Cardioconvert - Office chick with pipes

[Luvdogs]

Woooo Hoooo for WG pull ups! That is awesome! Pull downs are so strong too!

[jjeane]

CC you SO ROCK!!! Way to go on the pull ups and chins!!
Awesome compliment as well.

[marathonmom262]

Yeaaaaaahhh girl! Way to knock out those unassisted pullups and chinups. Congrats!!

[PunkyCindy]

congrats on the pullups!

[Cardioconvert]

Big congrats on the WG pull-ups! Such a good feeling!

Awesome workout all round, CC! Happy Halloween to you too

Thanks CharliC - hope you had super Halloween!

Sweet happy dance happy dance happy dance!!!!

Thanks DM - you believed I could do them before I did - thanks for that

Woooo Hoooo for WG pull ups! That is awesome! Pull downs are so strong too!

Thanks Luvdogs!

CC you SO ROCK!!! Way to go on the pull ups and chins!!
Awesome compliment as well.

Thanks jjeane - I think the compliment totally lit my fires

Yeaaaaaahhh girl! Way to knock out those unassisted pullups and chinups. Congrats!!

Thanks!

congrats on the pullups!

Thanks PC - love the new avi - now I am thinkin of you as spunkypunkycindy

CC

[Cardioconvert]

Okay dokey - they announced the date of the show I am targeting for next year - April 13 2013 baby! Now I have a date, it seems more real.

I spent a lot of time last night surfing some re-sale sites for suits - oh my gosh. Based on my proportions, I may ultimately be forced to have mine made - that is going to blow my budget. Oh well, guess I'll be asking for "Bikini bucks for Christmas"

Here is my leg workout from last night (done while DD swam):

BSS - at Smith, weight is weight added per side
3x10@20

Squat @ Smith - weight is added per side. I usually don't do my squats at the Smith - everytime I do, I tell myself I should do them more often there - can feel it quite differently as I can play around w/ foot placement more

10@35ps, 10@45ps, 10@55ps

Hamstring Curls
10@80, 10@85, 10@85

Standing Calf Raises
15@190, 15@200, 15@200

Single leg extensions
3x10@30

Quads are a bit tender today

Have a great day everyone!

CC

[CharliC]

Nice workout there, CC, and so exciting to have a show date! That must be a big motivation booster

Can't wait to see your suit! Maybe I'll have some on the market in a couple of years or so

[Cardioconvert]

That would be awesome - I bet your designs will be fabulous - my jaw just drops at how gorgeous some of them are (and how rich the pricing is).

I saw quite a few that sounded (based on their description of sizing) like they would fit (my height / approx weight) but the problem will be with my tatas. All the suits I looked at were A/B/ large C cups - I am a DD and, as they aren't natural, assume I will stay approx the same even when dieted down. I am going to ask my pro about that though.

CC

[DieselsMom]

Unnatural tata's too - we must be twins but my girls are much smaller LOL

Go for broke - you are going to rock the show so you may as well reward yourself with something that is going to fit you perfectly and show off all your hard work.

[jjeane]

A date! Great news CC! I can't wait to see what you pick!

[Cardioconvert]

Unnatural tata's too - we must be twins but my girls are much smaller LOL

See - further evidence

A date! Great news CC! I can't wait to see what you pick!

Thanks - I am excited too!

CC

[Cardioconvert]

Wowzers - haven't been able to get onto the site in a few days - life seems to have gone off the rails! Thankfully all the business hasn't lead to any missed workouts until today (that would cause me a huge amount of stress). I preach rest, don't live it too well

I finished 6 solid weeks of the new program on Sunday. For anyone who missed what it looked like, here it is:

Monday - chest / back / bis
Tuesday - legs
Wednesday - Shoulders / back / tris
Thursday - legs
Friday - Shoulders / traps
Sat - arms / glutes

