Quiet House (!)

THE HOUSE IS SO QUIET. A is at gymnastics and everyone else is camping! I can’t remember the last time I was home and things were just . . . still.

I don’t even have any horrific impending deadlines or anything.

It’s great. Also a little weird.

Last night, A + I a) watched half of People We Meet on Vacation (cute!) and then b) set our alarms for 2:50 AM so we could buy pajamas. YES, she wanted in on the Roller Rabbit x Target collab and while it was slightly painful in the moment, it went very quickly, we got what we wanted, and indeed everything WAS sold out in the light of day.

(We got two pairs each for me, A, and G — including one that is all matching, so we can be just like the family below. Yay! Except I did not buy for J/C because I don’t think they would be into these.)

Thus far this morning, after sleeping ~4 hours post the aforementioned shopping, I have worked out, walked, and read. That’s about it. I did finish #30 — the final workout in the Iron Series!!! I am debating buying some 30-35 lb weights vs getting an adjustable set (so if you have an adjustable set you LOVE, can you share which)? I haven’t totally maxed out on many exercises (and I may never on most of the upper body stuff!) but things like deadlifts are definitely not challenging enough for me with 2 x 25 lb.

My overall review of the series is that it’s a great set of strength workouts! And I find Caroline herself rather charming. It’s kind of boring/basic, but since they are short (30 min) it’s fine. Plus, I felt they were less boring when I carefully tracked the reps/weights — it felt more like a project, and kept me busy.

I did modify the workouts to make them a little more heart-friendly by making one simple shift — I cut most of the sets off at 12-15 reps rather than attempting to fill the 45-60 second time frame. Sometimes my reps DID fill the time frame, but other times I embraced the extra rest. This also allowed me to lift heavier than if I knew I had to keep things going for a full minute with only 30 seconds.

I still think from a pure hypertrophy standpoint, longer workouts and rest periods and heavier weights would be IDEAL, but these sessions are quite convenient and I do feel like I was able to progress some in terms of strength and muscle mass. I did take some progress pix but you will have to imagine them because they are a little too embarrassing. (LOL.)

Oh, and it took me from January 1 until now to finish whereas they are designed to be done in 6 weeks (5 workouts/week). So I definitely spaced them out! I generally did Pilates or yoga or nothing on the off days, plus a moderate amount of walking.

SOOOO what’s next? I am going to just . . . do it again! HOWEVER I’ll use my Apple Notes tracking sheet from the last round to challenge myself to up some of the weights. (Hence my dumbbell question above).

Okay! Off to figure out what else I will do in this incredibly quiet house. (Probably mostly just savor it because IT IS NOT GOING TO LAST.)