Now you can see some of what I was doing!
Side note - I think Shaun is adorable. That and I'm pretty sure a Tyra appearance is more proof that he's one of my people.
Pay attention to Floor Switch Kicks - these were super hard for me and I wasn't able to get them down really well until the final week of month 2.
Note Tyra also wants Michelle Obama arms (one of my goals) and wonders if she does Ball Push-ups in the White House. I sure did them in my house!
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Monday, March 8, 2010
After Insanity - Spa Day disappointment
Spa Day was a complete and utter disappointment.
The massage started, and as usual I was asked "how is the pressure". I told her she could do harder. She adjusted and it didn't feel very different. I told her she could go a lot harder. She got moderately harder and then I told her she could do it as hard as she could, that I would be able to take it.
Her hardest felt like she was rubbing me.
I haven't had a whole lot of massages in my life - under 10 - so I don't really know the etiquitte. Can you tell them you want to stop and ask for someone who has more strentgh?
At any rate, I feel like the massage was a total waste of money. Now that I've spent the money, I can't go and get myself a better massage somewhere else.
I consoled myself with a fish taco nearby while waiting for my hair appointment. I really needed a haircut 2 months ago, but I wanted to wait until after Insanity so that my hair would continue to be long enough to pull back through the program.
Anyway, I went into the salon (a new one for me, my old one is too far out of the way now that I live across the bay) with a different version of this picture of Drew Barrymore, and said I wanted the same, but for it to be a little bit longer, coming UNDER my chin:
I walked out of the salon with this, instead, and I HATE it on me:
Under normal circumstances, I would be only moderately upset by the wasted money on the massage and able to rationalize "it's only hair, it'll grow" better, but today was supposed to be my reward for putting myself through the intensive 9-week Insanity program. Instead I feel cheated, like it was more of a punishment.
I hope you'll understand why I'm not in the mood to reflect more on the last 9 weeks tonight.
The massage started, and as usual I was asked "how is the pressure". I told her she could do harder. She adjusted and it didn't feel very different. I told her she could go a lot harder. She got moderately harder and then I told her she could do it as hard as she could, that I would be able to take it.
Her hardest felt like she was rubbing me.
I haven't had a whole lot of massages in my life - under 10 - so I don't really know the etiquitte. Can you tell them you want to stop and ask for someone who has more strentgh?
At any rate, I feel like the massage was a total waste of money. Now that I've spent the money, I can't go and get myself a better massage somewhere else.
I consoled myself with a fish taco nearby while waiting for my hair appointment. I really needed a haircut 2 months ago, but I wanted to wait until after Insanity so that my hair would continue to be long enough to pull back through the program.
Anyway, I went into the salon (a new one for me, my old one is too far out of the way now that I live across the bay) with a different version of this picture of Drew Barrymore, and said I wanted the same, but for it to be a little bit longer, coming UNDER my chin:
I walked out of the salon with this, instead, and I HATE it on me:
Under normal circumstances, I would be only moderately upset by the wasted money on the massage and able to rationalize "it's only hair, it'll grow" better, but today was supposed to be my reward for putting myself through the intensive 9-week Insanity program. Instead I feel cheated, like it was more of a punishment.
I hope you'll understand why I'm not in the mood to reflect more on the last 9 weeks tonight.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Day 63 - Final Fit Test
DVD -Fit Test
+ 2.5 miles of walking
That's it. I am officially done with my boot camp!
I really didn't think I'd see much improvement from my last Fit Test. Just goes to show, I under-estimated myself (and Shaun T and his Insanity program).
