Exercise routines, tips and chatter?

[C~Q]

Oh yay i'm so excited you did it and liked it!!! You are officially my first client

I've never done the first move before. It was actually really great! Do they ever do it in pump?

No, I wish they did shake it up a bit but as far as I know they just do chest presses

OW! The biceps were fine (i lift 10kg for both groups in pump) but the tri's O.M.G. so hard. I was always crappy at dips anyway. My sofa is uselessly soft so i did these off a dining chair - legs BENT thankyou! And even with that, i did the last 3 of the final set at quadruple speed because i felt like my arms were gonna fall off! Definitely cheated!

Haha, you'll be doing them single armed on a medicine ball with feet on a bosu in no time

Yes, i have now seen your abs and i know you don't suffer from what i do....weak abs making you rely too much on your back!

I used to - really badly but I think that doing planks has really strengthened them. That and forcing myself to engage my abs during the classes. I actually did a Combat track the other day and after it my abs were killing me. The trainer at my course the other day said that the tranverse abdominals are the ones that people (women esp) need to work on. She said they are the really deep ones, the ones you engage when doing your PF exercises and they are really important for posture. A good way to isolate them is lying on your back with your legs in the air and lowering one leg at a time to just above the floor and then bringing it back up. Higher option is straighten the leg - next option is bring both legs down at the smae time keeping them straight. The most important thing though is that your back is GLUED to the floor. If it ocmes up you have to drop back a level.

Yes, CQ, NEXT TIME! My foot is still sore, i'm clearly NOT going to be running this week, maybe not next either. I have eaten really well today, i did have chocolate to celebrate a friend's getting of her PhD, but i had about 100cals worth and i've had 4 portions of (all low GI) fruit and 7 of (really yummy) veg. I was feeling so flat though, so unable to exercise and generally crappy. And then i did this and i really felt like i'd worked out! I might do a repeat if i can't get to pump this week, but even if i get to pump i can see me doing this once a week or so as a whole-body routine, and maybe taggin individual groups onto runs when i can run again. I enjoyed it that much. It made me feel so much better - more in control of myself (i HATE not being able to run, especially when i've got PMT and feel fat and am in FACT wanting to lose some weight anyway) and of my fitness. Thanks hun, it made a big difference. I imagined you (with a neighbours accent - sorry, it was that or Kath and Kim! lol) yelling at me to keep going and it made me laugh!

I'm so glad you're going to do it again, I feel like a success!!! I'm from Sussex but I have been here for nearly 8 years so try and imagine my accent as a cross between Bridget Jones and...Kylie!

Thanks for posting the pictures - I wondered what you look like. You must have better control of your abs then you think because your stomach is FLAT!!!

If i could change anything about my body it would be to have leaner thighs, especially at the tops, but when i told DP this he said just to "reduce fat" and i said well i want to keep my bum and boobs and he said "Well write to God about it, because right now i don't know of a way to spot reduce.... LOL, i know this but still i look at the part of my thigh towards my knee and ask the wobble-tops "why can't you be more like those bits down there!?" xxx

God I wish you could spot reduce - it's not fair! I lose weight from my face, arms and chest first (hence all the comments i've had as thats the first thing people see). My boobs have gone from a C to an A When I wear my sports bra its flat - nothing there lol! I don't mind though, not really. I'd like to get rid of my saddle bags but hey ho.

Thanks for the feedback. I'm so pleased you enjoyed it and it worked for you! Hope you're not too sore (a bit of DOMS is good)

YAY HOOBS

[C~Q]

And everyone this is not the rachel and hoobley show - where are you all???

[DaintreeDream]

Hi CQ and Hoobley!

CQ - took the scenic tour since Saturday but I made it here...

I was just checking out the program you have written for Hoobley, do you mind if I give it a go? I might have to do it in two seperate parts as DD is only sleeping half an hour at a time during the day at the moment (sleeps 12-14 hours overnight though, lovely!)

I have no idea what I weigh since giving birth to DD, I was weighted the morning before I gave birth and was 79kgs. My thin self used to be 53-56kgs, healthy and toned I was 59-63kgs. I still havn't found my book with my body fat % listings. I am not to fazed with the weight (number) as such, I do want to change my body shape and tone and feel better withing myself, at the moment I feel drained and tired and always seem to have a blocked nose

I just wrote up an eating plan (I too have a problem with portion control) this morning and was going to battle the resistance training next, then I came on here and it seems that you have done the hard work for me CQ! I am planning on hitting it as hard as I can! Hopefully see some good results for Christmas!

I need to do all my training within my house, yard, surrounds as I cannot leave DD. There is a personal training company that runs classes/training for Mums and Bubs, but I prefer to save my $$$, I know I can do it on my own if I try hard enough.

Well I'm off to take DD for a walk, it is such a beautiful day here today!

