve raises (15 reps each of toes together, heels together, straight)
Set Three
7. Speed Skaters (25 reps per leg)
8, Squats on the Bosu (25 reps)
9. Straight calf raises on the Bosu (45 reps)
Set Four
10. Squats on the uSurf (20 reps)
11. Lunges on the uSurf (20 reps per leg)
12. Straight calf raises on the uSurf (30 reps)
Set Five
13. Deep Seat Squats on Urban Rebounder (25 reps)
14. Side Lunge / Side Kick (25 reps per side)
15. Loading Deck (25 reps per side with 15 pound dumbbell)
Set Six
16. Squats on Bosu (25 reps)
17. Front Lunge on Go Fit Disc (25 reps per leg)
18. Three angle calf raises (15 reps per angle)
Set Seven
19. Weighted squats (25 reps with 15 pounds)
20. Side lunge on Go Fit Disc (25 per leg)
21. Straight one-leg calf raises (15 per leg)
Set Eight
22. Squats with One Leg on the Go Fit Disc (20 per side)
23. Standing Lunges (25 per leg)
24. Three Angle Calf Raises at Two Speeds (15 slow per angle, 10 fast per angle)
Set Nine
25. Squats on the Bosu (20 reps)
26. Front Lunges onto Urban Rebounder (20 reps)
27. Straight calf raises at two speeds (15 reps each speed)
Set Ten
28. Wall Squats (same as number 5)
29. Speed Skaters (same as number 7)
30. Three angle calf raises (45 reps)
This workout was about 90 minutes with water breaks and the occasional interruption.
Wednesday was Ten Sets of Biceps, Triceps, Shoulders.
(Note: Muscle & Fitness magazine has a great training article "Fine Tune Your Delts" in the June 2008 issue. I started incorporating their minor adjustments and can really feel the difference. I rarely buy Muscle & Fitness Hers as it's incredibly skimpy compared to the original magazine and the training principles in the original are better suited to serious lifters).
Set One
1. Bench Dips (triceps - 25 reps)
2. Concentration Bicep Curls (15 pounds - 15 reps per arm)
3. Military Shoulder Press (20 pounds - 15 reps
Set Two
4. Overhead Trceps (12 per arm - 15 reps each)
5. Alternating Bicep Curl (15 pounds - 15 reps)
6. Side Lateral Shoulder Raise (12 pounds - 12 reps)
Set Three
7. Tricep Dumbbell Kickback (12 pounds - 12 reps per side)
8. Bicep Hammer Curls (15 pounds - 15 reps)
9. Upright Rows (15 pounds - 15 reps)
Set Four
10. Bench Dips (25 reps)
11. Dumbbell Curls with Lateral Rotation (15 pound - 12 reps)
12. 90 Degree Arnold Press (12 pounds per arm - 12 reps)
Set Five
13. Overhead Tricep Curls (12 pounds - 12 reps)
14. Incline Seated Hammer Curls (15 pounds - 12 reps)
15. Barbell Front to Overhead Raise (25 pound -12 reps)
Set Six
16. Tricep Dumbbell Kickback (12 pounds - 10 reps)
17. Alternating Hammer Curls and Front Curls (8 reps each - 12.5 pounds)
18. Lateral Shoulder Raises (12 pounds - 12 reps)
Set Seven
19. Bench Dips (20 reps)
20. Concentration Curls (15 pounds - 12 reps per arm)
21. Overhead Press (12 pounds - 10 rep sper arm)
Set Eight
22. Overhead Two Hand Tricep (20 pounds - 12 reps)
23. Power 90X Style Punch Curls (25 per side - 35 pound bands)
24. Upright Rows (15 pounds - 15 reps)
Set Nine
25. Tricep Kickbacks (12 pounds - 10 reps)
26. Alternate Hammer and Front Curls (15 pounds - 15 reps)
27. Dumbbell Press (12 pounds per arm - 12 reps)
Set Ten
28.Bench Dips (25 reps)
29. Dumbbell Curls with Lateral Rotation (15 pound - 12 reps)
30. 90 Degree Arnold Press (12 pounds per arm - 12 reps)
Thursday - Today will be my second leg day and pretty much a repeat of Tuesday's workout.
UPDATE: I did ten sets each of squats (25 reps per set), calves (45 reps per set), lunges (25 reps per set) with the variations listed above in my Tuesday workout but in a different order.
CALORIES! CALORIES! CALORIES!
Average nutrition on a weightlifting day: 1895 calories, 153 grams Protein (34 %), 138 grams carbs (25 %), 83 grams fat (41%).
On days where I combine weightlifting and aerobics I add some carbs: average 2205 calories, 150 grams protein, 205 gram carbohydrates, 80 grams fat.
And when time crunched like this week - or I'm on a mass gain mission - I always favor weightlifting over aerobics. Aerobics tends not to change your body shape the way building muscle mass does.
Foods eaten this week in no particular order: guacamole, peppers, tomatoes, salmon, eggs, cheese, protein powder, blackberries, oatmeal, sweet potatoes, spinach, round steak, double fiber English muffins, 100% whole wheat buns, tuna, chicken, corn tortillas, salsa, bananas, yogurt, celery, onions, strawberries, carrots, apples, Smart Balance mayo and margarine, flax oil, olive oil, olives, peanut butter, broccoli, green beans, squash,
beef roast, ginger snaps (only 5 at 130 calories) and PIZZA! (380 calories for 1/5 of pizza).
Beverages consumed are two cups of black coffee before breakfast, a gallon of ice water with lime juice, and a few glasses of wine in the evening. (Hey, I'm not a Spartan).
(My supplements are listed on my sidebar).