Links to previous Fit Tests:
First Fit Test
Fit Test # 2
Fit Test # 3
Fit Test # 4
Today's Results
Switch Kicks 70 (+ 0)
Power Jacks 78 (+ 8)
Power Knees 128 (+ 4)
Power Jumps 58 (+ 6)
Globe Jumps 11 (+ 1)
Suicide Jumps 24 (+ 2)
Push-up Jacks 34 (+ 5)
Low Plank Oblique 74 (+ 6)
My improvement since the beginning:
Switch Kicks (due to the counting snafu of Fit Test #1, I'm not including this figure)
Power Jacks (+ 23)
Power Knees (+ 27)
Power Jumps (+ 26)
Globe Jumps (+ 6)
Suicide Jumps (+ 8)
Push-Up Jacks (+ 14)
Low Plank Oblique (+ 28)
I'm actually pretty impressed with myself. If you'll remember back in the beginning, my first results were fairly in line with Tanya's, +/- a few reps in most cases. That continues to be true now that I've been following the program for 63 days. In many cases, I came from 1 or 2 reps behind Tanya, to 1 or 2 reps more. I'd be less impressed I didn't know how hard I fought for those extra couple of reps.
In some cases, such as Globe Jumps, she started way ahead of me (she did 9 full reps, or 36 jumps her first time out, I did 5 full reps, or 20 jumps total) but ended in the same place (11 full reps, 44 jumps). So my improvement in this was better than hers, but that's because I was so much less fit the first time around. Still, to have come from 4 reps/16 jumps behind to ending in the same place in 63 days is an amazing testament both to my efforts and to the workout. Thanks, Shaun T!
Stay tuned for a more introspective post in the next couple of days. Tomorrow I'm taking the day off work to give myself a "Spa Day", complete with massage and new haircut.
+ 2.5 miles of walking
That's it. I am officially done with my boot camp!
I really didn't think I'd see much improvement from my last Fit Test. Just goes to show, I under-estimated myself (and Shaun T and his Insanity program).
Links to previous Fit Tests:
First Fit Test
Fit Test # 2
Fit Test # 3
Fit Test # 4
Today's Results
Switch Kicks 70 (+ 0)
Power Jacks 78 (+ 8)
Power Knees 128 (+ 4)
Power Jumps 58 (+ 6)
Globe Jumps 11 (+ 1)
Suicide Jumps 24 (+ 2)
Push-up Jacks 34 (+ 5)
Low Plank Oblique 74 (+ 6)
My improvement since the beginning:
Switch Kicks (due to the counting snafu of Fit Test #1, I'm not including this figure)
Power Jacks (+ 23)
Power Knees (+ 27)
Power Jumps (+ 26)
Globe Jumps (+ 6)
Suicide Jumps (+ 8)
Push-Up Jacks (+ 14)
Low Plank Oblique (+ 28)
I'm actually pretty impressed with myself. If you'll remember back in the beginning, my first results were fairly in line with Tanya's, +/- a few reps in most cases. That continues to be true now that I've been following the program for 63 days. In many cases, I came from 1 or 2 reps behind Tanya, to 1 or 2 reps more. I'd be less impressed I didn't know how hard I fought for those extra couple of reps.
In some cases, such as Globe Jumps, she started way ahead of me (she did 9 full reps, or 36 jumps her first time out, I did 5 full reps, or 20 jumps total) but ended in the same place (11 full reps, 44 jumps). So my improvement in this was better than hers, but that's because I was so much less fit the first time around. Still, to have come from 4 reps/16 jumps behind to ending in the same place in 63 days is an amazing testament both to my efforts and to the workout. Thanks, Shaun T!
Stay tuned for a more introspective post in the next couple of days. Tomorrow I'm taking the day off work to give myself a "Spa Day", complete with massage and new haircut.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Day 62
DVD - Max Cardio Conditioning
DVD - Cardio Abs
That's it! I'm officially done with what I consider my Insanity "boot camp"!
I still have the Fit Test tomorrow, but it's really more administrative. It's a workout, but only really for 8 minutes, so I'm not terribly concerned about how much it will tax me.
The important thing is, I did it!! I made it through the 6-day per week "most extreme workout ever filmed".
What's more, I actually did all of both workouts. I made it a little easier on myself by doing Cardio Abs first, while my clothes were in the wash at the laundromat. Then I went back and put the clothes in the dryer, and returned home for the longer Conditioning workout.
I'm off to find something to do to celebrate.
DVD - Cardio Abs
That's it! I'm officially done with what I consider my Insanity "boot camp"!
I still have the Fit Test tomorrow, but it's really more administrative. It's a workout, but only really for 8 minutes, so I'm not terribly concerned about how much it will tax me.
