Time to Give February the Big Kiss Off!

I thought that for my last workout of February that I would try to really work on some exercises that I thought that I had struggled with some recently.  Also, I wanted to use my interval timer because I plan to take classes most of this week, so I would get a chance to use it again until next weekend.  I did two set of intervals and ran for forty minutes.  Also, I wanted to focus upon my abs because I don't think that the wall abs that we have been doing in the Plycore classes are that effective.  Therefore, I wanted to really work my abs today.

Round 1: 1 min. for each exercise followed by 15 sec. rest

1. Crossover Crunch Left
2. Crossover Crunch Right
3. Standard Crunch
4. Bird Dogs
5. Fire Hydrants w/ leg extension left leg
6. Fire Hydrants w/ leg extension right leg
7. Heel Raises with 10 lbs. weights
8. Squats with 10lbs weight.
9. Alternating Lunges with 10lbs weight.
10. Prisoner Squats with leg ups
11. Triceps Extensions with 10lbs. weights
12. Bicycles
13. Russian twists with 8lbs. ball
14. Mt. Climbers
15. Calf raises left
16. Calf raises right

Round 2: 1 min. for each exercise followed by 15 sec. rest

1. Burpees w/push up
2. Mt. Climbers
3. Crossover Crunch Left
4. Crossover Crunch Right
5. Standard Crunch
6. Burpees w/push up
7. Mt. Climbers
8. Crossover Crunch Left
9. Crossover Crunch Right
10. Standard Crunch
11. Burpees w/push up
12. Mt. Climbers
13. Crossover Crunch Left
14. Crossover Crunch Right
15. Standard Crunch

Treadmill altenating between 4.0 and 6.0 every 5 mins. for 40 mins. total.

This was a pretty good workout that worked my calfs, abs, and shoulders.  I am planning to wrok my abs a lot more in March and do burpees & Mt. climbers more often because I hate them.  I am pretty proud of the work I have done this month, and I think that keeping this blog has helped me stay focused upon what I am doing and how I am doing it.  It really makes me think about my workouts and then change what is not working while building upon the things that are working.  I just hope that March will be better weather and I can start doing more things outdoors as well as the in the gym.

Saturday Workout & February Frustrations

Honestly, February has been a pretty good month overall considering the weather has been crappy and I have had some minor pains. Also, it has been kind of frustrating on the scales because despite all of my efforts this month, my weight has stayed almost exactly where it was at the beginning of the month. There are several factors that I am sure have contributed to this weight loss stagnation, such as my body changing from fat to muscle or my body has adjusted to my level of workouts. These are answers that I would like to be true, and I am sure that they are to some degree, but there is another factor that I am sure has a lot to do with this: Diet. Yes, the dreaded Diet!!!

My diet isn't horrible. I eat lots of fruits and veggies (apples, oranges, broccoli, lettuce, cabbage, celery, grapes, raisins, zucchini, ect.) and I have eliminated things like chips, French fries, soda, fast foods, and vending machine snack fare. But, I am still eating way too much bread and sweets. Also, on nights when my wife works late I find myself snacking hard around 5:30 because I know that we will not eat dinner until nearly 10pm, which is not good. Luckily, my wife will no longer be closing her store, so this should eliminate that problem. However, I know that I need to become much more disciplined about the way I eat or I will be wasting a lot of my effort. Personally, I do not put much stock in diets or "going on a diet." My feeling is that "going on a diet" implies that at some point the person will go off of the diet, which will lead them to return to their former ways. Instead, I prefer to make lifestyle changes, which are intended to be lasting changes. I see lifestyle changes as more of a process, something that allows for indiscretions, but overall takes a much larger commitment. I am trying to achieve a lifestyle change by eliminating soda from my diet. And, I know that I have to get better about how often I snack and eat sweets. Granted, I am doing better now than I have at any other time in my life, but there is still room for improvement if I want to move past the frustrations of February, changes in the way I eat are sure to help.

As for working out, I had a really good workout yesterday. I struggled a bit at first because I didn't really know what I wanted to do, but in the end I was able to sort myself out and put in a good overall effort.

First I did 20 exercises for 1 min. each with a 15 sec. rest. then moved on to the Jump ropee

Saturday's Workout:

1 min. each with a 15 sec. rest
1. Crossover Crunch Left
2. Crossover Crunch Right
3. Standard Crunch
4. Arm Extensions
5. Bird Dogs
6. Fire Hydrants w/ leg extension
7. Heel Raises
8. Squats with 10lbs weight.
9. Alternating Lunges with 10lbs weight.
10. Prisoner Squats with leg ups
11. Triceps Extensions with 10lbs. weights
12. Step ups right leg
13. Step ups left leg
14. Bicycles
15. Seated Crunch
16. Push ups
17. Plank
18. Roman Chair
19. Dips
20. Bicep curls with 10lbs weights

Afterward, I did Jump Rope intervals:
20 Intervals 90 seconds skips and 15 seconds rest.

The jump rope portion of this workout was a beast, and I was so sweaty that by the end I was having a hard time holding on to the rope.

Thursday Two-a-day: AM Plycore & PM Circuit Class

Recently, I have felt like I needed to push myself harder than what I have been. My morning classes are getting less difficult, and I am not seeing the weight loss results that I want to see.  I really don't want to see my workouts turn into the equivalent of time spent on a Human Hamster Wheel, basically a whole lot of effort that gets me nowhere near where I want to be. I felt like that before I started taking the morning classes, so I am really worried that I may fall back into that pattern again. I know that I am still at the tail end of most of my classes, but they are not leaving me exhausted like they once did. This morning's Plycore class a very good, but as the day went on I got the idea that I would take the afternoon Circuit class that is supposed to be the most difficult class offered at the Y because I just felt as though I needed to do more. I was actually a little scared when I entered the room, but the class was not as bad as I thought. I was really afraid that I would be so tired that I would not be able to do the work, but I found that I had a lot more energy than I expected.  I think that my body was still energized from this morning's class.  The afteroon class is taught by Teresa, who teaches the Weds. Morning Sports Conditioning class, which I have nicknamed the Atonement Class.

This new class was difficult, but it was not the type of class that really wipes me out. The Circuit class takes place in the aerobics room and does not involve any running, jumping, or stairs. It is more weights and resistance work, which is not as difficult for me as lots of running or stairs. Unfortunately, since this was my first time to take the class it is really pointless for me to attempt to give a detailed account of the workload because I was concentrating too much on just keeping up with the class and maintaining the proper form. We did a lot of abs, push ups, arm exercises with weights, resistance bands, and step ups, and most of the rep counts were between 25-50. Also, we seemed to focus a lot on our hip flexors, which I have come to realize is often over looked by many people when the begin working out. I think that this is a very big mistake and plan to write a post about its importance.

