Hump day

Happy Wednesday!  Tomorrow is my Friday at work and I am sooo excited for another long weekend!

Still a little sore in the hips today.  The biggest issue right now is when I go from sitting for a little while to standing/walking.  Once I'm up and moving it's not as bad.  So I decided on another day of easy-on-the-hip home WODs.  I did two shorter workouts and took a short rest in between (less than 5 min).  Here's what I did:

Workout 1 (this took me about 12:30)

3 rounds:

100 jumping jacks
20 hand release push ups
15 jumps squats
10 v-ups

Workout 2 (I finished 3 rounds + 15 burpees)

10 minute AMRAP (as many rounds as possible)

20 air squats
15 burpees
10 hollow rocks

Old lady hips WOD

My hips were better today than yesterday, but still pretty painful.  I tried my best to hide the old lady walk at work though.  Short steps.. short, little baaaaby steps!  I'm trying not to take any ibuprofen or anything like that because we're not exactly trying to prevent getting pregnant again and I don't want to have anything to worry about if we get another surprise.

I wanted to do something that would stretch out my hips and get me moving, but nothing so crazy that I'd feel worse tomorrow.  I tried out a few jump squats and those felt good, so I came up with this-

Warm up:

1 min high plank
30 sec elbow plank
30 sec elbow plank with left leg lifted
30 sec elbow plank with right leg lifted
30 sec left side plank
30 sec right side plank
30 sec high plank
1 min elbow plank

Workout:

21-15-9-15-21 (do 21 of all movements, then 15, then 9, etc.)

Jump squats
Hand release push ups
Butterfly sit ups

Can't catch a break!

Ughhhhhhhhhhh.. yet another setback.  So frustrating! :(

Something that I did yesterday irritated my SI joint.  I have really hypermobile joints- always have- and it usually centers around my hips.  Sometimes, I randomly do something that makes my hips just ache and then I end up walking like an old lady.  Yesterday was apparently one of those days.  It was probably the sumo deadlifts because that's not a movement I do very often.

Unfortunately, that means that I had to take today off.  Hopefully, it resolves quickly and I can get back to doing something tomorrow.  Probably just a home WOD, if anything.  I'll hold off on finishing out my 10 rep maxes until I feel like I'm totally back to normal and then start my next cycle from there.

10 rep max testing

As I said yesterday, today was a 10 rep max testing day.  Basically, I tested out weights for a bunch of different movements to see how much weight I could do 10 times (no more, no less) with good form.  Since I have 3 days worth of movements to get through (8 movements per day), I decided to split testing up into 2 days so that I don't overdo anything.  Also, I want my numbers to accurately reflect my capabilities and I was afraid I'd be too tired towards the end to give my best effort.  Additionally, I chose to just "guess" at some of the movements because I kind of know where I'm at already, based on the past cycles I've completed.

This is actually the first time I've tested my 10 rep maxes for these templates.  The first time I did this program (it's a 19 week program) was in October and I had just been cleared to start working out after my neck surgery.  I just wanted to get my body back into lifting and didn't want to go crazy, so I just went super light on all the weights.  Then, when I started my second round of the program, I was still pregnant, so I didn't max out then either.  Needless to say, I was actually pretty excited to see where I'm at currently!

So, here's what I did today and what my 10 rep maxes were.  Obviously, I worked up to these numbers, so I did a lot of reps today!

Sumo deadlift- 135 lbs
Leg press- 190 lbs
Standing DB shoulder press- 22.5 lb DBs
Parallel grip pulldowns- 80 lbs
DB upright row- 25 lb DBs
V-up- 25 lbs
Medium grip bench press- 65 lbs
Barbell bent row- 85 lbs
Lying leg curl- 60 lbs

Not bad, overall.  Pretty happy with my progress, considering I'm coming up on my 1 year neck surgery anniversary in 2 weeks!  I have another 10-ish movements to test tomorrow.  Hopefully I'm not too sore, haha!

Template Day

Today, I finally dragged my lazy butt to the gym!  Woo!  I decided to finish out this cycle of my templates today.  The cycles that I do are 5 weeks, but week 5 is a "deload" week, which means the weights are much lighter.  Today, I finished the last day of week 4, so I should be deloading after this.  However, since I have taken too long to complete this cycle and I took a lot of days off this week, I'm just going to move on to the next cycle.  Tomorrow, I will be doing my 10 rep maxes for the next cycle and starting the cycle on Monday.