Seeing as I am still seeing responses, I will run the program again - to bring me very close to year's end. Come the new year, I'll start working w/ my pro and then start to follow her program. The only change I am going to make is that in lieu of 2 days of legs, I am going to make Tuesday a cardio + glute day and Thursday a nice heavy leg day. This way, I can do the cardio + glute at work on Tuesdays at lunchtime. Getting up 5 days a week at 4;50am to go to the gym is wearing on me and, in particular, I find legs the hardest workout to do immediately upon rising - it is almost like my brain isn't warmed up or something . So, slightly different program will be:

Monday am - chest / back / bi, incline walk at lunch
Tuesday - incline walk / elliptical at lunch + glute work
Wednesday - back / shoulder / tri - early am, incline walk after dinner
Thursday - legs - evening
Friday - Shoulders / traps - early am, incline walk at lunch
Saturday - arms + glutes

Currently, I am doing 3 or 4 days on either the TM (incline walk) or elliptical so the cardio component is pretty much the same. In terms of food, I'll keep where I am - still no delta in weight which is good. I am eating between 2600 and 2800 cal / day right now and I still feel like I am making a small shift between fat and muscle - things are still tightening up without the scale dropping so I am okay. I really am getting anxious to start dieting (yeah, I am weird and probably going to regret those words) but know I shouldn't start until after the holidays. I need the expert to craft my diet to minimize my muscle lost during the dieting down process. Based on history, I can drop weight really quickly when I want (in prep for a race) but is all the wrong weight!


Normally, I would take a rest week this week but, with a corporate conference (3days) followed immediately by 5 days of partying at Grey cup, I know I will miss some workouts during the week of Nov 19th. As such, I am pushing through until then. I will need to be very careful in these next few weeks as I can feel that I am flirting with that fine line between productive training and injury/compromised immunity. I ended up taking today off (s/b legs) because I was just so tired. I am not often tired enough to skip a workout - so I listened when my body said 'no'.

Here are the details from yesterday's workout (back / arms - done before I really thought about my program, so not much true direction to the workout ):

WG Lat pull downs
8@120, 10@110, 10@110

BO Rows - using preloaded EZ curl bar
3x10@80

Push downs - single pulley
10@40, 10@40, 8@50

Assisted pull ups - counter weight shown - didn't do them unassisted as I was setting in with some guy and I lost my nerve - still showed him up as he was only doing half my reps at the same counter weight
10@16.5, 8@16.5, 7@16.5

T-Bar row - I love this exercise
10@55, 10@45, 10@45

set - BB curl + dips (between two benches)
10@50 +15, 8@50+15, 8@50+10

Cable face pulls
10@80, 15@70, 15@70

Have a great night!

CC

[DieselsMom]

Sounds like you got a great plan. God I wish I was eating that amount of calories and staying stable...my dream come true obviously not working hard enough LOL.

Grey Cup, can't wait but honestly if the Riders don't win on Sunday won't be nearly as much fun to watch the race to the cup.

[marathonmom262]

Congrats on wrapping up a cycle and seeing so much success! I think it's great to keep on the path that has been working so well for you - excited to see how you feel about it at the end of the year.

Definitely always a good thing to listen to the bod when it says NO!

And ditto on DM's note about calorie intake. That's about 1000 more than I'm taking in a day - I wish I was working hard enough to be able to eat that much!! You rock!

[jjeane]

CC I admire your dedication. You are so on top of this. I think you are going to blow the competition out of the water next year.

[Luvdogs]

Awesome training! Love the 120# lat p/d.

[Cardioconvert]

Sounds like you got a great plan. God I wish I was eating that amount of calories and staying stable...my dream come true obviously not working hard enough LOL.

Grey Cup, can't wait but honestly if the Riders don't win on Sunday won't be nearly as much fun to watch the race to the cup.

Thanks DM - we are now officially Eskimo fans

Congrats on wrapping up a cycle and seeing so much success! I think it's great to keep on the path that has been working so well for you - excited to see how you feel about it at the end of the year.

Definitely always a good thing to listen to the bod when it says NO!

And ditto on DM's note about calorie intake. That's about 1000 more than I'm taking in a day - I wish I was working hard enough to be able to eat that much!! You rock!

I try to listen to the 'ol body - just need to get my brain to accept that my body has limitations

CC I admire your dedication. You are so on top of this. I think you are going to blow the competition out of the water next year.

