Chicken Soup for the Gym Rat's Soul

So, its Monday again and after taking a rest day yesterday I was more than ready to get back to it in the gym. The office filtered out early today as its Halloween and everyone with kids went home to get ready for trick-or-treating. Well, I'm certainly not going to be denied an early departure just because I don't have any children so I was more than happy to get to the gym early! Unfortunately my body wasn't as eager to workout as my mind; I only got in an 8 minute run before the cramps set in and then pushed myself through a painful additional 2 before deciding to cut it short today. Oh well, maybe I just needed a running warm-up before the marathon sesh I'm going to have tomorrow, eh?! Haha maybe, but more than likely my brain was just overly fixated on Halloween candy...

After my weak run I ventured upstairs to do back and chest. Today's weight workout included 3 sets of 8 chest press, 3 sets of 8 bent-over rows (one side at a time) and lastly 3 sets of 8 sitting rows using the cables. Then I moved onto abs starting with leg lifts on the standing leg lift/tricep dip machine (I have no idea what this is really called). I did 2 sets of 8 front lifts and then 2 sets of 8 side lifts. I acually like the machine at Planet better because you can hold the tricip dip bars while doing your lifts, making it more of a balancing/total body strengthening exercise. Plus, it makes you look like a gymnast :)  The last thing I did was 3 sets of 8 stability ball leg lifts. I know I do these a lot but they just work so well! Finishing with a lot of lower body stretches again, I then left and went to Whole Foods for some delicious homemade chicken soup for dinner. I'm not usually much of a soup person but it sounded so perfect on this frigid post-blizzard evening. It did not disappoint.

Cheers to the Freakin' Weekend

Up nice and early today, hitting up World's about 8:30. Its the best time of day to work out because its pretty empty and the usual creepy old men are few and far between. I grabbed a treadmill and did my routine 20 minute run. I skipped the run in yesterday's workout to let my legs recover and today seemed so much harder than before. It probably didn't help that I was still thawing out from having taken my pup for a pre-gym walk in these arctic October temperatures!

Today was a shoulders day so after A LOT of stretching out my hams/quads/glutes I started with 3 sets of standing arnold press and then did three sets of incline bench shoulder press. In between sets I did pull-ups but I wasn't feeling very strong so I only managed to do two sets of 3 :(

For abs I did 3 sets of 12 side-crunches on the back extension machine. I prefer to do this without any weights because I have a better range of motion so I can really crunch it up with each rep! Then I did 3 sets of 12 rope pulley crunches on the floor. Not my favorite ab move but I was aiming for some variety today. Be careful who is behind you when you do this because your ass will be right in their face! Lastly, I went back over to the stretching area and made another attempt to balance (standing) on the stability ball. Not happening. I just can't figure out how to get my feet up! Urghhh I'm going to have to watch some YouTube videos and try to copy someone's technique.

Anyway, I felt pretty refreshed and ready to take on the day when I left. Tomorrow may be a rest day depending on how the Halloween festivities go tonight. My mental state may not appreciate it but my legs sure will be happy. Cheers to the weekend!

Sausage Is Not Part of a Healthy Diet

Every Thursday you can bring a friend to World's for free so today I brought my friend Jen to whom I'd been talking-up Worlds' equipment for a while. Usually Thursdays are nice and quiet as the casual gym-goers have already given up for the week. Today, however, not only was it packed but it was also a massive sausage fest. You'd think this would be a good thing but in this case there were one too many flavors I'd previously sampled and passed on. But that's a story for another time...

So, Jen and I grabbed two treadmills in the front row (best viewing capabilities) and I cranked out my 20  minutes again. No cramps. No stopping. My legs could use a serious break right now so even though today was a legs day, I decided to alternate legs and abs to give me some time to recover. We started with one-leg weighted deadlifts and followed with stability ball weighted leg lifts, standing glute press, and lastly incline medicine ball-catching crunches. Leg presses were on the agenga but we'd fallen behind on time due to all of the distractions haha. Between skipping those today and doing a half-ass bis/tris session yesterday, looks like tomorrow is going to be a random make-up workout!

We ended with some leg stretches on the mats and that was it for the night. I had Jen take pics of the deadlifts and leg lifts since they're two of my favorite moves and yield great results so stay tuned for those uploads.  I'll add descriptions and ways to modify them for your level too. Now I just have to figure out how to upload pics on here!

All About Attitude

I don't know what came over me today but not only did I reach my 14 minute straight goal, but I pushed through and made it 20! Better yet, no cramps! I'm starting to think I can make my 30 minute goal in no time. It's totally all about attitude.

