Last Workout of 2011!

I finished the year strong with a good leg workout!

Hang Power Cleans:
95x3
105x3
115x3

Squats:
140x3
160x3
180x5-with a belt and a spotter-these were not easy reps!

More squats: 5 sets of 10 with 105-100-100-95-95

Sprints:
After a short warmup, I started at 10 mph at a 5% incline for 20 seconds and worked up to 12 mph at 8.5% incline for 10 seconds, with about a minute rest between sprints. 10x

Bench Press

After a warmup:

Bench press:
85x3
100x3
115x5 (satisfied with this, since last week I only got 5 reps with 110)

1 arm db row:
55x9
55x9
50x10
45x10
40x10

DB bench press:
45x9
40x10
35x10
35x10
30x10

-Superset with-

Wide grip pullups
8 sets of 5

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4ABRjQiP5k

Deads

After a warmup, I started my workout with 3 sets of 3 power snatches, working up to 75lbs.

Deadlift:
155x3
175x3
200x5

Trapbar Deadlift:
125x10
125x10
115x10x3

-Superset with-

Weighted situps on decline bench, 5 sets with 15lbs overhead

Conditioning:
10 minutes, as many rounds as I could get of-

12 kettlebell swings with 25lbs
15 double unders
7 rounds

Presses and Muscle Ups!

I had a good upper body workout today! Even though I was tired and didn't really feel like working out.  Sometimes those days are when you have the best workouts. That's why you should definitely go to the gym on those days when you don't feel like it! Make yourself do it, and you'll be glad you did.

After a warmup, here's what I did:

Muscle Ups(haven't done these in a few weeks):
3 sets of 5, coming off the rings after each one. The first 2 sets, I did the first 2 in a row. One day I hope to string 5 together!

Here's a clip of my muscle ups:

Overhead Press: (This was 3x3 week on Wendler)
75x3
85x7 -> PR! Yay!

Dumbbell overhead press:
30x8/25x8/20x10/20x10/15x10

-Superset with-

Neutral grip weighted pullups:
0x3/20x3/25x3/35x3/35x3/40x3/0x7/0x6/0x5/0x5

Finisher:  I did about 7 minutes of battle ropes, doing 20 seconds of ropes and about 30 seconds rest.

Squats and Sprints

Merry Christmas Eve!

Another weak workout today...I don't know what is up with my squats, but they suck lately.

Squats:
135x5
155x5
170x5

Squats:
5 sets of 10 - 115/110/100/90/90 -
Those "high rep" squats were HARD for me!!!! And such a puny weight.

Good mornings(first time EVER doing these):
45x10
65x10
65x10

Hanging leg raise-3 sets of 10

Sprints on the treadmill:
I did 15- 20 second sprints, about a minute rest, working up to 12 mph on a 6% incline, for 10-15 minutes.

Bench Day

Disappointed in today's bench press workout.  Felt weak and didn't get as many reps on the last set as I would've liked. But I made sure to push harder the rest of my workout! Not sure if I should continue on this program as my weights/reps are not going up.....what's the point of doing a powerlifting program if you're not getting stronger???? But anyways, here's what I did today:

Bench Press:
90x5
100x5
110x5(boo)

1 arm dumbbell rows:
55x9
55x9
50x10
45x10
40x10

Here's my first set of dumbbell rows with 55lbs:

Db chest press:
5 sets of 10 with 45-40-40-35-25lbs    -superset with-

Wide grip pullups:
7 (or 8?) sets of 5
2 sets of handstand pushups x5 reps, supersetted with my last 2 sets of pullups

LOTS of Deadlifts

Today was deadlift day! Deadlifts are now one of my favorite exercises. I only started doing them a year ago when I started CrossFit. I have no clue WHY I never did them before!!

Warmup:  lunges, hip lifts, hip mobility drills, light stretching, light deadlifts

Hang Power Snatches-3 sets of 5, working up to 65lbs (I still suck at these)

Deadlifts:
145x5
165x5
185x6

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyK_MjqzRhU
Trap bar deadlifts(first time doing these)-5 easy sets of 10 reps-115lbs

Weighted decline bench situps - 4 sets of 10 w/10-15lbs. I hold the weight over my head-these are super hard for me!

Conditioning:  21-15-9  box jumps(22") and kettlebell swings(25lbs). Took me about 5 minutes.

Pullups

Weighted pullups 20lbs x5 reps

Military Press Day and Battle Rope Fun!

I had a great upper body workout today!

This is the first week of my third cycle of Wendler's 5/3/1 program. This week calls for 3 sets of 5 with 65,75 & 85% of your 1 rep max. The last set you try to get as many reps as possible. I'm hoping to do better than last month, because I seem to be at a stall with some of my weights. :(

Warmup: jump rope, pushups, arm swings

Barbell Military Press:
65x5
70x5
80x6(I wanted to get 7 with this, but I just barely got 6!)
70x6

Overhead dumbbell press:
30x8/30x8/25x10/25x10/20x10
 
*superset with*

Neutral grip pullups(first 5 sets with weight):
20x5/20x5/20x5/15x5/15x5/0x5/0x5/0x5

Then I did couple sets of handstand pushups just for fun! :)

And to finish I did a fun little conditioning workout with battle ropes that was actually quite brutal! I've never used the ropes before, so I figured I'd try something new and that'd it be a good finisher for my upper body. I did 20 seconds of rope (I alternated between using both arms and alternating) & 20seconds of mountain climbers, 5 times. I rested long enough to feel somewhat recovered. Boy, were my triceps on fire!!

