Diet and Exercise 2011: Better Than This.

[winger]

Re: Diet and Exercise 2011: Better Than This.

I'm working on this as well, but it's hard in a traditional style shoe.

Yeah I just got new shoes, I was convinced that my old "traditional" shoes were causing all my shin problems.

 

[nmupiccdiva]

Re: Diet and Exercise 2011: Better Than This.

Yeah I just got new shoes, I was convinced that my old "traditional" shoes were causing all my shin problems.

Awesome--what shoes?

 

[winger]

Re: Diet and Exercise 2011: Better Than This.

Awesome--what shoes?

I went with the new merrils. They are pretty good but I HAVE TO adjust my running stride in them or I will totally destroy my shins. which I guess isnt much different than the more traditional shoes. I have a pair of virbrams too, but I am just leary about longer distances in them.

and my sport shoe to girl shoe ratio is out of wack again ( I like to keep it at least 1/1) and I was going to celebrate my big lifts this week with some new weighlifting shoes....so looks like I need to go get more girly shoes.

I have been doing the wendler strength program, and alot less crossfit the last couple of months. So this week I am seeing how my 1RM have changed.

Yesterday backsquated 285 and almost had 300, which is up from my last max of 225. Very curious to see how the other three lifts go (press, bench and Deadlift, which were at 110, 130 and 280).

I like the program but I miss crossfitting, so I am going to try to adjust the lifting program so I can do a little of both and then maybe adjust depending on what I have going on (so more strength stuff leading up to powerlifting meets and strongman stuff, crossfit at other times, work on my skills, etc etc).

Still figuring out how to work out this whole thing, it helps that hockey is sort of done (minus summer camp sessions with my team) so I have the summer to figure out a good mix. I love all the strength gains, but the scale hasnt moved much and as much as I know I am burning fat, well I want to wear cute dresses. And I find doing more strength workouts than the typical crossfit WOD, I am not sleeping as well or processing stress as well. So I need to figure out a balance.

Plus I want to do so many other things, run, golf, etc etc.

 

[MissThundercat]

Re: Diet and Exercise 2011: Better Than This.

Nicely done!

Thank you; now that I'm exactly where I want to be, I need to stop the bus.

 

[nmupiccdiva]

Re: Diet and Exercise 2011: Better Than This.

I went with the new merrils. They are pretty good but I HAVE TO adjust my running stride in them or I will totally destroy my shins. which I guess isnt much different than the more traditional shoes. I have a pair of virbrams too, but I am just leary about longer distances in them.

and my sport shoe to girl shoe ratio is out of wack again ( I like to keep it at least 1/1) and I was going to celebrate my big lifts this week with some new weighlifting shoes....so looks like I need to go get more girly shoes.

I have been doing the wendler strength program, and alot less crossfit the last couple of months. So this week I am seeing how my 1RM have changed.

Yesterday backsquated 285 and almost had 300, which is up from my last max of 225. Very curious to see how the other three lifts go (press, bench and Deadlift, which were at 110, 130 and 280).

I like the program but I miss crossfitting, so I am going to try to adjust the lifting program so I can do a little of both and then maybe adjust depending on what I have going on (so more strength stuff leading up to powerlifting meets and strongman stuff, crossfit at other times, work on my skills, etc etc).

Still figuring out how to work out this whole thing, it helps that hockey is sort of done (minus summer camp sessions with my team) so I have the summer to figure out a good mix. I love all the strength gains, but the scale hasnt moved much and as much as I know I am burning fat, well I want to wear cute dresses. And I find doing more strength workouts than the typical crossfit WOD, I am not sleeping as well or processing stress as well. So I need to figure out a balance.

Plus I want to do so many other things, run, golf, etc etc.

I've given up on any kind of ratio--I have 3 pair of running shoes laying around and 2 more coming. I don't ever wear cute, girly stuff much anyway, so investing in that kind of thing is pretty silly, really.
Nice numbers on the weights!