I decided to take it easy on the weights today because my muscles (quads and calves mostly) have gotten really tight this week from running.  Bis and Tris were on the agenda so I did my usual mix of regular bicep curls, hammer curls, tricep kick-backs and my favorite tricep move, bench dips with my feet balancing on a stability ball. For abs I kept it short and simple with some incline weighted crunches to the front and side.

Before I left I stretched out on the mats and attempted to roll-out my quads with a foam roller (ouch!!).  There was a girl doing bicep curls in front of the mirrors who jerked here whole upper body every time she curled so she wasn't actually working her biceps at all. I always wonder, is it okay to go up to some random person and tell them what they're doing is wrong? There seems to be a fine line between helping and embarassing. Thoughts?...

Chest Reduction

Made it to 14 minutes today....and to top it off I made it through the first 12 consecutively! Instead of bringing it up to 16 tomorrow, I think I'm going to keep it at 14 until I can do the whole thing consecutively without any debilitating crampage setting in. Then I'll raise it by a minute each day following the same logic. Ultimately I think the goal will be 30 consecutive minutes of pant-free, cramp-free, and ideally sweat-free running! That's really all I'd need to be able to do to take my pup for a run around the Back Cove :)

Just a quickie post today as nothing overly exciting happened in the gym and its Tuesday, Biggest Loser night! Today's weight workout was back & chest. I started with free weight chest presses on a bench (3 sets of 12), then did one arm bentover rows (3 sets of 8 each arm) and lastly, standing barbell rows (3 sets of 12). Typically I like to do at least 2 exercises for each muscle group but the girls have been performing a disappearing act as of late so I try to ease up on the chest moves haha

For abs I did standing weighted side crunches (3 sets of 8 each side) and then moved downstairs where I did 3 sets of 8 tee pees on the stablity ball, balancing on my knees between each set.  I attempted to try to stand on the ball (something I've never been able to do) but I can't quite figure out how to get my feet up. I'm making it my next goal to be able to stand on it but I think I'll practice at World's where you can find a secluded corner and not have everyone watching as you fail haha

It's the Little Things in Life

Well, I can say that I hit my 12-minute goal today but it wasn't quite the accomplishment it could have been. Got to Planet today and embarked on my running routine, starting with the usual 2-minute warm-up before moving into a jog. Around the 8 minute mark though some awful side cramps set in. Now, I always hear people saying "push through it" but that method has never worked for me...I don't respond well to torture haha. So, I managed to get in another 2 minutes of running after a 3 minute walking break but that was it, the tummy was just not having it tonight.

So, after feeling like I at least gave it my best shot, I ventured upstairs to do shoulders. Man was the weight room packed tonight! And despite that fact, there wasn't much to look at for motivation haha...
Today's routine consisted of 3 sets of 8 arnold curls (one of my favs because it really makes your shoulders and biceps bulge while in position so I always feel really strong while doing it!), 2 sets of chin-ups (the cheating kind where you can adjust your weight so you aren't doing your full body weight; something I would only do in the "judgement free zone" haha), 2 sets each of 8 front shoulder raises and 8 latteral shoulder raises, and finally 3 sets of 8 reps on the lap pulldown machine.

Ready to go back downstairs to finish with abs, the guilt of not hitting my 12 minute goal set-in. So, seeing that the stretching area was rediculously crowded, I decided to get in those last 2 minutes. I grabbed a treadmill in the last row and to my delight, there were built-in fans! Ahhh running didn't seem so bad with two fans blowing cool sweet air in my face...okay, so more sweat smelling than sweet but it's the little things in life that mean the most!

Finally I ventured back over to the stretching area and decided it had been a few too many days since I did my all-time-favorite ab workout, so I grabbed a bench, a stability ball, and a 7.5 lb. freeweight for 3 sets of 8 leg lifts. Basically, you sit on the ball with the bench behind you and place the weight a few feet in front of you. Then bend backward so you grab the bench behind you. Lastly, grab the weight with your feet (really tight so you don't drop it on your head and crack your skull!) and lift your legs perpendicular to your torso. Then, bring them back down so your body is parallel to the floor but not any further (that's where you really feel the squeeze!). It's a bit hard to explain so I'll be posting some pics at some point in the future but I swear, no ab workout has ever shredded my abs like this one!

