Beating the Boredom Back to School Workout

Every once in awhile I realize that I have neglected the "Strong" portion of the blog. Fear not, it is still happening!

Yes, this is me (okay, its not).

The start of school, and for me, work, means that my workout routine needs to drastically change. If I learned one thing from student teaching earlier this year, it is that, when I am stressed out, I don't work out. I know, working out should be a stress reliever, but if it is piled on too high, I lose motivation. So I have been working out in the morning. I don't know about you, but here, school starts pretty early, and honestly, I'm lucky that I can get up at 5 and have time to work out, shower, and be at school on time.

Additionally, I've been working out in our building's basement gym. I love it because there is rarely anyone there (regardless of the time of day), so I can walk around and sing to my iPod like an idiot. I don't like it, because I am dealing with limited resources. I pretty much have dumbbells, a bench, and a few machines.

Yes, this is from my building's website

Plus, I do really only have half an hour. If you are short on time, or just want a quick workout, this is the way to go.

Su: 1 hr cardio

M: leg workout

T: 30 min cardio

W: chest workout

Th: 30 min cardio

F: back workout

Sa: 1 hr cardio

Simple. And versatile. I pick 5 workouts that work a range of muscles in the targeted area for the day, and do it for 5 reps, circuit style, for 5 sets.

Confusing? It's not, I swear. Here's an example for today, which was the back workout:

5 reps of Dumbbell Rows

5 reps of Dumbbell Curls

5 reps of Rear Lat Raises

5 reps of Seated Cable Row

5 reps of Hyperextensions

Do all of these in a fairly quick succession, and repeat 4 more times.

You don't have to do these exercises. You just want to be sure that you are hitting all the muscles, which to me are the upper back, lower back, and rear shoulders. If you are unsure of what exercises correspond with which muscles, this is a really great website that I have been using for years.

For chest day this week I did:

5 reps of Dumbbell Chest Press

5 reps of Front Raises

5 reps of Dumbbell Kickbacks

5 reps of Pushups

5 reps of Dips

*I also did 20 situps between each circuit*

I like working out like this because it goes by VERY quickly, and you work up a sweat if you keep it moving. You'll also notice that instead of dedicating a day to arms and/or shoulders, I add triceps in with chest day, and biceps in with back day. I do shoulders every time I lift.

Leg days usually look something like this:

5 reps of Dumbbell Squats

5 reps of Straight Leg Deadlifts

5 reps of Calf Raises

5 reps of Leg Extensions

5 reps of Shoulder Presses

I never do the same workout twice, I am always changing up what I do, using variations on exercises from books, online, magazines, etc. Its important to change things up because it keeps your muscles guessing, and it beats gym boredom. I always joke that I have gym ADD, but I really am way more likely to work out if I know it isn't going to be plodding through the same old routine.

Another way to beat boredom? Plug in the iPod! Some of my favorites on my current "Gym" playlist:

Here in Your Bedroom - Goldfinger

Take Me Out - Franz Ferdinand

Redeeming a Monster - Broadway

Scattered - Green Day

I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor - Arctic Monkeys

Let's Dance to Joy Division - The Wombats*

The Magnificent Seven - The Clash

*I have suggested this song before. That is because it is REALLY good, and fun, and there is almost never an inappropriate time to listen to it.

After my cardio tomorrow, we will be heading to the beach with a bunch of friends and family.

Sadly, not this beach, this picture is from when we were in Hawaii. But we do have a busy weekend planned at a beach, and it is supposed to be a perfect weekend. Hopefully you all have the weekend off and will be able to get outside, feel healthy, and enjoy the beautiful weather!

Vegan Challenge: The Workout

On Wednesday I talked about my husband's foray into veganism for the next 30 days.  So here is the second half of his vegan challenge.  Not only eating vegan, but lifting and maintaining an active lifestyle as a vegan. 

When my husband and I were living in Hawaii together, we went to the gym together.  A lot.  I was really stressed out during my last student teaching experience, so I cut out the lifting and stuck mainly to yoga.   

