~*~We're In This Together~*~ (June-Sept)

Hi everyone :)

My w/o yesterday was BB Build Chest & Tri's + 30min barefoot walk by Jessica Smith. It was raining out so Bella and I did not get the chance to go outside :(. I really pushed myself yesterday and OH BOY do I feel massive DOMS today :eek:. Somehow, someway, my triceps WILL surrender :eek:.

Today's w/o was BB Bulk Legs + 1hr walk with Bella outside.

Thanks so much for the compliments ladies :eek:;). I did not expect any drastic results with this program, but I'm pleasantly surprised at the muscle def. What I absolutely love about weight training is how it strengthens not only my body, but my mind. When I lift heavy iron, I feel in my element :cool:.

Nancy
SO you DON'T have PF? That's a good thing, right? Is the problem you have better/worse as far as healing and recovery is concerned? I'm keeping my finger's crossed that the trigger points therapy works for you!
BTW, we are getting the aftermath from the hurricane too :(. Glad to hear the veggies are doing well [yummy :p].

Colleen
LOLOLOL about Bob being a douche :D. I will always love Bob w/o's, but I've strayed from his persona. I think crossfit messed with this head or something :confused: -- he has changed...and NOT for the better.

Sarah
You will get used to the count in the Tempo w/o's. For some reason I am attracted to the S&H style of working the muscles. They work me like nothing else :eek:.
Congrats on the definition in your tri's :eek:. Body Beast is definitely effective in producing some nice UB muscle def, that's for sure.
Make sure you eat protein up the wazoo! At every meal and snack! I know you don't like protein powder that much, but if you can, try having a shake after your training session. If you go on Bodybuilding.com, they have every single protein powder avail for excellent prices. The brand Optimum has excellent reviews on taste and quality.

Marie
I know you are a busy momma, but how did your b-day go?
 
Hey all!

We had a great time up north. Just love spending time with my boys. Couldn't have been better. We did a ton of hiking and exploring. We rented a small cabin right on the shore of Lake Superior and had bonfires every night. So relaxing!

B update.....he can now officially pull himself up to a standing position. Unreal how strong my little man is. He is such a happy little guy :)

Tired so must get to bed but hope to be back tomorrow.

Welcome Nancy and Justina! Glad to have you!

Nice job on the workouts everyone! Keep up the good work :)
 
Another beautiful day here to keep me energized :cool:! This week was supposed to be sort of a recovery week, but I am itchin' to get started on my next rotation: The 2013 Sizzlin' Summer Rotation!!!!!:eek:

I evaluated the Cardio/Strength rotation that I just finished and decided that I loved all the lower body and cardio work, but wanted a bit more for the upper body weight work. I also missed some of the metabolic type workouts like Afterburn, Supercuts, Crossfire, etc. So, I decided to do 2 body parts per day instead of one, and I replaced Hard Strikes with a metabolic workout. The weekly formats are basically the same as the Cardio/Strength, except I'll be using different DVDs for weight work (not just Burn Sets). These will be longer sessions by about 10-15 minutes (due to the extra body part add on), but I could even split the day up by doing weights in the morning before work and then the cardio portion after work (yeah, I say it now :rolleyes:....)??? The variety will come from choosing the workout from a category list (keep in mind I can only use the DVDs I currently own):

Upper Body Weights
Gym Styles
Pyramids UB
Xtrain Burn Sets
STS
Xtrain Chest, Back, Shoulders
Xtrain Bis & Tris
LIS TBT UB

Leg Day
Butts & Guts
Gym Styles
Pyramids LB
Xtrain Legs
Lower Body Blast
LIS TBT LB
Turbo Barre

Metabolic
Afterburn
Athletic Training
Supercuts
Crossfire
To The Max

Plyo Legs
Cardio Leg Blast
STS Plyo Legs

Here's the 2 week template (you just repeat for another 2 weeks):
WEEK 1
All Out Low Impact HIIT; Chest & Tris
Legs; Delts & Abs
Tabatacise; Back & Bis
All Out Low Impact HIIT; Delts & Abs
Metabolic; Chest & Tris
Plyo Legs; Back & Bis
REST

