Sunday, February 28, 2010
Days 55 & 56
DVD - Core Cardio & Balance (Day 55)
DVD - None, + 6 miles of walking (Day 56)
Yesterday (Day 55) was pretty uneventful. Core Cardio and Balance is a good workout, but not challenging like the interval workouts and Pure Cardio/Max Cardio Conditioning. I did it, it was fine, yadda yadda yadda.
Today I walked to Berkeley Bowl (my favorite grocery store EVER) and back to do grocery shopping (2.4 miles), walked around Lake Merritt with a friend (3.4 miles), and to the laundromat and back 3 times (at least .2 miles). Lots-o-walkin'.
I did my bi-weekly measurement check in again today. Apparently I was wrong when I conjectured the inches lost would increase during the 2nd month. No big uptick in the inches lost - in fact, there has been less change since the last measurement check then there was between any of the rest. Only another 1/2 inch of my waist, for a total of 3.5. Another 1/2 inch from my chest and 1/4 inch from my hips. These aren't the losses I was hoping for at this point, but I'm almost done so it's not like I'm going to give up in frustration.
I mean, what the fuck. I'm going to stop with a week left because I've only lost 3.5 inches from my waist and not close to 5?
No.
What I'm going to do is accept the fact that there are no magic bullets, 9 weeks isn't long enough to see the results I was hoping to see, and keep progressing toward my goal with my post-Insanity plans. Because ultimately I am happy with my efforts to date and impressed with my level of commitment. I'll reach my goals, even if it takes a little longer than I thought.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Day 54
DVD - Max Interval Circuit
This was the first chance to really test my new resolve. I took advantage of the fact that it is Friday and managed to leave the office a few minutes before 5:00. I was home a little after 5:30 and started the workout just a little before 6:00.
I left my heart on the floor tonight. To take a phrase from my favorite "reality" TV series "America's Best Dance Crew", I killed it. I don't mean that I made it all the way through the work-out without breaks or anything. I just felt like I actually did more of the workout than I have in the past. More of each exercise in the interval circuits, more of the bonus moves. Partly I'm more conditioned now so I can push myself harder and keep my heart rate up at close to its peak level. But I think I finally figured out the key on Wednesday during Max Cardio Conditioning. The key being: don't stop unless I really just can't push myself through without a break. If I slow down first rather than just stop and move more deliberately while executing the move with good form rather than cardio speed I can pick up the pace when I've recovered a bit, and my heart rate doesn't begin to plummet like it does if I just stop.
Funny how it took me 52 days to figure this out.
This was the first chance to really test my new resolve. I took advantage of the fact that it is Friday and managed to leave the office a few minutes before 5:00. I was home a little after 5:30 and started the workout just a little before 6:00.
I left my heart on the floor tonight. To take a phrase from my favorite "reality" TV series "America's Best Dance Crew", I killed it. I don't mean that I made it all the way through the work-out without breaks or anything. I just felt like I actually did more of the workout than I have in the past. More of each exercise in the interval circuits, more of the bonus moves. Partly I'm more conditioned now so I can push myself harder and keep my heart rate up at close to its peak level. But I think I finally figured out the key on Wednesday during Max Cardio Conditioning. The key being: don't stop unless I really just can't push myself through without a break. If I slow down first rather than just stop and move more deliberately while executing the move with good form rather than cardio speed I can pick up the pace when I've recovered a bit, and my heart rate doesn't begin to plummet like it does if I just stop.
Funny how it took me 52 days to figure this out.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Day 53
DVD - Cardio Recovery
It was yoga night again, so I didn't try to make sure I left work right at 5:00. I won't do this workout again before the end of the 63-day program. Next week on Thursday instead of Cardio Recovery, I do Core Cardio & Balance. I'm pretty sure I just won't do Cardio Recovery again. There isn't anything wrong with it, I just think I won't need a yoga stretch to offset 5 other days of crazy Insanity cardio because I won't be doing 5 crazy Insanity cardio workouts per week.
So what will I be doing?
Well, for the first week, I'm going to take a little break. Not a complete break, I just won't do any of the intense Insanity workouts, and I won't workout 6 days. I'm thinking 4 days sounds good. For those 4 days, I'll do Core Cardio & Balance, and maybe Cardio Abs once or twice.
The week after the week after Insanity, I start Shaun T's other series, Hip Hop Abs. I just ordered the DVDs. This set is a 30 day program, also 6 days per week, but the workouts aren't as long or as intense. One of the DVDs is only 13 minutes. I figure, even though I'm not much of a morning person, on the days when I have the short workout I can do them in the morning, that way I am not sacrificing all of my nights during the week to working out. I love to dance so I am excited about the prospect of dancing as a workout.
And after Hip Hop Abs? Then I start alternating running and DVDs. I'm thinking a weekly schedule where I do 1 Insanity workout, 1 Hip Hop Abs workout (or two of the short ones) and running 2 days for 30 - 45 minutes sounds pretty good.
It was yoga night again, so I didn't try to make sure I left work right at 5:00. I won't do this workout again before the end of the 63-day program. Next week on Thursday instead of Cardio Recovery, I do Core Cardio & Balance. I'm pretty sure I just won't do Cardio Recovery again. There isn't anything wrong with it, I just think I won't need a yoga stretch to offset 5 other days of crazy Insanity cardio because I won't be doing 5 crazy Insanity cardio workouts per week.
So what will I be doing?
Well, for the first week, I'm going to take a little break. Not a complete break, I just won't do any of the intense Insanity workouts, and I won't workout 6 days. I'm thinking 4 days sounds good. For those 4 days, I'll do Core Cardio & Balance, and maybe Cardio Abs once or twice.
The week after the week after Insanity, I start Shaun T's other series, Hip Hop Abs. I just ordered the DVDs. This set is a 30 day program, also 6 days per week, but the workouts aren't as long or as intense. One of the DVDs is only 13 minutes. I figure, even though I'm not much of a morning person, on the days when I have the short workout I can do them in the morning, that way I am not sacrificing all of my nights during the week to working out. I love to dance so I am excited about the prospect of dancing as a workout.
And after Hip Hop Abs? Then I start alternating running and DVDs. I'm thinking a weekly schedule where I do 1 Insanity workout, 1 Hip Hop Abs workout (or two of the short ones) and running 2 days for 30 - 45 minutes sounds pretty good.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Day 52
DVD - Max Cardio Conditioning
DVD - Cardio Abs
Well, I didn't get to test my "leave work right at 5:00" resolve today, because I woke up with one of my lovely combination migraine-sinus headaches and decided to stay home, medicate, and sleep it off. My always testy sinuses have been funky for a couple of weeks and I've suffered almost monthly migraines since I was a teenager. Every so often both hit me at once and my head feels like a big, painful balloon. Painkillers, allergy meds and sleep while avoiding as much light, sound and smell as possible are usually the best remedies, as long as the pain and pressure are no so intense as to make me nauseous and unable to hold down any medication. I was lucky this time because the pain was bad, but not so bad it made me sick to my stomach. So I medicated and slept.
When I woke up in the late afternoon the pressure in my head had subsided, but I was feeling a little sniffly (still am). I ate a little something, waited an hour or so, and got my ass in gear to do the workouts, determined to give them both my all in keeping with the new resolve I discussed in my Days 50 & 51 post.
I think I was right when I said yesterday that I have more physical and mental energy to push myself through the workouts on days when I am able to start earlier. The fact that I was able to start tonight at 5:30 pm instead of close to 7:00 pm as with previous nights this week, combined with my new resolve meant I was able to do more of this workout than I have on any of my previous attempts even though I'd woken up earlier today feeling like crap.
If not for the flagging energy and its effect on my mental and emotional state, I can't explain why I respond better to the challenge of working out when I didn't feel well earlier in the day vs. when I've had a long day at the office. Unless! Maybe it's that my body understands that getting my heart rate up and the blood pumping through veins full throttle helps with circulation which in turn helps with an overall feeling of well-being? Or maybe my body craves the adrenaline rush from the exertion and that somehow masks any sense that I don't feel well?
At any rate, tonight I made it all the way through the warm-up on Max Cardio Conditioning without a break for the first time this week. I didn't feel the need to watch the workout clock and pray for the minutes to tick away faster. I pushed myself through more of the workout than I had in the past. I still took breaks, but I tried to keep them to a minimum and see if sometimes just slowing down and being more deliberate in my moves rather than stopping completely was something I could manage. In many cases, I was able to keep myself moving in this manner even if I wasn't going balls out in terms of speed. Sometimes though, an all-out stop for a few seconds is the only thing that will do to reset my ability to finish out a particular exercise or interval. As Shaun says in one of the workouts "A break can fix you!" He's right.
After Cardio Conditioning I did the Cardio Abs DVD again and like the last time I skipped the cool down stretch at the end of Cardio Conditioning. I still don't feel bad about this adjustment given it's only 4 minutes, is not cardio, and I'm just going to warm-up again at the start of the Ab workout.
Before the end of the 63-day program, I will do this workout combination 2 more times and I'm pretty certain my performance will only improve.
DVD - Cardio Abs
Well, I didn't get to test my "leave work right at 5:00" resolve today, because I woke up with one of my lovely combination migraine-sinus headaches and decided to stay home, medicate, and sleep it off. My always testy sinuses have been funky for a couple of weeks and I've suffered almost monthly migraines since I was a teenager. Every so often both hit me at once and my head feels like a big, painful balloon. Painkillers, allergy meds and sleep while avoiding as much light, sound and smell as possible are usually the best remedies, as long as the pain and pressure are no so intense as to make me nauseous and unable to hold down any medication. I was lucky this time because the pain was bad, but not so bad it made me sick to my stomach. So I medicated and slept.
When I woke up in the late afternoon the pressure in my head had subsided, but I was feeling a little sniffly (still am). I ate a little something, waited an hour or so, and got my ass in gear to do the workouts, determined to give them both my all in keeping with the new resolve I discussed in my Days 50 & 51 post.
I think I was right when I said yesterday that I have more physical and mental energy to push myself through the workouts on days when I am able to start earlier. The fact that I was able to start tonight at 5:30 pm instead of close to 7:00 pm as with previous nights this week, combined with my new resolve meant I was able to do more of this workout than I have on any of my previous attempts even though I'd woken up earlier today feeling like crap.
If not for the flagging energy and its effect on my mental and emotional state, I can't explain why I respond better to the challenge of working out when I didn't feel well earlier in the day vs. when I've had a long day at the office. Unless! Maybe it's that my body understands that getting my heart rate up and the blood pumping through veins full throttle helps with circulation which in turn helps with an overall feeling of well-being? Or maybe my body craves the adrenaline rush from the exertion and that somehow masks any sense that I don't feel well?
At any rate, tonight I made it all the way through the warm-up on Max Cardio Conditioning without a break for the first time this week. I didn't feel the need to watch the workout clock and pray for the minutes to tick away faster. I pushed myself through more of the workout than I had in the past. I still took breaks, but I tried to keep them to a minimum and see if sometimes just slowing down and being more deliberate in my moves rather than stopping completely was something I could manage. In many cases, I was able to keep myself moving in this manner even if I wasn't going balls out in terms of speed. Sometimes though, an all-out stop for a few seconds is the only thing that will do to reset my ability to finish out a particular exercise or interval. As Shaun says in one of the workouts "A break can fix you!" He's right.
After Cardio Conditioning I did the Cardio Abs DVD again and like the last time I skipped the cool down stretch at the end of Cardio Conditioning. I still don't feel bad about this adjustment given it's only 4 minutes, is not cardio, and I'm just going to warm-up again at the start of the Ab workout.
Before the end of the 63-day program, I will do this workout combination 2 more times and I'm pretty certain my performance will only improve.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Days 50 & Day 51
DVD - Max Interval Circuit (Day 50)
DVD - Max Interval Plyo (Day 51)
It's like I have Senioritis or something. You know what I mean? That point in high school during you final semester of Senior year after you've sent off your college applications and are waiting to hear which of the schools have accepted you, when you're sort of over the whole rigmarole of classes and high school drama and just want the rest of your life to start?
That's about where I'm at with Insanity.
As you know if you’ve been following along, for the past week or so it has been either hard to motivate myself to get started or harder to push myself physically. I’m so close to the end that I’m starting to imagine life after Insanity, and how much I am going to relish being able to come home from work and just collapse, at least a couple of days a week. When I think like that, the devil and angel appear on my shoulder, each whispering a variety of enticements that boil down to, respectively, “It’ll be ok just this once“ and “but you made a commitment!”
The devil’s enticements are appealing, especially now that I am sore all of the time. My muscles and joints join the devil in her chorus with their litany of constant, dull ache. My arms are sore, my legs are sore. Deep inside my back is sore. When I sit for too long and get up to walk it takes a minute for back to completely straighten and it feels like I creak when I walk. Sometimes, walking up stairs feels like it requires Herculean effort on my part. The other day, I was eating breakfast at a table that was slightly too high for my chair and my bicep and tricep objected with every scoop and lift of my fork. I’m sore like I was that entire first week of Insanity.
I know what you’re thinking: “Why are you still doing it?”.
