Workout – May 4, 2012

Posted on May 4, 2012 by Inday Iskariray

Jump Rope:

0:03:00

Jumping Jacks:

20 jumping jacks
20 jumping jacks
20 jumping jacks

Shoulder Dislocation:

5 reps
5 reps
5 reps
5 reps
5 reps

Barbell Squat:

15 lb x 5 reps
15 lb x 5 reps
15 lb x 5 reps
40 lb x 5 reps
40 lb x 5 reps
40 lb x 5 reps
50 lb x 5 reps
75 lb x 5 reps – PR!
75 lb x 5 reps
75 lb x 5 reps
75 lb x 5 reps
75 lb x 5 reps

Barbell Bench Press:

10 lb x 5 reps
10 lb x 5 reps
10 lb x 5 reps
30 lb x 5 reps
30 lb x 5 reps
30 lb x 5 reps
40 lb x 5 reps
55 lb x 2 reps – PR!
50 lb x 5 reps
50 lb x 5 reps
50 lb x 5 reps
50 lb x 5 reps

So… yeah. Fifty-five pounds was a bad idea. LOL. I almost dropped the bar on myself. Also, I need to do a form check. A guy approached me tonight while I was doing bench presses and gave a few pointers on my form. He was really nice about it, though. And cute. ^_^

Pendlay Row:

15 lb x 5 reps
15 lb x 5 reps
15 lb x 5 reps
40 lb x 5 reps
40 lb x 5 reps
40 lb x 5 reps
50 lb x 5 reps
70 lb x 5 reps
70 lb x 3 reps
70 lb x 4 reps
70 lb x 3 reps
70 lb x 3 reps

And yep, I’m officially stalling in the Pendlay Row. Also, I’m super-conscious of my form… I feel like I’m using my whole upper body when doing the lift; I feel myself jerk upwards from the hips and maybe this is wrong… Moreover, I felt even more self-conscious because the guy who corrected my benching form was there, watching. Urghs. The whole time I was lifting I was imagining him looking critically at my form and then wanting to interrupt and correct me and then being driven crazy because he was too shy to do it. Haha.

Modified Plank:

60 sec
60 sec
60 sec

Yay, I finally found the guts to do a third set! Good job. Although I was shaking like crazy halfway through that last plank and barely finished it. Still, it’s an accomplishment. I’ll be doing three sets of Modified Planks from now on. Win.

Stretching:

0:05:00

On a side note, may I just say how much I love my Bikila Vibrams? They are the only shoes I wear to work out, and I just love them. So comfy. Also, to my glutes and hamstrings–I need you to grow, okay? I’m not doing these squats just to torture myself. And to the fat surrounding my middle, please be so kind as to melt off. That’s all, thank you bye.

May Goals

Posted on May 2, 2012 by Inday Iskariray

May is officially here! And that means that we’re nearly halfway through 2012. How fast time flies. The next thing we know, it will be December already. Urghs.

Anyways. May is my favorite month of the year because it’s a “summer month”–together with its predecessor, April. You see, there are only two seasons in the Philippines: the dry or summer season and the wet or rainy season. The dry season normally starts in February and lasts until mid- to late May, after which the rains take over from June until the following January. So this month, being the last one of the dry season, is one where we have beautiful sunny weather almost every day, the kind that would be a perfect accompaniment to a day at the beach.

Furthermore, here in the Philippines, the school year lasts from June to March, which means that the months of April and May are vacation time for the students. The anticipation for vacation starts building up as early as January, when students subconsciously start to count the days until the school year is over. The suspense reaches its climax during awarding or graduation time in late March, after which there is a collective sigh of relief and a giddy excitement for the things that that they’ve got lined up during the break.

So that’s how it came to be that April and May became synonymous with summer, vacation and all the nice things associated with it. On a subconscious level, those two months of the year just brings with them lots of happy thoughts.

But more importantly (to me, at least–haha), May is the month of my birthday! So in honor of my birth month, I am making a promise to myself to really make my fitness a priority this time. Specifically, I commit myself to these goals this May:

Lift AT LEAST two times a week. My workouts fell by the wayside last March and April. That was in large part due to conflicts with my work load and schedule, but I guess I could have tried a lot harder to fit my workouts in. I’m anticipating that my work is going to hit some form of stride this month, so I should be able to fit at least two gym sessions per week. I’m only aiming for a baseline of two workouts a week because I noticed that as my Squat approaches the 100-lb mark, my posterior muscles are becoming increasingly sore. Given that, I am not sure if a day’s rest in between is enough for them to recover. Maybe I’m underestimating myself, but this time I think I prefer to be conservative and err on the side of safety. I will have to constantly gauge myself and see.
Stretch after every workout. I’ve been very lax about my flexibility lately. During my active Taekwondo days, I was very proud of how far I could stretch, especially my legs. Now I find it challenging to simply touch my toes. I have to work on bringing my flexibility back to where it was before.
Be religious in drinking my post-workout shake. Sometimes in the hustle and bustle of cleaning up and dressing up again after my gym sessions, I forget to drink (or finish) my protein shake. I mean, it’s always there, all ready to go, but sometimes it really does slip my mind to bring the shake out from my bag and just gulp it down. I have to be more vigilant in this if I want to keep building muscle.
Drink more water. Yes, I’m ashamed to admit this, but I haven’t paid attention to my hydration, too. Which is very bad, especially considering the heat wave that’s been hitting Manila recently. Sometimes I find myself ravenously hungry only to realize later on that it was the thirst speaking to me. So now I resolve to drink more water this month; I might even bring a huge water bottle with me during my work travels. Which reminds me, I should look into buying a BPA-free water bottle for this very purpose.

Here’s to the month of May! “MAY” the Force be with us all as we pursue our healthiest and fittest selves! ^_^

Workout – May 1, 2012

Posted on May 1, 2012 by Inday Iskariray

Jump Rope:

0:03:00

Jumping Jacks:

20 jumping jacks
20 jumping jacks
20 jumping jacks

Shoulder Dislocation:

5 reps
5 reps
5 reps
5 reps
5 reps

Barbell Squat:

15 lb x 5 reps
15 lb x 5 reps
15 lb x 5 reps
40 lb x 5 reps
40 lb x 5 reps
40 lb x 5 reps
50 lb x 5 reps
70 lb x 5 reps – PR!
70 lb x 5 reps
70 lb x 5 reps
70 lb x 5 reps
70 lb x 5 reps

Standing Barbell Shoulder Press:

15 lb x 5 reps
15 lb x 5 reps
15 lb x 5 reps
30 lb x 5 reps
30 lb x 5 reps
30 lb x 5 reps
40 lb x 5 reps
45 lb x 1 reps
45 lb x 1 reps
45 lb x 2 reps
45 lb x 1 reps
45 lb x 1 reps

Ok. Still struggling with the Shoulder Presses. If this continues into my next workout, then it’s time to do a minor deload.

Barbell Deadlift:

30 lb x 5 reps
50 lb x 5 reps
70 lb x 5 reps
100 lb x 5 reps – PR!

And BOOM! I’m back. Last week was just an adjustment period. Felt like such a beast while doing my work set. Woohoo! ^_^

Modified Plank:

60 sec
60 sec

Stretching:

0:05:00

I read somewhere that I should examine my nutrition and recovery if I’m stalling in my lifts. Lately I haven’t been that conscious about my protein intake–like sometimes I neglect to drink my whey, and I no longer prioritize protein food sources at mealtimes–so I guess I have to get that fixed if I want to continue my load progression.

Housemate Perks

Aside

Living in a house with two boys most definitely has its perks. Broken door handle = FIXED. Leaky ref = GOOD AS NEW. Sink problem = GONE. Haha. Did I mention that they cook, too? This is a very good thing, given how allergic I am to cooking. At the very least I don’t starve. Hahaha. These boys keep me alive.

Month Three of Stronglifts: Ugh.

Posted on April 30, 2012 by Inday Iskariray

Ugh. This is terrible. Only three gym workouts logged this April. And I thought last month was bad. Work was a little crazy this month (we launched a new product that had to be introduced to our customers all over the country), plus I lost the use of my car after Holy Week because the clutch system gave out. Yeah I know, maybe in an ideal world, being car-less is hardly an excuse for missing workouts, but try battling the traffic of Metro Manila through commute and see if you have time and energy to spare afterwards.

But what’s done is done. I must make up for it in May. Time to take a step back, re-evaluate myself and my goals, and apply myself in the coming days.

Nope, I Didn’t

Aside

I didn’t go. The heat got the better of me. Or, as proactivists would say, I let the heat get the better of me. But man, if you’d seen the way I sweated buckets everytime I made the slightest movement, you’d understand. But it was time well-spent, nonetheless. I caught up on my reading of the “Game of Thrones” book (which I started last December, by the way–yeah, I got sidetracked in my reading a little bit), and was even able to finish it today! And it’s about time, too, since the second season of the TV series is now airing on HBO. I’m already a few pages into “A Clash of Kings” as I write… and I’m finding myself getting addicted to the novels again. I have this habit of not letting a good book down until I’ve read it through and through. So now I have to worry about not letting my reading get in the way of working out. LOL.

