It'll be nice to have all my workout information in one place instead of having to search through my other journal for it. So to start, my workout and measurments as of 3/31.

Weight (thanks to Sunday's indiscretion) ------> 410
Body Fat % -------------------------------- -----> 72
LBM ----------------------------------------------> 110

Chest ---------------------------------------> 60.5
Waist ---------------------------------------> 55
Hips ---------------------------------------> 71
Thigh ---------------------------------------> 36
Calf -----------------------------------------> 21
Bicep ---------------------------------------> 17.5
Forearm ------------------------------------> 13


My weight routine is done on FreeMotion machines, and I'm still not sure of the proper names for all the exercises. I do three sets of 15 reps of each exercise.

Upper Body:

Chest press ------------------------------> 20 (lbs)
Rows -------------------------------------> 35
Shoulder ---------------------------------> 10
Lats --------------------------------------> 35
Tricep ------------------------------------> 20
Bicep -------------------------------------> 10

Lower Body: (Again, three sets of 15)

Ball Squats (no weights)
Hamstrings ------------------------------> 7.5
Calf Raises ------------------------------->70

This is due to change on Friday. I'll have new measurments taken at the end of the month.

Hi Ruth!

I finally started a gym log for the same reason that you started one. The Y that I go to is hooked into a program on the internet. So I can just go there to see what my workouts are. Problem is though that I can't make it public like fitday, so I decided to post them. Just wanted to let you know that I think you're doing awesome!

As a fellow Fitness Challenge member, just dropping by to say Hi! and be nosey!

Looking good with those weights I'm currently using little diddy hand weights (1.1lbs) - haven't progressed to the big boys like you yet! But hey, we've all got to start somewhere

Do you do this work out on a daily basis? or alternate with something else?

Cait, Demi, thanks for stopping by. I do the weights three times a week, and I've just started to add a warm-up waddle beforehand (around the basketball court at the gym), and a walk by the ship canal on tuesdays and thursdays. Nothing on saturday or sunday so far, but that may change.

And Demi, hand weights are harder. Everything I do is assisted by cables and pulleys! Still, as you say, we all start somewhere.

Thanks again for the visits - be seeing you!

--Ruth

Great work so far Ruth!

Ruth, I figured If I answered your arch stretch question in that monster thread with all the two line posts it would take you pages of sifting through to find. Here goes:

Foot Arch Stretch:

First, gently stretch the arch by putting approximately the front third of your foot on a step. Allow your body weight to lower your heel below the step, then bend the knee and feel the stretch in the lower portion of your calf. Hold the stretch for 30 seconds and repeat three times. It's also beneficial to regularly massage the arch of your foot. A good way to do this is to roll the arch over a firm ball, such as a racquetball or even a golf ball. Do this in a seated position to avoid putting too much pressure on the arch.


Here's a little more detailed info on stretching out all the muscles of that region (well done piece )

N

Thanks, Nat. You're a Godsend!

Well, not as much change to my workout as I'd hoped -- we upped the chest press weight to 25 lbs, and the lat pull-down weight to 40. The rest stays the same for another week.

Didn't take my full-court waddle until after workout today. Thought about skipping it, but didn't. Feeling nicely virtuous to start the weekend.

Ruth,

Could you supply the specifics of what you are doing by day, what machines and or free wieght you are using and how many reps and sets you are doing.

Please post it like "Today I did........"

I will be able to help you more easily then.

Tom

P.S. I don't know who said it but I strongly agree with the water exercise suggestion. You would be less likely to hurt your joints this way and it would maintain a low body temp. I would give this real consideration.

Tom,

Here's what I'm going to be doing tomorrow morning, in the order I'll be doing it. Everything except the ball squats is done on FreeMotion machines.

Chest press, 25 pounds, 3 sets of 15 reps.

Seated Row, 35 pounds, 3 sets of 15 reps.

Ball squats (squats done with an exercise ball between me and the wall), three sets of 15. No weights.

Lat pull-down, 40 pounds, 3 sets of 15 reps.

Shoulder (don't know the name of this one, but it's just lifting from the shoulders), 10 pounds, 3 sets of 15 reps

Hamstring, 7.5 pounds, 3 sets of 15 reps. (You put your foot in a sort of harness and pull the weight with this one. I had problems last time because it's done standing and I usually sit down somewhere between sets, but there was no empty spot to sit that time.)

Calf Raises (seated, on a machine) 70 lbs, 3 sets of 15 reps.

Tricep, 20 pounds, 3 sets of 15 reps.

Bicep curls, 10 pounds, 3 sets of 15 reps.

That's the sum of my weight workout. Then I try to go and walk around the basketball court a few times. I still need to sit down in the middle of each "lap."

Hope this was clear.

--Ruth

Ruth,

Would it be possible for you to break up your workouts. One day you should focus on the upper body. The next day focus on cardio. Then the last rotation focus on lower body. You shouldn't ever work out for more than one hour. On the cardio days you shouldn't exceed 20min. That is a maximum of course. If you can only do 3 min that is just as fine.

I know what you are thinking how can you do more by doing less work. I know it sounds strange but it is true. In high school I worked out for 2-4 hours a day with heavy weight. It got me no where. No I work out for an hour at most a day and I am seeing amazing progress.

Let me know if you want me to set up a schedule for you. I can send you pdf files with the BFL workout schedules so that you can use those for record keeping. We will need to do some modifications though.

Let me know if you want to give it a shot.

Tom

Tom, I'm very curious about this (read interested), but I also have at least four more weeks pre-paid with the trainer I'm seeing. Would it be possible for me to do things your way for most of the week and then go for my usual training with Mark on Fridays?

And how would you modify things? By adding to the LBWO?? (I know it has less things in it than the UBWO -- how's that for technical!) Or are you saying you'd have to modify what you do for BFL to suit my capabilities? That would make sense. When I looked at BFL, I thought it was totally beyond my physical capabilities -- especially the cardio part. (If I can't walk around a basketball court all the way, I can't see myself going for a 10.)

Hope I'm not being too much of a pest with all of these questions.

--Ruth

PS - It takes me 40-50 minutes to do all of the weights, depending on how long I rest between sets. I added the walking part because it seemed to make sense, but I could certainly do it on a different day if that would be better. Sorry if I'm repeating myself, but this conversation has spread itself around a bit, and I can't recall quite what I've already said, and where.

Ruth,

The first modification that I would make would be to seperate the different body parts and work them on different days, just like in BFL. Then I would modify the BFL plan. In BFL we do six sets of each exercise with one minute rests in between. I think four sets of each exercise with two minute rests would be perfect for you.

As far as the cardio is concerned this is a non-issue. If all you got is once or twice around the basketball court then that is it, you hit a 10. In BFL hitting a "10" means to give it all you got. When I first started I could only walk 0.05 miles. That is five hundreths of a mile. I would bet that isn't even once around a basketball court.

Also at what time do you work out? Working out in the morning is extremely beneficial.

Let me know if this is something that you want to persue. Have you upped your calorie intake. If not make that happen soon.

Tom

Tom, I'm definitely interested. Please give me your suggestions, and I'll see what I can do with them. (I do my workouts late mornings, by the way -- around 10:00. Could go earlier if I had to.)

And yes, calories are up!

Thanks again for all your help.

--Ruth

Ruth,

Send me your email address so that I can send you the pdf docs with the BFL sheets in them. Send me your email address and replace the ~ sign with a ~ or *.

I will send you the sheets and then we can talk about what weight you should be lifting.

Tom