Wednesday X-rays and Thursday Class.

I took Wednesday off from working out because I woke up with some swelling in my foot, appropriately enough, just below "the little piggy that stayed home."  I kept thinking that t would be just my luck to find out I have a broken foot or something the day after I decide to due my first half marathon.  Hiroko and I both could feel some swelling around the bone at the base of my toe, so it wasn't a case of my imagination run amok.  However, I could still move the toe, didn't have any discoloration, and could put weight on it (with some pain).  I was pretty sure that this was a sprain because I've sprained several fingers in the past and they felt a lot like this.  But, just to be on the safe side, a trip to the doctor would be on the agenda for Wednesday morning rather than a trip to the gym.  The doc agreed that I most likely injured the toe when I rolled my ankle.  I may not have noticed at the time because the ankle was hurting worse or I could have aggravated the toe recently, either way, I was off for X-rays.  Luckily, the x-rays came back negative, so it will be more sprain treatment for my foot!  I know that I shouldn't run on my foot until it heals, but  . . . I also know that I can run on it . . . if I am careful and take some precautions. So, of course, I'll run on it until it is clear that I can't. 

Thursday morning I went to Plycore class in the morning and had a great workout.  45 minutes, tons of core work, but a good full body workout that didn't put a lot of stress on my toe.  My foot is still swollen, but I have started treating it with ice and elevation.  I want to try to avoid anti-inflammatories if I can, but if things done improve, I'll add them in as well.   

Thursday Plycore: 8/9 Why I Have to Go to This Class!

Of all of the Classes at the Y, Dan's Thursday Plycore is the class that I hate to miss the most.  This was the first morning class that I attended, so it is the class that means the most to me.  My life changed with this class, and I hate to miss it or sit it out.  I know that some people might think the I am overstating things when I say that that one exercise class changed my life, but I wanted desperately to change the way I lived for my entire adult life, but I could never find the fortitude to change until that morning.  The class kicked my ass!!!  Seriously, I am sure that the people in the class feared that I would pass out and die right there in the middle of class.  I could even do half of the exercises that they were doing, and my only real goal was to not give up.  I'll be honest, about twenty minutes into class, I thought that these people are effing insane and I'll never be able to do this class, so I should just go home!  The exercises were difficult, but what was more difficult was fighting though the thoughts in my head.  I kept think that this was a huge mistake -- these people are wearing shirts from marathon's that they have run, and I can't even do ten push ups!  Thoughts like this just streamed through my head, but the clock kept moving and so did I.  When the class was over, I had done less than half of what everyone else had done, sweat twice as much, and smelled worse than everyone combined.  I doubt that any other the class members ever thought that they would see me again, but I knew that I would see them.  My wife took this picture as when I got home.  

That shirt is completely soaked in sweat, but if you notice , I am smiling! 

I guess that somewhere in my mind attending Thursday morning Plycore has come to mean that I haven't given up.  That I am still hanging in there, struggling to make all the changes that I desperately want to make.  So, on Wednesday night, I decided that I would return to Plycore Thursday morning. That night I set out all of my stuff, set my alarms for 4am, and went to bed at around 10pm. I had no problem getting up -- I actually woke up about 5 minutes before my first alarm.  I left my apartment, and when I walked through the doors to class was greeted by Dan and several of the class members, who asked how I was and said that they were wondering why I hadn't been in class.  It felt really good to be back.

However, I had to be realistic because they are primarily running stairs in the class, and there is really nothing that could be worse for my legs than stairs, and running stairs for thirty minutes straight would be beyond stupid of me.  I really do miss taking part in the morning classes.  Even though I almost always keep my I-pod on and don't talk that much I really enjoy being part of the group, which has made these solo workout all the more difficult. So I asked Dan How long he thought that they would be running stairs and he said about thirty minutes, so I told him I would Run 5 kilometers out side and join the class for the last 15 minutes of their workout, which I did.  It felt great to be back because without Plycore, my wife wouldn't have taken this picture of me getting my medal at my first 5K!