Last night was my first night back to some serious lifting, and while it went well, I definitely am noticing that yoga did much more for my upper body than my lower body.  My arms, back, and chest are still fairly strong, but my legs were getting spasmatic after two sets of deadlifts.  

My husband however, was lifting more than ever while he was in Iraq, so I let him choose this workout plan.  I don't necessarily love it, but I definitely missed lifting, so its good to be back at it.  Plus, I get to pick the next program...heheh.  It will probably be something equally as complicated as the 5-7-9 program I made awhile back.  

Since his is simple, it should be much easier to follow.  The idea was to do the exact same workout three times a week.  Well, I got him to change that at least a little bit.  There are going to be two rotating workouts, and while the big lifts will change a little, the smaller lifts will be staying the same:

Workout 1:  

Deadlift 5x5

Barbell Bench Press 5x5

Dumbbell Military Press 5x5

----------

Pullups 4x8

Dips 4x8

Barbell Curls 4x8

Workout 2:

Back Squats 5x5

Dumbbell Bench Press 5x5

Barbell Seated Shoulder Press 5x5

----------

Pullups 4x8

Dips 4x8

Crunches 4x8

If you knew my workouts well, you would see my obvious influence on this program.  Since you don't, I will tell you.  First, I refuse to do anything more than 8 reps, I get incredibly bored and antsy.  Second, the way it is split into two parts, with the bigger lifts first, and the smaller lifts second...very "me".  As is the way there are fewer, but longer, sets for the second half.  What can I say, he asked my opinion.  

Post workout last night was dinner.  I let him pick something out of The Vegan Table, and he chose the Pan-Grilled Portobello Mushrooms with Herb Infused Marinade.  What a mouthful.  These were possibly some of the best portobello mushrooms I've ever had.  I know it seems so simple, and to a degree it is, but the marinade was totally delicious, and the way they were cooked made it really soak in and just taste awesome.  

We had the mushrooms with roasted asparagus and mashed cauliflower (hummus is a good addition to this, if you were wondering).  

You'll have to excuse the lighting in our apartment for awhile.  I still need to play with it to find the best place, but I didn't want my food to get cold!   

He's got what I think will be some of his biggest challenges coming up this weekend.  Tomorrow we are having a BBQ at my aunt's house with some family that is in from Italy.  He'll have food to eat, no doubt, but I think it'll be hard for him to watch everyone else eating meat.  On Sunday we're going to visit his family.  It should be fine, they're really open to my being vegan, but I still think its going to be a challenge for him...but that was what he wanted, right??

Spring?

My body decided that it was spring this week, and I started running again in full force.  I'm still kind of slow, and the first week of running after not having gone for awhile can feel like this:  

But hopefully soon, I will be as fast as him:  

Haha, seriously though, I can already tell I'll get it back pretty quick this year.

At the very least, maybe I'll be running like this:  

  

Speaking of working out, its been awhile since I updated on my workout.  First, I hated the workout I knew I was going to hate.  Then I said I was going to do a 5x5, and I got frustrated with that because of the people at my gym.  There are a couple of power lifters there, who happen to be there at the same time that I am there, right after school, and I get dirty looks, really dirty looks, if I am "taking up" "their" equipment.  If you are thinking "well screw them", so did I, at first.  Then I realized that it was making me really angry, and was making me not want to go to the gym, so I did two things.  First, a big step for me, I cut back to only lifting twice a week.  Second, I made up a program using equipment that isn't as popular or there are a lot of, and exercises using only your body, .  

Day 1:  Chest and Legs

Part 1

Superset

Leg Press 

1x10

1x8      

1x6      

1x4

Dips

1x4     

1x6

1x8

1x10

Superset

Bulgarian Squats 

1x4

1x6

1x8

1x10

Barbell Chest Press

1x10

1x8

1x6

1x4

*Part 1 supersets alternate number of reps each week.  So, next week, I will start with a set of 4 for the leg press, and 10 for dips.

