Let's Do This Again STSept-Dec! *Dec 14-Dec 20*

littlefiretop

littlefiretop

Cathlete
Good Morning Warriors!

Welcome to the last week of STS! Woohoo! I cant believe we made it here already. Even more astounding is how much I am looking forward to the undulating rotation to start in January. lol :)

So, for me I have 6 days before I get on a plane and leave on vacation. On Saturday I get on a plane to NYC and will be there through Christmas day, then later Christmas day I get on a train and go to upstate NY and I am going to Tennis Camp for 5 days. :eek: Yes, you read correctly, I am going to adult tennis camp. 5 hours of tennis a day for 5 days. I think you just play tennis, eat, play more tennis, eat, play more tennis, then get a massage, eat and then sleep. lol I still cant believe I am doing it, its a very brave adventure for me to go on by myself. Who would have thought that 70lbs ago that I would even concieve of doing this? I certainly didnt. But it is time to be brave and try something completely out of my comfort zone. So we will see what my adventure brings.

Read back through the posts I missed, glad to see everyone is doing well and keeping up with workouts so well. I will try to stay in touch better this week. Its going to be one last crazy week at work, hopefully I will survive and finish STS on time.

Alright, off to work. Be back later. Have a great Monday everyone!
:cool:
 
MJ that is SO cool that you are going to the tennis camp. I bet you'll have a blast! :D

Last workout for Chest & Back today for me!!! Hit all my weights and reps. I'm doing extra stretching for my calf and tibialis (sp?) and I'll decide Sunday if I'm going to try and do cardio on my recovery week or just stretching and abs.

I think I'm going to buy that yoga book I borrowed from the library. Darned if people didn't have it on hold, so I couldn't renew it and now they have control of them until the end of the month. Usually stuff like that I can renew up to 9 weeks, but apparently it's extra popular. :(

We got our tree yesterday and it was very easy and we all agreed on one right away. Christmas tree hunting is one of those things DH and I really shouldn't do together. A couple years ago he got so frustrated that he went and waited by the car while the boys and I decided on one and then I cut it down myself. :D My youngest is VERY into decorating and we got the tree done and we'll do some more around the house today.

Enjoy your Monday Warriors!!
 
Hey Everyone

Sorry I was absent for the last few days... I am in a vacuum. My little meeting on Friday consumed my weekend! I didn't get to work out all weekend! It felt really wrong! I made some good decisions on the weekend so I am feeling a little less stress and did my last Chest and Back workout this morning! Is this really the last week! My triceps are still really sore from Friday... so much for not feeling the burn! My plan is to get up early and take "my time" this week for 45min no matter how crazy it gets! It is a little tricky as I have been going to bed late to get more work done and then if I get up early I feel like I should be working...

I have downloaded the Undulating Rotation!!! Thanks Cathy for putting all the work into that! I really can't wait. I have been feeling a little stir crazy with meso 3 this time. I am sure that it is more to do with the quantity of things to do in a day than the actual work out! Hopefully they'll get shock cardio out the door quickly and we'll be able to put that in too!

MJ - That is great that you are going to adult camp! You will learn so much when you are in such a focused group. There will be so many like minded people too. I do really think it would be cool to go back in time and tell yourself what you are capable of! I would have never believed me if I told myself that I would be running and loving it someday!

Cathy - I am chomping at the bit to get STS Cardio too! What are your workout plans over Christmas? For you calf I would just keep stretching and stretching it! and doing that morning stretch. My achilles tendonitis always hurt there too. The other thing to do is add in calf raises throughout the day.

Janis - I had a feeling that Tony and Cathe are on either end of the instructor extreme! How are you liking Shaun T? My toothless boy is doing really well. We have graduated to harder foods which is good because he was going to snap if I made him eat another bowl soup! Will you be done p90X for the start of the undulating rotation?

Tara - You will make it!!! That's what I keep telling myself! My question is who decided that Christmas should be a deadline! Good luck this week!

Talk to you all soon
Getting back to work!
Heather
 
Heather, yes, I read that calf raises along with the stretching and stretching the tibialis, too. So, I'm doing those things. I really don't think it's a big injury, just enough to be uncomfortable and annoying and I don't want to make it worse.

I always workout on holidays, unless they fall on my rest day and we stay home for Christmas which helps a lot. I think I'll probably just grab whatever feels right. I do want to do Legs & Glutes at some point, because it's my fave leg workout.

