LP's Fantastic Voyage!

Dear Diary:

Hi. I work out 5 days/week, and am "differently productive" and/or "lazy" on the other two. My week starts on a Wednesday, and this is my third week of doing this. Mostly I am using this to keep track of my gains. Also I love talking about me. I do not intend to track my diet (I track it elsewhere, and I refuse to enter all that info 2x), though I will fully admit if I've had a "rough day" (Please see yesterday's entry [to follow]).

Overview:
Wednesday: Jump day* (I track my time on this day)
Thursday: Upper (Usually a run day, if I can manage it)
Friday: Lower (Usually a Bike day)
Saturday: "Differently Productive"
Sunday: Upper (Usually a run day)
Monday: Lower (Usually a bike day)
Tuesday: "Lazy" (Dead tired, usually in bed by 930)

Enjoy!

- LP

*The goal of jump day is to get to 150 jumps; average 125 w standard deviation of ~15.

Dear Diary:

Today is Yesterday. Wednesday: Jump Day.

Rode a bike to lunch with my dad. Which was pretty neat, since it is starting to cool off. Got a care package from my sister. Contents: One "Cougar" print Snuggy. 1 Large Package Halloween Pumpkin Peeps. Took the monster to Costco to buy Halloween candy. Ate 1 peep and 1 tootsie pop. Regretted it instantly, spent over an hour wishing I hadn't done that. Tried to cure tummyache w water, which made it worse, since then I just wanted to explode all over the ghost tootsie pops we'd made.

Warm up with 5 BW lunges, 5 @ 10lbs, 5 @ 25lbs. (I prefer plates for this)
3x:
10 Full BW squats (This is the only day I do these)
10 Box Jumps (Increased Height 3 inches)
10 Hockey Jumps Foward
10 Hockey Jumps Backward
25 Shuffles (Right and Left)
4 sets Jump ropes

Jump ropes:
37, 26, 23, 72
25, 33, 29, 114
78, 55, 42, 64
Maximum Jumps: 114
Minimum Jumps: 23
Average Jumps: 50 w standard deviation of 27 (this is stupid high, I'm working on it)

Previous Max: 57
Previous Min: 20
Previous Avg: 35 w standard deviation of 13

Treadmill (I usually don't do this):
1 minute 3.7
30 seconds 5.7
30 seconds 6.7
15 seconds 5.4
2:45 3.5

Total Time: 35 minutes

-LP

Nicely done...I got a kick out of "Differently Productive"

That's because Les doesn't like to be boxed I imagine. No sterotypes, no social tags, no nothing. She enjoys taking unique to a whole new level. It's a challenge in itself .

You say you don't usually do Treadmill, so what made you decide to cave in and use one?

I don't either. I stood on one once to talk to someone and it felt a bit weird. It wasn't even moving either. I prefer something like an Exercise Bike, just because if you're not careful sometimes a Treadmill can take control of you. I've seen it happen as well.

I love your workout Les! Sounds interesting and fun, but at the same time, getting the work done.
On your box jumps, do you raise the height 3 inches for every set of 10?
Also, just curious...on your rope jumping do you jump with both feet at the same time, or do you "step" one foot at a time with the same foot always leading...or do you step each foot each cycle, basically jogging rope? I love to jump rope. I think alot of people forget how challenging it is! Great way to do some cardio and have fun too.

"differently productive"

LOL! love it!

Dear Diary:

Today is Today (again). Thursday: Upper.
Business first:

You say you don't usually do Treadmill, so what made you decide to cave in and use one?

No, I don't treadmill on Jump Day. I generally finish off 2 water bottles, and even though Jump Day was longer than usual, I had some leftover. But my shins couldn't take another round on the rope, so I did a quick run to finish off my water. Does that make sense? Probably not. I do practice my run at least once a week on a treadmill, 2 if I can manage it. However, I will agree the treadmill is both new and different. I have to walk it down to 3, then 2.5, then 1.2... or else I will get that "jelly legs" thing and I can't walk when I get off it. Someone actually asked me once why I spent the last 2 minutes of my run walking my speed down so low. I think I told them I had an inner-ear condition.

I love your workout Les! Sounds interesting and fun, but at the same time, getting the work done.
On your box jumps, do you raise the height 3 inches for every set of 10?
Also, just curious...on your rope jumping do you jump with both feet at the same time, or do you "step" one foot at a time with the same foot always leading...or do you step each foot each cycle, basically jogging rope? I love to jump rope. I think alot of people forget how challenging it is! Great way to do some cardio and have fun too.