Part 2

Superset

Pushups

1x10

1x8

1x6

1x8

1x6

Hamstring Raises

1x10

1x8

1x6

1x8

1x10

Jacknives

1x10

1x8

1x6

1x8

1x10

Part 3

Tricep Rope Extensions

3x10

Day 2:  Back and Shoulders

Part 1

Superset

Deadlifts

1x4

1x6

1x8

1x10

Lateral Raises

1x10

1x8

1x6

1x4

Superset

Cable Rows

1x10

1x8

1x6

1x4

Dumbbell Shoulder Press 

1x4

1x6

1x8

1x10

*Part 1 supersets alternate number of reps each week.  So, next week, I will start with a set of 4 for the leg press, and 10 for dips.

Part 2

Superset

Weighted Hyperextensions

1x10

1x8

1x6

1x8

1x10

Upright Rows

1x10

1x8

1x6

1x8

1x10

Roman Chair Leg Raises

1x10

1x8

1x6

1x8

1x10

Part 3

Bicep Curls 

3x10 

               

Geez, can you tell I just wrote a lesson plan?  I set them up the exact same way, Part 1, Part 2, etc.  

Anyway, altogether, my workouts for the week have been going like this:  

Sunday - Yoga

Monday - OFF

Tuesday - Lifting: Day 1

Wednesday - Run

Thursday - Yoga & Run

Friday - Lifting:  Day 2

Saturday - Run & Yoga

This has been going really well so far.  I like the lifting workouts because the supersets make it go quickly so that my heart rate stays up and I get a little sweaty, especially Part 3.  Part 4 is mainly just a finisher, my arms are worked pretty well by that point.  I'm so glad to be actually running again too.  I've been doing just over 10 miles a week.  My goal is still to do a 10K run.  I mean, I can already run a 10K, I just want to participate in one...I haven't gotten a new race t-shirt in awhile!  

Enjoy the week everyone!  If you're a runner, or any kind of fitness enthusiast, or would like to be either, I'm leaving you with a few quotes to get you all excited for outdoor exercise in nice weather.  Get out there and get moving!  Its good for your mind, its good for your body, and anything that you can do is the best thing you can do for yourself:  

"Running is a big question mark that's there each 

and every day. It asks you, 'Are you going to be a 

wimp or are you going to be strong today?'" 

- Peter Maher

"Ask yourself: 'Can I give more?'. 

The answer is usually: 'Yes'."

-Paul Tergat

"The miracle isn't that I finished. 

The miracle is that I had the courage to start." 

-John Bingham

 

I Hate This Workout

This is about how I feel right now.  I felt like I was in High School all over again getting up this morning.  I guess that could be because I spent the day at a High School, and will be for the next seven weeks.  I'm almost already looking forward to Middle School starting an hour later.  

If you haven't been reading my blog, this might not make sense, so to catch everyone up to speed I started student teaching today.  I live an hour away, and I have to be at the school by 6:40.  You do the math.  It is early...especially to someone for whom 8AM has been early for the past 3 years.  Oh, and if you can't do the math, or are too lazy to, or just don't care, I was up at 4:30.  I got there early today, but I think I can sleep a little later tomorrow...maybe even 4:45!  

Anyway, what I am currently grappling with is that, the timing of starting this new "job" (in quotes because it feels like a job, but you usually get paid for jobs) has coincided with starting a new workout plan.  I've been talking a lot about yoga lately, and I've been noticing that while I am really strong, my muscles get tired pretty fast.  So this next workout plan is going to be geared more towards muscle endurance than pure strength (meaning, higher reps).  Also, I need to work on my cardiovascular endurance as well.  All kind of endurance.  Well, guess what?  I hate endurance.  I get bored after 8 reps, and I rarely run for more than 20 minutes because I think its boring.  I'm not about to put myself through THAT much unhappiness...after all, if I am going to be this tired after school every day, I am going to need something to will myself to get to the gym, so I'm doing a throwback to the first workout from New Rules of Lifting for Women (which I don't like, by the way, but if you want to talk about that, leave a comment or email me).  

