LOL, those kind of chair lift are great exercise. Give them piggy back rides; do squats and calf raises while you're giving them piggy back rides; pick them up and put them down a few times; lie on the floor and bench press them; do pressups and once you're really good get the little one to sit on your back. Kids are quite versatile as weights. :D

Well done on 'losing' a small child! I've now lost as much as my skinny 7 year old. I keep picking him up just to see how much it is.

LOL ... I used to curl my little sister as alternating db curls. She's 17 now, and I am afraid my strength hasn't stayed in line with her growth. :p ... I could EZ curl her, but that wouldn't be right ...

Thanks a lot for the feedback. I start the Induction phase of Atkin's on Monday... just to get my body kicked into burning the fat fuel... and then after that I'd like to try this NHE diet... I don't like the fact I have to buy expensive vitamins on Atkin's. Seems kinda shady to me. Also, I don't have that much weight to lose, its more just those lingering flabby fat deposits I want to get rid of. Since I'm building muscle, I probably won't lose a lot of weight.. it's all about the inches though!!!!

I tried the chair yesterday. Oww. It really hurt!!! I like the exercise ball a lot too... And there is this new machine at the gym, and it hurts even more than the captain's chair!!! You lie down on it, and grab handles above your head and hook your feet around pads at the bottom. You have to pull your legs and arms upwards.... it hurt like hell! I have no idea what its called though. I did 5 and I was done. :( However..... no pain, no gain!!!

I can't wait to until I can post some gallery results in a month or so!!! Maybe then I can get a few kisses from you sexy ladies???? :lol:

good luck arty...NHE is the bomb and Built and LW are great resources.

Woo Woo!!!
 

WOO WOO!!! :clap: *does a little booty shakin' dance*

*clears her throat and collects herself* k, now back to our regularly scheduled program...


I don't usually do my ab work during my regular workout, usually sometime later that day. It's been rainy out today so my plans on whipping out the ole' rollerblades has been foiled again. I see what you mean about your legs getting deeper but seeming smaller. My thighs haven't lost that many inches but they seem smaller on the front. My jeans are definitely looser in the thighs where they used to be tight. So something must be changing. I've lost 2 inches in my calves, now you can start to see those nice lookin' muscles under there. One more reason to get a shorter skirt and higher heels ;)


~ Cori ~

good job..."pat on back for you !!

That's really great Cori. It's so good when that starts happening. Makes it all worthwhile.

Pre Workout Carbs
 

I ate some fast carbs before working out today. About 20g of just about pure sugar. (strawberry cheesecake ice cream) and I really felt energized at the gym. I pushed harder through my sets. I still can't get through two sets without going to failure. My muscle will absolutely not lift the weight. No matter how hard I push. I'm not too worried about doing 3-4 sets per exercise. Getting through one set of 12 and struggling through the second to me feels like a good workout. Then I walked at a 4.2 on the treadmill for 20 minutes. Wanted to make sure all those nasty carbs were used up. I'm still feeling energized and up beat tonight after a full shift at work. It's a little scary to scoop ice cream into your mouth right before lifting, psychologically it just feels wrong. LOL, I've gotta get over my fear of sugar! Anyhow, 20g worked just fine for me. I don't feel like I lift super heavy. I push myself hard to failure and I'm sweating by the time my circuit is over. I drink my whey protein with 8 oz of 2% milk that has 12carbs in it. Doesn't the carbs help with protein uptake? With the absence of fat or something like that. I don't know, I'm sleepy... Talk to you all tomorrow!!


~ Cori ~

Hey - good girl for being so brave!

Now - your sets. I think I see your problem. Your sets are too long.

Drop them down to sets of 6-8. When you can do three sets of 8 and not really feel it the next day, it's time to increase your weight. The reward for doing this is that you get to do shorter sets - start with 3 sets of 5 or 6, then work your way back up to three sets of 8.

With low carb, you don't have a lot of glygogen for long sets, but you can still push a heavier weight if you go a little shorter. You can even start fiddling with 4 or 5 sets of 5 instead of 3 sets of 8 if it helps you crank out your reps (5 sets of 5 = 25 reps. 3 sets of 8 = 24 reps. Almost the same)

Good job!

And it's not wrong - we've just been socialized to think of dessert as the reward.

Dessert is the fuel. Having a great workout is the reward.

And a note about ice-cream: it's actually a little slow, carb-wise. Fiddle with higher GI carbs - something sweeter, with less fat. Sorbet, for example.

Welcome to the dark side!

LOL !! The bodies that Built built !!

