Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

No pool today..

Did p90x abs + 50 crisscross crunches
20 reg pushups + 20 chataranga
40min on the bike trainer.
had a smoothie with a scoop of Plant Fusion and a scoop of pea protein powder after..

And of course PT :)

I saw a picture of p90x2 and got an idea for complicating the standard workout with a weight and something your legs hold..As this has been my go-to ab workout for a long time now, it's well overdue for me to change it..so, I'm thinking my next round I'll give that a try.

I also found my Camlebak and actually used it for some water today..

Hey there! I'm still so impressed by your journaling! You're so consistent in excercise, despite your injury, and that's really inspirational! Keep at it!!!

-Karen

Awww. Thank you Karen! I appreciate the support. :)

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Today - I walked 34 lengths in the pool again.
I then used the kickboard for about 15min during which I realized that i'm competitively motivated..

Two guys were in the lanes next to me and they were clearly *way* better swimmers than i as they can do things such as the butterfly stroke while I'm still trying to keep water out of my nose...but when we were leaving the edge around the same time, I was bent on kicking as fast as I could to beat them to the other end.
That didn't happen, of course, but it made me realize that for me, there's something to be said for exercising out of the house 'against' someone else..When swimming (or doing anything) on my own, i usually go for hitting a certain cardio level...and other times, i guess perhaps i do 'just enough'...but put someone in a lane next to me...be it on land or in the water...i suddenly PUSH. Even if the odds are 1,000 to 1, I compete with everything.
Something for me to think about..

Anyway, other than PT and that bout of swimming, I'm thinking that today is a rest day.

I'll update later if that changes but seeing as it's 9pm, it'll probably stay that way.

I spent about an hour? on the weight machine today...I did 3 sets of 12 on the full rotation - most all ended up around the point of failure at the last rep..and i had to lower the weight on set 2/3 for a few of them in order to complete the round.
In other words, I pushed it.

So, if I feel it tomorrow/Sunday, I won't be surprised.

Yet again, I didn't keep track of the weights used - I need to start doing that...

After the rounds, I walked 22lengths in the pool, kickboard swam for about 14 lengths..and was kicked out for water volleyball (I need to review the pool schedule!). Though a few of my kicking lengths were slower, i kicked it up a notch for some of the rounds -as if there was someone in the lane next to me that I was racing..

Went home, ate part of a Vega choc/coconut protein bar, some tofu & tempeh, and did the rest of my PT.
yeehah.

Argh. i just typed out a post and Firefox crashed.

an abbreviated version:
walked 36lengths in the pool
swam 25min
1hr pilates
p90x abs with weights
50 crisscross crunches

have to go do PT now

and a non-abbreviated side-note..I wrote before that I often do 'just enough' but don't push it...but i think in reality, it's more that i don't sprint/short burst train, i tend to do more endurance tasks...i will add miles and miles or time and more time on to what i do, while focusing on heart rate/recovery rate improvement, but don't often focusing on increasing short immediates..I think it would be good for me to start trying to do just that..

You: "Two guys were in the lanes next to me and they were clearly *way* better swimmers than i as they can do things such as the butterfly stroke while I'm still trying to keep water out of my nose"
That totally made me laugh! I'm picturing you in the pool, trying to chase these guys in the lanes next to you, kicking your legs, while inhaling water up your nose! Sorry, I know it's not funny... but... nah, it's kinda funny! Thanks for the laugh!

And, oooooh, do you LOVE the Vega chocolate coconut protein bars, too? Oh, man! So good!

Happy Monday!
~Karen

Hahh. Yeah, when you look at it that way, I suppose it is! At least I had a kickboard though! Otherwise, me trying to swim on my stomach without one =...dog paddle
Back stroke, side stroke, dandy...but things that involve mastering how to breathe with the water...not so much!

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I tried a spin class (50min?) today. I've never done one before and it was actually pretty fun. I was somewhat limited as I couldn't do the highest level on the bike as my ankle screamed and I couldn't 'stand bike'. But I got my heart rate way up, actually sweated a decent amount, and felt the burn here and there. I do believe I shall be going again.

No pool..still need to do the other PT stuff...yep...

Good to hear you tried a spin class. I've done them a few times, and yeah, they're a really good workout, eh? It's been a while since I've gone because the gym I go to now doesn't offer very many spin classes, and they're always so full that you have to arrive an hour ahead of time to get a spot.

Have a great rest of your week!