I'm going to follow the general format of the first workout of this program, because it was the only part I liked.  It starts with low sets - high reps, and slowly increases in sets and decreases in reps.  I am going to rotate two different groups of exercises, workout A, and workout B, and will do each 8 times, putting me at the 6 week mark again.  

Workout A:  Squats, superset Bulgarian Squats and Barbell Chest Press, superset PushUps and Hamstring Curls.

Workout B:  Deadlifts, superset Dumbbell Shoulder Press and Assisted Pullups, superset Dumbbell Rows and Rear Delt Row.

If you don't know what a superset is, it means that I will go through the workout like this:  

Squats (complete all sets)

Bulgarian Squats

Barbell Chest Press

Bulgarian Squats

Barbell Chest Press (continue that until all sets are completed)

Dumbbell Rows

Rear Delt Rows

Dumbbell Rows

Rear Delt Rows  (continue that until all sets are completed)

I hope that makes sense.  If it doesn't, and you care, feel free to ask questions.  If you don't care, I'm sticking my tongue out at you right now.  If you already knew...well you probably skipped that anyway.  

The reps and sets are going to go like this:  

Session 1:  2 sets of 15 reps

Session 2:  2 sets of 12 reps

Session 3:  3 sets of 10 reps

Session 4:  3 sets of 8 reps

Session 5:  4 sets of 8 reps

Session 6:  4 sets of 6 reps

Session 7:  5 sets of 6 reps

Session 8:  5 sets of 5 reps

So I will be doing both Workout A and Workout B once for each Session...not on the same days, I'm not sure if that is obvious or not.  So this week, I will do Workout A, Session 1 today, Workout B Session 1 tomorrow, and Workout A Session 2 on Friday, and progress like that.  By the way, if anyone knows how to import spreadsheets into blogger, that would make this all a lot more readable.  

On a weekly basis, the plan is this:  

Monday - off, unless class is cancelled, in which case I will go to yoga

Tuesday - lifting, cardio 20 minutes

Wednesday - lifting, run 20 minutes

Thursday - run 20 minutes, yoga

Friday - lifting, cardio 20 minutes

Saturday - run 20 minutes, yoga

Sunday - yoga?  run?  altogether undecided on this day.  I would hate to have two days off in a row, because I feel like that is enough time to make me feel lazy, but it kind of just works out that way right now.  For now I will probably do yoga, but once the weather is nicer, I will probably run outside.

The workout plan that I just finished is here...in a considerably cuter post because I was considerably less tired.    

Also, the order I have things listed above, is the order I do them in.  Always lifting before running, because lifting is more important to me.  I'd rather keep my strength for lifting then wear myself out running beforehand.  I like to do any kind of cardio before yoga, because yoga gets me all relaxed, and I would hate to harsh my mellow by getting all amped up again afterwards.  

I'm never sure if anyone cares about these posts, but they're important to me for two reasons.  First, if I didn't do this today, I probably would have put off another day of lifting trying to think of the *perfect program*.  Obviously nothing is perfect, so its more productive to just keep moving forward.  Second, I think that most people get the impression that vegans aren't strong...and while there are plenty of examples proving that this is not true, I feel like my personal example of how you can eat good vegan food, workout hard, build muscle, and be healthy, is important to me.  And....its my blog after all, right?  

Anyway, although this isn't my ideal workout (that is coming next), I'm going to try really hard to stick to the running, or at least cardio.  I know 20 minutes is nothing, but I'm trying to do less, more consistently, rather than more, less often.

Don't forget, only two more days to sign up for the Juicer Giveaway!   

Where's My Rainbow?

A word of warning, my internet is sucking, so I apologize in advance for the brief post, and possible lack of posting this week.  My dad seems to think there is some sort of virus on the computer that is hosting the network so, we'll see what happens.  

Yes, I am stealing my neighbor's internet right now (shhh, don't tell them).  

Anyway, today is about breakfast.  I happen to love breakfast.  In high school, I often skipped it or had something lame like a Nutri-Grain bar, but now  I would never ever miss it.  In fact, I usually love what I make for breakfast so much that I will make the exact same thing for days, or even weeks.  You may remember my Cranberry Quinoa...from a month ago.  I've had that at least 5 days a week since I made that post.  

