Saturday, January 27, 2018
Weekly Check-In 1/27/18
I ended up lifting Sunday, Tuesday, and today (Saturday). I did HIIT on the exercise bike on Monday and Wednesday. I used 24 for resistance on the 20 second sprints. Next week I'll use 25 which is the max. I'll stick with that for the week of the 5th and deload on the week of the 12th. That means 5-10 more pounds on the heavy lifts. After that I will decide on continuing with this rep/weight program or go up with weight and 5 or less on the reps.
Was a bit stricter with the intermittent fasting this week and came down 4 pounds. I know I can lose weight fast if I need to. My blood pressure had started going up and a friend who is a doc told me losing 3 or more pounds would probably bring it down. I haven't posted my blood pressure in a while. I'll probably check in on that next week.
Here's what I lifted this week:
Sunday - I was a guest at another gym.
Deadlifts 175 for three sets of 12 and one set of 15.
Squats 155 for three sets of 10 and one set of 12.
Flat bench 135 for four sets of 10.
Pull-up for 3 sets of 4.
Overhead press with 30lb dumbbells for 2 sets of 12 and one set of 6.
Dumbbell curls with 20s for 2 sets of 12 and one set of 6.
Tuesday
Deadlifts 185 for three sets of 10 and one set of 12.
Squats at 160 for four sets of 10.
Incline bench at 125 for four sets of 8.
Pull-up for three sets of 4.
Saturday
Deadlifts 190 for four sets of 10.
Squats 160 for four sets of 10.
Incline bench at 125 for four sets of 8.
and 3 sets of pull-ups for 4 reps.
I was running late so I stopped there. Technically the three heavy lifts are my priority however I would like to get more strength for pull-ups. The other two lifts are accessory work.
Off tomorrow and back at it next week!
KEEP GRINDING!
ABOUT THE BLOG: This blog started years ago to talk about self-care and weightlifting. It stopped for a few years. It was been restarted when I was told that I was diabetic. I had an A1C of 9.3. A1C is an estimate of your blood sugar level over the last 3 months and 6.5 is pre-diabetic, and usually over 7 is considered diabetic. In March I was re-tested and my A1C was 5.0. That's below pre-diabetic (so, essentially non-diabetic). It was nice to have my doctor say, "you used to be diabetic." I'm still working on improving my insulin sensitivity and not thinking I'm out of the woods yet. My September retest came back with and A1C of 4.9. It is exciting to be working on this and I'm pleased people feel inspired by reading this blog.
The results were from diet and exercise. Here is a quick summary of how I responded to being diagnosed as diabetic. I'm going to post this review every so often. Mostly when I post the blog to Twitter or Facebook.
Was a bit stricter with the intermittent fasting this week and came down 4 pounds. I know I can lose weight fast if I need to. My blood pressure had started going up and a friend who is a doc told me losing 3 or more pounds would probably bring it down. I haven't posted my blood pressure in a while. I'll probably check in on that next week.
Here's what I lifted this week:
Sunday - I was a guest at another gym.
Deadlifts 175 for three sets of 12 and one set of 15.
Squats 155 for three sets of 10 and one set of 12.
Flat bench 135 for four sets of 10.
Pull-up for 3 sets of 4.
Overhead press with 30lb dumbbells for 2 sets of 12 and one set of 6.
Dumbbell curls with 20s for 2 sets of 12 and one set of 6.
Tuesday
Deadlifts 185 for three sets of 10 and one set of 12.
Squats at 160 for four sets of 10.
Incline bench at 125 for four sets of 8.
Pull-up for three sets of 4.
Overhead press with 30lb dumbbells for 3 sets of 13.
Dumbbell curls with 20s for 2 sets of 13 and one set of 10.
Deadlifts 190 for four sets of 10.
Squats 160 for four sets of 10.
Incline bench at 125 for four sets of 8.
and 3 sets of pull-ups for 4 reps.
I was running late so I stopped there. Technically the three heavy lifts are my priority however I would like to get more strength for pull-ups. The other two lifts are accessory work.
Off tomorrow and back at it next week!
KEEP GRINDING!
ABOUT THE BLOG: This blog started years ago to talk about self-care and weightlifting. It stopped for a few years. It was been restarted when I was told that I was diabetic. I had an A1C of 9.3. A1C is an estimate of your blood sugar level over the last 3 months and 6.5 is pre-diabetic, and usually over 7 is considered diabetic. In March I was re-tested and my A1C was 5.0. That's below pre-diabetic (so, essentially non-diabetic). It was nice to have my doctor say, "you used to be diabetic." I'm still working on improving my insulin sensitivity and not thinking I'm out of the woods yet. My September retest came back with and A1C of 4.9. It is exciting to be working on this and I'm pleased people feel inspired by reading this blog.
The results were from diet and exercise. Here is a quick summary of how I responded to being diagnosed as diabetic. I'm going to post this review every so often. Mostly when I post the blog to Twitter or Facebook.