I ended with 2 sets of ab wheel rollouts for 10 reps. These are also something I've never done before. I love doing new things! :)

Just a Lil' About Me!

Just a little background information on me! This may be a long one, but I promise this will be the last long post! :) I'm going to use this blog to track my workouts and occasionally post videos from my workouts as well. So, to get started....

Well, first off, I guess I should mention that I played softball since I was 9 years old, through high school.

I started weight training when I was 12 or 13 years old. My dad gave me a set of little 3lb pink dumbbells, and ever since then I was hooked! He showed me a few exercises to do to strengthen my arms for softball(I was a pitcher), and it just progressed from there. I instantly fell in love with lifting weights, and I haven't stopped since.

As I got stronger, my dad got me heavier dumbbells. I would go through a full body routine with those weights in my bedroom all through middle school and high school.  After a while of doing this, I slowly started seeing physical changes. I was starting to grow some muscle on my skinny little body, and I loved it! I remember being so proud of my little biceps!

Now, 14 years later, I am just as in love with lifting weights as ever.  Well, that's not really true-I love it even MORE!  My love for fitness led me to get a degree in exercise science from the University of Louisville, and I have currently been a personal trainer for almost 5 years now. Health and fitness is truly my passion.

I absolutely LOVE lifting heavy, and my goal is to show women that they can lift heavy weights without the fear of getting "huge" or looking like a man. It's time for that myth to go away already! I mean, I've been doing this for 14 years, and I don't think I look like a man yet!

Strength training is one of the BEST things you can do for youself as a woman, in my opinion. Not only for health reasons(and there are SO many), but also for the confidence it gives you and the way it transforms your body. Nothing is better than being strong, feeling good, and having confidence. So ditch the 5lb barbie weights, please!

So anyways, when I was 18, I met my current husband, who was also an athlete and very into lifting. Meeting him just furthered my love for fitness, and he taught me a lot of new things about training and nutrition. We started going to the gym together, and he put me on a training "split" where I was training one or two muscle groups each day(back one day, chest one day, legs one day, etc). I continued this bodybuilding routine for about 8 years, with good results. I got stronger, increased my weights and was slowly building more muscle.  I was determined to look like a fitness model one day! I became obsessed with bodybuilding and read everything about it that I could.

When I got my nutrition on track, that is when I really started seeing results. For so many years I thought I was eating right and was wondering why I wasn't seeing results fast enough as far as muscle growth. In the last few years, I have focused on eating mostly real, quality food and less processed food. I increased my protein intake, as well as my healthy fats and have seen a huge difference in my body composition. I gained muscle and lost body fat. I also started focusing on the big, compound lifts like squats, rows, shoulder presses, and pullups, using more weight for less reps.

Then about a year ago, I discovered CrossFit. I had heard of it before, but wasn't really sure what it was all about. After some convincing by others at my gym, I decided to give it a try. I'm always up for a challenge! I'm not one to do something half way, so I stopped my bodybuilding workouts completely and started following the WODs(workout of the day) listed on the CrossFit mainsite(Crossfit.com). 

My workouts went from just working one or two muscle groups a day, to pretty much working my full body in every single workout. The WODs were completely different every day and lasted anywhere from 5 minutes to 45 minutes! They consisted of things like box jumps, pullups, power cleans, kettlebell swings, thrusters, situps, push presses, and handstand pushups, and so many other things! The workouts were always a race against the clock, which made them super challenging. The goal was to try to complete the workout in the fastest time possible.

 I really fell in love with CrossFit because it was something new, exciting and challenging. It brought out my inner athlete and my competitive side.  It made me realize just how much I missed training like an athlete, and I also realized how out of shape I was!! So many years of lifting weights and doing no cardio had made me pretty strong...but my conditioning, however, was NOT so good.

So I did CrossFit for a a little over a year and am still including some aspects of it into my current program. It was nice to have a break from the way I had been training for so long and to try something new-it was just fun! I also loved that I didn't have to worry about planning out my workouts!

A few months ago, I decided I wanted to focus more on my strength, so I cut back on the CrossFit WODs and started doing Jim Wendler's 5-3-1 powerliftng program. On this program, you do the 4 major lifts-military presses, deadlifts, squats, and bench press, with some assistance work and conditioning in there, too.  The focus is mostly on the main lifts and getting stronger on those with each cycle.

I have done 2 cycles of that program so far, and next week I will be starting my 3rd. I have not seen as much progress as I would have liked with this program as far as strength goes. In fact, some of my lifts seemed to have gotten weaker(SQUATS!). This is no good, since the main reason I started the program was to get stronger! I'm going to do one more cycle, and then after that I am going to try a new upper/lower split. I will still be doing all the main lifts and try to get stronger on those, but my main focus will be hypertrophy.  I want more muscle!

Even though building muscle is my main goal, I am never going to go back to a bodybuilding routine. After doing CrossFit and powerlifting, I just don't think I could go to the gym and do some of the things I used to do, like lateral raises, leg extensions, or tricep kickbacks! I am going to incorporate things I learned from doing CrossFit into my workouts, such as muscle ups, double unders, power cleans/snatches, kettlebell swings, and handstand pushups. For conditioning, I'm going to run sprints and start doing some stuff with the Prowler, which I've never done before. I'm excited to try some new things!

Okay, so now that I have written a BOOK, I think I will stop now! I hope I didn't bore you to death...those who have been reading my other blog know most of this stuff already, so I'm sorry you had to suffer through this...if you read it all!

I will start posting my workouts next week!

Hi!

Welcome to my training log blog! :)