Hi gang! I could really get used to having Earl as my personal trainer. Yesterday was just his walking day, so he was my personal trainer. It was great! I really pushed myself too. My arms are starting to get really big. WOW!! I am starting my membership at Powershack because my other one is running out at the fitness center and they really don't have the equipment I need to train for powerlifting. Plus, dummie me, learned that I was adjusting the weights in the wrong direction on the dip machine so it was doing absolutely NOTHING for me. I was instructed wrong at the fitness center, so now I am back with the big boys and they will teach me the right way! Plus, now I can REALLY bench with a bench and a barbell! WOOOO HOOO NO MORE SMITH MACHINES!!!! Here goes: BP 65# x 3, 75# x 3, 85# x 1, 95# x 1, 105# tried twice almost had it. Much different then pressing on a smith machine. But I am getting my strength back. Dip machine (doing it RIGHT this time) 110# x 12 x 12, 90# x 12 DB Flyes superset with DB presses on incline bench 15# x 3 sets of each Side laterals 8# x 12, 10# x 12 x 12 Overhead DB presses 15# x 3, 20# x 3, 25# x 3, 30# missed DB french press 10# x 1 set, 15# x 1 set, 20# x 1 set Rear laterals on incline bench 8# x 3 sets Tricep push downs 35# x 1 set, 40# x 1 set Abs on balance ball 3 sets of 15 Eliptical machine (different equip no heart monitor on this one) 30 minutes, 3739 strides (I have noticed this steadily going up) 273.5 calories burned. HEY I got Earl to try the Eliptical Machine! WOOO HOOO WHEW!! Now THAT'S a workout! Earl is awesome. He's my best friend, the best trainer on earth and MY husband!! How lucky could I get?? Well, it took being with TWO toads before I found my prince charming. Thanks babe! I think the payment arrangement we set up will be worth all the weight carrying, sweat dabbing and water bottle handing! Ok gang off to do my Sunday work out!

We are getting blasted with the cold here in the Baltimore Metro area with the rest of the east coast. I have no plans to leave the house today!! Dana and I have cycleops magnetic trainers for our bikes for indoor spinning. I just set mine up and plan to use it while nice and warm indoors watching the football games. Unfortunatly he has to go to the gym to meet some clients and get some work done. So no more stomach virus, no more anke pain. I have had some issues with the arthritis in my left knee acting up but I plan to take a nice warm bubble bath and some advil to help with that. Hope everyone stays nice and warm today!!

Work it like you like it!!!! Leg Extensions: Set 1: 15 reps Standing Calf Raises: Set 1: 15 reps Cross Crunches: Set 1: 20 reps | Set 2: 20 reps (Each side) Hamstring Curls - seated: Set 1: 15 reps Leg Press (45 Degree): Set 1: 12 reps | Set 2: 12 reps

Thanks for that article. It is an excellent read. I sent it over to my husband as well. Maybe he can also get some use out of it with his clients.

Hiya Val, Wow you just nailed my stuff, too! When I first went back to the gym after WLS, I asked the owner, Scott, what he thought about how difficult it was going to be to get back to bodybuilding as I did 2 decades before. I mean, I was 43 when I started back not 23 anymore, and I knew that it would be harder, and it was damned hard work back then. I had been thinking, "Hmm, I'm a female, 43 years old, past my child-bearing years, seems like it will be tough." He said, "You know, Donna, muscle has amazing memory for things like that. I think you'll be surprised at how quickly they start responding if you make this a habit like you did back then." And he has been right. It has been more difficult, much more difficult, but things started visibly shaping up much more quickly than I thought they would have. The tough part has been actually putting on muscle. I've had to up my protein intake, become very scientific about that for optimal nutrition, very very focused in pursuing the work with the weights. It's not enough to just show up at the gym and casually lift a few sets here and there while socializing with friends and whatnot. My iPod helps with most distractions, as I crank up the volume and just let the music help to build momentum in my effort! I was not sure about how well I could put on muscle after dropping down to 112 lbs. And I wasn't sure how much I needed to put back on anyway. Sheesh, how did any of us even know what an *ideal weight* would be for us, eh? Then add the muscle building goal, and I was really not sure at all, but then I stopped focusing on numbers on the scale and focused on what I was seeing in the mirrors when I worked the different muscle groups. I felt at that point that I really needed to jumpstart that muscle regain, which is why I first recruited the bodybuilding trainers to work with me. They helped me get my diet tuned up to support my efforts, as well as teaching me how to work with my particular body the best to get good results. It was while I worked with them that I was able to regain most of that muscle, though I had managed the first 5 lbs on my own and then was stalled. And of course, it was early stages of fibromyalgia and advanced PCOS that had been the catalyst to drive me *out* of the gym 2 decades ago, and they are both still present in me, but at least this time I know what they are and how to deal with them. It has meant fighting through unbelievable pain at times to get here, and knowing that it will always be that way. That might sound depressing to some, but it isn't when you step back and look at the big picture. Without the exercise, I would flare constantly without a body that was able to cope. Without those workouts, I would not have the energy and vitality that I have just about every day now. True, all it takes to trigger a miserable flare is to change my workout on a given muscle group, which I do regularly to keep my muscles from adapting. But I can at least bounce back now like never before! I love your fly analogy; never heard that before! So I guess I'm a fly, too! I am still finding ways to push the envelope and push the boundaries of possibility a little more all the time! With kindest regards, Donna E. www.teklawgirl.biz