My lifting approach was to gain muscle to help with insulin sensitivity so I focused on compound exercises mostly (deadlift, bench, squat, overhead press) with some other things to round out such as pull-ups and bicep curls. I'm currently still doing full body workouts.
Between now and mid-February I will be trying to gain muscle with 60% of my 1 rep max weight and 4 sets of 8 or more. Then from there until the end of April I will change to sets of 5 or less with higher weight. I may go up to 4 "sprints" at some point. I'm hoping for an A1C between 4.8 and 5.0 on the next test.
Between now and mid-February I will be trying to gain muscle with 60% of my 1 rep max weight and 4 sets of 8 or more. Then from there until the end of April I will change to sets of 5 or less with higher weight. I may go up to 4 "sprints" at some point. I'm hoping for an A1C between 4.8 and 5.0 on the next test.
I did 1 rep max testing with Lee from the Power Plant and here is what I pulled on 11/22/17
Squat 235
Bench 220
Deadlift 285
Squat 235
Bench 220
Deadlift 285
Comments:
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Enrique, thanks for the story, I believe stories are what infuse meaning to life and the other way around. My story is also about health and feeling well. My genetics and habits brought me to look at a diagnosis of diabetes. I was in denial for a long time though I began looking at my eating patterns of foods that both kept the weight on and kept my sugar levels very high. It seemed I couldn't make enough changes to make a difference. I remember becoming angry when I learned my mother had diabetes and it had taken a toll on her body. I was angry because this had not been diagnosed early enough for her to have taken charge of her health situaton. Instead she lived like a victom to the disease. She was angry and resistant too, often falling into delusional states and eventually hospitalized loosing one kidney as it was so diseased it turned to mush while the other kidney was only 75%. She was not the only one in the family confused about how to help her recover or even maintain her health. Some of us children even caused her illness to worsen by taking foods to her that only hurt her health more like chocolates, pies, cakes. I know now that it is up to me to increase my own Will to make the correct choices for well being. It is not easy. It is work and a commitment that I ask for support in. It is important to recognize my progress and set new goals, not sit on the progress I've made. I realize I can quicklly loose that progress. Over the past three years or so I had been experiencing a steady decline in my ability to be mobile, a fluid mobility as younger, I took for granted. No longer could I take it for granted because bilateral knee arthritis and a wearing down of my knee joints began to restrict my movement and agility. Of course I began taking joint supplements and even started incorporating pilates into my week and this helped greatly but it was still a problem and kept getting worse. I took therapies that eventually stopped being effective so I looked into knee replacement surgery. This is where I begn to do the weight loss and strengthening I needed years ago. Combined with pilates, riding my stationary bike and new effective medications for my diabetes helped me begin to loose weight, get stronger and healthier so I could go into surgery in a positive mind and healthier body. Overe the next three months I've continued to loose weight, become stronger and recover from the surgery to experience improved mobility, improved mindset and know what it's like to live relatively pain free again. It feels like a new lease on life, another opportunity to do what I wished for my own mother. I must keep up my own health regiment as you have yours and while its not the same regiment, it is a similar mind set for the right rea.sons. I will complete my physical therapy in a few weeks and take home a new exercise therapy. My next step starting this week is to get to the gym twice a week, Monday and Friday mornings with my husband Vaughn -as a workout partner; in a few weeks I hope to begin leading a pilates group again at least once a week and I plan to increase my outdoor activity like bike riding on the weekends. It simply has to be a part of my life and not a burden. Perspective is probably the most important element to my health recovery. I am blessed with a strong and functional body, It would be a shame and a loss if I didn't give myself the best experience possible. Thanks for allowing me to share my story.
# posted by 
: 5:35 AM
: 5:35 AM
I stopped reading about a third of the way through, but I'm happy you are working on your health, habits and getting better.
# posted by : 9:29 AM
: 9:29 AM
Cynthia:
Thank you for sharing your story! It's a big deal.
My experience at improving my health is just to look at what I could change. With this diabetes diagnosis it was going low-carb and intermittent fasting. I did some extended fasting in the first three months to reduce the insulin in my body. That seems to have improved my insulin sensitivity. I'm glad this blog is useful for you.
We focus on our individual habits because that's what we have most control over. It is also our environment. What we keep in our house, what we take for potlucks, and how we can reduce external all impacts diabetes and our general health. I know you know that though it is easy to forget and focus on just exercise.
I wish you success and hope to be helpful!
Solidarity for health!
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Thank you for sharing your story! It's a big deal.
My experience at improving my health is just to look at what I could change. With this diabetes diagnosis it was going low-carb and intermittent fasting. I did some extended fasting in the first three months to reduce the insulin in my body. That seems to have improved my insulin sensitivity. I'm glad this blog is useful for you.
We focus on our individual habits because that's what we have most control over. It is also our environment. What we keep in our house, what we take for potlucks, and how we can reduce external all impacts diabetes and our general health. I know you know that though it is easy to forget and focus on just exercise.
I wish you success and hope to be helpful!
Solidarity for health!
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