2012 Weight Goals

I haven’t been weighing myself much lately. I checked my weight and measurements (waist and hip) before I started marathon training in September and sporadically throughout my training to make sure that I wasn’t over or under eating for the amount of exercise I was getting. I wanted my weight to stay consistent and it did. I hovered around 165lbs, give or take 2 pounds, for the entire 4 months (yes, I do know how much more 165lb is than 147lb)

I have been paying close attention to how my pants fit and while marathon training I found that they were feeling pretty damn tight around the waist (the first place on my body where weight starts to creep on). Since my weight was consistent I wasn’t too concerned though I was, quite frankly, uncomfortable. And I felt a bit schlumpy (<– not a real word, but you catch my drift).

I went straight back to weightlifting after the marathon with this workout and have been at it for almost 3 weeks now. Nothing makes me feel better than pushing some weight around (except maybe kicking teenage boys in the balls, but that’s another story) so I was happy to turn my focus to that instead of running.

It didn’t take long for me to start feeling awesome again. Last week I noticed that felt lighter and tighter and generally mahvelous.

My tight pants were fitting better which made my 8-hours-sitting-on-your-ass job more comfy. I checked my measurements right away because I like the validation:

Waist size – down a 2 centimeters (I knew it!)
Hip size – stayed the same (perfect! I like big butts and I cannot lie)
Weight – up 3 pounds (yes! . . .wait, I mean no! what? up 3lbs?!? say wha??)

I freaked out for about a second and a half, asking the scale if he was fucking kidding me. Didn’t he see my measurements!? Didn’t he know that I wasn’t stuffed like a sausage in my pants today?!

Then I told him to go to hell once again, because he lies and can’t be trusted.

I felt good and I looked good and that was good enough for me.

I’m really coming around and starting to realize that my weight has little to do with how I feel about myself and my body confidence.

So I’m going to focus on more important weight goals this year ie. how much weight I can push around.

2012 Beast Mode Goals

To be completed at some point by the end of the year

-Back Squats: 225lb (as deep as I can go with my tight shins)

-Bench Press: my body weight

-Pull Ups: 5 unassisted

-Push-Ups: 100 consecutive

Right now I’m adding a lot more push-ups into my training plan to complete the push-up goal, and generally trying to build back any of the strength I lost during marathon training.

New 4 Day Workout Split

It’s been a little over a week since my marathon and my ass is killing me. Not from the run though, that pain subsided a couple days after, but from weightlifting.

I had been doing a couple of full body weightlifting sessions while I was training, but now I’m trying to get back into it more seriously now that I don’t have to spend 6 hours a week running.

I’m doing a 4 day upper/lower body split workout (my favourite kind) with lots of really good compound exercises like Turkish get-ups and dumbbell snatches. I also included tibia raises in there which I don’t normally do, to try to improve my range of motion for my squats.

Click the image below for a pdf version of the workout.

So I’ll be working on this new training plan for the next 4 weeks or so.

I wore my new lululemon pants that I bought from an outlet store in Orlando when I finished the marathon.

<- saggy crotch

The closest I have ever come to anything lulu is making fun of the pretentious yogis that wear it, but I caved this time because the pants were super cheap, a good material, and looked pretty decent. I realized today that the crotch is a bit saggy in a way that could only be rectified by having a set of testicles.

Luckily I have a vagina, but that just means I’ll have to live with my saggy-crotched pretentious yoga pants.

Tonight for dinner I made some delicious cilantro lime fish tacos from this recipe on Closet Cooking that I pinned on Monday.

I’ve never had fish tacos before and I thought they tasted really good (I especially liked the cilantro lime sour cream it’s topped with) but to be honest I prefer beef tacos.

I would definitely make them again though and would recommend this recipe. Instead of grilling I pan fried the fish, but I would love to try it with the fish on the barbecue.

A Crumble and Cake

Tonight I felt that I had a lot of energy on my run. Even though the weather was quite nice, I worked out on the treadmill today so that I could do some uphill work (hills are hard to come by in Essex County).

I ran at about 6.5mph to warm up. Then I ran 5 consecutive minutes on a 5% incline. I decreased the speed a bit every minute, but I was really happy that I was able to keep up the incline run for that long.

My pace was between 8:30 and 8:00 minute miles for the rest of the run which was really strong.

I’ve been pretty happy with my speeds on my short and medium distance runs lately. I really think all the interval training that I’m getting from kickboxing is helping a lot.