Because when it comes right down to it, the angel always wins.
The thing is, I’m supposed to be sore right now. I’ve read a few blogs by people who have completed Insanity or who are doing it right now, and each of the bloggers has mentioned a constant soreness while following this set of DVDs. Knowing I’m not alone in my level of discomfort somehow makes it easier for me. Pain has been something I’ve always been really good at managing, and quite bluntly, I don’t want to be the wimp who gave up this close to the end because it hurt a little too much. Something about failure so close to the end after I’ve pushed myself this far is a lot less palatable than if I’d just given up at the outset. After all, I have less than 2 weeks of this daily regime left. If it were longer, if I were going to have to exist in a state of permanent dull ache, I would reconsider my commitment. But it isn’t longer.
In spite of my soreness, I have noticed positive gains in my stamina and endurance. It may hurt my muscles and joints to run up a flight of stairs (or two, as is the case at the BART station closest to my work), but my heart rate barely raises and I am not even really very winded. Tonight (2/23) I ran the last two blocks from BART to my place as I’d neglected to take an umbrella because it wasn’t raining when I left for work and got caught in a deluge trying to get home. When I reached my place, I was wet and cold, but my heart and breathing rates were mostly normal.
Clearly my resolve to complete the 63-day Insanity program is in tact (especially when I'm sitting here poking away at a keyboard). I'm just having some trouble pushing my body through the workouts and keeping my willpower steady in the early moments when I look at the workout clock and realize I have more than 45 minutes to go. The devil's reasoning is strong at these times. These last two nights I've found myself almost giving up after the stretch as the meat of the workout began. Worse, I also found myself taking breaks during the warm-up intervals, which is a back slide in my endurance.
I'm pretty sure it's more than Senioritis. I've noticed that I haven't been as diligent about getting out of the office right at 5:00 pm before the past few workouts - more like 5:30 or later. If I'm not leaving late, I'm making a brief stop that makes my commute start later. I've been getting home around 6:30, so it's closer to 6:45 by the time I get into the workout. 45 minutes later doesn't seem like much when you just think about it, but it seems like when I get started later I don't have as much energy to push myself through it physically or mentally.
I have 10 more workouts between tomorrow and day 63, 7 of which are more Max workouts (the other 3 are the recovery DVD and Cardio Power & Resistance). I want to go out strong, giving each workout my all without any excuses or impediments. In this vein, I am going to start enforcing my exit from work immediately at 5:00 like I did for the first month of Insanity when the workouts were shorter. I am going to go back to taking ibuprofen like they recommend to help with the constant aching. Hopefully, these minor adjustments will improve my overall performance.
DVD - Max Interval Plyo (Day 51)
It's like I have Senioritis or something. You know what I mean? That point in high school during you final semester of Senior year after you've sent off your college applications and are waiting to hear which of the schools have accepted you, when you're sort of over the whole rigmarole of classes and high school drama and just want the rest of your life to start?
That's about where I'm at with Insanity.
As you know if you’ve been following along, for the past week or so it has been either hard to motivate myself to get started or harder to push myself physically. I’m so close to the end that I’m starting to imagine life after Insanity, and how much I am going to relish being able to come home from work and just collapse, at least a couple of days a week. When I think like that, the devil and angel appear on my shoulder, each whispering a variety of enticements that boil down to, respectively, “It’ll be ok just this once“ and “but you made a commitment!”
The devil’s enticements are appealing, especially now that I am sore all of the time. My muscles and joints join the devil in her chorus with their litany of constant, dull ache. My arms are sore, my legs are sore. Deep inside my back is sore. When I sit for too long and get up to walk it takes a minute for back to completely straighten and it feels like I creak when I walk. Sometimes, walking up stairs feels like it requires Herculean effort on my part. The other day, I was eating breakfast at a table that was slightly too high for my chair and my bicep and tricep objected with every scoop and lift of my fork. I’m sore like I was that entire first week of Insanity.
I know what you’re thinking: “Why are you still doing it?”.
Because when it comes right down to it, the angel always wins.
The thing is, I’m supposed to be sore right now. I’ve read a few blogs by people who have completed Insanity or who are doing it right now, and each of the bloggers has mentioned a constant soreness while following this set of DVDs. Knowing I’m not alone in my level of discomfort somehow makes it easier for me. Pain has been something I’ve always been really good at managing, and quite bluntly, I don’t want to be the wimp who gave up this close to the end because it hurt a little too much. Something about failure so close to the end after I’ve pushed myself this far is a lot less palatable than if I’d just given up at the outset. After all, I have less than 2 weeks of this daily regime left. If it were longer, if I were going to have to exist in a state of permanent dull ache, I would reconsider my commitment. But it isn’t longer.
In spite of my soreness, I have noticed positive gains in my stamina and endurance. It may hurt my muscles and joints to run up a flight of stairs (or two, as is the case at the BART station closest to my work), but my heart rate barely raises and I am not even really very winded. Tonight (2/23) I ran the last two blocks from BART to my place as I’d neglected to take an umbrella because it wasn’t raining when I left for work and got caught in a deluge trying to get home. When I reached my place, I was wet and cold, but my heart and breathing rates were mostly normal.
Clearly my resolve to complete the 63-day Insanity program is in tact (especially when I'm sitting here poking away at a keyboard). I'm just having some trouble pushing my body through the workouts and keeping my willpower steady in the early moments when I look at the workout clock and realize I have more than 45 minutes to go. The devil's reasoning is strong at these times. These last two nights I've found myself almost giving up after the stretch as the meat of the workout began. Worse, I also found myself taking breaks during the warm-up intervals, which is a back slide in my endurance.
I'm pretty sure it's more than Senioritis. I've noticed that I haven't been as diligent about getting out of the office right at 5:00 pm before the past few workouts - more like 5:30 or later. If I'm not leaving late, I'm making a brief stop that makes my commute start later. I've been getting home around 6:30, so it's closer to 6:45 by the time I get into the workout. 45 minutes later doesn't seem like much when you just think about it, but it seems like when I get started later I don't have as much energy to push myself through it physically or mentally.
I have 10 more workouts between tomorrow and day 63, 7 of which are more Max workouts (the other 3 are the recovery DVD and Cardio Power & Resistance). I want to go out strong, giving each workout my all without any excuses or impediments. In this vein, I am going to start enforcing my exit from work immediately at 5:00 like I did for the first month of Insanity when the workouts were shorter. I am going to go back to taking ibuprofen like they recommend to help with the constant aching. Hopefully, these minor adjustments will improve my overall performance.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Day 49 - Fit Test # 4
DVD - Fit Test
The following are my Fit Test results, with the improvement from Fit Test #3 in parentheses:
Switch Kicks 70 (+ 1)
Power Jacks 70 (+ 1)
Power Knees 124 (+ 5)
Power Jumps 52 (+ 8)
Globe Jumps 10 (+ 1)
Suicide Jumps 22 (+ 2)
Push-up Jacks 29 (+ 3)
Low Plank Oblique 68 (+ 8)
My improvement since the beginning:
Switch Kicks (because of the counting and math snafu, I'm not including this figure)
Power Jacks (+ 15)
Power Knees (+ 23)
Power Jumps (+ 20)
Globe Jumps (+ 5)
Suicide Jumps (+ 6)
Push-Up Jacks (+ 9)
Low Plank Oblique (+ 22)
2 weeks from today I will take this Fit Test for the 5th and last time as part of the 63-day Insanity boot camp.
I can’t believe how much of an improvement I made in some of the exercises! The intensity of the workouts these last 2 weeks has clearly made a big difference.
I did 8 more Power Jumps this time. My improvement between previous Fit Tests had been 6. Overall, I’ve improved by 20 reps since the pre-Insanity Fit Test. I improved by 7 Power Jacks, which surprised me since I’d only improved by 1 rep last time AND my knees had been so sore when I’d tried them yesterday (today they didn’t bother me at all).
When we do our Switch Kicks, the chart that came inside the Insanity package says that 2 kicks = one rep. I’ve only improve by 1 rep each time, while the girl in the video (Tanya) has improved by 30, which according to the chart would mean 60 more kicks. I’ve been thinking for a while there was something off with their count here, because she says she started at 80 and after the 9 weeks is at 110.
80 reps means 160 kicks. 110 reps means 220 kicks. That just isn’t physically possibly (or so I tell myself as I look at my measly 70 reps). Done for a minute, that means she’s doing somewhere between 3 and 4 kicks a second.
I call bullshit just on the math.
Today after I was done I decided I was going to count the number of kicks they did on the video. This was made a little hard because the cameras switch back and forth between Tanya & Chris (the guy in the video) doing the kicks, but I figure I’d just count every kick I saw between the two of them for an average. Counting Chris alone would make the number smaller - he doesn’t move quite as fast as Tanya. Conversely, counting Tanya alone would have slightly raised the numbers.
I counted 116. Kicks, not reps. Divided by 2 to get reps, that’s 58 reps.
They simply must be counting kicks, not reps. If so, and I am convinced it IS so, I’m pretty happy with my 140 kicks today. Even if it is only 2 more kicks, 1 little rep more, I’m still kicking the ass of the two Beach Body coaches on the DVD. Take that, Tanya & Chris!
The following are my Fit Test results, with the improvement from Fit Test #3 in parentheses:
Switch Kicks 70 (+ 1)
Power Jacks 70 (+ 1)
Power Knees 124 (+ 5)
Power Jumps 52 (+ 8)
Globe Jumps 10 (+ 1)
Suicide Jumps 22 (+ 2)
Push-up Jacks 29 (+ 3)
Low Plank Oblique 68 (+ 8)
My improvement since the beginning:
Switch Kicks (because of the counting and math snafu, I'm not including this figure)
Power Jacks (+ 15)
Power Knees (+ 23)
Power Jumps (+ 20)
Globe Jumps (+ 5)
Suicide Jumps (+ 6)
Push-Up Jacks (+ 9)
Low Plank Oblique (+ 22)
2 weeks from today I will take this Fit Test for the 5th and last time as part of the 63-day Insanity boot camp.
I can’t believe how much of an improvement I made in some of the exercises! The intensity of the workouts these last 2 weeks has clearly made a big difference.
I did 8 more Power Jumps this time. My improvement between previous Fit Tests had been 6. Overall, I’ve improved by 20 reps since the pre-Insanity Fit Test. I improved by 7 Power Jacks, which surprised me since I’d only improved by 1 rep last time AND my knees had been so sore when I’d tried them yesterday (today they didn’t bother me at all).
When we do our Switch Kicks, the chart that came inside the Insanity package says that 2 kicks = one rep. I’ve only improve by 1 rep each time, while the girl in the video (Tanya) has improved by 30, which according to the chart would mean 60 more kicks. I’ve been thinking for a while there was something off with their count here, because she says she started at 80 and after the 9 weeks is at 110.
80 reps means 160 kicks. 110 reps means 220 kicks. That just isn’t physically possibly (or so I tell myself as I look at my measly 70 reps). Done for a minute, that means she’s doing somewhere between 3 and 4 kicks a second.
I call bullshit just on the math.
Today after I was done I decided I was going to count the number of kicks they did on the video. This was made a little hard because the cameras switch back and forth between Tanya & Chris (the guy in the video) doing the kicks, but I figure I’d just count every kick I saw between the two of them for an average. Counting Chris alone would make the number smaller - he doesn’t move quite as fast as Tanya. Conversely, counting Tanya alone would have slightly raised the numbers.
I counted 116. Kicks, not reps. Divided by 2 to get reps, that’s 58 reps.
They simply must be counting kicks, not reps. If so, and I am convinced it IS so, I’m pretty happy with my 140 kicks today. Even if it is only 2 more kicks, 1 little rep more, I’m still kicking the ass of the two Beach Body coaches on the DVD. Take that, Tanya & Chris!
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Day 48
DVD - Core Cardio and Balance
This seems to be the week of needing a lot of extra willpower to talk myself into doing the workouts. The last couple of days that has meant talking myself out of workouts and then talking myself back in. The same thing happened today.
I invited a friend over to watch the first 4 episodes of the new season of America's Best Dance Crew on DVR and offered to cook. My plan was to wake up, eat breakfast, take my stuff to the laundromat and do the shopping while my clothes were in the wash. On the way back from the store I'd stop and put the clothes in the dryer and then bring the groceries home and do the workout before going back to pick up the laundry. After that it would be: clean up the place a bit, shower, and cook.
But as usual on Saturdays, my day got started late. Up a little before 11:00 am, farted around the apartment, talked to a friend on IM while drinking coffee. Around noon I got around to making breakfast. It was after 1:30 by the time I got out of the house and my friend was coming over at 5:30. At this point, I decided I would have to forego laundry until Sunday.
Also as usual, shopping in Berkeley Bowl took me longer than I'd budgeted and as I was standing in line to check out I realized it would be 3:30 by the time I got home. I began to talk myself out of working out in favor of concentrating on cleaning myself and my place, and cooking dinner. Instead I could do Saturday's workout on Sunday instead, after doing the Fit Test. And that wouldn't be "cheating", really, since I was just switching the rest day to Saturday instead of Sunday. And wouldn't that be better still, since I was already not planning to fully rest on Sunday?