I felt really good after my afternoon workout, and it showed me that there is enough energy in the tank for me to do more. I need to push myself and because complacency will kill your fitness progress faster than any dietary indiscretion ever could. It will be hard for me to make this Thursday afternoon class a fixture of my workout regiment because of work. I am hopeful that once the whether changes and the days get longer that I will be able to do more things outside.

Below is the morning workout that I did.


Today's AM Workout

2 Laps warm up

5 Chin ups
20 Push Ups
15 Lunges each leg w/10lbs weights
5 Squat Jumps
34 Wall Crunches: lay down on you back, butt and legs pressed flat against the wall, lift your arms straight in the air with 10lbs. weights and bend at the waist.
33 Wall Crunches: lay down on you back, butt and legs pressed flat against the wall, lift your arms at an angel towards your knees and bend at the waist until you touch the wall.
33 Wall Crunches: lay down on you back, butt and legs pressed flat against the wall, extend your arms towards your hips and bend at the waist until you touch the wall
6 Flights of Stairs
5 Box Jumps
2 Laps

I completed three rounds in 40 mins.

Weds. Sports Conditioning: Ab & Burpee Hell

I have nothing to say about this class other than it sucked ass was a killer, and I am glad that it is fucking over I went!  I hope that I oversleep next week is just as good!!!!




Today's Workout

500 ab reps different styles
fire hydrants w/ leg extended: 25 each leg
fire hydrants: 25 each leg
1 min. plank
back extensions: 25
jump rope 100 skips
jump squats 30
10 Burpees with one and one jumping jack per count
50 mt. climbers
walking lunges across the width of two basketball courts
resistance bands - standing biceps curls: 25
Dips 15
Incline Push up 10
resistance bands - up right rows: 25
High knees the width of two basketball courts
set up 20 each leg
roman chair 1 min
suicide down the gym
resistance bands - standing biceps curls: 25
resistance bands - kickbacks: 25
dips 15
incline pushups 10
one legged raises 20 (each leg) **sit on a chair, or a bench and try to stand up using only one leg.**

2 flights of stairs
2 laps around the track (2nd lap is a sprint)
standing biceps curls bands: 25
kick backs bands
walking lunges the width of two basketball courts
High knee Jump rope 100 skips each leg
25 jumping jacks
50 Mt. Climbers
Roman Chair 1 min.
Heel raises 25 each leg
side leg raises 25 each leg
one legged roman chairs 20 sec each leg
25 back extensions
25 fire hydrants each leg

Tuesday Morning Workout: Hybrid Intervals

I woke up today with no problem and was pretty eager to go to the gym. However, I really had no idea what I was going to do today. Jumping rope was not really an option because I've been putting a lot of stress on my shins and the balls of my feet. I also knew that I didn't want to take the muscle class offered by the Y, so when I arrived at the gym, I decided to do one more day of interval training. I really enjoyed my interval run yesterday, so I decided to do another interval run. After that, I decided that I would pick 15 exercises each for one minute without keeping count, and then repeat the exercise again for a set number of reps. I really like the idea of doing one round of timed exercise followed by another round of with a set number of reps. I think that this combined approach will produce some nice results because it will help me to focus some more attention to some of the exercises that I cannot do that many of during the timed round.

Today's Workout:

Interval Run: 15 rounds, 40 seconds of running & 10 seconds of jogging.

15 Exercises:
Round One: 1 minute with 15 seconds rest between exercise
Round Two: 25 Reps each exercises

Crossover Crunch Left
Crossover Crunch Right
Standard Crunch
Arm Extensions
Prisoner Squats with leg ups
Bird Dogs
Fire Hydrants w/ leg extension
Seated Crunch
Russian Twists w/ 8lbs. Ball
Heel Raises
Alternating Lunges
Squats
Standing Side Leg Lift Right
Standing Side Leg Lift Left
Dips

I really enjoyed this type of workout, and I think that it will become a staple of my regiment. It might be difficult to include Burpees in this at 25 reps, but I am interested to see if I can do it.

Monday Workout Waffle

I could not make up my mind today about going to the gym. I had my mind set on going last night, but I stayed up too late and knew that I was not fond of the substitute instructor slated to fill in for Dan (I don't dislike her as a person, but I don't like her class. It just seems like a lot of basketball drills to me, and I loathe basketball). So, this morning as my alarms started to go off, I decided that I needed another day off to sort out my neck. Now, I knew that I was just making excuses because I didn't want to go and had I said that I didn't like the instructor and left it at that, I could have accepted things the way they were. But, I knew this was BS, and it was eating at me all day. So around 3:30 I made up my mind to go to the gym after work. Then I spent all of the next 90 minutes changing my mind back and forth. Heck, even after I was home changed, nipples Band Aided and everything; I still changed my mind two more time before I forced myself out the door. I figured that if I stayed I might drive my wife crazy and force her to stab me with her some form of cooking utensil. Once I got to the gym, I had no problems going about my workout and actually enjoyed it a lot.


Today's Workout
Jump Rope: 15 rounds, 90 seconds of skipping & 15 seconds of rest.

Interval Run Around the Track: 10 rounds, 30 seconds of running & 15 seconds of jogging.

I think that my interval time is really making me push myself more than what I had been doing. I really enjoy it a lot. I do plan to work out without it some as well, but I know that it will be a fixture of my upcoming workouts. I listened to a story about interval workouts last summer that I thought was interesting at the time but didn't really take to heart that much, but I went back and listened to it today and thought that it would be good to share, so I have linked it to this post. I'm also including an article from Men's Health that gives a overview of why interval training is so effective and some sample workouts.

Links:
men's health article
Interval Training NPR story


 

Interval Test I

Today, I decided to do two things for the first time:


One: Band Aid my nipples for the first time because jogger's nipple is a bitich not something to laugh about.

Two: Use my interval timer to make an interval test for myself. I've no idea why I thought this would be fun, but I did, and it wasn't! The time is a heartless F@#&! And, the damn thing just won't stop beeping at me. However, I can tell that my workouts are much improved by it. Anyway . . .



The Test: 15 different exercises. One min. for each exercise. 15 second break between exercises to write down results and move to next exercise. Two round and then compare.

Exercises                                         Round 1           Round2
pushups                                           28                    29
dips                                                 44                    54
burpees                                             9                      8
mt. climbers                                     28                    27
prisoner squats                                13                    13
crunches                                         46                     52
arm extensions                                25                     25
leg raises (both legs)                       12                     11
bicycles                                          36                     27
alternating lunges                             13                     14
hamstring curls w/ball                      19                      21
fire hydrants (both legs)                   14                     15
seated crunches                               45                     52
heal raises                                        86                    102
squats                                             38                      42

I want to work on increasing the total number of burpees, and I would like to see less of a drop off in the bicycles total between rounds, but this is a good starting point for my first interval test.  I am not sure how often I will do these, but I know that I will swap out the exercises as I go.

