Team Practice

Last night I had a practice with my tennis team.  I played OK.  In the first round, Fran and I lost 1-5.  My slice serve was not working very well - I have a hard time getting the ball toss right when I'm outside, and the night lights make it even worse.  Fran also has been sick lately, so I think she was a little off along with me.  The second round went better:  my partner Lisa and I scored 6-7, 1-1.  Our opponents were both really good net players, so we concentrated on lobs and passing shots, which worked pretty well.

This morning I did the first stage 2 workout in New Rules of Lifting for Women.  My legs were still pretty sore, but I didn't want to push it off more - it's already been about 2.5 weeks since I did the last NROLW.  All exercises were done with 2 sets of 10 reps, with 75 sec of rest in between sets.  I often had more time, because there was more equipment to change around, and I was unfamiliar with the moves.  Here are the exercises:

• Squat with push-press:  you put a barbell across the front of your shoulders, squat and then push up the bar as you come out of the squat.  I really don't think I was getting the dynamism of the move down and separated the squat and the press too much.  I used a barbell with 53 lb.
• Step-ups: this was a move from stage 1.  While holding a dumbbell in each hand, use one leg/foot to step up on the exercise bench.  I used 28 lb per hand, which was plenty, even though I'd been using 30 lb per hand at the end of stage 1.
• One-point dumbbell row:  while holding a dumbbell in each hand, lean over on one foot, extending the other foot out behind.  Then do the rows.  Half of the reps are done on each leg.  I know from watching myself in the mirror that I don't get my back very flat on these.  I used 20 lb per hand.
• Single-leg lunge with leg up:  one foot is behind you, raised on a step.  While holding a dumbbell in each hand, lower into a lunge.  10 reps are done on each leg.  I used 28 lb per hand.  This was hard, because it really hit my sore quads.
• Push-ups:  none of the push-up variations in the book are hard enough for just 10 reps, so I did them with one leg elevated.  I did half of the reps on one leg and half on the other.  I concentrated on really lowering my chest close to the ground, which is something I often shortcut.
• Plank on swiss ball:  A 60-s plank hold on the big stability ball.  Challenging, but not killer.  I tried to keep my butt down.
• Prone wood chop: While laying on the floor with knees bent and feet flat on the floor, pull a dumbbell from the left side of you (arms extended) to the right side.  Do 10 in each direction.  This is a substitute move for doing this on a cable machine, and I don't feel like it works very well.  I used a 12-lb dumbbell.

This workout took awhile, about 50 minutes, because it was unfamiliar.  I burned about 170 calories.