But I talked myself out of these rationalizations on the way home. For the record, I think it would have been perfectly valid and reasonable for me to go ahead with the plan above. It's just that, on the way home, I remember what I thought of on Thursday when I was talking myself out of the Recovery workout: how awesome would it be to have completed every workout when I was supposed to?
I've already made two slight exceptions to this program by doing 2 of the Fit Tests on a rest day rather than before an hour-long workout. I think the fact that I choose to do the Fit Test on a day I am not otherwise working out balances the fact that I'm not doing it on a day that includes a long workout.
By the time I'd walked the mile and a quarter back to my place from Berkeley Bowl, I was determined to do Core Cardio and Balance today according to the workout schedule. If I started it by 3:40, I'd be done about 4:20 and have just over an hour to do everything else.
I did have to modify the workout a bit because my knees are still recovering from my workouts earlier this week. I started to do power jacks at one point and my knees said "no". Since that is a Fit Test move I'll have to try to do as many reps of as possible tomorrow, I decided not to push it today. Instead, I did regular jumping jacks. The hip flexor burners and shoulder burners were still both really hard for me, but after 2 weeks of the Max Workouts I am able to push through more of them with fewer instances of needing to drop out of position to give the engaged muscle set a break. This was more true with the hip flexor moves than my shoulders, which as you know have been taxed to my limits over the last two weeks.
I finished the workout around 4:20 as predicted and in the time between that and my friend's arrival at 5:30, I managed to straighten up my place a bit (sweep everything, clean the bathroom, take out garbage and recycling), shower, prepare a bolognese sauce from scratch, prep a small cheese plate, make a small tray of hors d'oeuvres involving mini phyllo cups, goat cheese, diced prosciutto and pesto, a small tray of dessert also using mini phyllo cups and goat cheese, but this time mixed with raisins, roasted pecans, cinnamon, cardamom & honey. By the time 5:30 rolled around, all I had to do was cut up some zucchini & yellow squash for a side dish and slice some bread for the cheese plate.
Sometimes, Martha Stewart's got nuthin' on me.
By the way, phyllo cups make excellent hors d'oeuvres & dessert foundations for people who are attempting to watch what they eat but still want to feel like they are indulging. The Athens brand I bought come 15 to a package, a serving is 2 of the cups. There are 7.5 servings in the package and each serving is only 25 calories. That means the entire package is less than 200 calories. Divide that by two people and as long as you don't go crazy with what you put inside them, you've got yourself a tasty, fairly guilt-free amuse bouche.
The foodie in my highly recommends you try the goat cheese, raisin, pecan, spice & honey combo I mentioned above. It tasted like baklava with a little bit of goat cheese. In case you're wondering, about 1 oz of goat cheese sufficed to fill 7 phyllo cups when mixed with 1/8 cup of raisins and 1/8 cup pecans.
This seems to be the week of needing a lot of extra willpower to talk myself into doing the workouts. The last couple of days that has meant talking myself out of workouts and then talking myself back in. The same thing happened today.
I invited a friend over to watch the first 4 episodes of the new season of America's Best Dance Crew on DVR and offered to cook. My plan was to wake up, eat breakfast, take my stuff to the laundromat and do the shopping while my clothes were in the wash. On the way back from the store I'd stop and put the clothes in the dryer and then bring the groceries home and do the workout before going back to pick up the laundry. After that it would be: clean up the place a bit, shower, and cook.
But as usual on Saturdays, my day got started late. Up a little before 11:00 am, farted around the apartment, talked to a friend on IM while drinking coffee. Around noon I got around to making breakfast. It was after 1:30 by the time I got out of the house and my friend was coming over at 5:30. At this point, I decided I would have to forego laundry until Sunday.
Also as usual, shopping in Berkeley Bowl took me longer than I'd budgeted and as I was standing in line to check out I realized it would be 3:30 by the time I got home. I began to talk myself out of working out in favor of concentrating on cleaning myself and my place, and cooking dinner. Instead I could do Saturday's workout on Sunday instead, after doing the Fit Test. And that wouldn't be "cheating", really, since I was just switching the rest day to Saturday instead of Sunday. And wouldn't that be better still, since I was already not planning to fully rest on Sunday?
But I talked myself out of these rationalizations on the way home. For the record, I think it would have been perfectly valid and reasonable for me to go ahead with the plan above. It's just that, on the way home, I remember what I thought of on Thursday when I was talking myself out of the Recovery workout: how awesome would it be to have completed every workout when I was supposed to?
I've already made two slight exceptions to this program by doing 2 of the Fit Tests on a rest day rather than before an hour-long workout. I think the fact that I choose to do the Fit Test on a day I am not otherwise working out balances the fact that I'm not doing it on a day that includes a long workout.
By the time I'd walked the mile and a quarter back to my place from Berkeley Bowl, I was determined to do Core Cardio and Balance today according to the workout schedule. If I started it by 3:40, I'd be done about 4:20 and have just over an hour to do everything else.
I did have to modify the workout a bit because my knees are still recovering from my workouts earlier this week. I started to do power jacks at one point and my knees said "no". Since that is a Fit Test move I'll have to try to do as many reps of as possible tomorrow, I decided not to push it today. Instead, I did regular jumping jacks. The hip flexor burners and shoulder burners were still both really hard for me, but after 2 weeks of the Max Workouts I am able to push through more of them with fewer instances of needing to drop out of position to give the engaged muscle set a break. This was more true with the hip flexor moves than my shoulders, which as you know have been taxed to my limits over the last two weeks.
I finished the workout around 4:20 as predicted and in the time between that and my friend's arrival at 5:30, I managed to straighten up my place a bit (sweep everything, clean the bathroom, take out garbage and recycling), shower, prepare a bolognese sauce from scratch, prep a small cheese plate, make a small tray of hors d'oeuvres involving mini phyllo cups, goat cheese, diced prosciutto and pesto, a small tray of dessert also using mini phyllo cups and goat cheese, but this time mixed with raisins, roasted pecans, cinnamon, cardamom & honey. By the time 5:30 rolled around, all I had to do was cut up some zucchini & yellow squash for a side dish and slice some bread for the cheese plate.
Sometimes, Martha Stewart's got nuthin' on me.
By the way, phyllo cups make excellent hors d'oeuvres & dessert foundations for people who are attempting to watch what they eat but still want to feel like they are indulging. The Athens brand I bought come 15 to a package, a serving is 2 of the cups. There are 7.5 servings in the package and each serving is only 25 calories. That means the entire package is less than 200 calories. Divide that by two people and as long as you don't go crazy with what you put inside them, you've got yourself a tasty, fairly guilt-free amuse bouche.
The foodie in my highly recommends you try the goat cheese, raisin, pecan, spice & honey combo I mentioned above. It tasted like baklava with a little bit of goat cheese. In case you're wondering, about 1 oz of goat cheese sufficed to fill 7 phyllo cups when mixed with 1/8 cup of raisins and 1/8 cup pecans.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Day 47
DVD - Max Cardio Conditioning
DVD - Cardio Abs
There is supposed to be a Cardio Abs immediately after the Conditioning workout on the same DVD, but as happened with the Cardio Abs after Pure Cardio, it didn't work. So now I guess I'll never know if it is the same Cardio Abs that is on the single disc that I reverted to when the one on Pure Cardio didn't work, or if it is it's very own Cardio Abs.
I cheated a little bit. I decided not to do the cool down stretch at the end of Max Cardio Conditioning. I figure, I'm only foregoing a 4 minute stretch and considering I'm just going to go directly into another workout which has its own cool down stretch, why not just skip it? Even so, the combined workout total is still just over an hour.
My "cheat" during the main workout was, IMHO, overshadowed by the fact that I made it all the way through the Cardio Abs warm-up without a break and without having to modify for the very first time. These max workouts seem to be doing a lot to improve both my endurance and my ability.
DVD - Cardio Abs
There is supposed to be a Cardio Abs immediately after the Conditioning workout on the same DVD, but as happened with the Cardio Abs after Pure Cardio, it didn't work. So now I guess I'll never know if it is the same Cardio Abs that is on the single disc that I reverted to when the one on Pure Cardio didn't work, or if it is it's very own Cardio Abs.
I cheated a little bit. I decided not to do the cool down stretch at the end of Max Cardio Conditioning. I figure, I'm only foregoing a 4 minute stretch and considering I'm just going to go directly into another workout which has its own cool down stretch, why not just skip it? Even so, the combined workout total is still just over an hour.
My "cheat" during the main workout was, IMHO, overshadowed by the fact that I made it all the way through the Cardio Abs warm-up without a break and without having to modify for the very first time. These max workouts seem to be doing a lot to improve both my endurance and my ability.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Day 46
DVD - Cardio Recovery
I almost didn't do this workout at all today, even though it is no where near as difficult as what I've pushed myself through the past few days. I was sitting at my desk this afternoon and convinced myself I didn't need to do the day of yoga and controlled stretching and that it might in fact be better for me if I didn't do any workout at all tonight, especially because I will be doing the Fit Test on my Sunday rest day. Without a rest this Sunday, it will be the following Sunday before I get one.
Two weeks is a long time to go without a break.
And then I changed my mind on the BART ride home, because I suddenly thought to myself something along the lines of, "but then I won't be able to say I got through the 63 days doing all of the workouts, and how lame that it wasn't even one of the Insane ones I skipped?"
But I'm thinking I shouldn't have talked myself out of talking myself out of it.
Because OHMYGODMYKNEES!
I guess going extra hard at the leg plyo moves last night to compensate for my inability to do 200+ push-ups caught up with me. On the upside, tonight my shoulders felt fine.
The squat and lunge section of the workout did me in. I got through the squat portion pretty well, but then at some point during the lunges my mind wandered (which tends to happen when I'm not pushing through crazy cardio) and I lost track of which leg I should be working on. So I sort of just stopped. Then there was another squat segment. For some reason I forgot that the lunge segments are broken up into two segments, each concentrating on one leg. Since I'd blown the first segment, I decided to wait out the second. At any rate, by this point the lower part of my quads were killing me, and my knees hurt every time I bent them too far. Which is weird, because going up the stairs from BART earlier today I thought to myself "wow, my knees don't hurt at all!"
I decided I would wait until the next exercise to start again. I was doing fine until we had to get down on the floor for the move I called my favorite in my review of this workout way back on Day 4. I got into the bench position but when I raised my knees off the ground like you are supposed to, I felt like my knees were being stabbed - then I had to raise and extend backward one leg for pulsing and both knives were in the knee now supporting twice as much weight. I tried to grit my teeth and get through all the pulses but I couldn't. I chose Child's Pose instead. Likewise I tried the other leg and managed a few pulses before going into Child's Pose. Given that, I didn't even try the one where I'm supposed to hold that position and bring my knee up to my shoulder.
I need to be able to walk tomorrow.
And do Max Cardio Conditioning, which will be accompanied by Cardio Abs for the first time (for a whopping workout time of 1:04.
I was fine for the rest of the workout and am hoping that by choosing to not push my knees tonight means they'll be fine for the workouts tomorrow. Digging deeper is a great concept, but not if it means you can't do the next workout at all.
I almost didn't do this workout at all today, even though it is no where near as difficult as what I've pushed myself through the past few days. I was sitting at my desk this afternoon and convinced myself I didn't need to do the day of yoga and controlled stretching and that it might in fact be better for me if I didn't do any workout at all tonight, especially because I will be doing the Fit Test on my Sunday rest day. Without a rest this Sunday, it will be the following Sunday before I get one.
Two weeks is a long time to go without a break.
And then I changed my mind on the BART ride home, because I suddenly thought to myself something along the lines of, "but then I won't be able to say I got through the 63 days doing all of the workouts, and how lame that it wasn't even one of the Insane ones I skipped?"
But I'm thinking I shouldn't have talked myself out of talking myself out of it.
Because OHMYGODMYKNEES!
I guess going extra hard at the leg plyo moves last night to compensate for my inability to do 200+ push-ups caught up with me. On the upside, tonight my shoulders felt fine.
The squat and lunge section of the workout did me in. I got through the squat portion pretty well, but then at some point during the lunges my mind wandered (which tends to happen when I'm not pushing through crazy cardio) and I lost track of which leg I should be working on. So I sort of just stopped. Then there was another squat segment. For some reason I forgot that the lunge segments are broken up into two segments, each concentrating on one leg. Since I'd blown the first segment, I decided to wait out the second. At any rate, by this point the lower part of my quads were killing me, and my knees hurt every time I bent them too far. Which is weird, because going up the stairs from BART earlier today I thought to myself "wow, my knees don't hurt at all!"
I decided I would wait until the next exercise to start again. I was doing fine until we had to get down on the floor for the move I called my favorite in my review of this workout way back on Day 4. I got into the bench position but when I raised my knees off the ground like you are supposed to, I felt like my knees were being stabbed - then I had to raise and extend backward one leg for pulsing and both knives were in the knee now supporting twice as much weight. I tried to grit my teeth and get through all the pulses but I couldn't. I chose Child's Pose instead. Likewise I tried the other leg and managed a few pulses before going into Child's Pose. Given that, I didn't even try the one where I'm supposed to hold that position and bring my knee up to my shoulder.
