Okay, here are my thoughts:

I think you need to split this up into two or more workouts, and do three of everything, not one set of each. That way, if one of the movements causes you grief, you'll know which one it was.

You'll also get a better concentration on the target muscle.



No weight sounds good. They'll just be squats, since you don't have ANY weight. For front squats, you load a bar across your shoulders and collarbone, in front of your chest rather than over your neck.




No weight at all until you know how it feels the next day.



Personally, I'd suggest simply doing stationary lunges, which are also called split squats. You do all the reps on one side, THEN switch legs and do the rest rather than alternating between legs. I don't like the position for reverse lunges for a beginner.



DON'T DO THESE YET. Work on your back, core, stretches in the hammies, and hamstring strength before you do them. You WILL get there, but not yet.



Yes - this will help build up the hammies. Make DAMNED sure you do your hamstring stretches after your workout.


These are of limited benefit. I'd ditch them. Wide squats will hit the inners, and split squats will hit the outers better than these. Plus, side leg lifts are awkward.

I don't think you'll like these. They're a little hard on the back. I don't do 'em:


Just stick with the one arm rows.


Keep your arm gliding along the side of your body. If your elbow sticks out, it's a rear-delt exercise. Just be sure you know which way you wish to do it. And back rows are for back, so keep the arm by your side.



Hold them like hammers, and as you raise them, form an upside down letter "V" (like an "A"). Concentrate on the negatives (slow on the way down)


I'd ditch these. Your obliques will get hit with your leg work, and building up the obliques can make your waist wider. I avoid them.

As long as you feel your abs flex, they should help a bit. How about leg lifts? hold onto something to stabilize you, stick your legs out, and lift them up a few inches, hold, then down a little bit slowly. Control the movement.



Do 'em seated, and I suggest you learn to do Arnie presses. They're WONDERFUL for shoulders, since they work all heads, not just the front head like regular shoulder press.



Use the 3s at first for this one.



Fine




I agree with seated. Do 'em alternating. Lift the first side, let it down slowly, and do the other side only when you've got the first one down by your side. Let each arm do a cycle all by itself.



I do this too.



Pretend you're pouring very full pots of tea.



Couple of tips: on a day where you do upper and lower, do lower first.

On shoulder day, do lateral raises first, to warm up the shoulder. If you're doing chest, do it after shoulders.

Do biceps after back.

Tuesday, 7/6, 58 minutes.

Began doing a few of the new exercises, but haven't yet really worked up the routines. Moving to a standard set of reps of 12, 9 and 6, so I'm making adjustments from the previous workouts. I'm going to stay at these weights for the upcoming week while I work towards the new routine.

I'm really undecided about whether to do the 2 mi WAP the same day as the lifting. I like the results of doing them both the same day, but it takes 32 minutes for the WAP, including the stretching. That really adds significantly to the overall time needed.

Warm up - 4 minutes
Front squats - 1x5
Side leg lifts - 2x12 w/ankle weights
Standing leg curls - 2x12 w/ankle weights
1 arm row - 12~15 lbs, 9~17lbs, 6~20 lbs
shoulder press - 12~12 lbs, 9~13 lbs, 6~15 lbs
bent over kickbacks - 12~12lbs, 9~13lbs, 6~15 lbs
curls - 12~12 lbs, 9~15 lbs, 6~15 lbs
2 arm overhead extensions - 12~12 lbs, 9~13 lbs
side latteral raises - 12~5 lbs, 9~6 lbs, 6~8 lbs
2 mi WAP, light stretchy band~light, HR up to 126

Hey there Diemde. You're most welcome.

Now, if it's just to see how it feels, then yes, by all means, one set. I wasn't sure if you meant to do all these at once, so I suggested splitting it up and doing sets of 3. I totally agree with you - stick to the sets of 1 wherever you're not sure.

Squats can hurt you. I DO think going past parallel is better, but ONLY when you're strong enough to handle them. Start with parallel for now. You've lost an INSANE amount of weight (I bow down before greatness. I can't even IMAGINE how hard that must have been, and I am TOTALLY impressed, BTW), but you're still carrying some you have yet to lose. This means that unweighted squats are actually weighted squats for you. Only do 3 or 4 reps, one set, see how it feels. Work your way up to 3 sets of 12 with just your body before you even THINK of adding dumbbells.

How's that?

And I'm glad to hear about the stretches. Still, I'd avoid the deadlifts for a bit. Build up your core first. It's not a race. You'll get there.

Ok here's the list... I'm still not satisfied, but we'll see how it goes. I'm just going to alternate back and forth between these without having a set schedule... aiming for 2 times per week for each. I'll try to do the 2 mile WAP after the workout when I can, but may have to do the 1 mile depending on the amount of time I have available.