Oh, and I may or may not have deadlifted 185lbs today(!!!) No big deal, only the best ever. I was able to squeak out 2 reps, and it felt good.

Last night I made this dish:

Root Vegetable Crumble

It’s exactly what it sounds like—a savoury crumble instead of the more common sweet version. I liked it a lot, but think that the recipe needs some tweaking.

Here’s a rundown of what I did, in case you want to run with the idea in your own kitchen:

- I cooked finely chopped onion, garlic, sweet potato, celery root, and bok choy, with a little oil and some rosemary
- I toasted slivered almonds and flax, sesame, and sunflower seeds.
- I mixed the nuts/seeds with whole wheat flour and cold butter to make a crumb. Spread it over the veggies, and baked it in a hot oven.

What I would change:
I think that it came out a little dry and next time I need to add either a vegetable with more water content or add some broth to the root veggies.
Also, I think I skimped a bit on the butter in the crumble. It was a bit too crumbly.

But, anyway it was a good dinner idea and side for Perfect Baked Tofu.

Another thing I made last night was this thing of beauty:

Caramel Apple Upside Down Cake

It was for this little lady’s 88th birthday which was today.

Me and my Nonna

I’ll share the recipe within the next couple of weeks. I have a few other delicious recipes that I’ve made lately! There’s so much to share.

High Rep Routine Recap

I just finished 4 weeks of the High Repetition/Low Weight routine that I set out for myself in September.

My plan was to switch up more normal heavy lifting/low weight routines with something a bit different. I liked the routine because even though I lowered my weights to I could hit 10 to 12 reps I was still pushing myself hard. Plus, doing 3 sets instead of 4 and doing some supersets makes the workout go by so much faster.

I made sure to track my progress for the last 4 weeks (I was a little lax about doing this in the summer) and found that I improved on most things. Sadly though my squats stayed pretty much the same.

High Rep Weight Training Routine

Click the image for full size:

You can get a printable pdf version of this workout here

Medicine Ball Launch

In today’s kickboxing class, after being exhausted from ten 3 minute rounds on the punching bag we grabbed a partner and did this awesome exercise.

Grab a 15lb medicine ball and stand about 8 feet from your partner.

Stand with your left foot slightly forward and you right foot back.

Hold the ball to shoulder height with your left hand

Using the palm of your right hand, thrust the ball the forward at your partner twisting your right hip forward as you do so, as if you were throwing a punch. Try to keep the ball travelling in a straight horizontal line as much as possible, not a parabolic trajectory.

You partner will catch the ball and thrust it back to you.

Repeat for 2 minutes before swtiching to the left hand.

High Rep Routine

I’ve started on a new weight training routine that is mostly based on lower resistance and higher repetitions (~10-12).

My goal here is just to change things up a bit since I’m addicted to my heavy lift routines. But I want to make sure that I’m lifting as heavy as possible for all 10 to 12 repetitions. No cheating.

I’m going to give it a go for at least 4 weeks (I already started the upper and full body exercises last week) and I’m going to track my progress. I’m usually pretty good about writing down my lifts, but these last 3 weeks or so I have just been winging it in the weight room.

I think this workout, which is a little more endurance-based, is a good complement to my kickboxing and “marathon training” (you know, for that Disney marathon that I still have yet to sign up for).

Weight Training Routine

- 3 Day Split: Lower Body, Upper Body, Full Body
- Method: 3 sets of 10-12 reps, unless otherwise indicated

Day 1 – Lower Body

Squat Jumps – 2 sets of 15
Back Squats – 5 sets of 5 (okay, I’m sticking with building my squat strength here)
Cleans
Plie Squats
Leg Press
Lying Leg Curl
Leg Extensions
Standing Calf Raises
Clam Crunches

Day 2 – Upper Body

Push Ups – 2 sets of 16
Dumbbell Lateral Raises
Dumbbell Bench Press
Dumbbell Tricep Extensions
Cable Low Rows
Back Extensions on the ball
Bicycle Crunches

Day 3 – Full Body

One Legged Bridge -  2 sets of 15
Push Press
Deadlifts
Bent-Over Barbell Rows
Wide Grip Lat Pulldowns
Good Mornings
Dumbbell Rear Lunges

Running

In running news, I killed an 8.2 miler on Sunday afternoon.

The first mile started off slow and crampy but after that I ended up with a lot of energy throughout the whole run. I had a solid pace going, I maintained it, and I took very few walking breaks.

I think one thing that helped was swinging back around to my house at mile 5 to get a drink of water before heading out for the last 3 miles. I often forget how much being hydrated helps to get me through a run.

