Day 11

Late night post from home.... watching criminal intent.

Cardio is making my butt hurt. Must be a good thing - LOL. Have been twice this week, didnt make it today - forgot my running shoes. Oh well there's always next week.

Not very happy with INZER. They failed to address my parcel correctly and so it was not delivered to my colleague and instead has been returned. Personally I think Inzer should now foot the bill to have the parcel shipped to me in Australia. My instructions for delivery were clear - but totally missing!

Benched well on Tuesday, 6x3@70kg, flat dumbells 45lb 6x8, t-bar row 60kg 4x6.

training tomorrow night at Sydney "City Gym" which is close to where we are staying this weekend.

Off to bed shortly - had a crap night sleep last night, very tired now.

===

Day 9

Weight 69.1 kg

Good progress - can probably afford to eat up a bit more.

First 'programmed' cardio session at Genesis today, 15 mins on the treadmill, 1 minute intervals of incline walk and flat jogging, followed by 15 mins cross trainer - again 1 min intervals, hard and easy. Heart rate thru the roof hit 170 at the 12 minute mark on the crosstrainer - yes, am unfit!!

The impact from running was also noticed by my foot - not so much my dodgy toe itself - but rather the ball area underneath. Might be worth a visit to the podiatrist and get my orthotic inserts adjusted - haven't done that since the operation, he might be able to alleviate some of the pressure thru the orthotic.

Mojo still pretty sore at the weekend - he's looking at retirement, for a while at least. Perhaps the warmer weather will help... when it comes. In the meantime Madii is saving up for a new horse.

Off for a weekend away in Sydney with Leigh this weekend coming. Heading up Friday afternoon and will probably train at City gym later in the evening. Leigh has some business to conduct on Saturday, leaving me with a morning to go exploring - probably catch the ferry across to Manly for brunch. Then I'm on pager in the afternoon. Out for dinner Saturday night - no idea where... I'm sure we'll find something nice. Maybe train Sunday morning and then brunch down Darling harbor and do the touristy things down there. A cruise perhaps and visit to aquarium - our own mini 'survivor sydney' as we attack each other, see who ends up in the harbour or the shark tank etc etc....

Squats last night - 115kg, dropped the bar once and had some help from Pepe who was spotting me - but only for one rep....
Partials have hit a sticking point, Leigh is going to rethink our tactics on this. Bottom squats - as always a hard slog 5x5.

Think we may have convinced Mil to join us for training and to enter Nationals too. Jason seems to be a lost cause to the world of bodybuilding. Gay - as Leigh would say!

Bench tonight - Yay!

===

Day 5...

I still hate dieting....

Looking forward to the weekend, but not next week - P1 pager, uggh!

Deadlifts 5x5 @120 sumo style - need to work on the lockout for this style of lifting
Floor pulls 3x3 @ 100
Rack pulls 4x3 @ 140
Lat pulldown (to stretch back) 4x8 @ 55

Pretty light workout.

Tonight will do some extra hamstring work at Definition Gym.

Adult riding tomorrow - only doing one lesson, dressage. We'll see how Mojo's leg holds out. If he does ok - Madii will take him to pony club on Sunday.

===

Day 4

I hate dieting!

Fitness assessment at Genesis - Below average (which I expected) and they've set up a program on a little key that I plug into the machines which will make me work hard - umm Yay, I think....

Also had my free yoga class - very relaxing and then the hard sell to buy a membership... errr no thanks. :-)

Picked up some some supplements from Evelyn Faye Nutrition in Bourke st before heading back to the office.

Deadlift tonight at Doherty's - straight from work.

===

Day 3

I hate dieting.
My legs hurt.

And making it worse - I cannot find any Mrs Crockers Ceasar salads on the shelves at the supermarket.

No "bedtime latte" last night and no "in-car latte" this morning - could feel a headache coming on by the time I reached the office - straight down to Aromatic Espresso on the ground floor to get my fix.

