I'm a Lumberjill & I'm Okay!

[jmiller]

LOL Stole the title from a comment in my intro thread.

I compete in professional timbersports. My 2011 season was great but I know I can do better. It’s now off-season from competitions, so the winter workouts have begun! Lifting, treadmill, road/snow running and will get back to competition training in January, if not sooner. I have been a vegetarian for 12 years and while my diet the last few years has been rather strict, I have now committed myself entirely to veganism and thus far doing well. From a bodybuilding standpoint, my diet has been pretty clean the past 10 days and I am making good attempts to not "cheat." I’m researching more options for protein powders (currently using pea, rice and soy) and some other supplements to assist me in my winter goals. I don’t use a pre-workout but use BCAAs most days and especially while lifting. I am looking into L-glutamine at the moment after reading some information on it and the benefits for athletes and for people post-op (I’ll be having a neuroma removed from my foot Dec. 1 so I’ll be laid up for a bit. ). I have a good friend who is a body builder and he has helped me a great deal in figuring out my lifting regimens. My workouts aren’t anything spectacular or revolutionary but keeping it simple isn’t always a bad thing. Anyway, enough blabber…

Winter Goals:
1. Gain some muscle mass and strength.
2. Lose body fat.
3. Drop ~10 pounds – Summer weight rose to 162 lbs, currently 156 lbs, would be happy between 145-152 lbs by 2012 competition season.
4. Increase physical endurance
5. Overcome mental anxiety that creeps up on me at competition and self consciousness about my body/physique.

Winter Workout Routine:
Day 1 – Legs & Shoulders
Day 2 – Back & Bi’s
Day 3 – Chest & Tri’s

Cardio – attempt 4-6 times per week
- steady-state, high incline (3 min warm up, 45 at pace i.e. fast walk, 3 min cool down)
- HIIT – on treadmill, jumping rope
- road running – usually on weekends (3-8 mile runs)
- dance cardio DVDs (hehehe guilty pleasure )

My gym time ends up on Sunday morning and Monday and Friday afternoons. I don’t have the best schedule but it’s what works for me for now. Occasionally I throw in the bodyrock.tv “Killer 600 Rep Workout” in the middle of the week. I lift, exercise and run solo but am fueled by my personal goals.

I’m just getting back into my winter routine this week (chest & tri’s tomorrow). I did gain some mass with my summer sessions so I feel I’m off to a good start. I left my gym journal at home but I’ll post exercises tonight or tomorrow. I’m amped to start this training log! This week I had a severe lack of motivation to do cardio. Fail. But hopefully this will keep me more accountable! *fingers crossed*

[vegan hal]

This is terrific. nice goals. Good diet. A solid plan. And you can't go wrong with a kickass log title!

sorry to hear about needing the operation on your foot. I guess you'll ramp things up now so the downtime won't be so bad.

[Konstantin]

For cardio, you could skip and jump, but I would recommend that you cut down on the Wednesday activity of going shopping followed by buttered scones.

Sorry, couldn't resist that.

[jmiller]

This is terrific. nice goals. Good diet. A solid plan. And you can't go wrong with a kickass log title!

sorry to hear about needing the operation on your foot. I guess you'll ramp things up now so the downtime won't be so bad.

LOL Thanks, Hal. Yeah the foot thing has been an ongoing issue for about 4 years. Loosing feeling while running, most days it's like walking around with a pebble in your shoe. I finally got a doctor who understands the activity level I require. I had a physical therapist tell me to stop lifting, running, etc. I said, "Bye!" So my plan is to pretty much kick my own ass for the next 41 days. I think I will still be able to work core and upper body after the surgery but legs will be off limits for most of December. Which I'm not too pleased about as my legs are the hardest to tone but in the long run (no pun intended) this should have a positive effect.

For cardio, you could skip and jump, but I would recommend that you cut down on the Wednesday activity of going shopping followed by buttered scones.

Sorry, couldn't resist that.

mmmmmm scones.... :drool: How did you know about my shopping habits??? creeper.

I also stand in one spot the yard and spin around as fast as I can for some wind resistance training. <--sarcasm I should warn everyone, I'm terribly sarcastic.

[Frostfire]

I'm excited to hear more about your timbersports, I love watching those! The exhibition part of course being what is aired the most but the other stuff is amazing, too

- dance cardio DVDs (hehehe guilty pleasure )

I hear that! I get to a zumba class whenever I can for the fun more than for the cardio

[jmiller]

I'm excited to hear more about your timbersports, I love watching those! The exhibition part of course being what is aired the most but the other stuff is amazing, too

- dance cardio DVDs (hehehe guilty pleasure )

I hear that! I get to a zumba class whenever I can for the fun more than for the cardio

ESPN does a bit to show off the men's talents. And it's exciting that Stihl is really pushing to grow the sport to a more international level as well as a collegiate series here in the states. Now, to get the women some air time!! LOL some day...

