gymgirl's workout journal

Hi gymgirl,

I'm guessing the pains you have experienced from your recent pullup workouts come from the way and speed in which you are performing them, moreso than the volume. You are kiping aren't you? I believe that method is much more ballistic and a more inperfect form that keeps you from performing them with symmetrical muscular balance. It is a great way, however, for an awesome time performance but it comes at a price.

I'm guessing that if you did a 100 rep pullup workout using controlled form that you would not experience the after-workout discomfort you do from doing them kiping style.

Just a thought.

[gymgirl]

I think you maybe onto something pierini. I am kipping, but it is so odd to me that I have never felt that pain before completing 100 pull-ups in 10 min.

The thing that is confusing me is Tuesday I did 120 towel pull-ups (no kipping, strict form, up-down, up down) and my arm hurt BAD. Then yesterday with only 30 pull-ups, done kipping, my arm hurt but not as bad as tuesday...:confused: i forgot to add that the night before "angie" i was arm wresteling my trainers friend, and woke up with a slight pain in my arm...maybe that too had something to do with it too. I'm confused by all this. Hopefully it will go away soon.

[Eric_B]

I would think that towel pull-ups put a lot of stress on your brachialis, as it works your grip and forearms pretty hard. Plus you did 4 times as many!

[Rufiedodg]

Gymgirl,

In a kneeling position, try putting your palms flat on the ground with (ideally) index fingers facing knees. Slowing lean back feeling the stretch along the inside of forearms.

Perform this streatch before and after pull-ups.

I致e tried everything including deep tissue massage. Performing this religiously before and after every upper body day has almost eliminated the pain

Just a suggestion

Dan

[gymgirl]

Originally Posted by sn0boarder

I would think that towel pull-ups put a lot of stress on your brachialis, as it works your grip and forearms pretty hard. Plus you did 4 times as many!

you know i didn't even think of it like that. see my problem is i get in such a zone that i don't usualy feel the pain until afterwards, then i usualy don't know what exactly caused the pain.

dan, thanks for the tips on stretching. i forgot to do it before my workout, but started 1/2 way through and after my workout it hurt so bad to do that stretch. thank you and will continue to work that in, i appreiciate your help.

anyway today's workout felt like a total waste. i get so upset with myself when i am not 100% on at the gym. i don't know what my problem is but it really bums me out. anyway, here's todays:

thrusday, february 8, 2007

had my trainer. we couldn't figure out what to do, as i really felt like i've worked pretty much everything this week.

we decided to try a very scaled down version of Linda. I've never tried her in any form before, and with my arm pain we took it easy.

warm-up:

20#db swing ups: 2x10
turkish get-ups: 25# 5 reps per side

workout:

"Linda" (a.k.a. 3 bars of death)

10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 reps for time of:

150% bodyweight deadlift (sub. 1.10% of bodyweight, 115#)
100% bodyweight bench press (sub. 52% of bodyweight, 55#)
75% bodyweight clean (sub. 40% of bodyweight, 45#)

time: 17:51

I think the deadlift weight was right on, but the bench and clean weight was far too easy for me, as they were unbroken for every set. bench press was like a vacation for me, and cleans are just tiring, but i would like to go heavier and take a bit more time. my stupid brachialis hurt again, i think from the cleans, but like i said before i never know WHAT makes things hurt, as i always feel it after the fact.

tim i can see why this is one of your 2007 goals. im so pissed and motivated at the same time and also want to complete this workout as rx'd. i may have to join you on this journey if you don't mind. even though the weights were light i was still drenched with sweat when done. people kept giving my trainer and i werid looks and i told him, i'm not going to be attracting new clients for him, they all look terrified everytime he trains me, atleast we find it humerous.

we were going to finish up with 4x8, but my arm was aching we started with:

dumbell chest press on stability ball:

27.5x1 (4 reps)
20x1
22.5x1

and that was it. trainer made me stop because of my stupid arm. it feels like a weird muscle cramp/tendonitis. he instructed me to take I.B. phropen (sp?) and ice to reduce the inflamation. this really bummed me out and i tried to get him to let me finish, to no avail. i felt like i was quitting or wussing out....augh, i need to stop getting mad at myself. tomorrow is a rest day, and i'll run saturday and try to get in some 4x8 and rest again sunday. hopefully the rest will do my body some good.

food:

carbs: 192g 34%
protein: 169g 38%
fat: 54g 28% (1/2 avacado took my fat from 23%-28%! )

total cals: 1864

Hi gymgirl,

You showed up so you get credit, that's what counts. Not being 100% is a good way to keep the ego in check. And set the stage to come back roaring strong as if you've got one to settle.