The important thing is, I did it!! I made it through the 6-day per week "most extreme workout ever filmed".
What's more, I actually did all of both workouts. I made it a little easier on myself by doing Cardio Abs first, while my clothes were in the wash at the laundromat. Then I went back and put the clothes in the dryer, and returned home for the longer Conditioning workout.
I'm off to find something to do to celebrate.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Day 61
DVD - Max Interval Plyo
OMG OMG OMG. My last intense workout until after Hip Hop Abs. My last intense workout on a 6-day per week basis.
Or so I thought.
Then I looked at my workout calendar tonight and noticed that tomorrow I'm supposed to do Max Cardio Conditioning and Cardio Abs again.
MERDE!
Merde! especially because I didn't find this out until AFTER I FINISHED TONIGHT!
Well, obviously I knew at some point, because I had read the chart before. I guess I just suppressed the knowledge all week, looking forward to tonight as the end my Insanity boot camp.
Overall I pretty much kicked ass tonight, with the exception of not doing one of the 32 Push-up/32 Floor Sprint circuits, because for the past few workouts one of the muscles, nerves or tendons on the inside of my left elbow has been feeling really over taxed. When stressed in certain positions it starts to give out, in the same manner your leg does when someone comes up behind you and while you are standing and knees your knee cap. Know what I mean? And then your knee involuntarily bends? Same thing. But this actually hurts, and I've promised myself from the beginning of Insanity that I wouldn't push myself to injury. I've made it this far, I'm not going to break that promise now!
What sucks is that I've finally gotten past the constant shoulder pain, so without this new weakness in my arm I'd be able to do all of the Push-ups (I think).
I bet when I've had a chance to rest little more and the pain goes away, I'll be able to do just that.
It actually makes sense to me I'd end up with some sort of pain in my left arm. I'm right-handed, so my right arm was in better shape going into Insanity. For a long time I worked in restaurants and over the years I did everything from lift hundreds of sauced & cheesed pizza skins on cooking screens in a 4 hour period to carrying trays full of drinks and lugging cases of liquor up a ladder to the 2nd floor, all with my dominate arm. My right bicep was buff. Even now when I flex, my right arm is much harder than my left, while both have visible musculature.
After Sunday, when I've finished "boot camp", I'll talk a little bit more about my muscle development.
OMG OMG OMG. My last intense workout until after Hip Hop Abs. My last intense workout on a 6-day per week basis.
Or so I thought.
Then I looked at my workout calendar tonight and noticed that tomorrow I'm supposed to do Max Cardio Conditioning and Cardio Abs again.
MERDE!
Merde! especially because I didn't find this out until AFTER I FINISHED TONIGHT!
Well, obviously I knew at some point, because I had read the chart before. I guess I just suppressed the knowledge all week, looking forward to tonight as the end my Insanity boot camp.
Overall I pretty much kicked ass tonight, with the exception of not doing one of the 32 Push-up/32 Floor Sprint circuits, because for the past few workouts one of the muscles, nerves or tendons on the inside of my left elbow has been feeling really over taxed. When stressed in certain positions it starts to give out, in the same manner your leg does when someone comes up behind you and while you are standing and knees your knee cap. Know what I mean? And then your knee involuntarily bends? Same thing. But this actually hurts, and I've promised myself from the beginning of Insanity that I wouldn't push myself to injury. I've made it this far, I'm not going to break that promise now!
What sucks is that I've finally gotten past the constant shoulder pain, so without this new weakness in my arm I'd be able to do all of the Push-ups (I think).
I bet when I've had a chance to rest little more and the pain goes away, I'll be able to do just that.
It actually makes sense to me I'd end up with some sort of pain in my left arm. I'm right-handed, so my right arm was in better shape going into Insanity. For a long time I worked in restaurants and over the years I did everything from lift hundreds of sauced & cheesed pizza skins on cooking screens in a 4 hour period to carrying trays full of drinks and lugging cases of liquor up a ladder to the 2nd floor, all with my dominate arm. My right bicep was buff. Even now when I flex, my right arm is much harder than my left, while both have visible musculature.