I wish I could do Zumba class! A really good friend (also a lumberjill) is an instructor up in Rochester, NY area. But I'm kind of a haul from there out in hillbilly hell so I make do with whatever I can come up with on my own. I've got a 4 year old son and a some furkids to take care of so other than gym time and 3AM cardio, I'm a little consumed with that. But it's on the list of things to do!

[loveliberate]

Quite probably the best name for a training log VF has seen yet! Inspired by genius I am sure.

[jmiller]

Quite probably the best name for a training log VF has seen yet! Inspired by genius I am sure.

Pure genius...

[jmiller]

To catch up this past week... bare in mind my gym is uber small. We don't have a barbell so I do my best with what is available. And please, I am very much open for critique, advice, etc. Basically I go at whatever weight till it's easy or I feel confident to bump it up. Most exercises save for abdominals I aim for 3 sets: 1x12, 1x10, 1x8. (summer was a lot of 4x6) I know using the Smith Mach for squats and deadlifts isn't great BUT I do make sure to concentrate on form and doing it as right as possible.

111016 - Legs & Shoulders - ran 8 miles the day before so I feel I was a little weaker than usual.
Squats (smith machine) - 110lbs + bar - 1x12, 1x10, 1x8 (summer I was 120lbs doing 4x6 and I know I can be at 120lbs but was worried about the increased reps)
DB Lunges (dynamic) - 25lbs each hand - 1x12, 1x10, 1x8
Leg Press (circuit machine) - 160lbs - 1x12, 1x10, 1x8 (will up 10lbs next week)
Quad Extension (circuit machine) - 110lbs - 1x12, 1x9, 1x8
Stiff Leg Dead Lift - 70lbs DB each hand - 1x12, 1x10, 1x8 (might up next week)
Hamstring Extension (circuit machine) - 110lbs - 1x9, 1x6, 1x5
Front DB Raise - 12lbs DB each hand - 1x7, 1x6, 1x6
Side DB Raise - 10lbs DB each hand - 1x9, 1x6, 1x6
Abdominal Cable Crunch - 110lbs - 1x20, 1x20, 1x8 (I pushed it but went to failure on the 3rd set)

111017 - Back & Bi's
Smith Deadlift - 130lbs + bar - 1x12, 1x10, 1x8 (will increase 10lbs next week)
1-arm DB Row - 50lbs DB - 1x12, 1x9, 1x7
Bent Over DB Row - 30lbs DB each hand - 1x12, 1x10; 35lbs DB 1x7
V-bar Pulldown (cable machine) - 140lbs - 1x12, 1x10, 1x8
Preacher Curls (cable machine) - 40lbs - 1x12, 1x10, 1x8
Zottman Curl - 20lbs DB each hand - 1x12, 1x9, 1x6
Concentrated Curl -20lbs DB - 1x9, 1x8, 1x7
Ab (circuit machine) - 110 lbs - 1x20, 1x20
Side Ab (circuit machine) - 110 lbs - 1x20, 1x20

This afternoon will be chest & tri's.

[JP]

how have you built your current routine?

i presume with your awesome sport you would aim to focus on strength and conditioning basics building power, strength, explosiveness and overall control?

oh and grip strength, does that ever become an issue in your sport?

[jmiller]

how have you built your current routine?

Well, quite a bit of my workout routine is based on my home life. The hubs is gone from Sunday afternoon till Friday afternoon, I have a kid, a dog, a cat, 3 horses, 22 acres, I volunteer for a mastiff rescue group and all the other "joys" that come with life. I do cardio very early in the AM before boy wonder gets up because I prefer doing it 1. on an empty-ish stomach and 2. would like a little bit of time to relax before I crash at night. As for the lifting, I can only manage to get to the gym 3x a week. (There is talk of a home gym this winter though.) With the help of a body builder friend (he's been at it for 12-ish years), we decided early 2011 that if I can break things up more and do 3x a week, I could make some good strength gains. I was doing 2x a week from april 2011 till early January 2011. By breaking the body up into three workouts I could get more exercises in, build more mass and obviously get stronger. For me, it's worked well. I came into my summer season the strongest I have ever been. I did a bit of reading and research on exercises, ect, to come up with what I needed/felt would benefit my schedule and goals. I'm lucky to be a mesomorph and have relatively good genes on my side.

i presume with your awesome sport you would aim to focus on strength and conditioning basics building power, strength, explosiveness and overall control?