 

Thursday July 1st: Plycore -- All out of sorts workout

This class was a mess for me.  It started with pain in my Achilles.  Unfortunately, my foot just wasn't getting better, so I spoke with out instructor before class about doing an alternative to stairs in the workout, and we were able to figure out some exercises that would help to strengthen my Achilles.  However, I would have some other problems later in the workout that would keep me from even getting that far.  The next problem was that I could tell that I was getting sick.  I had been trying to fight off the sniffles all week, but I wasn't working.  I had been feeling rundown for a while now, but I was trying to chalk it up to depression from my wife being out of the country and fatigue from helping my cousin move and driving a lot, but as the week progressed I could tell that my body was fighting something.  But, I still  proceeded with the workout, but I misread what we were supposed to do and ended up doing a workout that was very different form the rest of the class.  It was still a good workout, but not what I was supposed to be doing.  It was just fitting when you consider how out of sorts I was feeling.

The Workout:

Run outside .6 miles
100 Crunches
5 chin ups
lap inside 1/15 of a mile
100 Crunches

100 Squats
5 chin ups
lap inside 1/15 of a mile
100 Crunches

100 Squats
50 push ups
5 chin ups
lap inside 1/15 of a mile
100 Crunches

100 Squats
50 push ups
5 chin ups
lap inside 1/15 of a mile

I messed this up because I was only supposed to do 100 Crunches, Squats, and 50 Push ups, not 400 crunches, 300 Squats, and 100 push ups!  I misread the directions and wasn't paying attention to what the rest of the class was doing because everyone was spread out and not everyone did things in the same order.

Thurs June 17: Plycore -- Reaching for Something New

This morning while I was working out, something happened, and the world seemed to only consist of me, the little stretch of road that I was running on, and the patch of blue sky above. I have heard that some people find there to a spiritual side of running and other people speak of a runners high. I am not sure that I know enough about what I am feeling yet to say that it is either of these, but something is happen. Each time that I run and really start to push myself, my mind just begins to relax, but my focus becomes more intense. I just get this amazing feeling of clarity and all of my thoughts seem so clear. And when I am running outside, I begin to notice things in a greater detail: the colors of the sky standout and I notice the sounds and smells around me much more than I have. I can explain the feeling of peace that comes to me as I am pushing myself farther and harder than I ever have in my life. I am sure that a skeptical person would say that this is just a chemical reaction caused by the release of adrenaline into my system, and that may be true, but that doesn't really matter. What matters is that I am beginning to feel a power, strength, and peace within myself that I have never experienced. Honestly, I feel like I am starting to unshackle the person within me that I always dreamt of being.

The workout:

Two short laps around the building (warm up)

6 flights of stairs up and down
10 Push ups
15 dips
10 kettlebell squat thrusts
5 Chin-ups
10 lunges each leg with 10lbs weights
Sprints: High knees, Butt kicks, wind print up the driveway
1 long lap
X3

26 flights of stairs up & down.

I finished this workout, but those stairs and sprints crushed me.

Thusday June 10th: Plycore -- Bacon and Eggs Run

Plycore continues to be my favorite at the Y because it is where my progress is most apparent to me. It was the first morning class that I attended, and the class always conjures up the memory of just how out of shape I was on that first morning. Today's class was not the killer that I thought I would be when I saw it on the board before class, but it did present its own unique challenge. Yesterday morning was humid but breezy, so running outside was too bad at first, until we passed by the hotel that sit a top the little hill we have to run up when we do our long lap. We passed by the hotel just as they were cooking up the morning breakfast. The air was thick with the smell of bacon and grease during the first lap. And on the second, it was worse because I was more tired from having just run up the hill for the second time, so I was sucking in big Hoover breaths just as the wind died down leaving that thick grease cardiac arrest incusing air to just fill my lungs. After about the big breaths I thought that I was going to spew! I felt like I was running through the kitchen of the Waffle House. Luckily, I was able to keep the contents of my stomach where they belong and continue with the workout. The rest of which was fine except trying to do Pull-ups with a sprained an d swollen finger is not fun in the slightest . . . Damn You Bosu (see my last post)!!!!!!!!!