Today was a lot of upper body work, which I have come to really enjoy.  Upper body is definitely my weakness.  I am FAR stronger in my lower body.  When I did CrossFit, I didn't really try to strengthen my upper body that much.  Obviously, I'd do WODs with upper body movements, but I didn't do anything on my own time to get better, which I really regret.  The great thing about these templates is that they force me to work on my upper body strength and I've really seen a huge change. I was definitely weak in my lats and shoulders.  I had so much trouble with lat raises (even with 5 lbs!) in the beginning.  Today, I did 10 lbs and felt really strong with the movement.  Grow, little baby lats, grow!!

Warm up:

500 m row (2:00 pace)
10 m inch worm forward/backward with 10 sec hold in plank

Lifting:

Vertical pull: Parallel pull ups 3x9

Horizontal pull: Underhand EZ row (50 lbs) 3x17

Rear/medial delt: DB side lateral raise (10 lb DBs) 3x11

Bicep: DB twist curl (15 lb DBs) 2x15

Vertical push: Seated barbell shoulder press (50 lbs) 3x11

Quads: Barbell walking lunge (55 lbs) 3x20

Hamstrings: 45 degree back raise (20 lb) 3x12
Abs: Hanging leg raise 4x7

LAZY

So.. obviously, I've been on a little self-imposed break this week.  Work was really busy and by the time I got home, I had zero motivation to do anything.  The struggle!  Thankfully, I am off today and it's a 4 day weekend for me, so I plan on working out every day.  I started "spring cleaning" my house this morning, so I decided to skip the gym and do a home wod.  I still wanted to incorporate some weights, so I decided to do a kettlebell-based workout.    Here's what I came up with (modify the weights as necessary!):

2 rounds-

15 KB swings
15 KB upright rows
15 KB plie squat
15 KB contralateral RDL (both sides)
15 one arm KB row (both sides)
15 KB contralateral Bulgarian split squats (both sides)
60 second high plank hold

THEN

10 rounds-

Superman & banana alternating tabata holds (20 seconds on, 10 seconds rest)

I used this website for my tabata timer and set it to 10 cycles with 10 seconds to prepare (clock should be set for 5:10 when you start).

Busy Sunday

This is going to be a belated post.  Yesterday was crazy and I didn't get a chance to post.  It was such a gorgeous day here, so we got a lot done.

I started the day off nice and early at the gym.  Followed it up with grocery shopping- my normal routine.  Then, once I got home, hubs and I went crazy on our yard.  We just moved in about a year ago and this is our first spring here.  The shrubs are out of control.  So, we trimmed everything, pulled out a few bushes, mulched everything, etc.  It looks GREAT now.  So amazing what a little work can do for your curb appeal.  Afterwards, we took our canoe out on the lake and did a little fishing.  Ended the day grilling some dinner and enjoying the back deck.  Bring on summer!!

Anyway, yesterday was my first time back in the gym in 2 WEEKS!! Crazy!  And I could tell.  I felt super weak today on my lifts.  Here's what I did:

Horizontal push: Push ups 2x16
Vertical push: Inclined DB press 3x6 (30 lb DBs)
Tricep: Barbell seated tricep extension 2x9 (30 lb barbell)
Horizontal pull: 1-arm dumbbell row 2x12 (30 lb DB)
Rear/medial delts: Barbell upright row 2x15 (50 lb barbell)
Hamstrings: Lying leg curl 2x16 (55 lb)
Quads: High bar back squat 2x12 (120 lb)
Abs: Slant board sit up 3x16 (holding 20 lb ball)

Circuit Saturday

Happy Saturday!  I've got a bunch to do today, so I decided to stay home and do a circuit workout instead of heading to the gym.

Here's what I did:

Circuit 1

10 burpees
15 jump squats
10 air squats
15 push ups
10 KB thruster (35 lb KB)
15 butterfly sit up

Circuit 2

40 mountain climbers
15 tricep dips (using a coffee table)
15 push ups
30 butterfly sit ups
20 heel touches
20 up up down downs

Rest 30 sec-1 min between circuits.  Complete circuit 1, then circuit 2, then circuit 1 again, and circuit 2 again.

It took me 19:32 to finish all 4 circuits.  I took probably around 40 seconds rest between rounds, so I was averaging around 3.5-4.5 minutes per round.  Circuit 1 definitely took me less time than circuit 2, though.