Lower Body:
squats, 1x5, no dumbbells.
Plie squats, 1x5, no dumbbells.
Standing leg curls, 3x12, ankle weights.
One-arm rows
WAP

Upper Body:
Side latteral raises, start at 3 lbs.
Upright rows, start at 3 lbs.
Seated shoulder press
Seated forward flyes, start at 3 lbs
Seated one-arm curls
Bent-over kickbacks
2 arm overhead extensions
WAP

One arm rows are an upper body movement. I'm thinking you threw it in there to spread out the workout, yes?

I have another suggestion: since your lower body lifting is less than your upper body lifting (this is quite normal), how about doing a bit of leg work, then shoulders chest and triceps one day, and the rest of the leg work, then back and biceps the other day?

Wednesday, 7/7/04, 32 minutes

2 mi WAP, light stretchy band~medium, HR up to 131.


Yes, Built, I figured it was the only one geared specifically toward the back, so could go in with LB. I was thinking I might try for the 2 mile WAP with the LB and the 1 mile WAP with the UB.

I like your idea too, though. Maybe I'll try both ways and see what works best and feels right for me.

You'll figure it out. Besides, it's good to change things up a bit over time anyway, so you'll probably end up cycling through a NUMBER of combinations.

Enjoy!

If you don't feel it the next day or the day after, you're not lifting heavy enough. Increase the weight, decrease the reps, and work your way back up in the reps. Lather. Rince. Repeat.



Always wait at least a day.

I only work most of my bodyparts once a WEEK. But I DESTROY myself in the gym. You can't do this yet.

Oh, but you will....

Sunday, 7/11

Great workout today. I may just have to do this every Sunday. I can feel it. It's a good time for me to do it since my daughter is still sleeping in and I don't have to rush around and go anywhere. I really liked doing this all at once.

It probably took a bit longer than I should probably do in one workout, though. It took a total of 1 hour 14 minutes. Some of the time was spent looking up the new exercises in the book to ensure I had good form. Also, I didn't do 6 minutes worth of the 2 mile WAP - the stretchy band part. I like doing the 2 mile since it gets my heart rate up higher than the 1 mile. It is normally 32 minutes (26 minutes today), but maybe I should do the 1 mile (15 minutes) on the day that I'm going to do all of the strength training.

squats, 1x6
(this is easy on the muscle, but I can feel it in the knees. I'm just going to keep adding 1 until I get to 3 sets of 12, 9, 6. Then I'll add weights. Maybe by then I will have lost more weight so the knees can handle it better.)

Plie squats, 1x5
(Knee thing going on here too, but I like these and want to keep doing them.)

Standing leg curls, 3x12, ankle weights
(these are still too easy for me, need higher ankle weights)

One-arm rows, 12~15, 9~17, 6~20, 4~23
(these are going very well, I'm ready to move up. I need to understand the best way to progress up. I just added the 4~23 because I knew I could. When I am comfortable with the set of 6, is that when I move up the weights on the set of 12?)

Side latteral raises, 12~5, 9~7, 3~10
(form was ok, couldn't do more than 3~10, so this was probably the right weights for now)

Upright rows, 12~3, 9~5, 6~7
(3 lbs was a bit too low, but 7 lbs was just right for the set of 6, so next time start with 4 lbs)

Seated shoulder press, 12~13, 9~14, 6~15
(form is still shaky on the last rep on the 14 & 15 lbs)

Seated forward flyes, 12~3, 9~5, 6~7
(3 lbs was easy, start at 4 lbs next time. I'm a bit unsure on form - maybe because it was just too easy?)

Seated one-arm curls, 12~13, 8~14, 5~15
(good weight level - I just couldn't get that 9th or 6th one in for the last 2 sets, so I need to stay at this weight)

Bent-over kickbacks, 12~12, 9~13, 6~15
(I notice I'm tensing up on these, probably due to the awkward position. I should probably stay at this level until it beomes more comfortable)

2 arm overhead extensions, 12~12, 9~13, 6~15
(ready to move up on these, so do I go to 12~13, 9~15 and 6~17... or do I just move up one of the sets to a higher weight?)

26 minutes of the 2 mi WAP, no stretchy band, HR up to 131, ankle weights on.

After my workout, I drank a whey protein shake out of 1 oz cranberry juice cocktail, 3 oz water. May be too many carbs for after a workout, but it didn't taste bad. Also took 1 serving of L-glutamine, mixed in water.

Still so much to learn here. <sigh> I want it now. I know, I know... I'll get there.

Hey there - you're figuring it out! Good for you!

Consider moving the cranberry and whey to PRE workout. I get fat when I do it post, but some are okay with this. It's just something to watch.


Excellent job at the buttering, BTW
When you are "stuck" like this, consider doing 5 sets of 5 instead of 3 sets of 8 with the next increment.

