Buff Old Lady

For assorted reasons, I started exercising last May. And I don’t mean the wimpy “move your arms and legs a little” exercises. It has been kind of cool to watch my progress. Seeing my progress, my trainer/daughter commented, “You’re going to be a buff old lady.” (We have agreed that I’d be an old lady when I hit 70 years of age. I am presently 60 years of age.)

I don’t have access to a gym (money-challenged  but now, after 8-9 months, I prefer to work out at home), so I couldn’t do the exercises I did at the gym when I lived briefly in Mesa, Arizona about 4 ½ years ago (2013). (As an aside, Charles Thomas  is an awesome trainer. The friend I was staying with in Mesa had him as her trainer. She shared him with me, and he was willing to be shared. He pushed hard enough for me to increase in ability, but not so hard that I wanted to give up.) Sadly, I lost the benefits I gained during that time (not only losing ability, but gaining weight).

I used my younger daughter as my fitness coach (trainer) when I began exercising in May 2017.
Here is what I was able to do when we began (the first number is the weight in each hand/on each ankle, the second number is the total weight. Also, these are not all the exercises I do; these are only the ones I am recording every few months in my 2018 “Monthly Planner”):

Glute Kickback (aka Donkey Kick) – no weights
Fire Hydrant – no weights
Bent-over Triceps Extension – 6 pounds (12) (I did this one with Charles, but I don’t recall what he called it. I loved it, so incorporated it into my current workout)
Shoulder Press – no weights (that’s right, I was only able to “press” my hands up into the air)
Shoulder Side Raise – I could not do this. My daughter had to lift my arms up and I put them back down. I call it -2 pounds.
Shoulder Front raise – Ditto the above notes.
Resistance Band – I had three bands (blue-medium strength, dark gray-strongest of that brand, and a thick pink one that looks like a humongous rubber band, which I could not stretch at all). I used the blue one for a short time, quickly moving to the dark gray band.
Chest Press – When I did this on my own the year before (2016), I had gotten to where I could press 8 pounds (16 total), but by the time I began again, with my daughter, I was doing 6 pounds (12 total).
Bent-over Dumbbell Row – 3 pounds (6)
Cross-Body Hammer Curl – 4 pounds (8)
Biceps Curl to Shoulder Press – 3 pounds (6)
Triceps Extension behind head – 3 pounds (6)
Plank – Couldn’t do it

I work out 6 days a week (full body on day one, lower body on day two, upper body on day three, then repeat).

On Dec 30, 2017 and on January 1, 2018, I recorded those exercises again (to be clear, I record all my exercises every time I work out, but we didn’t begin that way. It was something that we decided to do later):

Glute Kickback (aka Donkey Kick) – 5 pounds (10)
Fire Hydrant – 5 pounds (10)
Bent-over Triceps Extension – 15 pounds (30)
Shoulder Press – 10 pounds (20)
Shoulder Side Raise – 7 pounds (14)
Shoulder Front raise – 8 pounds (16)
Resistance Band – The thick pink one, and it is getting too easy for me (I don’t know if anyone makes a stronger one or not).
Chest Press – 20 pounds (40) (This is not an easy one for me to do, but I do it anyway.)
Bent-over Dumbbell Row – 12 pounds (24)
Cross-Body Hammer Curl – 12 pounds (24)
Biceps Curl to Shoulder Press – 10 pounds (20)
Triceps Extension behind head – 12 pounds 12)
Plank – 36 seconds, but today, I hit 1 minute and 1 second.