No, I raised it 3 inches over last week. I do not change height mid-set. There is a reason for this. It is that as I get more tired, I get more panicked that I'm going to knock over the steps I practice on (for step classes, I sneaks into the aerobics room!). My goal is to add another 3 inches every two weeks, but I honestly think I can go up again next week. We shall see.

Right now, I jump both feet at once. I can alternate feet, and I can do double jumps (where the rope passes twice on each jump) and cross overs, but right now I am focusing on the one. Once I hit the 150 mark, I will focus more on my alternate-foot jumps. I do these at the gym on the spring-floors, it is better for my rope, and my shins! I have been known to jump-rope jog around the block on cooler days, though. Super fun!

Upper today. Nothing improved. Slightly depressing, but I *know* I didn't eat enough today and I had like zero energy. I woke up tired this morning, so I should have seen it coming. Lame. I struggled through the last couple reps on nearly everything I did. As a result, I didn't run. Also lame. Plus Thursdays and Mondays I fly solo which is super boring. The good news is the workout was hard, and I honestly did my best and did each rep fully and completely. So I don't feel like it was wasted, even though I was wiped. Admittedly the run part could have been better, but...

My basketball friend (well, the cool one, the other guys are still here but they aren't as much fun cos they let me take free shots instead of guarding and stealing the ball like proper gentlemen) moved across town (like 45 minutes away). We used to gym together, but ... he moved. Anyway, our memberships are good all over town, and I think I might go out there tomorrow to visit with him and get in some basketball after! I have three exams next week (2 theory, 1 practical), and a crap-ton of stuff to do this weekend, so I may not have time for kickball on Saturday. Hopefully I can get in basketball when I have the chance!

Oh, there is a gymnastics class on Wednesday afternoons that I may start going to. This would reduce jump day to strictly working on my vertical jumps, so only hockey and box jumps. But, I have to get over my fear of people to join. I have two friends that are doing it, and they tell me it is fun. We'll see!!

Also I want a mohawk. Details to follow.

- LP

Also I want a mohawk. Details to follow.

- LP

Dear Diary -

Today is Friday: Lower.

Went to a few nutrition classes run by my dad's RD today. It was interesting, but definitely a few facepalm type moments. I will persevere. The good news is, I was confident before about what I wanted to focus my practice and education on, but I was still looking to keep things well-rounded and balanced just to be sure. Well, that need has been eliminated. I know what I want to do. Yay me!

Lower is getting easier. Grr... The upside is I appear to have *finally* gotten over that stupid back issue from the motorbike "incident" over Labor Day. This means I can comfortably hold the bar for my squats and good mornings. My wrist positioning is getting more solid as well. So now I can start moving weight up (This is not a problem on the Smith, but I hate the Smith so...) I intend to make an honest shot on Monday, then take it from there! Monday lower back, good mornings and lunges will all increase.

Started HIIT on the bike, and made it 5 minutes, my heart just wasn't in it (made it through 2 cycles). I think I got bored? So I moved to the elliptical, and most certainly put my heart into it (remaining 15 minutes and finished out the cycles).

- LP

i'm not sure about "jump day"

Dear Diary:

Today is Saturday: Differently Productive.
Business first:

i'm not sure about "jump day"

What's not to be sure about? It is the highlight of my week!

Worked early early this morning, and spent the balance of my day on homework and exams and other silly things (got a lot more done than I expected, so I have less to do tomorrow!). Tried to ride my bike to the grocer to get some veg for Wiggy, but it was dark by the time I took a break from my silly things. Ended up having to drive, so as not to starve my lil wunkin. We shared a red pear that the monster gave us. It was nice.

Hula'd! 2 sessions 10 minutes each. I was listening to new music, got into it, and started keeping my rhythm by that, rather than by what my hoops required to stay up. I dropped one of three on the first set. Oh well. I had intended to get in a few good jumps as well, but my shins are still sore. Plus, I got 142 jumps on my first round, and decided that merited stopping for a bit (: So I put in 4 sessions on a punching bag, 2 minutes each instead. Easier on my shins!!