I'm sure I'll try "Linda" at least once in my lifetime.

Keep moving forward and as hard as it is, don't underestimate the value of rest and recovery.

Sleep tight!

[tim_mcf]

She's a tough one, isn't she? Mainly I just latched onto it because I'm bad at it - my bench is weak, my deadlift is barely adequate, my clean technique needs work, and my conditioning could use improvement. Linda hits all my weak points. (Except pullups.) Work your weakness, and you will overcome your limitations. I'm sure you must have some weakness...somewhere...I just can't tell what it is from here.

[minime]

oh that sucks about your shoulder. Damn injuries! why must they taunt us... why wont they just go away!

good job on linda though : i assume you had three bars going for this one? Did the gym staff have any problem with this?

[gymgirl]

Originally Posted by tim_mcf

I'm sure you must have some weakness...somewhere...I just can't tell what it is from here.

she is a tough one tim, but the kinda tough i like, that gets me motivated. not the kind of tough i dread. oh and those lovely weaknesses...bench, thrusters, OHS, running, full squat cleans, full on snatches...oh how the list could go on and on...i will be working them and hopefully one day will complete "Linda" as rx'd. that biatch really got under my skin.

minime, we did set-up 3 bars . i'm surprised we didn't get into trouble. and yeah stupid injuries ours need to go away...go bother those who don't want to work out. in good news my arm is feeling better! i took some ibprophen and will ice tonight. i'm curious what tomorrow WOD will be and hopefully i will be able to complete it with out aggravating things.

anyway, thanks pierni, tim and minime.

i'm ready to leave work now (still have 1 hour) and i'm going to grocery shop and cook up my friday night cheat meal of ravoili. yumyum.

[gymgirl]

saturday, february 10, 2007

much better day at the gym today! i love saturday morning workouts!

cardio:
2.5 mile run at 0.5% incline

800m warm-up 6.5-6.7
400m at 7.8
400m at 6.3
400m at 7.9
400m at 6.3
400m at 8.0
400m at 6.3
400m at 8.1
800m at 6.5

threw in an extra 400m because i took some time to stretch on those 6.3 recovery periods. today i wasn't out of breath at all, even after the 'sprinting' part, my legs just get so tight.

workout:

CF WOD:

For time:
20 inch Box jump, 50 reps (bench jumps)
Rope climb, 5 ascents (sub 50 towel pull-ups)
1.5 pood Kettlebell swing, 50 reps (25#db)
50 sit-ups
40 pound dumbbell Hang power clean, 50 reps (2, 20# db's)
800 meter Run (7.5, then down to 7.3 then up to 7.8)
50 Back extensions

time: 19:07

rope climb sub is really supposed to end up being 75 towel pull-ups but i wanted to be safe with my arm, AND really i think 50 is closer to an equil sub then 75. good news is i have been taking advil and iced my arm, and luckily NO PAIN today. even with the towel pull-ups and HPC's. let's hope it stays that way. anyway was dripping sweat all over the floor after this one, it felt great.

finished up with some 4x8.

4x8 circuit: approx 80% of max

OHS: 55x8, 55x8, 55x5, 55x8
bent over bb rows: 55x8, 55x8, 55x8, 55x8

OHS felt pretty hard on the last few reps, but bb rows were a breeze. trying to incorporate some sort of row/pull-down on these strength days as that is what is supposed to help my sub scap problem.

now it's time for some R&R, i think i'll make some taco salad with fake meat for dinner....i have hours of TV DVR'd too!

[minime]

great workout gymgirl! I too am loving the saturday morning workouts! It feels so great to workout early then sit around all day eating and doing nothing! lol!

Those OH squats are so hard : i tried to do them with a 45lb bar recently and i just couldnt. I need to practice more : I have a tendency to just ignore the exercises I am not good at which is silly, as i should spend more time on them! We are only as strong as our weakest link...

