Living an EXTRAordinary Life

Since Matt and I decided not to run the Chicago Rock ‘n Roll Half Marathon, we decided to work on other aspects of our fitness.  Except for my calves, I am pretty mushy.  I do have a strong core from yoga, but I really needed to start incorporating weights.  I have been saying for years that I need to. But between training for the marathon, injuries and yoga … well, I never really got a chance to get into it.  I’d do an interval workout occasionally, but nothing really worth mentioning.  I’d always stop doing it again. This time, though, I am going to take it seriously.

It’s not surprising to many of you that I read a lot of health and fitness blogs and magazines.  After hearing about the results from The Rules of Lifting for Women by Lou Schuler, with Cassandra Forsythe, M.S. and workout programs by Alwyn (ALL-in) Cosgrove, I decided to buy this book.   I read it and became excited about the program, even if it is technically a six month program.  That sounds daunting, but then, I train for races for four months, this isn’t really that much longer, right?   The nutrition section makes a lot of sense, but as a vegetarian, I was told to look elsewhere.

The big innovation to this program is that the trainers advocate heavy weights for women.  Usually, women are told to lift light weights with lots of repitition, so that they don’t bulk up. Most women don’t want to be bulky, but I do want visible muscle, so this is the way I should lift.   The six months are divided up into seven stages, with stage six being optional.  Each stage will last between six to eight weeks, based on how many times per week you work out.  Each stage has two workouts you alternate.   Each workout has FIVE exercises.

As an endurance “athlete”, I have trouble wrapping my head around that.  Five exercises, 20-25 minutes per workout.  Cardio not necessary and the pounds will roll off?  Hmmmph … we’ll see.  I mean, I understand, building muscle will increase my metabolism and make me smaller, but does it really feel like a workout?  And I will still be doing cardio, as I am still running, just not … long.

So today, after finally getting the training logs and the exercises organized, I did the first workout.  It took me about 22 minutes.

Here is how it went down:

First exercise …. Squats with barbell, 2 sets of 15.  Well, that was fine … my 12 pound body bar is already obsolete.

Second exercise … Push-ups … um, I can do zero of these on the floor.  I managed to eek out 2 sets of 15 by doing the 45 degree ones at the dining room table.

Third exercise …. Dumbbell bent-over Row …. These were fun.  Need to increase weights next time.

Fourth exercise …. Step Up (on bench) … I have done these for years while doing my FIRM workouts.  It was familiar to me. I grabbed the 8 pounders.  Did the first sets.  But the second sets burned.  And I am a RUNNER … aren’t I supposed to have strong legs.  LOL.  And here the heart rate went up … so I got, what, four minutes of cardio?

Fifth exercise …. Prone Jackknife … these involve an exercise ball.  I hate those things.  Every time I try to use them, I hurt myself. But I drug it up from the basement anyway, cleaned it off and tried this exercise.  Fell off every time.  So, I just skipped this exercise.  Don’t know what body part I missed out on working.

Bonus … just because that didn’t feel complete … I did 2 sets of 15 reps of triceps kickbacks with 5 pound weights.  The first set was easy, the second harder.  Will not be able to move up to 8 pounders the next time.

Did it feel like a workout?  Yeah.  But it still felt like cheating, because it was only 22 minutes and until my heart rate went up, I barely broke a sweat.  And that was probably because it suddenly became humid right as I was getting started.

I’ll report on workout 2, but don’t worry, I won’t be recapping every single one for you.