Back to Heavy Lifting

I guess it's been awhile since I last posted. Oops. I get lazy sometimes. That's really my only explanation.

In other news, I've started a new weight routine. For the last few years I've been like a lot of females and avoided heavy lifting in the gym. I gravitated towards the using the wee free weights with lots of reps to do more endurance exercise with the goal of toning up. Well this plan worked, for about 6 months, but then I plateaud. 1 and a half years later I'm still doing the same thing and I've still plateaued.....what can I say, I don't like change. Well I finally pulled up my big girl pants and decided it was time for change so I switched up my weitght routine. The plan: heavier weights, less reps.

In my hunt for a new routine, I found this book The New Rules of Lifting for Women which does a great job of introducing women to heavier lifting in the gym. There are 7 stages, with 2 workout routines at each stage. The first stage get you used to using weights and lifting heavier, and then each stage is progressively tougher. Right now I am on Stage 2 and so far this workout seems like the real deal. As with any weight routine, it is as challenging as you make it so I definitely make sure I try to load up on the weight. A good stand by to measure intensity is to make sure the last 2-3 reps are hard to do and make you want to give up easily.

Stay tuned for more updates on this as I work my way through the stages.

Magazine Workout

Today was a busy day at work. I ended up working a bit late and had little motivation to workout when I got home. This is the downside to working out after work, but the upside of biking if I do skip the workout. I really didn't want to miss out on my first workout of the week so I decided to try a new routine to motivate me. I also wanted to watch the hockey game (go Bruins!) and I could do this while working out.

Workout: 40 min bike + Bootcamp routine from Women's Health Magazine

I'm generally not a fan of magazine workouts but when I saw the bootcamp workout in the June issue of Women's Health, I thought I'd give the magazine workout a try.

Overview:

The workout consisted of 2 circuits each with 4 exercises. You complete each circuit 4 times before moving on to the next. All you need is a medicine ball and resistance tubing.

Review:

This was definitely one of the tougher magazine workouts that I've tried and I'll probably keep it on hand. My arms and shoulders did get a good burn during the workout, but afterwards I didn't feel that continual burn which I really love and crave from doing weights. I ended up adding a few exercises with some heavier free weights to supplement the workout. It must have worked because now I can barely lift my arms to type.

Eats:

Post workout meal consisted of Chicken Asian Salad

(that bowl was refilled numerous times)

We have been making our own salad dressings lately, mostly because we are too lazy/keep forgetting to pick up some from the store. This one was a soy-ginger-garlic one that was fantastic!