Cher's Workout Routine
 

Hi Everyone, :wave:

I'm new to the boards but wanted to participate in the Gym Logs. I think this is a great idea so thanks to so many of you who have helped to develop this bb.

I've been weight training for 8 weeks now and i'm really feeling good about this. Since I have a severe case of fibromyalgia I had to start really slow. So, I only started with 2 lbs weights and I'm only using 3 lb weights now. But, hey that's progress. I'm still in a lot of pain so I have to take pain pills to even work out. But, I feel like this will help the fibro in the long run. And, hopefully, I will not have to take the medication in the future. For right now, I exercise even if I'm in a lot of pain because I figure this is the only way that i can get back to normal.

Today I worked out my lower body for approximately 35 minutes. My workout is three reps of each exercise with 10 repetitions and a 15 second rest in between. The exercises I did today are:

THIGHS (Squats; Side leg lifts; Leg Curl; Lunges)
HIPS/BUTTOCKS (Standing butt Squeeze; Standing back leg extention
straight-leg kick up; bent-knee kick-up)
ABS (concentrated butt lifts; Crunch; Ceiling lift; Knee-raised crunch)
CALVES (Seated Straight-toe raise; Seated angled-out-toe raise
Standing Strait-toe raise; Standing angled-in-toe raise)

I was really happy with the measurements for the first 5 weeks. I'm not sure why my calves went up 1/2"...but, hopefully that will change :)

Chest - down 1/2"
Bust - down 1"
Left arm - down 1"
Right Arm - down 3/4"
Stomach - down 1 1/2" :yay:
Hips - down 1/2"
L. and Right Thigh - down 1/2"
Calves - Up 1/2" Not sure what happened here :confused:

I measure again on December 16th (once a month from now on). Hoping for the best.

Hello
 

Cher nice to meet you :wave:

I'm glad you found the forum and you sound like your off to a great start to me ;)

keep up the hard work and drink tons of water :D

talk to you soon :wave:

Upper Body Workout
 

Hi again and thanks again grrlpwer for responding to my journal. I've already had 5 glasses of water today, and I think I'll add a few more while I'm sitting here. I did my upper body workout today and I changed it slightly. Usually I work out 5 body parts ...4 exercises for each body part, 3 repetition of 10 and 15 second rest's between each repetition (did that make any sense...lol). Well, today I did supersets. So, I combined 2 exercises with 10 repetitions for each...no rest in between and then rested and did 2 more sets the same way. I still did four exercises per body part. I think it was a slightly more aerobic version of what I've been doing. It was also harder but, it was faster since I didn't have as many rests. Anyway, I feel pretty good about this. Although, I went up 2 pounds???? and, I don't understand why... I hope it's just water weight and it goes away soon (please).

Good Morning
 

Well, I had a good morning in terms of exercising. I did my entire lower body workout for 35 minutes. Once again, I tried supersetting the exercises which actually felt like more of a challenge. Also, I did the pyramid system. On the first exercise I did 12, repetition then 10 repetitions and then 8 repetitions. I also went up to 5 pound weights (I used both 3 and 5 pounds). Well, I was able to do them...I'm so happy about that. I wasn't planning to start this phase of "supersetting" until I had another 4 weeks of basic training. I guess, I'll just let my body be the guide. One thing that i like...is when I'm supersetting, I'm taking less breaks and the exercises become more aerobic. Hopefully that will help me to burn fat faster.

Cher, those calves will probably go down to a certain extent. They've increased in muscle size, and when the fat layer on top goes away (and it's there, even if you can't feel it very well) they'll be-at the very most- the same measurement around that they were before. They'll just be more muscle and less fat. And they'll look great, not over developed- I promise. This happens with all of us, I think. Certain areas of our bodies get BIGGER at first till the fat layer goes away. My pants get tighter at first--but they always get looser eventually.

Keep up the good work. With fybromyalgia, my hat is off to you for working out so well.

YB

Thanks Yogabuff
 

Yogabuff,

Thank you for addressing the "calves" issue. I really do hope they go down. I was hoping that I'm not exercising them the wrong way. But, I've been reading and re-reading the instructions and I think it is right. I do feel like all of my clothes fit better (which is a great, great feeling). Today was extremely tough with the fibro...I didn't think that I would make it through my entire upper body workout. Once again, I tried supersetting and I tried 5 pound weights (I don't think I was ready for that one). Well, I'll just sort of monitor how I feel over the next couple of days. But, I'm proud of myself for pushing through the workout today .