Did a 5 mile run today with the store's marathon training group. Decided just to go out hard and see if I could hold it. I did for the most part, losing a bit of ground in the 4th mile but getting it back in the 5th. 5 miles in 42:06, when last year it took me almost an hour? I'll take that.

 

[MountieBoyOz]

Re: Diet and Exercise 2011: Better Than This.

I tried aqua zumba and I loved it. Going back to it next week and bringing the fiance as well. I think she will like it.

 

[Patman]

Re: Diet and Exercise 2011: Better Than This.

Yesterday backsquated 285 and almost had 300

?!?!!!

Dear lord I have to work harder in the gym (high single 290... hypothetically I believe i could snare 300 a few weeks ago if I tried... recently workouts have been disastrous due to work stress).

 

[winger]

Re: Diet and Exercise 2011: Better Than This.

?!?!!!

Dear lord I have to work harder in the gym (high single 290... hypothetically I believe i could snare 300 a few weeks ago if I tried... recently workouts have been disastrous due to work stress).

I think its the years of skating that makes me a backsquating diva. First time I backsquated (or really did any lifting at all), just a year ago I had 180 on the bar for my first lifting session ever really, so I started at a pretty good place.

The whole gym was watching when I tried the 300 which made me kind of nervous usually I just lift in a little world of my own. I think one of the guys I was lifting with (he is new to the gym) defaintly had a ding in his ego from it, he kept wanted to jump his weight way up. I kind of wish I had just tried the 295 but I started thinking the 285 felt really good and 295 is soooo close to 300. I got greedy.

We also recently got this new member in that used to be a competitve powerlifter in HS, she had a 325 squat back then. Which is great for me, no other woman is really close all around with the bar stuff (couple are close here and there), so it is nice to have someone push me. She pulled a 285 DL (which beat my old high) so I quickly threw 305 on the bar and pulled it off the ground twice, easily! So I am wicked excited to see what my new 1RM for the deadlift is. AND she is solid with all the other crossfit stuff, which motivates me to really work out my crossfit goats, flexibilty issues, etc etc which all around will help me with other things (running, hockey, etc).

That being said, I think next week I need to take a week off from everything, I am just not recovering well lately.

If it makes you feel any better my press yesterday only went from 110 to 115. ( I hate pressing, just seems like such an inefficent movement, but I realise that by increasing my press, I will be able to put more over my head with the push press and jerk).

Still up this week Deadlift and Bench

 

[alfablue]

Re: Diet and Exercise 2011: Better Than This.

?!?!!!

Dear lord I have to work harder in the gym (high single 290... hypothetically I believe i could snare 300 a few weeks ago if I tried... recently workouts have been disastrous due to work stress).

Winger >> Patman....

Well, I do suspect that she's smaller, though.

good on both of you! I don't lift, so it's pretty impressive what you do.

 

[unh_hockey]

Re: Diet and Exercise 2011: Better Than This.

?!?!!!

Dear lord I have to work harder in the gym (high single 290... hypothetically I believe i could snare 300 a few weeks ago if I tried... recently workouts have been disastrous due to work stress).

Seconded. 270+ is respectable for any male athlete in my opinion. For a women, that’s unheard of in my time in the gym. I have seen a chick squat a few plates at the gym this last summer, but that was the only time in the past 10 years I have seen this. Nicely done.

I do not think I will be attempting 280 for 6 reps this week. Took this week as a light week since my shoulder has been giving me trouble. Light weeks and time off seem to do wonders. I also notice I lift less when I play more hockey. Its draining for the intensity and time I put into it. C’est la vie. C’est les ans j’ai.

 

[jmh]

Re: Diet and Exercise 2011: Better Than This.

Bittman: How To Save A Trillion Dollars

Excellent opinion piece by Mark Bittman on how we can save huge amounts of money on health care as a society, in the long run, by making better lifestyle choices in the short run.

