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.