Saturday: Runnin' and Ropin'

I recently ordered an interval timer to help me with my workouts and today was the first time that I used it. My neck and shoulder are feeling better after resting yesterday, but I did not want to try too many things at one time and agitate my injury, so I decided that today I would only do some jump rope a tread mill: my phlegmatic workout. I used the interval timer while I was jumping rope, and it really helped me to maintain my pace. Also, I was no longer distracted by trying to keep an eye on the clock or count skips and was able to concentrate on the rope itself. I really felt that this workout was much more difficult than last week Rope & Run workout.


Today's Workout:

Rope:
5 min Warm up
20 sec. High Knee skips 10 sec. rest: 10 rounds
1 Min. Skipping 15. sec rest: 15 rounds

Running (treadmill):
5 min. 4.0
10 mins. 6.0
5 min. 4.0
10 mins. 6.0

This marks a big change for me.  When I first started running (umm . . . walking briskly) on the treadmill my pace was snail like at best and my endurance was for crap.  As recently as Oct. I would have been totally gased after 30 mins. going between 3.2  and 5.4 and attempting anything before that would have been a joke.  Today's workout has really shown me that I am getting much stronger.

Thursday's Plycore & Admitting to (a minor) Injury

  Today's Workout:

Jumping Jacks 1 min.
7 Burpees
34 Wall Crunches: lay down on you back, butt and legs pressed flat against the wall, lift your arms straight in the air with 8lbs. weights and bend at the waist.
33 Wall Crunches: lay down on you back, butt and legs pressed flat against the wall, lift your arms at an angel towards your knees and bend at the waist until you touch the wall.
33 Wall Crunches: lay down on you back, butt and legs pressed flat against the wall, extend your arms towards your hips and bend at the waist until you touch the wall
5 Squat Thrusts
10 push ups
6 flights of stairs (up & down)
2 labs around the track
10 box jumps

I did this three times and started the fourth round in 35 mins.

I really enjoyed this workout, but afterward I was forced to admit that the crick in my neck is more serious than I thought. I think that I have a pulled or strained muscle in my neck, upper shoulder, and back. Honestly, I never thought that it was anything other than stiffness from sleeping wrong, but today the discomfort is far less localized and more in my shoulder and upper back, so I am pretty certain that I have a pull. luckily, tomorrow's class selection is not that good, so I will take the morning off and exercise in the afternoon if I am pain free. However, if I am still sore tomorrow, then I will skip Friday and wait until later in Saturday afternoon in order to give myself some rest.

This type of injury is a dangerous one for me because I can currently still able to workout, but I know that if I do not get the proper rest, the injury will take forever to heal. I have taken some anti-inflamitories, and I will continue with the muscle cream, but I am worried that the discomfort will continue into the weekend or longer. I have also looked up some stretches that I hope will help as well, and if things get worse I will be putting a call into my cousin, who is a physical therapist.  The key thing that I need to remember is that this injury is only temporary.  I need to stay focused and stay to whatever plans I make to deal with the injury because I will never meet my goals if I act impulsively and hurt myself more.

   

Killer Corn (Syrup): Drop the Soda Can & Back Away from the Sports Drink!

As part of my attempt to become more healthy, one of the things that I have set out to do is eliminate as much Corn Syrup from my diet as I possible. I have not consumed a sports drink in over three years, and was never a big fan of them in the first place. When I lived in Japan, I would sometimes drink what the Japanese call "genki drinks", which are energy drinks that come in bottles about the size of an airplane bottle. I have to admit that I was pretty fond of these drinks when I was sick and had to go to work or when I was going to pull an all night bender in Tokyo. However, when I returned to the states, I was shocked by the size of American energy drinks like Red Bull and the way that the were marketed and have never partaken of one. Soda, however, is a whole other story. Prior to going to Japan, soda was my life blood! I drank it all of the time and much more than water. I knew that this could not be good for me, but I just didn't really care enough to look for other options. If I was thirsty, I had either soda, coffee, or maybe OJ. Water was something that I drank with medicine and sometimes not even then. I just did not have enough self respect to care about the condition of my body or what I put into it.

But upon arriving in Japan, I decided to makes some changes to my life, and one of the first changes that I made was cutting back on the amount of soda in my diet. I did not buy sodas out of machines, at convenience stores, nor would I buy them for my home. Weening myself off of soda was much easier in Japan than it would have been in the States because Japanese vending machines

 and convenience stores offered a much larger selection of tea, coffee, and juices than can be found in their American counterparts. By the time that I left Japan, I would drink about one Soda a week on average, which was a remarkable change considering I had to average at least three a day before my move. Upon return to America, I made a concerted effort to keep the sodas out of my life. I came across a story about the over use of Corn Syrup in the American Diet and the dangers of soda's and sports drinks, which led me to really harden my stance concerning these beverages. I can not claim that I have kicked the soda habit, but I can tell that I have drank less that one soda since the new year, and that in all of last year, I had around one per month (over half of which were sodas made from pure cane sugar and not HFCS). Recently, I found another article that adresses the danger of high-fructose corn syrup and crystalline fructose and a story on NPR talking about beverage companies moving back to sugar. I really think that the best way to improve your health is to do so in an across the board approach and for me eliminating soda and products that use HFCS is just one small step in what I know must be a lifelong process.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mercola/sugar-may-be-bad-but-this_b_463655.html

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103825807

Wed. Sports Conditioning: My Peek Into the type A World

This class reminds me every week that I do not have a Type A personality. I am the type of person that will stop in the middle of my workout to explain to a new person what we are doing, and I think that is a pretty good thing, but this class also makes me wonder what it would be like to be that the type of person who would have a closet like the the ones that you see on design Blogs.

Now, I know that I will never be that person.  Hell, I am struggling just to make sure that I get my dirty clothes in the basket (my wife nearly has me trained).  I am a somewhat competitive person, but I know that I am nowhere near the level of the  people in this class.  However, there is something deep inside me that dreams of the day that I just breeze past to the front of the class.  However, that day was not today. 

I had to take an off-day yesterday, which did give my body a pretty good rest, but my neck is still sore. It didn't interfere with this workout, but did stiffen up after class. I plan on flipping my mattress and putting on some sports cream to night. This class really seems to be getting less difficult, and I am no longer the last person to complete the class. Granted, I am still nowhere near all of the type A personality people, but I am still am not skipping me reps, so I feel like I am making pretty good progress.

I fell behind during the ab portion of the class and on the burpees but was able to make up some time on the dips, jump rope, and stairs. Interestingly enough the Leg Raises and Step Ups are really getting less difficult. I need to keep working my glutes and hamstrings, so that these exercises will not cause me any problems. On a side note, there is a lot of murmuring in this class not just about the Type A's but the people skipping reps as well, which is leading to a lot of under the breathe comments, and I must admit that I am one of the people making the comments when it come to people skipping reps more so that the type A's.  I personally don't mind the Type A people that much because they just push me to improve, but some other people in the class can't stomach their competitiveness. It doesn't bother me because I am competitive too but just not vocal at this point.