 

[winger]

Re: Diet and Exercise 2011: Better Than This.

Winger >> Patman....

Well, I do suspect that she's smaller, though.

good on both of you! I don't lift, so it's pretty impressive what you do.

Lol, less than a year ago I didnt lift either.

Seconded. 270+ is respectable for any male athlete in my opinion. For a women, that’s unheard of in my time in the gym. I have seen a chick squat a few plates at the gym this last summer, but that was the only time in the past 10 years I have seen this. Nicely done.

Thanks. Funny that on monday I was more annoyed that I failed on the 300 than celebrating the 285. But I am starting to realize what a big deal the lift was! And the best part was that it felt pretty darn good, it didnt really stick at all.

 

[alfablue]

Re: Diet and Exercise 2011: Better Than This.

I kinda feel like a whimp, but when it's 45-60 F, I really hate running in the rain. I would be out with my group if it were not raining ALL THE TIME today.

But getting back into it- after a few weeks of family issues that drew my attention away from running.

A funny observations- my lungs are my limiter. When I run, my legs feel fine, even running quickly (2 weeks ago, I did a 5k training run <8min). But my lungs and heart can't keep up (I stopped once). So my running ability is more up to me being able to increase my aerobic capacity. The one method I know is keeping track of my HR, but what's frustrating about that is that I'm running +10min to do the "proper" run.

Paitence. Hard to come by when you are slower than you were 6 months ago.

But, one thing has really gotten under my mind in terms of this running thing and recent family issues- keeping in shape will allow me to be a lot more gaceful as I pass into my senior years. I know I'm not old now, but it's still just over 6 years until 50. While I like to race, keeping in shape and healthy is job #1 for running. No doubt about that.


(on a side note, should we put together a training plan for 'diva so that she can qualify for Boston (3:40 in the next few years, I hear it will be 3:35 in 2013)? For reference, she just did a 10 mile race in 1:22:45, which is a 8:16 pace, and if she waits until 2013 to make the attempt, 3:35 is a 8:12 pace, 3:40 is a 8:24 pace. Yea, I'd say that she's well into the ball park)

(side note 2- some of you may remember that both I and mrs Alfa got hurt last year- my foot, her hamstring. Well, with all of the issues we've been dealing with over the past 3-4 week, she hasn't been running. Her run yesterday was pretty quick for this running season (~9:30), and her legs were fine! HR and lungs suffered- between the time off and the HEEEAAATTT, she had problems with lung effort. But I'm darned optomistic that she'll regain form again!!)

 

[Patman]

Re: Diet and Exercise 2011: Better Than This.

I think its the years of skating that makes me a backsquating diva. First time I backsquated (or really did any lifting at all), just a year ago I had 180 on the bar for my first lifting session ever really, so I started at a pretty good place.

The whole gym was watching when I tried the 300 which made me kind of nervous usually I just lift in a little world of my own. I think one of the guys I was lifting with (he is new to the gym) defaintly had a ding in his ego from it, he kept wanted to jump his weight way up. I kind of wish I had just tried the 295 but I started thinking the 285 felt really good and 295 is soooo close to 300. I got greedy.

We also recently got this new member in that used to be a competitve powerlifter in HS, she had a 325 squat back then. Which is great for me, no other woman is really close all around with the bar stuff (couple are close here and there), so it is nice to have someone push me. She pulled a 285 DL (which beat my old high) so I quickly threw 305 on the bar and pulled it off the ground twice, easily! So I am wicked excited to see what my new 1RM for the deadlift is. AND she is solid with all the other crossfit stuff, which motivates me to really work out my crossfit goats, flexibilty issues, etc etc which all around will help me with other things (running, hockey, etc).

That being said, I think next week I need to take a week off from everything, I am just not recovering well lately.

