Christmas carbed

Finally got off my Christmas-cookied butt and threw down some exercise, in the form of:

4 rounds:
500 m row
25 push-ups, knees down
10 lat pulls - 80#
10/leg split squats* - 30#, 20#

* The split squats were pretty uncomfortable -- tweaky in the adductor area -- so I dropped the weight from 30 to 20 lbs, then switched altogether to squats. Subbed in 15 squats with 50 lb bar for the last two sets. Sore to walk last night and today. Grr.

Post-Christmas carb weigh-in: 148. Wtf? I'll be taking a good four or five days off the gym as I do some holiday travelling, so I'm sure my next weigh-in will show drastic change. At least the break will be good for my achy joints.

Christmas warm-up

I did actually make it to the gym one more time before the hours (the gym's and mine) got Christmas-crazy. Let's see if I can remember what I did... I know I squeezed it in between the final big grocery-get, last minute gift-finding, and making dinner, while my mom watched the kids (which included tobogganing and playing little-tiny-ball with Ben. She's a hero.) I do recall that it was short and sweet, and likely involved squats...

Yep:

Squats - 75 x 10, 10, 10, 10
Lat pulls (regular pull-up grip) - 85 x 9, 6, 6, 4
Bench dips - 10, 8, 7

Treadmill - 3/4 mile at various speeds and pitches ranging from 3.3 mph/11% grade and 3.6 mph/7% grade. (The small speed differences are bigger when you're walking.) I was experimenting with keeping the Braxton-Hicks at bay (they seemed to subside when I walked a little faster on a lower grade. It might be the other way round. Must continue experimentation)...

Since then, it's been nothing but eating carbohydrate-rich foods and working on crossword puzzles. (Just one, actually, and five days later, we're only about 2/3 of the way through the 1200 clues...) The gym is open for a brief window of time this afternoon, but I may have inadvertently signed on to accompanying a kid to see Twilight. Ugh.

Carbo crash

I had to go to the midwifery clinic first thing this morning to do a blood test for gestational diabetes. (My mother had it when she was pregnant with me, so that is enough of a risk factor for me to get the test.)

First, I had to fast for 8 hours (thus the 9 AM appointment -- I got up and went without coffee or breakfast.) She takes a blood sample, then I drink 75 g of glucose (!) in the form of an orange crush-type drink. An hour later, she takes another blood sample; an hour after that, yet another. The first hour, I felt quite ill -- nauseous after all that sugar on an empty tummy. Then I just felt hungry. It was hell.

At last it was over, and I ate (inhaled) some nuts and half a peanut butter sandwich in the car. On the way to the gym. The first couple rounds of the circuit were great. Then the true hunger kicked in, and I struggled. Anyway, I managed to eke out:

4 rounds of

500m row*
25 push-ups
15 RDLs - 65 lb
15 step ups - per leg (I do one leg at a time, leading)

* I was sure I wasn't going to do the 4th set; I couldn't face the slog of the row. Someone was on the erg when I came up for #4, so I skipped it, and went straight to the push-ups.

I replaced the missing row set with a 1/2 mile uphill walk (3.3 mph, 10% grade, @ 9 minutes). Ultimately more work than originally planned, so that is good.

At home, the ensuing avocado and cheese sandwich barely saw the light of day.

And now with more weight!

I got all dressed for the gym yesterday but didn't quite make it. I'm glad in retrospect, because it would've been one of those tired, push-through-with-gritted-teeth kinda workouts. Instead, I went today (first time to my gym on a Saturday), rested and ready to go. It paid off.

I'm not sure why I felt the urge to do a little more weight than usual -- it just sort of seemed like the thing to do. So I upped the weight a little on squats and presses, and merrily eschewed cardio altogether.

Squats - 75 x 10, 10, 10, 10 (I've been doing this with 65 for the past month)
Calves - 200 x 10, 10, 10
Presses - 45 x 11, 8, 5, 4 (earlier this week, I had similar numbers with 5 lb less)

Finisher sets:
Squats - 45 x 20
Presses - 30 x 16

Core:
V-sit ball toss - 50, 40, 40
Side plank - 30 count, each side x2 (I consider this to be awesome, since I have that extra 18 lbs around the middle! Yay me!)

The presses are pretty much pre-pregnancy numbers for me. I was tempted to up the weight to 50, but didn't want to push it too much. I'm wondering if the last couple months of lower weight and higher reps haven't helped in some way. Lately, my number for bench dips have been actually better than pre-preg... And that's with 18 extra pounts around my middle. Hey! Maybe that's the answer. I've been doing bench dips with gradually more and more weight - like having strapped on a big ole plate -- but haven't scaled back the reps. In fact, I'm able to do slightly more than before. There's no way that doesn't help my presses. Nice.

Better than walking

I've been borrowing Ken's shorts the past few weeks, but they look, quite frankly, ridiculous on me. I finally dug up some old frisbee shorts (inherited; shiny black #12's) that are just perfect - they fit, but are baggy in a way that looks purposeful. They went a long way towards making me feel great at the gym today. However, I'm starting to feel like people (I spent most of the time in the free weight area of the gym, surrounded by big muscly fellas) are starting to stare. I'm sure it's my imagination.

4 rounds
14 walking lunges - 35# barbell
15 db swings - 25#
12 seated rows - 60# (last set = 75 lb x 7 slow reps)

Plus:
Press - 40# x 11, 7, 5
V-sit ball tosses - 40, 40

Weigh-in: 148.

I can't believe I have more than 3 more months. I'm going to be enormous.

Such a thing as too much walking

Instead of the gym today, I walked. A lot. My feet hurt. My back hurts. I'm going back to the gym tomorrow -- it seems that vigorous suits me much better than gentle.

Sleepy McNapperson

I feel like just about every other workout I'm tired. Today was the "other" workout. Fighting a cold, and not sleeping well lately. Sleeping on my side is a necessity as my belly is too big to fit underneath me (I'm traditionally a stomach-sleeper), and on my back is uncomfortable after awhile (weight of the fetus compresses the vein that returns blood to the heart -- I can feel my heart start to pound when I lie on my back long enough -- yuck). By side sleeping suck, hurts my hips, and I have to roll over frequently, which is increasingly difficult as the belly is of a size that now needs to be hoisted. Ugh.

Whining aside, I did manage to eke out a half-decent circuit today:

4 rounds of
500 m row (about 2:25 min per set)
25 push-ups (knees down)
15 good mornings (45 lb bar)
15 steps ups (per leg)

It took about half an hour; I felt like I worked hard (as evidenced by the hot and sweaty red face). Then I staggered home with my eyes-half closed. A pre-dinner nap awaits.