lifts:
-cable row 4x8 @65 (increase of 10lbs)
-pull-ups 3-6-5
-biceps 2x strip set
-shrugs 4x12 w/25’s
Then I went into the pool and swam/water ran for 15 minutes and was like… ew I really don’t want to do this. I was really hungry so I had a quick contrast shower, stretched in the steam room, and went home and ate the greatest most well-balanced meal ever.
The real test was at work (right after)- usually I get STARVING really quickly there, but after my awesome lunch… I didn’t really get hungry at all. Then I had some soup anyways and started to flip out because I get annoyed at myself for eating when I’m not really hungry, but I did my best to fight it. I am going into another let’s-not-eat-yay phase but with all the lifting… I don’t have time for that BS.
just a sidenote- I got my AP exam scores back and can finally feel vindicated for all the stress and worry I went through while taking them! They are graded on a scale of 1-5 (5 is best), and I did well enough to earn a national award (average over 4 on 8 exams) so NO i am not just a dumb jock
Congrats, I was so happy when I got mine back too. Although I only took one test, I got a 5 so thats all good. Also, was that 8 exams in your high school career or just in one year?
3 exams my junior year and 5 this year.
well done to you as well! It is tough to get 5’s, especially on certain tests… the biology and french lit ones come to mind :rolleyes:
no fair!! The history ones are usually not bad but I took euro after slacking off in the class all year and only managed a 4 :mad: But hey, i have enough 5’s to get the college placements I need so i guess it doesn’t really matter for me now anyway.
Today i did the spirtual yoga class for weirdos for an hour, then tried to do lifts. I got through 2x10 box (bench) jumps, then cleans 1x3 @95 and 3x2 @105 ok… but then I was doing them i front of a mirror and noticed my knees going in slightly which bothered me a lot, and I was already really distracted. I have an appt. for physical therapy tommorow but the woman was being really obnoxious about insurance and all that crap. I just got health insurance for the first time in years and i was all excited about it, but this woman was like… I don’t think we have a contract with your insurance company, you’ll have to pay out of pocket… so I was worrying about that because out of pocket means out of MY pocket since my parents can’t pay it at the moment, and i started wondering if my ankle is really bad enough to warrant going since it hasn’t really been hurting this week…
Anyway, I totally lost focus so I did 3x5 high/deep bench jumps and got the hell out. The only nice thing was one of the trainers coming over and asking me how long I had been doing cleans, and saying that I was the only woman he had ever seen do that kind of stuff. It almost made me want to go back and finish the set.
btw- I’m flipping a shit because i feel like I don’t know the direction of my own training and I am operating on nothing but trust and I am so tempted to start running and lower lifts again because I swear I am going to atrophy. AND I have gone off my food.
This is only relevant because according to my theory, I guarantee that either my back or my ankle will flare up tommorow as a result of the worry!
went to physical therapy this morning, it was actually really useful. my insurance is really minimalist and covers PT only after surgery (wouldn’t you want me to AVOID surgery?) but the woman gave me 50% off so I felt a lot better about it.
She did some tests and some feeling around; among other things she noticed that my dorsiflexion is only about 10 degrees when it should be 15-20. She did some ultrasound and some massage and recommended ultrasound treatments with a hydrocortisone cream plus more massage. She also recommended that I see the acupuncture person who really does a combination of acupuncture, heat and cold therapies, and massage, especially for runners. Between them both I will probably have 3 sessions a week for my ankle, plus massage as my budget allows.