I don't have any illusions of grandeur - I want to prove to myself I can get to that date in the best shape possible for me. Years of running has taught me to appreciate the journey - I can't tell you how many times I have lectured myself as follows: "your time is okay compared to other runners - but way better than anyone who couldn't even get off their couch". It is hard when you talk a lot with other runners / exercise enthusiasts and are tempted to always be comparing results / times. We all need to remember that we don't represent a big segment of society - as such, even our worst performances should be celebrated. Just my take.

Awesome training! Love the 120# lat p/d.

Thanks kiddo - felt good and strong - me like

[Cardioconvert]

Okay - catch up time. Logged two workouts this week - not as per the newly tweaked schedule, but I am happy w/ both. I already logged Monday's w/out above.

I tweaked the beginning of this week's workouts slightly due to some need for a bit of rest. I am now developing a cold sore - my body's #1 way of telling me that I am flirting w/ overtraining. In fact, it made me think of something. I do not believe (but would have to dig up pictures) that I have ever run a race w/out a cold sore. This isn't good. Now I am freaking out about the possibility of having a cold sore for my show(s). Oh well, cross that bridge when / if. Better get a big supply of Abreva!

Wednesday - More Back and a bit of tris

Horizontal bar pull downs
10@110, 10@110, 9@110

Assisted Pull ups - counter weight shown
8@16.5, 5@16.5

BO Rows - using preloaded EZ curl
3x10@80

Shrugs at Smith (weight shown is weight added per side)
10@55, 10@60

Cable face pulls
10@80, 10@80

Push downs - single pulley station
10@50, 10@50, 8@50

Skulls + CG Press (no rest between)
10,10@40, 10,10@40

Will hit the gym later today for a nice heavy leg day.

CC

[marathonmom262]

I don't have any illusions of grandeur - I want to prove to myself I can get to that date in the best shape possible for me. Years of running has taught me to appreciate the journey - I can't tell you how many times I have lectured myself as follows: "your time is okay compared to other runners - but way better than anyone who couldn't even get off their couch". It is hard when you talk a lot with other runners / exercise enthusiasts and are tempted to always be comparing results / times. We all need to remember that we don't represent a big segment of society - as such, even our worst performances should be celebrated. Just my take.

And this is one of the many reasons why I enjoy reading your journal so much. You give me a lot of food for thought and just plain good reminders, and often exactly at a time when I need them

[gobbles23]

Oy! I get cold sores when I'm really run down- immune system's way of telling you it's not happy!

Seems everyone is in need of a little more rest this week!

Hope you have a good leg day!

[swooshie]

Sounds like you've got a solid plan, CC! You look so awesome .... you're just going to rock your show! I'm excited to follow along

[Cardioconvert]

Thanks everyone - I just realized that I didn't thank jjeane for her confidence in me and just went straight into my philosophical rambling - your support means a lot jjeane - I am sorry for not acknowleding it!

CC

[Cardioconvert]

And this is one of the many reasons why I enjoy reading your journal so much. You give me a lot of food for thought and just plain good reminders, and often exactly at a time when I need them

Thanks MM - something tells me that you and I would be friends 'IRL' if we lived closer

Oy! I get cold sores when I'm really run down- immune system's way of telling you it's not happy!

Seems everyone is in need of a little more rest this week!

Hope you have a good leg day!

Thanks Lori - now I have a second one developing - this is really gross. So need some extra zzzz's this weekend!

Sounds like you've got a solid plan, CC! You look so awesome .... you're just going to rock your show! I'm excited to follow along

Thanks Swooshie!

[Cardioconvert]

Okay - need to log yesterday and today's workout. Seems I really do need some extra rest as I slept right thru my alarm this morning - awoke w/ a start at about 6am (1 hour late if I were to go to the gym). I panicked a bit as I had a meeting w/ our CEO this morning at 9am - of all days to sleep in!