And I'm right there with you on the sore triceps from Friday! I really didn't think I'd worked mine that hard.
 
Way to go Warriors! Our last week!

So much to celebrate!

MJ's going to tennis camp! YAY! Simply a fantastic way to celebrate the holidays and your accomplishments - burning off 70 pounds! WOW! You are going to have such a great time. Hmmmm, upstate NY in winter for tennis - me thinks this MUST be an indoor tennis, eat, tennis, tennis, eat camp?

Heather - High fives for working two full time jobs and fitting your workout in, all the while staying upbeat and positive. It is an amazing feat girl!

Cathy - Don't you feel impressed with yourself? You went higher in weights or reps consistently the second time through STS! And you know you'll be able to lifter heavier next time! Congratulations Mighty Might!

Tara - You made it this far, despite working full time and being a mom full time, you, too, put in the extra effort each day to achieve your goals!

As for me - let's see - I had to adapt through Meso 1 and 2 while I worked out with a stress fracture, I started swimming, swam, swam, swam and then gradually returned to running. I have a tendency to be a sloth, so I am proud I stuck it out, maintained my muscle mass and didn't give in or give up!

We should all be so proud of ourselves!

Here's to our last week - and to our undulating rotation in the New Year! Hip-hip-hooray!



Cheers!
:D
 
This morning I did Drill Max Timesaver Cardio and AC Medicine Ball Abs and then I stretched and did some exercises for my calf. I stretched beforehand, but figured doing most of it when my calf was nice and toasty from working out is good. I'll do more throughout the day.

Janis I agree with you! Everyone here has had great accomplishments with their workouts and we're going to be really kicking it up a notch come the new year!! A big high five to everyone. :D
 
Good Morning Warriors!

Welcome to the last plyo Wednesday! :D

This morning I did C&W step to try and wake myself up and face the day at work. I have caught up on STS from last week, so now I am on track to finish this week. I will do the plyo workout tonight.

Cathy- I hope you get your calf feeling better, shock cardio is going to need to strong calves I think. lol

Heather - I hope you are having a better week, hang in there.

Janis - Yes, its an indoor camp during the winter season. It seems crazy to most people, seeing that I live in Florida, one of the tennis meccas of the world to go to upstate NY for tennis camp in the middle of winter, but I figured since I was already up in NYC for Christmas to try a new adventure. Plus I will get to most likely see some snow again which I havent in about 10 yrs and enjoy a small bit of winter without actually having to live in it anymore. lol

Alright, time to make myself presentable for work. Check back later.

Have a great day everyone! :cool:
 
Last Plyo Wednesday is done! As I was doing it, I was in awe of some of the things that I could do, while at the same time being aware of all the room for improvement in strength and endurance and feeling that it was a nice balance. I think about how much I can do compared to most 49 year olds and heck a lot of 20 year olds for that matter. ;) I'm feeling really ready to push ahead in 2010 with even more effort. Now I just need to convince my calf to come along for the ride.

I've been reading "Younger Next Year for Women" and it's really brought home to me how important exercise is. Not that I didn't know, but now even more so. And how much more I'm really capable of doing. The information on exercise in this book is better and far more detailed than I've read anywhere and I highly recommend it. You'd think by the sub-title that it's only for those close to 50 and over, but truly anyone of any age can benefit from reading it because the younger you start exercising the better off you're going to be.

Have a wonderful day everyone. I get to spend the afternoon at a park. And, it doesn't look like there will be enough snow for sledding, though the kids can play outside. I fully intend to spend the majority of my time in the nice cozy warming house as the highs are only supposed to get into the low 20's and it's supposed to be windy and cloudy.
 
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Hey Everyone
It has been a crazy week so far and it is not going to get much better but I am hanging in there. I did Plyo Legs this morning and sweat a tonne. I had to go get some water so I paused it and when I can back it was right at the part where she says "You didn't pause it did you?" Too funny. Anyways, yesterday I went for my run in the morning and my shuffle conked out midway through the 2nd challenge. I will have to get the earphones replaced again! I really like it but I really like doing my full CC workout. I did some more intervals but it just isn't the same! I plan to run alot next week so hopefully I can get the new headphones ASAP!
As a total aside, we just found out yesterday that my DH has a weird form of arthritis that causes your spine to fuse together and can be very debilitating. One of the best ways to slow it down is exercise (not high impact - so I think that Insanity may be out for him). It is a relief to know that he isn't going crazy and that his back pain (has been going on for years) is not just in his head! Lots to think about. So as Cathy says exercise is so important as we age. I am still in shock...I don't want to think about what it will be like for him in the future if we don't keep it in check... if we can keep it in check.
Thanks for listening...

