Erika's Training Journal-Please give feedback!

[Breeze]

Wow! Looks like you had an awesome bicep day! Way to go! [img]/forum/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
Nice to have someone else from Kansas here too. Not many on the board from KS (of course). I'm in Overland Park (originally from Chicago). I'm just now getting used to the hotter summers, but I love the winters here! [img]/forum/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

Anyhoo...great job!

[Erikabomb]

Hi Breeze, I am happy to see someone else from kansas as well. I am down in Wichita but I was born in Kansas city!

Over the weekend I kind of took a break beacause it was my husbands birthday and my mom and I threw a big party for him which required us to clean her whole house. So I counted the house work as my work out! [img]/forum/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] Today we did shoulders.

Shoulder Press: 15x10, 15x10, 15x10
Some type of Aronald thing?: 12x10, 12x10, 15x5, 12x5
Front raises: 12x10,12x10, 12x10
Back delts: 8x10, 8x10, 8x10, 8x10
Rotator cuff: 10x10, 10x10, 10x10, 10x10
Side Raises: 12x10, 12x10, 12x10

[Erikabomb]

Today we did legs. I feel great!! I switched machines for the leg press and it made all the difference. The machine I was originally on had the weights already on it you just had to move the peg. The new machine is the one you add the weights yourself. Big difference!
Legs for Tuesday July 1, 2003

Leg Extension and Leg curl superset:
LE: 50x10,50x10, 50x14
LC: 70x10, 70x10, 70x10

Leg Press and Calve Raise superset:
LP: 200x10, 220x10, 220x10, 220x10, 240x14
Normal Calve Raise: 200x10, 220x10, 220x10, 220x10, 240x10
Toes pt. in CR: 200x10, 220x10, 220x10, 220x10, 240x10
Toes pt. out CR: 200x10, 220x10, 220x10, 220x10, 240x10

Dead lift: 80x10, 80x10, 80x10 (this was done w/the bar that already has the weight on the end of it they are done by 20,30,40,50ect... is it called an olympia bar?)

I feel great today and I am finally starting to see some improvement. I have been lifting weights for about 2 months but for the last two weeks or so I have been doing them correctly with my husband. I am finally getting the results I have been working so hard for! We took my measurements feel free to tell me where to gain or lose:
Calves: 14 (gained 1 inch)
Thigh: 21 3/4 (gained 1 inch)
Hips: 38 (lost 1 inch)
Waist: 29 1/2 (lost 1.5 inches)
Chest (right under the armpit) 34 1/2
Biceps: 11 (stayed the same)
Neck: 13 1/4 (never measured this before)

[GetPsycho]

[ QUOTE ]
Erikabomb said:Calves: 14 (gained 1 inch)
Thigh: 21 3/4 (gained 1 inch)
Hips: 38 (lost 1 inch)
Waist: 29 1/2 (lost 1.5 inches)
Chest (right under the armpit) 34 1/2
Biceps: 11 (stayed the same)
Neck: 13 1/4 (never measured this before)

[/ QUOTE ]

looks like everything is going in the right direction.

[Erikabomb]

Wed. July 2, 2003
Chest:
Bench Press free bar: Barx10, 10x10, 20x10, 30x10, 30x8
Incline Press free bar: Barx10, 10x10, 20x10, 20x10, 20x10
Decline Press Smith Machine: 50x10, 60x10, 65x10, 65x10
Cable Flys: 20x10 (lower chest), 20x10 (upper chest)

Felt really good again today! The cable flys are so hard!! We only did one set because we ran out of time but I think that was just about enough. Thanks to those of you that keep on cheering me on. It really means a lot to me to have people care enough to write little tid bits!

[Erikabomb]

I have read some of the other journals and noticed they had their stories in them. Well, I do not have a great story but I will add it in for character!

