Happy Friday! My partner and I both made it to the gym on time this morning to do New Rules Break In Workout B. I am so following this to the letter. I even made us cute little clipboards to log our workouts. And guess what? Mr. "I have to work out six days a week" wasn't there!

Here's how it went:
Regular DL's: 2 sets, 15x105 each

Although I have tried doing one or two deadlifts in the past just to get a feel for them, this is the first time I've done them as part of a workout. I had to teach my partner how to do them properly. I studied the form for these for a long time, visualized doing them in my head based on what I read, before I ever started doing them. They are scary to me! Since I have been doing SLDL's regularly at 95 lbs, and I knew I should be able to do a lot more weight with these, I started at 105 lbs. Could have done more if I wasn't doing 15 reps. Here's where it felt awkward: I know you have to start each rep with the bar on the ground, unlike SLDL's. So...doing 15 reps, once I get the bar back down to the ground I'm not sure if I am supposed to keep my position, hands on the bar, and start right back up or if I let go of the bar, maybe stand up, and restart fresh for each rep. In any case, for a beginner, two sets of 15 got my heart pumping and my partner and I both agreed it was plenty! For these I didn't need straps, since I get to set the weight on the ground between reps, but I did wear gloves so my hands would remain velvety soft and feminine (because I am a girly girl, after all).

One of the long time regular women, who is probably late 50's and has a bodybuilder-esque physique, was commenting that my partner had an awful lot of weight on the bar (105 lbs). I was a little surprised since this woman works out pretty seriously. We're not even up to our own body weight yet, sheesh!

Step ups: 2 sets 15x20's (each leg) superset with one arm shoulder press: 2 sets 15 & 13x25 (rt arm, lt arm) and 10 & 9x25 (my left arm has the tendonitis in the elbow)

It was just fun doing something different. Doing 15 step ups per leg vs. 12 made a difference. I felt like I was stepping for ages and thought my forearms would fall off with the weight.

Last, thank goodness:
Narrow grip lat pulldowns: 2 sets, 15x60 both, superset with reverse crunches x 20. After everything else, reverse crunches felt like taking a nap. Especially after heavy abs in yoga last night, these are really too easy.

That was it...I appreciate the Break In workouts, especially for the deadlifts. Like a sample of what's to come. Done for now...plan to go in Saturday for cardio followed by more yoga. Thanks for your kind attention :-).

Did I mention I got to wear jeans to work today? All I had to do is pay $5.00 and wear a red top. Woo hoo!!!

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