Took a 'SPIN' class at Genesis during lunchtime. Discovered that its not so easy to stand and pedal and that bike seats are s uncomfortable and small. Or is it just that my bum is too big? Where did that bike seat go?

Speed bench last night - 40k 8x3 with green jump bands. Darren showed me his neat invention for attaching the bands to the bar - slide on hooks. Work real well too!
Flat dumbell press: worked up to 50lb dumbells 4x8 (not over doing it)
Cable face pulls: up to 110 4x10
Overhead dumbell press: 20lb dumbells 4x10 (again light - need to ease my shoulder back into work after injury)

Night off tonight. Might laze in a salt bath for 1/2 hour tonight

==

Day 2

Don't get too excited.... I'm not going to blog on a daily basis.

So, Day 2:

I hate dieting......

Squatted 110kg last night - 6 sets x 3 reps
Then training went awry... I had nothing for partials and bottom squats - I've no excuse, my hips just said 'NO'. Went on with hamstring curls and stiff leg deadlifts - went home angry with myself.

Mental note: grab the jump bands on Thursday after deadlifts and do some squat speed work.

Off to do cardio at Genesis at lunchtime - will book in for an assessment and get a plan in place to move the chocolate off my hips -perhaps I'll squat better then?!

Bench press tonight at Definition - no shirt work for next couple of weeks.


Response to STU's comment:
Yes, Caffeine inhibits the uptake of Creatine, which is why I need to curtail my latte intake.... (so far unsuccessfully) I'd like to get my dependency down this week before starting the loading phase. Today I've only had 2 & 1/2 and its 12.15 as I am writing. No more this afternoon, just one before bed. By the end of the week I want to be down to 1 latte in the morning and 1 (or none) evening latte.

Response to SUZY's comment:
I hate dieting.......

PS. sorry to hear about the hamstring - I don't even want to imagine how painful and frustrating that must be. Make sure you get to a physio.

The end.
======

Day 1

I hate dieting!

Really!

Start weight: 71.2kg
Target weight: 67.4kg
Time allowed: 10 weeks

Key, I think, will be to reduce the no of latte's per day - thus reducing dairy intake - off to a flying start - NOT. 4 latte's by 11am. hmmm none this after noon tho'. I should also reduce my caffeine intake to see if I can get this creatine to work - will start a cycle and load next week- lets get the caffeine under control first.

Out of supplements (again!!)
Co-enzyme Q10
Fish oil
Multivitamin

Will trip into the city later this week and refill.

Tonight: Squat training (yay belt and wraps allowed at last!)

========================================

Last day of Vacation

Today is officially my last day off - I'm on pager this weekend....

Where did the time go? Got thru about half of the chores that I'd listed for myself...

Clean the gutters - done
Get stones for driveway - done
Get edging stones for driveway - done
Plant extra pittosporums along drive - done
Mow backyard (1/2 acre) - done
Clean outdoor area - done
Spray weeds with roundup - done
Clean grinder - done
Frame jigsaw puzzle - done
Movies: Hancock - done Batman - done (tonight)

To be done:
Continue stones around side of house.
Put stones in path up from driveway to back of house.
Edging around back near rumpus room.
Top up mulch.
Cut and pile up fallen trees.
Burn said fallen trees.

Had also hoped to catch up with Simon from ASN regarding some possible promotion work in exchange for supplements but ran out of time unfortunately.

Oh well there's always the September hols and maybe a little more money to boot after paying Mojo's vet and medication fees last week saw be kiss goodbye to $600. At least we seem to have made some progress with him tho, this past 3 months of intermittent lamness has taken its toll. Yesterday we took him down to the pony club and lunged him in both directions and he's certainly moving a lot more freely and without obvious pain.

Training this week has been good too, my injuries not coming into play so much due to a much lighter schedule this week, the last for now until Nationals. As you may have noticed I have started the count down to the Nationals. Next week sees me 10 weeks out and I will be starting on my training cycle from Monday.

