I know... and I have worked really hard for the muscle tone, I guess I just feel bad that I've lost so many pounds in the past 2 1/2 weeks because it's pretty much due to the fact that I'm on amphetamines

speaking of muscles... I think I strained my forearm/bicep on Saturday doing assisted chin-ups >.< it hurts especially on my bicep right above my elbow crease and feels tight/swollen. It hurts to fully straighten my arm and has a burning/cramping feeling. I put some IcyHot on it tonight but that helped for like maybe 20 minutes. Any advice? Ice? Wrap it? More IcyHot? :\

[Edited on November 9, 2010 at 1:36 AM. Reason : but thanks for the compliment it feels weird to be this size]

11/9/2010 1:36:28 AM

SUCK IT UP

but seriously, I don't think wrapping it would do any good. Maybe just give it a rest for a couple days, that's what I usually do when my body starts to ache.

11/9/2010 8:30:20 AM

Just wrap it and rest it for a couple of days. Focus on legs/core workout instead. You prob don't even need to wrap it, but if it feels better to wrap it, then do so.

No sense injuring yourself when your progress has been on fire.

[Edited on November 9, 2010 at 8:37 AM. Reason : s]

11/9/2010 8:37:05 AM

it hurts a lot more this morning I want to put more IcyHot on but I don't want to smell like an old person in class... it feels better when I massage it so that's why I asked if wrapping is a good thing. I'll try out some stuff today

yeah I guess I could do the legs/back video from P90X and skip all the back parts... I don't mind doing the videos when I can do what I want and choose the exercises myself


thanks guys

11/9/2010 11:16:35 AM

rest will be more beneficial

just go for a walk the next few days to not risk injuring anything else

you'll be good as new in a few days

11/9/2010 11:20:32 AM

Also, they have non-smelly icy hot or some type of similar cream. You don't have to smell like an old person, I think you just like it.

11/9/2010 12:08:10 PM

Started meeting with my trainer again a couple of weeks ago and I'm finally back in my skinny jeans! Woo hoo! I'm working out with him on Mondays and Wednesdays and then doing weights on my own on Fridays, on top of daily cardio.

Unfortunately, I'm experiencing pretty severe muscle soreness in my abs. Basically, I did a full-body weight workout Monday and my abs have been very sore since. Perhaps it's a result of using my core during cardio workouts? Or perhaps I need three days between ab workouts instead of just two? I feel like I don't get as much out of my Wednesday ab workouts because my abs are near failure by the time I get started.

How can I speed up the recovery time between ab workouts?

11/10/2010 10:13:33 AM

oh hay

since no one else has responded, i'd just treat it like any other muscle soreness and
back off on working abs so much and try and ease into the workouts until you are back
up to where you want to be with workout frequency

you are probably getting plenty of ab exercise in with teaching and running and weight lifting

no need to do individual ab workouts on top of that

im not sayin.. im just sayin..

11/11/2010 9:43:54 AM

alright ladies and gents, im back from paris and i get 16-20 hours/week of time back!
in the past 6 weeks ive put on about 6 lbs :/ (and i think ive gone to the gym like 4 times)

but luckily all of my clothes fit exactly the same i've just lost some definition and look a little mushy :/

strangely enough i have LOST inches in my stomach and gained some in my hips. (this means i will not be working out abs as much as i originally was)..

but anyway now i have some time to work out! YAYYYYYYY!!!!

11/11/2010 10:03:56 AM

^^ o hai bb! I'll tell my trainer that. He seems to think that I definitely have to work out my abs during sessions. And I agree with you that it may be overkill. My abs are ridiculously sore today from yesterday's workout. And they'll def get hit again when teaching tonight bc it's a heavy hill workout class. Honestly, ab workouts seem pretty pointless, IMO, if you exercise in general. Most workouts automatically engage your core muscles.

Is it really important to do ab workouts?

