The fun part about those is that you could test tomorrow and everyone would do better just from experience. It’s a trick trainers use to show improvement to clients where there is none. haha
So how do you know you’ve actually improved? lol
I know its not the same for lifting a weight, thats for sure!
Link links to something about Heidi Montag (who?) and her plastic surgery. What was the article it replaced?
Yeah, I thought she was Chad Waterbury’s client…
Um, awkward.
MIM, squat looks great! Not that I can critique, but you keep a nice straight back. Jealous.
And yeah, your hammies are looking real good there…good stuff!
My hammies are coming along 
Went into the gym this morning …no rhyme or reason, just felt like moving!
My knee has been giving me problems again, and it’s peesing me OFF!!
I thought once I lost the weight, it would be ok…but the damage is already done I’m afraid…
Thankfully squats or lunges(oddly enough) don’t hurt, but anything high impact(running, jumping, leg press, leg ext) kill my knee! :<
I take as much fish oil as my budget allows, and I’m going to throw in some glucosamine(with MSM)
I want to be active damnit! I won’t ever be a long distance runner thats for sure! Did that crap in bootcamp…in BOOTS! Which is probably what messed me up, ha! That and I used to skateboard a lot as a teen, but did a lot more falling than skating, teehee!
So I am foregoing the 5k stuff…and replacing it with intervals…Using the bike mostly, or walking uphill(fast)
3 rounds 3x/week for a month
wk 5-8- 4 rounds 4x/week
wk 9-12- 5 rounds, 4x/week
wk 12-16- 6 rounds, 5x/week
*can’t take full credit for that…stole it from NROL(for men)
Probably right about the running in boots. When I hit 16 or 17 I got obsessed with my weight and started running twice a day…on concrete pavements. Stopped it after a while when I pulled a calf, but then continued regular (if not twice daily) runs a while later. Both my knees get hissy fits from time to time, so if I’m going to run it’s always on grass or trail. I’m actually looking forward to starting to run again - I miss it.
meh, I don’t even like running so Im not too sad about it
I do like hill sprints tho! Just no long distances…
Yeah I am sure those boots jacked your knees up. Walking up hill is one hell of a workout, I rather run (=.
reminds me of some quote from a strong guy in a T-Nation article – “I can’t walk, but I can squat.”
Skip the running if it hurts.
The sucky thing is that it doesn’t hurt while I’m doing it…but hours later and the day after…I think I was told its from the cartilage getting swollen and inflamed…
Hmm…knee issues. Yeah, that does sound like an inflammation. I get tendonitis in my knees every once in a while, but that hurts only when i’m running. Usually helps to do a lengthy warm-up prior. Hope it gets better for ya!
MIM, how is the diet goiing?
Did you hit your goal, yet or did you put that on hold?
Hey,
I’m not really on a ‘diet,’ thats a bad word, remember? 
Just tightened things up for the month…at this point I’m just happy to be maintaining what I got!
I probably did lose 50+ lbs, cause I didn’t weigh myself for a week after we got back from xmas vaca Jan of 2009…and I was 230lbs on the nose…
Right now Im sitting at 183.
I’ll worry about the last 10 in a couple months…right now I’m enjoying doing what I love, which is training hard!
Speaking of, I pulled a muscle in my pec, stretching of all things :< wtf? I cant tell where it starts and where it ends…
ouch, do you have a heat pad to put on it? I do that sometimes too, it freaks me out feels like its my heart that hurts (I know that sounds weird, its usally my left side)
Proud of myself…planned out our meals for the week, and I only spent $75! I love the store on base!
Also taking a stab at making falafell balls, 
And curried lentils to go along with…
I have a sneaking suspicion I am going to be put on a challenge diet, per the allergists recommendations…only because anyone Ive ever known that has seen someone for sensitivities/allergies is given a specific plan for eliminating foods,adding them back in, etc…
we’ll see!!
Have you ever thought about using a resistance band to assist you with pull-ups, instead of using the machine. I think you could get more out of it that way.
Dinner is a bust…its fun to try out new recipes on my family, but not when everyone is hungry and the food doesnt turn out well!!
trs- yes, I’ve thought about, just wasnt sure how to go about it!
I figure once I can get using 20-40 lbs of assistance then Id give bands a try! Just for that I’m going to try a few singles at a lower weight tomorrow and see what happens!
Thanks
I loved using bands for my chinup progressions. But I only started using them for the last 30 lbs or so of help.
[quote]mom-in-MD wrote:
Dinner is a bust…its fun to try out new recipes on my family, but not when everyone is hungry and the food doesnt turn out well!!
trs- yes, I’ve thought about, just wasnt sure how to go about it!
I figure once I can get using 20-40 lbs of assistance then Id give bands a try! Just for that I’m going to try a few singles at a lower weight tomorrow and see what happens!
Thanks :)[/quote]
As far as the set up goes this video explains it good:
I worked with bands with a friend of mine that found success using them, he could do about 4 or 5 on his own before training with them, now he can do somewhere in the high teens on his own.
I think using the bands over the machine helps you engage more muscles because your body is moving free and you have to stabilize it, i.e. it’s more like doing a real pull-up. But the machine is still good too in my opinion.
Keep up the good work