Iron Lotus

In the beginning, you may remember that my key to regular workout was tying it into my creative process. I have a whole method for doing this, so that exercise actually becomes the catapult for writing as much as 10K words per day, which is generally my goal at least 4-5 days per week. I don’t always hit it, but that’s the goal.

The last week or so I’ve been pretty burned out, pushed myself too hard last week and was exhausted and drained… so much so, in fact, that I’ve had a hard time writing too. But I realized yesterday that I had stopped doing that altogether. It’s akin to getting a car started and then running it out of gas – I have to stop and refuel it before I run out.  I can’t do the creative method every single time or it loses its potency for some reason, but a regular repeat of the process will keep both my word count and my workouts charged up.

Today, I did 5×6 circuits of:

• Deadlift
• Bench Press, wide grip
• Bench press, narrow grip
• Pulldown front
• Pulldown back
• Isometric planks
• Tricep extensions

I admit, I crapped out on the final set on half of them… all but the back pulldowns, bench press and deadlift. But really, the point this time was to see where my limits are. I think I need to break up my benches and pulldowns, because I really need different weights on those and it’s too much trouble to get up and change them in the middle of a circuit. I wasn’t doing that, so that’s why I was crapping out on those final sets and not with the others.

Here’s my theme song of the day:

5 min warm-up rowing

Superset 1:

Wide grip lat pull 6rep x8 @85lbs

Seated Cable Row 6rep x8 @80lbs

30 sec rest in-between

Superset 2:

Reverse grip bent over row 12rep x5 @65lbs

Hyperextensions holding 25lbs 15rep x5

30-45 sec rest in-between

Giant set:

Seated Db curl 12rep x4 @15lbs

Preacher curls 8rep x4 @12.5lbs

Standing hammer curl 12rep x4 @15lbs

45 sec rest in-between

Single Exercise:

Single arm lat pull 12rep (each) x4 @50lbs

Ab Circuit 1x thru no rest

Regular crunches x25

Oblique crunches x25 each

Crunches w/ feet elevated x25

Bicycle Crunches x30

Flutter kicks 30 sec

Plank 1 min

Side plank 1 min (each)

Plank up-downs 2o, 10 starting w/ each arm

Ab twist w/ 8lb med ball x60

Weighted decline crunch w/ 8lb med ball x20

Plank, knees to elbows x20, 10 each

Walk 30 min 10-12% incline, 3.5 speed, 140-150 HR

Foam roller 5 min on my hip

Back days are my favorite!! I felt good and a bit stronger on every exercise. My left arm is weaker than my right doing bicep curls but this is pretty normal- hopefully they even out soon though. My hip bothered my and felt weak again today even though I took a rest day yesterday which is disappointing. I am going to write down specifically how it feels day-to-day so that when I go back into the doctor at the end of next month I can give him a good explanation of what is going on. I really hope it gets sorted out eventually but for now, I am just trying to manage the pain and build up my strength without causing more damage (fyi- I do have the okay to be exercising).

Shoulder stretch, roller, leg stretch with bands

Warm up sets

Working sets:

375 x 5

425 x 3

475 x 1

Assistance work:

Squats BBB (70% of working 1RM):

310 x 10 x 5

Ab crunch (ball):

BW x 10 x 5

Roller

310 x 10 x 5 for my assistance squats was a killer. Had to lay down after that last set. haha

Happy to say 475 went up with relative ease; very much looking forward to testing my 1RM again at the end of next cycle.  Garage sale tomorrow morning, Cub Scout hike in the afternoon, then looking forward to seeing friends for the Vesak celebration in the park on Sunday. Good food and great people, will be a wonderful day.

“Deadlifts. My favorite!”

Saw this floating around and had to share. It not only cracks me up, but looks like it would be a 100 times better than that Battleship movie.

(also, this is how I feel after a good deadlift training session; ready to eat everything in site)

6 min walking warm-up

Superset:

Split squat holding 20lb DB 3×20

Forward & Back lunge holding 15lb DB 3×20 (10 each)

Superset:

Single leg deadlift @55 4×10 each leg **left leg was significantly weaker

Straight leg deadlift 2×12 @75, 2×10 @85

Squats 2×12 @95 (was planning on adding weight & doing more sets but hip was feeling very weak so I stopped)

Superset:

Single leg press 3×15 @100

Calf press 3×25 @140

Leg press @110 1×50 reps (just to make my legs really burn )

Walk 30 min at 10-11% incline, 3.5 speed. Kept HR between 140-150.

Felt pretty great today besides my left leg feeling weak on squats. I can notice a huge difference between my right and left side on days like today when I do single leg exercises and although it didn’t feel like too much for my hip I definitely have to be careful. I like to work one side at a time so that I can track the progress as my left side improves (which it has a bit!) and make sure my right leg isn’t just compensating for my left by taking on a majority of the work.

I wasn’t able to post this last night but here is my workout from yesterday!