All-in-all, a really good, quick, full body workout!  Enjoy! :)

Back.. Kinda

I am FINALLY to the point where I feel almost normal.  Still have a very annoying, lingering cough, but I have my voice back and all of my other symptoms are gone.  I wanted to do something today to get back into my routine, but I didn't want to do anything that would throw me into a coughing fit.

So...

Original workout:

100 air squats
90 butterfly sit-ups
80 alternating lunges
70 burpees
60 second plank
50 mountain climbers
40 push ups
30 hollow rocks
20 jump squats
10 hand release push ups

My modification:

Normally, I would do this as a chipper-style workout.  In other words, you don't move on to the next movement until I have finished all of the reps (100 air squats, then 90 sit-ups, etc.).  However, since 70 burpees sounded like a cough-fest, I decided to change it to 5 rounds with the same total number of reps.  Therefore, my workout looked like this-

5 rounds

20 air squats
18 butterfly sit-ups
16 alternating lunges
14 burpees
10 mountain climbers
8 push ups
6 hollow rocks
4 jump squats
2 hand release push ups

THEN

60 second plank

I timed myself today and it took me just under 24 minutes to complete, so that's around 4-5 minutes per round.  I feel like I split this up pretty well, all things considered.  I didn't really have to take any breaks, except for a few quick ones on push ups because my arms were tired from the mountain climber/burpee combo right before.  No coughing fits.  The only real issue was that it's 95 degrees here today and we don't have the air on in the house, so I was sweating like I just jumped out of a pool afterwards.  Sweat the sick out, right?!

**Miscarriage/lady problems warning: In other news, aunt flo FINALLY decided make a comeback yesterday, just one day short of 5 weeks post-D&C!!! This is the first time I think I've ever been excited for THAT, but I'm just so happy to feel like I'm finally back to "normal" and not stuck in some weird gray area.

Have a good weekend, friends! :)

I Got Bronchitis!

Number of days since I've had a voice: 6.

As the weekend progress, my fever went down, but my cough got worse and I started to feel like I was breathing through a straw.  I started having panic attacks at night because I'd wake up and feel like I couldn't catch my breath.  So, I went back yesterday.  They said I started with the flu and now have bronchitis, so they gave me more pills to take.  What can I say?  When I do something, I do it big.  :)

Feeling somewhat better today, but I still have a REALLY bad cough (and no voice).  I am HOPING that I can get back into the gym on Thursday.  I think that's a realistic goal, given the sloooow dissipation of my symptoms.

Anyway, I would have done a home wod today, so here was the plan:

For time-

KB swing (35 lb)/Burpees

20/2
18/4
16/6
14/8
12/10
10/12
8/14
6/16
4/18
2/20

Start with 20 kb swings and 2 burpees.  Follow the sequence until you reach 2 kb swings and 20 burpees.  For an added challenge, go back up from the bottom (2/20 --> 20/2)!

Yep.. Still Sick

Well, whatever I caught is a rough one.  I went to the doctor yesterday and it wasn't much help.  They did a strep test and the flu test, but I came up negative for both.  However, because of my symptoms and fever, they still gave me Tamiflu to take.  They said it might just be a strain of the flu that isn't recognized by the test.  Hopefully it starts to help soon.

So, going to the gym this weekend isn't going to happen.  I had planned to do one day of templates and one day of HIIT.  Here is what I had planned for today:

Warm up-

EMOM (every minute on the minute) for 12 minutes

Odd minutes-
10 kb swings (35 lbs)
5 push ups

Even minutes-
10 thruster (55 lbs)

Workout-

21-15-9 (complete 21 OHS, 21 burpees, 15 OHS, etc.)
Overhead squats (65 lbs)
Burpees

Out of commission

Ugh.  So I haven't posted in a few days for a lot of reasons.  When I got home from the gym on Sunday and went to take a shower, I slipped stepping in and really messed up some muscles in my side/back.  It was really bad Sunday and Monday.  It started to improve Tuesday, so I figured I'd give it a few days off and get back to the gym today.  Then, yesterday, I came down with the mother of all flus and am still feeling awful today.  My throat is on fire, my chest is so congested, my voice is gone, and I have a fever that just won't break.  I have not been this sick in a LONG time.  So frustrating!

Anyway, since I can't work out, these are the workouts that I had PLANNED to do this week:

10 rounds for time-

10 air squats
10 push ups
10 butterfly sit-ups
10 dips (using a coffee table or something similar)

5 rounds for time-

15 kb swings (35 lb kb)
15 burpees
15 butterfly sit-ups

Plus one day of my templates.  I'll be catching up this weekend, hopefully!