Janis - I loved your post about how we all have accomplished so much - We are truly warriors each in our own way!

Cathy - Have fun at the park! If your weather is anything like ours I would be in the warming house too!

MJ - It is great to see you investing in yourself! and it's awesome that tennis fits in so well with the new you. knitting wouldn't be near as effective for calorie burning!

Tara - Hope all is well!

Heather
 
Hi Ladies,

Congratulations on completing another STS rotation by the end of this week! I remember when I finished it my first time around, I smiled for 2-3 days straight. For me, it was more so completing 3.5 months of consistent exercise, as well as achieving such gains in strength! I know you all must feel wonderful as you finish up this round.

Work has continued to be crazy for me. As the year winds down, more suspenses come to finish things before the end of the year. My supervisor chose to make Dec 23rd a deadline for a huge task. So, I've been staying late on weekdays & worked on Sunday. I probably will be working this weekend too. Needless to say, my exercising has been hampered. But I am looking forward to Christmas coming (as the huge task will be done) and also I will have a week off to rest---going on a trip to Italy so I really will get away from the job.
I'm also excited about starting the undulating rotation on Jan 5th. It'll be nice to be on the same workouts as the rest of you! For now, I'm going to try to finish Meso 2 by the end of the year---it'll be sporadic, but better some than none! ;-)

Janis, thanks for the encouragement & motivation! :) You are an inspiration! There are so many who would have not even tried to exercise after a fracture, but you did it and here you are--a champion warrior princess!!!!

Cathy, thanks for recommending the book! It sounds great. I think it's good to read more about reasons to make all efforts to maintain health by exercising--gives us all more motivation. So, I definitely will be picking up that book! I'm glad that Christmas tree picking went well this year. When I read about you cutting the the tree yourself last year, I was so impressed. There's a lot of women out there who would have been able to do that nor would have be willing to!

Heather, I will keep your DH in my thoughts & prayers. It's good that you are already have made exercising a lifestyle for you (and from as far as I could tell, he has too). I hope that continuing to exercise will not only delay the progression, but halt it as well.

MJ, Enjoy Christmas, New York and tennis camp! I don't play tennis, but I know it's fun as well as great exercise. I don't think it's strange at all that your going over the holidays or your vacation---when you love fitness, it is refreshing and renewing! A great way to end this year and start the next!

I most likely won't post again this week (unless I squeeze in some exercise) I'll continue to read all your posts though. So, have a great holiday season & I'll join back in on 05 Jan (or sooner if I see a thread the week after Christmas)! I'm hoping and praying that I will get my Shock Cardio DVDs in time---sometimes shipping overseas is a bit slow. But even if I don't, I'll just switch it out other cardio DVDs until they arrive!

Tara
 
Hey Everyone.... I just wanted to say because you all know what I am talking about. My butt is sore! I really tried to go deep with all the plyo moves... ouch!
Talk to you tomorrow!
Heather
 
Well I started to do BM2 cardio today, but stopped about 3 minutes into the warm up and decided to actually make the mature decision of not doing any cardio until a week from Sunday and letting my calf rest. I really, really wanted to do it anyway, but I think in the long run I'll benefit more from the rest. So, I just did Stretch Max with the band and then some extra stretching/exercises for my calf. Through the 26th I'm going to do stretching, yoga and core work.

I had an unexpected babysitting job last night, so I went ahead and ordered a copy of the yoga book that I liked. It's coming media mail, so I may not see it until the end of next week, but until then I'll just figure out another way to do some.

Heather, I'm so sorry to hear about your DH, but I'm sure that just knowing what it is is a relief and gives you the knowledge so he can doing something to help. Not knowing can be so hard. I hope he finds some type of exercise that he really enjoys to make the process more pleasant.

Tara sounds like you have a very full plate through the 23rd and then you're going to Italy! Relax and enjoy. I hope you have a wonderful time! And I hope that your Shock Cardio DVD's make it there in time for you to use them to start the rotation.

I've been bad and stayed on the computer too long. I have to shower, make lunches and get us out the door in 45 minutes to the historical museum.
 
