Workout A : 4

Yesterday's workout:

Squat 2~(42/12)(42/12) *
Pushup 2~12/12
Seated Row 2~(50/12)(50/12)
Step-Up 2~(20/12)(20/12) each leg
Prone Jacknife 2~10/10

after ~ 12 min hill on treadmill

*Used the barbell, which I am estimated weighs 22lbs.

Workout B : 3

These logs are late, I started my college classes and things will be more difficult to follow this plan, but I will try my best.

Friday's workout (1/25):
warm up 5 min elliptical

Deadlift 2 ~ (35/12) (35/12)
Dumbell Shoulder Press 2 ~ (10 each hand/12)(12/12)
Wide-grip lat Pulldown 2 ~ (55/12)(55/12)
Lunge 2 ~ (10 each hand/12)(10/12)
Swiss-ball Crunch 2 ~ (10/10)(10/12)

elliptical 25 minutes (intensity 15 min)

Workout A : 3

Today's workout:
Warmup: 10 min elliptical

Squat 2~(40/12)(40/12) *
Pushup 2~12/8
Seated Row 2~(50/12)(50/12)
Step-Up 2~(16/12)(16/12) each leg
Prone Jacknife 2~10/10

25 min treadmill walking

*I used the smith machine today for my squats and they seemed alright. I was reading on the jp fitness forum that smith machines are horrible for squats so won't be doing them on it anymore.

cardio

I figured I should add in my cardio minutes to this log too. Just to reflect on and for others to see. I will also start stating warm ups I do too.

Today was my rest day so I decided to instead go to the gym and have a cardio only day. I did 35 minutes on the elliptical. 5 min warm up. 1 high intensity/2 low intensity minute alternating for 15 minutes. Then went the remaining 15 minutes at a constant moderate speed.

I then had extra time to kill so just walked on the treadmill for 15 minutes reading a magazine.

Workout B : 2

Today's log:
Deadlift 2 ~ (30/15) (30/15)
Dumbell Shoulder Press 2 ~ (10 each hand/14)(8/15)
Wide-grip lat Pulldown 2 ~ (45/15)(50/15)
Lunge 3 ~ (10 each hand/15)(10/15)(10/10)
Swiss-ball Crunch 2 ~ (10/10)(10/10)

Workout A : 2

So this officially closes out my first week in the program.

Today's workout:
Squat 2~(20/15)(20/15)
Pushup 2~15/9
Seated Row 2~(45/15)(45/15)
Step-Up 2~(16/15)(16/15) *each leg*
Prone Jacknife 2~8/8

I realized I was doing step-ups wrong after looking in the book today, and I the right way def. works muscles I hardly use, lol. My whole leg was shaking and it took awhile before I stabilized myself. The Prone Jacknife moves were easier today, but I know I don't do them correctly because I end up with most my bottom leg on the ball, but I guess it's fine since completing 8 of them is hard. I am also going to up my weight with the squats next time.

Rest Day

So today was a good rest day, because I don't feel sore except in minor areas. I think this program is working great for me, I've only been doing this since Monday but I feel great and think I can tell some muscle is growing.

One thing I actually miss is cardio. I used to do about 35 minutes of either interval elliptical or treadmill running. This week I only did about 30 minutes total so far. I don't want to mess up this program, especially since I usually eat already about 300 under my calorie goal. Tomorrow I am going to do the interval program designed in the book after my workout, which will be good I think because I will have a two day rest period.

Workout B : 1

I had a lot of fun today at the gym. I decided to do a bit more warm up then last time since I was really sore. I went on the elliptical and went at a moderate pace for 10 min, and made sure to do the warmups as listed in the book. I also did warmups before deadlifts and lunges with no added weights.

Today's log:
Deadlift 2 ~ (20/14) (20/15)
Dumbell Shoulder Press 2 ~ (10 each hand/15)(10/15)
Wide-grip lat Pulldown 2~ (40/15)(45/15)
Lunge 2 ~ (10 each hand/15)(10/15) was repeated twice for each leg
Swiss-ball Crunch 2 ~ (0/15)(10/10)

and just for any outside readers this is how I list my workouts:
Workout_Name #ofsets ~ (weight/rep1)(weight/rep2)...

Measurements

I figured I should post all my measurements so that I have these to see improvement. I also took a couple pictures of myself so that I can look back at it.

Age: 23
Height: 5'4"
Weight: 130

Measurements:
Upper chest: 33"
Bust: 36"
Right upper arm: 10.25"
Ribcage: 29.25"
Waist: 29.5"
Navel: 34.25"
Hips: 36.75"
Right upper thigh: 18.25"
Neck: 12.6"

Sore

Woke up this morning and found myself sore. This is great, since with my previous strength training (which involved me doing the same machines and couple dumbbell routines for about half a year) never left me sore.

My thighs are sore along with my shoulder.

Workout A : 1

Today's workout:
Squat 2~(20lbs/15)(20/15)
Pushup 3~10/8/8
Seated Row 2~(40/15)(45/15)
Step-Up 2~(40/15)(40/10)
Prone Jacknife* 2~3/6

*I have nicknamed this the "crazy ball workout"

These exercises were more difficult then I thought. I did pushups on the ground, cause I couldn't find anything to do them at an incline. I only went down about halfway each time, so will work on those.

The Prone Jacknife was amusing because I couldn't even balance my feet on a stability ball. I ended up doing them where most my lower leg was balanced.

I tried to eat as much protein as I could today, think my final tally for the day was about 100 g of protein and 1700 cal. I am looking into whey protein brands now on the internet.

First Workout

I'm a bit worried about my first workout mostly because of the exercises. I am a pretty shy person and usually am one to just use machines. Tonight I need to do lunges, step ups and this move with a stability ball, so I just hope no one else is at the gym really, since this is my first time trying these moves. I don't want to draw attention to myself or look like I don't know what I'm doing.

First Post

I picked up my copy of The New Rules of Lifting For Women written by Lou Schuler and am excited to start this program. I've been looking for a good program to follow in order to increase my strength and gain muscle/lower body fat.

A few years ago I decided to drop weight since I was up to 182 lbs. Two years later I now weigh 130 lbs and am very happy with my results. But I am unsure what to do now, which is why this book seems great.

I will hopefully start the workout plan today. I however need to buy myself some whey protein along with a stability ball to have. I go to a gym, but will need to buy my own equipment for when my membership ends.

I am a member at sparkpeople.com. I log in my exercise there, get nutrition info and read message boards. The goal of this blog is to keep track of my results of this program and just for me to talk about what's on my mind in the process.