Lastly, I ended with some simple balancing bench crunches (3 sets of 12), some ham/glute/quad stretches on the mats and I was out the door. Okay, so after today's attempt I am not going to guarantee that I'll make it to 14 minutes tomorrow but we'll see. Maybe I'll plop myself next to a hottie so I feel compelled to "push through it"...

Sweating Out A Hangover

Hit the 10 minute mark today...and with a hangover no less! Got to World's later than usual today but rather than the typical mid-day weekend rush, it was oddly empty. Must have been because all of Portland seemed to be out last night and probably hadn't gotten up yet....or more specifically, they didn't have a dog to wake them up!

I was going to give myself the excuse of being too tired and dehydrated to attempt a run but I knew I couldn't admit to that on here. So, after a quick stretch of my achy muscles I grabbed my earphones and chose a treadmill in the front row. I knew I'd push myself harder there since people could more easily see me haha. I don't ususally workout with earphones but the treadmill minutes seem to go by faster while watching TV. I started with a 2-minute walking warmup at a 3.5 mph pace and a level one incline, then brought it up to a 5 mph pace and cranked out 6 minutes straight of running! I continued to do my run-walk routine until I had done a total of 10 minues of walking and 10 minutes of running and ending at a level 3.5 include. Now, this may not seem like much if you are a runner but to me, its HUGE!

I felt great when I was done and was ready to embark on my usual weight routine. I call my workout today my "random legs day" because there isn't really a theme to it. Its the day where I fit in the muscle groups that don't really go with any other workout. On the agenda was the standing calf machine (3 sets of 12), inner and outer thigh press machines (3 sets of 12 each), and my favorite, the on-all-fours glute press machine (4 sets of 8, switching between bent and straight leg presses). I typically do 3 sets of 12 reps for most exercises, increasing and decreasing the weight based on what feels right on a given day. If I'm feeling super energetic and strong then I'll do a heavier weight and fewer reps but today was more about detoxifying than anything else!

Once done with legs, I moved on to abs. Today I kept it simple and just did incline crunches (2 sets of 20 straight-up crunches and 2 sets of 20 side-to-side crunches). Then I moved over to the stretching mats and finished with some planks (1 minute straight plank, 1 minute right side, and 1 minute left side). Ending with the straight plank, I moved into chaturanga and finished with an upward and downward dog to stretch it all out. Leaving much more refreshed than when I arrived, I stoped into Whole Foods for an electolyte-filled coconut water, delish!

I'm starting to feel good about this whole running thing. Tomorrow I'm going for 12...

Learning to Run

So, as I mentioned in my first post, workout ruts are impossible to avoid. Maybe its all in my head due to my recent 26th birthday when for the first time I actually felt old, but I swear my ass is starting to sag! That is why I have decided to finally commit to taking up the one workout I absolutely detest doing, running. There's just something about the word that makes me cringe. It conjures up thoughts of excessive panting, out-of-breathlessness and horrible side cramps that make me want to curl up and die. But, alas, runners typically have nice asses. I embarked on my new goal at Planet Fitness because what better place to try something completely out of my comfort zone than the "judgement free zone"?

Now, I've tried to run in the past, quite unsuccessfully. I tried track and field in middle school, but I always chose the sprint and field activities (even though I had no speed or arm strength) since they didn't require any lasting endurance.  I've gone on the occasional jog around the Back Cove with friends but I always get left in the dust at about the 1/4 mile mark when my cramps kick in. Then there's those back-to-school and New Years resolution times of the year when all the cardio equipment at the gym is taken except for one last lonely treadmill which I reluctantly step upon for about 5 minutes until I spot someone about to get off their eliptical from across the gym and I make a beeline for it. But perhaps now that I'm spelling it out for all of the internet to see, I will actually go through with it!

I keep telling myself that if nothing else I need to do it for the sake of my dog who has an overabundance of puppy-like energy and desperately needs a running companion. There's just always so many more excuses not to do it than to do it; its too hot out, I don't want to be soaked in sweat, I'm too tired, my knees hurt when I run, etc. etc. etc. So, today is day #2 of learning to run. Made it 8 minutes on the treadmill today, up from 6 the other day during try #1. Going for 10 tomorrow...or the next day...

Welcome to Gym Rat Confessions!

Welcome to my blog, Gym Rat Confessions! I've been toying with the idea of creating a blog for months now and just this week decided to give it a go. I'll be the first to admit, I am completely computer/technology illiterate (the reason I've procrastinated for so long) so hopefully as I get comfortable using this site, the look and design will improve! That being said, feel free to offer up any good blogging tips you may have...just keep it in layman's terms please :)

This will probably be one of my longest posts. My goal is to post quick workout tips, random thoughts, or funny gym stories on a daily (hopefully!) basis but I figured it would be good to give everyone a little background on my fitness history so here goes...