Hey Everyone

Today was a rest day... sort of. My youngest was home today so I couldn't do much work so I cleaned the house for the festivities this weekend! I think that I will have to do my last STS on Sat morning . I am sad... I really wanted to do it tomorrow but I have to realistic right now!

Hope you all are doing well! and thanks for all your kind comments about my husband.

Cathy - I know it sucks having to rest. I did for 2 weeks and it really helped. I did bike though a little bit to try and keep the cardio up. At least it is a good time to rest. I found that when things were really bad then step really aggravated it. Hope it starts to feel better!

Janis - Are you in Christmas mode?

Tara - So close! Gotta love deadlines... There is someone on here that has a signature that says " I love deadlines, that wooshing sound they make when they fly by!" For some reason my deadline is this Friday... tomorrow... gotta go!

MJ - Hope you are surviving!

Cheers
Heather
 
Heather I wish it was warm enough to bike, because from what I read biking usually doesn't aggravate it. Ok, so there are people who wouldn't let a little 20 degree weather keep them from biking. I'm just not one of them. ;)

I'll be cleaning tomorrow as my parents will be here on Sunday and Saturday we'll be busy with basketball and shopping. I did at least finish the cross stitch I was making them and get it in the frame tonight. A whole 3 days to spare. :D
 
Good Friday Morning Warriors! :)

One more insane day at work to survive, then the mad packing frenzy for my trip tomorrow. woohoo! I think its finally starting to set in that I am actually going on vacation somewhere far away from my usual life, so hopefully I will start getting excited for it. This morning I did LIC cardio and stretched. Tonight I will tackle the last arms disc for meso 3, then tomorrow morning I will do the final plyo legs. I cant believe its almost done.

Cathy - Excellent job on the mature decision to rest, its hard to do, but it does help. If I hadnt done that a few weeks back with my hip flexor there would be no way I could even think of playing tennis.

Heather - Hang in there, things will get better! Try to enjoy the festivities this weekend. :D

Tara - Enjoy your holidays and throw a fruit cake at your supervisor for putting unrealistic deadlines during holiday week. ;)

Janis - Hope you are doing well.

Alright, off to face the day. Be back tomorrow to say farewell for the holidays. :cool:
 
I'm done! Can't say I went out with a bang, but I did it. ;)

I started off by having my barbell set 10 lbs to high for the first warm-up set of overhead presses. Then when I changed it, I didn't notice that I had 2 1/2 lbs more on one end, so I just did the set thinking how weird it was that it felt heavier on the right side. :rolleyes: Then I was totally struggling with my barbell curl weight, dropped down 2 lbs on the third set and another on the last set and was still struggling. I think I need to decrease my 1 RM for those because my form just isn't there. After that I actually did fine, until it was time for concentration curls. I thought my first set seemed light, but didn't realize until after I was done that I had on the wrong combo of wrist/hand weights and I was 2 1/2 lbs too light!! So, I corrected that and finished out everything. I think my shoulders and neck are going to be unhappy with me and not in a good sore kind of way, so it's a good thing I'm not doing weights for the next week. This might have been my most screwed up workout of the whole thing, but I did the majority of it the way I was supposed to and it's done.

Now I get to spend the day cleaning and baking and with an already long list of things to do, the boys both have decided they want their hair buzzed today, so added that to my list. My oldest has been totally determined to grow his hair out and continue doing so for years. Well he made it to about 3-4" all over and now off it goes. DH is going to be totally shocked when he gets home. Which I think is half the fun of the whole thing to the boys. ;)

MJ sounds like you will be very busy tomorrow! In case I don't get another chance, have a safe trip and a wonderful time! And I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one who works out on the day I'm leaving on vacation. :D
 
Good Morning Warriors! and TGIF!

My workout plans for the week have been waylaid a bit, I still have not done my Plyo-Wednesday workout, which means I won't be doing squat rack on Saturday.

I was up very, very early Wednesday morning to see my DS off - make him breakfast, pack him a lunch, and wish him well - he had a 3 hour college-calculus final. Then I headed down the same mountain as he (1.5 hour drive one way) to do major Christmas and household shopping -twelve hours worth! The good news is I burned about the same amount of calories with a day of shopping as I do running and lifting and puttering around the house. The bad news is somewhere along the way I tweaked my knee.