I need to be able to walk tomorrow.
And do Max Cardio Conditioning, which will be accompanied by Cardio Abs for the first time (for a whopping workout time of 1:04.
I was fine for the rest of the workout and am hoping that by choosing to not push my knees tonight means they'll be fine for the workouts tomorrow. Digging deeper is a great concept, but not if it means you can't do the next workout at all.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Day 45
DVD - Max Interval Plyo
I didn't have any of the willpower problems I've been having recently as I started this workout, but the workout itself continues to vex me. It's becoming pretty clear I'm not going to master all of the push-ups by the end of the 63 days. I mean, good lord. There have to be at least 200 in this workout. I try to go harder at the more leg-based plyo to compensate.
I don't have a lot more to say about this workout this time around, other than now that I am sitting here writing this I am really sore, more sore than I have been immediately after a workout since sometime in my first week of Insanity, because push-ups aside, I pushed myself harder and through more of each of the other moves than I have in the past. With all of the jumping in this workout, I'm interested to see how my Power Jumps have improved when I do the Fit Test on Sunday.
I didn't have any of the willpower problems I've been having recently as I started this workout, but the workout itself continues to vex me. It's becoming pretty clear I'm not going to master all of the push-ups by the end of the 63 days. I mean, good lord. There have to be at least 200 in this workout. I try to go harder at the more leg-based plyo to compensate.
I don't have a lot more to say about this workout this time around, other than now that I am sitting here writing this I am really sore, more sore than I have been immediately after a workout since sometime in my first week of Insanity, because push-ups aside, I pushed myself harder and through more of each of the other moves than I have in the past. With all of the jumping in this workout, I'm interested to see how my Power Jumps have improved when I do the Fit Test on Sunday.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Day 44
DVD - Max Interval Circuit
I can measure the days in teens now. 19 to go!
I had another bout of "don't really want to do this" today after the warm-up stretch. Because it was Max Interval Circuit it meant I had 43 minutes to go before the whole workout would be over, and just about 40 minutes before the cool down stretch. There were no physical ailments today, just some angst. A man jumped out a window to his death from the building next to my office around 3:30 pm this afternoon. One of my co-workers saw it from the street as she was leaving the building; a couple others heard the noise from below and looked out to see the body just after he landed, and the blood. I only saw the body after it had been covered by the police, but the whole thing brought back a memory I generally do pretty well keeping out of my mind: back in the mid '90s a man fell to his death about 15 feet in front of me. I feel for my co-worker who had the same experience today, and for the couple them who saw the grotesque aftermath immediately after.
All of that was a lot to process mentally, and that made it harder to follow a workout DVD. It's hard to pay attention to something external when your mind is that preoccupied. I think perhaps something like running or swimming would be a better physical activity on a day like today: something to tax you physically but during which your attention can be focused more inward.
So I had a hard time getting into it, with my will flagging again right after the warm-up stretch. This, if you'll remember, is the longest workout, so after the stretch I still had 44 minutes to go. But like yesterday, I reached within and found the will to just go ahead and do it anyway. And like yesterday, I was watching the clock until suddenly I wasn't.
I am doing pretty well with my progress through this workout. The Floor Switch Kicks are probably the hardest on me. It's really hard for me to hold myself up on my arms in the position required for this exercise when my legs are switching back and forth. I can only go for a few seconds at a time before I have to rest because it feels like my arms are going to give out, especially around my elbow area. I keep at it and sometimes slow down so that my legs aren't exactly switch kicking, but doing something more like leg lifts - some of the crew do it this way too, so I don't feel like such a feeb, but it doesn't feel like it has much of an effect when I do it more slowly. I also fall out a little bit during the frog jumps of this interval segment. Partly my hip joints start to hurt and need a break, but also I sometimes get a little dizzy from the up and down movements.
I notice that a lot of the moves in this latter set of DVDs are similar to the Fit Test exercises, and I expect to see some improvement on some of the harder-to-do-fast moves when I do the Fit Test again this coming Sunday. I'll be foregoing the rest day again to take the Fit Test, because I just can't fathom doing the Fit Test and then following it with this 1 hour workout like the suggest on a Monday after a day spent at the office.
I can measure the days in teens now. 19 to go!
I had another bout of "don't really want to do this" today after the warm-up stretch. Because it was Max Interval Circuit it meant I had 43 minutes to go before the whole workout would be over, and just about 40 minutes before the cool down stretch. There were no physical ailments today, just some angst. A man jumped out a window to his death from the building next to my office around 3:30 pm this afternoon. One of my co-workers saw it from the street as she was leaving the building; a couple others heard the noise from below and looked out to see the body just after he landed, and the blood. I only saw the body after it had been covered by the police, but the whole thing brought back a memory I generally do pretty well keeping out of my mind: back in the mid '90s a man fell to his death about 15 feet in front of me. I feel for my co-worker who had the same experience today, and for the couple them who saw the grotesque aftermath immediately after.
All of that was a lot to process mentally, and that made it harder to follow a workout DVD. It's hard to pay attention to something external when your mind is that preoccupied. I think perhaps something like running or swimming would be a better physical activity on a day like today: something to tax you physically but during which your attention can be focused more inward.
So I had a hard time getting into it, with my will flagging again right after the warm-up stretch. This, if you'll remember, is the longest workout, so after the stretch I still had 44 minutes to go. But like yesterday, I reached within and found the will to just go ahead and do it anyway. And like yesterday, I was watching the clock until suddenly I wasn't.
I am doing pretty well with my progress through this workout. The Floor Switch Kicks are probably the hardest on me. It's really hard for me to hold myself up on my arms in the position required for this exercise when my legs are switching back and forth. I can only go for a few seconds at a time before I have to rest because it feels like my arms are going to give out, especially around my elbow area. I keep at it and sometimes slow down so that my legs aren't exactly switch kicking, but doing something more like leg lifts - some of the crew do it this way too, so I don't feel like such a feeb, but it doesn't feel like it has much of an effect when I do it more slowly. I also fall out a little bit during the frog jumps of this interval segment. Partly my hip joints start to hurt and need a break, but also I sometimes get a little dizzy from the up and down movements.
I notice that a lot of the moves in this latter set of DVDs are similar to the Fit Test exercises, and I expect to see some improvement on some of the harder-to-do-fast moves when I do the Fit Test again this coming Sunday. I'll be foregoing the rest day again to take the Fit Test, because I just can't fathom doing the Fit Test and then following it with this 1 hour workout like the suggest on a Monday after a day spent at the office.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Day 43
DVD - Max Cardio Conditioning
I went to a potluck last night with an aprhodisiac food theme inspired by Valentine's Day and probably ate more than I should. My contribution was empanadas. The savory entree version was stuffed with black beans, roasted vegetables (asparagus, zucchini, poblano pepper, red bell pepper & jalapeno) & goat cheese. The smaller, "sweet" empanadas were filled with roasted butternut squash, bake plantain & goat cheese. Both used frozen puff pastry as the dough. Both were fabulous. I'm sure I drank a little too much.
If I were more of a calorie counter (as in needing to count every last calorie that goes into my stomach), I would probably be horrified - but I'd accounted for the splurge earlier in the day. Besides, when I do a diet that involves a caloric limit, I just follow a plan for a week or two until I have a good handle on the portion sizes and preparation methods, including how to make substitutions for variety that don't blow the diet away. (so long as I don't start adding lots of extras to whatever I learned to make).
In the past, I've tried using things like Fitday.com but found all of the data-entry tedious and eventually I always defaulted to the less strict monitoring I mentioned above, and would find myself recreating my meals on Fitday days later. I have overall a pretty good sense what I can and should eat, so am able to stick to this less stringent method generally - it's when I start eating out a lot or stop being even moderately vigilant that I get myself into trouble.
The potluck was the first time I've seen most of the people in attendance since New Year's or the last potluck (they are monthly on the 2nd Sunday of the month), some of whom have been following my Insanity progress via this blog. What that meant is that I got felt up a lot. Everyone wanted to feel my arms and many wanted to check my thighs.
Afterward, I spent the night at some friends' place, and as usual when I sleep over there had a wicked allergy attack come on in the middle of the night. I'd forgotten to bring my allergy meds, and had to wait until many hours later to take anything. Mixing red wines as I did last night is sometimes enough to set my sinuses to wonky. Today I found out they have a moldy wall in their rental unit - most likely the reason I *always* have an allergy attack when I sleep there. Waiting so long to take allergy meds when I have an attack of this magnitude makes me feel like I've got a cold or mild sinus infection, with all the requisite body fatigue and general malaise.
On my way home, I stopped and bought some over-the-counter allergy meds (these have always worked best for me) and popped a dose before beginning the 30 minute BART + walking journey home. By the time I arrived, I was able to breathe through my nose but was feeling a little wheezy.
I confess I was worried about my ability to do the workout this afternoon, especially because there are fewer sanctioned rest breaks in the non-interval workouts. I did it anyway. But I felt like I hit a wall at the end of the stretch section. I seriously considered turning the workout off rather than pushing myself through 30 minutes of intense cardio and then another brief stretch to cool down. 30 more minutes? Really?
I made myself do the first couple of exercises after a delayed start of a few seconds. I found myself looking at the clock to find out how long I had left after what seemed like forever. It had been about 3 minutes. 27 more minutes? Really?
I did this every few minutes until there were about 15 minutes left. At that point I'd given myself over to the idea of completing the workout and I noticed I wasn't struggling physically or feeling as tired as I had when I still had 27 minutes to go. I don't think this was all willpower, mind you. I'm pretty sure there was some adrenaline/endorphin effect in the mix, especially because when it was all over, I felt much better than I had when I'd started. Tired, sore and sweaty, yes, but no longer sickly and run-down.
I'm pretty sure what I did tonight is what Shaun is talking about when he beseeches us to "dig deeper".
I went to a potluck last night with an aprhodisiac food theme inspired by Valentine's Day and probably ate more than I should. My contribution was empanadas. The savory entree version was stuffed with black beans, roasted vegetables (asparagus, zucchini, poblano pepper, red bell pepper & jalapeno) & goat cheese. The smaller, "sweet" empanadas were filled with roasted butternut squash, bake plantain & goat cheese. Both used frozen puff pastry as the dough. Both were fabulous. I'm sure I drank a little too much.
If I were more of a calorie counter (as in needing to count every last calorie that goes into my stomach), I would probably be horrified - but I'd accounted for the splurge earlier in the day. Besides, when I do a diet that involves a caloric limit, I just follow a plan for a week or two until I have a good handle on the portion sizes and preparation methods, including how to make substitutions for variety that don't blow the diet away. (so long as I don't start adding lots of extras to whatever I learned to make).
In the past, I've tried using things like Fitday.com but found all of the data-entry tedious and eventually I always defaulted to the less strict monitoring I mentioned above, and would find myself recreating my meals on Fitday days later. I have overall a pretty good sense what I can and should eat, so am able to stick to this less stringent method generally - it's when I start eating out a lot or stop being even moderately vigilant that I get myself into trouble.
The potluck was the first time I've seen most of the people in attendance since New Year's or the last potluck (they are monthly on the 2nd Sunday of the month), some of whom have been following my Insanity progress via this blog. What that meant is that I got felt up a lot. Everyone wanted to feel my arms and many wanted to check my thighs.
Afterward, I spent the night at some friends' place, and as usual when I sleep over there had a wicked allergy attack come on in the middle of the night. I'd forgotten to bring my allergy meds, and had to wait until many hours later to take anything. Mixing red wines as I did last night is sometimes enough to set my sinuses to wonky. Today I found out they have a moldy wall in their rental unit - most likely the reason I *always* have an allergy attack when I sleep there. Waiting so long to take allergy meds when I have an attack of this magnitude makes me feel like I've got a cold or mild sinus infection, with all the requisite body fatigue and general malaise.
On my way home, I stopped and bought some over-the-counter allergy meds (these have always worked best for me) and popped a dose before beginning the 30 minute BART + walking journey home. By the time I arrived, I was able to breathe through my nose but was feeling a little wheezy.
I confess I was worried about my ability to do the workout this afternoon, especially because there are fewer sanctioned rest breaks in the non-interval workouts. I did it anyway. But I felt like I hit a wall at the end of the stretch section. I seriously considered turning the workout off rather than pushing myself through 30 minutes of intense cardio and then another brief stretch to cool down. 30 more minutes? Really?
I made myself do the first couple of exercises after a delayed start of a few seconds. I found myself looking at the clock to find out how long I had left after what seemed like forever. It had been about 3 minutes. 27 more minutes? Really?
I did this every few minutes until there were about 15 minutes left. At that point I'd given myself over to the idea of completing the workout and I noticed I wasn't struggling physically or feeling as tired as I had when I still had 27 minutes to go. I don't think this was all willpower, mind you. I'm pretty sure there was some adrenaline/endorphin effect in the mix, especially because when it was all over, I felt much better than I had when I'd started. Tired, sore and sweaty, yes, but no longer sickly and run-down.
