Hallelujah antibiotics!

I just got back from my morning workout and feel pretty good albeit not 100%. I've been taking a course of antibiotics since Sunday for the stubborn sinusitis. I can tell I'm winning though!

Once again I only did 30 minutes on the elliptical and eeked out a paltry 3.16 miles. Today's a back and bicep day so I did sets of rowing, pull downs, close-grip pull downs, lower back press, and of course, practiced my side kick combinations and did a good set of abs (lost count after 100 reps). Either the gym is warmer today or I'm working more efficiently because I busted a decent sweat and it felt good. After a few sets of bicep curls (inclined and straight seated), I sheepishly remembered a new exercise I'd added only two weeks ago: reverse grip barbell row. Those jokers commenting on this exercise in the bodybuilding.com forum are right though, you can really feel your lats when you do this exercise. No need to state the obvious: do the form slowly and strictly for 4 sets of 15 reps.

Since I don't have any pictures or videos of myself doing this movement, I've added a link to the bodybuilding.com site to show you what this form should look like:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/reverse-grip-bent-over-rows

And here's a photo of why I'm so intent on working back. As I wrote earlier, I don't think you should see your ribs from the back!

I'm a bit dismayed at seeing my ribs from this angle. Egads!

Here's the new Tuesday/Friday workout:

The Big Push

Today would've been a leg day in my new routine, but as I am still sick (aarg!) with a positively heinous sinus infection, I'm staying home until I can at least leave the house without feeling like my head is slosh full of thick pea soup.

When I get back to the gym, I'll start with my all out favorite: A Push Day. That's basically bench press for chest (pecs), arms (triceps) and shoulders (deltoids), followed by some lighter dumbbell work because arms and shoulders can handle a lot of work.

I've been told that I do a hard workout. All I know is that I'm used to going to near-failure, and since I don't use a spot (someone to help me if I fail), I'd rather go with more repetitions (and feel a fatigue burn) than go heavy (and potentially destroy my joints or ligaments). Keep in mind that I'm a petite (4'11.5", 106 lb) middle-age (52 yrs) mom, and I spent the last year shedding 20 lbs.

I hope I haven't maxxed out size- or strength-wise but it's totally up to one's genetic capacity.

For us small ladies, we don't tend to show huge muscles in the pectorals region, but they do make a difference in our appearance, adding depth to the chest especially from the collar bone down, and let's face it, it's a big ego boost to be able to knock out effortless pushups. It's also a big ego boost when you can bench press more than your body weight, and no, you don't have to look like a power lifter to do that. Trust me!

I admit it's a bit difficult to both lose weight (fat), and increase lean muscle mass which is only apparent when your endurance and strength improve. I've hit a plateau with my Smith machine bench press: I can only get 3 sets of 8-10 repetitions at 135 lbs. So I will continue to bench this at least once a week until I can get 3 full sets of 12-15 reps before I up the weights. I will also continue to do Decline Bench Presses (to build fullness in the lower pecs for us smaller gals). If you're "well-endowed", then Inclined Bench Presses might work to add fullness, but with smaller busted women, that just leads to a really weird profile, and no, I've never considered "augmenting", although, when you lose a lot of bodyfat, well, we small ladies do get a lot smaller.

But so often I see women who seem afraid to use barbells, afraid to lift heavy, afraid to get sweaty (egads, are you wearing makeup to the gym?!), afraid to look as if they're exerting any effort at all. Sorry, but why exactly are you here?

Feeling Good is Hard to Quit

I woke up with a cold yesterday and still went to the gym. I didn't feel bad until last night. This morning I dreamt I had strep, but luckily, the sore throat was just some morning gunk. And after I put my kid on the school bus, I'm off to the gym.

I do 45 minutes on the elliptical and a nice 5.0 miles. I feel good. It's a back and biceps day and it's Friday which gives me extra incentive to work out hard because I'm such a slacker on the weekends. My friend B yells at me that I shouldn't be losing any more weight, that I should cut waaaay back on my cardio, to say, oh, 10 minutes. And I scoff! Because if I can't get good and sweaty, then I don't feel properly warmed up and then I don't feel good. Exercise is my drug!

"You shouldn't be weighing yourself after your workout."
"Why not?" I ask.
The scale's on the way to the shower and I'm always wearing the same thing, a towel. so there's no hiding from any ugly truths, there's no excuses (like, oh, it must be my extra heavy sneakers today, or I have my cell in my pocket). There's only, ooh, maybe I shouldn't've had seconds and thirds last night. Besides, I always weight myself at this time, after my workout, after sucking down a bottle or two of water. At least I'm consistent, and consistency is the key to an awful lot of things.
"Because you've just sucked down a liter and a half of water. How much does that weigh?"
I shrug because I don't think a liter and a half is going to skew my weigh in.
Then she adds, "I can't believe you don't have to run off to the rest room all the time!"
I shrug. I can't believe she works out and doesn't get sweaty. She barely drinks the half liter bottle of whatever mix she put in her water bottle. 