Anyway, I decided I was in the mood for something new.  Sort of.  I still had the quinoa, and I still had the tempeh, but instead it was a Apple Pie Quinoa and Tempeh Bacon Hash.  

  

Both were super yummy.  I made it again today, but sadly, I also ran out of my flax tempeh today, which...I have been spoiled with and don't really like normal tempeh now *sigh*.  

The Apple Pie Quinoa is 1/4 cup of apple juice or apple cider, 2/3 cup cooked quinoa, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg.  Bring the apple juice/cider to a boil, add the apples, sautee until soft, then add the spices and the quinoa, which will soak up the rest of the juice.  

Nutrition Information:  230.6 Calories;  3.0g Total Fat;  0.1g Saturated Fat;  0.0mg Cholesterol;  47.5g Carbohydrates;  6.7g Fiber;  5.5g Protein

I never get tempeh bacon right, but I was craving the flavor, so I just crumbled it up hash-style, and made it like that.  I let it marinate while the apples were cooking in 1-2 tbsp water, 1 tsp ketchup, a few shakes of liquid smoke (1/4 tsp maybe), 1.5 tsp Bragg's (or soy sauce if you like), 1 tsp agave nectar.  Then just sautee it in a pan until it is cooked through.   

Nutrition Information:  131.0 Calories;  6.2g Total Fat;  1.3g Saturated Fat;  o.omg Cholesterol;  11.0g Carbohydrates;  10.0g Fiber;  10.6g Protein 

Now, I probably won't be making this exact breakfast again, because as the title of the post suggests...it wasn't exactly colorful.  I had to get my rainbow from the plate!  But it was totally yummy, and both pieces were definitely worth having again...just maybe with either a colorful addition or with a different meal companion.

Just for fun, the nutrition information for the entire meal is:  

Nutrition Information:  354.9 Calories;  9.2g Total Fat;  1.3g Saturated Fat;  0.0mg Cholesterol;  56.8g Carbohydrates;  16.8g Fiber;  16.2g Protein

  

By the way, I realize that no vegan meals have cholesterol...I just really like putting 0.0mg Cholesterol, it makes me happy!

I also wanted to post a short workout update.  I still have 2 more weeks of the program that I am doing, and I have a plan for what I will be doing next, but I am so excited that I don't have classes most nights anymore because now I can go to yoga more than once a week!  I still have class on Monday's, which is a yoga night at my gym, but supposedly it won't meet every week.  I can tell that I have been getting better at it, but I feel like I won't REALLY get any better if I am only going once a week.  Plus, I love it.  I have my strengths and weaknesses, I am pretty flexible, I have good balance, but my hips are incredibly tight.  Like, my basic pigeon needs some serious help, but then I can balance with a half lotus, wrap my arm around my back and grab my toe.  

I also think I'm going to start doing a raw day once a week.  I returned something and got Ani's Raw Food Kitchen, but was almost going to exchange it again, but those raw desserts totally lured me in.  I think some of the stuff you can do with raw food is just so...cool.  So I want to make some of it!  

Also, I want to give a little shout out to my bestest friend, Jackie, who just told me she is thinking of being vegetarian (and at the very least, eating better and expanding her diet), and I thought maybe you all could post some words of encouragement for her!

I hope that all of you out there in the blogosphere/internetland had a great weekend!  

5-7-9 Workout

I'm feeling a little blah.  Mostly because I was SUPER pumped for my workout tomorrow, and now it is going to snow and I doubt I will be able to go.  For some reason, the town my gym is in is turning off the water at 9AM, so they are only open until then.  Sounds like schools will even be closed, so I doubt I'll be able to go.  This is extremely irritating to me.  I'm considering getting a guest pass to a gym in another town for the day.    

Anyway, I thought I would take this time to talk about my current workout a little.  I know the half of my blog title is "Strong", and I haven't really talked about that a lot yet, besides some running which...is not the foundation of my workout at all.  