Today's Workout

back extensions: 25
300 ab reps different styles
fire hydrants: 25 each leg
forearm break down push & standard pushup: 10 each
back extensions: 25
jump squats 30
10 Burpees with 10 mt. climbers at the bottom of each one
walking lunges across the width of two basketball courts
Dips 15
Incline Push up 10
resistance bands - standing biceps curls: 25
High knees the width of two basketball courts
jump rope 100 skips
set up 20 each leg
suicide down the gym
resistance bands - standing biceps curls: 25
resistance bands -  kickbacks: 25
dips 15
incline pushups 10
2 flights of stairs
2 laps around the track
6lbs weights - standing biceps curls: 25
6lbs weights - kick backs
6 lbs weights side & foreward laterals - 25 each
15 dips
High knees the width of two basketball courts
one legged Jump rope 50 skips each leg
jumping  lunges 30
Roman Chair 1 min.
Heel raises 25 each leg
Side leg raises 25 each leg
one legged roman chairs 20 sec each leg
Butt kicks width of two basketball courts
2 flights of stairs
2 laps around the track
6 lbs weights - standing biceps curls: 25
6 lbs weights - kick backs
6 lbs weights side & foreward laterals - 25 each
15 dips
one legged raises 20 (each leg) **sit on a chair, or a bench and try to stand up using only one leg.**

Mon. Sports Conditioning: Nat'l Run Day

Today's Sports Conditioning instructor was Bryan, and the thing that you have to know about Byan is that his classes are very run intensive. Also, Bryan in a kickboxing instructor, so he does a lot of alternative training things like crawling. I can't frickin' stand crawling am not a fan of crawling. I am pretty comfortable with the present course of human evolution:

Crawling is just not my thing. Now, I really enjoyed the non-crawling portions of Bryan's class and glad to see that he had PHLEGMATIC sweat producing workout in mind today as well.

Today's Workout was not the type that was easy to track, so here is are the basics:

5 laps in the gym
Warm up:
Jumping jacks
Punches
8 point push ups (kind of like a burpee, but you speard you legswhile your in the plank postion, then move them back together, then do the push up.)

Main Workout:

Walking lunges
Jog (forward and backward)
High knees
Line Jumps (the class lines up and the last person at the goes down the line high-fiving the whole class in a wave like fashion)

Hops across the B-ball court
Crawls: Spiderman & Bear
Side shuffles, backward runs, running and shuffling, ect.
2 laps around the gym
5 Bldg. laps (down the stairs, though the bldg., back up two flights of stairs, around the track, repeat)
Rope ladder drills ( high knees, Ali shuffle, ect.)
Incline push ups & dips
Punching the heavy bag
Leg Raises
2 laps around the gym
Walking planks
Jumping lunges
Jump squats
Incline push ups

Class time: 60 mins.
This class was really more difficult than it should have been. It made me realize that I need to take a day off, so tomorrow will be an off-day.

Valentine's Day's Phlegmatic Workout

Recently, I felt all out of sorts. My guess is that I just sick of winter and snow. It snowed again in Raleigh on Friday night, which is just another waste of snow. I don't want snow here unless it is going to get me out of work. That is the bottom line. I have on desire to "play" in the snow, and all of this dry winter air has eyes dry and itchy as hell, and my moods all out of whack. I think that my Houmors are unbalanced. Yes. I know that I am getting all old school geek on ya, but you know whatever floats you boat. I won't say a word when you talk about needing to adjust your Xanax dosage, and you leave me alone when I try to "void the body of the imbalanced humor."

You see according to ancient doctors the body contained four humors, which need to be in balance for a person to be health:

Earth: black bile
Air: blood
Fire: yellow bile
Water: phlegm.

These humors also match the seasons, so it is easy for our body's to get out of balance when we are in the middle of one of those seasons:

•Autumn: black bile
•Spring: blood
•Winter: phlegm
•Summer: yellow bile.

This being winter that would make me more than likely Phlegmatic

•Too much Earth: Melancholic
•Too much Air: Sanguine
•Too much Fire: Choleric
•Too much Water: Phlegmatic

And you see an ancient doctor did not really have a long list of mood altering pharmaceuticals at the tips of his fingers, he would normally proscribe a change in the patients diet and exercise or he would breakout the leeches and bleed them.

So to recap: It is winter, which sucks. I feel out of sorts, still have a crick in my neck, dry eyes, and moody. And my co-pay is a bitich I don't want to go on the meds. A good bloodletting might be in order, but instead of breaking out the leeches, I think that I might just make a donation to the Red Cross, but I am not sure that that will sort me out because my guess is that I am Phlegmatic and as everyone knows bloodletting is better when in the spring when you are Sanguine. Therefore today’s should be designed to sweat out all of that excess water that is in my system. I need to get that phlegm from inside my body where it has collected (probably in my neck and shoulder area causing my crick) to the surface where it can do some good and moisten my skin and peepers!

Today's PHLEGMATIC sweat producing workout:

30 mins. Jump rope

30 mins. Treadmill 5 mins @ 4.0, 10 mins @ 6.0, 5 mins @ 4.0, 10 mins @ 6.0

10 mins. in the steam room

This was a great sweat producing workout. And to answer the question in everyone’s mind: Yes, I do feel less Phlegmatic and better in general. Now, I am not sure if I have sweat enough to get the crick out of my neck yet, but we will see. Hopefully, I can keep my Houmors in balance and avoid the leeches.

Saturday's Smattering

Today I wanted to do a smattering of exercises, and I knew that I would get bored easily, which is why I did not do any repeat sets. My neck still has a slight crick in it which is pretty annoying and why I didn’t do more running. I had planned to do more laps, but had to stop after just 5 because my neck wasn’t feeling right. I was in a much better mood than yesterday, so I was able to enjoy this workout. I added in some new exercises like the Captain’s chair, Russian twists, cross over crunches and the Stability Ball hamstring curls. I think that the Stability Ball hamstring curls will be incorporated into my workout more often. Hamstrings are a problem are a problem are for most people, myself included, and I thought that this exercise was pretty effective at working my hamstrings. I have not done Bird Dogs for a while, so they seem like a good choice for today. I also really enjoyed the cross over crunches as a way to work the obliques, which I had not really set out to focus on today, but ended up doing so. I would suggest that everyone study up on the Russian Twists before trying them. Theay are a very common sight in the gym, but few people know the right way to do them. The girl in the video that I provided is kind of annoying and named Chrissy which is hard to stomach, but she seems to know what she is talking about.