I have been in sports for as long as I can remember. I started gymnastics at the age of 2 and continued until I was 12. At that point I joined my middle school's cross country team and ran like a maniac! I also joined the track team that same year doing sprints. I loved doing the sprints but I only did them during middle school. Once I moved on to high school the team needed more distance runners on the track team. So I gave up sprinting, big mistake. I was not as good at the distance at all! I continued both cross country and track until my junior year in high school. I also started competitive swimming at the age of 6 and continued that until I was 17 years old. I love swimming and to this day have great shoulders to thank for it. Since high school I tried the rowing team at my college but the practices were just too early, 4;45am to 7:30am. It also took too much of my time- including required weight lifting (which I had no idea how to do), 10K on the rowing machine, the two hour practice every morning (all of this took place everyday!) and volunteer/fundraising on the weekends. When you combine that with work and school there was just not enough time! Now I have been working out on my own for the first time in my life! It was a little scary at first because I really did not know what to do. I got married in December and I was 130 one month later I was 138! That was by far the heaviest I have ever been. During my sports days I was 115 so this seemed like a lot. Now that I am training with my husband, and he knows what he is doing, I have lost some weight but I believe I have gained a lot of muscle. I have really tightened up! It is so exciting to finally be seeing the results. Believe it or not this is my first time to do serious weight lifting and I love it. I find it so rewarding and maybe it is just so much fun because I have never done it before, who knows but I sure love it! I will keep you updated! Please feel free to critique me and cheer me on. As we all know, incouragement goes a long way! Good luck to you all! [img]/forum/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[Breeze]

[ QUOTE ]
Erikabomb said:
I got married in December...

[/ QUOTE ]

Congratulations newlywed! Great story, your jounal's looking great! Keep up the good work! [img]/forum/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[Erikabomb]

Thank you Breeze, I am having so much fun being married so far! I am so happy.

Today we did back and biceps and the funny thing is my shoulders are the ones hurting right now! Must have been from the other day or something.

Thursday July 3, 2003

Back:
Lat Pull Down: 60x10, 60x10, 70x10, 70x10, 60x8
Lawn Mowers: 20x10, 25x10, 30x10, 35x10
Seated Row Isolated: 40x10, 40x10, 50x10, 50x10
Seated Row Full Motion: 50x10, 50x10, 60x10, 60x10

Biceps:
Curls: 10x10, 12x10, 15x10 12x10, 10x10, 12x10, 15x10, 12x10, 10x10

Then we had some more time so we went upstairs. My husband played basketball for awhile while I did 500 crunches, different types of leg lifts and four lengths of the basketball court of lunges (no weights). Phew, I am so tired now!! Everybody have a great 4th of July and be safe!!

[Erikabomb]

We had a nice long break over the 4th and took it pretty easy. On Monday we did chest and triceps:

Bench Press Free Bar: 20x10, 20x10, 30x10, 30x10
Incline Press Dumbbell: 12x10, 15x10, 15x10, 15x10
Rotator Cuff: 10x10, 10x10, 10x10, 10x10
Cable Flys: 20x10, 20x10, 30x10

Triceps:
Cable Pulldown: 60x10, 70x10, 70x10, 80x8
Tricep Extension: 12x10, 12x10,15x10

[Erikabomb]

For Tuesday we did cardio: I did the HIIT for about 25 min and then a really hard session of ab exercises for about 30min.
Wednesday July 9, 2003
Back:
Lat Pulldown: 50x10, 60x10, 60x10, 60x10, 60x10
Lawn Mowers: 25x10, 25x10, 25x10, 25x10
Isolated Rowing: 60x10, 60x10, 60x10, 60x10
Full motion rowing: 60x10, 60x10, 60x10, 60x10

Biceps:
Cable Pulldown: 60x10, 60x10, 60x10, 60x10
Bicep Curls: 15x10, 15x10 15x10

Thursday July 10, 2003
Legs:
Leg Extension: 40x15, 50x10, 50x10, 50x10, 50x10
Leg Curls: 50x10, 60x10, 60x10, 60x10, 60x10
Leg Press: 200x10, 225x10, 250x10, 275x10, 290x10, 300x10
Calve Raise: 200x30, 225x30, 250x50, 275x50, 290x50, 300x50

I was so excited to reach 300lbs on the leg press! My husband thinks I can still do a lot more but I am still getting used to the weight. I feel so strong on leg days! It is really a motivator for me to see where I started, 200 and to now be at 300. This is great! [img]/forum/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]