Sunday Mash Up

Today, I decided to do a CrossFit style workout.

The warm up is to get your body ready for the movements in the workout.  It's intentionally slow and, honestly, a little boring, haha.  If you feel like you need more, feel free to extend it out to 15 or even 20 minutes.  You could even add more weight if you wanted.  The main goal is to keep your form the entire time.

The workout itself took me about 14:15.  I do most of my gym workouts at my local gym, which has a very small "X-Fit" section (turf, rubber plates, a rig, etc.).  However, the only time I really needed extra space for this workout was for the walking lunges, so it's totally doable at ANY gym.  If you don't have the room for walking lunges, you could also just do alternating overhead lunges without the walking.  Also, I did hang power cleans, but you could change it to be regular power cleans, if you'd like, for a little extra challenge.  Overall, it was a great, full body burner and I was definitely out of breath at the end!  Enjoy!

Warm up:

10 min EMOM (every minute on the minute)-

1 power clean
1 push press
1 front squat
1 thruster

Minutes 1-5 with just barbell (45 lbs), minutes 6-8 use 55 lbs, minutes 9-10 use 65 lbs.  Complete all work at the top of each minute and rest during the time left in that minute.

WOD:

10 toes to bar
20 thrusters (65 lbs)
20 butterfly sit-ups
20 hang power cleans (65 lbs)
40 overhead walking lunges (25 lbs)
20 hang power cleans (65 lbs)
20 butterfly sit-ups
20 thruster (65 lbs)
10 toes to bar

Saturday Strength

Happy Saturday!  Today was another template/strength day.  Finally feeling pretty back to normal this week.  My hormone levels are normalizing again.  I've lost the baby bloat and my face doesn't look like a 14 year old girl's anymore.  I've taken a few pregnancy tests and they're almost negative.  Still waiting for my first post-D&C period, but I'm sure it will come soon enough (and who really misses THAT anyway?!).

Anyway, here's the workout for today-

Warm up:

500 m row
10 m forward inch worm with 10 sec plank hold
10 m backward inch worm with 10 sec plank hold

Lifting:

Deadlift: Deadlift (115 lbs) 2x14
Quads: Leg press (100 lbs) 2x21
Quads: DB walking lunge (30 lb DBs) 2x20
Hamstrings: Seated leg curl (55 lbs) 2x15
Vertical push: Standing DB shoulder press (15 lb DBs) 2x17
Vertical pull: Narrow grip pull down (60 lbs) 2x15
Rear/medial delts: Cable upright row (60 lbs) 2x15
Abs: Hanging knee raise 3x10

May the 4th (be with you)

Another template day!  Feeling the Thursday struggle today, but got my butt into the gym and got this this done.

NOTE: weights can be increased/decreased based on ability.  Do whatever you are able to do around the same rep range with good form.  Also, rest between sets, but not TOO much.  I usually take anywhere from 30 sec-1 min.  Basically, once my heart rate goes back to normal, I start again.

Vertical pull: Parallel pull ups 3x9

Horizontal pull: Underhand EZ row (50 lbs) 3x15

Rear/medial delt: DB side lateral raise (10 lb DBs) 3x10

Bicep: DB twist curl (15 lb DBs) 2x14

Vertical push: Seated barbell shoulder press (50 lbs) 3x11

Quads: Barbell walking lunge (50 lbs) 3x20

Hamstrings: 45 degree back raise (20 lb) 3x12
Abs: Hanging leg raise 4x6

100 Burpee WOD

You read that headline right!  100 burpees!  Who doesn't LOVE burpees?! :P

The good news is it isn't just 100 straight burpees.  They're broken up into 10 much more manageable sets of 10 with some other goodies mixed in.  It took me around 15-20 minutes to complete (I didn't look at the clock when I started.. whoops!).

10 burpees <-- can be jump or step back burpees and chest-to-floor or plank burpees
20 side lunges (10 per side)
10 burpees
20 plank taps (10 per side)
10 burpees
10 air squats
10 burpees
20 spider lunges (10 per side)
10 burpees
10 push ups <-- can be modified to elevated push ups or knee push ups
10 burpees
20 bicycle crunches (10 per side)
10 burpees
20 mountain climbers (10 per side)
10 burpees
20 russian twists (10 per side) <-- you can add weight here if you'd like!
10 burpees
10 v-ups 
10 burpees
10 walkouts <-- you can add a push up here if you'd like!