When was the last time you tried to climb a rope? I bet you could do it, and it would probably be easier than the pullups too.

[JDR3]

Very fast time Gymgirl:

Over half your body weight on OHS's for reps/set is impressive-great job

Enjoy your TV!

[gymgirl]

thanks guys!

minime, i haven't tried to climb a rope since middle or high school. i think i would be able to do it (atleast i hope i would, as i never had a problem when i was younger). OHS are very hard, i woke up sunday and couldn't figure out why my lower back was sore...then i remembered OHS, they always do it to me. i too don't work my weaknesses enough, which is silly. i never bench and that is probably my weakest lift. i gotta get on those exercises.

wow i watched a LOT of TV this weekend and still have not made it through all of my programming on my DVR. this weekend i watched:the real world, road rules, Heroes, Studio 60 on the sunset strip (2 episodes), Dance Life, Beauty and the Geek (2 episodes), I'm from Rolling Stone, American Idol, One Tree Hill (great episode), The Grammys, Everyday Italian (3 episodes), The Office, and 30 Rock. I think that is it.

I still have not gotten to 2 episodes of Lost, Maui Fever, The OC, SNL. Top Model starts up again soon too, omg, i watch so much TV, but I guess I don't watch much during the week and play catch up on the weekend.

Food:

friday: (rest day & cheat meal)

carbs: 200g 39%
protein: 151g 34%
fat: 51g 26%

saturday: running, crossfit, 4x8

carbs: 190g 38%
protein: 146g 35%
fat: 49g 27%

total cals: 1727

sunday: rest day

carbs: 188g 35%
protein: 166g 35%
fat: 64g 30%

total cals: 1972

cals here high on sunday. i was so stuffed after dinner, then had a protein shake and went to bed, got up 20 min later STARVING. i swear those protein shakes make me hungry even when i am not. i ate another zone bar becuase it was easy.

today is going to be cardio and 3x12 as it is a CF rest day. Probably will do yesterdays WOD tomorrow with my trainer.

[gymgirl]

i haven't stopped eating all day. i eat, i'm starving, i eat, i'm starving. there's no in between point.

monday, february 12, 2007

cardio:
3 mile run at 0.5% incline

800m warm-up at 6.5-6.7
400m at 7.6
400m at 6.3
400m at 7.7
400m at 6.3
400m at 7.8
400m at 6.3
400m at 7.9
400m at 6.3
400m at 8.0
400m at 6.3
800m at 6.5

my knee has been really tight these past few days. it's not just the IT band, but the inside part of my knee that got tight the first time i did a heavy load of front squats. i'm finding that i have to stretch for 0.10 of a mile on those recovery periods, so i ran that extra 800m at the end to try to even things out. if i don't stretch in the recovery i get that werid dead leg feeling like my leg wants to give out.

stretching and foam rolling for a good 10min post run.

got to the gym at 4pm but by the time i got done running and stretching it was close to 5pm, and i am never there that late on a monday night, boy was it crowded! i also ran into this group of guys that are my gym friends who i hardly ever see any more since i work out early, so my workout was kinda scattered as we kept talking inbetween sets and during my breaks in sets. one of them was teasing me about doing cleans and push presses, he started doing fake push preses (actually push jerks) trying to imitate me...then came back and was like, no really, how do you do that. lol i showed him a couple of hang cleans, and he found out they are harder then they look. i'm usualy very focused in the gym, so all this talking made my workout feel like a waste...but then again my arms are fried so maybe it's not a complete waste of a training day.


warm-up:

power cleans: 45x10
push press: 45x5
hang cleans: 5x10

workout:

3x12 circuit: approx 75% of max

hang clean/push press: 65x12 (6,6), 65x12 (5,5,2), 65x12 (5,5,2)
lat pulldown: 75x12, 75x12, 75x12

food:

carbs: 228g 38%
protein: 172g 35%
fat: 57g 26%

total cals: 2057

i'm like hungry hungry hippo today, which is werid as yesterday was a complete rest day.

If you are hungry eat and don't quit until you are no longer hungry. Keep your fitday journal open and just eat. Eat some extra for me.