Return of the lurking jungle-ninja!

flyinfree said:
Coffee! Just plain old caffeine is, IMO, one of the very best supplements to help with a lil boost to your workouts.
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I have never been able to stand the taste of coffee! =P I am one of those weirdos that just can't drink it at all. Hate the smell too. I do drink tea though, I almost always have a travel mug of it in class with me in the mornings for a pick-me-up.

Despite today being a derby day I opted to hit the gym - the way my schedule is, if I don't double up some of these gym and derby days, I'll only be making it in to work out twice a week, and those two will be really far apart, and then I feel soooo lazy! It was beautiful out today, a lovely sunny 90 degrees, so the big garage door was open and the whole building was full of nice fresh air.

We warmed up with the classic cross fit warmup (Samson stretches, air squats, sit ups, back extensions, and pull ups, 10 each) then did three rounds of 3 deadlifts, 3 power cleans, 3 presses, 3 push jerks, 3 thrusters with an empty bar (the 15lb bar for me). Then we did squat sets (5-5-5-3-3-3) increasing in weight. Everyone else did back squats, but I did goblet squats, with a kettle bell held in front of my chest, two better on focus on getting my weight back in my heels and my chest up. I worked up to a 35lb kettle bell. Finally, we finished with sets of 5 deadlifts (at 45lbs for me) and 10 burpees, which I managed to do 4 rounds of.

Now I've had a quick rinse-off (no point washing my hair and all, I'm just about to get all sweaty again after dinner!) and I'm resting and eating before derby practice. I got a new helmet, which is pretty exciting - its got a fancy magnetic clip, really comfy padding, and its gold and has sparkles on it =D New sports equipment makes me feel like I'm 5 again and getting a new toy... Eeeee! Just think how giddy I'll be when my new skates arrive in a few weeks....
 
Creatine Monohydrate is the stuff I would go for, it is usually very cheap and there are plenty of studies that support the supplement. But don't listen to the 'loading-up/saturation' phase, just start taking it at 5g a day, I like taking mine before my exercise routines.

I have heard Glutamine supplementation helps with Faster recovery from weight training. I haven't tried it myself, but in the end it is supposedly one of the most abundant amino acids in our muscles, so its supplementation can't be all that bad.

I hope this helps,

ICE
 
Yeah, I think the Creatine Monohydrate is what I used before, I found a neat little citrus flavored chewable that was super convenient (and tasty!). May try it again.

Just got back from another Endurance Monday with the derby team. Plenty of sprint laps, hard work, and a couple of really class falls on my bum, and I feel the ever present burn in my thighs (and kind of a headache, these warm evenings are going to get intense in a warehouse with no a/c!). Now for a shower, and homework time. Oh yay. =P
 
[/QUOTE]I got a new helmet, which is pretty exciting - its got a fancy magnetic clip, really comfy padding, and its gold and has sparkles on it =D New sports equipment makes me feel like I'm 5 again and getting a new toy... Eeeee! Just think how giddy I'll be when my new skates arrive in a few weeks....[/QUOTE]

I know exactly what you mean - I love new sports equipment - new shoes definitely make me run faster - can hardly imagine how great new skates will be!
 
Sure! said:
new shoes definitely make me run faster
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Loooove new shoes! (insert stereotype about girls here) I've actually been thinking of getting a new pair, my current gym shoes are a pair of Under Armor cross trainers I got back in 2007. They are still in good shape, since I only wear them to the gym so they stay nice and clean and don't get worn out at all, but I still start to itch for something new after so many years. I've been lusting after a pair of Vibram's for a little while now - several of my friends have them for running and love them! It would also probably help me develop those little foot muscles I need for skating. Speaking of, I need to do some running - interval training more specifically. Need to get myself used to those bursts for the game play of derby. Maybe I'll find a team mate to train with =D
 
Any excuse is a good one for new shoes! Sale on Sierra Trading post works for me, heck anything works for me. I have some vibrams - I use them a little bit, but really like minimalist running shoes better, both for core/plyometric workouts and cardio (stairs/elliptical/running). Actually, I've gotten so used to the minimalist shoes (Keen's are my favs) that when I put on my trail running Solomon's they feel like clunky rocks - hate them!

