Midgetcop's Journal (finally!)

[midgetcop]

I've been on these boards for over a year, I'm thinking it's about time I started a journal. Not just for others to peruse, but for personal motivation/reflection as well.

Most of you know that I want to be a cop, and my main reason for getting into shape is for that goal. Here's a quick background:

5'2" 24 year-old female, small frame, fairly inactive as a teenager, often had fluctuating weight between 120-140 lbs. I had absolutely NO confidence in my physical abilities, and I barely stepped foot in a gym. Played some sports in middle school, but nothing serious (you know, one of those things where you join in because your friends are doing it). Another point against me was a vertebrae fracture I suffered when I was 17 from a gliding incident, one of my invertebral discs had been crushed (don't ask me which one, somewhere in the middle of the spine).

Still....I went to college for police studies in 2001, and there I began my physical transformation through GRUELING fitness classes that varied from early morning runs in the winter, to weight room sessions, and to the police fitness tests themselves. I was pretty shaken up at first, but I introduced myself to the weight room at my school and began to piece together a strength training routine. My strength and cardio improved by leaps and bounds my first year of college, and I finally began to gain some confidence.

After a summer of working outdoors my weight dropped from 120 to 110 lbs, and I continued to improve my second year of college physically. I passed all my fitness testing and was able to graduate college, and during this time my weight dropped dangerously low to 102 lbs due to extreme stress/depression stemming from a relationship break-up.

Since then I've had a full time job and I've continued with the weight training. I've found that I'm enjoy it more now that I'm outside of college and I don't *have* to do it. It's in the past year that I've seen the most gains, and realized that this is something that I'm *really* good at. Amazingly enough, I have little to no back problems despite my injury, but I am careful to listen to my back and ease off if I detect undue stress on the spine. My weight has gone back up to 115 lbs, most of which I'm attributing to muscle. One of my current goals is to shed some of the body fat and see some more definition on my body.

So....next police testing is June 4th. My training has stepped up a notch because I've thrown more cardio into my current schedule (approx 3 sessions per week).

I'll be posting my workouts in detail, feel free to post advice/questions. I'm going to be posting some pictures soon as well. Wish me luck. :

[.V.]

Good luck training for your police testing. And yes keeping a journal is definitely a great way to keep yourself motivated. It helps keep your goals right there in front of you, you see where you have been and where you still have to go.

[midgetcop]

April 21, 2005

Morning:

- run through park (rough terrain, stairs, etc): intense, approx. 20 minutes

Afternoon:

CHEST
- db bench press: 70lbs x 6, 70lbs x 5, 70lbs x 4
- incline db press: 60lbs x 6, 60lbs x 5, 60lbs x 5
- cable flys: 60lbs x 8, 60lbs x 8, 60lbs x 7

TRICEPS
- seated db tricep extension: 30lbs x 9, 30lbs x 8, 30lbs x 7
- cable pushdown (rope): 20lbs x 9, 20lbs x 8, 20lbs x 7

Felt kind of sick today...my heart wasn't really in my above weight session. My stomach felt kind of icky...I'm attributing that to the whey shake I had earlier today after my run. I'm thinking that I'm going to leave the shake for after weight sessions. Blah.

[midgetcop]

Hoookay. *Why* are my BICEPS sore today? My form must've been waaaaaaaay off during those cable flys.

:confused:

[midgetcop]

Oops, forgot one thing that I also did yesterday:

Put my back up against the wall and sat on an imaginary "chair" to test leg endurance. I couldn't hold it for than a minute....and then I tried it again for 1 minute.

I'll be going back and trying this regularly....increasing my time hopefully.