Today's Workout:

5 laps around the track (1/3 of a mile)
20 leg lifts on the captain’s chair
10 assisted chin ups
10 one legged squats each leg
25 dips
10 forearm breakdown & push ups
25 fire hydrants with leg extension (each side)
25 bird dogs (each side)
50 standard crunches
50 arm extensions
25 prisoner squats with knee ups
50 crossover mt. climbers
25 oblique crunches w/leg raise (each side)
25 Russian twists with an 8lb ball http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pObEPJ_6w5E&feature=related
25 seated crunches
50 cross over crunches (each side) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01u_VDifIiM&feature=related
25 stability ball hamstring curls http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfVKXmjIZ3g&feature=related
20 flights of stairs (up & down)
25 bicycles

Since tomorrow is Valentine’s Day, I am tempted to make the love handles the focus of tomorrow’s workout, but that might just be too lame. We’ll see.

Shitty Day Workout

Ok, let's say that or minds are these little worlds where all of the experiences, emotions, sights, smells, and actions of you day come together and on a moment to moment basis form images that describe the state of you mind at that given moment. So if you are happy, it is your wedding day, and you are feeling nothing but bliss and hope, so maybe the state of your mind takes a form something like this:

The sky is blue, and there is nothing but sun and waves today. Birds are flying and there is a light breeze that smells of lilac and the sea. It is wonderful to be in your mind today. You are everything in this world: each and every grain of sand, every happy sea creature that pokes its cute little face out of the surf, the sounds made by the breeze; it is all you and you are all of it.

As you might have guessed, this is nice little beach scene is not the picture that my mind has formed today. Oh, no!! Yesterday, I went to the dentist and had four cavities filled, and at one point the guy was pulling on my cheek hard enough to pop the skin off of my nose like the corner of a fitted sheet during a fitful sleep. The left side of my face hurt so bad that I was forced to take a Vicodin and this morning I was so drugged up that I couldn't function enough to get to the gym, then after I got to work I had to spend the whole day on the phone with insurance companies and benefits department trying to sort a mess that never needed to be sorted out in the first place. Also, today was my best student workers last day, which even though I am happy for her, I hate to see her go. And on top of everything else, I have had a crick in my neck and have not been able to look left all damn day and my teeth hurt worse now than they did before I went to the dentist. So the picture that represents the state of my mind looks like this:

No sun, no beach, no cute sea creatures. It is a crappy place comprise of an effing loading dock and a chair that reeks of cat piss! In fact, the whole place reeks of cat piss: the wall, door, chair, and if someone could push the bell the button would leave their finger smelling like . . . you guessed it . . . CAT PISS. Today was nothing but a cat piss day all around and nothing could change that. My mood didn't even improve when Willy, the barber at the Y gave me two free bananas, which would normally be enough to perk just about anyone right up because Willie is a nice guy who gives away produce and cuts hair. But not me, not today anyway because . . . well . . . CAT PISS!

So today by the time I got to the gym, I was beginning to wish that my parents had been smart enough to figure out how to properly use a condom, and knew that there was no way that any workout would improve my mood, so I just decided to use my workout as means to punish myself for existing. So to make a long story short, here is my shitty day workout:

Jump rope: 200 skips
Stairs: 4 flights up & down
Laps: 2 times around the track
Jump rope: 300 skips
Stairs: 6 flights up & down
Laps: 3 times around the track
Prisoner Squats with leg ups: 25
One legged squats: 15 each leg
Burpees: 10
Fire Hydrants: 15 each leg
Prisoner Squats with leg ups: 25
One legged squats: 15 each leg
Burpees: 10
Fire Hydrants: 15 each leg

I did this in just under 45 mins and left the gym still in the same shitty mood that I was in when I arrived, and today that is just as good as it is going to get.

Thursday Plyometric Core 5:30 to 6:15am: Hell Day Arms

More often than not this class is more running and stairs than any other during the week, so I was not expecting today to be a Hell Day.  I really enjoyed the formt of this class. Dan (The Instructor) just wrote a list of exercises and the total number we were to do in 45 mins. 

Dan more than any other instructor will come up with a Hell Day that just focus in on one area and just really makes you feel it.  I of coure refer to these a Hell Days.  We were allowed to do them in any order and break down the sets however we liked. We just had to start with 5 laps and end with 5 laps. Everything else was up to us. I really like this style because I am working out with the group but still doing things how I like.


Todays Totals:

5 Laps
300 Crunches
300 Squats with weights (I used 8 lbs)
50 Chin-ups (assisted)
100 Push ups
200 Arm extensions (hold your arms out straight like your a T, clap your hands in front, then clap over head. That is one.
100 Triceps extensions with weights 8lbs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yf_UATtNspc
5 laps

I began with the push-ups and chin-ups because I knew they would be difficult for me. I began the chin-ups with less assistance but hat to increase the amount as I progressed. I did 50 crunchs in between the sets of chin-ups and push-ups as my arms started getting tired. I didn't move from from these three exercise until I finished the Chin-ups. I then interspersed the remaining push-ups and cruchs with the other exercise. I was not able to finish everything in 45mins, but I did finish in well under an hour.

Wedensday's Sports Conditioning Class: Getting Easier

I am still way at the back of this class, but I am not skipping my reps, nor am I feeling like road kill after I finish the class. The off-day on Tuesday really helped. I felt rested and didn't wear down as fast as I had in the past. I was able to actually talk to other people in the class while I was running the stairs for the second week in a row. In the past, gasping was a challenge! All of the one legged squats that Have been doing with the strap have really begun to payoff. last week I could hardly do the one legged squats, but this week the first ten on each leg were not that hard. The second to still sucked but progress is progress!


Today's Workout:

A wide variety of abdominal totaling around 300 to 500 reps: (here are a few that stood out)
standard crunches: 50
bicycles: 50
vertical leg crunch: 50
crossover crunch: 25 each leg
half curl: 30

Main Workout:

back extensions: 20
forearm break down push & standard pushup: 10 each
fire hydrants: 25 each leg
8 flights of stairs and 4 laps around the track
resistance bands - standing biceps curls: 25
dips 15
incline pushups 10
walking lunges across the width of two basketball courts
squats 40
jump rope 50 skips
roman chair 1 min.
suicide down the gym
15 dips
10 incline & decline push-ups
one legged calf raises 20 each leg
side shuffles the width of two b-ball courts (down & back)
2 flights of stairs 10 leg raises on every other step
2 laps around the track
walking lunges across the width of two basketball courts
leg raises 20 each leg
jump squats 40
jump rope 150 skips
one legged raises 10 (each leg) **sit on a chair, or a bench and try to stand up using only one leg.**

Tuesday is an Off Day & Sweet Tooth Article

Instead of just writing about my workout only. I also plan to start righting about all things health related that strike my fancy. Tuesday was my off-day. I had been on and eight day gym rush and really needed a day to let my body heal and build new muscle. I often struggle with my off-days because I don't like to miss the gym and I often wait longer than I should to take a day off. Friday's were my initial off-day until I started taking circuit class on Friday. Now, I try no to plan an off day but use the days that I oversleep as the day I skip. However, this isn't really effective because my body need at least one day of rest at least once a week, and I don't oversleep that often. Tuesday's & Sunday's seem to be the best day to miss, because of the short gym hours on Sunday and the lack of a great class on Tuesday. But, I'll just have to wait and see how I do next week.