Monday Gym Logs
 

Well, I was in pain from the fibromyalgia all weekend so, I didn't push the workout...but I did my lower body workout today (thankfully). It really felt difficult and the pain was still strong...but, I'm glad I finished the workout. Again, I'm trying to "Superset" the exercises (Combining 2 exercises before taking any rests) and this is much more difficult than what I was doing. I'll definitely be impressed when I can do this without all the pain!
Cher

Need to keep up my gym log :-)
 

Well, this was definitely a telling month. My workout routine has really suffered because of the pain from the fibromyalgia...so, I only averaged 2 workouts a week during the first 3 weeks in January. Wow! Did I ever notice a difference. I just measured my waist on the 18th and there was no change... however, I did make my goal to lose 10 pounds by Valentine's day (set from the beginning of January). But, it's scary to think that maybe my weight went down because I wasn't building as much muscle, or worse...that maybe I was losing some muscle. Oh well, I can't focus on what's behind me...just need to go forward! I had such a phenomenal change from working out 4 - 6 times a week during October, November and December. Luckily, I am fitting into a size 12 jeans again...so at my weight...I'm certain that I've developed a lot of muscle. Well...LoL...all you need to do is look at my arms to see the muscle. Never remember having that before.

Still wondering what the end result will be for the flab that is still under my arms... It looks so much better...but, it's still there (yuck). I still have 30 - 40 pounds to lose...so, maybe I shouldn't focus on that! They say the body is very forgiving... But, I can't help wondering what will happen. Will I ever be happy with my arms, thighs and waist again?????

So, I did my upper body workout (with supersetts) yesterday and my lower body workout today (YaY)! I'm determined to get in at least 2 more workouts this week...so, I'll let you know what happens.

Hi Cher - saw you in Donald's journal - so i am here for the pep talk.



YOU CAN DO IT!!! GO'ON - i'M WITH YOU 100% - GO FOR IT GIRL - YOU HAVE THE STRENGTH - YOU HAVE THE WILL POWER - YOU HAVE THE POSITIVE ATTITUDE - YOU HAVE THE LOW CARB FOODS - NO GO FOR IT - I KNOW YOU CAN DO IT - I AM BACKING YOU!!! - YOUARE THE CAT'S PYJAMAS AND THE BEES KNEES - I KNOW YOUARE GOING TO BE SUCH A SUCCESS.

Is that enough???

You know what I mean - yep - I have succumbed to the carbfest evil monster "devil" lately too - but I am back on track and so are you!!!

See you soon Cher.

Ahhhhhhhh Wendye...thanks. I needed to read that right before going to bed this evening...Now I feel even more committed...and gee...I'm thinking about the gym work that I should be doing/adding to this thread...humm. Well thanks for the wonderful words of encouragement! That was really nice

Cher...
 

It will be nice seeing you post in here again... Welcome back!!! :clap:

Linda...yes, I should bring my "gym logs" to life :) OK...look for the progress a little later. Thanks for the reminder!

A little bit of Inspiration for you:

Cher...
 

I second that!!!! ;)

Ok...Marlaine and Linda...I joined the exercise challenge too. So, I'm committing to 3 days a week plus "No cheat till Labor Day"...this should be an awesome month :help: :help:

Hi, stopped in to see if you had posted in here... guess not :) I am so glad you are doing this exercise thing! I wanted to say though, it would be an encouragement to me even if you were not doing the same program as I am. Just the fact that you are doing it is the motivator for me! Keep up the good work! I want to succeed! LOL I want you to succeed as well :bhug:

Tuesday
 

Well...it's Tuesday and I was able to get a lower body workout in. I did just one set of 10 of the lower body workouts which included:

Squats
Side Leg Lifts
Leg curls
Lunges
Standing Butt Squeeze
Back Leg extensions
Straight-leg kick ups
Bent knee kick ups
Concentrated butt Lift
Crunches
Ceiling Lift
Knee Raised Crunch
Seated straight toe raise
Seated angled out toe Raise
Standing Strait toe raise
Standing angles-in toe raise

On Sunday I worked my upper body and was in too much pain to do anything yesterday. Worked past the dizziness today. I've been feeling that way all morning...but, I still just worked at balancing and supporting my body. Each exercise was done slow with a 15 second rest after completion.

Tuesday
 

Ooops double post...