Thanks Karen!
There's no way I'd be going either if I had to get there an hour early just to get a bike! That makes me glad to be at the gym I am. (Very low-key and low-use).

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Today ->
Went to the 'low-use' gym forgetting that they have a swim class at 6.15...I of course remembered this while changing into my suit at 5.55..So, I walked 18lengths and that was that..

Went home, did pilates legs...p90x abs with 10lb weight (the extra weight definitely adds to difficulty!!)...50 crisscross crunches...20 reg. push ups & 20 chataranga.

45min on my bike trainer today..There was a spin class but I chose my trainer instead as I need to balance out the time 'racing' with the time focused on rotating my ankle properly and making sure I'm using my weaker leg..
Exciting stuff..

I'm scheduled for a nerve block tomorrow which...I'm a bit apprehensive about :)
But, as I don't know what to expect/how long I'll be out of commission for (I'm thinking two days?), I went to the gym for a last hoorah. However, I also only had one hour there, so I cut my sets a bit short.

I did however keep mental track of some of the weights...and unfortunately, my blood sugar dropped midway through which definitely tanked my strength (I forgot to bring anything and it didn't occur to me to even see if they sold anything I could eat there!)
So - On most all, I did 8-12 reps on the first set and 8 reps on the next two.
The ones I remember -
tricep - 50x12 50x8 50x8
hip adductor - 135x12 135x8 120x8
hip abductor - 185x8 165x8 165x8
upright bench press - 45x8 40x8 40x8
incline bench press - 60x8 50x8 50x8

Anyway, those are the only ones I remember with any certainty. I don't want to write the 'i think it was' ones as if I'm wrong, i'd hate to later think i'm doing worse or awesomely better when...i'm not :)

Other than that...no pool...still need to do pt..

No exercise today or yesterday.
I made it through the nerve block without a headache or back pain, so I'm thinking I'll probably do pilates or something tomorrow.

Nothing too exciting today...
Did 45minutes on the bike trainer. 20 reg pushups. 20 chataranga.

I'm not allowed in the pool for 48hours after the nerve block so i experimented with 'walking' with crutches on the treadmill for an hour instead. I 'walked' 1.5miles..Or rather, my arms and one leg walked 1.5 miles...I long for the day when my other leg will be able to participate properly again..
In some ways I liked it better than walking in the pool as at least the boredom of it is partially offset by the tv.

Went to spin class (around 45-50min of riding) followed by the ab machines..
40 min (1mi) of crutch walking on the treadmill..
p90x abs (+10lb weight) + 50crisscross crunches

I'm shifting a lot of my pool work to treadmill work as it allows me to 'walk' every day as I'm now ordered to
So, today - 30min crutching on the treadmill..

i stopped by the gym on the way home and actually wrote down the weights..I kept my reps short to only be there for about an hour - and tried to add in my own PHAT version - throwing in a few reps of higher weight at the end..Some I could have gone higher, some were plenty high enough

It was interesting though - in my little PHAT version, I tried numbers higher than I normally even test and with some, i discovered that I could be doing such numbers for the normal reps (e.g. the seated leg press - i could have been doing at least 100 for the regular reps)

chest press -> 8*50lb 8*50lb 8*60lb
bicep -> 8*40 8*45 8*45
hip adductor -> 8*160 8*160 8*160 3*175
hip abductor -> 8*175 8*175 8*165
these numbers...baffle me...for the last few months, all i've done is one-legged biking and leg lifts...granted, i had a (oooo) 3lb cast on my foot, but...i keep thinking these machines must be broken, but then i see other people using them with *much* lower weights..beats me..but, can't say i mind the concept that my legs can do such..
back extension -> 8*100 8*100 8*100
torso twist -> 8*70 (ea side) 8*80 (ea) 8*80(ea) 3*100
leg lifts (L) -> 8 8 8
knee lifts -> 8
tricep pushdown -> 8*60 8*60 8*50 3*70
lateral -> 8*40 8*35 8*30 3*40 --i'm really weak on these
seated row -> 8*55 8*55 8*55 3*70
pulldown overhand-> 3*70 3*70 3*70 3*85 3*100
pulldown underhand -> 8*80 8*80 8*80 3*100
seated leg press -> 8*90 8*90 8*90 5*110
leg curl -> 8*40 8*45 8*50 3*65
leg extension -> 8*70 8*70 8*70 3*85
ab crunch -> 8*95 8*100 8*100 3*110