Dreading going to the gym.

Status

I’m so dreading going to the gym. The heat these days has been almost intolerable, and the thought of working out in a stuffy, unconditioned gym filled with grunting, sweating, thermogenic beefcakes scares the hell out of me. You know how heat-averse I am. I will be roasted alive in there, and I might as well use the barbell as my spit.

The Avengers

Posted on April 28, 2012 by Inday Iskariray

I just watched “The Avengers” with my TKD friends. I must say that I really, REALLY enjoyed it. Too bad there wasn’t a lot of shirt-offtaking (yes, Thor and Captain America, I’m looking at you), but I got over it more easily that I thought. I especially enjoyed the witty repartee among the principal characters, and the well-timed slapstick had me guffawing too. Of particular note is Mark Ruffalo’s casting as Bruce Banner / The Incredible Hulk, but he turned out to be a very pleasant surprise.Very well played.

In short, it’s a rollicking good movie. Must-watch. Sorry, no spoilers here. :-p

Workout – April 27, 2012

Posted on April 27, 2012 by Inday Iskariray

Barbell Squat:

15 lb x 5 reps
15 lb x 5 reps
15 lb x 5 reps
40 lb x 5 reps
40 lb x 5 reps
40 lb x 5 reps
50 lb x 5 reps
65 lb x 5 reps – PR!
65 lb x 5 reps
65 lb x 5 reps
65 lb x 5 reps
65 lb x 5 reps

Barbell Bench Press:

10 lb x 5 reps
10 lb x 5 reps
10 lb x 5 reps
30 lb x 5 reps
30 lb x 5 reps
30 lb x 5 reps
40 lb x 5 reps
50 lb x 5 reps
50 lb x 5 reps
50 lb x 5 reps
50 lb x 5 reps
50 lb x 5 reps

I had a small error in tracking my work weight for the bench press. I was supposed lift 55 lbs but for some reason I wrote down “50″ in my notebook. But this is for the better, I suppose. At least I won’t be shocking my pectorals into DOMS oblivion.

Pendlay Row:

15 lb x 5 reps
15 lb x 5 reps
15 lb x 5 reps
40 lb x 5 reps
40 lb x 5 reps
40 lb x 5 reps
50 lb x 5 reps
70 lb x 5 reps
70 lb x 5 reps
70 lb x 4 reps
70 lb x 3 reps
70 lb x 3 reps

And my tracking confusion continues into the Pendlay Row. I was supposed to lift 75 lbs for my work weight, but like in the case of the Bench Press, I wrote down the weight I already lifted last time. And funnily enough, I hit my first failure using an “old” weight. I was really struggling with my third work set. Must be an after-effect of the lifting hiatus. Let’s see if this stall continues into the next workout.

Modified Plank:

60 sec
60 sec

So recently I have decided to incorporate accessory ab exercises into my workouts. I’ve noticed that I sometimes lose tightness in my torso when doing squats, and this has resulted in some minor discomfort in my lower back, especially when I’m coming up from the bottom position (i.e., standing back up). I hope that adding planks will help solve this; although I still try to be mindful of keeping proper form when I squat. I’m going to work up to doing three sets of this, after which I will transition to doing Full (or Forearm) Planks.

Some thoughts on Lisa-Marie of BodyRock.

Posted on April 26, 2012 by Inday Iskariray

Lisa-Marie, post-boob job.

There’s a lot of buzz surrounding BodyRock.tv lately. The discussion, as it has in the past, revolves mostly around the overly-sexualized photos and videos of their hosts, but now a different topic is becoming apparent in the threads: new host Lisa-Marie’s recent boob job.

I’ve said before that when Lisa-Marie took over hosting duties at BodyRock.tv, I had a lot of trouble warming up to her. I just couldn’t relate to her and I found her “spunkiness” a litle annoying. I haven’t done a BodyRock workout since Zuzana left.

That being said, I feel disappointed in Lisa-Marie for getting a boob job. I mean, her body was already pretty awesome just the way it was, why did she have to change it? I realize that it’s her body and her decision to make (and no one else’s), but the move really does not bode well because she is the face of a health and fitness brand that advocates self acceptance. I’m sure BodyRock.tv has followers made of impressionable young girls. What kind of effect will Lisa-Marie’s boob job have on them and their self-image?

On top of that, her boobs are too huge now; they’re almost comically disproportionate. I can probably look past Lisa-Marie’s boob-job decision if she had gotten “just the right size”… you know, a true “enhancement” to her form, but her new breasts look ridiculous. At least Zuzana’s looked perfect relative to her body type and size.