The Workout:

2 Long Laps with a Sprints, Butt Kicks, and High Knees of the smaller driveway hillside beside the Y between the laps.

200 Crunches
100 Squats
100 Arm Extensions
50 Push ups
50 Dips
30 Chin-ups (damn you Bosu)
30 step ups (each leg)
10 Box Jumps
24 flights of stairs up and down
60 sit ups

Thursday June 3rd: Two-a-Day -- Nat'l Run Day & Roping

In the morning on Thursday, I went to Plycore.  It was a Nat'l Run Day!  I stuggled a bit with this one.  My left quad was really tight and would really burn while I was running up hill or up the stairs.  However, I was able to make the best of it.

The Workout:

2 long laps outside: .36 miles
20 Dips
20 push ups
50 crunches
20 curls 8lb dumbells
20 back extentions
6 flights of stairs up and down
5 pull ups

I did this three times in just over an hour.


In the afternoon, I returned and Jump Roped:

15 90second intervals with 15 seconds in between.

All in all, it was a good workout day.

Thursday Plycore: May 20th, Queue the Rocky music!!

Yes here comes the obligatory Rocky Post on my workout blog . . . but if you don't like it . . . I . . .uh . . . don't care . . . so, here it goes . . .


Trying hard now
It's so hard now
Trying hard now

Getting strong now
Won't be long now
Getting strong now

Gonna fly now
Flying high now
Gonna fly, fly, fly...

Ok . . . Ok . . . It's better with the music, but you know it . . . This workout left me with a real sense of accomplishment because I can just tell how far I have come is just a few short months. We ran two long laps outside, did 200 crunches, 50 push ups, 50 dips, 100 arm extensions, 25 chin ups (assisted for me), 10 box jumps, then we ran 20 flights of stairs up and down. All of this was followed by a nice ab session just for shits and giggles. The reason for making my obligatory Rocky Post now isn't because I finished at the front of the group (because I didn't) or because I crushed this workout (because I didn't do that either), it is because I went the distance. I wouldn't let myself quit, and for me that is a whole world of change. And that change is something that I've coveted for such a long time. To see it happening, to live it, brings me a personal joy that only comes from struggling to accomplish what you thought, deep down inside, that you would never have enough fortitude to accomplish. Somewhere in the midst of climbing all of those stairs, a feeling of self pride began to just take over and I could have climbed 100 flights before any inkling of giving up would have entered my mind. The rest of the class was just gravy at that point because I knew that those would have had me in a world of hurt two months ago, but on this day it was nothing but clear blue North Carolina Sky when I left the gym.

Thursday May 13th Plycore: The Closest thing to Vomiting.

The fact that I did not vomit in this class was enough to be proud of for me. I could have puked and felt good about it, but I didn't. Last week, I made a commitment to attacking my workouts, and I attempted to live up to this on Thursday.

We started this workout with two laps around the building, and this week I once again tried to push myself to run those laps all out. However, after the laps, we went right in to running stairs. We run up the fire stairs at the Y, so the stairwell is sealed off with heavy fire doors. It gets pretty musty and a little smelly when you have 15 or so people in stairwell running stairs at the same time. The Y is a three story building and each flight has a landing in between flights where you must make a 90 degree turn in order to continue to the next level. So to climb the two flights, you must four cases of stairs. That morning we had to climb up to the top and down 10 times without stopping. I was dizzy by the time I finished and really wished that I had not drunk my morning ice coffee before going to the Y. Once we finished we had several exercise to do to complete our warm up and it didn't matter which one we chose first, so I decided to do the 100 crunches next, which was wise because gravity was about to force my big ass to the floor regardless of my feeling on the matter. I finished the crunches and the rest of the warm up menu. And, I was able to keep up during the class group exercises, but then we went outside for Indian runs, and I was toast. I kept up for my first run, but as we started to run up hill, I was done. Toast! I went back inside and did some more while I waited for the rest of the class to come back, and as luck would have it, when they got back the instructor said it was time to do abs! So considering I had been doing abs already, this was the last thing that I wanted to hear. By the end, that ice coffee really wanted to make an encore, and when I got home, I had to wait for a while before I could eat anything. However, I really felt good about this workout and my ability to keep it together.