After Sunday, when I've finished "boot camp", I'll talk a little bit more about my muscle development.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Day 60
DVD - Core Cardio & Resistance
Hip Hop Abs arrived yesterday and after the workout tonight I decided to pop the first DVD in and check it out.
I had suspicions before, but now I am pretty sure Shaun is "one of my people" (meaning LGBT).
His Ellen appearance was my first clue.
*Btw? I fucking love the chick in the high wedge heels whose like "yeah, I'm gonna workout with Shaun T"
**And PS? The Ellen boxers?? Straight men don't wear Ellen boxers, heh.
Now, I didn't watch all of the Hip Hop Abs video, but what I did see, was Shaun:
- workin' it like a Diva (complete with a drag queen's "I'm FabULOUS!" head toss)
- lip syncing to "Dontcha Wish Your Girlfriend Was Hot like Me" while sashaying forward
Plus the initial background music was some hip hop-esque thing with Shaun going "It's me, Shaun T".
I certainly could be wrong. I hope I'm not though.
Either way, he could kick most guys' ass.
Hip Hop Abs arrived yesterday and after the workout tonight I decided to pop the first DVD in and check it out.
I had suspicions before, but now I am pretty sure Shaun is "one of my people" (meaning LGBT).
His Ellen appearance was my first clue.
*Btw? I fucking love the chick in the high wedge heels whose like "yeah, I'm gonna workout with Shaun T"
**And PS? The Ellen boxers?? Straight men don't wear Ellen boxers, heh.
Now, I didn't watch all of the Hip Hop Abs video, but what I did see, was Shaun:
- workin' it like a Diva (complete with a drag queen's "I'm FabULOUS!" head toss)
- lip syncing to "Dontcha Wish Your Girlfriend Was Hot like Me" while sashaying forward
Plus the initial background music was some hip hop-esque thing with Shaun going "It's me, Shaun T".
I certainly could be wrong. I hope I'm not though.
Either way, he could kick most guys' ass.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Day 59
DVD - Max Cardio Interval
I finally got the Floor Switch Kicks! This is the move where your hands and feet are on the floor and you're making something of a table with your torso, belly up. Then you alternately kick your feet off of the floor with a hop so that at points both your feet are off the ground. It's fucking hard to hold yourself up on your arms and not crash land on your ass (as I did a few times) when both your feet are off the ground, because your center of gravity is in your hips, lower abs and buns. I wasn't strong enough to do it for long until tonight. I generally modified this move so that I was going slower, bringing my leg up higher, and always keeping one foot on the floor. This is a modification made by some of the people in the video, too. Remember, form trumps speed.
Overall, tonight was the best I have done with any of these workouts. I lagged a little the last two nights, but tonight I gave it my all and did more of each move at a faster pace than I've ever managed before. 59 days of Insanity has definitely made me more fit!
I finally got the Floor Switch Kicks! This is the move where your hands and feet are on the floor and you're making something of a table with your torso, belly up. Then you alternately kick your feet off of the floor with a hop so that at points both your feet are off the ground. It's fucking hard to hold yourself up on your arms and not crash land on your ass (as I did a few times) when both your feet are off the ground, because your center of gravity is in your hips, lower abs and buns. I wasn't strong enough to do it for long until tonight. I generally modified this move so that I was going slower, bringing my leg up higher, and always keeping one foot on the floor. This is a modification made by some of the people in the video, too. Remember, form trumps speed.
Overall, tonight was the best I have done with any of these workouts. I lagged a little the last two nights, but tonight I gave it my all and did more of each move at a faster pace than I've ever managed before. 59 days of Insanity has definitely made me more fit!
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Day 58
DVD - Max Cardio Conditioning
DVD - Cardio Abs
I cheated a little tonight and skipped the warm-up on Cardio Abs. Hell, I'd just completed 43 minutes of a different workout, I was already "warm".
