gymgirl's workout journal

[tim_mcf]

tim was right, she thinks the front squats probably aggrivated things.

I'm afraid I may have done something similar to myself with my last bout of front squats - the knees have hurt ever since.

[gymgirl]

Originally Posted by tim_mcf

I'm afraid I may have done something similar to myself with my last bout of front squats - the knees have hurt ever since.

oh no! is it your outer knee? around your IT band? i'll have to go back and re-read your journal and see when you did this. mine have been sore now for 1 week and 4 days. hope yours are feeling better soon. BTW ice and heat did nothing for me...

[tim_mcf]

I don't really know the anatomy, but it feels like it's on top of (kind of above) my kneecaps.

[no-frills]

Tim / Gymgirl.... we're quite the "lot" right now. seems like we are all mending some part on our body. guess this is part of the process.... at least we're trying... ha, ha, ha.

[minime]

hey gymgirl - sorry to hear about your dad, hope he gets well soon.

don't worry about your strength loss - after my holiday (ten days with no gym!) i felt weak as a baby in the gym, everything seems so much harder and your limbs feel so heavy. But u will be back on form soon enough!

And the injuries - yes, it DOES seem like we are all mending some part of our bodies! It would make u wonder, are we being punished for trying to get into the best shape we can?! doesnt seem fair does it!

once u return to your normal kick-ass workouts, your appetite will return too. You'll be back up to doing weighted pullups, HSPUs and 2000cals soon enough.

you will be strong agin!

*now start chanting*

[CF-OC_gal]

Hi there gymgirl.

You know it is harder to take time off and come back on a regular basis than it is to keep going day after day.

Injuries suck but I do believe they are a blessing in disguise.

Hang in there

[gymgirl]

thanks brat. these injuries are starting to get me down.

yeah no frills and minime, what is up with all of us dealing with some sort of injury? i saw jdr mentioned something about shoulder trouble. i'll have to re-read his journal and see what happened. what a bummer.

tim, that is where some of my pain is too. it started on the outside of the top of my knee, then moved to right on top of my knee above my knee cap/lower thigh then towards the inside of my knee. so weird. hope your knee is feeling better, looks like you were able to run today so you must be feeling better.

friday, september 8, 2006

decided to go to the gym but didn't have a good workout at all

got on the eliptical for some cardio and two minutes into it i had a lot of pain behind my knee (which apprenetly was inflamed and tight yesterday when i sawmy PT) i had to stop and i could barley walk. i laid down and foam rolled my leg/hip and the pain was gone. so weird. just shows how connected everything is. i was really bummed i couldn't do cardio it has been 9 days nowand i amgoing crazy. i feel like my booty is down to my ankles. grrrrr

did some stretching and PT exercises

shoulders:

light day today, still trying to get back in the groove and the weights were so heavy!

front and side raises: 10lbs 1x10, 12.5lbs 2x10
arnolds: 12.5lbs 1x15 15lbs 2x12

upright rows: 30lbs 3x10
overhead press with curl bar: 30lbs 3x10

that was it for today. if my knee dosn't get better soon and i can't get somecardio in, even the damn eliptical i am going to go mad.

food:

carbs: 231g 51%
protein: 132g 33%
fat: 30g 17%

total cals: 1672

had my cheat day too, some light ravioli. yum yum.

why can't we just tell our injuries to go away? i am so motivated and feel helpless when i can't workout properly.

[tim_mcf]

How about swimming? You can get a really intense workout in a pool, especially if you know how to butterfly.

[gymgirl]

oh i never thought about that. great idea. i need to find out where there is a pool near by. thanks for the idea. i may also try the bike tomrrow if the eliptical is still hurting me.

If you can walk, then on the treadmill at a walking speed, do a heavyhands workout using 2 or 3 lb. dumbells in each hand. It will really humble you and tax your cardiovascular system in a different way.

Heavyhands was created by Dr. Leonard Schwartz.

I haven't done this workout in a while but it is great. I use 5 lb. dumbells in each hand and have a 7-minute medley during which I change my hand motions every minute so a 7-movement medley takes 7 minutes. I go for a 30 minute workout but have gone as high as 50 minutes. As a beginner, 15 minutes may be enough.

Here is my medley:

minute #1 = hands pumping like you would walk or run, sort of like a half-curl with one arm while the other arm says back, alternating back and forth.

minute #2 = side lat raises

minute #3 = butterlies

minute #4 = altnernativing punches (be careful with this one)

minute #5 = a slightly forward bend while doing ski poles as if you were doing cross country skiing.

minute #6 = alternating upper cuts slightly crossing your body, and finally the butt-kicker

#7 = double overhead presses (pressing simultaneously).

The higher your hands are above your heart, the tougher the cardio demand so that's why my medley starts low and gradually rises.

This is a tough workout. I need to squeeze it back into my workouts. It gives you a good test of your upper body endurance.

edit: I found this link that does a better job of explaining and illustrating heavyhands than what I did:

http://www.7naturallaws.com/resources/heavyhands.pdf

A 4 movement medley is explained, probably better for a beginner than my 7-movement medley. I prefer the 1 minute duration rather than the number of reps but it's all a matter of personal preference.

[gymgirl]

thanks pierini! i will give that a try when i can walk normally. i still am walking with a noticiable limp. might not work so well with this training. i look forward to trying this soon though. thank you.

saturday 9.9.06

got to the gym and did some stretching/foam rolling

cardio:

got onto the eliptical thinking i was only going to be able to do 2min again and feel pain, but i started off easy and was able to go with 20 min mostly with no pain.