I have what I affectionately refer to as gym ADD.  If I do a program for more than a few weeks I get bored, and if I am doing a program with too many reps, I just completely lose motivation.  As a result, the workout I have currently made up is far more complicated than any gym routine needs to be.  But seriously, I live for this shit.  Yeah, I like to cook and all, its great, but THIS is what I really know.  Currently, I am doing a body part split.  Typically I am a huge proponent of full body workouts, but I figured I'd do something different, and I haven't done a body part split in over a two years.  

Here is the idea behind it.  I split all my workouts into two parts.  3 "main" lifts, and 4 "auxiliary" lifts.  This makes more sense in a full body routine, but its still useful here too.  I am focusing on a fairly low rep range, but rotating it from day to day.  

Monday - Back

Deadlift

Lateral Pulldowns

Barbell Rows

----------------------

Hyperextensions*

Dumbbell Shoulder Press*

Pullups

Cable Bicep Curls

Wednesday - Chest

Incline Dumbbell Bench Press

Decline Bench Chest Flys*

Push Ups*

----------------------

Dips

Straightbar Pressdown

Upright Row*

Lateral Raises*

Friday - Legs

Back Squats

Straight Leg Deadlift

Walking Lunges

-----------------------

Leg Press

Stability Ball Hamstring Extension

Bulgarian Squats*

Rear Lat Raise*

The reps go something like this.  Every exercise is done for three sets.  The reps are:  5/9, 7/7, 9/5.  Like I said, unnecessarily complicated, to keep in engaged.  

Week 1: 

Monday:  first three exercises for 3 sets of 5, last four exercises for 3 sets of 9.  

Wednesday: all exercises for 3 sets of 7.  

Friday:  3 sets of 9 for the first three exercises, 3 sets of 5 for the last 4.  

Week 2 rotates:

Monday:  3 sets of 9 for the first 3 exercises, 3 sets of 5 for the last 4.  

Wednesday:  first three exercises for 3 sets of 5, last four exercises for 3 sets of 9.

Friday:  all exercises for 3 sets of 7.  

Week 3:

Monday:  all exercises for 3 sets of 7.  

Wednesday:  3 sets of 9 for the first three exercises, 3 sets of 5 for the last 4.

Friday:  3 sets of 5 for the first three exercises, 3 sets of 9 for the last 4.  

Repeat.  I'll do this twice, I try not to do the same thing for more than 6 weeks, although I have a feeling I'm going to have a hard time prying myself away from this one, I really like it so far.   

I set up a matrix for the six weeks that I am doing it so that I don't get confused:

5  7  9

9  5  7

7  9  5

5  7  9

9  5  7

7  9  5

The reason I'm not just doing sets of 5, 7, and 9 on rotating days, is because...well I don't want to.  Plus, it kind of even outs the time commitment for each day.  

At the end of this program (I am in the middle of week 3 right now) I'll post the weights that I'm at.  

In case you are wondering what I do for cardio, its not much.  Right now I am trying to put on more muscle, so I'm not trying to lose weight.  Currently I am running twice a week, doing yoga once a week, and biking once a week.  Come spring I'll be more focused on taking off the maintenance weight, and I'll be running most days of the week.  I'm planning on doing a 10K (I need a goal to convince me to run). 

No Cooking Song today, I honestly didn't cook anything but some breakfast, but I thought I would post my top ten workout songs.  

Dr. Yang - Ben Folds

I Bet You Look Good On The Dance Floor - Arctic Monkeys

Have You Ever - The Offspring

Ever So Slightly - The Title

Woman - Wolfmother

Stop! - Against Me!

A Certain Shade of Green - Incubus

Here In Your Bedroom - Goldfinger

The Magnificent Seven - The Clash

We've Got The Beat - The Go Go's        

So...everyone go out there and get their workout on!  And if anyone ever wants to chat about working out, don't hesitate to email me, IM me, etc.  

Have a great day tomorrow, I hope you're not snowed in!