Back to work on Monday also and the Genesis membership kicks in from Tuesday, so I'll get them to 'assess' me and set up a cardio program designed to take 4kg off. Tuesday also sees me at the Chiro in Queens Pde, just around the corner from work and Thursday I'm heading into the city for a 'free' yoga class being being organized as some corporate benefit - 1 free class - BIG!

My colleague is heading off to the US this weekend (hence me being on call...) and I've ordered a new squat suit from Inzer which is being delivered to his hotel to bring back for me in a couple of weeks. Really should order a couple of new knee wraps while he's over there while the exchange rate is so good.... hmmm.


UPS
Your package is on time with a scheduled delivery date of 07/22/2008.

Tracking Number: 1Z 780 517 03 6693 203 8
Type: Package
Status:
In Transit - On Time

Scheduled Delivery: 07/22/2008
Shipped To: BELMONT, CA, US
Shipped/Billed On: 07/16/2008
Service: GROUND
Weight: 2.10 Lbs

Package Progress
Location Date Local Time Description
MESQUITE,
TX, US 07/17/2008 6:46 A.M. DEPARTURE SCAN
MESQUITE,
TX, US 07/16/2008 10:35 P.M. ARRIVAL SCAN
LONGVIEW,
TX, US 07/16/2008 8:00 P.M. DEPARTURE SCAN
07/16/2008 6:54 P.M. ORIGIN SCAN
US 07/16/2008 5:08 P.M. BILLING INFORMATION RECEIVED

Tracking results provided by UPS: 07/18/2008 1:04 A.M. ET

An open letter to Hiram

Dear Mr. Codd,

How kind of you to point out my ever expanding derrier, bottom, backside, ARSE! Yes, it is getting bigger by the day and I have the wisdom of my coach Leigh W. to thank for that. His vision for my rear can only be matched by his desire to whip it with twigs.

Yours sincerly,
Fat bottomed girl.

Holidays.....

Holidays...

Well from work at least. Two weeks at home, sleeping, eating, training.....

Talking of the latter, have had a good week. Despite the pain in my hip, I had a good squat session on Monday. As the pin height gets lower for the partials I can really feel it working in my hips and glutes.

Some niggling joint pain in my elbow on Tuesday night - well not so much pain as an aching feeling... George suggested I might be coming down with the flu or such. Or perhaps I need to supplement with zinc and magnesium. I am seriously going to have to get myself a supplement sponsor!! Any sponsor! Someone to chip in the airfare for the nationals... some new Inzer lifting suits.... ahhh dreaming again.

A couple of visits to Andrea (Chiro) have started to sort out my shoulder problem and I even managed a massive 20lb overhead press - whoo-hoo! LOL I'm happy to be making some progress with this. At least I am dumbell pressing much better than a month ago. Still sticking with the close grip bench press for now tho' I want to protect my shoulder a little longer.

Wed night - rest.

Thursday - at Doherty's. Bought a four month membership off a lady who was traveling to Europe for 6 months - bargain price. Trained back - bodybuilder style:
Lat pulldowns 8 reps @ 40,40,50,60,60,60.
chest supported row 8 reps @ 30, 40, 50 and 60.
Reverse grip pulldown machine 8 reps @ 20kg,40kg,60kg,70kg,75kg.
Dumbbell rows 8 reps @ 12.5kg, 17.5kg, 22.5kg, 22.5kg.

Then 10 mins or so on the treadmill waiting for Angela to show so we could sign her membership over.

Tonight - rest

Tomorrow - Deadlifting at D's with Leigh

Sunday - rest

Monday - squat......

and the cycle starts over....

Sent an email off to Steve at Southern Powerlifting, introducing myself and making some inquiries about joining their club and federation. I think this will be my last year with CAPO.