Off-days are always a problem because I feel like I have too much time on my hands. I find myself snacking more and craving sweets in order to stimulate my mind. This has been a major issue for me for most of my life. Food and boredom have always been linked for me. If I could not find something to do, then I would eat to pass the time. The same is true for me now. If I am having a slow day at work, I find myself standing in front of the vending machine much more often. Recently, my snacking has dropped off significantly, and I attribute that drop off to this Blog and some other small project that I have recently started. The article below is something that I stumbled across today and thought was pretty interesting.

Study Links Children's Sweet Tooth to Alcoholism, Depression - AOL News

There has never been a history of Alcoholism in my family, so I am not interested in speaking to that portion of the article. However, depression has been a major issue in my family along with issues with weight, and I really see these things as clearly related. I know that depression issues lead to both over-eating and poor eating habits in general, which more often than not leads to weight gain, poor self image, and a lack of self respect (some people might think that self respect and self image are the same thing, but I don't . . . at least not always). I have seen and experienced this relationship and cycle firsthand and know just how crippling it can be.

This article interested me because it was focused upon children and not adults, and considering all of the talk about childhood obesity these days, the article provides somemore insight into a subject that should be of great concern.

Workout High Evaporation

Hmm . . . I am wondering there is a mathematical equation that calculates the evaporation rate of a workout high. I mean, really, there has to be! Especially, when you consider the number of people who have devoted time to the study of Esperanto and that some douche scientist actually came up with the formula for happiness: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/2630869.stm. Well maybe that is not a good idea when you consider that the douche scientist, who came up with it looked like this:

 I am not saying that the guy looks like a complete tool, but he's not Brad Pitt now is he? He just looks like the type of guy that might be trying to figure out Happiness rather than just being . . . ummm . . . Happy. What is really sad about this is that now that I see this shitbag dude, I can't help thinking that the nimrod looks a bit like moi, and I should actually be posting a picture of the to of us with our arms around each other with stupid grins with the caption: Voici moi avec ma petit frère!!! Because I am sitting her bummed now that my workout high is gone, and I saw my rather rotund ass in my pajamas. Anyway, I know that I sound like a 17 year old girl, but oh well! Sometimes it is just difficult to face the fact that there will not be a quick way to get where I want to be. I may have done a great job with this morning’s workout, but it is not going to miracle my Hubba Bubba stomach into a set of washboard abs.  I also know that being "Happy" is not a math problem.  I am not looking for weight loss to make me happy.  I am pretty happy for the most part.  I am trying to do this because this is something that I have wanted to do for a long time, and I have found that I really do love workingout and exercise.  Math can't keep my mind right and neither can working-out (even if the number of reps passes 900).  Your mind only stays right through a combination of will, effort, and chance.  At least that is how things seems to be working these days in Locker 29! 

Plyometric Core (Plycore) Monday 5:45-6:45 AM: The 900

This class is the class that I enjoy most. It is intense and tests me in ways that no other class does. I really like our instructor, Dan. His classes are run heavy with a diverse selection of exercises, but he breaks up the reps in to manageable sets. You will still do a ton, but it is really rare that you find yourself passing 50 consecutive reps on any one exercise. Dan's classes were the first morning class that I took a the Y. Back in October, I went to his Thursday morning Plycore class; it nearly killed me!! I couldn't even do several of the exercises, but I did manage to stay for the whole 45 minutes. I doubt that anyone in the class that morning thought that I would return, but I was there the following Monday, and what awaited me was not pretty. My first 900!


The 900 is a series of exercise set up in rounds that Dan writes down on a dry erase board or gives you on a sheet of paper before class starts. The first round will total 300 reps, and each class member tries to do at least 900 reps in 45 minutes of class. If you complete you 900 in 45 mins, you keep going and see how much you can do. Some 900 are harder than other depending on what exercises are included. More difficult ones will involve lots of stairs, military push-ups, burpees, chin-ups, runs outside around the building, or suicides, but no 900 is ever easy. The first time I tried a 900 I skipped several exercise out right, and I skipped several reps of the exercise I did. Afterwards I felt like dying elephant! Before my second 900 Dan explained to the class that he didn't care how far we go, but he didn't want us to skip exercises. If it took you 5 mins. to do your pushups, then take the time but don't skip, you are not competing with the other class member. You are competing with yourself. Another thing that I like about this class is that Dan will often have on half of the class begin at the top of the page working their way down the list, while the other starts a the bottom and works up. This allows the Alphas to all go nuts, while the rest of the class does not feel like they are falling behind.

Today’s Menu:
warm up: 2 Laps around the track 1/15 of a mile

10 Chin-ups (assisted)
50 Lunges
20 Push ups
5 Box Jumps
50 Seated Crunches http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LVkKDebR8w
25 Dips
30 Squats
34 Wall Crunches: lay down on you back, butt and legs pressed flat against the wall, lift your arms straight in the air and bend at the waist.
33 Wall Crunches: lay down on you back, butt and legs pressed flat against the wall, lift your arms at an angel towards your knees and bend at the waist until you touch the wall.
33 Wall Crunches: lay down on you back, butt and legs pressed flat against the wall, extend your arms towards your hips and bend at the waist until you touch the wall.
Progressive & Regressive Suicides 4 lines each way
2 laps around the track.

X3 to equal 900!

Today I did this 4 times in 60 mins and made it to 1,200. It was the best I have done since I started going to the Y. When I finished I was dizzy, my foot was bleeding, and my upper lip had dried and cracked. I felt great!  We had not done one of these since early Dec. and this was the first time that I reached 900.  However, I wonder if I would have made it that far if this 900 had stairs.  Either way this was still impressive for me considering how far I've come in such a short time.

Packed House Workout: Super bowl Sunday

 Today was Super bowl Sunday and the Y was packed. Everyone wanted to get their workout in early, so they could enjoy the game. I decided to do a workout that would not require the use of much equipment or have me in the main workout areas. Locker 29 was waiting for me as was one of the empty aerobics class rooms!


Today's Workout:
30 minutes of skipping rope
10 one legged squats (each leg)
10 fire hydrants (each leg)
10 military push-ups10 one legged squats (each leg)
10 fire hydrants (each leg)
10 military push-ups
Cool down

This was about a 50 minute workout. The rope work exhausted me. I did lots of high knees and butt kicks, which were just brutal. For the high knees, I did intervals of 20 seconds work and 10 seconds rest, which does not sound like a lot, but is just brutal. My hip flexor has been really sore following this workout. I stretched it out and iced it after I finished. I am planning to apply some muscle cream before bed, so I hope that it won't get in the way of a good class tomorrow morning.