20min- 2.25miles

then i had my trainer

for time:

50 deadlifts (45lbs)
40 sit-ups
30 single arm body rows (15 each side)
20 HSPU (actually did these in a handstand postion against the wall!)
10 weighted pull-ups (20lbs dumbell)

time: 18:25

10 iso db shoulder press(each side): 17.5lbs 1x10 15lbs 4x10
5 db bicep curls: 1x15lbs, 1x17.5lbs, 1x20lbs, 1x22.5lbs,
bb bicep curls: 2x2 at 50lbs
bb shoulder press: 50lbs (this hurt my shoulder so we stopped)
reverse curls: 20lbs 1x5, 30lbs 2x5
skull crushers: 20lbs 1x5, 25lbs 1x5, 30lbs 1x5

i finaly got a decent workout in. those deadlifts were perfect, my booty feels much less saggy now. lol this was a good, getting back into it workout. weirdest thing my knee was weak after cardio and right after deadlifts it started feeling better.

food is good so far today, i'll add in the cals at the end of the day.

edit: adding in food for today. i had a couple of veggie stuffed grape leaves which upped my fat count and i even had a little bit of dessert (strawberry shortcake). i scraped off the whipped cream and just ate the biscut and strawberries. yum yum, still kept my cals pretty low.

carbs: 169g 40%
protein: 100g 28%
fat: 50g 32%

total cals: 1469

also have been trying to get back into doing abs at home again now that i got the ok from my PT. i've been obsessed with my ab-roller for 8 years now. lol i swear it is the one thing that really gets my abs defined.

200 regular crunches
200 crunches to each side
100 crunches with feet up


off to guitar center with the boyfriend. gotta keep him from buying ANOTHER guitar or amp! have a good weekend ya'll!

[tim_mcf]

i still am walking with a noticiable limp.

I didn't realize it was that bad. Bummer.

i started off easy and was able to go with 20 min mostly with no pain.

Masochist.

30 single arm body rows (15 each side)

time: 18:25

That's great work.

weirdest thing my knee was weak after cardio and right after deadlifts it started feeling better.

Funny how that happens.

off to guitar center with the boyfriend. gotta keep him from buying ANOTHER guitar or amp!

LOL. I'm a guitar player, and I sympathize with the guy. You can never have too many guitars, you know (at least, as long as you can still walk in the door of your house - and then there's always storage units).

[minime]

hey gymgirl - way to go on working around your pain! that saturday workout looks like a good one.

yum strawberry shortcake...I too indulged in some dessert this weekend. oh how i love dessert

[gymgirl]

oh boy yesterday was AWFUL. i could not walk. i crawled or hopped around my apartment, and spent all day on the couch. lots of ice, heat and advil oh and hours of E! True hollywood story. i don't understand what is going on. i have ZERO pain just sitting, the only pain i have is when i walk. i can stand on one leg on my injured side with absoulty no pain. the weird part is the pain has moved to the inside of my thigh, and upper knee which according to my PT is still caused by my hips. everything is so tight and inflamed, even behind my knee. this was the first day when i actually felt pain when walking as opposed to just tightness/weakness. i was reading online and the discomfort from walking is supposedly due to the IT band moving and causing some sort of friction. i just don't understand why now the inside of my knee feels the pain, the outside is still very sore/tight. today i am feeling better, not good but better there is still pain when i walk but not excurciating to the point where i fall down.

anyone know about anti-inflammotories? how long until they work? i have been taking 1 advil 3 times a day, i don't know if that is enough.

tim— lol oh no you are a guitar player too huh? how's your wife feel about all the guitars? my boyfriend has an entire room in our apartment which we call his 'studio' and it is full of guitars and amps, he even builds his own guitars. not only does he have that room but they flow out into our living room now too, cases, amps and a few accoustics. it is ridiclous! when we get married he wants to register at guitar center, WTF? i'm still trying to put the kibosh on that one!

hi, minime— strawberry shortcake was delish! that workout was a goodone, boy do miss them. i have my trainer today so we will see what i can do and if i can walk.

i forgot to post my food for sunday:

sunday 9.10.06

rest day

food:

carbs: 138g 32%
protein: 163g 45%
fat: 37g 23%

total cals: 1496

[gymgirl]

monday september 11, 2006

had my trainer today. he was really nice and took this rolling pin and rolled out my leg. apperently there are two muscles that run laterally down the inside of your quad and those two are VERY tight. so tight it hurts to touch. he tried to roll those out a bit which helped.

60 back extentions
50 pull-ups
40 suspended push-ups
30 SLDL 40lbs
20 decline sit-ups with 12lb ball toss
10 side plank holds for 30 sec, each side

then we did these things called double dog walks where he set two bbon the front and middle parts of the squat rack, then you walk and lift your knee up and parallel to the ground as you go over the bar. sort of like how a dog would lift it's leg to pee. ha. did about 100 of those to work my abductors.

decent workout considering i was limping around and didn't want to irritate my knee/leg further. apperently the pain i was feeling yesterday was most likely caused by the tightness of the muscles inmy leg. i guess they can pull your knee inweird directions when they are that tight. i hope this tightness goes away soon.my trainer suggested epson salt baths. has anyone tried this before?

food:

carbs: 208g 45%
protein: 120g 31%
fat: 42g 24%

total cals: 1630