Let's go shopping!

Not sure if this is relevant given that you live on the east coast where there is some humidity, but with the scales that measure body fat, you want to have a little moisture on your feet - right out of the bath/shower is good, or stand for a moment on a dampened towel. It makes a difference of a up to 2% on our home scale (and for me, the difference between triumph and utter despair!). Ahh, the angst...
 
Guess what! Its Wednesday! Time for another super-exciting weigh in! Hooraaaay! So for fun and learning, I decided to try an experiment; I took the readings with my scale twice. Once the way I normally do it, and once with my feet slightly moistened first as Sure! suggested I try, to see if it made a difference in the reading with the increased conductivity. The results are in!

Fourth Weigh In

Weight: 167.4lbs
Bust: 36 in
Waist: 31.5 in
Hips: 42 in
Thigh: 24.5 in

Body fat: 37.6% (moist feet: 37.9)
Muscle: 25.9% (moist feet: 25.7)

Well, that pesky weight just isn't really going anywhere. But my thigh did go down half an inch, and my body fat is down half a percent from last week while my muscle is up a little. And as you can see, the moist feet didn't make much difference for me (a difference of about .3), so I guess my feet don't dry out all that much in my climate. Its a little frustrating that I'm not seeing the rapid results I saw last time I did this, but of course last time I was also much stricter about what I was eating (journal followers may remember my diet of things like tuna salad, rice and beans, and steamed vegetables). While breakfast and lunch are still very much under my control, dinner is kind of a shared realm with my boyfriend so I can't just say "honey lets have steamed veggies tonight" - he wouldn't survive work the next day lol but I guess I need to be cutting my portions a little more.

In other exciting news, I happened into a store yesterday and tried out some Vibrams. They are sooo much fun! Very cool feeling! I was still on the fence until the clerk mentioned there's a substantial discount at EMS for full time students (15%, woot!) which sold me on the idea completely. So today will be my first day wearing them to walk around campus for class. I also downloaded the newly popular app Run Zombie Run! which a bunch of my friends are really enthusiastic about - for those not familiar, it uses your phones gps to track your speed and distance, while putting together a story line about zombies chasing you a couple minutes at a time to make you run faster now and then. You also pick up items along the way, it designates safe zones if you need to rest, and you can look at your map to see your avatar and check how close the zombies are. Very cute =P And I could sure use the cardio.
 
which ones did you get? let's see'em!

I have some classics on order (they just cover the hoof, soul, and toes), guess I mentioend that, but I am excited.

hey, I have been doing some reading up, and you are supposed to be careful if uyou start running in them,. All that toe action can blow out your calve if you're not used to them.

I don't plan on running in mine, I'm an ascics guy. But keep us update eh!

FF
 
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I went with the Komodo Sport lace ups - since I have narrow feet the laces let me really get that nice snug "second skin" feeling, while the others I tried on felt kind of loose on the top and sides, like aqua socks or something. They are black with white and orange accents, very rock and roll =P The store did warn me I shouldn't run more than a mile on them for the first few times while I get used to them. I'm planning on using them mostly for walking around at first and then maybe trying them out to see how running feels later on.
 
I wore mine all day working in the garden once - how my legs ached! Lesson learned the hardway - ease into use!

I'm curious to hear if you find yourself kind of pounding your feet - maybe it is my extra large feet, but I tend to really slap when wearing the vibrams, and in a treadmill test run it was embarrasingly loud - had to stop running as I couldn't stop pounding.
 
