{"id":250,"date":"2015-05-12T03:14:00","date_gmt":"2015-05-12T03:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eaumaison.wordpress.com\/2015\/05\/12\/fitness-regime"},"modified":"2015-05-12T03:14:00","modified_gmt":"2015-05-12T03:14:00","slug":"fitness-regime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eaumaison.us\/index.php\/2015\/05\/12\/fitness-regime\/","title":{"rendered":"Fitness Regime"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last summer I decided that I had no excuses; it was time to get in shape.\u00a0 I still had some post-partum fat from my baby who was nearly one year old.\u00a0 We decided to join the Arvada Rec Center’s all access pass which grants us unlimited use of the gym facilities, its fitness classes, and up to 3 hours childcare per kid per day.\u00a0 I started going twice a week, sometimes three times.\u00a0 Once we go through the holidays I ramped up attendance.\u00a0 Three turned to four times per week.<\/p>\n

Six weeks ago I decided to start lifting.\u00a0 Well no, I take that back.\u00a0 Last summer I decided to start lifting.\u00a0 I read a couple books, joined some forums, found some programs, took the weight room orientation class, and dallied with entering the weight area.\u00a0 I was scared about injury and social etiquette in an unknown culture, and doing things wrong and looking dumb\/hurting myself.\u00a0 But I kept reading over and over how beneficial lifting is.\u00a0 I tried it a few times in December and struggled to squat even the bar (45 pounds) and everything felt wrong.\u00a0 It was boring and uncomfortable and I hated it so I stopped.<\/p>\n

So six weeks ago I decided to just do it.\u00a0 I was going to the gym nearly five times a week and you can only take so much time on the elliptical machines.\u00a0 I made a plan and stuck to it.\u00a0 I heard somewhere that you need to do something new for six weeks to see results\/make it a habit\/have a valid opinion\/etc so that was my marker.<\/p>\n

I settled on cardio Monday and Wednesday in the form of my beloved zumba.\u00a0 Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday I lifted.\u00a0 Friday and Sunday were rest days (sometimes I made up a missed day on Friday).<\/p>\n

I settled on the StrongLifts program<\/a> because it’s simple, short, and had good support from the online fitness community.\u00a0 I alternated each day either [squats, bench press, barbell row] or [squats, overhead press, deadlifts].\u00a0 Halfway through I decided I truly hated the barbell row and it had the most chance of back injury.\u00a0 I replaced it with assisted chin-ups because those also work the back and arms and it’s a long term goal to be able to do a chin-up.\u00a0 I also added a plank after a couple weeks because I wanted more targeted abdominal work.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

The first day I was low weight on everything: 45 pounds on most activities and couldn’t even make the full reps and sets on bench press and overhead press.\u00a0 My plank was barely 30 seconds when I added it.<\/p>\n

This was my last week:
\"Untitled\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Yup.\u00a0 ONE HUNDRED pound squats.\u00a0 Even more on my deadlift.\u00a0 And a TWO MINUTE plank.\u00a0 In the words of Jack, “Holy Moly Guacamole.”<\/p>\n

My arm presses are still crap.\u00a0 I hear that’s common, for some women to do better with posterior chain stuff and struggle with arms.\u00a0 Part of the problem is the lower weight barbells are provided in 10 pound increments so I have a hard time jumping up that much between days.\u00a0 (The 35 pound was actually two 17.5 dumbbells, but dumbbells feel very different and still go up by 5’s).\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Videos, if you care about that.