Anyway, here is last night's workout (Legs). I'll update the other one in a separate post - don't want to tempt fate - seems I lose big posts

Smith Squats - weight show is weight added per side
10@45, 10@55, 10@65, 6@70

Bulgarian Split Squats (still @ Smith, weight shown is weight added per side)
10@20, 10@20, 10@22.5 (PR)

Hamstring Curls
10@85, 10@85, 10@80

Standing Calf Raises
20@190, 18@190, 15@190

Cybex Glute machine
3x15@100

Single Leg extensions
3x10@30

CC

[Cardioconvert]

And today's shoulder workout (done at lunch at work gym as I slept in as per above):

DB OH Press
10@35, 10@30, 10@30

Shrugs w/ DB
3x15@50

Lateral Raises
3x10@17.5

Front raises (holding single DB)
3x10@25

BO Lateral Raises
3x10@15

Shoulder press part of gym equipment
10@5*, 10@5*

*Not sure what this really means - I would think it could be translated to 1=10lb, 2=20lb, etc. but don't know for certain = will just log it using '1','2', etc. so I can compare week over week

CC

[marathonmom262]

Yay on leg and shoulder workouts!

I love the split squats on the Smith - it really is the only time I can do anything single leg without my knees totally crunching.

I don't know how some of you girls can get up there with the DB OHP. Even before my recent time off I really struggled with 20lb DBs for reps over 5 when doing them at the same time (I can do 20s if I do one at a time, but not together). Good work lady! Have a great weekend

[jjeane]

Front raises at 25, that burns just thinking about them.
I really meant that I think you will shine no matter what CC. I am so grateful to you for welcoming me here. You have a this confidence and drive that I admire.

[DieselsMom]

Another couple of good workouts in - impressive squats +140. I need to try some split squats one of these days when I train legs at home and I am making it up as I go.

sorry to hear about the cold sores but listen to your body maybe you should have taken your week off?

[Cardioconvert]

Yay on leg and shoulder workouts!

I love the split squats on the Smith - it really is the only time I can do anything single leg without my knees totally crunching.

I don't know how some of you girls can get up there with the DB OHP. Even before my recent time off I really struggled with 20lb DBs for reps over 5 when doing them at the same time (I can do 20s if I do one at a time, but not together). Good work lady! Have a great weekend

Thanks MM - I hear you about crunchy knees! I wear headphones when lifting, but I am very glad for them on leg day - I don't like the noises that accompany my workout I've actually had guys stop me and ask me about the various and sundry noises.....

Keep it up on OH press - I had hit a plateau in the past at 20 and it took a couple of months but one day, with the help of a good spotter, got to the 40s. I don't do that weight now unless he is around. A good spotter is hard to find.

Front raises at 25, that burns just thinking about them.
I really meant that I think you will shine no matter what CC. I am so grateful to you for welcoming me here. You have a this confidence and drive that I admire.

Thanks jjeane - if I could encourage just one person, that would be a big accomplishment

Another couple of good workouts in - impressive squats +140. I need to try some split squats one of these days when I train legs at home and I am making it up as I go.

sorry to hear about the cold sores but listen to your body maybe you should have taken your week off?

Totally should have - just can't justify it when I'll take most of the week after next off. I got to sleep into 8am this morning and feel a bit better. Got some Coldsore FX - let's see how it works (Abreva doesn't seem to work for me unless I put it on just as I get that stupid 'tingle')

CC

[Cardioconvert]

Just a drive by log-in - will catch up on other journals tomorrow

Today's arm + bit of glute w/out:

BB Curls - using preloaded EZ curl bar
10@50, 8@60, 8@60, 10@50

Skulls + CG press - no rest, same reps, same weight
10,10@40, 10,10@40, 10,10@40

DB Curls
10@25, 10@25, 8@25

Push downs - @ single pulley station
3x10@50

BB 21s - using preloaded EZ Curl bar
21@40, 21@40 - bis really fatigued by this point, skipped last set

Dips - b/w two benches
3x15

kneeling Glute cable kick backs
3x15@50

My fav little combo for abs - 21 cable crunch + slow leg lowers off bench
2 set@ 120 for crunches (7 crunch, 7 side, 7 side) + 10 leg lowers

That's all!

Have a great weekend everyone!

CC