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View Full Version : Weekly Thread (May 1-7, 2005)


DinbinFanfoom
2nd May 2005, 12:38 PM
Started the week off with ab/back day.

One Arm Rows: 3 sets of 12 (25 lb dumbell) Finding these pretty easy. I've identified my lat's as an area I really wanna work on, so I should up this to at least 30 lbs soon. Concentrating on lowering the weight slowly until then.

Raised Leg Crunches: Originally was doing 3 sets of 20 (pathetic eh?) but got "in the zone" yesterday and did 30/50/100 fairly easily. Not sure if that's an anomaly or if I'll be able to go to 50/50/50 or more soon.

Upright Rows: 3 sets of 12 (2 x 25lb dumbells) Fairly easy as well. Gonna have to up the weight. Any idea if it's better to keep back straight up/down or lean forward a bit?

Reverse Crunches: 3 sets of 20-30. Doing these for lower abs, they start out easy in the set but get hard around the 20 mark. I'd like to get myself up to 3 sets of 40 or so.

Back Extensions: Pain in the butt to do because I don't have the right equipment, so end up bracing myself with my toes curled under a weighted chair. Looks ridiculous, I'm sure, but I can blow through 3 sets of 20 pretty easy now. I put a mat below me so I don't smash my face on the floor if my toes let go. Try to put my arms behind my neck (a-la sit-up) or behind my back.

I'd like to add another exercise, I think, not sure what to do... Maybe some of those "bridges" or something for your back where you hold yourself in a forearm-on-the-floor pushup position for as long as possible?

Considered running instead of ab/back, but the weather has been pretty cruddy, except for a small period Saturday afternoon. Now that my vacation is over, and I'm back at work, of course it's nice and sunny out. :mad: Ah well. Tonight I hit the treadmill at my parent's place. Not as scenic, but easier to gauge improvement. I was at 2min walk/13min run cycles last week, really wanna get to the point where I can run the whole 30 after a warmup. Probably not this week though... two 15 minute runs is still a long way from a 30.

kullen
2nd May 2005, 01:10 PM
I'm thinking of going up to 15 lbs with my normal crunches. At 10 I can feel it a bit in my lower back and abs due to the ball since the extension is beyond 90 degrees. But as far as the upper abs, by the 3rd rep I'm not feeling much work going into them.

I should have my medicine ball set in this week so I'll be able to start adding weight to my reverse crunches and leg extension crunches.

I may go up a bit in weight this week in my session with my trainer. Depends on what muscle groups she wants to focus on.

DinbinFanfoom
2nd May 2005, 01:17 PM
How far do you lift your shoulders/head on crunches, Kullen? Arms positioned behind neck, or across chest? The latter, I assume, if using weights like I think you are...

kullen
2nd May 2005, 02:40 PM
I usually lift to about 45 degrees and hold for a few seconds with hands across chest.

DinbinFanfoom
3rd May 2005, 09:13 AM
Last night's weigh-in: 166lbs
Walked 3min/Ran 12 x 2 on the treadmill last night too.

Starting to wonder where my lean-weight might be... I've still got fat too lose, but 166 is lighter than I thought I'd ever be (actually, it's probably the lightest I've been since I graduated college in '92). I'm aiming for low body fat but I'm guessing that's gonna put me at around 155 lbs with my current musculature.

5'10", average bone structure, a bit longer in the torso. Dunno... 155 seems awfully skinny.

kullen
3rd May 2005, 11:31 PM
Tuesday weigh-in. Dropped to 199.5 with a slight reduction in body fat to muscle ratio. About what I expected since I've been focusing on abbs.

DinbinFanfoom
4th May 2005, 12:13 PM
Tuesday weigh-in. Dropped to 199.5 with a slight reduction in body fat to muscle ratio. About what I expected since I've been focusing on abbs.Nice!

I had my BP/sugar/cholestrol checked this morning from our company nurse (comes in every month or so). Sugar is good @ 4.8, chol is "low" but BP was 106/70 which is rather lowish, considering it was 125/80 6 months ago (but I was under more stress then, I suppose...) I'm not too worried about it though.

I'd really like to get motivated to jog each morning before breakfast; but it's STILL a bit too cold for that sort of thing (5-8 degrees C in the mornings here still). I think I could motivate myself to get out if it weren't that friggin' cold...

kullen
4th May 2005, 06:02 PM
I'd really like to get motivated to jog each morning before breakfast; but it's STILL a bit too cold for that sort of thing (5-8 degrees C in the mornings here still). I think I could motivate myself to get out if it weren't that friggin' cold...

I wish I could jog, but my knees would have something to say about it. That's why I have to eliptical. Its not cold here. :D Been in the 80's for the last few weeks.

Its tough to say about BP. Lean muscle mass has so many advantages, from increasing metabolism to decreasing heart risk. It might also be helpful for the BP.

DinbinFanfoom
5th May 2005, 08:48 PM
I wish I could jog, but my knees would have something to say about it. That's why I have to eliptical. Its not cold here. :D Been in the 80's for the last few weeks.I'm fortunate to have stumpy legs. Not exactly practical for running efficiently, but durable enough. :lowlol:

Did 2/13/2/13 4mph/6mph tonight on the treadmill for 30 mins. My best effort yet, I was feeling pretty fine at points there... 10 mins into the jog and I was feeling like I could go forever. I don't think I'm too far from going the whole distance. Still at 166 lbs; not that I really care, but I'm weighing in once a week or so just for kicks.

DinbinFanfoom
7th May 2005, 11:51 PM
Ook. Found out that running on the treadmill after an 8 hour fast isn't fun...

Well, I didn't MEAN to... ate lunch at 11:30am and puttered around doing laundry and stuff for the afternoon then headed to my parent's place and put new brake pads on my car. By the time I got a chance to jump on the treadmill it was 7:30 and I hadn't eaten anything since lunch. Walked for 2 minutes for a warmup then ran for 16 then walked for two and started to run the last 10... about 2 minutes in I got... leaden.

Not gonna do that again.

kullen
8th May 2005, 12:57 AM
I hear ya. I always keep a couple energy bars around the house just in case. I usually grab one before I do weights. I've been there where I've just burned all my energy half way through. Its no fun. I trust the bars more then the energy drinks. The drinks are usually all carbs and caffine. The bars I look for usually have 10+ grams of protein and enough sugar for energy.

As far as this week goes, I got my medicine balls in. 6, 8, 10, and 12 lbs. I started off ball crunches at 10lbs and leg extension crunches at 8lbs. Doing 2 or 3 sets of 30 on the leg extension crunches and 4x50 on the ball crunches. Mixed in reverse twists, chess press 25lbs, plank holds, pushups.