- LP

well when you run you stress about 2 - 3 x the forces of your bodyweight through your ankles, hips and knees

when you jump it can get up to 10 x your bodyweight

for quick math your doing 120 jumps for the circuit with whatever your bw is (i'll say 60kgs for this example) - 7,200kgs of force being put through your body without any of the above multiples

i can't even work out that skipping thing but it looks to be about 450+ contacts which is another 27,000kgs of stress again without any of the multiples from above

so you're looking at a total of at least 34,200 kgs of pressure at the very least

for a better figure put that in pounds for you

= 76,000pds of pressure

and that is without the treadmill which is another

this is one day of your training week

The only thing I do that has anymore impact to it than a regular run is my box jumps. I am working to improve my vertical jump as a part of what I do overall to improve my ability to play basketball.

I only do this one day a week because of the impact. You will observe that in an outline of my week.

you shouldn't have more then 40 contacts per day, and that'st he high end

Dear Diary:

Today is Sunday: Upper.

What an awesome awesome day! Got in some good studying, mowed my dad's lawn and washed the monster's car for her. And since I was at the house anyway, I played around on my wii! (I don't have a tv, and the monster really wanted one, so I just hooked mine up over there, but I have visitation rights!) I got 54 fit credits on wiifit and unlocked 2 levels on 2 of my games, 2 yoga poses, and a strength exercise. I only have 2 things left to unlock! I think I'm going to get Wiifit Plus, since it has 15 more balance games. That and hula hoop (aerobics) are the only ones I play so I think it is a good investment. And speaking of good investments, my super awesome big sister (of Monday's care package), got me a nike plus! I should get it sometime next week I think.

I really wanted my dad to buy me lunch today, so I spent roughly 45 minutes trying to get him to ride bikes w me to the taco store. (I don't have a bicycle, and I can't unicycle that far) He said he was "watching football" but when I came in from mowing his yard an hour later he was sound asleep! Anyway, I decided to go for a bike ride all by my lonesome, and as I was walking out into the garage, the monster came home with a truck full of groceries. So no bike ride ): I fully intend to try again tomorrow. I will still want him to buy me lunch, I am sure.

Upper went really well. My friend who moved away came tonight, so I w/o'd with him (kind of. took 2 hours, we mostly chatted) I benched with him, for funsies, which was rad cos I haven't done that since w/o camp, Labor Day weekend. It also gave me an excuse to not do dips. I hit the exercise bike at the gym after my w/o but it just wasn't the same, and after 6 minutes (3 intervals) I ended up running instead (20 minutes). Had a really really great run and now I'm in a crazy good mood. Even though I put choco powder in my shake on accident. Blech.

The cool thing about the run is, I started running 3x/week last May, in preparation for a race in Indy on Thanksgiving. It is called the Drumstick Dash, and you chase a guy dressed like a turkey leg through Broadripple. Turns out everyone's coming here, so I can't go to the race (I've got nephews and a niece to visit with!), but my run was of race-quality (even though I haven't trained in that kind of cold), so I am glad to know I was able to do it! (We were going to do the Run Like Hell on Halloween, but that didn't pan out either. You get to dress up and there is a costume competition after. I was going to be Wiggles.)

- LP

Dear Diary:

Today is Awesome: Lower.

Rode a pilfered bike to the autoshop to pick up some new taillights. Got there and realized I was still in my jammies. Oops. Studied allllll day for my micro exam, so the w/o was particularly awesome because I had a lot of pent up energy to work out. Okay, not alllllll day. I had lunch w Wiggles. Lil' sweetie.

Today was super great. I finally added weight to my Good mornings (I've been doing just the bar since Labor day, when I hurt my back). It's been giving me no problems whatever for the last two weeks, so I went for it. Did one set bar only (45lbs) one set at 65lbs, and a third at 95. Though I'm not really "feeling" it in my hammys like I should, I'm glad to know my back and wrists are supporting the weight just fine. I'm going to try and get back up to my previous weight in the next few weeks. Of course, takin' it slow, since I'd rather not hurt myself. Also went to a different gym (the one by the autoshop, since they sold me the wrong bulbs this afternoon), and they had a different hyperextension set up from the one I usually use. I *LOVE* it. I love hopping off the bench and kinda getting that "jellyleg" feeling. Nice. Everything else went well too. Lunges, smith squats, some ab things... uhm? I think that's it.

21 minutes on the elliptical, which I used wisely. Instead of doing intervals (where I have to semi-pay attention to what's going on), I just put it on "random" and read over the micro outline I typed up this afternoon. Oh, also, I think my machine was broken because My HR was 210. I'm pretty sure I'd be dead or at least out of breath if that were the case. Usually I wear my HRM but I forgot today (I blame the autoshop!)

- LP