Where's the Beach?

While I'm on a roll for time-saving circuit workouts, I thought it'd be appropriate to share another upper body circuit that you can use in conjunction with the Biceps and Back Circuit . This one is for Shoulders and Triceps with pushups to target chest. As a caveat, after having my blood clot , I apparently have scar tissue that makes it uncomfortable to do heavy chest exercises like chest presses and flyes. The way this circuit is set up is that you have 3 exercises for each muscle group. So if you want a more complete chest workout, add in chest presses and chest flyes into the rotation.  Please properly warm up for 5-10 minutes with dynamic moves like butt kicks, shoulder rolls, lunges and/or spin on stationary bike, walk on treadmill or elliptical. This workout is done as a circuit meaning that you do one exercise then quickly move to the next with little to no rest. After completing all exercises, rest then repeat. I suggest doing this circuit 3-4 times depen...

Speed Work Apparently Wednesdays are now becoming speed work days for me. This is only because my new running pal "A" somehow talked me into it. Of course, I do need to add in speed work and it's easier to do when you have a partner in crime to hold you accountable. So, this morning I did a one-mile warmup run over to "A's" house where she has a set route for 800's (1/2 mile intervals). The plan was to do 4 intervals with roughly a 1/4 mile jog/recovery. The first interval kind of sucked. It was still completely dark so that made it a little treacherous. Plus, that first interval is a major shock to the system. Oh, and this time the first interval included the uphill rather than downhill direction. I have no idea what my split was on the first one. Once again I goofed up trying to set the half mile splits. But I finally got it right for the other splits. And I'm pretty sure I will remember for the next speed workout (fingers crossed). My 2nd...

Shoulders & Boxing Well, today is not Rest Day Friday since I ended up resting on Wednesday. I didn't do anything earth-shattering though. I had thought about maybe an easy 2-3 mile run and shoulders, but decided against running since I have a long run on tap for tomorrow. Instead I just went home and did shoulders then Cathe's MMA Boxing DVD, which I haven't done in ages. For shoulders, I went with a giant set of 3x8 and tried out a new exercise too. Ouch. GS Cuban press * Lateral raise Front raise *I originally watched the slower version of the exercise and it looked more like an upright row started the rep each time, so that's what I did. So I think I made it even harder, but hopefully just as effective. Loved the moved. I followed up shoulders with the boxing workout and half of the abs workout at the end of the DVD. It was really kind of fun doing something I haven't done in so long. Plus, punching around is just fun anyway. Fun Facts Friday ...

Gym Day The weather today made it really really hard to hit the gym and not the road for a run. Another gorgeous day, and warmer than yesterday too. Can't wait to be able to run for fun again and not based on a plan.  Anyway, today I hit the gym for my usual elliptical and weights session. Today was shoulders, chest, triceps and abs. I went with the trisets done in 3 sets of 8 reps again like I did on Monday. I started with a 15 minute warm up on the elliptical. TS#1 Chest flye Chest press Decline pushups Staggered chest press -8 TS#2 Standing dumbbell shoulder press Lateral raise Front raise Front raise open to side back to front - 8 TS#3 Double-arm overhead triceps extension Lying dumbbell triceps extension Double-arm kickbacks Triceps dips - 16 I did a variety of ab exercises like hanging leg raises, some weighted exercises, and some stability ball work before finishing off with another 10 minutes on the elliptical. Hump Day Dinner Back to what was...

Shoulders & Elliptical Today started off with wind chills of 23 degrees and gusts of 23 mph! Wow. Thank goodness my car was going in the shop this morning to get the heat fixed. At least it was sunny out all day. Not sure I could have handled any ice or sleet today. It's way too early for that here. At lunch I headed home and did shoulders from Meso 2, Disc 19 . This week is going up to 75% of my 1RM except for the first exercise as it's what Cathe refers to as a "double wave load." Basically you repeat a drop set twice through. Ouch. Seated front press: 12,10,8,12,10,8 Standing lateral raise - 12,10,8 Prone incline rear delt raise - 12,10,8 It was a good workout and I'm pretty sure I'll be feeling it by tomorrow. After work I hit the gym for the elliptical. I bought a stack of new magazines yesterday to help ease the pain of the monotony. I was also armed with an interval workout my friend Lindsey @ Cotter Crunch posted yesterday. I had to make ...

