Exercise routines, tips and chatter?

**AngelPunks** · December 5th, 2008, 06:21 AM

CQ you felt the muscle in my leg, that is left over from hockey (ice & field), gym (I leg press into the 3 figures) and now from walking.

I'm going to bite the bullet in the new year and join a gym, may even join the chain you are a member of CQ since we get discount because of where I work. I'd love help with organising a plan.

Hard thing when I go to the gym is I love pushing myself to lift the heavy weights ... which of course doesn't help in the wish to NOT build bulky muscle.

**C~Q** · December 5th, 2008, 07:10 AM

Ooh yes join join join!!! I can come into the City sometimes and work out with you!!!

IKWYM about heavy weights - I love it! I can now leg press 170KG!!! I;m lucky (in a way) though, that I will never really bulk up that much. I'll have a chat with my trainer and ask him about you...maybe you can do heavy weights with really, really low reps.

How exciting! I love it when people get started on a new exercise kick yay!!! And the new year is a great time to start, although you started on the new (or real) you a way back!!

**AngelPunks** · December 5th, 2008, 10:26 AM

babe - I used to leg press 180kg on ONE leg and 250kg on both ......

I'll also be able to go to the Bardon one. But on weekends (and maybe at night) I can come down and join you at yours

paradise lost · December 16th, 2008, 11:15 PM

Hello everyone.

I haven't done any exercise for about 3 weeks now (a week of moving craziness and 2 of illness). I feel like a porkster despire not being able to eat during my ill, but i weighed in this morning and i'm still about 80kg, maybe a shade under. I can't WAIT for my chest and everything to recover so i can run again. DP got back to the gym this week but i don't know if i'll be able to now, because he's at the gym 3x a week, so unless they have a creche i'm kind of stuffed. But i don't really mind, i think i'll ask santa for freeweights and the birthday fairy for a rowing machine

I live halfway up a giant hill here so whichever way i leave the house to run i have to run up a hill either out or back. I can't WAIT to get back into it, but ATM i'm still having to use a ventolin as my lungs are full of goo and my chest is tight from so much coughing...

The last few days i haven't even been able to WALK because DD is so ill i can't really go out. So this is a big post of Nothing To Report...

Bx

**C~Q** · February 3rd, 2009, 08:31 PM

Okay ladies it's time to get this show on the road again! I really miss out exercise chatter so lets start up again!

How is everybody? Bec did you get weights for Chrissy? Whats new with you? How is the running going?

Schaz I know how you're doing (Punkin joined my gym), wish I could see you more often though

How are you going with the weights program?

Who else did we have hanging around? Going to get Amber (Boomba) to come and join us, she joined my gym too.

I have had the bigggest day EVER at the gym today. Started with PT, we did legs and it was pretty tough. Did these leg lift thingys which involved me being in the plank position then bending one knee so the sole of my foot faced the ceiling and lifted it up and down if that makes sense?! Then I did Body Attack, followe by Body Combat and this evening I did Combat again!! I can't believe how full of energy I feel! Have had to have a glass of wine to try and chill out!

My cert 3 is now finished and I am doing Cycle Instructor training on Satuday - 7 hours in the saddle - ouch! After that I will be able to instruct freestyle cycle classes. On Feb 21,22 and 28 I am doing my Combat training!!! So excited adn scared and nervous and so many things! I just want to get it over with (and pass of course!) now...

Have decided to do the 12 Week Challenge again which starts at the end of the month so i'll be updting on that all the time!

What other news...not much really. I ave improved my aerobic fitness which was what I wanted to do before my BC training so i'm happy with that. I have to work on my technique a lot though. Esp my side kicks and today my instructor said we need to do some jab work. I need to also do some work on opening up my hips as my roundhouse kicks aren't quite straight enough.

So...hit me with all your news

paradise lost · February 3rd, 2009, 08:59 PM

Hey hun,

Well i'm having thyroid issues ATM but my GP put my thyroxine dose up this morning so i'm off to pick the script up this arvo and should be feeling better within a week.

I did get weights for christmas and i lift twice a week, i basically do about 60% of your workout each day (swap legs and arms around but do abs twice

) and i'm running 3-4 times a week. 2-3x at 6am (YUK! LOL - had to skip it this morning as my dedication wasn't strong enough to make me attempt a run in ankle-deep icy slush...) and 1x at the weekend (long run). My legs are still feeling a bit dead but hopefully the extra thyroxine should help with that.