^ I'm impressed that you gained 6 lbs and LOST inches in your waist! I figure, if the clothes still fit, weight is irrelevant. Travel always makes it tricky to work out and eat healthy. Particularly when you're dealing with jet lag, long flights and long waits in customs.

[Edited on November 11, 2010 at 10:12 AM. Reason : j]

11/11/2010 10:10:25 AM

^ I KNOW! i KNEW i was losing my figure!!!

but right now i am at 150.
im gonna get back to lifting and not so as much abs. (starting tomorrow, today i will be in the library ALL DAY)

ill let yall know how it goes

PS congrats on getting back into your skinny jeans

11/11/2010 11:25:01 AM

congrats i<3k on the jeans

and Joie... don't worry about the weight gain, you're still hawt so no worries


my arm is kinda back to normal now but y'all should have seen it yesterday and the day before... it was so swollen my elbow looked fat (literally) and last night after I wrapped it I could almost mold the swollen areas


anyways... I'm getting burnt out with working out I'm in a work-out funk. I'm going to try to go to new classes at the gym to pique my interest (my school gym has a Crunk class... yes, a Crunk class)

11/11/2010 12:17:25 PM

Sam don't feel bad - i go through the SAME thing where i'm like, "blah i don't want to work out." at least you're willing to try new stuff. i would try new gym classes but the gym i belong to only has classes starting at 6:00pm and i get off work at 3:00. i know if i sit around and "wait" i won't want to go.

you look great btw.

11/11/2010 1:01:00 PM

Crunk class sounds awesome! I want to hear about this. Please check it out, Sam.

11/11/2010 1:27:29 PM

Quote :

"Is it really important to do ab workouts?"

NO

11/11/2010 2:51:57 PM

^3 Thanks girl

^2 I will! Apparently crunk dancing originated in Bham... at least that's what the class description said

I'll probably go next Wednesday - apparently this huge black guy teaches it so I am intrigued haha


I'm excited after seeing this: http://www.ehow.com/video_5246936_crunk-dance.html

[Edited on November 11, 2010 at 5:38 PM. Reason : .]

11/11/2010 5:21:46 PM

WOO HOO. back in the gym today.

definitely lost quite a bit of strength and stamina. but im back baby!!!

11/12/2010 6:08:13 PM

YES

Ive struggled to hold up the sexy quota at the gym in your absence.

11/12/2010 6:13:38 PM

im sure you did fine

11/12/2010 6:21:21 PM

Oh snap! This thread's still going!

11/15/2010 3:27:21 PM

Quote :

"it hurts especially on my bicep right above my elbow crease and feels tight/swollen. It hurts to fully straighten my arm and has a burning/cramping feeling."

This is the beginning signs of tendonitis. I had this in the exact same place on my arms my first year at OCS. Basically, you over used that tendon in your arm. For me, my right arm would go numb for about 5 minutes after doing the O-Course and then it would hurt like yours when I stretched it out after the numbness went away.

You just need to rest it for a bit. I think I was fine after a couple of days.

11/16/2010 11:38:22 AM

^ Oh it's gone now

11/16/2010 12:55:13 PM

I would get that after days of lots of bicep exercises. I think that given rest each time you get these pains, your muscles and tendons will eventually be strong enough to not get these pains.

That, or you need to take a long time off. At one point I developed some weird central rib pain because I was doing a lot of bench and dips. Orthopedist gave his advice (just off the record crap, I was in for my knee injury) that it sounded like my rib cartilage was inflamed. So just keep track of it.

11/16/2010 1:19:46 PM

I have been getting a lot of little muscle ouchies lately. A couple weeks ago it was my right tricep suddenly getting really tight in the middle of a bench press and hurting for a few days. Then something similar happened with my shoulder. Then on Saturday I did some lunges and deadlifts and then a hash run, and by the end of the run I was limping because something in my right hip flexor was in serious pain, and the next day my right quad was in a crazy knot.

