Laura's Fitness Upates

[Zombie Dave McCaig]

My advice is to drop fries entirely. Fries are the devil. Like, a 500 calorie devil that's 50% bad fat.

[Laura]

Totally. I felt the grease more than I tasted the potatoes. They're the first fries I've had in...hm... *checks food journal* at least a month.

-- Laura

[Laura]

Today was back/obliques/biceps. I switched out the standing rows for seated rows -- and nope, they're still not working for me. Next week I will switch to one-armed rows on the bench. It's the only one, besides the machine, that gives me a full range of motion.

Oo, I could probably also do these T-bar rows. See how wide the grip is? See how there's no bar that interferes with the chest? THAT'S what I need, so my elbows can go back far enough.

Question: When I'm doing cable rows, I should keep my back in one position and just move my arms (like this), right? because I see guys lean way back when they're pulling the cable and lean way forward when they're letting it go. That *seems* to be more effective as a full-body workout, but then again, it could be potentially dangerous. What say ye?

Note: By foregoing the standing rows, I was able to increase my weights for the straight-leg deadlifts. Woo!

Also, I switched out the set of Supermans for a set of back extensions on the Roman chair. And I switched out the long arm oblique twists for finger-to-heel crunches. Those are cool! I like those.

Sparkpeople.com is kind of ridiculous -- it doesn't list the calorie burn for non-cardio exercises. So, even though I know I burned well over 700 calories on today's workout (thank you, heart rate monitor watch), if I list it the way I've been doing, I only get credited for burning 150 cals on the treadmill. Since it uses calorie burn to determine calorie intake, that must be why it limits me to only 1920 calories. I am going to try listing my calorie burn accurately, and see what that does for my food intake numbers...

My breakfast and lunch were not nearly enough food. I think I might get a protein shake.

-- Laura

[Alex Sollazzo]

Db Rows are a fine alternative for bentover barbell rows if theyre giving that much trouble, definately better than that tbar row machine. In regards to cable rows you can do it either way, obviously if you do it like the link you posted youll use less weight than the people that use their lower backs too, but basically the way they do it sorta incorperates a straight leg straight back deadlift action into it too. Personally i do it the lean forward/back way because it just works out better for me.

I wouldnt bother with the calorie burning calculators, they are MASSIVELY inaccurate and very person to person too much, once youve found a intake that you're losing weight at just stick to it.

Good to see you organised !

edit: One thing i couldnt see with your logs, are you also recording the weight you do your sets at so you can increase it properly ?

[Laura]

Personally i do it the lean forward/back way because it just works out better for me.

Okay, it's good to see that they're not dangerous to do the whole motion (like real rowing).

I wouldnt bother with the calorie burning calculators, they are MASSIVELY inaccurate and very person to person too much, once youve found a intake that you're losing weight at just stick to it.

I'm fascinated by the numbers. I know it's totally inaccurate. The heart rate portion of the watch seems to be really close to the cardio machine readings, but the calorie burn between the watch and the elliptical is WAAAAAY off. The only way I'll get anywhere near accurate is to get the heart rate monitor with the chest strap, but I ain't bothering with all that crap!

edit: One thing i couldnt see with your logs, are you also recording the weight you do your sets at so you can increase it properly ?

Oh yes. I just didn't want to write it all out. My Sparkpeople log looks something like this:

body for life workout

bflworkout.jpg (69.12 KiB) Viewed 194 times

Edited to add: The ones where you see "1" in the Weight column is because they are isometric and don't use weights, but the program insists that a value has to be inputted in that field.

-- Laura

[Laura]

Question for the weight trainers:

My hammies are SO FRICKIN' SORE from yesterday's straight-leg deadlifts, that my morning walk today was pretty miserable. If I am this sore tomorrow, what should I do for my hamstring/glute exercises? I am literally sore from my butt to the backs of my knees.

-- Laura

P.S. I *love* calling them hammies. It makes me giggle, because I picture the muscles being shaped like hamsters.

[Alex Sollazzo]

Best fix, move the straight leg deadlifts to leg day rather than back day since theyre a leg exercise mainly Tomorow you can try doing your usual stuff but start really light and you may notice the pain goes away. If i have any kind of soreness when i begin working out that i know is just tightness/doms ill just jump around like an idiot until it goes away

[Laura]

My legs workout is tomorrow. I ain't doing deadlifts again tomorrow. I'll figure something out for the hams/glutes, depending on how sore I am in the morning. I'll do something easy and I will try very hard not to skip that body part.

ow ow ow ow ow

-- Laura

[Alex Sollazzo]

Yeah i know, just in the future put them on leg day so you dont run into the problem again

[John Rauch]

Question for the weight trainers:

My hammies are SO FRICKIN' SORE from yesterday's straight-leg deadlifts, that my morning walk today was pretty miserable. If I am this sore tomorrow, what should I do for my hamstring/glute exercises? I am literally sore from my butt to the backs of my knees.

-- Laura

P.S. I *love* calling them hammies. It makes me giggle, because I picture the muscles being shaped like hamsters.

Usually, I just lighten the weight a bit if I'm still sore the next time that workout comes around. How often are you doing legs though? You should have plenty of time for the soreness to go away before you start again.

[Laura]

Usually, I just lighten the weight a bit if I'm still sore the next time that workout comes around. How often are you doing legs though? You should have plenty of time for the soreness to go away before you start again.

Well, that's the thing. I did the straight-leg deadlifts as a back exercise during my upper-body workout yesterday. But they're really more of a leg exercise. I usually do my lower body workout on Wednesdays, but tomorrow is too soon to do deadlifts again. So I will skip them for the rest of this week and add them in again on next week's lower body workout.

Meanwhile, I need an "easy" ham/glute exercise that I can do tomorrow, IF I am still sore. So, *IF* I'm sore, I'll do the leg curl machine. If I'm not sore, I'll do lunges or cable kickbacks.

- Laura

[robbdaman]

Yeah I wouldn't do the straight leg deadlifts as a back exercise unless you're just doing them partially which is more of a core or lower back exercise anyway. I always say go for the lunges, they are far better and more natural anyway.

[Laura]

I was still kinda sore on Wednesday, but I tried a lunge. My butt and hams said, "HahahahAHAHAHANO." So I crawled back to the leg curl machine. I made the mistake of starting the weights too high for the ramp, and by the fourth set, I had to quit. Stretched out really well, did a set of cable kickbacks, and begged off the hams until next week. It's now Friday and those muscles are STILL sore.

Live and learn!

-- Laura

[Laura]

Still working out like a mofo. I had my full upper body back workout today and I totally kicked its ass.

Tell me about recovery shakes/meals. What should I be drinking/eating after a workout, and how soon after the workout should I consume it? I usually get a sandwich or something with a good amount of protein, but I don't know if I'm eating enough or the right stuff.

-- Laura

[Zombie Dave McCaig]

I don't think you really need to be worrying about that at this stage, honestly. The main thing is not to overcompensate for the workouts with food, even though all this exercise might be making you feel like you need to. If anything, eat a banana before you work out. It'll keep up your energy levels and balance out your blood sugar.