Sure! said:
I'm curious to hear if you find yourself kind of pounding your feet
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I have noticed the heel strike is quite solid, probably because most sneakers have that inch or so of rubbery padding in the way compared to this bone-on-ground hit. And of course without a solid sole the "flap" bit of the step (the front of the foot descending) doesn't roll quite so nicely as it does in a sneaker, it does kind of depend on your own resistance to gravity to make it graceful or just let it plonk =P They do feel very interesting though. I find myself going out of my way to step on twigs and such just to feel them under my feet as I walk to class. =D

I didn't make it to derby last night because I had a first draft of one of my final essays due this morning, and I was a slave to my keyboard last night. Alas. But I got the draft finished (and even fit in a little sleep!) and to make up for the lack of derby headed in to CrossFit after class.

Today I learned about kip swings, which I did 10 of (not including the practice ones), and a minute of L-sit broken down into 20 second intervals (for me its more like a knee-up sit). Then I learned what a Turkish get up is and spent some time practicing the form for that, without a kettle bell first and then with a 10lb one. Finally we teamed up in groups of 2 and did bench presses and pullups, doing as many as we could to failure then switching off between the two, for five rounds. I did my bench presses at 45lbs and used a band for my pullups, and averaged 7-11 reps a round for both the pressing and the pullups.

Now I'm sipping my whey after a nice shower, and then off to eat some surprisingly healthy Korean food a place in town makes. Very good, fresh stuff =D Deliciousssss.
 
Phew, just got my butt kicked in a good way! Today's CrossFit workout was aptly nicknamed "Chuck Norris". I did a scaled down version and it was still rough! The warmup was basically form practice of various different lifts that I really need to learn the names for (power this, clean that, snatch the other, multiple combinations of those words; lift snatch power clean?... argh!) Then my scaled down (but still very painful!) workout was:

30 Box jumps (on a mini-box... kinda like a stepping stool)
30 Jumping pull-ups
30 Ketllebell swings (20lbs)
30 Walking lunges
30 Knees-to-elbows (again, still more like a knees to belly button for me)
30 Push press (25lbs)
30 Good mornings (25lbs)
30 Wallballs (10lbs)
30 Burpees
And to finish off a 500 meter row. My hair was soaked with sweat by the end of this one and I drained my water bottle twice! Just had a quick rinse in the shower and downing a roast beef sandwich before derby practice. Also, I'm determined to up my gym attendance from twice a week to at least three times a week - it will be rough with my schedule but now that I'm recovering way faster from each workout I'd like to push myself harder. Maybe it will finally get those measurements moving!
 
Goldfish said:
30 burpees in the one set, after all those other exercises....and you're sure you didn't spontaneously combust?
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Pretty sure - I did feel like I might throw up though =P

Last nights derby practice was another tough one, especially following that CrossFit workout. We did endurance pyramids, which means dividing into three groups and rotating through sprinting around the track, leaning and hitting exercises, and free-form calisthenics. We did each rotation for 3 minutes each, then 5 minutes, then a final set at 1 minute. Then we get a quick water break before we move on to group training (skating in a pack, games to help us learn to skate around each other, and other fun thigh-burning things). I'm definitely sore today! My glutes, calves, and lower back are the lucky winners of today's pain lottery =P Time to limp to class!
 
Sure! said:
You are an amazing woman! Burpees are a few steps above evil in my book..
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Aww thanks! And yes, yes they are. Super evil.

Today's news: I continue to be sore. My legs have been stiff since I stepped out of bed this morning. One cool thing though - I have noticed lately in my Iaido class that my sword feels much lighter since I started working out =D Other than that, only fitness related thing I did today was go to GNC. My whey protein has been making me nauseous lately, and my best theory is that the dairy isn't agreeing with me (I'm not lactose intolerant per se, but milk and ice cream get to me. I use almond milk). I'm trying out a small package of a lactose free one to see if its easier to stomach. I also grabbed some creatine, just to see if it makes a difference at all.
 
You RULE!

FF
 
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