I have been trying to warm up more (both doing a general warmup before starting lifting and then doing a warmup set for each exercise) and not do anything ridiculous, but I am kind of alarmed that things like this keep happening. Definitely don't think it's lack of recovery time. I imagine it's all just related to my super crappy sleeping schedule and stress levels and not watching my nutrition as closely in that time frame, but I am having a hard time getting them all back on course because they kind of feed off each other. I've heard that if you start developing little injuries often take at least a full week off, but I pretty much did that and it didn't help.

11/16/2010 1:32:04 PM

Anyone have any advice for strengthening/dealing with knee pain?

I am not certain at all what is causing it or I'd be more specific, but if I'm doing anything even remotely high impact (especially when I do plyo etc.) my knees start to give out and hurt long before my muscles/my heart.

My roommate recommended fish oil and I just started taking it so not sure if that will work or not.

11/16/2010 3:24:57 PM

glucosamine. daily. I can really tell when I miss taking this.

also, get new shoes.

Stretch.

Lift weights. Yes, legs & squats a couple of times a week.

11/16/2010 5:59:00 PM

^ i put glucosamine on my grocery list until i scanned the wikipedia page. looked to me like it's not proven to provide any benefit.



[Edited on November 17, 2010 at 8:15 AM. Reason : .]

11/17/2010 8:14:47 AM

^don't always trust wikipedia . b/c of school i get access to killer databases, one look at natural standard gives glucosamine an A for osteoarthritis of the knee.
(ns uses actual studies and peer reviewed articles)

11/17/2010 9:13:42 AM

fwiw, I take Osteo-Bi-Flex daily (Glucosamine) and it really does help my knees and shoulders

11/17/2010 10:20:07 AM

I'm not sayin you're wrong or anything..

I'm just sayin it works for me and I can definitely tell a difference if I miss it one day.

11/17/2010 10:23:48 AM

personally id stay away from things that you can feel if you miss one dosage...

my common sense says that it cant be really that great and its not fixing the problem.

11/17/2010 12:40:11 PM

well osetoarthritis is simply wearing down of the joints

glucosamine can help. (i cant remember how)


the thing is if its osteo-its not gonna get better so might as well make it bearable.



(throughout my schooling im learning there is a lot of this ie-some people have to take aspirin every day and if they miss a day or two they can get an MI )

11/17/2010 12:49:59 PM

thats a sad way to live i dont like taking anything period

i guess ive just been blessd with pain that I can suffer through and it goes away eventually.

[Edited on November 17, 2010 at 12:54 PM. Reason : f]

11/17/2010 12:53:26 PM

Joie, do you have any insights similarly on the benefits for Glucosamine, Glucosamine and Chondritin, and Glucosamine-Chondroitin-MSM? I see tons of products with various combinations of all three, but I have no idea what appropriate dosages might be or what the benefits are to having 1, 2, or 3 of them.


Another question for anyone: is there an increased risk of injury if I do cardio immediately after a heavy workout in the weight room? My gym routine lately has involved running (or cycling) to the gym, lifting weights, and then running home (even if I'm doing legs that day on weights), but I wasn't sure if that would make me more susceptible to stress fractures or things like that.

11/17/2010 2:27:11 PM

Quote :

"Another question for anyone: is there an increased risk of injury if I do cardio immediately after a heavy workout in the weight room? My gym routine lately has involved running (or cycling) to the gym, lifting weights, and then running home (even if I'm doing legs that day on weights), but I wasn't sure if that would make me more susceptible to stress fractures or things like that."

With the absolute disclaimer that I am not a professional trainer, from my experience, doing cardio after lifting is fine. As a matter of fact, I have gotten my best results doing cardio during my lifting.

It's actually the basis of the Insanity workout program, which i have done a couple times. Basically, you do a couple sets of weight exercises (12 curls and 12 shoulder presses, for example), then do 12 of some high intensity aerobic exercise to get your heart rate up (something like power jumps, in-and-outs, etc). Then you wait 30 seconds, and repeat everything again, this time doing 10 reps and upping your weight if you can. Wait 30 seconds again, and do the same thing only doing 8 reps.