Strength and explosiveness is HUGE. Men excel at the chopping events because of this. From my point of view, the physique of men is simply better than that of women's for this sport. I have watched women chop (sawing is a little different) and fear for their safety because they eventually peter out if they are up against a piece of wood they don't have the stamina and strength to get through. Female bodies don't seem to get the idea that we need to move our hips and legs in standing block, too, till we teach them and hone them to do so. My saving grace this past summer has been my increased strength overall. I would love a stronger lower body/legs. The underhand chop (standing on top of the log), women do alright but you see a lot of chopping with the back and not using the legs. You watch men and it's almost a different movement all together. My doubles partner for jack and jill sawing worked with me a great deal on this and I'm getting there and it's paid off. In the standing block (chopping like felling a tree), the women lack a lot of the upper body strength to keep the axe up for down hits and leg strength to bend the knees and twist the hips (I can feel it in my quads if I've chopped correctly) for the up hits. I've come a long way with this event this year, having finally figured out how it should all work together. Many women will chop only with their upper body and disregard the hip movement, often leading to ruined axes and close calls w/ injury. The springboard chop (chop small pockets, put boards in, chop a standing block on top of board 2) is probably regarded as insane for women to do. Most have barely mastered chopping on the ground so putting them 8 feet in the air is crazy but I'm here to ruin the bell curve. lol I wanted to wait a couple more years, but my jack partner brought it up and I went for it. Timbersports is a full body sport. I can't think of a single event that doesn't work the whole body. LOL I guess I'm pretty wordy today. My apologies... In short YES! all of the above (power, strength, explosiveness & control) are key ingredients to being a success in this sport.

oh and grip strength, does that ever become an issue in your sport?

a lot of folks seem to ask about this. For timbersports it's a little different. When swinging the axe, the bottom hand that stays in one spot on the bottom of the handle, that stays in one spot, while the top hand slides up and down the axe. The biggest thing with chopping is locking your wrists to hit with the heel of the axe. However, I have seen axes fly out of people's hands which is rather scary. With sawing it varies somewhat. With the long, cross cut saws, you actually want the grip on the handles loose so you move with the saw more. But the smaller bowsaw you keep a rather firm grip. LOL clear as mud right?

[jmiller]

111021 - Chest & Tri's
Smith Press - 80lbs + bar - 1x10, 1x5, 1x5 (I upped to 80lbs towards the end of my summer workouts doing 4x6's. I think I'm going to maintain the 80lbs and not drop weight in order to get more reps and see how that works for now.)
DB Press - 35lbs - 1x10, 1x8, 1x8
Straight Arm Pull Overs - 35lbs - 1x12, 1x10, 1x8
DB Flyes - 20lbs - 1x12, 1x10, 1x8
Incline EZ-Bar Tri Extensions - 30lbs + bar - 1x7, 1x5; 20 + bar - 1x10 (will drop to 20lbs)
Standing Tri Ext. - 25lb plate - 1x12, 1x9, 1x7
Decline Tri Ext. - 15lbs DB - 1x4; 12lbs DB - 1x7, 1x5, 1x5
Cable Crunch - 110 lbs - 3x20
Flat Bench Leg Raise - 2x20

I was fairly happy with yesterday's workout, even with some old bitty givin' me the hairy eyeball. I'm feeling it today so I must have done something right.

With my winter plan, it's a pairing of big & little muscle groups. I push to do 12-15 sets for the big group and 9 sets for the little group. Lots of room for growth and figured it would take me this first week to get my weight amounts where I'm comfortable, using the numbers from when I switched to Summer Routine earlier this year. A little tweaking for all three lifting days for next week and a bit more motivation to do cardio. This week's weight maintained for a 2nd week at 156lbs. If I did my cardio like a good girl last week, I think I would have dropped. My fault.

111022
Day off.

[jmiller]

111023 - Legs & Shoulders
Squat - 110lbs - 1x12, 10, 8 (will up weight next week)
DB Lunges - 25lbs - 1x12, 10, 8 (up weight next week)
Leg Press - 170lbs - 1x12, 10, 8
Quad Extension - 110lbs - 1x12, 9, 8
Stiff Leg Dead Lift - 70lbs - 1x12, 10, 8
Ham Extension - 110lbs - 1x12, 7, 5
Front DB Raise - 12lbs - 1x12, 10, 5
Side DB Raise - 12lbs - 1x4; 10lbs - 1x5, 7, 7

I didn't run on Saturday so my leg strength was far better yesterday morning than the weekend before (8mi run on Sat. then legs on Sun.). I think I will limit Saturday runs to 4 miles or less to keep the momentum for strength gains going up.

[vegan hal]

Well, quite a bit of my workout routine is based on my home life. The hubs is gone from Sunday afternoon till Friday afternoon, I have a kid, a dog, a cat, 3 horses, 22 acres, I volunteer for a mastiff rescue group and all the other "joys" that come with life.

wow! you're a busy girl. i know what that's like. good that you can find the time to get your personal time in and some exercise as well! WELL DONE. no kids here, but 2 dogs, 4 cats, 9 pot-bellied pigs, a horse and a pony... (i think that covers it.)

[jmiller]

[quote="vegan hal]wow! you're a busy girl. i know what that's like. good that you can find the time to get your personal time in and some exercise as well! WELL DONE. no kids here, but 2 dogs, 4 cats, 9 pot-bellied pigs, a horse and a pony... (i think that covers it.)[/quote]
It's not all fun but I do love most of it, most of the time. My exercise time is just about my only "me" time so I relish in it and am usually in much better spirits afterwards. Thankfully, hubs has realized how much being fit, healthy, lifting, running and competing means to me and supports my endeavors. Plus, it keeps me sane (well sane by my standards) and without it there would probably be a lot more broken dishes in the house. LOL