On a lighter note: I chucked a couple of 'pre-packaged' ceasar salad things in the shopping trolley at the weekend - always on the lookout for simple, healthy-ish lunch things. YUMMMM! These Mrs Crockets ceasar salads were DELISH!! Anyway - after googling them and finding their website, in the hope that they sell the dressing as a separate item (then I can make HUGE salads...) I left some feedback on their website saying how much I loved their ceasar salad and asking if the dressing was available for sale (I wouldn't normally do this - you can see how much I liked it....) So later in the afternoon I got a call from them (From Queensland!) - thanking me for the feedback... unfortunately they don't sell the dressing but the guy said he would pass my great comments on to their marketing dept. What a hoot, I didn't think anyone actually read those feedback things! Well anyway here's a plug for them MRS CROCKETS CEASAR SALAD ROCKS !!! Maybe they will sponsor me ?! LOL I think they will become a part of my 'diet' while I try to drop 5kgs over the next few months...

Another day

Tuesday night squat session, not quite as planned. Maybe its the colder weather but my hip as sore as its ever been. Struggled thru just 4 sets of 3 at 90kg. Lockouts were not so bad, pin height 24, so still only a fairly small movement bringing the hips forward. Then finished with some bottom partials in the smith machine.

Benched last night, worked up to a 3 rep max with my inzer shirt - just to see what it was like. No dumbell presses this time.
Tricep press down 120lb x10 x5
Dumbell press across chest 25lb x8 x4
Rope Face pulls 80lb x 10 x4
Lying pulldown 80,90, 100 & 120lb x8

Then home and traded a 'hair dyeing' for a foot massage with Madii. Which uncovered a lump under my foot - which now after being prodded is quite sore!

Joined up to Genesis for 6 months after negotiating a deal - Oracle corp price and some gifts, and extra week on my trial membership and delayed my start date until I return from leave in July. Then I will have an 'assessment' and they will devise some cardio plan, I assume, to help me lose the 5 kg for October's Nationals. That's the plan anyway.

Louise, if you're reading this, I'll email you my opinion on Genesis shortly, now that I've been there for a few weeks!

Had A chiro appointment today with Andrea Bisaz, who I saw last year when my hip first started playing up... He's moved to 1 Queens rd in Melbourne, really handy, just around the corner from work! so walked over there this morning and he adjusted my shoulder - his diagnosis also irritated shoulder capsule - shoulder not sitting in the socket correctly, so between his adjustments, physio exercises and massage I hopefully will get this problem sorted out.

That's it - night off training tonight. Deadlifts tomorrow. Should finally be able to finish reading Underbelly:The Gangland War.

Winter Solstice

Yay - the shortest day has passed. Roll on longer days!



Worked from home today - one of the perks of being in IT I guess. After the farrier came last week and removed Mojo's shoe he was confined to the 'Jenny Craig' paddock and so he's had to be hand fed and Madii and I put a poultice on his hoof. Today Anthony came back and put the shoe back on - hoof abcess hopefully dealt with.

Friday night did a killer hamstring workout.

Good mornings up to 60kg for 8 reps x 4 sets,
Speed deadlifts with 80kg and the green jump ban.
Hypers with a 20kg plate 8 x 4 sets,
Deep leg press up to 170kg 8x4 then
back to 100kg for 4 more sets of pause/push reps.

All ok 'cos I'm not back under the squat bar until tomorrow night. My hammies are still tight tho!

Into my last week at Genesis and I've been getting txt messages, snail mail offers and phone calls. One of the personal trainers there, Madi (Madelaine) is doing her best to make me a good offer to take up a membership there. So far I've not lost any weight from the cardio but I think taking the time to stretch when I'm there is certainly having some benefits. And lets face it, its the only chance I get to do stretching, honestly, when I get home after training, shower, make dinner etc the last thing I want to do is stretching.... i just want to unwind from the day have a latte and veg out watching some inane television programme.