As you can see from my ticker, the weight is currently going nowhere, despite my extra activity and less food. Again, i'll see how the thyroxine helps - i often find it's the energy i have rather than the thyroxine itself that helps with weightloss and even though the increase is a small increment (25mcgm - small enough that the GP doesn't want to re-do my bloods after a month to see if my levels are ok, because it's just now enough to do much TO my levels really) it's a 50% increase for me so it should give me more energy

My other problem is that my bathroom scales seem to weigh me about 3kg heavier on colder days than warmer ones... I need a new set but i KNOW i'll torture myself with them and i need to focus on feeling and fitness and not numbers.

Bx

**Ambah** · February 3rd, 2009, 09:07 PM

Oh oh... I'm joining this thread LOL!

First up I need to admit that I ate a whole block of chocolate today... which has wiped out any results from my whole week of exercise, I know I know. (my excuse is PMS, cause I really only do this once a month, or less!)

At the moment though I seem to be making it to gym about 5 days per week, for about an hour each time. I am way too disorganised to make any classes, but am hoping to get there in time for Pump on Friday.
Otherwise I have just been doing my own cardio workout, plus the MedX weights machines (2 or 3 times per week).
Thanks to some constructive advice I have read on other posts of yours CQ, I am swapping and changing the cardio equipment I use. Throwing in 2km of rowing every few days (even though I hate rowing!), and alternating between the treadclimber (my favourite!), the crosstrainer, and the elliptical crosstrainer (?).
I have also started doing more interval training (is that what you call it?). So I will do block of 3 mins with high resistance and as fast as I can, then 3 mins at an easier resistance and pace to bring my HR back down. Sometimes the blocks are 4mins of hard:2 mins of easy, but it depends what machine I'm using & how buggered I am feeling!
I really need to get myself a HR monitor.... bugger... so thats why I went to the shops today! (couldn't remember why when I got there... baby brain much?)

Holy cow CQ, that is a massive day!! I am in awe, and a bit jealous! (though theres no way I could sustain that much exercise in 1 day!). I bet you will sleep really well tonight

That is exciting about the 12 week challenge - I read a few of your posts about it from earlier in this thread!

Sorry bx, missed your post - I really hope the new thyroxine dose helps you with your energy levels.

**C~Q** · February 4th, 2009, 06:29 AM

I really don't know much about thyroid issues and exercise so I think i'll have to look up about that! Are thyroid issues quite common Bec? Is it mainly your energy levels it effects or is it weight loss too?

DOing weights twice a week and running 3-4 times you should definatly be seeing a loss

What are you eating? I would think it would be something in the food or drink maybe

. Have you gone up in weights yet? Remember when you can complete all the sets it's time to up it by about 10%. You could probably start to add in some extra core work to your routine now. Take away the stability from some of the exercises and you'll be adding in core work without even reaslising (actually thats a lie you WILL feel it lol!). I can't remember off hand what exercises you're doing but you have a fitball right? Instead of lunges with both feet on the floor, put your back leg on the fitball with your knee at 90* and do it like that. To stabilise yourself you have to switch on your core. If you're doing shoulder presses or chest presses (I think you are) then lay on the fitball to do them. Plank - put your feet on the fitball! Do you have a bosu? If not they are great!

Ambah hiya!!

at the chocolate, good effort

Good thing we don't get AF every week! How is the resistance training going? Are you seeing the results you want? I was thinking , do you know how much it costs to come down for a once off at your gym? Can you find out? Or ask if you tell them you have a friend who is thinking about joining they may give you a free pass? Then I can come down with you one day and we could go through some stuff if you like?

Definatly get the hr monitor they are fantastic! If we get this new money from Rudd I'm getting a superdooper one!

DO you know, last night I was so buzzed I layed in bed for about 2 hours before I fell asleep then I kept waking up all night! Bloody endorphins!!!

Welcome back everybody

**AngelPunks** · February 4th, 2009, 08:02 AM

I went to the gym on Monday night after work to do the program that CG wrote for me.