I'm pretty sure what I did tonight is what Shaun is talking about when he beseeches us to "dig deeper".
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Day 42
DVD - None
On Sundays, I rest!
Today was a measurement day. Another inch off my waist since the last measuring day, more than an inch off my hips, close to half an inch gone from each upper arm and my chest in inches is now the same as my bra size. Score!
I'm going to take a break from blogging today, too, other than to say I am sore. So sore.
On Sundays, I rest!
Today was a measurement day. Another inch off my waist since the last measuring day, more than an inch off my hips, close to half an inch gone from each upper arm and my chest in inches is now the same as my bra size. Score!
I'm going to take a break from blogging today, too, other than to say I am sore. So sore.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Day 41
DVD - Max Interval Plyo
I didn't feel as much progress from the first time I did this workout as between my first and 2nd experience with Max Cardio Circuit.
So. Very. Many. Push-ups.
I don't know if more weeks is enough time for me to get acclimated to all of the push-ups in this workout. It'd be great if I could get through them all by the last time I use this DVD during the 9 weeks of Insanity. Side note: I can't believe I have slightly more than 3 weeks left of this everyday craziness!
That being said, I did go harder at the moves that weren't shoulder burners and I know I was able to do more of those. What seems to happen during the intervals is that I start out well with the first set - am able to get through it without a break. Then I hit a wall during the 2nd circuit and take a break, if not multiple breaks. By the 3rd and shorter circuit, I've determined that I'll get through it without stopping to rest and in most cases am able to do so. There is only a 15 second difference between the 1st & 2nd circuit and the last, but those 15 seconds seem to make all of the difference.
PS - My apologies for not keeping up with the blog quite as much the last couple of days. I've started posts without finishing them. I'm finding it more difficult to summon the will to blog each night than I am to summon the will to workout.
I didn't feel as much progress from the first time I did this workout as between my first and 2nd experience with Max Cardio Circuit.
So. Very. Many. Push-ups.
I don't know if more weeks is enough time for me to get acclimated to all of the push-ups in this workout. It'd be great if I could get through them all by the last time I use this DVD during the 9 weeks of Insanity. Side note: I can't believe I have slightly more than 3 weeks left of this everyday craziness!
That being said, I did go harder at the moves that weren't shoulder burners and I know I was able to do more of those. What seems to happen during the intervals is that I start out well with the first set - am able to get through it without a break. Then I hit a wall during the 2nd circuit and take a break, if not multiple breaks. By the 3rd and shorter circuit, I've determined that I'll get through it without stopping to rest and in most cases am able to do so. There is only a 15 second difference between the 1st & 2nd circuit and the last, but those 15 seconds seem to make all of the difference.
PS - My apologies for not keeping up with the blog quite as much the last couple of days. I've started posts without finishing them. I'm finding it more difficult to summon the will to blog each night than I am to summon the will to workout.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Day 40
DVD - Max Interval Circuit
It's been 40 days and 40 nights ...
I had to come home early from work today to give a plumber doing work in one of my building mates' apartments access to mine at several points during the afternoon. This mean I got to start the workout around 4:00 instead of my usual 6:30. It's amazing how much harder I can push myself when I'm not mentally exhausted from a day at the office.
I'm not able to compare myself much to the crew in the video at this point because I am so intently focused on my own workout that I barely watch the TV, except to see which moves are coming and make sure I am doing them right. I don't remember if it is in this workout or one of the other Max workouts, but Shaun even says at one point "don't try to follow us. just do what you can do". Sure, he's talking about not trying o emulate their pace, but I'd have to be watching them to even attempt to do so. I have caught the "go at your own pace" warning flashing on the screen a few times.
I had an easier time with the combo moves this time. By easier, I mean I felt coordinated enough to do them. I seem to have trouble when moves require part of my body to go one direction and another part to go the opposite. For example, the S-S jump rope move in the warm-up when I'm supposed to be moving my legs side to side and my arms in an s-pattern going the opposite direction. I actually have to think about what I'm doing to get it totally right. I think I figured it out tonight, though. It works if I keep my hands more in front of me going the way they are supposed to go, without moving them as far to the side as I had been trying.
It seems as though the two days of less stress on my shoulders sufficed. Today the shoulder intensive exercises were merely difficult, not next to impossible. I notice I have more trouble with the ones that require a push-up like press toward the ground. The ones where I'm required to hold a plank pose are much easier. When I got to the ski abs/push-up jack/in & out abs/oblique push-ups segment, I was able to do close to all of the ski abs and in & out abs, but had to do slightly fewer of the push-up jacks & oblique push-ups.
I think over the course of the next few weeks I will make great progress with this workout (assuming no extraneous ankle or other injuries). I already did better with it than the first time (knowing the moves before they were introduced certainly helped). Maybe by the end of next week, I'll be able to watch the crew a little more to see how I measure up.
It's been 40 days and 40 nights ...
I had to come home early from work today to give a plumber doing work in one of my building mates' apartments access to mine at several points during the afternoon. This mean I got to start the workout around 4:00 instead of my usual 6:30. It's amazing how much harder I can push myself when I'm not mentally exhausted from a day at the office.
I'm not able to compare myself much to the crew in the video at this point because I am so intently focused on my own workout that I barely watch the TV, except to see which moves are coming and make sure I am doing them right. I don't remember if it is in this workout or one of the other Max workouts, but Shaun even says at one point "don't try to follow us. just do what you can do". Sure, he's talking about not trying o emulate their pace, but I'd have to be watching them to even attempt to do so. I have caught the "go at your own pace" warning flashing on the screen a few times.
I had an easier time with the combo moves this time. By easier, I mean I felt coordinated enough to do them. I seem to have trouble when moves require part of my body to go one direction and another part to go the opposite. For example, the S-S jump rope move in the warm-up when I'm supposed to be moving my legs side to side and my arms in an s-pattern going the opposite direction. I actually have to think about what I'm doing to get it totally right. I think I figured it out tonight, though. It works if I keep my hands more in front of me going the way they are supposed to go, without moving them as far to the side as I had been trying.
It seems as though the two days of less stress on my shoulders sufficed. Today the shoulder intensive exercises were merely difficult, not next to impossible. I notice I have more trouble with the ones that require a push-up like press toward the ground. The ones where I'm required to hold a plank pose are much easier. When I got to the ski abs/push-up jack/in & out abs/oblique push-ups segment, I was able to do close to all of the ski abs and in & out abs, but had to do slightly fewer of the push-up jacks & oblique push-ups.
I think over the course of the next few weeks I will make great progress with this workout (assuming no extraneous ankle or other injuries). I already did better with it than the first time (knowing the moves before they were introduced certainly helped). Maybe by the end of next week, I'll be able to watch the crew a little more to see how I measure up.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Day 39
DVD - Cardio Recovery
I would love to tell you about the Max Recovery workout I was supposed to do this evening, but I was unable to do it. I will continue to be unable to do it, because the DVD it is on is defective. Max Recovery is supposed to be the 2nd chapter on the DVD with Cardio Recovery - but the workout won't play. It seems like it is about to start, and then just goes back to the top menu. This is the 3nd DVD this happened to. The first time it was the Cardio Abs workout that wouldn't play after Cardio Power & Resistance. I previewed the remaining two bonus DVDs (ones that can be subbed for the workouts in month 2) and they are jacked, too. They play, but they jump all over the place, from 12 minutes left to 49 minutes left to 16 minutes left to 32 minutes left. They have no starting warm-up because when you start, you're already 15 minutes into the workout, then you go back to 7 minutes, then to 28.
I now realize the copy of the workout I purchased is a pirated copy from China. I just assumed it was being sold cheaper by a wholesaler or by someone who'd bought a bunch of them in bulk. I've seen a few others complain about the DVDs not working, or being scrambled, and these folks also bought them cheaper and not from BeachBody directly. If and when I purchase more Beach Body workouts, I'm going to bite the bullet and order the full cost version from them.
Since I couldn't do Max Recovery, I just did Cardio Recovery again. I don't know what I'm missing between the two, but Max Recovery was supposed to be for 50 minutes and Cardio Recovery is 35. From now on, I'm going to add Cardio Abs to Cardio Recovery so I get the same number of minutes from a low intensity workout I was to get with Max Recovery.
I would love to tell you about the Max Recovery workout I was supposed to do this evening, but I was unable to do it. I will continue to be unable to do it, because the DVD it is on is defective. Max Recovery is supposed to be the 2nd chapter on the DVD with Cardio Recovery - but the workout won't play. It seems like it is about to start, and then just goes back to the top menu. This is the 3nd DVD this happened to. The first time it was the Cardio Abs workout that wouldn't play after Cardio Power & Resistance. I previewed the remaining two bonus DVDs (ones that can be subbed for the workouts in month 2) and they are jacked, too. They play, but they jump all over the place, from 12 minutes left to 49 minutes left to 16 minutes left to 32 minutes left. They have no starting warm-up because when you start, you're already 15 minutes into the workout, then you go back to 7 minutes, then to 28.
I now realize the copy of the workout I purchased is a pirated copy from China. I just assumed it was being sold cheaper by a wholesaler or by someone who'd bought a bunch of them in bulk. I've seen a few others complain about the DVDs not working, or being scrambled, and these folks also bought them cheaper and not from BeachBody directly. If and when I purchase more Beach Body workouts, I'm going to bite the bullet and order the full cost version from them.
Since I couldn't do Max Recovery, I just did Cardio Recovery again. I don't know what I'm missing between the two, but Max Recovery was supposed to be for 50 minutes and Cardio Recovery is 35. From now on, I'm going to add Cardio Abs to Cardio Recovery so I get the same number of minutes from a low intensity workout I was to get with Max Recovery.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Day 38
DVD - Max Cardio Conditioning
This DVD is shorter than the other Max workouts, coming in at just over 49 minutes.
The warm-up on this DVD starts the same as the other two Max workouts, but the final round is different. It is more like the warm-ups from the non-Max workouts, but was missing a couple. The final set consists of Spring, traditional Jumping Jacks, Heismans, 1-2-3 Heismans & high knees. You're still doing 30 seconds of these, but somehow I felt like it was shorter than 30 seconds.
Once again, the warm-up is followed by the stretch section. At the end of the stretch there is a water break - more like a pre-watering, in my opinion. After that, the cardio conditioning begins, and you've got about 35 minutes until the workout will be over.
As with the Pure Cardio workout, there are no intervals here. Instead, you get a series of exercises, each performed for a minute, without breaks in between. If you need a break, you take a break. Shaun tells you to go at your own pace, and if it is your first time, to not try to match his or his crew's pace. Eventually, you'll get there. There are 21 exercises in the main part of this workout, but a few require you to do a minute on both sides because the move is executed to the side (like Power Knees). Some of the moves were new, some were not.
To change things up a bit, I 'm going to list these exercises rather than put them into a paragraph. If there is no description, it means it is described in another post on this blog. I will describe the new moves in parentheses as always.
* High Low Jab with Squat
* Football Runs (football sprints until Shaun says "hit it" then you jump down into a plank and wait for him to say "up" and get up and repeat)
* 8 Ball Shots with Squat (the basketball move for 8 reps followed by 4 hop squats as you spin 180 degrees)
* Right and Left Kicks (kick at cardio pace on each side for 1 minute each)
* Diamond Jumps
* In-Out Push Up Jacks (4 in-outs/4 push-up jacks)
* Suicide Jumps
* High Knee/Low/Floor Sprints (8 high knees/8 sprints/8 floor sprints)
* Ski Abs
* Kick Step Back (stand, do a kick forward, bring leg down, step back with the other leg and bend over to touch the floor - repeat for 1 minute on each side)
* Squat Twists
* Over the River Hops (hop to the side, land on one foot, bring the other foot back behind your standing leg, arms come up as you hop and come down as you move the raised leg - repeat going the other way)
* Attack (squat, do 2 palm heel strikes to the side, jump up into a 180 turn, land in a squat and do 2 palm heel strikes with the other hand)
* Power Knees
* Ski Down Hooks (like the other ski moves but you add a hook punch)
* Belt Kicks
* Forward Back Suicides (a cross between suicides and frog jumps)
* Push Up Abs (start in plank position, push down half way while bringing one leg up so the knee meets your elbow, repeat alternating sides)
* Plank Punches
* 8 Jump Ropes/8 Hop Squats
* Squat Speed Bag (exactly what it sounds like)
You may have noticed that very few of the above exercises focus on the shoulder area. Thankyoujesus! There were still more than I hoped (I was aiming for 0 push-up like moves). I am so grateful for Max Recovery tomorrow. I haven't previewed the DVD or anything of the sort. I'm assuming it's just going to be a longer (55 minute) version of Cardio Recovery. But that means no shoulder stress, and I really need that break so I can get deeper into the other two Max workouts I cycle back to on Friday and Saturday.
Partway through the above series of exercises, Shaun gave us 3 "recovery moves": Kick Step Back, Squat Twists and Over the River Hops. The recovery moves are all much slower: they keep you moving, but they give your heart and muscles a break.
This DVD is shorter than the other Max workouts, coming in at just over 49 minutes.