[paradise lost]

Well, XP slept in so i never got to swim yesterday (ok i did, but i did 250m! And the rest was playing about with him and DD - NOT a workout, though whenever she got too far away i made myself stand up (waist-deep) and RUN rather than swimming, so i did burn a few cals... So i was even MORE glad for your workout CQ! LOL

I'm going to do it again tonight, and tomorrow AFTER i drop DD at her dad's i've arranged for DP to do his usual 90minute spin class before coming to me, so i can get a decent-length swim in. I'm going to aim for 45mins in the pool. I use fins and a pullbouy and a kickboard (not all at once...) so it's kind of cardio and resistance. CQ do you think i should drop the fins and pullbouy to make it more cardio focussed? It makes me faster (obviously) using fins, but i'm swimming for a time, not a distance. But then, i'll burn more calories with more resistance won't i? Hmmm, i hope you have nothing to do and can answer these dumb questions! If there's only like 10 calories in it then i'll probably use my fins...good for my lats anyway I can be lazy with my legs so i use the kickboard to FORCE me to use them properly for a bit. I sometimes swim catch-up to work my legs harder but it's a public pool, there's always 53 other people in your lane and altering pace once you're "into" it is pretty hard...

I took my measurements this morning (still very against weighing myself!). I was going to re-measure weekly, but is fortnightly more realistic? I know with weight you can usually expect to see a measurable difference in a week, but is that the case with measurements? DP doesn't have calipers and even he did i am not excited to have him measure me. This might sound daft but i think his appreciation (or otherwise) of my body needs to be innate, and i don't want him KNOWING my "numbers" iykwim. Also as much as he sees a billion very lean gym-loving sisters when he's working out etc. he actually prefers going to bed with more meat and gravy...

Matilda's mummy, WELCOME!!! I can recommend the workout, even without the full weight CQ suggested! And CQ, on that topic, i think i might have managed to find a better set of freeweights to borrow off someone

Deanne - when i read this:

at the moment I feel drained and tired and always seem to have a blocked nose

I was a bit concerned. Exhaustion and relentless low-level sinus infections were among the early symptoms of my thyroid condition, along with hairloss, difficulty in losing weight (before i had DD) and puffy eyes. Post-partum thyroid issues are really common, and it might be worth you getting the doctor to test your TSH and T4 levels just to make sure everything's ticking along ok. If you're hypothyroid (not enough) it's just a tiny pill once a day and you're straight

Bx

[DaintreeDream]

Deanne - when i read this: I was a bit concerned. Exhaustion and relentless low-level sinus infections were among the early symptoms of my thyroid condition, along with hairloss, difficulty in losing weight (before i had DD) and puffy eyes. Post-partum thyroid issues are really common, and it might be worth you getting the doctor to test your TSH and T4 levels just to make sure everything's ticking along ok. If you're hypothyroid (not enough) it's just a tiny pill once a day and you're straight Bx

Hmm, funny you say that! I was diagnoised with a thyroid problem at about 8 weeks pregnant and have been taking 1 tablet (half dose), I saw my Dr last week to have her re-test to see what is happening now I have had DD, *confession*, the blood test script is still sitting in my hand bag, came across it this morning actually and thought ohh I have to get that done! Maybe they need to up my dosage (my Dad, although he 50, is on 4 times as much as me) I also did say, just yesterday that I have an unusal amount of hair coming out in the shower, I have bum length hair but very thin so it was a concern (not that you can see the difference).
You have given me the kick in the butt I need, I will go down in the morning and get it done.

[paradise lost]

Good for you! Glad to be the butt kicker hun. Do you know what dose you're on? I was improved by 25mcgm (which is the lowest dose in the UK, and usually only used as a starter dose) in that my bloods came into the normal ranges but i still felt BLAH. Now i'm on 50mcgm, my bloods are still fine and i feel much better, though i notice that if i get it from my GP's pharmacy the generic they carry leaves me feeling a bit flat, whereas the Lloyds generic is much better somehow. I don't know how that can be but there it is. My sister takes 200mcgm/day! :O

Bx

[DaintreeDream]

I am on 50mcg, which the Dr told me is a half dose over here and also the starter dose. I am currently on the Sigma brand which I got from the hospital the week before I had DD. My chemist does stock a different brand which is what I used to take, maybe I should go back there and get it next time. Hehe, seems like this has turned into the 'thyroid thread'!

I think that getting my thyroid under control will be a big help, maybe get rid of that excess fat hanging around, then I may be able to tone up. I need my stomach back, don't know how hard that will be after a CS, have either of you had one and been able to get those stomach muscles back? I know it is meant to be really hard. I personally don't think that my stomach looks THAT bad, just needs to be tightened... it is my sides (love handles) that make it look bad and thighs.

Well, at least I have a starting point, and the motivation!