I spent the weekend at a retreat and did some walking in the valley & hills but that was the extent of the exercise over the weekend.

I'm flat out at work with huge deadlines at the moment, so haven't been to the gym again since Monday, I am trying to walk a bit in the afternoons (walking to the next bus stop in the afternoon - my closest is 10 mins away - this next one is 15 mins away) before I head home. I have a date tonight so I can't even go to the gym after work tonight.

Am focussed on going 3 times a week to do my program. I've got flabby bits now that need toning.

paradise lost · February 4th, 2009, 06:20 PM

I really don't know much about thyroid issues and exercise so I think i'll have to look up about that! Are thyroid issues quite common Bec? Is it mainly your energy levels it effects or is it weight loss too?

Um... i think 1-2% of pre-menopausal women and 10-15% of elderly women suffer with thyroid insufficiency. The thyroid gland is in the throat an it makes thyroxine, which is the chemical catalyst of living cells. Basically it tells your metabolism how fast to work - if you build a lot more muscle you usually have more fT4 (free thyroxine4 - you also have thyroxine3 which is what your body turns the T4 into to use it, but they tend not to measure it because a situation where you have plenty of T4 but cannot convert it to T3 is incredibly incredibly rare and you'd most likely die in the womb of it) because your brain registers muscle mass as needing more "care" than fat - that's how muscle mass raises the BMR.

If you don't have enough, in not-very-scientific terms, you work slower. Your hair and eyebrows break and fall out and don't re-grow at the normal speed, your nails are brittle, your skin becomes thick and feels dry and cool the whole time, you feel cold even in the middle of summer, you have no appetite but you gain weight regardless because the body simply doesn't metabolise fast enough to keep blood carbs high and ends up converting "left over" energy the whole time because it's always "left over" having never become available in the immediate sense, your muscles don't repair at a normal speed so you might have DOMS for days or weeks, you get joint pains and strains from relatively normal actvities (i took a million supplements when i was training for the half marathon, to try and support my poor slow-grow repair systems), you start to need sleep more and more, some people i know were having 14 hours in 24 and STILL knackered, you feel tired in your limbs so that just the idea of getting up to take a cup to the sink can be daunting, your pulse rate drops (at my illest mine was 38bpm, and i know people who were ill with other things, like anorexia, who were rushed to hospital at that stage!), you stop ovulating, your periods become heavy and then infrequent, if you're BFing you can suffer low supply (not everyone does), untreated in pregnancy it can cause mental and physical development problems in bubs up to and including miscarriage, it can cause pre-term labour, placental abruption and PPH.

DOing weights twice a week and running 3-4 times you should definatly be seeing a loss

What are you eating? I would think it would be something in the food or drink maybe

. Have you gone up in weights yet? Remember when you can complete all the sets it's time to up it by about 10%. You could probably start to add in some extra core work to your routine now. Take away the stability from some of the exercises and you'll be adding in core work without even reaslising (actually thats a lie you WILL feel it lol!). I can't remember off hand what exercises you're doing but you have a fitball right? Instead of lunges with both feet on the floor, put your back leg on the fitball with your knee at 90* and do it like that. To stabilise yourself you have to switch on your core. If you're doing shoulder presses or chest presses (I think you are) then lay on the fitball to do them. Plank - put your feet on the fitball! Do you have a bosu? If not they are great!

I'm eating the same as i always do, about 2100/day, minus 300 (average over week according to very vague calculations of mapmyrun). I could certainly be stricter with food, but equally i am not at ALL overeating consistently, iykwim. I think the main reason the thyroid problem makes weightloss hard is that you can get into a situation where because the energy doesn't come easy i might very well go for a run in the morning, but i might then barely move from the sofa the rest of the day, so even though i exercised, overall i didn't burn more than if i'd been less active - does that make sense? Unfortunately the standard support-group type advice is "take it easy, be gentle with yourself, conserve energy for living" and i am NOT willing to drop exercise in the dedicated for-it's-own-sake sense. And in fact i know the last month i HAVEN'T been skimping on the normal activities because i walked 60km last month NOT including my runs or short journeys (i only map 4km+ walks)! I certainly feel iller than my bloods indicate i am, but it can take up to a month for the blood to reveal the situation so it could be that the flu before Christmas brought on another thyroid attack and that i'm rcovering but only now feeling the after effects.