First, I should mention that I have never been remotely athletic. I was always the last one picked in gym class, the one sent to the outfield where there was less of a chance I'd have to catch the ball and risk my team losing. Gym class was nothing less than an anxiety-filled hour of embarrassment. It got so bad that in high school I refused to sign-up for it. When the administration finally realized in the last quarter of senior year that one of their honor roll students didn't have the credits to graduate, they decided to save face and allowed me to do whatever I wanted for exercise on my own time and keep a schedule of my hours. It was great, for the first time in my life I didn't dread working out. I did things I enjoyed like kayaking and hiking on the weekends and got in my credit hours just in time for graduation. Now, all of this could have been avoided if one of those lousy gym teachers would have just explained the rules of the games to me but of course they didn't see it worth their time. If only they could see me now!

Someone first called me a gym rat back in my second year at University when I developed the habit of hitting up a daily fitness class. Ever since I had started my personal workouts in High School, I had continued to do light workouts that included jogging and light weights a few times a week. However, this wasn't really cutting it for me. I'd always been a petit girl but the "freshman 5" somehow found its way to my ass through the delicious desserts in the residence cafeteria! A girlfriend of mine convinced me to try a yoga class with her one day in second year and that one class opened up a whole new world for me (thank you Heather!). The group fitness program at my school was excellent; great teachers and a variety of fun classes like aeroboxing (aerobics-boxing kind of like kickboxing), step, regular aerobics, and of course yoga. I got so addicted I just couldn't stay away. After a short period of time I had all the moves down and a "reserved" spot at the front of each class. I was in the best shape I'd ever been in and nothing could keep me from going, not even a deadly hangover which was not uncommon in those years!

After graduation I moved here to Portland, Maine and joined up the local Bally's (now World Gym) where I continued my routine. Having new teachers allowed me to learn some new moves which was a great change. Once again I had my front-of-the room spot and was so in love with these classes that I even got AFAA certified as a group fitness instructor! I've since let that certification expire as my workout interests have changed considerably but its always in my back pocket should I decide to get back into it. Anyway, a year or so into it I felt like I was in a major workout rut. I was in shape for sure but wasn't seeing any improvement any more. I started to venture into the weight room and try out some of the machines. Soon I was foregoing my classes for full weight sessions and finally I was seeing results again!

Over time, I got used to the equipment and picked up a lot of great new moves from other lifters. Its funny how a weight room can be so intimidating when you're learning the ropes but now it's like a gym-family. You show up every day and there's always the usuals (other gym rats) that have been there forever. One thing about gym rats is that they love getting and giving workout advice. Sometimes all it takes it a compliment on someone's physique or a question on how to use a piece of equipment and you'll end up leaving with a whole new workout plan!

Today my gym routine consists of a light cardio warm-up (usually 20-ish minutes on the eliptical) followed by 60-ish minutes of weights and abs, and then 5-10 minutes of stretching. I do ab workouts daily but my weight workouts are different every day. For example, one day will be biceps/triceps, another day with be back/chest, and so forth. I usually try to do opposing muscle groups. I guess everyone has their own way of working out that they enjoy but this method definitley works best for me.

A couple of months ago I joined another local gym, Planet Fitness. After four years at World's I was overdue for a change of scenery. It's hard to get used to new equipment and a totally different facility set-up but it's nice to be able to switch things up a bit. I was feeling like I was entering into another workout rut so something had to change! Now I go back-and-forth between gyms, hitting up World's for workouts such as glutes/hams/quads since I prefer their lower body equipment much better and then going to Planet for more basic workouts that only involve free weights. Plus, being a single gal, the selection fo men at World's was getting a little stale haha

So that's really a basic run-down of my fitness history. I guess a main theme is that you have to find what you love. I believe people that say they hate working out just haven't found something they enjoy doing. I may be a major gym rat who looks forward to nothing more each day than the feel of iron in my hands after a long day at the office but a workout doesn't have to be in a gym. Some of my favorite workouts are outdoor activities like kayaking or simply walking my dog. I'd change the name of this blog to Workout Rat Confessions but it doesn't sound as good! I hope that Gym Rat Confessions will be a place you find useful and informative and hopefully I can turn a few gym procrastinators into full-blown gym rats!