I also attribute it to the sugar cookies I ate pre-run.

Just over a 9:30 pace. Which, for me, is pretty decent.

Bagigis helped me fold laundry today:

Good dog.

New Squat Tips

After two brutally weak weightlifting workouts last week I was pleasantly surprised by my workout tonight.

I didn’t intend to weight lift, I wanted to run and do yoga instead, but I had the urge for a leg day. And I;m glad I did because my squats were strong and I PR’d my deadlifts!!

I started with a treadmill run to loosen up my muscles a bit before training.

Run

In spite of it being a nice night to run outside, I planned a run with hill intervals which is essentially impossible in Essex County, so I ran on the treadmill instead (while watching Food Network, natch)

4 miles – 36:30 incl 5:00 Total Uphill Time

This was a speedy run for me. I think the interval work I have been getting in via kickboxing has helped with my speed (or maybe it’s just in my head, I don’t really know exactly)

Weights

Back Squats: 125lbs x 10; 135lb x 6; 145lb x 5; 145lbs x 5
Deadlifts: 155lbs (!) x 4 reps (4 sets)
45 Degree Leg Press: 360lbs x 8 (3 sets); 450lbs x 4 (1 set)
Calf Raises: 300lbs x 10 (3 sets)
Plank: 1 minute (3 sets)
Crunches: x45

I learned a few new tips for squatting that I put into practice today for my Squat Improvement Strategy.

Squatting Tips

1) Rotate your elbows down so they point directly to the ground for the whole squat this will:

- Help you to lift your chest and head up naturally.
- Help to engage your lats, and speaking of which. . .

2) Create tension in your lats to add more strength to your squat.

- As you pull your elbows down, squeeze the bar very hard with your hands to create tension and engage your lat muscles. This will help stabilizing the core and spine so you can lift heavier with proper form.

So I tried out these two techniques and they were really helpful in getting me to lift heavier. I nixed the box squat that I had been doing and just went with a regular squat and got up to

5 reps at 145lbs with pretty good form!

Heavy Weight Leg Workout

Sometimes muscle soreness after a hard workout keeps me awake at night.

(source)

Such was the case last night when I was tossing and turning for a few hours. Every single muscle I had felt tight and my forearm pain from my tennis elbow was flaring up. I was a hot mess and I couldn’t get comfortable.

It really doesn’t feel like I worked out all that much this week, but everything I did was new and my body was taking a beating. I did kickboxing twice, I weightlifted twice (one upper body day, one lower body day), I ran 5K with vibrams, and I did a yoga class.

-The kickboxing and upper body weight training made my lats and shoulders sore.
-My legs were numb from yesterday’s leg workout.
-My calves were still sore from Sunday’s barefoot run.
-And in spite of a slow flow yoga practice last night to try to bring some relief, I felt stiff all over.

I had every intention of running 5K this morning before work even though I hardly workout in the morning these days. I woke up just before 7am this morning ready to push myself out the door.

But instead, I went back to sleep and didn’t feel remotely guilty about it. I was in dire need of a rest day today, and I took it.

Here’s the leg workout that made me so sore:

Heavy Weight Lower Body Workout

Box Squats* (part of my Squat Improvement Strategy): 140lb; 4 sets x 5 reps
One-Legged Deadlifts: 75lbs; 4 sets x 8 reps per leg
Walking Dumbbell Lunges: 30lbs; 3 sets x 8 steps per leg
One-Legged Hack Squat: no weight; 4 sets x 6 reps per leg – this exercise is WAY harder than it sounds
Donkey Calf Raises: 200lbs; 3 sets x 8 reps
Rotating Plank to Side Plank: 2 minutes
Oblique Twists: 3 sets x 25 reps

*I decreased my load by 5lbs on the barbell this time because I felt that my form was suffering at 145lbs.

I was surprised that I was able to increase by 2 whole reps with such a little drop in weight. Since I got up to 5 reps, I’m going to go back to 145lb box squats next week.

Squat Improvement Strategy

I haven’t been able to post for a while since my computer has been on the fritz. …or maybe that’s just my excuse for not having much to write about lately.

There’s a bit of news on the fitness front:

I’m thinking of taking kickboxing classes. I dropped in to a boxing club today to learn more about their schedule and pricing and what the classes are like. I’m going back on Wednesday to try out a class and see how I like it. Is it normal to be excited to kick someone’s ass? I don’t think there’s any actual ass-kicking that goes down, but I will find out and report back.

