Topic: Nikkystapf's training Log

[wolf555]

I've found Smuckers natural peanut butter, the peanut butter with honey in it, that doesn't have some fancy word, (when I remember it I'll post it) to be helpful, eating like 3-5 peanut butter sandwhich's a day, helps gain weight, tastes good to, corse anything taste good now....slugs...still have nightmares over that.

[Nicole]

Ok so I've been out for a while, what else is new. This year has turned out to be quite dramatic for me personally, so this has put a significant halt on my training. My mom had been battling lung cancer for the past year and two weeks ago she lost that battle. The stress from that has put me out for a bit but now I'm back and ready to get better than ever!

I am currently working as a personal trainer, so at least I have consistent access to a gym. It isn't a gymnastics gym, but I can get a really good conditioning workout in.

Today I did:

Ran for 30 min. with uphill sprints ever 10 min.

Upper body workout:3 sets of 12
Bench press @ 55lbs
Bent over barbell row @ 40lbs
Dumbbell shoulder press @ 15lbs
Skull Crushers @ 20lbs
Barbell curls @ 30lbs

I've found that weight I was able to handle has gone down considerably. I was benching 75. My goal is 175. Hopefully in a few weeks that will change.

Currently I plan on weightlifting 4 days a week, alternating upper and lower body workouts. Also running at least 3 or more days a week. I'm debating if I should start doing push ups and pistols every night or if that might be too much. I like weightlifting but it was body weight workouts that got me in shape to do pk, and I don't want to give them up entirely. Also stretching needs to be an every night day thing if I plan on increasing my flexibility.

I also want to start going to a gymnastics gym soon so I can practice my flips. Its getting cold and the ground hurts lol.

Well more to come later, any advice or tips are greatly appreciated!

[wolf555]

   I would stick more with calathenics. Weight training will help you don't get me wrong, but I think sticking with more calathenics will be helpful. Lower body I would stay with weights, and some calathenics mixed in, but for upperbody, I think calathenics with a little weight training mixed in will help. Like with pull ups, I know guys that can pull like 300 pounds on the lat pull down put barely do one pull up. They make the "Iron Gym" pull up bar that you can attach to your door, that thing is worth it's weight in gold. Just stick it over the door in your house you use the most, every time you go through it, knock out like 5 pull ups, before long you will notice you can do more and more, between that and actual pull up exercises you should be able to get to 20 in no time. I would also suggest liver tablets, they taste horrible but will give you energy like you wouldn't believe.
   Sorry to hear about your mom. I had a family friend that got lung cancer, it was a bad deal, but at least he doesn't have to suffer anymore.

[Shyam Subramanian]

Hey!

Sorry about your mom, I can't imagine how hard that'd be...  I'm glad you're moving on though!

About the bodyweight vs lifting stuff, I'd say do a bit of both for sure.  The weights will get you strength and explosiveness while bodyweight will increase your body awareness along with strength, just strength at a lesser degree than lifting (in general - some bodyweight exercises are really hard).  I actually have never used weights in my life, and I just passed my one year mark.  I need to find some weights though, because I need to improve my strength haha

If you're looking towards bodyweight I would definately suggest skimming over Building the Gymnastic Body by Coach Sommers.  It tells you about planche progression, L-sits, handstand pushups, and a LOT LOT more haha.  You could buy the book, but I just typed in "Building the Gymnastic Body free pdf" on google lol.  Do the same thing for another book called Relax into Stretch by Pavel (forgot his last name lol ), it's really good and teaches you tons about stretches.

And finally about the flippies!! .  Yeah your best bet would be to find a gymnastics gym.  If all else fails though you could do what I did and just bust them out on grass.  I don't recommend this though, because my flips are bad and your butt will hurt A LOT, rofl.

Hope I helped!!  

[Nicole]

The past few days have been good. Trained in a gymnastics gym Wednesday night. Tried to do some flips with no success. Did some squats with my friend on my back My version of traditional weight lifting.
Yesterday I workout out arms with weights, and I think it was good because I actually felt sore in the morning. I also ran a couple of miles. Nothing special.