Thursday May 6th Plycore: Listening to Pre!

This was the first class that I attended since I hurt my rotator cuff. I had been working out, but I avoided classes because I wanted to avoid exercises, which might cause me to put too much strain on my shoulder. I was pretty eager to take this class because I had missed it the week before. Also, I had taken Wednesday off so my legs were feeling really fresh. I arrived at the gym early and started warming up with my jump rope, and as I did, I began to think about the way I had been working out recently. I realized that I hadn't been attacking my workouts. I had just been trying to set a pace for myself that would allow me to keep up with the pace of the class and finish the workout at or about the time that class ended. However, as I jumped rope, I started feeling really focused, the music from my i-pod fit my mood perfectly, and a sense of determination took hold of me. And, I knew that I need to attack this work! Not just this workout but every workout from the very start. It will be alright if I exhaust myself halfway through the workout. In fact, that should be my goal.

Steve Prefontaine said,

"A lot of people run a race to see who is fastest. I run to see who has the most guts, who can punish himself into exhausting pace, and then at the end, punish himself even more. "

This is how I need to work out. I don't want to injure myself, but I want to punish myself! Push myself farther and harder than I want to be pushed. If I am unwilling to do that then I am just wasting my time. So, we started out this class with two laps around the building, and normally I would hand around the middle of the pack and try not to be winded for our next exercise, but on this morning I sprinted out ahead of the rest of the class and pushed myself to run out the whole two laps. No slowing down or easing up. I was sucking wind by the time we got back inside, but I felt really good. Dizzy and maybe a little sick, but I felt good. Now, I would love to tell you that I was able to keep up that pace for the whole class and I found a new strength that I never knew was there, but life isn't like that as often as TV and movies would like us to think. By the end of class, I was wasted and nearly the last one to complete the workout, but I felt like I had worked harder than I've worked in some time.

Weds. 4/14 Sports Conditioning & Thursday 4/15 PlyCore (900) . . . Wisdom Tooth and a bad idea workout!

These two classes were both really good, but in all honesty, I don't remember exactly what I did in them in much detail. Following the Plycore workout I went to the dentist and was ambushed with a wisdom tooth extraction! Not fun . . .not at all. I know that during the sports conditioning class we did one legged hops up the stairs, which were not fun either, but still much more fun than having a giant tooth yanked from your head. The plycore class on Thursday was really good. I remember that we did a lot of push up, Squats, dips, abs, and lunges.

I was not able to work out for the next two days, and then on Sunday the 17th I jumped rope for 30 mins, which was a huge mistake. I felt really bad afterward. In fact, I felt so bad that I ended up taking the following day off from work. this workout may have also been what caused my dry socket, which is also very un-fun! the dry socket lasted until this weekend, but didn't slow me down too badly once I got some clove oil.

PlyCore 4/8: great warm up Workout!

This workout was only special because the workout the day before had lacked energy so badly that I really need to get a good workout in the books. I always enjoy plycore class, I had recently been struggling with the class because the warm up portion of the class have been pretty brutal. Lots of core and weight exercise and very little running or abs. This is really hard on me this early in the morning. I really need to get my blood flowing, so I seem to do better on days when I can get my heart rate up early in the workout. This day was pretty much the same, but I was able to handle it much better. I think that I can attribute my level of enjoyment to my own warm up before the class began. I arrived a bit early so I was able to Jump rope for about 10 mins. before class began and it really seem to payoff for me. I just felt more energetic than I had felt recently. Also, the running portion of the class wasn't that difficult, so I was able to keep up with the rest of the class and join in the abs section at the end, which a rarity for me. The ab portion of the class was great and what I needed.