On top of the knee issue, I have been exceedingly tired. I looked at the data from the GWF for the last week, I haven't been getting nearly enough sleep. Sometimes only 3 hours a night. No wonder I am dragging around here looking for quick fuel. (chocolate, sugar, cookies, potato chips, popcorn)

So - I am bloated from the salt, cranky from the sugar, tired and achy! Fun stuff I tell ya! And I still don't know when I'll do plyo or squat rack. I attempted a treadmill run yesterday. I was dragging my butt there too, 3.5 miles in over 40 minutes. Argh. I barely got my heart rate up to even qualify it as exercise, although the GWF deemed my meager attempt as 'vigorous'. Ha!

I am taking all of this as a sign to a)clean up my diet and b) take a rest day

Heather - I am so sorry to hear about your husband. Even in the telling you seem upbeat and positive. I am not sure how you do that! You're an excellent mother and wife. It doesn't sound like Insanity will work for your husband, but there are other body weight exercises he could benefit from that are low impact. One guy comes to mind, Scott Sonnon, the production quality of his stuff isn't nearly as nice as Cathe's, but he has developed a system that not only healed himself but has helped countless others with their various musculoskeletal issues. I have one of his dvd's, Intuflow, which I would be happy to send you.
Here are a few links:

http://www.intu-flow.com/

http://yogainflow.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1aLdYgfr3M

http://www.rmaxinternational.com/home/mambo/index.php

MJ - Have a great time! You deserve this trip! How exciting and inspiring too! Tennis camp and a train trip - there is something sort of romantic about this combination! {laughing}

Cathy - Congratulations on finishing STS! Your story of your mixed-up workout made me laugh. I did the same thing too - do you remember? - somewhere in Meso 2 I just couldn't get the weights right! Stay warm! My calf cramps up if I walk barefoot on a cold floor - does that happen to you?

Tara - Enjoy your trip to Italy; oh so beautiful! Where are you going? Parts of Italy remind me of Northern California where I live. Eat some hazelnut gelato for me!


We all seem to need a rest day or two or three as we come in to the finish line. :D The trick is to take the rest I need without dropping the ball entirely in the process. I don't know about you - but it's a fine line for me to walk.

Happy Friday!
 
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Ok, I may need someone to come and sit on me to keep me from using the new DVD's. :D Mine are coming on Tuesday and even though I know that I really, really should give my calf a break, it's going to be sooooo tempting to start trying them out.

Janis sounds like you really need to rest, too. It so sucks to need to do that. You make me rest and I'll do the same for you. ;) You live in the mountains? I love looking at mountains, but the idea of driving in them totally freaks me out. Michigan has some very hilly areas up north and we have the Porcupine Mts. that are kind of like mini mountains, but no real mountains.
 
Good Morning Warriors!

So, the fickle hand of fate has decided to throw a snow storm into NYC later today, so my flight has been cancelled. I have been rebooked to try again tomorrow. So we will see what happens. Last time I went on vacation I got food poisoning, so perhaps we are seeing a trend of for my vacationing plans. lol lets hope not.

So, since I am still here at home, I am going to go unpack my tennis stuff and go play a little with my other brother who is actually in town this weekend.

Hang in there everyone, looks like we all have some new obstacles. Stay away from the dvds and let yourselves heal, we have alot of new workouts to look forward to together when we are all better and ready to go after the holidays.

Will check back later and let you know if I am going to make it out of town. :cool:
 
MJ I'm so sorry that your flight has been impacted by the snowstorm (which I'm happy to say is not impacting us). Sounds like you are making the best of it.

Well no one is going to have to sit on me to make me rest. :(

Urgent care....achilles tendon.... :(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(

All I was doing was going down some bleachers before the game today and felt it snap. I think my heart hit the step along with my feet. To say I'm unhappy is a HUGE understatement. I got some ice and iced it on and off during the game and afterwards I talked to the boys coach who was an athletic trainer at one time. I was supposed to take Derek and do all the shopping errands this afternoon. Instead I went to urgent care and then did the parts of the shopping/errands that involved brief stops. Came home and took off the bandage and iced it again. DH is having to unpack and put away food, get the boys supper and he'll have to go to the store tomorrow and do the bulk of the food shopping. Scary prospect. I'll have to give him a very detailed list. I have things that I automatically buy, so they aren't on my list and I'll have to try and think of them. So, I'll be spending the rest of the weekend icing and elevating. Monday I'm going to call and see when I can get into my doctor who is a sports med speicalist. I was not terribly impressed with the PA I saw today. Didn't help her case when the person came into wrap my left knee and it was my right calf. :rolleyes:
 
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