Like most Monday's, I hit up Planet today for my start-of-the-work-week gym sesh. Oddly enough for a Monday, it was nice and quiet. Today's focus was on shoulders but I struggled to really push myself after an intense back & chest workout yesterday which seems to have irritated my lower back. Disappointing seeing as shoulders are usually one of my favs! Yesterday's workout was another stabilization-focused session which went great but I think it was the bosu ball deadlifts that did me in. I pushed myself to hold the 50 lb bar which was probably a bit much :S
Anyway, I got to Planet nice and early, having left work in the afternoon to make a routine dentist appointment (no cavities of course!) so I was able to grab one of the good treadmills in the back with the built-in fans. I only did a 15 min warm-up today though (10 mins running). Note to self: Do not eat a protein bar immediately before attempting a run; stomach does not appreciate it!
So after my "run", I went upstairs to a nice deserted weight room where I did 3 sets of 8 front shoulder raises and the same for latteral shoulder raises. I followed these with 4 sets of leg lifts on the standing leg lift machine (2 sets front and 2 sets side-to-side). I tried to take my time on these because I wanted to grab the assisted pullup machine right beside it but that was a very popular machine tonight and I kept missing my opportunity between sets! So, I went over to the other side of the room and did 3 sets of 8 lat pull-downs. On my way back downstairs I saw that the pull-up machine was now vacant so I finished with a set of 8 pullups and then a set of 4 as that's all I could manage to push out by that point! Not a bad shoulder workout by any means, just not feeling really motivated today I guess. I think it may also have to do with the fact that Planet needs to replace all of its lights with wattage about 5x whatever it uses now. Now that its dark out at that time of day, its so much darker than usual inside that I want to fall asleep!
Venturing back downstairs, I went over to the mats and did front and side planks, each position held twice. I always count to 60 before switching positions but I've recently found that I am an overly fast counter and my "minute" is more like 30 seconds...ooops! Second note to self: purchase a watch for the gym! After some stretching and laying arched over a stability ball in an attempt to soothe my back (which did not work!), I was out the door and headed home. Third note to self: buy a heating pad. I always wish I had one when I have uncomfortably sore muscles but can never seem to justify buying one when I'm feeling fine! Tomorrow, unfortunately, has to be a rest day because of one of many inconveniently scheduled holiday parties this week. Looking forward to hitting World's hard on Wednesday!
Monday, December 12, 2011
Saturday, December 10, 2011
All About Stability
Planned my entire bi's & tri's workout around stability exercises today. Got to the gym around 9am and started with a nice 20 minute run. Okay, so I had planned to go for longer than that but at least I can say that I've upped my speed to 5.5 and brought the incline to 2 so it wasn't a total letdown. Plus, I'm guessing the slice of mashed potato & bacon pizza I was coerced into having at Otto around 12am last night wasn't helping things.
After my run I started with three sets of 8 bicep dumbbell curls while standing on the bosu ball. Then, staying on the bosu, I moved into three sets of 8 overhead tricep extensions. I then grabbed a bench and a stability ball and did three sets of 8 tricep dips with a 10 lb. plate on my lap and my feet balancing on the ball. For my final arm workout I did three sets of 8 bicep curls using a 30 lb. barbell, also standing on the bosu.
For abs today, I did 4 sets of 8 stability ball leg lifts followed by 3 sets of 8 pushups with my toes on a stability ball. These are really difficult but I will say I am getting much better at them! I'd like to think that my whole workout, minus the run, was all a bit of an abs workout seeing as I added some form of stabilization into everything. Definitely going to try to do more of this in the future!
After my run I started with three sets of 8 bicep dumbbell curls while standing on the bosu ball. Then, staying on the bosu, I moved into three sets of 8 overhead tricep extensions. I then grabbed a bench and a stability ball and did three sets of 8 tricep dips with a 10 lb. plate on my lap and my feet balancing on the ball. For my final arm workout I did three sets of 8 bicep curls using a 30 lb. barbell, also standing on the bosu.
For abs today, I did 4 sets of 8 stability ball leg lifts followed by 3 sets of 8 pushups with my toes on a stability ball. These are really difficult but I will say I am getting much better at them! I'd like to think that my whole workout, minus the run, was all a bit of an abs workout seeing as I added some form of stabilization into everything. Definitely going to try to do more of this in the future!
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Hump Day, Rump Day
As planned, I hit up World's today for a solid lower body workout. I started with a 15 minute run to warm up. I had planned on doing 25 and I really don't have any excuse other than just not being motivated enough to finish it. Although, my shins were kind of hurting so maybe I can use my non-running sneakers as my excuse today hehe
I began my weight sesh with 3 sets of 8 (each leg) on the standing glute machine (set at a 70 lb. resistance) and then moved on to 3 sets of 12 on the standing calf machine (75 lbs). I really love both of these machines and don't do them nearly enough! I decided not to save all of my abs workouts for the end today so I then moved on to 4 sets of 8 stability ball leg-lifts using both the 10 and 5 lb. dumbbells. Following these, I did 3 sets of 8 (each leg) one-legged deadlifts, starting with the 20 lb dumbbells and then moving to the 15's once I tired out. Finally, I ended my sesh with 4 sets of 12 incline bench crunches (2 sets forward and 2 sets side-to-side). I did the first two sets with a 10 lb. plate held to my chest but dropped it for the last two because I had made the bench so high I was seriously struggling to finish! World's was pretty busy today but I was on a mission and I must say, I did a pretty good job of tuning everyone out and staying in my own little workout bubble haha
I did a lot of standing stretching while I had the step set-up for the deadlifts (like my favourite standing glute stretch!) so I ended with just a few leg stretches on the mats and then scooted off to Whole Foods to treat myself to one of my favourite cookies (sesame tahini) for dessert tonight!
I began my weight sesh with 3 sets of 8 (each leg) on the standing glute machine (set at a 70 lb. resistance) and then moved on to 3 sets of 12 on the standing calf machine (75 lbs). I really love both of these machines and don't do them nearly enough! I decided not to save all of my abs workouts for the end today so I then moved on to 4 sets of 8 stability ball leg-lifts using both the 10 and 5 lb. dumbbells. Following these, I did 3 sets of 8 (each leg) one-legged deadlifts, starting with the 20 lb dumbbells and then moving to the 15's once I tired out. Finally, I ended my sesh with 4 sets of 12 incline bench crunches (2 sets forward and 2 sets side-to-side). I did the first two sets with a 10 lb. plate held to my chest but dropped it for the last two because I had made the bench so high I was seriously struggling to finish! World's was pretty busy today but I was on a mission and I must say, I did a pretty good job of tuning everyone out and staying in my own little workout bubble haha
I did a lot of standing stretching while I had the step set-up for the deadlifts (like my favourite standing glute stretch!) so I ended with just a few leg stretches on the mats and then scooted off to Whole Foods to treat myself to one of my favourite cookies (sesame tahini) for dessert tonight!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)