Yesterday was my rest day. It's really important for your body to have time to heal from whatever you're doing with it - just working a physical job, exercising, riding, whatever. I was flat out done in yesterday.
Today I felt lots better! I washed my horse and did cardio. Ugh. I hate cardio.
My husband got me a refurb Shuffle (in purple, of course!) for $40 and that helps a lot. Just one more song of boring yet exhausting sweaty work! I started out on the stationary bike but that was really boring and made my knees think about hurting, so I switched to the elliptical and did 20 minutes at about 150 heart rate.
Tomorrow, weights again!
Friday, April 24, 2009
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Welcome!
Welcome to yet another fitness blog. This one's a big different, however: we're equestrians. This is the chronicle of three women, trying to get fit in three different ways.
I'm Funder. My main blog is over at It seemed like a good idea at the time, where I chronicle the mishaps of my life with horses so far.
Oddly enough, my last attempt to get fit ended rather abruptly when I got my first horse, Champ. I had been working out very sanely and regularly, going to the local YMCA 3x a week to do weights and another 1-2x a week to do yoga and cardio. I wasn't a superstar or anything; if I remember right I was benching about 60 lbs and squatting about the same. Horses were so much more fun that the gym quickly fell by the wayside.
At first, it wasn't too bad - I was at a self-care place, slinging my own grain sacks and hay bales around. And I was working construction (remodeling, usually) when I wasn't in class or riding. Things have changed a lot lately, and I need to get off my butt and get back in shape.
I graduated from law school, passed the Mississippi bar, and... we had to move to Ohio for my husband's job. Ohio's not so bad, but I can't take the bar exam here til next year and I haven't found a temp job yet. My horse Dixie is in full care, so I don't even get to pretend that lifting a feed sack a week is "exercise." So I signed up for the free gym membership at my apartment complex, and I'm back at it.
My goal is to get stronger and lose some fat. I'm doing a very simple (but supposedly very effective!) free weights program - you lift three days a week, alternating between two workouts. Each workout has three lifts, all of which use a lot of muscle groups. Each lift is a 3x8, which means I do 3 sets of 8 reps each time. It doesn't sound like much of a workout - three lifts? every other day? - but it's surprisingly hard.
Yesterday's lifts were:
Barbell Dead Lift, 30/40/50. (8 reps at 30 lbs, 8 at 40, 8 at 50.) I need to read up some more on this one - I'm not sure I was doing it right. I felt like I almost hurt my back, which means I wasn't keeping it straight and stable enough.
Dumbbell Bent-Over Rows, 30/40/45. 45 was tough. I probably won't try to increase that next time.
Barbell Military Press, 30/40/50f/40. I gave that last set absolutely everything I had, and I could only get 4 reps at 50 lbs. I finished the last set at 40. I'll try that one again at the same weight next time.
I feel pretty good, not too sore. My quads are still killing me from the squats I did Monday. I'll talk about squats on Friday or Saturday, when I do them again.
I'm Funder. My main blog is over at It seemed like a good idea at the time, where I chronicle the mishaps of my life with horses so far.
Oddly enough, my last attempt to get fit ended rather abruptly when I got my first horse, Champ. I had been working out very sanely and regularly, going to the local YMCA 3x a week to do weights and another 1-2x a week to do yoga and cardio. I wasn't a superstar or anything; if I remember right I was benching about 60 lbs and squatting about the same. Horses were so much more fun that the gym quickly fell by the wayside.
At first, it wasn't too bad - I was at a self-care place, slinging my own grain sacks and hay bales around. And I was working construction (remodeling, usually) when I wasn't in class or riding. Things have changed a lot lately, and I need to get off my butt and get back in shape.
I graduated from law school, passed the Mississippi bar, and... we had to move to Ohio for my husband's job. Ohio's not so bad, but I can't take the bar exam here til next year and I haven't found a temp job yet. My horse Dixie is in full care, so I don't even get to pretend that lifting a feed sack a week is "exercise." So I signed up for the free gym membership at my apartment complex, and I'm back at it.
My goal is to get stronger and lose some fat. I'm doing a very simple (but supposedly very effective!) free weights program - you lift three days a week, alternating between two workouts. Each workout has three lifts, all of which use a lot of muscle groups. Each lift is a 3x8, which means I do 3 sets of 8 reps each time. It doesn't sound like much of a workout - three lifts? every other day? - but it's surprisingly hard.
Yesterday's lifts were:
Barbell Dead Lift, 30/40/50. (8 reps at 30 lbs, 8 at 40, 8 at 50.) I need to read up some more on this one - I'm not sure I was doing it right. I felt like I almost hurt my back, which means I wasn't keeping it straight and stable enough.
Dumbbell Bent-Over Rows, 30/40/45. 45 was tough. I probably won't try to increase that next time.
Barbell Military Press, 30/40/50f/40. I gave that last set absolutely everything I had, and I could only get 4 reps at 50 lbs. I finished the last set at 40. I'll try that one again at the same weight next time.
I feel pretty good, not too sore. My quads are still killing me from the squats I did Monday. I'll talk about squats on Friday or Saturday, when I do them again.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
It's Time to GET FIT
IT IS TIME.
Show season, bikini season, jandals season, whatever you want to call it... summer is coming and it's time to show off our sexy bods. Well, wait... what happened to my sexy bod? Hmm, it seems to have become less sexy over the course of a winter full of boarders at the barn where I work bringing me a neverending steam of cookies, cakes, and Dunkin Donuts. I have NO off button on my junk food radar. I can't resist it. I work hard enough during the day in the barn (literally on my feet without breaks from 6am or easier to 5pm or later... the only time I sit is when I'm in the saddle!) to not become the size of a blimp with this diet, but it's time to start eating better and working out more. My young event mare deserves an owner who is just as fit as she is.
I'm not going to start blogging about my fitness in depth til I get back from Rolex Kentucky (YES!) this weekend, but I'll have pictures and an outline of what I ought to be doing, and what I actually am doing (right now? slugging down more hot cocoa, thanks very much).
Fitness, HERE WE COME!
Show season, bikini season, jandals season, whatever you want to call it... summer is coming and it's time to show off our sexy bods. Well, wait... what happened to my sexy bod? Hmm, it seems to have become less sexy over the course of a winter full of boarders at the barn where I work bringing me a neverending steam of cookies, cakes, and Dunkin Donuts. I have NO off button on my junk food radar. I can't resist it. I work hard enough during the day in the barn (literally on my feet without breaks from 6am or easier to 5pm or later... the only time I sit is when I'm in the saddle!) to not become the size of a blimp with this diet, but it's time to start eating better and working out more. My young event mare deserves an owner who is just as fit as she is.
I'm not going to start blogging about my fitness in depth til I get back from Rolex Kentucky (YES!) this weekend, but I'll have pictures and an outline of what I ought to be doing, and what I actually am doing (right now? slugging down more hot cocoa, thanks very much).
Fitness, HERE WE COME!
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