I am finding it quite frustrating though. I can't train like normal people because even the standard "Increase runs 10%/week" rule means i get injured. If i take a week off i have to re-start 2 weeks back in training and i get sinus infections about every 7 weeks so i take one week in 7 or so off (got one now as i type - i'd run anyway but my glands are up so it's not wirth it, i'll just prolong the illness) which means it seriously takes me about 5 months to do 3 months training....

Sorry girls, this has turned into a bit of a debrief. The first year after i was diagnosed i used to think "what's all the fuss about? I'll just take the drugs and it'll be fine and i'll be like anyone else" but sadly the longer i go on with it, the more i realise that isn't true. I just need a kick up the azz because no matter how much i want a body that works like a normal one, THIS is the body i have, and if i want it to do what, and look like, i want it to, accepting it's limitations needs to be the first step in finding a way round them...

Back to the topic in hand - I've gone up in weights, yes.

Also way ahead on the core - i have and use the fitball (in all the ways you listed!

) and my abs are always AGONY the next day

I'm actually really enjoying it - remember i used not to be able to do double straight-leg lifts? Now i do 3 sets of 15 holding the ball between my feet - it is SO SO HARD! But i am loving it

Bx

**C~Q** · February 6th, 2009, 07:01 PM

Well...YAY for the weights and the abs! Double straight leg lifts with the ball woohoo!!! The thyroid problems sound awful hon

So you've upped your meds now is that right? Is there anything else you can do apart from that? Anything natural or herbal? It must be so frustrating for you but like you said

accepting it's limitations needs to be the first step in finding a way round them

I bought a hr monitor - OMG it's my new favourite toy! It's great, keep trying to beat my pb's and i'm going to wear it all day tomorrow at cycle training and see how many cals I burn!

I've decided not to do the 12 week challenge - I asked Brett outright and he said it woul dbe a waste of time. I already have all the info they'll give me. The only reason I would do it is to be more strict with my diet and to stop alcohol again. If I had a lot of money I would do it but I really can't afford it.

I weighed myself today - 56.3KG 0 about how much I weighed before the last challenge but I'm sure a hell of a lot of that is muscle. About a month ago Brett did my bf% (on a machine that you stand on and hold things in your hand) I weighed a kilo less then but my bf% was less than when I finished the challenge - 11.somthing. I don't know how accurate it was though as I'm no where ear as lean as I was when I did the challenge. It also worked out that I had the metabolism of a 13 year old lmao!!!

Been smashing myself trying to get ready for the monster 3-day Combat training. Yesterday I did Step/PT in am then Attack/Step in the pm - it was awesome! But I suffered for it in Attack this morning

Well, next time I come on here I will be a cycle instructor!!! Wish me luck!!!

**Oorki Galoorki** · February 6th, 2009, 08:19 PM

so im joining the chatter girls!

i have been a member of the local gym for 3 weeks and today i finally got my program..yay yay
it will kill me! hehe
but i saw what you girls are leg pressing and im only a beginner and im starting on 126kg??

so i am excited now that maybe i will start to shed weight(although i dont own any scales) i just have to go by feel....

i didnt make it to the pump class though this week so will get my butt in to gear next week

**C~Q** · February 6th, 2009, 09:09 PM

126? Are you putting the weight on yourself or is it a pin machine? It's probably right (although it does seem a little high), when i'm working on building muscle i'll leg press 175kg.

Welcome doudou!!!

**Oorki Galoorki** · February 6th, 2009, 09:39 PM

you shift a pin on it to the desired weight (is that a pin machine??)

**Ambah** · February 6th, 2009, 09:47 PM

Welcome Doudou!
Our pin machines at our gym are actually in pounds I think... so could it be that?

CQ - love the suggestion of you coming to my gym! They don't give out passes too easily (they like to call the person up first, etc etc blah blah), but i'd be happy to pay for you to come in one day!

I am so tired tonight, so no time or energy for personals... I made it to gym 6 days this week. Not sure how worth it it was, as I really feel like I'm beginning to slack of a little bit (or maybe its just in my head?) Still no more losses. Stuck at 71kg... have been here for weeks now!

Will come back when I have more energy to reply!