Saturday workout: Shifting Towards Intensity

I until recently, I use to take pride in the length of time I spent on each of my workouts. 90 minute workouts were pretty much the norm, but I am now changing my approach because my longer workouts were really lacking in intensity and not really effective. These workouts were filled with long periods of rest followed by quick, low weight, high rep count sets. Currently, I don't use any weights other than the occasional 10lbs. dumbbell, a kettle ball, and a weighted ball or bar. I think that I may need to add in some more weights later on, but right now I am really interested in weights. So, I am focusing on intensity exercises with short periods of rest designed to push myself father, but not to the point of injury.


Saturday's workout started with a 10 min. warm up, which was followed by three rounds of different exercises.



Round One:
5 burpees w/pushup
25 prisoner squats

5 burpees w/pushup
25 prisoner squats
5 assisted chin-ups

5 burpees w/pushup
25 prisoner squats
5 assisted chin-ups
15 squat jacks

Round 2:
100 high knees
25 alternating lunges each leg

100 high knees
25 alternating lunges each leg
25 mt. climbers

100 high knees
25 alternating lunges (each leg)
25 mt. climbers
25 bicycles

Round 3:
25 dips
10 one legged squats (each leg)

25 dips
10 one legged squats (each leg)
25 squats

25 dips
10 one legged squats (each leg)
25 squats
1 minute roman chair

cool down.

I didn't realize how difficult this would be until I midway into the second round. The high knees really stared to be more low knees by the end, and the one legged squats just hurt! I did this workout in a round 40 minutes and was a sweaty mess when I finished!

02/06/10 Where I Stand

The scale is fickle foe. Some days it seems to love you and on others it just wants to rip your heart out for sheer sport. I try not to obsess over it, but show me someone who is trying to lose weight and says that they don't care what the scale says, and I'll show you a liar. I weighed myself several times throughout the week, but I only count what it says each Saturday or Sunday. Yesterday, I weighed in at 281.5, which is .7lbs less than the last official weigh in I did. Not too bad. I know that I am in the midst of a weight loss plateau as far as pounds are concerned. My body is still changing for the positive, but I am not seeing the effects on the scale as much as I would like. From mid Dec. to early Jan, I had been shedding pounds like mad and got down to 278.6, but then went back up to 282.2 within a week. I am sure that this is due to a shift from fat loss to muscle gain within my body. I have tried to get use to these shifts and see them a normal.


Luckily this plateau has been accompanied by some positive developments. I had to move to a smaller belt, and I can now wear a pair of jeans that I could not get into two months ago and now the jeans are loose. Also the smaller belt is one I have had but couldn't use because it was two tight even on the first notch. When I tried it on this time I was able to bypass the first notch and almost use the third. So, I am happily using the second notch. So, this is where I stand. Not thrilled by the lack of progress on the scales, but happy with the way my body is changing.

Friday Morning Circuit Class 6:am to 7:15am + 30 min Jump rope

I got to the gym early enough to go to the Muscle class that is offered at 5 am, but I decided to Jump rope in the gym on my own for 30 minutes. I was still kind of sore from Thursdays and just thought that skipping rope would be better. After skipping rope, I joined the Circuit Class. This weeks exercises included:


burpees
one legged box jumps
dips
jumping jacks
incline push ups on stability ball
leg raises
side planks
ski mobiles
jumping lunges
squats
bridge hamstring curl on stability ball http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9f4GCUXvEo
roman chair
ball touches
and a type of crunch I can't describe and don't remember the name of at this time (edit to come)

in between each station we did 30 second intervals exercise:
jumpees (twice)
alternating lunges
jumping jacks
high knees
butt kicks

This was a pretty good workout. The stability ball exercises were difficult to do, and I'll need to work on them. I still don't enjoy ski mobiles. But overall, this was a good workout to end the week on. I was gassed at all like on Thursday. I just felt good.

Thursday Sports Conditioning Class 5:30 am to 6:15 am: The Big Ball of Hate

I normally take Plyometric Core (Plycore) classes on Monday and Thursday, which are taught by Dan. His classes are really tough, but a filled with lots of exercise that I both enjoy and with which I am familiar. However, Thursday morning’s class was a Sports Conditioning Class that was taught by Kim. I hate Kim! I hate in the best possible there is to hate another human being, but I hate her! She knows this because I've told her. Her class angers me: it angers me in the best possible way there is to be angered, but it does anger me!


Her class is very difficult because even though she uses a lot of the same exercises as Dan, she makes some changes to them that are like none of the other classes that I have taken at the Y. My body is just not accustomed to doing those exercises. Also, Kim is a fill in instructor, so I am not asking my body is not given the chance to get use to her style of exercise. The biggest difference between these two instructors is that Dan's class requires a lot more running while Kim's require more crawling and jumping.

The Workout (highlights):

The warm up from hell:
25 squatjacks
15 push ups
25 squatjacks
15 push ups
15 squat thrusts
10 ski mobiles
15 squat thrusts
10 ski mobiles with some kind of crazy butt kick at the end that nearly caused my collar bone to shatter!

The Routine:
10 burpees
4 flights of stairs with 8lbs weights (up & down)
once around the track with weights
10 burpees
4 flights of stairs with 8lbs weights (up & down)
once around the track with weights
up two flights of stairs & sprint around the track twice (the track is 1/15 of a mile) and down the stairs
walking lunges around the class room twice
Inchworm crawl back & forth across the room http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yr-HHgxXTqg&feature=related
walking lunges around the class room twice (repeat)
Inchworm crawl back & forth across the room (repeat)
15 mins of abs exercises with 6 lbs weight

(I was unable to complete my second round of abs exercises in the 45 mins of class and had to finish after class on my own.)

This class left me feeling really winded and battered. My shoulders were really hurting, but I am looking forward to Kim next class.  I try to think of this class like is a ball, not the spherical sort ball, but the formal dance sort of ball.  Only this is my own personal festival of anger and hate.  Everything has been planned out just to piss me off (in a good way) and make me push myself in order to spite the events planners.  Maybe I'm a loon, but as long as it gets me throught the day!

Wednesday Sports Conditioning Class: Atonement

After spending a day in exile, I was able to move back into Locker 29.  That is because I got to the gym a 5:30 am rather than pm.  I really enjoy Wednesday class; it is an ass kicker.  In fact, I have nicknamed the Weds. 6:00 am Sports Conditioning class at the Y taught by Teresa, the Atonement class. Some people might look at this class as more of a punishment class, but I see it as my chance to make amends for my past slothful ways. It is an unrelenting 45 min. to 60 min. excursion into a little place called: PAIN. I thought that I might actually pass out the first time I took this class. I use to dread every Weds and try to find reason to skip the class, but after about the fourth time I attended this class, I began to love it. Now, I look forward to it, and think of it as personal challenge.


Here are some important facts about this class, the instructor, and the people in the class:

1. Teresa is a former Drill Instructor and she carries herself as such. She does not yell, but she leaves not doubt in your mind about who is in charge of the class. Each exercise is a debt that you owe her, and you will pay that debt in full.