WEEK 2
Tabatacise; Back & Tris
All Out Low Impact HIIT; Chest & Bis
Legs; Delts & Abs
Metabolic; Back & Tris
Plyo Legs; Chest & Bis
All Out Low Impact HIIT; Delts & Abs
REST

The other thing I plan to do is mix up the "heavy" weight workouts and the "lighter" weight workouts during the week: like Gym Styles Chest first and then Xtrain Chest next in that same week. It looks pretty challenging and I hope I can pull it off ;)! Of course, I'll be modifying some of the high impact moves too! I plan on starting this on Monday. Until then I'm revisiting some of the DVDs I haven't done in a while. Last night was Slide 'n Glide. Tonight will be Turbo Barre.

Hope I haven't bored you all to tears with this :p!
 
Drive by post before I fly on out of work here...:p

Today I did HoCo October Hardcore Year 2. I had intended to try out a new HoCo in my quest to de-virginize the Year 2 workouts (that has been a bit of a theme these past few weeks!:D) but I messed up and didn't realize until about 30 minutes in that I had already done this one once! Sure enough, I checked the Workout Manager and I did this one in early May. Whoops. It's a good one, but man it kicked my booty today. I was dropping to the floor a lot! :eek: I am so tired today...I've been having a wee bit of insomnia lately :mad:. I didn't fall asleep until 11:30 last night and I get up at 6:30...which for some people is plenty but not for this sleep lover! lol ;)

Gotta fly! I promise I'll be more chatty tomorrow! TTYL

Quickie personal to Nancy...that looks like a killer rotation! :eek:
 
Rest day for me today which is a good thing cuz' I'm a weeble wobble :eek:.

Today Bella and I went to the local splash pad at the park. It was a fun 2hr outing. She had a blast playing with some kids that were there. Speaking of kids, I can't believe she starts school in 2 months! I'm starting to get a little nervous, apprehensive, excited. I know she is ready, but in my eye's she's still so little :(.

Colleen
Sorry to hear about your insomnia :(. I average around 7hrs (wish I could get more) so ya that would have been a wonderful sleep for me...especially if it was uninterrupted, which I rarely get :mad: :( .

Nancy

:eek: rotation you got going there! Your rotations are always tough as nails :eek:. But I know if anyone could pull it off (successfully and devotedly might I add) it's you :).

Marie
Glad to hear you had a great time hiking :). A cabin in the woods, surrounded by natures beauty, with the people you love -- can't get any better than that.

Have a great day ladies!
 
Last night rather than taking a walk I opted to do aolih just the first section. It felt good I also felt a little like I was missing cardio. But oh well. My hubby was just saying last night how sexy my arms were and kissed my guns : ) but the flip side of that is he also said they were almost as big as his. Lol, not even close. Today I walked and did BB back and bi tempo. I really liked the move where he stood his barbell on end and did the twisty lunge. I really feel like I went all out for the back portion and for the bicep portion I should have used more weight. Note to self for next time. I also feel very tight in my legs today from yesterday's BB legs, and some slight DOMS. So I did take extra time today and did the extended stretch from STS. It felt gooood, to say the least.

Nat - I have been using the beach body protein, it's okay. Not great but not horrible either. How much sugar per serving does the marked have?

Nancy - your rotation looks good.

Sarah
 
Hi everyone!

Back from Boston. Hope everyone is doing well. Boston was great. Learned a lot at the conference, did a lot of walking by the river. Did not manage to work out in the hotel room though. Instead I took advantage of the big fluffy bed and good cable! :p

The plane ride from Boston was bumpy; sitting in the wing did not help. Yesterday I had neck and back pain all day.Whiplash? Today I feel a bit better but still have stiff neck pain. No workouts until I fully recover.

Hi Natasha, you look awesome! You got great results. :D Beast on!