No training tonight, R&R before the big squat session tomorrow night at Doherty's

Physio

Been back to Melbourne Sports Medical centre getting treatment for my dud shoulder. The diagnosis I believe is a tight / restricted shoulder capsule, so my shoulder is not sitting in the socket properly - hence the pain and weakness thru the arm. Massage and stretching excerices - so far seem to be helping. Managed to press 65lb dumbells for 6 reps, after having warmed up on 45lb and 55lb respectively. Incline press gave me a little more pain so settled that at 50lb only. No chance of overhead pressing yet.

Still managing to get to the gym at lunchtime, except when I have to go to physio - like today. But as today was my day of weight training, I headed into Definition for a 40 minute stint on the stepper.

Not much else to report - Mojo lame again, Farrier coming out on Thursday to check for a hoof abcess. Time for bed, I'm bugggered.

NOT a morning person

Long weekend spoiled by being oncall - and getting called out all day...
Thankfully pager finished on Sunday night at 8pm - an hour over due to getting paged 3 times fifteen minutes before the end of my shift.

No sleep in Monday tho'. Leigh wanted me to squat early, so instead of our usual 7pm session I was up at 6.30am and in the gym by 8.30am. Training in adverse conditions or some such... yawn. He did take it easy on me - sort of.

5x5 @70kg
3x2 @ 90kg
lockouts 165kg pin height 25 5x3
hack squat partials continuous to failure 4 sets

Post workout Latte in Brunswick st - needed that!

Legs sore by the evening - must have been the hack squats

Cardio today on the stepper at Genesis - late didn't get there until after 2pm. Tonight Bench press - close grip 62.5 5x5 is the plan.

Cardio o' cardio

Have been making a regular appearance at Genesis during lunch and cardio'ing away. Dont think I could ever get motivated to train there tho'. Doesnt quite have the atmosphere - but great for the cardio. Oodles of machines - treadmills, steppers, bike etc.

I had hoped they would have yoga classes. I really enjoyed them when 'what's her name' used to come in and take classes twice a week (if I remember her name....) Anyway they have a couple of pilates classes but only one at a time that suites me and I'm not into the spin or bodypump thing. I'm sure its good - they have a reasonable size class from what I saw - just not for me tho'.

Squatted last night at D's. Still working on depth and slowly increasing the weight. There is no point adding a load of weight to the bar if I'm going to squat shallow so I have to be patient. As Leigh says, its about longevity and so I'm taking my time to build a better foundation for the future.

Not that the future is looking that great for CAPO with no comps in Vic this year and the National committee stepping down. Rumour has it that some dill is trying to sue after injuring themselves at a comp a few years back. I dont think anyone wants to take on an official role in light of being legally responsible.... so I hear anyway.

Tonight = benching. Close grip seems to be working and the stretching and rehab stuff is kicking in. Last week I was able to flat press 55lb dumbells for 8 reps - was not a problem with the weight but previously even the 25lb dumbell would make my shoulder scream - like a nerve being pinched or something and causing weakness down the tricep. Will have a go at the 60lb dumbells tonight my bench work.

xx

Cant get enough

As if a gym membership at Definition and a 20 pass card at Doherty's isnt enough, I've just scored myself and one month trial membership at Genesis just a block down from where I work. Ideal for that extra bit of cardio lunchtime on the cross trainer and a chance to do some stretching in the right environment. Might even venture to doing some bicep and tricep stuff, maybe some speed work too. Seriously they don't have enough weights in the gym, but what the hell.... its free.

Latte me

Went back to Mocopan and retrieved my beloved machine. The tech had not touched it yet and was unlikely to get to it for another 2 weeks. After posting a whinge on coffeegeek I decided to take the advice given, order the parts and service the machine myself. As a dry run to make sure I could pull it apart and put it back together, I did just that:


Deadlift training on Thursday night, was not feeling particularly strong. In fact for the past few days I've been feeling like I'm about to come down with something, seems to affect me in the evening. Anyhoo...

