Strength Monday 11/26/12 (w/ Bonus Random News)

photo – flickr.com/photos/undergroundbastard/

In my quest for lean superhero-ness, I’m following the Wendler 5/3/1 strength training program. Twice a week, Dave and I are hitting the craptastic gym in our Converse to lift heavy and crank through a mini-metcon.

In No Particular Order…

Following the lead of our CEO Smudge — who prioritizes rest and self care over to-do lists on a regular basis — Dave and I gave ourselves the week off from work for the Thanksgiving holiday. We cooked, ate, napped, watched movies, played board games, read, drank tea, and wore squishy clothing with elastic waists.

Here are just a few pics and stories from the wonderful week that was before we get to the TOTALLY BADASS workout I did to kick off “back to normal” week.

Smudge, showing us why she’s an acknowledged expert at chilling out.

In addition to yoga (aaah, yoga), I did a few workouts with my Zombies, Run! 5k training app, which I continue to love. I’m on week 3 of the program, and the proportion of running to walking has increased. It feels great, and I’m faithfully using my heartrate monitor to make sure I don’t overdo it. Suck it, adrenal burnout! You’re not getting me again. This is me pretending to be a fearless badass while I run from the zombs.

We enjoyed a very Paleo Thanksgiving this year, although I did make a grain-free apple cake with regular ol’ sugar in it. Between us friends, here’s my stance on treats: They’re treats. If I’m making the choice to eat something indulgent, I want it to taste amazing and not hurt me. This apple cake made with almond flour, coconut flour, and white sugar didn’t hurt me — and it was mind-blowingly good. I’ll share the recipe, if y’all want to give it a try. (This cake looks humble, but trust: it might be my favorite dessert ever.)

Seems we can’t stay away from Prague for too long, so we’re planning a trip back in May with side journeys (on the night train!) to Slovenia and Croatia. In anticipation, I convinced Dave to read The Historian with me — my third reading. his first. (It’s only $6 on Amazon right now, so why not use that link, get yourself a copy, and join us!) One of my favorite things about the book is the travel through time and around the world. It starts in what’s now known as Ljublijana (capital of Slovenia) and continues through the Dalmatian coast of Croatia, Istanbul, Romania, Amsterdam… sigh. Smudge and I snuggled in over the weekend with a leopard blanket to travel from the comfort of the couch.

And finally, I got my latest blood work back and all of my thyroid hormones look awesome — and this news happily coincides with the fact that the jeans I bought when nothing fit are now too loose, and the jeans I loved that prompted me to think, “Girl, go up a size.” every time I wore them, now zip easily again. I’m not back where I was, and I have a good deal of work to do to banish the extra body fat, but I feel solidly “on course.” (For my fellow thyroid sufferers, I’m working on a post with details on the aftermath of the Wilson’s Protocol, my current regiment, and what’s next; coming soon.)

And now… my badass workout.

WARMUP
5:00 treadmill

2 rounds:
11 air squats
11 rotations
11 pushups (knees)
cat-cow
hamstring & quad stretches

STRENGTH
Deadlift:
5 @ 65% of max =115#
5@ 75% of max = 135#
max reps @ 85% of max = 150# – I did 11.
Yeah, that’s right… 11 reps. So hard, so good.

Overhead Press:
5 @ 65% of max =85#
5@ 75% of max = 95#
max reps @ 85% of max = 70# – I did 9.
Nine!

CASHOUT
With a running clock, no dropping the bar:
max overhead squats, 45# — I did 20.
max front squats, 45# — I did 30.
max back squats, 45# — I did 61.

TOTAL = 111 reps, time = 9:40

Had a great workout lately? Lay it on us!