The warm-up on this DVD starts the same as the other two Max workouts, but the final round is different. It is more like the warm-ups from the non-Max workouts, but was missing a couple. The final set consists of Spring, traditional Jumping Jacks, Heismans, 1-2-3 Heismans & high knees. You're still doing 30 seconds of these, but somehow I felt like it was shorter than 30 seconds.
Once again, the warm-up is followed by the stretch section. At the end of the stretch there is a water break - more like a pre-watering, in my opinion. After that, the cardio conditioning begins, and you've got about 35 minutes until the workout will be over.
As with the Pure Cardio workout, there are no intervals here. Instead, you get a series of exercises, each performed for a minute, without breaks in between. If you need a break, you take a break. Shaun tells you to go at your own pace, and if it is your first time, to not try to match his or his crew's pace. Eventually, you'll get there. There are 21 exercises in the main part of this workout, but a few require you to do a minute on both sides because the move is executed to the side (like Power Knees). Some of the moves were new, some were not.
To change things up a bit, I 'm going to list these exercises rather than put them into a paragraph. If there is no description, it means it is described in another post on this blog. I will describe the new moves in parentheses as always.
* High Low Jab with Squat
* Football Runs (football sprints until Shaun says "hit it" then you jump down into a plank and wait for him to say "up" and get up and repeat)
* 8 Ball Shots with Squat (the basketball move for 8 reps followed by 4 hop squats as you spin 180 degrees)
* Right and Left Kicks (kick at cardio pace on each side for 1 minute each)
* Diamond Jumps
* In-Out Push Up Jacks (4 in-outs/4 push-up jacks)
* Suicide Jumps
* High Knee/Low/Floor Sprints (8 high knees/8 sprints/8 floor sprints)
* Ski Abs
* Kick Step Back (stand, do a kick forward, bring leg down, step back with the other leg and bend over to touch the floor - repeat for 1 minute on each side)
* Squat Twists
* Over the River Hops (hop to the side, land on one foot, bring the other foot back behind your standing leg, arms come up as you hop and come down as you move the raised leg - repeat going the other way)
* Attack (squat, do 2 palm heel strikes to the side, jump up into a 180 turn, land in a squat and do 2 palm heel strikes with the other hand)
* Power Knees
* Ski Down Hooks (like the other ski moves but you add a hook punch)
* Belt Kicks
* Forward Back Suicides (a cross between suicides and frog jumps)
* Push Up Abs (start in plank position, push down half way while bringing one leg up so the knee meets your elbow, repeat alternating sides)
* Plank Punches
* 8 Jump Ropes/8 Hop Squats
* Squat Speed Bag (exactly what it sounds like)
You may have noticed that very few of the above exercises focus on the shoulder area. Thankyoujesus! There were still more than I hoped (I was aiming for 0 push-up like moves). I am so grateful for Max Recovery tomorrow. I haven't previewed the DVD or anything of the sort. I'm assuming it's just going to be a longer (55 minute) version of Cardio Recovery. But that means no shoulder stress, and I really need that break so I can get deeper into the other two Max workouts I cycle back to on Friday and Saturday.
Partway through the above series of exercises, Shaun gave us 3 "recovery moves": Kick Step Back, Squat Twists and Over the River Hops. The recovery moves are all much slower: they keep you moving, but they give your heart and muscles a break.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Day 37
DVD - Max Interval Plyo
The brochure said my legs would be begging for mercy.
It lied!
It's my shoulders that are begging. Please have mercy upon us. Please!!
Seriously, my shoulders need a break.
The warm-up is the same as Max Interval Circuit.
When the warm-up and stretch are completed, you've got 39 minutes of the workout to go. Noting the time, I knew there would be only 2 interval circuits in this workout. There just wouldn't be time for 3. Still, the workout was too long for just 2 interval circuits, so I wasn't sure what would make up the rest of the time. I would have to wait until the end of the 2nd interval set to find out.
As with Max Interval Circuit, the first interval set consisted of 4 exercises, each performed for 45 seconds per circuit, repeating the circuit 3 times. All but one of the moves were knew to me. First came Switch Jumps (start in a squat, jump up and spin 180 degrees, land in a squat, repeat) followed by Squat Push-ups (start in a squat, fall forward and execute a push-up from that position, push back up and repeat). Then came Wide In-Out Abs (start in a squat with your palms on the floor, jump back to a wide-legged plank, then jump back to the starting position and repeat). This circuit was rounded out with Power Jumps, one of the Fit Test moves.
At the end of this set, instead of a break we got 1 minute of a different exercise, One-Legged V Push Ups (start in a V position with your palms on the floor and fingers facing in toward each other, lift one leg off the floor and do a push-up in this position - repeat for 30 seconds per side). Ok, the last segment was hell on my pecks, deltoids and biceps. But this ... what's worse than hell? Should I start considering this in terms of Dante's levels?
The second interval set was complicated. Some of these moves just can't be done fast - well, except maybe by one freak machine guy in the videos, who, eventually, was standing up pounding on his heart unable to do anymore. These moves are serious plyo. The first was called Pogo (start on one foot with the other leg bent, bend forward and touch the floor extending the raised leg backward, then raise up and hop on one leg, bringing the raised leg up so that your knee goes above your waist) and no one did it fast. Power push-ups came next (start bent over at the waist with your hands on the floor, fall forward into push-up position and do a push-up, then pop back up into the starting position) - I had to be super careful, here. The move was hard and all of the muscles in my shoulders are so taxed that I was worried I wouldn't be able to hold myself up and might fall to far and bash my face into the floor.
After that came a move that seemed like a slice of heaven after the last move, Globe Twists (start in a squat, pop up, land on both feet at the same time, squat down with one hand on either side of one knee, then pop up and do the same on the other side) - easier than the Globe Jumps in the fit test. And as if all the other shoulder burning moves hadn't been enough, Shaun rounded this circuit out with Level 3 drill (drop into push-up position, do reps of push-ups, then do a count of floor sprints, hop up and repeat).
With Level 1 drills from the first month you do 4 push-ups followed by a 4 count of floor sprints. Level 2 drills were 8 and 8. You'd think Level 3 would be 12 and 12 since 12 is 3X4, but you'd be wrong. According to Shaun's math, 3X4=16. This part of the circuit is completed in 2 reps, so you do 32 of each. Now multiply that 32 by 3 intervals. 90fucking6 motherfucking push-ups. I did slightly more than half of each interval because FUCK, my shoulders couldn't take any more. I don't know what I'm going to do if the workout I get tomorrow is shoulder-intensive. Anybody want to send me some morphine?
As with the first interval set, there is a break between the 1st and 2nd completion of the circuit as well as between the 2nd and 3rd, but no break after the 3rd. Instead you do 1 minute of a combination of Power Lunges and Hop Squats (4 each before repeating). My shoulders appreciated the rest.
But they weren't able to rest for long.
At this point, the "what do I get instead of a 3rd interval set" question was answered. The answer was 4 more exercises, each one executed discretely and for a minute each. Each one requiring a lot of strength - and of course, 2 of the 4 were shoulder intensive. Side Push-ups (Sort of a contorted push-up, it's hard to describe if you can't see a body do it, but the weight isn't exactly balanced so it taxes one shoulder more than the other so that you do 30 seconds on each side). Kickstand Touch the Floor (sort of like Pogo, but when you touch the floor with your hand, the toes of the "raised" leg should be on the floor so it looks like a lunge). The 2nd to last exercise was another combo, 8 Power Knees/4 Diamond Jumps (the Power Knees are the same as the Fit Test. Diamond jumps are sort of like Power Jumps, but you bring your feet together in the jump so your legs make the shape of a diamond). The final move before the cool-down stretch was Balance Push-ups (do a push-up, but when you come up raise one arm in front of you and the leg on the same side, repeat)
After all of the push-up moves, I don't know if I'm going to be able to lift anything tomorrow. I'm worried I won't even be able to lift my arms above my head to put a shirt on, and I don't own any with buttons.
The brochure said my legs would be begging for mercy.
It lied!
It's my shoulders that are begging. Please have mercy upon us. Please!!
Seriously, my shoulders need a break.
The warm-up is the same as Max Interval Circuit.
When the warm-up and stretch are completed, you've got 39 minutes of the workout to go. Noting the time, I knew there would be only 2 interval circuits in this workout. There just wouldn't be time for 3. Still, the workout was too long for just 2 interval circuits, so I wasn't sure what would make up the rest of the time. I would have to wait until the end of the 2nd interval set to find out.
As with Max Interval Circuit, the first interval set consisted of 4 exercises, each performed for 45 seconds per circuit, repeating the circuit 3 times. All but one of the moves were knew to me. First came Switch Jumps (start in a squat, jump up and spin 180 degrees, land in a squat, repeat) followed by Squat Push-ups (start in a squat, fall forward and execute a push-up from that position, push back up and repeat). Then came Wide In-Out Abs (start in a squat with your palms on the floor, jump back to a wide-legged plank, then jump back to the starting position and repeat). This circuit was rounded out with Power Jumps, one of the Fit Test moves.
At the end of this set, instead of a break we got 1 minute of a different exercise, One-Legged V Push Ups (start in a V position with your palms on the floor and fingers facing in toward each other, lift one leg off the floor and do a push-up in this position - repeat for 30 seconds per side). Ok, the last segment was hell on my pecks, deltoids and biceps. But this ... what's worse than hell? Should I start considering this in terms of Dante's levels?
The second interval set was complicated. Some of these moves just can't be done fast - well, except maybe by one freak machine guy in the videos, who, eventually, was standing up pounding on his heart unable to do anymore. These moves are serious plyo. The first was called Pogo (start on one foot with the other leg bent, bend forward and touch the floor extending the raised leg backward, then raise up and hop on one leg, bringing the raised leg up so that your knee goes above your waist) and no one did it fast. Power push-ups came next (start bent over at the waist with your hands on the floor, fall forward into push-up position and do a push-up, then pop back up into the starting position) - I had to be super careful, here. The move was hard and all of the muscles in my shoulders are so taxed that I was worried I wouldn't be able to hold myself up and might fall to far and bash my face into the floor.
After that came a move that seemed like a slice of heaven after the last move, Globe Twists (start in a squat, pop up, land on both feet at the same time, squat down with one hand on either side of one knee, then pop up and do the same on the other side) - easier than the Globe Jumps in the fit test. And as if all the other shoulder burning moves hadn't been enough, Shaun rounded this circuit out with Level 3 drill (drop into push-up position, do reps of push-ups, then do a count of floor sprints, hop up and repeat).
With Level 1 drills from the first month you do 4 push-ups followed by a 4 count of floor sprints. Level 2 drills were 8 and 8. You'd think Level 3 would be 12 and 12 since 12 is 3X4, but you'd be wrong. According to Shaun's math, 3X4=16. This part of the circuit is completed in 2 reps, so you do 32 of each. Now multiply that 32 by 3 intervals. 90fucking6 motherfucking push-ups. I did slightly more than half of each interval because FUCK, my shoulders couldn't take any more. I don't know what I'm going to do if the workout I get tomorrow is shoulder-intensive. Anybody want to send me some morphine?
As with the first interval set, there is a break between the 1st and 2nd completion of the circuit as well as between the 2nd and 3rd, but no break after the 3rd. Instead you do 1 minute of a combination of Power Lunges and Hop Squats (4 each before repeating). My shoulders appreciated the rest.
But they weren't able to rest for long.
At this point, the "what do I get instead of a 3rd interval set" question was answered. The answer was 4 more exercises, each one executed discretely and for a minute each. Each one requiring a lot of strength - and of course, 2 of the 4 were shoulder intensive. Side Push-ups (Sort of a contorted push-up, it's hard to describe if you can't see a body do it, but the weight isn't exactly balanced so it taxes one shoulder more than the other so that you do 30 seconds on each side). Kickstand Touch the Floor (sort of like Pogo, but when you touch the floor with your hand, the toes of the "raised" leg should be on the floor so it looks like a lunge). The 2nd to last exercise was another combo, 8 Power Knees/4 Diamond Jumps (the Power Knees are the same as the Fit Test. Diamond jumps are sort of like Power Jumps, but you bring your feet together in the jump so your legs make the shape of a diamond). The final move before the cool-down stretch was Balance Push-ups (do a push-up, but when you come up raise one arm in front of you and the leg on the same side, repeat)
After all of the push-up moves, I don't know if I'm going to be able to lift anything tomorrow. I'm worried I won't even be able to lift my arms above my head to put a shirt on, and I don't own any with buttons.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Day 36 - Crazy like a fox
DVD - Max Interval Circuit
So now I know what they meant by "the interval circuits get even harder".
In my Days 33 & 34 post I asked:
The answer is all three. The moves are harder and in many cases you are required to do two and up to four different moves in a single part of the circuit. Instead of 30 seconds for each part, it's 45, so that the interval increases from 2 minutes to 3. And there are now 3 interval segments instead of 2.