Ok I read to post 95 and didn't see anything about this and since my kids are getting ready to wake up from nap I'll just go ahead and post my question. Forgive me if it was addressed after post #95 :).

Anyway here goes:

I can only workout at home due to the fact I have three children ages 1,2 and 3, hubby works a lot also, so going to a gym and factoring in travel and needing a babysitter etc just wouldn't work. I workout an hour a day 6 days a week currently. I have been pyramiding for a few years with doing The FIRM on non weights days. I'm up to (yes, I know its not much, but still took me awhile to get here) 10's, 12's and 15's lb weights reps of 12-10-8-10-12(doing joyce vedral workouts - joycevedral.com). I'm at a point now where I know I need to do something more to make any more improvements on my body (which after 3 kids in 3 years you can imagine my plight...eeek). Question is, it possible to do this at home???? I have already have a bench that inclines, I'd assume that I'd have to get some heavier weights first and foremost but beyond that is it a possibility to get the results with a home workout?

Thanks
Jenny

Jenny if you want to workout at home it can be done, check out some of Cathe Friedrichs videos on strength training. Her Slow and heavy series is great. You can read about them on cathe.com, I would buy them on ebay however and save some dough. She is one of the best when it comes to working out with the weights at home. She also advocates using the Troy lite system for barbells, it is smaller for home use. I believe you can get online for about 49.99, and that goes to 50lbs.

Hope this helps

Thank god!!! Another mom with kids close together. I've had three pregnancies in 4 years. Not as closely as yours but I still understand the havok pregnancy racks on your body. Permanent stretch marks and saggy tummy. UGH! Anyone who said that's a blessed event never dealt with the aftermath! Now, to answer your question :) I'm not an expert on home training. I've got about 2 workout tapes but I would suggest getting some good quailty weights and searching out some free weight exercises that target all the major groups. There are tons of upper body free weight exercises. Ever thought about a bowflex, they're spendy I admit, but my dad has one and he says he really likes it. How much are free weight sets for your home? Do you have the room for it? Ebay always has tons of really good exercise equipment and videos. Sorry I couldn't be of more help. Once you find something that works you'll really fly. At your weight I'm sure you look awesome and don't have far to go to look even better!!!


- Cori -

Ok, I thought I'd post my workout routine. I changed my reps/sets around so I'm lifting heavier. It's been about an hour since my workout and I'm still a little wobbly. Not the greatest feeling in the world but at least I know I'm getting a dang good workout! All these exercises were done on the cybex machines.

Leg Press - (before) 225 - 12x2 (now) 255 - 5x3
Leg Extension - (before) 90 - 12x2 (now) 125 - 6x3
Leg Curls - (bfr) 90 - 12x2 (now) 110 - 6x2
Rotary Calf - (bfr) 250 - 12x2 (now) 270- 7x3
Hip Adduction - (bfr) 90 - 12x2 (now) 110 - 5x3
Hip Abduction - (bfr) 90 - 12x2 (now) 110 - 7x3
Ab Crunches - (bfr) 55 - 12x2 (now) 65 - 7x3
Back Extension - (bfr) 160 - 12x2 (now) 190 - 6x3
Arm Curl - (bfr) 55 - 12x2 (now) 65 - 6x3
Arm Extension - (bfr) 55 - 12x2 (now) 70 - 7x3
Overhead Press -(bfr) 50 - 12x2 (now) 60 - 9x2
Row - (bfr) 90 - 12x2 (now) 110 - 7x3
Rear Delt (bfr) 25 - 12x2 (now) 35 - 7x3
Lat Pull Down (bfr) 120 - 12x2 (now) 135 - 8x3
Chest Press (bfr) 60 - 12x2 (now)75 - 6x2
Adv. Press (bfr) 40 - 12x2 (now) 55 - 6x3

Alright, that's it.... That was my first time trying 3 sets per exercise so some of the weights need to be tweaked a little but otherwise I felt good. I did a whole body workout today so I could figure out where each muscle group was at. I was dripping sweat by the time I was done. Definitely a good cardio workout. I had a carb day yesterday so I thought I'd treadmill for awhile after my workout. Umm, that was a definite no go... I just wanted to make sure I could walk my butt outta the room. LOL! So I think it was a good workout, felt much harder than before, my last rep I held it as long as I could in the contracted position until my muscles gave up. Good deep conditioning :)


~ Cori ~

that looks good interms of the weights used and the reps...how long did that take you ??

My only comment is that is alot of sets to be doing. You may want to split upper body and lower body workouts and alternate them, 1 week 2 uppers 1 lower, the next week, 2 lowers 1 upper.

Built...your thoughts