Leg Day Lovin’

Today was leg day and it just might be becoming my favourite day!  I was able to get new personal bests in my stiff leg deadlift, leg extension, and leg curl.  My routine included:

• Smith Machine Squat – 95 x 12, 105 x 12, 115 x 12, 125 x 12
• Stiff Leg Deadlift – 75 x 12, 85 x 12, 95 x 8
• Leg Extension (machine) – 90 x 10 (twice), 70 x 12
• Leg Curl (machine) – 80 x 10 (twice), 90 x 10
• Barbell Standing Calf Raise – 45 x 20 (3 times)

This time I made sure to include a brief warmup and cool down to hopefully minimize DOMS later on.  I started with a 1000m erg that took 4:15 and ended with 5 minutes on the ARC trainer and a 5 minute stretch.  

Oh, and another one of my coworkers got a gym membership today to join in on the lunchtime workouts.  I guess the endorphins are contagious 🙂 Once again I recovered with a vanilla vega protein shake.  

My plan is to run hills tomorrow on my lunch break and then depending on how I’m feeling maybe hit up the gym after work for a little arm and ab session.  We shall see.  I will post more later! 

Leg Day DOMS

Oh Boy, so on Wednesday I trained legs.  The routine included:

• Deadlifts – 85 lb 3 x 12
• Leg Press – 200 lb x 12, 240 x 12, 260 x 12 (2 times)
• Lunges – 30 lb barbell 3 x 12
• Calf Raises – 30 lb barbell 3 x 12
• Dumbbell Shrugs – 25 lb 3 x 12
• Squat (Smith Machine) – 95 x 8, 115 x 8, 125 x 8

Then that afternoon I went for my slated 8 km run.  Wow, did my legs ever feel it!  I ended up going nice and slow at a 6:00/km pace for 6 km and then cooling down by walking 2 km.

Now.. two days later I’m still feeling all the nice muscles in the front and back of my legs, especially around my butt!  I’m not supposed to train legs again until Monday but I’m going for a hike tonight so I really hope these DOMS go away.  Plus I need to go for a 12 km run on Sunday and a 5 km progression run tomorrow.

Whatever, pain is gain right?

Hopefully it all pays off and I get a nice butt 😉 

Lifting My Fitness

I am now joining in on the numerous fitties that enjoy picking up things and putting them back down.  Yes, you read that right, I am now officially getting into lifting.  When I say officially I mean the big barbells, Smith Machine, and dumbbells that aren’t pink.  It’s exciting and intimidating all at the same time.

Last week my coworker and I decided that throughout the summer we should utilize the cheap campus gym membership (only $20/month) and workout on our lunch hours or after work.  So far it’s been a huge success.  We found a female beginner lifting plan from simplyshredded.com (http://www.simplyshredded.com/the-ultimate-female-training-guide.html) and made up a good schedule for our workouts.

Our first day was Wednesday and we started with upper body.  The workout included:

• Bench Press – 45lb 3 sets of 12
• Bent Over Row – 35lb 3 sets of 12
• DB Shoulder Press – 15lb 3 sets of 12
• Tricep Extensions – 17.5lb 3 sets of 12, 10, 12
• Barbell Bicep Curl – 30lb 3 sets of 10
• Dumbbell Bicep Curl – 12.5lb 3 sets of 12

It took awhile on some activities to find the right weight to achieve 10-12 reps but overall it went well.  At the gym there are incredibly helpful staff that help with form and made sure we were performing the moves correctly.  I’m excited to see if the weights that I’m lifting will improve!

Thursday was a “rest” day but I still went to the gym for a quick lunch hour sweat.  It focussed on abs and I performed moves including planks, push-ups, v sit-ups, pike push-ups, assisted pull-ups, and assisted dips.

Friday was legs (risky considering I had a race on Sunday).  It included:

• Barbell Squat (on the Smith Machine) – 95lb x 12, 115lb x 12 x 2 sets
• Deadlifts – 75lb 3 sets of 12
• Leg Extensions – 80lb 3 sets of 12
• Leg Curl – 70 x 12, 80 x 12 x 2 sets
• Standing Barbell Calf Raise – 35 lb 3 sets of 12
• Lying Leg Raises – 3 x 15 each side
• Weighted Crunch – 5kg 2 sets of 25
• Plank – 30s side to 30s front to 30s side to 30s front no rest

Overall, it was a good start and relatively easy to get familiar with the gym equipment.  After each gym session I enjoyed a vanilla vega protein shake with almond milk.

Hope to start seeing some gains in the next month.

Yours in fitness.