The warm-up is different, as I mentioned last night. Jog (sprint during the final section); Arms-Up Jumping jacks (instead of starting with your arms out to your sides and bringing them together over your head, you hold wrists just above your shoulders with elbows in and push your arms straight up, sort of like a military press); Side rope jumps (remember Rocky's jump-rope training? you simulate part of it here, jumping side to side and moving your arms like you are holding the handles of the jump rope together and swiping the rope to the side of you rather than jumping over it); 123-Heismanns; High Knees (but with your arms out at your sides like they would be before starting a traditional jumping jack); Switch Kicks; Hit the Floor; & S-S Floor Hops (start in plank position, keep palms on floor and hop back and forth with your legs behind you).
The stretch section was pretty much the same as all of the rest of the DVDs, but maybe a little shorter.
When the warm-up and stretch were over, I looked at the workout counter displayed on the TV: 45+ minutes to go. 45!!!?!?! All of the other DVDs are 20-21 minutes after the warm-up and stretch. So basically, the intense part of the workout just doubled.
The first interval circuit was tough on my shoulder area. I was able to do the singular moves from start to finish, but the combo moves were so hard on my pecs and deltoids that I think I maybe did half. I did well with Pedal Lunges (these are in one of the first month workouts; basically you sprint in place, followed by 4 deep lunges. Repeat for 45 seconds. Then a seriously hard combo series for 45 seconds where you do 4 each of Ski Abs, Push-up Jacks, In & Out Abs and Oblique Push-ups (like the high plank oblique move from Cardio Recovery, but you add in a push-up with your arms). HELL on my shoulders. Then came Power Strike (where you lunge on the left side, 2 punches downward, lunge right side, 2 punches downward. Repeat). You round out this interval with Frog Jumps.
Between each round you get the usual 30 second water break, with the exception of the 3rd round, after which you go straight into a minute-long Football Runs/Cross Jacks (football shuffle but you spin on a 4 count, then back the other way on a 4 count and finally execute 4 Cross Jacks).
The 2nd circuit consists of: Hook Jumps (4 hook punches high, 4 hook punches low, 4 high jumps with simulate jump rope arms, switch sides and repeat). High Knees with Twist. (As you run with High Knees you hold your arms in front of you with fists above chin height and rotate your upper body side to side while you do High Knees);
High-Low Jab with Squat (jump high and punch on a diagonal, then back to a squat and punch to the side as you land)to the side, punch as low as you can in a squat); and finally Floor Switch Kicks (switch kicks done with your body in the position you need for Tricep dips).
The 2nd interval is followed by 1 minute of 1-2-3 Jab Across (Side jumps with a punch to each side).
This 3rd and final interval set consists of: Side Suicide Jumps (instead of putting your hands in front of you and jumping into plank with your feet, you jump to the left side then stand up and jump to the right); Squat Hooks (like Power Jacks but instead of your arms going up when you jump, you punch across your body as you squat); then the tough Full Body Drill (start standing up, drop to the plank position, run in place 8 times, do 4 Moving Push-Ups, then 8 counts of wide-knee running in place).
Max Interval Circuit is capped off with Plank Punches, 1 minute of holding yourself in plank position on the floor and alternating your arms punching forward, so that your fists punch higher than your forehead.
If that seems like a lot, that's because it was. I did well with the exercises requiring a single repetitive move, and was able to get through each interval of most of these. The combo moves were harder, both in terms of the moves and executing the transitions between the moves.
So how do I feel? My deltoids and pecs are sore. I was still feeling the 6 days of shoulder-burners from Core Cardio & Balance before I started Max Interval Circuit. That so many of the exercises in this Max workout involved some sort of push-up or plank position move just exacerbated the issue. My hamstrings are sore, particularly above the knee, but no where near as much as my deltoids and pecs. My upper back is a little sore, as are my knees. Not wanting to be left out after Core Cardio & Balance, I can also feel it in my hip flexors. We'll see if I'm still sore tomorrow. I'm thinking it might be a day that stats with Ibuprofen.
The workout as incredibly intense, but not quite as intense as I was imagining in the cardio department. IMHO, some of these moves have a terminal velocity: no matter how fit you are, you just can't do as many as fast because of the complexity of the move or the effort required. Your heart rate still gets way up, but because you are using more power, not more speed. It seems to me that these moves raised my heart rate steadily, as opposed to shooting it way up really fast all at once.
So now I know what they meant by "the interval circuits get even harder".
In my Days 33 & 34 post I asked:
Even harder? What does that mean? The moves are harder? The interval circuits are longer? There are more interval circuits? I guess I'll find out on Monday.
The answer is all three. The moves are harder and in many cases you are required to do two and up to four different moves in a single part of the circuit. Instead of 30 seconds for each part, it's 45, so that the interval increases from 2 minutes to 3. And there are now 3 interval segments instead of 2.
The warm-up is different, as I mentioned last night. Jog (sprint during the final section); Arms-Up Jumping jacks (instead of starting with your arms out to your sides and bringing them together over your head, you hold wrists just above your shoulders with elbows in and push your arms straight up, sort of like a military press); Side rope jumps (remember Rocky's jump-rope training? you simulate part of it here, jumping side to side and moving your arms like you are holding the handles of the jump rope together and swiping the rope to the side of you rather than jumping over it); 123-Heismanns; High Knees (but with your arms out at your sides like they would be before starting a traditional jumping jack); Switch Kicks; Hit the Floor; & S-S Floor Hops (start in plank position, keep palms on floor and hop back and forth with your legs behind you).
The stretch section was pretty much the same as all of the rest of the DVDs, but maybe a little shorter.
When the warm-up and stretch were over, I looked at the workout counter displayed on the TV: 45+ minutes to go. 45!!!?!?! All of the other DVDs are 20-21 minutes after the warm-up and stretch. So basically, the intense part of the workout just doubled.
The first interval circuit was tough on my shoulder area. I was able to do the singular moves from start to finish, but the combo moves were so hard on my pecs and deltoids that I think I maybe did half. I did well with Pedal Lunges (these are in one of the first month workouts; basically you sprint in place, followed by 4 deep lunges. Repeat for 45 seconds. Then a seriously hard combo series for 45 seconds where you do 4 each of Ski Abs, Push-up Jacks, In & Out Abs and Oblique Push-ups (like the high plank oblique move from Cardio Recovery, but you add in a push-up with your arms). HELL on my shoulders. Then came Power Strike (where you lunge on the left side, 2 punches downward, lunge right side, 2 punches downward. Repeat). You round out this interval with Frog Jumps.
Between each round you get the usual 30 second water break, with the exception of the 3rd round, after which you go straight into a minute-long Football Runs/Cross Jacks (football shuffle but you spin on a 4 count, then back the other way on a 4 count and finally execute 4 Cross Jacks).
The 2nd circuit consists of: Hook Jumps (4 hook punches high, 4 hook punches low, 4 high jumps with simulate jump rope arms, switch sides and repeat). High Knees with Twist. (As you run with High Knees you hold your arms in front of you with fists above chin height and rotate your upper body side to side while you do High Knees);
High-Low Jab with Squat (jump high and punch on a diagonal, then back to a squat and punch to the side as you land)to the side, punch as low as you can in a squat); and finally Floor Switch Kicks (switch kicks done with your body in the position you need for Tricep dips).
The 2nd interval is followed by 1 minute of 1-2-3 Jab Across (Side jumps with a punch to each side).
This 3rd and final interval set consists of: Side Suicide Jumps (instead of putting your hands in front of you and jumping into plank with your feet, you jump to the left side then stand up and jump to the right); Squat Hooks (like Power Jacks but instead of your arms going up when you jump, you punch across your body as you squat); then the tough Full Body Drill (start standing up, drop to the plank position, run in place 8 times, do 4 Moving Push-Ups, then 8 counts of wide-knee running in place).
Max Interval Circuit is capped off with Plank Punches, 1 minute of holding yourself in plank position on the floor and alternating your arms punching forward, so that your fists punch higher than your forehead.
If that seems like a lot, that's because it was. I did well with the exercises requiring a single repetitive move, and was able to get through each interval of most of these. The combo moves were harder, both in terms of the moves and executing the transitions between the moves.
So how do I feel? My deltoids and pecs are sore. I was still feeling the 6 days of shoulder-burners from Core Cardio & Balance before I started Max Interval Circuit. That so many of the exercises in this Max workout involved some sort of push-up or plank position move just exacerbated the issue. My hamstrings are sore, particularly above the knee, but no where near as much as my deltoids and pecs. My upper back is a little sore, as are my knees. Not wanting to be left out after Core Cardio & Balance, I can also feel it in my hip flexors. We'll see if I'm still sore tomorrow. I'm thinking it might be a day that stats with Ibuprofen.
The workout as incredibly intense, but not quite as intense as I was imagining in the cardio department. IMHO, some of these moves have a terminal velocity: no matter how fit you are, you just can't do as many as fast because of the complexity of the move or the effort required. Your heart rate still gets way up, but because you are using more power, not more speed. It seems to me that these moves raised my heart rate steadily, as opposed to shooting it way up really fast all at once.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Day 35 - Fit Test #3
DVD - Fit Test
+ 3.5 miles of walking
1st Fit Test Results
Fit Test # 2 Results
These are my latest results, showing how many more reps I've managed to gain since Fit Test # 2:
Switch Kicks 69 (+ 3)
Power Jacks 63 (+ 1)
Power Knees 119 (+ 3)
Power Jumps 44 (+ 6)
Globe Jumps 9 (+ 2)
Suicide Jumps 20 (+ 2)
Push-up Jacks 26 (+ 3)
Low Plank Oblique 60 (+ 10)
My improvement since the beginning
Switch Kicks (because of the counting and math snafu, I'm not including this figure)
Power Jacks (+ 8)
Power Knees (+ 18)
Power Jumps (+ 12)
Globe Jumps (+ 4)
Suicide Jumps (+ 4)
Push-Up Jacks (+ 6)
Low Plank Oblique (+ 14)
So I improved in every category, in some more than others. Interestingly, with Power Jumps, Globe Jumps, Suicide Jumps and Push-up Jacks I have improved by the same number of reps between each of the Fit Tests.
I think I may have pretty much topped out on the number of Power Knees I'm going to be able to do. I improved by +15 from the 1st Fit Test to the 2nd, but only by +3 between the 2nd and 3rd. I feel like my leg is moving at jack-hammer speed already, I don't know that I can make it go much faster. I assume there will be a little bit of improvement over the course of the next 4 weeks, but I doubt there will be another +15.
There was a pretty big advancement in my Low Plank Oblique this time. I improved by +4 from the 1st Fit Test to the 2nd, but by +10 from the 2nd to the 3rd. And that was with stopping twice to wipe down my forearms, which were sweating so much that my arms were sliding on the floor in the low plank position
Tomorrow the really Insane workouts begin. I previewed the warm-up of the first workout, Max Interval Cardio, and I now know that it is indeed almost a full 60 minutes (it comes in at 59:40). The warm-up has gotten rid of some of the moves that can be done at really fast pace (Heismanns, Butt Kicks, Mummy Kicks) and replaced them with moves that fall more into the realm of Plyo. So I know the warm-up will be harder. I stopped it without watching the rest. I'm worried, but I'm also looking forward to the challenge.
+ 3.5 miles of walking
1st Fit Test Results
Fit Test # 2 Results
These are my latest results, showing how many more reps I've managed to gain since Fit Test # 2:
Switch Kicks 69 (+ 3)
Power Jacks 63 (+ 1)
Power Knees 119 (+ 3)
Power Jumps 44 (+ 6)
Globe Jumps 9 (+ 2)
Suicide Jumps 20 (+ 2)
Push-up Jacks 26 (+ 3)
Low Plank Oblique 60 (+ 10)
My improvement since the beginning
Switch Kicks (because of the counting and math snafu, I'm not including this figure)
Power Jacks (+ 8)
Power Knees (+ 18)
Power Jumps (+ 12)
Globe Jumps (+ 4)
Suicide Jumps (+ 4)
Push-Up Jacks (+ 6)
Low Plank Oblique (+ 14)
So I improved in every category, in some more than others. Interestingly, with Power Jumps, Globe Jumps, Suicide Jumps and Push-up Jacks I have improved by the same number of reps between each of the Fit Tests.
I think I may have pretty much topped out on the number of Power Knees I'm going to be able to do. I improved by +15 from the 1st Fit Test to the 2nd, but only by +3 between the 2nd and 3rd. I feel like my leg is moving at jack-hammer speed already, I don't know that I can make it go much faster. I assume there will be a little bit of improvement over the course of the next 4 weeks, but I doubt there will be another +15.
There was a pretty big advancement in my Low Plank Oblique this time. I improved by +4 from the 1st Fit Test to the 2nd, but by +10 from the 2nd to the 3rd. And that was with stopping twice to wipe down my forearms, which were sweating so much that my arms were sliding on the floor in the low plank position
Tomorrow the really Insane workouts begin. I previewed the warm-up of the first workout, Max Interval Cardio, and I now know that it is indeed almost a full 60 minutes (it comes in at 59:40). The warm-up has gotten rid of some of the moves that can be done at really fast pace (Heismanns, Butt Kicks, Mummy Kicks) and replaced them with moves that fall more into the realm of Plyo. So I know the warm-up will be harder. I stopped it without watching the rest. I'm worried, but I'm also looking forward to the challenge.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Days 33 & 34
DVD - Core Cardio & Balance (both days)
+ 3.5 miles of walking (Saturday only)
Well, that is pretty much it for the Recovery Week. Next week begins the final, super intense phase. I have to admit I'm a little scared about what's to come. I've already pushed myself harder than I thought I could, and the next set of workouts is going to ask me to push myself even harder, to dig deeper into my willpower and fight my way through my body's desire to quit.
