Tues. May 4th: The Wheel

I changed this workout up some because I was still having shoulder problems when I did it.  I enjoyed adding an interval protion to it because it kept me on a good pace.  Not that much to say here, I was just trying to get in a good sweat because I knew that I would be resting the next day.

The Workout:
Jump Rope 200 skips
One Long Lap
Four flights of stairs ( up & down)
2 laps around the gym
Crunches (90 seconds)
15 seconds rest
Crossover Crunch Left (90 seconds)
15 seconds rest

Crossover Crunch Right (90 seconds)
15 seconds rest
Bird dogs (90 seconds)
15 seconds rest
Fire Hydrants w/leg extentionJump Rope 200 skips

One Long Lap
Four flights of stairs ( up & down)
2 laps around the gym
Crunches (90 seconds)
15 seconds rest
Crossover Crunch Left (90 seconds)
15 seconds rest
Crossover Crunch Right (90 seconds)
15 seconds rest
Bird dogs (90 seconds)
15 seconds rest
Fire Hydrants w/leg extentionJump Rope 200 skips

One Long Lap
Four flights of stairs ( up & down)
2 laps around the gym
Crunches (90 seconds)
15 seconds rest
Crossover Crunch Left (90 seconds)
15 seconds rest
Crossover Crunch Right (90 seconds)
15 seconds rest
Bird dogs (90 seconds)
15 seconds rest
Fire Hydrants w/leg extention

23rd & 24th: The Wheels

The wisdom tooth pain had subsided by this point, but my jaw will take some months to fully heal, and these workout gave me a preview of what is to come. My strength is back on track, but when I run (on concrete is the worst) I feel every vibration right in my Jaw bone. It is bad at the beginning of the workout, in the middle I get use to it, but by the end--it is worse that it was to start with. However, I don't plan on shying away from this pain. I read a quote by Lance Armstrong the other day that has really made me think about the nature of pain and struggle:


"Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever."

Now, I know that I must respect the pain that I feel. Injuries can't be ingnored, but they are also not an excuse either. Honestly, I am begining to think that the are a gift (not like a Christmas present is a gift), but a gift like in the way that an unexpected second chance to make something right is a gift. That is how I am begining to see injuries. They are an opprotunity to see that circumstances could be much worse, the remind us just how frail an tentative our existence remains no matter how strong we feel. Injuries and pain add value to our struggles because if we didn't feel that pain or experience those injuries, we would never notice the progress that we have made or the distance we have traveled. That being said, injuries and pain are frustrating and dissappoint, some times beyond measure, but as Lance said they are temporary.

Workouts:
200 skips
2 long laps outside
4 stairs (Up& Down)
2 laps inside
10 dips
25 crossover crunches left
25 crossover crunches right
50 crunches standard
5 push ups

Sat. 4/10: The Wheel

I really enjoyed this workout, but it was more difficult than the past times that I had done it.  Changing up the order of the exercises increased the difficulty just as I thought it would.  Running on the track after doing the stairs is a lot more difficult that the other way around.  Therefore, this will be a permanent change to the way I do this workout.

The Workout;

200 skips

2 laps  around the building with side shuffles up the hill

4 flights of stairs
2 laps around the track
15 dips
25 Crossover crunches each side
50 standard crunches
5 push ups

I did this 5 times

Saturday Workout: The Wheel's Second Turn.

This was my second attempt at The Wheel, and it was a much better day for it. There was a nice breeze and very few people at the gym. The Pollen wasn't as bad at the time of my workout as it had been the day before, so the outside portions were not as difficult to take. I switched up the exercises a little and overall I liked this a great deal. However, I think that next time I will do the run outside, followed by the stairs, then the run inside. I want to make this change because in my classes I always struggle when I have to run laps after running stairs, and I know that I need to improve on how quickly my muscles adjust to the change. If I can adjust to this transition from climbing to running better, I am sure it will strengthen my quads. As it is now when I come out of the stairs my legs are so tight that I can't take a long stride until about the time that I am a third of the way around the track. I know that I suffer from tight quads and hamstrings, so targeting this area for improvement is really a must.

The Wheel:

200 Skips on the Jump Rope
2 laps around the track
2 laps around the buliding (Side Shuffles up the hillside)
4 flights of stairs (Up & Down)
15 dips
25 Cross Over Crunches Left
25 Cross Over Crunches Right
50 Standard Crunches
5 Push ups

I did this five times.

Friday Workout: The Wheel (prototype)

I've started a new solo workout that I am calling, The Wheel. I'm calling it this because it it sort of reminds me of a wheel because of all of the laps. I like this workout because I know that I need to run more and do more stairs. Stairs just take the wind right out of me, and I need to build up my stamina, therefore I will be doing some variation of this routine a lot in the coming weeks. There will always be four major components of the wheel: Jump Rope, Laps, Stairs, and Stationary Exercises. The jump rope portion will always be rep based rather than timed. The laps will be both inside laps on the track and outside laps around the building. Also, the outside portion along the hillside will be something like side laterals, back peddles, or high knees. The stairs will always be touch every step because that is more difficult for me than every other. I'll vary the stationary exercises with each workout, but the will be abs, dips, squats, or something similar.

Friday's  Wheel (prototype)

Since this was the first time I did this, I was trying to feel my way through and see just how far I could push myself.  The thing that worries me most about this routine is the pounding that my feet and shins will take. 

Jump Rope 200 skips
Laps on track: 2
Laps around the building (with back peddles up the hillside): 2
Flights of Stairs : 4
Prisoner Squats w/leg lifts: 15
Standard Crunches: 50
Cross Over Crunches Left: 25
Cross Over Crunches Right: 25

I did this three times.  I could have done more, but I was doing this in the afternoom and the pollen was really bad, and my eyes were really burning, so I thought it best to stop at three rounds.