EXCELLENT lifts:
-10 min. core to warm up
-bench 2x8 @80, 2x8 @85 (WOOOOO PR)
-shoulder press 4x8 w/25’s
-dips 1x12 w/8% assist, 1x12 NO assist, 1x10 NO assist- this is amazing because when I started this lifting series 3 weeks ago or so I could pretty much get up and bend my elbows 8 times and that was my dips, and now I am still not going ALL the way down but I’m going a lot further and for more reps, yay
-pushups 3x4 w/4-4-4 tempo… I am actually sticking more strictly to the tempo the way it is meant to be now so I have improved here
-DB bench 2x8 w/25’s, 2x8 w/30’s
-stretching
I was really motivated for two reasons- one because I had caffeine this morning (I usually avoid caffeine completely) which always puts me in a more positive state of mind and gives me energy, and secondly because there was this woman at the gym who was lifting fairly heavy as well and she kept watching me and I really wanted to be stronger than she was. (I succeeded )
LOOOONG day at work- I was really really busy right up until the last minute of my shift, and all the walking around made my ankle hurt. It sounds weird but I am actually sort of glad because my ankle had been doing pretty well and I was worried that the physical therapy was wasted money.
today:
-10 min core set
-3x8 pull-ups: still slightly assisted, these have not progressed quite as well as dips
-dips 3x12 no assist
-went on the elliptical for 20 minutes of hills, 5 min CD. According to the heart rate monitor I should have been dead. It felt awesome to just get my HR up and sweat a bit, if my ankle had hurt I would have stopped but it was ok.
-full stretch
Today was another one of those 1,000 cals-or-less days, I am starting to track my weight more carefully. I also decided I want a comprehensive blood test… I am worried about iron levels among other things.
I almost forgot- I was working out with no shirt which I haven’t done in a while and was happy to discover that my six-pack is really defined now.
Of course so are all my bones, but I think that was always been the case.
My ankle flared up after a long day yesterday and then at work today it started aching more and more. SO, when I came home I went to the acupuncture person at my phys. therapy place as recommended by the therapist.
I never had acupuncture before but it was extremely interesting- after writing down everything I could think of about my history, this woman did a bunch of stuff. She stuck needles in my foot and ankle and a couple up my leg on both sides, a couple in my hands and arms and one on my face. She put a heating lamp on my ankle for a little while, then I flipped over and she did needles in my ankles and lower legs again and also my middle and lower back and stuck heat on that. Then brief massage w/anti-inflammatory lotion, piriformis stretching, lower back release (same kind of cracking that my chiro does) and then she adjusted my psoas. I was lying on my back and my left leg was “out of alignment”- I guess it was actually higher than the right one, so she released my psoas which was not the most pleasant thing ever, but I guess things fell back into place and she was satisfied.
Kind of strange, but the ankle is aching a lot less now than it was when I went in. I will probably do some core and some elliptical later tonight and then ice the ankle if things are irritated.
Ironically, I realized that between the chircopractor, the podiatrist, physical therapy, massage, and acupuncture, a large chunk of my money goes towards recovery… and of course the work I do to GET that budget in the first place is what makes the ankle worse- it’s a vicious cycle!
Neither do I!!! neither does anyone because apparently there is nothing explicitly wrong with it!!!
Bottom line from the podiatrist- no bone chips, there is no one ligament or tendon that is torn or injured. He says it must simply be an overuse injury and put tendinitis on my prescription for physical therapy. The pain has been achy for a while, not sharp, so I haven’t been kept up at night from pain or limping as I was through may and june.
Phys therapist + acupunc. pointed out that my dorsiflexion is not what it ought to be (tight achilles) and I had to get my left hip realigned.
It has improved overall but does not seem to be fully healed.
There is only something wrong with rest when you are worried that you’re not doing enough to warrant it
yesterday- dragged myself out of a nap and did a 10 minute core circuit, 3x12 dips, 1x8, 1x6, 1x4 pull-ups with decreasing assist, and 35 min. on elliptical.
going back to the podiatrist today before I go lifting. I hope he hasn’t realized yet that my insurance doesn’t cover him because my check will probably bounce :eek:
I’m eating very clean (as always) and balanced and I am much more aware of getting enough protein and taking my vitamins. So the planning is good, the actual consumption of appropriate amounts… it’s been a little fuzzy. I suppose weight is dropping, but it’s not as if i suddenly stopped eating and lost 10 lbs- more like 3.
)