I plan on weight lifting at least twice a week, and doing body weight exercises the rest of the time. I trained body weight the first year of my training, and it got me really far. I'm still able to do like 40 push ups and 10 pull ups, plus a lot of yoga poses and planches. The goal with adding weights to my workout was to bring it to the next level and as a personal trainer I feel like I should because a lot of my clients like weight training.
I do however completely agree that body weight exercises give you the most strength possible, especially if done right.

And Shay, I haven't heard of those books but I'll sure look them up.

[Nicole]

11/116/10

This past week has been good as far as training goes.
Last Saturday- I went to a gym and trained flips and vaults. I ended up landing on my ankle the wrong way and tweaking it but didn't actually realize that until yesterday lol.

Sunday- I went for a 7 mile run. That was kinda fun. I'm planning on running the Kentucky Derby Mini-Marathon and the Indianapolis 500 Mini this year. It going to be nice to have goals to train for again, besides just being a ninja. The seven mile run probably did a number on my ankle.

Monday- I ran about 35 min on the treadmill at work and lifted weights for my upper body. I've also been doing 100+ push ups everyday and various pistols and sit ups. I'm going to lift for lower body tomorrow.

Today- I woke up and my body was screaming at me lol. The running I've been doing has probably caused other muscles to work harder and differently, and my ankle is as sore as ever. So because of that I rested all day, probably going to do some push ups and sit ups in a min. I want my ankle to be fine so I can run at least eight miles this weekend!

Anyways, here is a video my friend made of our training on Saturday for those of you who do look at my log lol. Don't take it too seriously, we were just goofing off
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-cHxPab23g

[wolf555]

Wow, when I first turned that video on I was thinking you look a little different then your picture on here. Haha all kidding aside nice video, looks fun. I'd post a video of me and some friends training here, but I might get arrested for cruel and unusual punishment. Nice place to train anyways. Here, I got tree to climb on, that's about it, lucky ya'll.

Take about 4 days off from running, you'll be able to run a lot better, gives everything time to heal. If your ankle is still sore then, go to the doctor.

[Nicole]

Been a little bit since I've posted on here. Nothing really exciting has happened in the past week or so. I went for my first run in the snow this past Wednesday. I went about 4 miles and I was surprised at how warm I stayed. I was actualy sweating! I thought for sure I would freeze, lol. Hopefully I can keep that up so I can train and be useful for all seasons and conditions, not just perfect weather and gyms.

I was able to use my training to be useful recently. Nothing major, but I was out for my run when my sister-in-law called me to tell me she was stuck in traffic and asked if I could go get the kids. I ran about a mile and a half in 9 min. to get there on time. Like I said, nothing major but it is nice to see all this training pay off occasionally.

I've been running pretty consistently and working on distance on saturdays. I ran 9 miles this last saturday, though it was on a treadmill. I plan on doing my first mini marathon in April so run I must!

Gosh all I seem to think about is running anymore. I plan on starting to work on strength again later today. I'm going to run 5 miles than just do like a basic pushup, pull up, pistol, and ab workout. I think I'm going to start doing the pistols on balance boards just to give me an extra challenge in the least amount of time. No sense wasting time on stuff that has little impact anymore. Maybe I'll do plyo pushups and pull ups as well, then L-sits and variations for abs. I'm going to try and do that workout about 6 days a week plus running and a longer yoga workout on Sundays plus lots of rest!

Also, more good news. I took my body fat again and it said I was up to 16.9%! Which isn't "normal" but its not crazy low anymore. I think for an athlete thats considered normal. I need to do a caliper test soon just to make sure I'm getting an accurate reading. I know my body fat is low but as for how low I'm not exactly sure.

Maybe the fact that I'm underweight has something to do with the fact that I feel so sleepy all the time. I mean, running 9 miles in the morning after a good 7 hour sleep and plenty of food shouldn't make me feel like I wanna hibernate should it? idk, if I'm not running I wanna sleep, and that can't be a good sign.

Well, my next client is about to come in so I'll post my workout later tonight!

[wolf555]

Running in the snow....I hate the snow. Anyways, be careful running in snow or cold weather for long periods of time. When you sweat in cold weather it increases your chances of getting hypothermia. Try to keep the running at about 30 minutes tops on real cold days, hypothermia sucks. You may or may not be able to run longer, but I always try and play it safe in the winter.