5 min warmup, rowing

Machine Bench Press 4×25 on each side

Cable Chest Press 2×12 30lbs, 2×10 40lbs

Superset:

Chest Fly 15lbs 4×12

Chest Press Wide Grip just bar 4×15

Ab Circuit x3

Decline Crunch w/ 8lb medicine ball x15

Bicycle crunches x30

Ab rollout w/ wheel x10

Leg Raises x15

Vups x12

After the gym I went on a run/walk and was able to run for about 45 minutes (3-5 min running with 2-3 min rest). My hip felt pretty good but I really need to lay off the high impact exercise for a couple days. It was also super hot and humid out so I need to be sure to increase my fluid intake!

Shoulder stretch, roller

Warm up sets

Working sets:

165 x 5

190 x 3

210 x 1

Assistance work:

Bench Press BBB (70% of working 1RM):

175 x 10 x 5

Pull-ups (underhand grip):

BW x 10 x 5

curls

tricep pushdowns (w/ band)

Roller

Everything felt great, last Push Press for the BBB 3-month challenge. 3 more main lift days, then I’ll deload and be through the BBB 3-month challenge! Good stuff.

I was seriously lagging today. I’m not sure what’s up with me. is this some kind of stage of lifting I haven’t heard aboout? I’m taking in enough carbs for energy, enough protein for muscle support, getting enough sleep. If anything, I’m probably not drinking enough water. I can’t figure it out. I’m seriously unmotivated right now.

Well.. I guess that isn’t totally true. I’m just not motivated to get away from my keyboard. I’ve been stuck in a technology loop and a reading loop at the same time.

I did manage a 5×5 routine of bench press (narrow and wide grip), pulldowns (front and back) and attempted some deadlifts but I think I’ve strained my back so I did some shoulder stands instead to freshen up the flow of energy. I think it helped, and I will do some in my next workout on Thursday.

And now, for your viewing pleasure, the technology loop:

Yay, my first training log! I am so glad to finally be posting on here and want to thank you all for welcoming me onto Iron Lotus.

Lately I have been using some workouts from bodybuilding.com as guidelines but I typically change up the workouts a bit. Today I focused on shoulders and triceps but threw in some calves as well.

Warm-up 5 min

Superset 1:

Dumbbell shoulder press 4×10 @ 15lbs

Front dumbbell raise 4×10 @ 10lbs

Superset 2:

Triceps pushdown with rope 4×15 @40lbs

Standing triceps extension 4×10 @22.5lbs

Superset 3:

Dumbbell lateral raise 4×10 @10lbs

Arnold dumbbell press 3×8 @17.5lbs

Superset 4:

Prone on incline reverse fly 4×10 @7.5lbs

Seated calf raise 4×18 @55lbs

Superset 5:

Triceps bench dips 4×12

Standing calf raises 4×12 @100lbs

Cardio:

5 rounds of-

30 sec sprint, 30 sec rest

45 sec sprint, 45 sec rest

1 min sprint, 1 min rest @2.0 incline & 8.5 sprint speed

Cool down

I felt pretty good today but my left shoulder has been acting up sometimes when I lift which was bothering me today. It feels a bit weak but not very painful. I am keeping an eye on it and will rest if it doesn’t subside quickly. I was planning on completing 6 rounds of sprints but my hip wasn’t up for it. I am not surprised and am glad I stopped when I needed to rather than pushing myself too hard.

Blake, Emily, and myself have been enjoying keeping this site together. As you can tell, our main focus so far has been the training logs, with an occasional post under each of the other topics.  Personally, I feel this is working well and I hope you are enjoying interacting with us.

Today we welcome a new friend to the site, Emily Helt. Some of you may know her as @mindfulness108 on Twitter (and if you don’t follow her yet, I suggest you fix that).

Welcome to IronLotus, Emily!
*****

I have always been physically active and grew up a pretty serious athlete. The first time I touched a basketball I was five years old and I never put it down after that. As I got older, things got more serious- I started seeing basketball trainers, playing AAU, and getting ready to compete in high school with serious plans for college ball. Eventually I started losing interest. The love I once had began to fade as basketball started to feel like a chore. This great passion I had was fading and I couldn’t figure out why. Then, my sophomore year I had no choice, I had to stop playing to get back surgery. I was restricted from sports for a year and this changed my life.

Overtime I realized that physical discipline is meaningless without mental focus and emotional maturity, both which I had spent little time cultivating. Looking back, I can see how I lacked mindfulness as I immersed myself entirely into basketball. I DO love playing basketball and after dealing with injury I was able to refocus and discover a new appreciation for it.

Although most of the time my injuries frustrate me like crazy, I am grateful for the challenges and lessons I’ve learned. Now, I focus on keeping balance and push myself with the knowledge that maintaining this is what sustains my fitness. When I’m not cooped up in the gym I am scouring the Internet for random geekery, blogs, or creative inspiration. My computer is an integral part of preserving a balanced life.

- Emily Helt “@mindfulness108”