This isn't the last I'll see of Core Cardio & Balance, though. It gets worked into the rotation a couple of times during the last 4 weeks.
I'm supposed to do the Fit Test again on Monday immediately before I do the first of the Max workouts, Max Interval Circuit. This DVD is "approx. 60 min" which probably means that it is closer to 55 minutes. But 55 minutes is 14 minutes longer than any of the other workouts I've done (except on the combo Pure Cardio + Cardio Abs days). The insert that came with the DVD set bills this workout as "Yes, the interval circuits get even harder".
Even harder? What does that mean? The moves are harder? The interval circuits are longer? There are more interval circuits? I guess I'll find out on Monday.
But the not knowing has me not wanting to do the Fit Test right before this workout. I know from my previous two experiences with the Fit Test that even though it is only a 16 minute workout with 8 of those minutes being super, super intense. The whole point is to push yourself as hard as possible through each of the 8 exercises and do as many reps as you can. It's physically exhausting, and I want to have all my stores of strength for the Max Interval Circuit.
What all of this means is that instead of honoring the Sunday rest day tomorrow, I'm going to do the Fit Test.
I suspect this means I'll be ready to collapse next Saturday after my last of the first week of Max workouts.
+ 3.5 miles of walking (Saturday only)
Well, that is pretty much it for the Recovery Week. Next week begins the final, super intense phase. I have to admit I'm a little scared about what's to come. I've already pushed myself harder than I thought I could, and the next set of workouts is going to ask me to push myself even harder, to dig deeper into my willpower and fight my way through my body's desire to quit.
This isn't the last I'll see of Core Cardio & Balance, though. It gets worked into the rotation a couple of times during the last 4 weeks.
I'm supposed to do the Fit Test again on Monday immediately before I do the first of the Max workouts, Max Interval Circuit. This DVD is "approx. 60 min" which probably means that it is closer to 55 minutes. But 55 minutes is 14 minutes longer than any of the other workouts I've done (except on the combo Pure Cardio + Cardio Abs days). The insert that came with the DVD set bills this workout as "Yes, the interval circuits get even harder".
Even harder? What does that mean? The moves are harder? The interval circuits are longer? There are more interval circuits? I guess I'll find out on Monday.
But the not knowing has me not wanting to do the Fit Test right before this workout. I know from my previous two experiences with the Fit Test that even though it is only a 16 minute workout with 8 of those minutes being super, super intense. The whole point is to push yourself as hard as possible through each of the 8 exercises and do as many reps as you can. It's physically exhausting, and I want to have all my stores of strength for the Max Interval Circuit.
What all of this means is that instead of honoring the Sunday rest day tomorrow, I'm going to do the Fit Test.
I suspect this means I'll be ready to collapse next Saturday after my last of the first week of Max workouts.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Day 32
DVD - Core Cardio and Balance
I should note that somewhere between last night and tonight I hit the half-way point in my quest to complete the 9 week Insanity program.
Woohoo!
The hip flexor segment continues to get me. I can get all the way through the knee lifts, but struggle with the pulses and the raised leg extensions. By the end, it almost feels like my hip flexor has locked into place and I actually have to press in on it with my hand as I lower my leg because it is so tight. And afterward, I bang against the hip flexor with my closed fist to unlock the muscle. Don't worry, this isn't some weird masochistic thing - everyone in Shaun's crew does the same.
I should note that somewhere between last night and tonight I hit the half-way point in my quest to complete the 9 week Insanity program.
Woohoo!
The hip flexor segment continues to get me. I can get all the way through the knee lifts, but struggle with the pulses and the raised leg extensions. By the end, it almost feels like my hip flexor has locked into place and I actually have to press in on it with my hand as I lower my leg because it is so tight. And afterward, I bang against the hip flexor with my closed fist to unlock the muscle. Don't worry, this isn't some weird masochistic thing - everyone in Shaun's crew does the same.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Day 31
DVD - Core Cardio and Balance
Did I mention how much the hip flexor segment hurts like a bitch?
Oh, right, I did.
I don't have much new to say about this workout at the moment, so let's talk about food.
I get smoothies in the morning sometimes for the 1st meal, and I've stopped making them with skim or almond milk to which I add protein like the food guide suggests. Instead, I've discovered something called Muscle Milk Light. You can get it at GNC, and I've also seen it at Walgreens. An 8.5 oz serving contains 100 calories, 15 g of protein, and 20% of most daily of the nutrients your body needs. If I combine skim milk and whey protein, it's 170 calories and 26 g of protein. This way, I can add more fruit to the smoothie and still come in under the 300 calorie per meal total. The biggest thing I like about Muscle Milk Light is that it comes in chocolate. Chocolate muscle milk + 1/2 banana + 4 medium strawberries + ice = very happy Nikole_P.
Walking from BART to the office this morning, I caught the whiff of red meat cooking. That is not an unusual occurance, but there are certain times of the month when the scent of red meat cooking sets off a powerful craving. For me, it's a specific craving: I crave a burger. And you know? Sometimes a girl needs her burger. So after a full month of being almost entirely good with the diet plan, I made the decision to get myself that burger. With fries. From Seller's Market (good place - if you live in SF and are ever downtown, try it). Damn fine burger. Craving successfully fulfilled. I can't tell you how thankful I am it lived up to the craving. Don't you hate it when you give into a craving and it's not as good as you hoped? Me too.
To limit the damage, I'd skipped my mid-morning and late-afternoon feedings. I figure since the workouts this week are less strenuous, it's OK if I deviate from the 5-300 calorie meal plan, as long as I try to stay at or below 1,500 calories. For dinner I had an egg white scramble with shallots and spinach, a whole grain english muffin and some melon. I'm sure I came in over 1,500 calories, but I know at least the whole day wasn't a caloric catastrophe.
Did I mention how much the hip flexor segment hurts like a bitch?
Oh, right, I did.
I don't have much new to say about this workout at the moment, so let's talk about food.
I get smoothies in the morning sometimes for the 1st meal, and I've stopped making them with skim or almond milk to which I add protein like the food guide suggests. Instead, I've discovered something called Muscle Milk Light. You can get it at GNC, and I've also seen it at Walgreens. An 8.5 oz serving contains 100 calories, 15 g of protein, and 20% of most daily of the nutrients your body needs. If I combine skim milk and whey protein, it's 170 calories and 26 g of protein. This way, I can add more fruit to the smoothie and still come in under the 300 calorie per meal total. The biggest thing I like about Muscle Milk Light is that it comes in chocolate. Chocolate muscle milk + 1/2 banana + 4 medium strawberries + ice = very happy Nikole_P. Walking from BART to the office this morning, I caught the whiff of red meat cooking. That is not an unusual occurance, but there are certain times of the month when the scent of red meat cooking sets off a powerful craving. For me, it's a specific craving: I crave a burger. And you know? Sometimes a girl needs her burger. So after a full month of being almost entirely good with the diet plan, I made the decision to get myself that burger. With fries. From Seller's Market (good place - if you live in SF and are ever downtown, try it). Damn fine burger. Craving successfully fulfilled. I can't tell you how thankful I am it lived up to the craving. Don't you hate it when you give into a craving and it's not as good as you hoped? Me too.
To limit the damage, I'd skipped my mid-morning and late-afternoon feedings. I figure since the workouts this week are less strenuous, it's OK if I deviate from the 5-300 calorie meal plan, as long as I try to stay at or below 1,500 calories. For dinner I had an egg white scramble with shallots and spinach, a whole grain english muffin and some melon. I'm sure I came in over 1,500 calories, but I know at least the whole day wasn't a caloric catastrophe.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Day 30
DVD - Core Cardio and Balance
I'm thinking of this workout as a slow burn. During the warm-up segment, I don't even break a sweat. It has been cold lately, and when I get home in the evening it is obvious there has been no heat on in my apartment all day. My workout clothes aren't exactly warming, so I've been chilled every night I've put them on during the last 4+ weeks. When I'm doing the insane cardio workouts, my body heats up during the first interval and it doesn't take long before I am dripping. The sweat literally flies off me.
With Core Cardio & Balance I make it through the warm-up, and I still feel cold. Until we start the stretch that is. Then all of the sudden I start to get warm, warmer, and warmer still. You know how when you've been outside walking in the cold at a brisk pace, when you go inside and stop moving, your body starts to feel warm until suddenly you feel like a furnace?
That's what this is like.
I do end up pretty sweaty, but for the most part not drippy sweaty. A few stray drops do fall, but mostly I just glisten. Tonight I looked down at my arms and chest and I was sparklin' like a Twilight vampire.
I'm thinking of this workout as a slow burn. During the warm-up segment, I don't even break a sweat. It has been cold lately, and when I get home in the evening it is obvious there has been no heat on in my apartment all day. My workout clothes aren't exactly warming, so I've been chilled every night I've put them on during the last 4+ weeks. When I'm doing the insane cardio workouts, my body heats up during the first interval and it doesn't take long before I am dripping. The sweat literally flies off me.
With Core Cardio & Balance I make it through the warm-up, and I still feel cold. Until we start the stretch that is. Then all of the sudden I start to get warm, warmer, and warmer still. You know how when you've been outside walking in the cold at a brisk pace, when you go inside and stop moving, your body starts to feel warm until suddenly you feel like a furnace?
That's what this is like.
I do end up pretty sweaty, but for the most part not drippy sweaty. A few stray drops do fall, but mostly I just glisten. Tonight I looked down at my arms and chest and I was sparklin' like a Twilight vampire.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Day 29
DVD - Core Cardio and Balance
This workout is a whole different kind of hard. There are no insane top-level heart rate cardio sections and no intervals. The moves start slow, though not quite as slow as Cardio Recovery. As in Pure Cardio you do each move for 30 or 60 seconds, depending on the move. The initial segment is comprised of a move that is like jumping rope without the rope, followed by mummy kicks, high knees, Heismanns, Hit the Floor and a couple of other moves similar to ones done in the other workouts. Only not as fast. More aerobic than anerobic.
In my opinion, some of the moves are harder to do when you are doing them slowly. Something about the control needed when the moves are slower and more deliberate seems to make my muscles hurt more while I'm doing the workout, if not as much later.
After the initial segment, there is a stretching section just like the intense cardio workouts. The first few moves after the stretch section are plyometic moves. Not exactly cardio, but your heart rate shoots up because of the use of your legs to launch yourself from the floor. My heart was thumping and I was dripping after a minute of jumping as high as I could from a slight bent-knee position, keeping thighs together in the air and landing again on a slight bended knee - controlled jumps, not fast at all.
There are also a number of combination moves where you do 8 reps each of two moves, repeating this for the alloted time (8 hook punches followed by 8 hop squats), or 8 reps of one move followed by a quick change move (8 jabs, do a 180 degree jump turn, 8 more jabs, repeat).
Even though I wasn't pushing myself to move as hard and fast as possible, there were moves I couldn't do for the full time allotted - same goes for the crew in the video. Overall I did pretty well. The moves that got me came toward the end.
The first set were hip flexor moves. If you are like me, you may not know what a hip flexor is. For weeks, I thought Shaun had been calling one of the regular stretch moves "Hip Flex and Stretch"> He was saying "Hip Flexor Stretch". I didn't realize there was a special name for the place circled on the picture to the right. I thought it was just generally referred to as "hip". Anyway, the hip flexor section of this workout is a series of 3 moves, each done for thirty seconds. The kicker is you are not ever supposed to stop. It isn't cardio, so you don't have to worry about your heart or ability to catch your breath. But HOLY FUCK does it hurt to do them. First, you stand on one leg and bring the other repeatedly up so your knee goes above your waist. Not exactly fast, but not slow. After 30 seconds you stop with your knee in the air, and pulse upward from that position for 30 seconds. My hip flexor was screaming part way through the first move. By the second, I had to stop for a few seconds. The final move starts with your knee still raised, and requires you to extend your leg out with your foot flexed. The people in the video could raise their lower legs to a straight line with their thighs - I got mine somewhere in between perpendicular and straight. For the time I could do it. I didn't get all the way through without stopping, and for the last 10 seconds I couldn't lift my legs much past 90 degrees.
What really, really hurt was moving my hip flexor out of this engaged position and putting my foot back down on the floor. Holy FUCK again.
The final set of moves was just as hard, but on my shoulders instead of my hip flexor. These moves are done from a plied squat position, with your arms extended out so they make a straight line with your shoulders. First you pulse the arms. Then you bring them in front of you and move them back. Then they go up over your head and back to a straight line with your shoulders, like you are flapping your wings. Then you circle backward. Then you circle forward. At some point in there, I was yelling through the burning pain in my shoulders to keep myself going (a tactic often employed by Shaun and the crew). Michelle Obama arms, here I come.
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