For example, for the longest time, I couldn't curl the 27.5s - I was STUCK with the 22.5s, but I couldn't manage the next increment - the extra 5 pounds a side was KILLING me. I just could NOT lift them enough.

So I went from curling 3 sets of 10 with the 22.5s, to 5 sets of 4 with the 27.5s.

I can now curl 3 sets of 7 with the 27.5s, so this helped me make it past the plateau.

I think that was what you meant? And yes, rest your muscle groups well between workouts. I only work each part once a week, except for legs, which I currently do twice, but with somewhat different workouts.

As you move into lifting heavier and heavier weights, you'll feel the need to do this.

This is so cool! I'm so happy to see you getting into this.

I feel a little bit of soreness in my shoulders and biceps this morning, so that's good. Tells me I'm doing something right. No soreness elsewhere. I can see the advantages of splitting up the exercise if I was really working to capacity on all of the areas. It wouldn't be fun to have every muscle sore at the same time... although, it'd be nice to get it over with all at once.

Monday, 7/12

26 minutes of the 2 mi WAP, no stretchy band, HR up to 121.

I've been surfing your gym log with interest ... you are doing so great! I'm impressed with your routine. We're on some kind of parallel course, but I've taken the easy way out and use machines at the Y.

I've had so many of my own questions answered by Built and your own research, but regarding this one:



Me, too! But can we already be at a plateau state? I mean I have literally just been doing this for a few weeks. I just do one set aiming for between 8-12 reps. If I can barely squeak out 10, shouldn't I be feeling it the next day?

Any other wisdom you could share about this, Built or Dianne, I'd appreciate it!

You should see me do biceps. I'm practically blowing a blood vessel in my forehead by the last set. I hardly feel ANYTHING when it's over.

Few suggestions:
Increase your weight, but do 5 sets of 3-5 instead of 3 sets of 10
Reverse your workout order - if you usually do legs, then arms, switch it to arms, then legs
Do your three sets of 10, but do them SLOW, holding at the top for a second, and dropping VERY slowly

Or, it might even be time for (gasp!) some strategic carb refeeds!

Have fun!

- Built

Thanks, hon, but I don't know how impressive that truly is ... in working the machines, you use both arms at one time to lift the weight. And I still can't lift the 40 with good form, but I've found a 5 pound weight to add to the 30, so my second set I now do with 35.

I appreciate both you and Built for answering my plateau question. I'm going to try some new stuff at the gym this afternoon, see if I can lift more and get to that complete and utter failure point.

How is your pacing? I see folks at the Y who look like they've got those weights going 60 MPH - I can't help but think the main thing they're doing is using momentum. I lift really slow, like a count of 6 up, 8 down.

I hear you on the grunting. When I'm working on the final lift to failure, I feel my breath pushing out to 'help', but no unlady-like noise escapes my lips. And I do think that's part of it. I've been socialized to save the grunting for things like childbirth. I hope I'll get over this when I've been doing this longer and get up into much heavier weights where it's either grunt or not do the lift.

Are you planning on watching the Olympic weight lifters this summer? I'm rooting for Cheryl Haworth ... she's a gold medal contender at 5'9" and 300 pounds. She might be big, but can run the 40-yard dash in less than six seconds and has a 30-inch vertical jump! I'm so proud a big woman is showing the world it's more than possible to be fat and fit (although maybe only when you're young enough to move like she can!).



I think it's really cool that you're saying that! I want to clarify the cardio thing ... for one, it's not really cardio. I keep my HR at 60-65% due to heart health concerns, so I think I'm not pushing into that catabolic state folks get into with too much. I've been calling what I do 'aerobics', because I feel like I'm working hard enough to feed my body with lots of oxygen. I have to say, I don't particularly like the way it feels to do it - but I *love* the way my body feels afterwards (joints all lubed up and like I'm humming).

That's why I'm doing the 3 mile WAP - I feel since I'm doing things with a lot less intensity, I can do the extra time. I figure it's like I take a brisk walk every day - I can't imagine that gets in the way of muscle building. When I started making sure I was in my HR range, I couldn't do the arm movements ... I still don't use weights (and I won't as long as I'm lifting), but I can do all the upper body stuff now without going above my rate. To me, that's a good sign!

Thanks for letting me clog up your gym log! Isn't this fun? First, it's all about the diet - how to eat LC to our best advantage. Now it's morphed into the best ways to built a stronger, more efficient (and better looking!) body. I've enjoyed traveling this path with you ... I've felt in many ways you, me and Valerie are in the same graduating class. We're all doing 'post 100 pound loss' work now ... it's going to be fun to see were we all end up, since we've all got that serious motivation to keep this weight off.

Have a good day!