Another thing: I’ve been spending a lot of time squatting. Yup. I’m trying to perfect my squats. I have an issue with short ankle tendons combined with tight anterior tibialis that makes it uncomfortable for me to squat without my heels raised up a bit. I’ve been relegating me to half squats all the time. So my plan is to start back with deeper squats and low weight and work my way up again.

Here’s a breakdown of my SIS

SIS (ie. Squat Improvement Strategy):

1. Sit your ass down, girl.

I put a step with 5 risers on each end perpendicular to the bar.

I prep for my squat—get the weight on my back, stand with my feet on opposite sides of the step, get psyched up, and maybe grunt a bit for good measure. (My feet are slightly wider than hip width which makes the movement easier on my shins and ankles)

I squat down until my bum touches the step, then I press back up into standing position.

It looks a lot like this video except maybe with 125lb less weight, nbd.

2. Take 5 . . . by 5

I’m doing squats every time I weight train and using the 5×5 method to build up my strength.

The idea behind the 5×5 method is simple– do 5 sets of 5 reps of the exercise and increase the load by 5lbs every time I train.

If I can’t do 5 sets of 5 reps in proper form then I keep the load the same the every time I train until I finally can.

5 sets; 5 reps; 5 pounds. Simple, simple method.

So far I’m up to 135lbs which is not too shabby, but definitely can use improvement. Matt said I probably won’t be able to get up to 200lb. I beg to differ… It’s going to happen.

Cable Tricep Extensions–Tip

Cable Tricep Extension Pro Tip:

For more leverage and to help ground yourself while performing cable tricep extensions, lean a 45lb weight plate against the cable machine’s weight stack and place your rear foot on the plate.

There’s this guy at my gym that likes to tell people how to do things. He’s clearly always watching people as they train because likes to “make suggestions” on how they can improve their form. . . it’s really annoying.

Granted, the guy is middle aged and looks like he is made of steel so he probably knows what he’s talking about. But still. Annoying.

Today I was lifting some serious poundage for my overhead cable tricep extensions.

(source)

When you add a tonne of weight it can be really difficult to keep your feet planted on the ground. You feel like the cable is going to sweep you right off the ground like a Mary Poppins umbrella. This can strain your lower back and make it difficult to actually lift the amount of weight that your triceps are capable of.

So anyway, Mr. Man of Steel must have been watching my feet float off the ground as I was lifting and when I finished my set he asked me if I wanted a plate to put my back foot on.

“I can show you!” he said.

I didn’t know what the hell he was talking about so I said “No, that’s okay”.

He took the rejection really personally. The look on his face was a mixture of sadness and disappointment. So I backtracked with, “. . . okay, if you really want to.”

So he rushed over to grab me a big 45lb weight plate, leaned it up against the weight stack, and showed me to push my whole rear foot onto the plate for more leverage.

It looked sorta like this . . . (okay, it’s a pathetic picture, I know, but use your imagination)

Success! It was so helpful! I was able to pump out 2 more reps with the stability on my feet and I didn’t feel like I was going to float away.

So, I guess next time I might be a little more open to Mr. Man of Steel’s weight training tips.

I finished 5 weeks of my supersets routine and I’ve changed my routine up again.

Now I’m back to 4 sets of 6-8 reps at a heavy weight. I’m doing my favourite routine: 4 Day Upper / Lower Body Split #2.

You can see my weekly workouts in “Samantha’s Workouts This Week” in the right sidebar as well. I’ll try to updated ever Monday and change it as I go along during the week.

6 Tips to Get Motivated to Exercise

I’m guest posting at Get Healthy with Heather today:

I’m a bit of a workout junkie. I love how powerful I feel from strength training routine, how calm I feel from a yoga practice, and how energized I feel after a run or spinning workout. Exercises is my number one stress reliever and it is important to me that I get to fit it into my schedule regularly.

But, every so often I’ll find myself in a workout slump. I’ll skip exercising for a day, and then two, and then three. . . and then I find myself glued to the sofa with no energy and no motivation to get up and out.

Once you’ve taken a hiatus from exercising it can be tough to get back into the groove.

Here are some of the ways that I get myself motivated after a workout slump:

Read More. . .

If you’re looking for some good exercise ideas, here are some favourites:

- My Weightlifting Page has lots of great routines for the gym.
- Here’s a great playground circuit workout that you can do in a nearby park
- Looking for cardio? Try a skipping workout, tabata intervals, or treadmill HIIT

Now excuse me while I go and exercise