STS Shoulders I am definitely feeling yesterday's workout . I am actually sore all the way down my sides even from all the pushups. I know I shouldn't be surprised, but I usually am a bit taken aback by how effective pushups really can be. So, after jumping back into Cathe's STS yesterday, I was itching to get the shoulder workout done. I'm even looking forward to the leg workout for a change. During lunch, I did shoulders from Meso 1 Disc 1: Alternating Seated Overhead Shoulder Press (dumbbell) - 15 Seated Rear Delts (dumbbell) - 15 Bonus Band Pulls - 15 with a 3 count pulse Incline Front Raise on Stability Ball (dumbbell) - 15 Seated Lateral Raise Both Arms High Ends (dumbbell) - 6 with 3 count pulse Side Leaning Lateral Raise (dumbbell) - 15 Seated Overhead Press (dumbbell) - 15 Seated Front Press Double Arms - 1.5's for 12 reps Incline Rear Raise on Stability Ball (dumbbell) - 15 It's been a long time since I've picked up my lower weights. T...

Weights & Group Run This morning it wasn't just gray and icky out, it was dark and raining. Lucky for me, I bought a pair of rainboots two years ago when I first started working at my current job. All it took was one rainy, 3-block walk, and I headed straight to Ebay for some boots. I don't care how silly they may look, I love them! So, I donned my rainboots this morning, but by 11 or so, the sun was out and it was slowly warming up. Jason and I are planning on running with a group that gathers at a new, local running store on Tuesday evenings for a 4-mile run. So, I was glad to see the sunshine, but it also meant no running at lunch. This of course means that I hit the weights instead. I did shoulders and abs actually. I'm trying to get all my weight workouts done by Thursday as I won't have access to a gym in Seattle. Overhead press - 3x6 Upright rows - 3x8 Lateral raises - 3x10 Rear delt press - 3x12 Front to side raises - 2x10 I did the abs workout ...

Walking, Running, Donating for a Cure While this month is all about Breast Cancer Awareness, I'm actually going to ask that you think about supporting another cause: Pancreatic Cancer. I have a very dear friend who's husband (Tommy) was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last year just after their one year wedding anniversary. There is 5K walk/run event in Atlanta on November 13 - PurpleStride . While I cannot attend, I will be donating to "Team Tommy." For my friends in the Atlanta area, if you could participate in this race, it would mean the world to me. But what I would like most is that you please make some sort of donation if you are financially able. This link takes you to Lindsey's page for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network - Purple Stride Atlanta 2010 . Also, it looks like there are PurpleStride events around the country, so maybe there is one in your area. Workouts - Weights & Run During lunch I decided to do shoulders and triceps. I did super...

Shoulders and Step Oh busy days. Yep, on repeat again. But I had a great workout at lunch to help break up the day. I did shoulders using the pyramid method of 12, 10, 8, 10, 12 reps increasing then decreasing the weights: Overhead press Rear delt flye into Front raise into Side lateral raise* *This was like a tri set where I did each exercise for 12 reps before moving to the next set of reps doing all 3 exercises again for 10 reps rather than the pyramid up and down for flye, then up and down for raise, etc. I had a really strong weight workout and was able to keep some of the heavier weights even with the addition of the reps. Love it when I have those "strong" days. After work I did cardio. I had thought about trying for another run, but my hamstrings are still sore from Sunday's workout then running yesterday. Of course, I didn't go for an easy workout - that's so not like me ;-) I opted for about 35 minutes of Cathe's Imax 3 . That worko...

Sorry for the delayed Monday post. Comcast went down right before I was ready to submit. Our internet has been really effing up a lot lately, but this was the really annoying and ill timed. It was still out before I went to sleep around 9:15. Gotta love technology right?   Soup on Sunday Well, yesterday the temps just steadily continued to inch down. We ended up having soup for dinner while watching The Book of Eli, which I thought was really pretty good. Though, I will admit to taking several breaks to get the soup started and check on it. I have such a hard time sitting all the way through a movie. We weren't just starved because of our late pizza lunch, so I thought I'd make a lighter type of soup (as in more broth). I opted for a Vegetable and Chikn' Seitan Soup . Vegetable and Chikn' Seitan Soup Ingredients: 1/2 white onion, diced 3-4 carrots, diced 1 tbsp minced garlic 1 small zucchini, diced 1 small to medium yellow squash, diced 1 can cannellini bean...

Major DOMS Man Monday came around far too quickly in my opinion. I doubt many will disagree. Jason's alarm went off at 5 am for swim. I was snoozing so good too. Did I get up? Oh heck no, rolled over and crashed hard until my alarm went off at 6:23. I have some serious DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) going on from my leg workout yesterday . It was not fun getting up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. Made me think long and hard about how badly I really needed to go ;-) I wasn't sure if today was going to end up being a rest day for me actually. Just couldn't think of anything I could do that wouldn't kill my legs any more. But, I do know that sometimes it's really helpful to get them moving and loosened up. I ended up doing shoulders and MMA Boxing at lunch. I seriously didn't think I could handle a step workout safely, and running was out of the question as the temps were due to hit close to 100 again today. Who said summer was over? I...