Hi Nancy, that looks like a butt-kicking rotation. Not surprised you put it together though. You're a warrior.

Hi Marie, how old is your little man? I have three children (two girls and one boy, 13, 11 and 2).

Hi Cokonkel (Colleen?), wow, I'm surprised about Bob Harper. On the show he seemed like a nice guy. I don't like it when trainer in the video is mean or rude to the crew. Jari Love did that in one of her latest DVDs and I hardly use it anymore. The workout is not that great on top of that!

Hi Sarah, I don't do enough stretching in my work out routine. With BB the warm up and cool down are short. I should dedicate one day to just stretch.

Once I feel better I will get back into the routine. Coming up with a rotation and stick to it is hard for me. :) I tend to just pick out what I want to do the day of.

Have a good day everyone!

Justina
 
NATASHA YOU ENABLER YOU!!!!!!;)

Slow & Heavy is The Deal of the Day!!!! For only $19!!!!! Of course I bought it :eek::eek::eek:!!!
Now I'll have to adjust my rotation and make sure to do S&H once per week!!!
 
BB Build Back & Bi's for me today + 1hr walk outside with girl :). I really tried to push my weights with back today. At my top set of 8R underhand EZ rows, I was overzealous with 65lbs :eek: (got in 4R though!). It's really hard for me to get to those heavy #'s when I've already done 15R and 12R. However if 8R was my first set, I could do that weight no prob :D. Sarah & Justina, do you have that problem as well? With bi's, I felt like I did a really good job at going to failure w/my final set of 8R. I think I told you guys that bi's is a weak muscle group of mine :(. I know that for me, I need to increase my weight #'s and increase my time under tension (with great form of course). I'm already feeling DOMS there today :eek: so I know I killed it :cool:.

Nancy

YAY FOR SLOW & HEAVY!!!! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the S&H approach with weight training! Sarah has done a few rotations with it as well. And YES, you have to put it into your rotation immediately :eek:. Wat until you see those pec muscles quiver...just warning you in advance :D.

Justina
Welcome back safe & sound :). I'm sorry to hear about your neck :(. I had mild whiplash when I was in that car accident a few years ago. Massage and PT worked wonders for it.
Thanks for the compliment btw :eek:.

Sarah
I love how your hubby kissed your arms and called them sexy ;):). BTW are you noticing your core a bit stronger/tighter? That was one of the first results that I noticed with BB. A gal from my other check-in is doing BB also and noticed the same thing.

Colleen, Marie, Jen HELLO!!!
 
Afternoon ladies!

Today I did Athletic Training: Leg/cardio express premix (minus c/d ~30 min) and then 24 minutes of Tonique Born to Move, workout 2. Workout 2 on BTM is actually a 56 minute workout, but there is a definite break right at that 24 min mark where it's okay to stop the workout and not be unevenly trained on one side (thank goodness!). The same is not true for workout 1 on that dvd, though! She literally does almost 40 minutes mainly working one leg before switching on that one! :eek: This was a great combo and left me an endorphinated sweaty mess at the end. Just the way I like it! ;)

Justina- Yep it's Colleen. :) Welcome back from Boston! I always have good intentions of working out when I'm out of town whether it be for business or a vacation but it never happens! :p S'okay, though...it's always good to give the ole body an extended break every once in awhile. ;)
Regarding the stuff about Bob Harper, I have to say I have many of his other dvds and he was never like that before. :( I have both his kettlebell dvds and I find him to be so sweet and charming in those. He still motivates and isn't a softie by any means, but I will admit there was a time when I was doing those two workouts a lot and developed a wee crush on him. :eek: I also have his Ultimate Cardio Body and Cardio Rev Conditioning and he was nicer in those, too. I think Natty is probably right and Crossfit may have messed with him a little. :confused: In any case, here's hoping this new demeanor is just a phase!
I hope your neck feels better! Nothing like airplane turbulence to freak a person out. :confused:

Natty- Thanks for the link! I think if the goal is to put on some serious muscle, it's good to separate lifting from cardio. For me, since I'm working out for my emotional and mental health as well as physical, I just need that cardio buzz I get from metabolic workouts! :p I've realized it's tough for me to stick to just heavy lifting for any length of time because of that. I just don't get that sizzle I like to get. :eek: That said, I do love to mix it up. I'm planning on July being a heavier weight month again. I'm going to try two weeks of Body Beast and see how I feel. If I'm not crazy stoked about it, I can always trade it for SKOGG on VF. :eek: I've been obsessed with trying to get that kettlebell system through trading lately but so far no bites. :(

TBH, I've been longingly looking at STS again lately. LOL :eek: I really really hope Cathe does an STS 2 someday!

Nancy- have fun with Slow and Heavy! I have thought about getting that one before as it is a perennial favorite, but I am so bad at avoiding older workouts. It's so superficial, but for some reason if a workout looks dated, I can't bring myself to do it. :eek: Cathe has some big hair in those older workouts! LOL :p

Sarah- did you ever bite on Ultimate Yogi? That price was unbelievable! :eek:

Waving HI to Jen and Marie! Have a great day ladies!
 
Colleen
Question about the hip thrusters. Do you do it on your step w/3 risers? Also, HOW THE HECK DO YOU KEEP YOUR NECK UP FOR SO LONG??? My neck gives out before my glutes do :eek:. I want to start incorporating them again so any tips from the hip thrust queen is greatly appreciated :eek::D;).
 
Colleen- it's funny you ask. Why yes I did. Lol just got the shipping notice today.

I have very sore hammies today as well as sore biceps and lats. I haven't felt a tighter tummy, because of too many treats and just too much food.

I also didnt sleep last night. My husband got offered another job in ak. So we are going up next Thursday (just overnight) to see/meet a realtor. I will probably take today off.

Nat - It did kill me to do 8 slow reps with the barbell rows yesterday : )

Sarah
 
Colleen
Question about the hip thrusters. Do you do it on your step w/3 risers? Also, HOW THE HECK DO YOU KEEP YOUR NECK UP FOR SO LONG??? My neck gives out before my glutes do :eek:. I want to start incorporating them again so any tips from the hip thrust queen is greatly appreciated :eek::D;).

Hey girlie! Let's see, I use the 3 risers for the hip thrusts. I think what saves my neck is that I leave my head in a completely neutral position with my spine. I'm neither bending my head/neck forward nor letting my head sag back even a little. I also make sure to relax my face muscles, neck muscles and traps while I do it. As soon as I feel those muscles start to tense up due to the effort and fatigue (which usually correlates to some serious butt burn! :eek:) that's when I know I need to take that short rest. I usually end up needing a rest at about 40 reps and 70 reps. Depending on how hard my heart is pounding I'll either rest ~30 sec or if I'm really wiped a minute or longer! :eek:

I also pad my back with a yoga mat folded over twice and use a thick folded hand towel under my bar to pad my hips. I think another thing that helps is in addition to leaving my neck neutral with my spine is that I don't bend my spine AT ALL, no curving as I hinge down with my butt...I keep my entire spine as straight as a rod as if it were one unit. The whole movement ends up being a total hinge movement from the hips with no bending anywhere else. I hope that makes sense...?

HTH!
 
I ended up doing BB cardio and yoga relax, I thought it might help me sleep tonight. Tomorrow is the last day of school.

Sarah
 
Yesterday afternoon/early evening we had a BODACIOUS storm rip through our area: wind gusts up to 70mph and hail and sideways rain. Power was out from about 4pm until 8pm so no Cathe DVDs for me :(. We did go for a walk after things calmed down and surveyed the damage around the neighborhood. There were some huge trees downed and lots of limbs and leaves and other debris strewn about. My veggie plants handled it all with the greatest of ease :). I was so glad because I have a bunch of tomatoes coming along and 2 peppers about the size of marbles on their way! Still no sign of beans, though.

Tonight I plan on doing LIS Cardio Super Sets. This week has been very laid back for me! I've just been flyin' by the seat of my pants as far as workouts go!