2. She piles on more reps than any of the other instructors and does NOT wait for everyone to finish an exercise before moving to the next. When the first person finishes an exercise, she tells you what is next an how many.

3. The class has about 25 members on average and most of these bastards people skip reps. I do NOT skip reps. I view skipping reps an indication of lack moral fiber. If you are physically unable to perform and exercise, then ask for an alternative because otherwise you are cheating yourself.

4. In all of the morning classes there is a core group of Type A personality types, who are out in front pushing each other and the pace of the class. This group has four primary members two guys and two girls (one guy is an NC STATE grad and the other is a UNC grad, and they make exercise a point of school pride). There are also two other people, who are not far behind them (another guy and girl).

5. This core group of alpha push the pace of this class and cause most of the other members to skip reps to keep up.

6. I am not an Alpha. My personality type is more A/B, but like I said, I do NOT skip reps. There are one or two other people in the class, who like me do not skip reps, but can not keep up with the Alphas. We are always far back, but we are always pushing ourselves to improve.

7. My goal is to one day catch up to the Alphas!


Today's Workout:

A wide variety of abdominal totaling around 500 reps. These exercises were included but there were others that I either can not describe or have forgotten the exact total or form.
standard crunches: 50
hip raises: 50
bicycles: 50
vertical leg crunch: 50
crossover crunch: 25 each leg
half curl: 30


back extensions: 20
forearm break down push & standard pushup: 10 each
fire hydrants: 20 each leg
resistance bands - standing biceps curls: 25
dips 15
walking lunges across the width of two basketball courts
leg raises 15 (each leg)
burpees + jumping jack (1 jack for each count of the burpees)
mt. climbers 40
jump rope 200 skips
heel raises 30 (each leg)
roman chair 1 min.
standing side leg raises 20 each leg
suicides across the width of two basketball courts
resistance bands - upright rows 25
resistance bands - kickbacks 25
incline & decline push ups 10 each
4 flights of stairs up and down & two laps around the track (each lap is 1/15 of a mile)
resistance bands - hip flexors 20 each leg
walking lunges across the width of two basketball courts
jump squats 40
jump rope 200 skips
one legged raises 10 (each leg) **sit on a chair, or a bench and try to stand up using only one leg.**
one legged roman chair 20 sec. each leg

This is where I had to stop because I needed to go to work. Other people had gotten farther, but I was happy to get this far.  I left this class feeling really good about my overall progress.  I can tell that I am in much better shape than I was awhile ago.  I am hoping that I can get better at writing about these classes because I feel a real sense of accomplishment when I write about them, and writing about these classes reminds me of what exercises were difficult, so that when I go back to the gym, I can try to work on improving.

Post Work Workout With My Wife

The re-freeze overnight kept me from attending my morning class, which was I didn't mind for several reasons:


1. It was a muscle class, which I am not too fond of in the least.

2. My wife had asked me to go to the gym with her in the evening, so I was already thinking about doing a double workout, which wasn't a good idea considering the miss days due to snow.

3. I woke up with a headache that was either caused by my sinus problems stemming from a broken nose I received playing racquet ball a few years ago, or it was rooted in my dream form last night, which was a figure skating. I HATE figure skating. In fact, I dislike it so much that I feel violated that any thoughts of figure skating penetrated my subconscious and caused me to dream about figure skating.

In my book, the origins of my headache are a tossup. What is important is that I made a good choice and went to the gym today at 5:30pm with my wife sans headache. However, a few things about my wife:

1. Even though she is supportive of my gym efforts, she is NOT a gym freak like me.

2. She is in pretty good shape and is just trying to maintain her weight and level of fitness.

3. She is on her feet all day at work, and I am not,

4. Her workout are over much faster than mine.

5. She will NOT workout with me. We ride in the car together, but once we go into the locker rooms, we pretty much go our separate ways.

Knowing that my wife would be ready to leave in or under 60 mins. I decided that today’s work out would be down and dirty. No Locker 29 today.  The place was slammed, so I had to take what I could get, so setteled into No. 18 and decided that I really wanted to push myself and see just what could do in a short amount of time.

Today's workout:

5 burpees
10 step ups (each leg)
10 push ups
20 vertical hip thrusts http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsjKNY_T2-4&feature=PlayList&p=939A09800D2C5DBB&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=76
25 bicycles
10 one legged raises (each leg) **sit on a chair, or a bench and try to stand up using only one leg.**
20 Prisoner Squats
6 flights of stairs (up & down)
5 assisted chin-ups

I did this three times in about 40 min. and was gassed.  When I finished this workout my eyes were totally bloodshot.  I looked like a stoner at 4:20 am on april 20th.  I couldn't tell if this was from the strian or because I had gotten sweat in my eyes, either one was possible.  Despite the red eyes, which quickly passed, this was a really good workout that produced a great sweat but didn't destroy me for tomorrow, which is good because tomorrows morning class is the most punishing classes one of the more challenging classes at the Y.

Post Cabin Fever Workout

For anyone unfamiliar with Raleigh, we get snow here maybe once a year. When it does snow people lose the freakin' minds don't handle it well. Some people rush to the store and stock up on enough food to feed a small army for a month, and other people decide that they should go out and play because they own a 4WD SUV. By play, I mean drive 60 mph because, you know, they have a FWD SUV, so it is best to stay off the road while these people are finding out that their SUV's steer like the Titanic when they are on a solid sheet of ice. To cut down on the mayhem, most businesses shut down with the first flake of snow, which is true for the Y I use.

Therefore, I was unable to workout for the last two days. Yes, I could have done something around my apartment, but I've had a few nagging strains that really needed to be rested, so I tried to treat this weekend as a needed respite. The Y Reopened today at 9am, which was not a problem because I didn't need to be at work until noon due to road conditions. Actually, my office is 5 mins.from my apartment so no worries! The key to Locker 29 was firmly in my hand by 10am, but all of the morning classes were canceled, which meant that I would be flying solo again today. Not really a bad thing when you consider I felt like this: http://croneandbearit.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/large_slug2.jpg

Today’s Workout:
Round 1
jump rope: 100 skips
suicides: 1
push ups: 10
crunches: 50

Round 2
jump rope: 100 skips
suicides: 1
push ups : 10
crunches: 50
prisoner squats with leg ups: 25

Round 3
jump rope: 100 skips
suicides: 1
push ups : 10
crunches: 50
prisoner squats with leg ups: 25
dips: 25

Round 4
jump rope: 200 skips
suicides: 2
push ups : 20
crunches: 100
prisoner squats with leg ups: 50
dips: 50
leg raises: 10 each side

This workout took me around 40 min. and was good for a first day back. I really needed this to keep feeling good about myself. Two days off is just about all I can handle without becoming an emotional washcloth getting into a funk. It feels good to have one under my belt. I am not sure what time the gym will open tomorrow, but I will more than likely do another solo workout tomorrow.