Working Out on Labor Day It might be Labor Day, but it's not a rest day. So, this morning I got up and decided to do shoulders and triceps. I did supersets of 3x8 unless noted: SS#1 Arnold press Overhead triceps extension SS#2 Lateral raise Double-arm kickbacks SS#3 Upright rows Lying dumbbell triceps extensions SS#4 Front into side raise 2-8 Weighted dips - 2x10 My legs were still pretty tight from Saturday's 7-mile run. I decided that it might be good to get out for an easy run to help loosen them up. It was already getting warm, but I was determined to do an easy 2-miler. It actually ended up being a good run for me and really helped my legs. Take Me Out to the Ballgame  Today we went to the last baseball game of the season with my dad and step-mother. Growing up, my dad too my sister and me to the baseball games frequently. They are some of my best memories. The stadium was called Ray Winder Field and was one of the oldest in the nation. Sadly, they b...

Making it Happen Oh was it ever hard to get up this morning. It was overcast, threatening rain, so it was still dark when I got up. That always makes it so much more difficult I think. My legs are talking to me today after yesterday's workout. I got my quads and inner thighs good (or bad depending on your line of thought). I was totally wishy washy about a weight workout today (any workout to be honest). Shoulders? Biceps? What to do, what to do. I ended up doing shoulders at lunch. I went with a triset that I repeated 4 times plus two additional exercises: Triset: Shoulder press Upright rows Lateral raise Front to side raise - 10 Rear delt press - 3x12 Seeing as how my legs felt like dead weight, I knew I wouldn't be running, spinning, or stepping for my cardio. I went with MMA Boxing because it's not very leg intensive. There are some drills, but no squatting, jumping, or kicking involved. It was just enough to get the legs warm and loosened up a bit. This e...

Eked Out Morning Workouts This morning I had my alarm set for a little after 5. I slept fairly well, only waking up twice, but the second time (around 4) I started to rethink getting up for a morning workout. I knew that I could easily fall back asleep for another two hours if I let myself. I think that it's also getting harder to get up early since it's starting to stay dark so much longer. I probably should have slept in, but ended up dragging myself out of the bed for weights and cardio. I did 3 supersets for shoulders and triceps (odd combination) for 3 sets of 8 reps then finished off with 2 exercises done to failure (just for funzies). SS#1 Shoulder press Overhead triceps extension SS#2 Lateral raise Double-arm kickbacks SS#3 Upright rows Lying triceps extensions (on stability ball) Front/Side raise - 10 reps Weighted triceps dips - 16 reps (probably could have hit 18) I was feeling a bit weak again today. Of course, lifting in the morning always seems...

Salad Sunday First off, Jason and I want to thank everyone for your congrats regarding his triathlon on Sunday. It means a lot having so much support. Last night I ended up turning on the oven after all. It was cooler than grilling. I roasted up some veggies: red and green bell peppers, onions, sweet potato, squash, and zucchini along with some tofu for a Roasted Veggie Salad . The tofu was awesome. It's a new brand, or rather, one we have not tried before - Twin Oaks Community Foods Organic Tofu "Fine Herb" . Jason picked it up from the Argenta Market . This was an awesome tofu actually. It didn't need to be frozen, pressed, or anything. It was already "dry." I simply cubed it and baked it for about 25 minutes at 425 degrees flipping at least once. We will most definitely be buying this one again. Monday Workouts This morning I knew I wasn't going to be getting up for any workouts. While I am getting more consistent about getting up early for m...

Feeling Lazy Well, this morning I was a total bum and did not get up to get in any part of my workout. Yes, kicking myself because I was pretty much awake. Jason got up to go swim at 5 am. As quiet as he may try to be, I almost always wake up when he gets up. Oh how I wish I were a morning person. Anyway, I ended up opting for shoulders during lunch. Decided to do drop sets today to shake things up a bit. I've been doing the standard 3x8 for too long I think. It's always good to change things up. I did 4 sets of 10 reps decreasing the weight approximately 10% with each set. Shoulder press Lateral raise Rear delt flye Front raise Front/side/front raise (do front raise, open arms to side, close back to front then return to start) I finished up with ab work from Cardio and Weights . It was a short, fast paced workout. I will admit that I was seriously dreading doing any cardio today. I did get my step set up in the living room during lunch though. This makes it harder...