WOW!! that was quite a workout you did!! Amazing!!

:cheer:

Marlaine

Good going!
 

Wonderfull job Cher! Keep it up! :cool:

Oh wow...it's been so long. Did a mini workout today.

20 minutes on the exercise bike - very low level
35 minutes of an upper body workout with 2 pound weights.

I'm taking this vey slow but I was so inspired by Doreen's "back" progress that I just have to do something.

Woo - Hoo
 

20 minute lower body workout complete... :yay: :yay: :yay:

Congrats on your weight loss. That is great progress. How long have you been doing atkins? Great work, you must feel so good about yourself and your body.

Thursday's workout
 

20 Minute Exercise Bike ( :yay: Cardio)

Upper Body Workout - 1 set of 10 of each exercise, 2 pound weights.

Chest
Flat Press
Incline Press
Incline Flye
Cross-bench pullover

Shoulders
Side Lateral Raise
Front Lateral Raise
Alternate Shoulder Press
Bent Lateral Raise

Biceps
Alternate Curl
Simultaneous Curl
altenate Hammer Curl
Concentration Curl

Triceps
Overhead Press
kickback
One arm overhead Extension
Cross-Face Extension

Back
Upright row
One arm dombbell row
Double-arm reverse row
Seated Back lateral

Just checking in on you
 

How long did the workout take you, Cher? And are you taking any supplements post workout? Anti-oxidants (Vit C & E, gree tea) and glutamine will help with the repair and the soreness the next day, FYI.

Nat

Nat,

Thanks for visiting my little gym log....lol.

You've changed your avatar again and it's another pretty picture. You're inspiring me to figure out how to use our digital camera :)

The upper body workout took about 35 minutes and the cardio was 20 minutes. I've been taking this really, really slow. I try to rest at least 15 seconds before moving onto the next exercise. I took all my supplements prior to working out - is there an advantage to taking the antioxidants post workout?

Doreen just mentioned the L-glutamine powder too. I'm going to look for that hopefully tomorrow. Is it better to take the L-glutamine post workout also?

I can't believe I didn't post this yesterday cause I was so proud of myself. But, I was able to get a 20 minute lower body workkout in and 20 minutes on the exercise bike. I probably won't combine the loweer body with the exercise bike in the future - ouch. It's a lot easier to do the upper body with the bike or treadmill or stairmaster.

That means I got 4 days of weight training in and 3 cardio sessions in this week :yay: :yay: I'm so excited!

Lower body workout included one set of 10 of each exercise with a 15 second rest between each exercise.:

Squats
Side Leg Lifts
Leg curls
Lunges
Standing Butt Squeeze
Back Leg extensions
Straight-leg kick ups
Bent knee kick ups
Concentrated butt Lift
Crunches
Ceiling Lift
Knee Raised Crunch
Seated straight toe raise
Seated angled out toe Raise
Standing Strait toe raise
Standing angles-in toe raise

Oh My Gosh Cher! Way to go! You are doing it! I'll be checking in more often... and maybe you just gave me the motivation to start again... You'll make it Cher, and hopefully it will help the Fibro as well... I wish you success! :)

Measurement Progress 02/09/2003
 

Measurement Progress:

OK, this is really embarrassing listing my measurements… but, this way I’ll always have a record of it. I decided to almost place my 10/16/2001 measurements so I could see the difference. I wish I had started taking measurements back in august of 2001…that way I’d have a better account of my progress. I lost something like 25 pounds between those dates. I’m sure that was a significant difference in my measurements. I was unhappy with some of the results today…and, it just stressed the need to keep exercising while I’m on this WOE.


10/16/2001 / 02/09/2003

Chest 39"/ 35"
Bust 45"/ 38.5"
L Arm 15.5"/ 12 3/4"
R.Arm 15.5"/ 12 3/4"
*Stomach 39.5" / 28.5"
Hips 44.5"/ 39"
L Thigh 26.5"/ 23 1/8"
R. Thigh 26.5"/ 23"
Calves 14.25"/ 13"
Shoulder to Bust 14.25"/ 13"
Weight 205/ 158.5 pounds

Gosh, I wish my stomach was smaller. My stomach has been swollen all week because of TOM and adding so much additional fiber…so, maybe the news will be better next month. Arms and waist are just killing me. I really hope I can keep up the exercise and change these. Overall, I’ve made a lot of progress… I’m just being picky me.

Thanks Linda :D