My right elbow is bothering me from doing the 10 close grip chin ups I finish my stretch/side-kick routine with, so I opt to do traditional machine rows and pull downs today. The neutral (palms facing each other) grip is great on my tiny wrists and dysfunctional shoulder, but it's wreaking havoc with the inside of one elbow.

I do a set of 12 reps with 75 lbs to start, then do another 3 sets of 15 reps at 90 lbs, pulling the handles to my chest with my back rigidly straight. I've finally seen my back, and it needs work. I do another 3 sets at 105 lbs but can only eek out 8 reps. Maybe I'll put on a little size. While I'm happy with the diamond shape of my traps, considering I don't recall doing movements specific for it, it's the rather sparse lats that bother me. From one angle, all I see are ribs. I don't think you should see your ribs from the back.

The pull-down station already has a standard bar attached so I do 12 reps at 90 lbs for 5 sets, trying hard to resist the urge to move the peg to 105 lb. It's such an ego boost to move your own weight or more! My elbows are my weak link on this movement so I give my arms a break and do a few machines: 2 sets of 25 reps at 50 lbs on the side-twist-ab station, 2 sets of 25 reps at 90 lbs on the seated lower back press (like doing hyper-extensions in a seated position), and about 125-150 reps each (I tend to lose count after 100) of twisting situps and leg kick-outs. Towards the end I can feel my abs burning, but it feels distant and not all that unpleasant. 

Feeling pleasantly sweaty again, I gingerly try 5 sets of stiff leg deadlifts at the Smith machine with just the 45 lbs bar. I know I could add weight but really, what I want to see is what part of me (if any) is going to be sore tomorrow. Then I grab a 30 lb barbell and do bent-over-reverse grip rows. I feel lopsided as I stare at my form in the mirror. My arms don't quite track the same as I try to keep my elbows close to my body as I draw the weight up to my navel. But I feel my lats for the first time, and I'm excited. I do 5 sets of 15 reps. I want to see how I'll feel over the weekend before upping the weight. Dumbbell rows are something I used to do, but as with flyes and dumbbell presses, my spine and shoulders are too flexible and I tend to inadvertently slide out of alignment which become rather painful and tiresome.

Naturally, having done all that pulling motion means that biceps are next. But that's another post.

Some Current Views

Damn, I wasn't expecting to look quite so scrawny.

I took all these photos a few days ago, and damn it's difficult to shoot self-portraits without a good setup. Well, one of my goals was to develop shoulders and I have them now, so I'm pleased. But it's been a lot of hard work: before or after bench press (3 times weekly), I do front raises, lateral raises and inclined rear flyes with a pair of 15 lb dumbbells — usually 5-6 sets of 12-15 reps each. No one wants huge triceps and biceps hanging off of coat-hanger shoulders.

Shooting into a mirror means you catch the distortions from the mirror as well, but you get better control of lighting. It seems to be a toss-up. I look a lot bigger shooting into a mirror. It can be very amusing! I have one of those home model digital scales that purports to use electrical resistance to determine your body fat percentage. My scale is lying to me, saying I'm 106 lbs and 20% body fat.


I'm hoping that one of these days I'll be able to see the 6-pack abs I know exist under that thick layer of subcutaneous fat. I think a lot of Asians have thicker skin and more subcutaneous fat, giving us that very smooth look that's not so great for muscular definition. I need to drop down to 17-15% body fat minimum to see anything vaguely like abs. I do admit to being recently pleasantly surprised at the increased vascularity in my tiny forearms. That's never happened to me before, but I'm quite happy about it. I'm going to credit 3-5 sets of bicep curls (12 reps) with 20 lb dumbbells twice weekly. Sometimes I follow or precede with 3-5 sets of inclined curls with 15 lb dumbbells, dependent upon whether an incline bench is available. I hate bothering people, asking if they're done yet so I'll go do something else and come back later.

The triceps are okay. I used to lift weights when I was in college about 30 years ago, so I remember when I had striations on my "horseshoes". My main concern these days is being strong enough to knockout pushups during the cardio kickboxing class I take sporadically, and to be able to increase my bench press. At least once if not twice a week, I'll use the Smith machine and eek out 3 sets of 8-10 reps at 135 lbs. Which is pretty damn good for a middle-aged woman who weighs 107. But I'm not sure I quite believe the Bodybuilding.com calculator that projects I'd be able to do a one-time lift of 168 lbs based on those stats. After all, I still got these tiny hands and wrists with horribly flexible joints that sprain and dislocate at the most inopportune moments.