If it makes you feel any better my press yesterday only went from 110 to 115. ( I hate pressing, just seems like such an inefficent movement, but I realise that by increasing my press, I will be able to put more over my head with the push press and jerk).

Still up this week Deadlift and Bench

I think your ability to backsquat is more indicated by your years of hockey rather than your work on it.... imo... people gravitate to things they're good at... so your body appears to be have an above average, real athlete level, ability to produce... maybe the rest of you wasn't there to be a DI athlete... but certainly enough to be in the mix.

edit: that's not exactly true... I'll bet your form is picture perfect... I tend to have various form problems that arise with heavy weights and reaching my limits. Form can be a big deal in extracting those extra pounds and extra progress. That form would have come from years of knowing your body... where it is, what it does... etc.

Its just sort of annoying after all the effort I've had to put in and the limits I've reached... but i don't have the genetics for it... you probably do.

 

[walrus]

Re: Diet and Exercise 2011: Better Than This.

I saw this on the news the other night, 9 yr old girl squats 187 lbs at a body weight of 88 lbs. They have to hold the bar for her as she isn't tall enough to take it off the rack

<object style="height: 390px; width: 640px"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/mQHrAjb1tzk?version=3"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/mQHrAjb1tzk?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="390"></object>

 

[Patman]

Re: Diet and Exercise 2011: Better Than This.

Its a motivating factor... somewhere out there there is a 13 year old girl who is using my max set as a warm up (especially in the olympic lifts)....

if you ever want to be demotivated... check out the USA junior nationals and compare what you snatch/C&J to these girls.

edit: wow... plenty of depth and they didn't look hard... I think we have an olympic medalist for 2024 right there.

 

[winger]

Re: Diet and Exercise 2011: Better Than This.

I think your ability to backsquat is more indicated by your years of hockey rather than your work on it.... imo... people gravitate to things they're good at... so your body appears to be have an above average, real athlete level, ability to produce... maybe the rest of you wasn't there to be a DI athlete... but certainly enough to be in the mix.
edit: that's not exactly true... I'll bet your form is picture perfect... I tend to have various form problems that arise with heavy weights and reaching my limits. Form can be a big deal in extracting those extra pounds and extra progress. That form would have come from years of knowing your body... where it is, what it does... etc.

Yeah I have always been strong; I will never be a stick skinny girl. I have broad hip and shoulders, I was physically designed to throw bales of hay and wrestle the cows into the barn. That is the genetic card I was handed. I am sure the years of skating helped (I figure skated until HS, didn’t start playing hockey until college). I did do track (hurdles) in HS.
So who knows, maybe I was doing the wrong sports , that being said the first NCAA women’s hockey final four didn’t start till after I was done with college, club and varsity teams played each other in a weird mix of schedules and there used to be a tournament in lake placid for it). So maybe I could have been a D1 player, if I had started simply playing before college.
But that doesn’t mean I don’t have struggles in the gym. I am still very far from doing a single unassisted pullup. I struggle with double unders and getting any running in a decent time, I only recently started being able to do box jumps with any sort of efficiency. And my Olympic lifts need work, my technique holds me back from hitting some nice PRs on those lifts as well.
We all have our demons to face. I am glad I have these great lifting achievements to hold my hat onto, while I am being destroy by a workout with pushups, box jumps and a run.

I saw this on the news the other night, 9 yr old girl squats 187 lbs at a body weight of 88 lbs. They have to hold the bar for her as she isn't tall enough to take it off the rack

Yeah we were watching that at the gym on tuesday!

Its a motivating factor... somewhere out there there is a 13 year old girl who is using my max set as a warm up (especially in the olympic lifts)....
if you ever want to be demotivated... check out the USA junior nationals and compare what you snatch/C&J to these girls.

Oh yeah, when it comes to the olympic lifts I have alot of work to do. I have so many breakdowns on form. I certainly have the strength to C&J more, but I need to improve my flexiblity, core strength and over all technique. My max C&J is 145, that is within the last two months. I am trying to find a olympic weight lifting workshop/seminar in the area because I think with some help on my form those lifts could improve alot.