I've been trying to pay attention to my heart rate more the last week or so. I've noticed that my maximum heart rate seems to be the same as at the beginning of Insanity. What's changed is that it takes me a little longer to get there, especially during the warm-up intervals. Curiously, I do start to sweat earlier with the Max workout warm-ups, and I'm pretty sure it has something to with the Side to Side Floor Hops, because there is a slight break in the cardio pace as you get into position, and the move itself is a little harder to do as fast as the rest. I've noticed that I tend to heat up and start to drip when I stop after an exertion. During Insanity, this has usually meant that I start to get really hot and sweaty during the warm-up stretch, when I am no longer flinging my body around at high velocities, but executing slow, deliberate moves. Or when I walk really fast to BART on a cold morning, feeling chilled until I stop on the platform to wait for the train.
It's interesting to me how different types of exercises effect my heart rate. Obviously the exercises that require me to move fast will raise my heart rate rapidly: they are the equivalent of sprinting, and we're asked to "sprint" for anywhere from 2 - 3 minutes straight. Seriously - that's a pretty long time to sprint. But then moves like Suicides, where I am only able to do about 20 in the allotted time instead of 60 - 100, because it requires getting up and down from the floor. According to Shaun, engaging all of your major muscles increases your heart rate just as well as sprinting. My experience suggests he is right.
Now, if you'll forgive the clunky segue to a bit of nostalgia, I'm going to end this blog entry by noting this was my final run through of these two DVDs during the initial 9 weeks of Insanity, so this was my goodbye workout. But "goodbye" for a break, no permanently. I'll be seeing them again once I implement my plan to incorporate Insanity into an ongoing regime including running and Hip Hop Abs.
DVD - Cardio Abs
I cheated a little tonight and skipped the warm-up on Cardio Abs. Hell, I'd just completed 43 minutes of a different workout, I was already "warm".
I've been trying to pay attention to my heart rate more the last week or so. I've noticed that my maximum heart rate seems to be the same as at the beginning of Insanity. What's changed is that it takes me a little longer to get there, especially during the warm-up intervals. Curiously, I do start to sweat earlier with the Max workout warm-ups, and I'm pretty sure it has something to with the Side to Side Floor Hops, because there is a slight break in the cardio pace as you get into position, and the move itself is a little harder to do as fast as the rest. I've noticed that I tend to heat up and start to drip when I stop after an exertion. During Insanity, this has usually meant that I start to get really hot and sweaty during the warm-up stretch, when I am no longer flinging my body around at high velocities, but executing slow, deliberate moves. Or when I walk really fast to BART on a cold morning, feeling chilled until I stop on the platform to wait for the train.
It's interesting to me how different types of exercises effect my heart rate. Obviously the exercises that require me to move fast will raise my heart rate rapidly: they are the equivalent of sprinting, and we're asked to "sprint" for anywhere from 2 - 3 minutes straight. Seriously - that's a pretty long time to sprint. But then moves like Suicides, where I am only able to do about 20 in the allotted time instead of 60 - 100, because it requires getting up and down from the floor. According to Shaun, engaging all of your major muscles increases your heart rate just as well as sprinting. My experience suggests he is right.
Now, if you'll forgive the clunky segue to a bit of nostalgia, I'm going to end this blog entry by noting this was my final run through of these two DVDs during the initial 9 weeks of Insanity, so this was my goodbye workout. But "goodbye" for a break, no permanently. I'll be seeing them again once I implement my plan to incorporate Insanity into an ongoing regime including running and Hip Hop Abs.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Day 57
DVD - Max Interval Plyo
I'm in the home stretch!
And finding the blogging to be more tedious than the workouts. I can summon the will to push my body, but writing takes a different kind of push, and I just don't have it in me at the moment to come up with something new and interesting about this workout.
That being said, I don't have much else to add today except to note that I'll do this workout one more time before the end of the program, on Friday night, bookended by doing Core Cardio & Balance the day before and day after.
I'm in the home stretch!
And finding the blogging to be more tedious than the workouts. I can summon the will to push my body, but writing takes a different kind of push, and I just don't have it in me at the moment to come up with something new and interesting about this workout.
That being said, I don't have much else to add today except to note that I'll do this workout one more time before the end of the program, on Friday night, bookended by doing Core Cardio & Balance the day before and day after.
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.
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