Colleen, thanks for sharing the details on the hip thrusts! I really want to incorporate these into my rotation somehow! I've been toying with the idea of turning some of my add ons into 100 reps challenges. Do you do any of the other 100 rep challenges?

Sarah, I hope you're able to get some good rest soon! Are you looking forward to a possible move...or dreading it? Have you had to relocate before/often? I freaked out when my DH took a job down here in NC. I really didn't' want to leave MI because my family, job, and school I was attending were all there. He told me it wouldn't be for long...19 years later I'm still here and have actually grown to like it (at least the milder winters!):p!!! On another topic, Natty the Enabler talked me into Slow N' Heavy and mentioned that you did a rotation of it...what are your thoughts?

Justina, have you settled back into The Beast yet? Has school let out for your kids yet?

Natty (I'll use that name from now on...it's cute!), 65 pounds on underhand rows :eek:????? DANG! Your strength gains are amazing! I was really impressed with how you killed Circuit Blast! Those push-ups are tough! I really need to get my mojo back on those! I've noticed that I don't seem to have to endurance for them that I used to. I have started working on strengthening my forearms with this squeezie lamb that someone gave me. It fits perfectly in my hand and is rather stiff so I get good resistance. I just smash the bajeebers out of it all day here at work! I hope to get stronger so that I can lift heavier...my forearms seem to be my limiter right now.

Well, I'm going to eat my tuna sandwich and nectarine and peruse the forum for a while...I hope that everyone has an awesome Friday and gets a good workout in today!!!
 
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Today was BB shoulders. I will also go on a nice looooong walk. Because the kids are crabby. I would have thought they would be in great moods because of it being the last day of school but thats not the case.

Nancy- I did a S&H rotation I believe last year. It was good I did 2 weeks on 1 week of something else and one week back on. It takes a lot out of you because of the mental focus needed for lifting slow and heavy. So it was a good combo.

Hello everyone else!

Sarah
 
Just hanging at the lake with my 2 favorite guys. Just finished some swing time. Those are Breckin's favorite :)
 
Hi everyone :)

I did something naughty yesterday :eek:. Instead of BB Cardio, I opted for MMA Boxing with my new Everlast gloves :eek:. I had a fun n' sweaty time. For the last leg blast circuit where Cathe does various jump rope sequences, I did that part with an actual jump rope. Holy crap is it harder that way! I even did the figure 8's, which reminded me of grade school recess time a little bit. I used to LOVE jump rope -- obsessed with it actually.

Another trip to the splash pad yesterday and then we went to the ice cream shoppe afterwards. It's been lovely out these past few days. How about for all of you?

Marie
Glad you are enjoying time with your boys :). I can just picture B laughing away while you are swinging him. Bella loved her indoor swing (my savior!) up until she was around 8 months. For some reason though, she was not a fan of the Jolly Jumper :confused:.

Colleen
Thank you SO MUCH for the helpful tips on the hip thrusts!
I agree about exercising to achieve a healthy body and mind :). I know what my endorphin drug is :eek:.
Have you heard of Bret Contraras aka-the butt guy from the Get Glutes program? Jennifer from my other check-in has done his program faithfully for a few months now and has noticed a transformation in her legs & glutes. I'm now itching to get his program :eek:. No, no, I must not succumb...yet ;).

Nancy
I'm sorry to hear about the storm. I hope no one got harmed :(.
I love it when tomatoes start to make an appearance! When I was little, we had a full veggie garden, and the tomatoes were the cutest little veggies...no wait...they're fruits :).
That 1 arm/1 leg extended is actually in BB cardio. The only thing that was missing was the push-up part. Lots of practice on that move :eek:.

Sarah
How exciting about AK! I really do hope your hubby gets a great job offer so you guys can move. I know how much you want to be there :).
I hope you have been able to get some much needed sleep.
Have you done BB Total Body yet? This week I have to do 2 cardio's (UGH) but I have the option to do Total Body instead :p.
 

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