Obviously, if you're doing cardio while you're lifting, the amount of weight you can lift goes down (and gets less really quickly.) I can curl 40 pounds, however when I do a workout like the one I described above, I use 25 pound weights instead. It goes without saying, that if your goal is to bulk up, this probably isn't the method for you. However, this method helps build endurance as well as getting you really toned.

11/17/2010 2:56:11 PM

^same for me. I always feel weak when I alternate between cardio and strength training. Yesterday after 45 minutes of switching I tried doing pull-ups. Disaster. Same with almost everything else. If I do one then the other though without combining them I feel better running then doing strength training.

Did my first kettlebell/biking trip. Stopped every few miles and did a kettlebell workout with a 35lb kettlebell. Was intense. The Turkish get up with a kettlebell on a mountain biking trail is fun. heh.

[Edited on November 17, 2010 at 3:19 PM. Reason : s]

11/17/2010 3:18:11 PM

Quote :

"Joie, do you have any insights similarly on the benefits for Glucosamine, Glucosamine and Chondritin, and Glucosamine-Chondroitin-MSM? I see tons of products with various combinations of all three, but I have no idea what appropriate dosages might be or what the benefits are to having 1, 2, or 3 of them."

i honestly have no clue, but i can look it up in the badass databases at school.
gimme til this weekend

11/17/2010 5:06:36 PM

Quote :

"I wasn't sure if that would make me more susceptible to stress fractures or things like that."

susceptible to losing weight !!!!!!!!!!!

11/18/2010 12:37:23 AM

Can't. Move. Did this today:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iI_Emov4iuI

Finally a crossfit workout with a guy's name!

"600 rep workout"

50 prison squats
50 knee tuck jumps
50 push ups
25 pull ups
50 swiss ball hamstring curls
50 pikes
50 step ups
25 chin ups
50 squat thrusts
50 inverted rows
50 lunges
50 close grip push ups

Had to take a couple breaks but I did it in 29 minutes!!! Shitty time but working on it. Only thing I couldn't fullly do were the last 15 or so chin ups. Had to jump for assist. Then 15 minutes of stretching!

[Edited on November 18, 2010 at 9:52 PM. Reason : beer time!]

11/18/2010 9:52:01 PM

Day 1 of Month 2 of Insanity is the first one that doesn't make me feel like a worthless fatass and makes me feel like a fucking beast.

11/19/2010 12:12:21 AM

Well done, sir.

Insanity rocks!

11/19/2010 6:28:49 AM

We are starting Insanity round 2 the week after Thanksgiving. I am quite excited about it. I keep telling myself I'm going to get out and run, but then I'm like "damn it's cold and dark " That's the one thing I don't like about this time of year.

11/19/2010 9:25:47 AM

unforntuantey due to effing school ive only been to the gym twice in the past week and a half or so.

seriously, this schedule is killin me. (up at 6:30 ish, home around 8-9)
my last day of class is tuesday, finals the week after thanksgiving and then i have a month off

i wouldn't be so behind if it wasn't for the paris trip!!!!

le sigh, totally worth it though <3

11/19/2010 9:28:44 AM

You need to come knock the rust off the bench press bars at LFF. Dem suckers is rusty. I guess the lifting iron part was literal. Pumping oxide s0n.

11/19/2010 9:47:32 AM

Quote :

"i wouldn't be so behind if it wasn't for the paris trip!!!!"

SACRE BLEU!!!!!!

You better have shown those francophones some AMERICAN MUSCLE.

11/19/2010 9:52:06 AM

i really need to get out of this workout funk... i have just not been able to get back into anything since my slew of health issues a few weeks ago...

11/19/2010 9:53:15 AM

you should continue to feel sorry for yourself. that is sure to work.

11/19/2010 11:44:15 AM

you're an ass

11/19/2010 11:48:05 AM

you all suck

11/19/2010 11:50:27 AM

Haha thanks, and I'm not sure if I'd say it rocks, but it is something alright

11/19/2010 12:09:29 PM