Last two 1 rep max for lifts for this week.
Bench went from 130 to 155
Deadlift went from 280 to 345

 

[MissThundercat]

Re: Diet and Exercise 2011: Better Than This.

Last night I signed up for the Chicago marathon through Team in Training. Also got my confirmation for the Fifth-Third 25K today, so I can't wait!

 

[winger]

Re: Diet and Exercise 2011: Better Than This.

Last night I signed up for the Chicago marathon through Team in Training. Also got my confirmation for the Fifth-Third 25K today, so I can't wait!

Sweet!!! I will defaintly come out to cheer you on for Chicago! ( I am playing hockey in Milwaukee the weekend of the 25k)

 

[nmupiccdiva]

Re: Diet and Exercise 2011: Better Than This.

I kinda feel like a whimp, but when it's 45-60 F, I really hate running in the rain. I would be out with my group if it were not raining ALL THE TIME today.

But getting back into it- after a few weeks of family issues that drew my attention away from running.

A funny observations- my lungs are my limiter. When I run, my legs feel fine, even running quickly (2 weeks ago, I did a 5k training run <8min). But my lungs and heart can't keep up (I stopped once). So my running ability is more up to me being able to increase my aerobic capacity. The one method I know is keeping track of my HR, but what's frustrating about that is that I'm running +10min to do the "proper" run.

Paitence. Hard to come by when you are slower than you were 6 months ago.

But, one thing has really gotten under my mind in terms of this running thing and recent family issues- keeping in shape will allow me to be a lot more gaceful as I pass into my senior years. I know I'm not old now, but it's still just over 6 years until 50. While I like to race, keeping in shape and healthy is job #1 for running. No doubt about that.


(on a side note, should we put together a training plan for 'diva so that she can qualify for Boston (3:40 in the next few years, I hear it will be 3:35 in 2013)? For reference, she just did a 10 mile race in 1:22:45, which is a 8:16 pace, and if she waits until 2013 to make the attempt, 3:35 is a 8:12 pace, 3:40 is a 8:24 pace. Yea, I'd say that she's well into the ball park)

(side note 2- some of you may remember that both I and mrs Alfa got hurt last year- my foot, her hamstring. Well, with all of the issues we've been dealing with over the past 3-4 week, she hasn't been running. Her run yesterday was pretty quick for this running season (~9:30), and her legs were fine! HR and lungs suffered- between the time off and the HEEEAAATTT, she had problems with lung effort. But I'm darned optomistic that she'll regain form again!!)

So much to respond to here...

The marathon training group our store is putting on had a speaker the other night, a doctor who spoke on nutrition and injury prevention. She hit on the heart rate and training at appropriate aerobic levels, and it was like watching 30 light bulbs go off in the room. We all had permission to run our long runs slow to build up aerobic capacity. So, frustrating? Oh yeah. Worth it in the end? Sounds like it!

It's always hard coming back, but hopefully a year from now you'll be looking back at this comeback and smiling.

As for getting me to Boston... Those plans are in the works. 2, maybe 3 half marathons this summer, then I'm taking on my first marathon next year. If all goes well, I'll be standing in a Boston start corral in 2013. (My goal is to run it the year of my 10 year reunion.) Thanks for the support, I appreciate it!

I saw this on the news the other night, 9 yr old girl squats 187 lbs at a body weight of 88 lbs. They have to hold the bar for her as she isn't tall enough to take it off the rack

<object style="height: 390px; width: 640px"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/mQHrAjb1tzk?version=3"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/mQHrAjb1tzk?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="390"></object>

Awesome. Wow.

Last night I signed up for the Chicago marathon through Team in Training. Also got my confirmation for the Fifth-Third 25K today, so I can't wait!

Sweeet!