Operation pull up

I can't do an unassisted pull up 😭 I've been trying for over 2 years now. But one of my very few goals for this year is to do one.

Back my first year at the gym, the year  I met JC, I tried to do a pull up on the monkey bars at the local park. I got myself up about half an inch. That's when I started doing assisted pull ups. I've made progress on them--from needing 120lbs or more of assist, down to 95 lbs of assist.

I read a lot of fitness articles, and have my Personal Trainer textbook too. Pretty much everything I've read says it's a good idea to work your weaker areas 2x a week. Superman and I pretty much always do legs on Tuesday and upper body on Thursday. So this week I started doing shoulders, delts, and lats on my own on Monday. Today (Thursday ) Superman will do more upper body and back stuff with me. I've got basically until Christmas to get strong enough to do this. I'll be happy with one pull up, but I would love to be able to do several more.

Sometimes I forget...

Sometimes I forget that I'm not 230lbs anymore. Several times in the last month I have found myself making accommodations for the weight I no longer carry.

A few weeks ago Superman had me doing something on the weight bench. I sat on the edge...then immediately moved more towards the middle.  I was afraid I was going to flip it by putting too much weight too close to the end. Just yesterday he had me standing on a plastic step doing deadlifts. I found myself scooting back...because I was afraid I was going to flip it!

Superman competed in his second bodybuilding competition a few days ago. He didn't place, but it wasn't a drug tested competition, and several of the guys he lost to had obvious signs of steroid use. He's content with what he brought to the stage though, and I couldn't be more proud of him. He looked amazing!! His cheering section got to hang out with his parents again this year. Yesterday he told me that his mom had commented to him that she could see the changes in my physique from last year!

German volume training

,,Last week Superman got the brilliant idea to test this on me. It was...interesting.

GVT is a training method where you pick a few compound exercises, and you do 10 sets of 10 repetitions of them. The weight stays kind of light, but 100 reps is brutal.

Last week we did bench press (75lbs) and deadlifts (135lbs). The first 4-6 sets were relatively easy. By the 7th set of each, I was struggling. On the deads, I had to pause between reps several times per set. On the bench, he made me rack briefly after the 6th or 7th rep. My arms were so shaky when we were done! The next morning I woke up at 4 am to pee...and realized I felt like I'd been hit by a truck. It hurt to breathe, my  shoulders and entire back was tight. It took until Monday for everything to loosen up!

He didn't call it GVT, but Tuesday we kinda did it for legs. He gleefully announced that we were doing 10 kinds of squats. That's right kids, an entire hour of nothing but squats. Bodyweight, sissy squats (totally NOT for sissies), dumbbell squats, squat machine, front squats on the machine, barbell squats, barbell squats with bands/kettle bells dangling, front squats, box squats...and jump squats. Wednesday morning my quads were tight, but not horrible. Thursday morning...OMG!

Yesterday he decided to do a modified GVT round 2. We started with shoulder press, biceps curls and close grip smith machine push ups (5 sets of 10 of each exercise). Then we did triceps push downs, concentration curls, and rear delt raises (5 sets of 10 of each exercise). My arms weren't as shaky afterwards. Hopefully that means I won't be too sore this weekend...

Rite of passage...

At my gym, on the patio, are 2 huge tractor tires. As kind of a rite of passage, the "big boys" like to go out and flip it to prove how strong they are (and impress the girls 😉 ). Since I am one of the stronger females that Superman trains, last year we attempted tire flips on numerous occasions. I needed help from him, but I did it.

This year, we intended to try it again as soon as the weather was warm enough, but before we could try, I developed severe tendinitis in my left elbow. It took 4 months, including a month of physical therapy, to get back to 100%. Just last weekend I texted him and told him I thought it would be safe to try some of the things we have avoided.

So Tuesday was leg and self defense day. He fried my legs with squats, lunges, adductor/abductor, etc then we went out on the patio for some punching and kicking. Then he decided we could try the tire. The first attempt was a true struggle, but he talked me through it, and I'm pretty sure he helped me a little. The second time, I got part way up, and dropped it.  The third time, I struggled, I fought...and I did it!!!

On Monday I want to try again.

Support...

The other day Superman said something, and I've been thinking about it. We were talking about diet since him, and his training partner K are both on strict cutting diets. He said it's a little easier, and sucks a little less, when you know your friends are "suffering" through it too. You know, 'cause misery loves company 😁.

So I've decided to do 2-3 more continous  rounds of 21DF, and not stop til his competition in late September.  I know I won't follow plan 100%, but I'm sure I can manage 80% of the time. That will still allow for coffee with JC and chocolate to help me through rough times at work (someone will DIE if I completely cut out chocolate and alcohol).

If I can lose 1 pound a week for the next 9 weeks, I will officially be the lightest I have been since possibly before I got pregnant with DS2. And only about 15 lbs away from the obese/overweight line. It would be so awesome to finally hit the overweight BMI after all these years.

Round 2 results....

This round I lost weight like crazy the first week--2.4lbs. Then PMS hit, and I "regained" a pound or so. This morning I'm finally back where I was at the end of the first week. I'm a little disappointed that I only lost 2.4 lbs this round, but pumped that my total is 6lbs in 6 weeks. I did lose an inch on my waist this round.

I'm thinking my results this round are due to a combination of factors. I averaged about 3 cups of veggies a day instead of 4/5 from last round. I wasn't as regular this round, despite adding a daily probiotic. I also added a few things to my meals that are not 21DF approved, like granola, and Bare Naked brand granola bars.

Today is the first day of round 3, and I'm hoping it's a good round. For a few days I'm going to bump my veggies up a little, and see if that helps my regularity issues. Maybe next week I'll skip the granola in my yogurt and see if that helps the scale move at all. If I can lose a pound a week this round, I'll have lost all of the 9 lbs I regained. Then I can get back to real losing.

21 day fix, round 2

I ended the first round down 3.6 pounds...sorta. During my 3 day break I ate "normally" and my digestive system pretty much shut down. My body was so used to getting 7 or 8 cups of fruits and vegetables that it protested when it didn't.  By Monday when I started round 2, I had regained 1.6 lbs.

I'm 4 days into round 2, and I have lost 0.8lbs if you're counting my lowest weight from the last round. I've lost 2.4lbs if you count the weight I regained. The last 2 days I've been sick and unable to eat the proper 21 day fix amounts. Hopefully tomorrow my tummy will be able to tolerate food again. I definitely feel better when I'm trying to follow the meal plan. My digestive system works better too.

Superman told me that several people mentioned to him that they think I look slimmer. That's definitely a positive thing! After he told me that, I took a few quick pictures, and I think I see changes. The left is a few days before I started, the right is the day after I started round 2.