[midgetcop]

April 26, 2005

Breakast:
- lots o' black coffee
- half o' whole wheat bagel with peanut butter
- grape juice box

SHOULDERS:
- db shoulder press: 60lbs x 6, 60lbs x 5, 60lbs x 5 (increase in reps)
- upright bb row: 50lbs x 7, 50lbs x 7, 50lbs x 6 (increase in reps)
- db side raises: 20lbs x 10, 20lbs x 8, 25lbs x 5 (no improvement)

SHOULDER/BACK:
- db row (per arm): 35lbs x 9, 40lbs x 3, 40lbs x 3 (increase in weight to 40)

BACK:
- lat pulldown machine: 110lbs x 7, 115lbs x 6, 120lbs x 4 (increase in reps)

FOREARMS:
- bb wrist curls: 40lbs x 10, 40lbs x 8, 40lbs x 5 (increase in reps)

CARDIO:
- treadmill, tried interval routine that one of my co-worker is using right now:

1 min warm-up, 1 min @ level 5.5 (moderate run for me), 1 min @ 6.0, 1 min @ 6.5, 1 min @ 7.0 (full-out run), 1 min down @ 5.0, 1 min @ 5.5, 1 min @ 6.0, 1 min @ 6.5, 1 min @ 7.0. total = 10 minutes high-intensity

- after a 2 min cool-down, I finished off by running up and down the gym staircase (2 flights) a few times.

Thoughts:

Pretty good workout today, I'm planning on making a protein shake in a few minutes, but in the meantime I'm totally killing my progress by enjoying a cold beer.

But I made a breakthrough discovery today. I've been endlessly searching for a weighted-belt that I can use to imitate the 9 lb belt that I'll be wearing during my police testing (simulates a duty belt). Strangely enough, most fitness stores don't have anything similar....mainly over-priced ankle weights and a weighted vest that costs $100+. Screw that.

But someone suggested I pop into Shoppers Drug Mart, and voila! I found a pair of decently priced ankle weights, each weighing in at 5 lbs. So at first I thought I'd wrap both around my own duty belt and go from there. But then I realized that I could strap both weights together to fit around my torso as a belt. It pays to be tiny! Granted this will be heavier than the actual testing belt, but that will just make it feel easy in comparison. Now I just need to work up the courage to try a cardio routine wearing this dang thing....

T-minus 39 days to go!

[midgetcop]

Imaginary-chair progress:

1 min 10 secs

[Azanmi]

Sounding pretty motivated! Good luck!

mmmm Black Coffee!

[ajarvis]

Nice workout : those weights are awesome!

[.V.]

Working hard - doing good. Keep up the good work - you have to make room for all those doughnuts you're going to eat after you kick a$$ on the test.

[midgetcop]

April 27, 2005

Breakast:
- lots o' black coffee
- 2 omega3 eggs scrambled
- 1 glass o' apple juice

BICEPS:
- bb curls: 45lbs x 7, 455lbs x 7, 45lbs x 6 (increase in reps)
- seated db curls (both arms combined): 40lbs x 6, 40lbs x 5, 40lbs x 5 (increase in reps)

LEGS:
Some jerk was taking forever with the squat rack and I was in a hurry, so I opted with lunges instead.
- lunges with db: 40lbs x 20(both legs combineed), 40lbs x 20, 40lbs x 20
- lungewalk around indoor track - half track

CARDIO:
- 25 minute jog on indoor track (light/moderate intensity)

Thoughts:

I'm kinda pissed that I didn't get my squats in, but I didn't have time to wait around forever. Today was my first day volunteering at the Y. Yay me! I'm kinda sore/tired today. I'm boiling up some whole wheat pasta...yum!

[midgetcop]

Imaginary-chair progress:

1 min 20 secs

[ajarvis]

Do you do your imaginary chair right after your leg workout?

[midgetcop]

I usually try it about once a day while I'm puttering around my apartment.

[Cort]

Originally Posted by midgetcop

I usually try it about once a day while I'm puttering around my apartment.

Have you tried playing music to time them? I enjoy it because usually the song distracts you from the hurtin' and simultaneously gets your adrenaline going