Rackpulls from below the knee , no wraps, straps or belt 5x5 at 120kg.
Close grip rowing 8x8
Chest supp row 4x6

20 mins on stepper

Trained today at Doherty's with Leigh
close grip
dumbell incline press
rotator cuff
standing calf raise


** Bit late.. but here's a pic of what the girls bought me for mother's day. Some tulips and a voodoo knife block ;-)

what? no latte?

close grip bench - 3x8reps @ 60kg
lockouts @ 80kg
dumbell press @ 50lb dbells - shoulder/delt pain tolerable, hopefully this is a good sign.
wide upright rows - 4x10 @ 30kg
front raises (rehab) 4x8 @ 12.5lb dbells

stepper - 20 mins

I attribute the reduced shoulder pain to the extra stretching I've been doing through the chest area, plus the rehab / rotator cuff exercises.

I'm starting to add in a little cardio when I can, just the stepper for now. I wouldn't mind getting one of these for home. Have checked on ebay - of course the ones I like would have to be the most expensive so I'm unlikely to get one unless I can find a good 2nd hand one.

Nasty headache when I arrived at work this morning, slept well, but I think it was caffeine withdrawl. My coffee machine is out being serviced - no late night latte before bed.... hope its back by the weekend. Had to run out tonight and find a local place that was open to get a take away latte!

Deadlift training tomorrow night.....

A good week

Trained well all this week.

Monday, squat per usual at Doherty's, raw and working on depth and balance.

Tuesday, bench press at Definition. My usual bench was being used so I decided top warm up lightly with dumbells, seeing how it felt and to my surprise no so much pain as usual. Pressed to a max of 45lb dumbells - whoo-hoo (LOL) Still, I take this as a good thing and put it down to some extra stretching I've been doing at night - in particular neck and chest stretches. Main exercise was still close grip bench. 5x5. Tricep press and standing behind neck tricep press.

Wednesday at Definition, upper back, wide rowing, t-bar rowing, lat pulldown (alternate front and rear). attempted some overhead shoulder press but that was pushing my luck too much with my sore rear delt. Then finished off some oblique training - cable woodchops.

Thursday - would have been deadlift, but Leigh wanted me to rest up my back and hamstring as we're going to have a heavy night for squatting on Monday - The first in a long time. So bicep curls with the ez-bar, dumbell hammer curls and cable straight bar. Then instead of any deadlift work I did some grip strength training. Holding a 8kg dumbell in a pincher grip for 30 seconds. Sounds easy...... but not! It didn't seem enough so I spend 20 mins on the stepper - goddamn I'm unfit!!

Talking about unfit, last Sunday I decided to WALK to the servo to get the paper rather tan drive. This is a 5k round trip which I might add I used to run.... I got halfway there and thought 'I wish someone would come and pick me up'. Cant believe I used to run this!!! I am so UNFIT.

This weekend is a 'horsey weekend' I was out riding this morning at Adult riding club. I'm getting better at going over the jumps at a canter and even managed some grade 4 jumps - I am only graded to level 5 (the lowest grade!) but I'm getting more confident and balanced.

Tomorrow - Pony club for Madii, and an extra early start as we have a special seminar being held by Collen Kelly - so much for a mother's day lie in or breakfast in bed Oh well cant complain - Leigh came over Thursday morning after I had a early morning conference call and he made a yummy breakfast of omeletes, bacon and hash browns. Lucky me!!

Tree trunks

I swear, I keep training legs like this and they're just gonna turn into tree trunks. I only have to look at the leg press or leg extension and my thighs engorge with blood. So much so that it almost inhibits my training and recovery seems to take days.... Here it is Wednesday afternoon and my legs still hurt from Monday nights session and tomorrow I'm booked in for a massage. Dont know if I'll cope with Ruth going hard core on my ITB.

Bench tonight, shoulder no better and I'm downing the voltaren like smarties. Close grip will have to be my main exercise for a while.