Thursday April 1st: AM Plycore & PM Bicycle Ride at Lake Johnson

Plycore Class was a lot like it has been for the last two weeks, so I am not going to go into a lot of details other than the fact that the warm up was more difficult: more push ups and chin ups. Other than that, the class was about the same. I have come to notice something about the people that take Plycore vs. those that take Sports Conditioning. There is a group of us who go to both classes, but there is also a group that only comes to SC and a group that only comes to PC. And for the most part, the PC group seems to be made up people who are in really good shape and training for some event. SC, however, has a much wider selection of people. For a long time I thought that this was because of the name or maybe the instructor, but I have recently come to the conclusion that the 30 mins difference in there start times is the main reason for the difference in who takes the class. Plycore starts at 5:30 am and sports Conditioning begins at 6:00 am, and I think that the line between people who just want to workout before work and people who are devoted to a certain level of fitness is found somewhere around 5:45 am. Also, Plycore offers a much greater opportunity to skip reps because we use the whole gym and the instructor is almost always working out alongside the people at the very front of the class, so the people lagging behind are on the honor system, but you will hardly ever see people in Plycore skipping reps. So, if you ever wonder just how devoted a person is to working out and training, just look to the 5:45 am line of commitment.

That afternoon, My wife and I went for a Bike ride at Lake Johnson in Raleigh. It was my first time to visit the lake and my wife's second. The lake has a paved trail that goes around about half of the lake and an unpaved trail that goes around the other half. We only went on the paved portion because my bike is not set up for rough terrain. I really enjoyed the course, which had a few nice sized hills. It was a really nice day,so there were a lot of people so we couldn't get up a lot of speed for the hills, which made them a bit tougher than they needed to be, but also a good little workout. Overall, we had a good time, but the pollen was really bad and hit my wife's allergies hard.

The Ride was 5.46 miles

Weds. Sports Conditioning & Thurs. Plycore:

Ok. My Weds. & Thurs. classes were about the same as last week, so I will not give a breakdown of the exercises because you can see them elsewhere on this blog. So, I am going to make this post about the one thing that was different about these classes: the smell! It is unfortunate that there is a person in our classes who does not practice proper hygiene. I am not writing this to try to embarrass anyone (I doubt that anyone from my gym even knows that I keep this blog). I am writing because it is a real problem that has been going on for a while, and I am really not sure how much more I can take. I am usually the type of person, who likes to confront problems head on rather than leave things unspoken, but in this case, it just does not feel right. I just can't bring myself to go up to a person and tell them that they stink, and this person does in fact--stink. It is to the point that I have almost been nauseous. At first, I thought that the person might have some sort of medical condition, but as time has gone by, I am pretty sure that they are re-wearing gym clothes without washing them. I have noticed that the smell is worse on days that their clothes appear more wrinkled and nearly non-existent when the clothes look like they are fresh from the drawer. All of the regulars from the morning classes are aware of this problem, and we know to avoid the culprit. However the person often comes in late, and if class has started, you'll smell their presence before you know that they are there. We have complained to the gyms staff, but nothing has been done about it to my knowledge. I am really afraid that one day, I am just going to snap and say something. In fact, Thursday was almost that day.



Weds. class was bad, but it takes place in a open gym, so unless the person is right beside you, you are alright until you have to run the stairs! Once you hit the stairs, the smell is motivation to leave nothing in the tank and hit those stairs with a purpose. So Weds. passed for me with just a mild amount of aggravation because, I knew that it could be much worse, and much worse it got on Thursday! A large part of Plycore class takes place in a small aerobic studio, and the olfactory offender, true to form, came in late and took the spot right beside me. One of the first exercises we did were arm extensions. Honestly, the air was so ripe that I had to leave the class and exercise in the hallway outside the room. I felt sick for the rest of the class, and by the time we started running the stairs, I was in a nasty mood. I couldn't enjoy my workout, and I was so upset that following class I had to speak with one of the staff members. Personally, I need to be in these workout classes. They really help me push myself, but this person's lack of hygiene is pushing me. I hope that the staff will say something either directly to the person or to the class as a whole.

Here is an article about Gym Etiquette

Thursday Plycore and a Bicycle Ride

The time change still had me a mess on Thursday.  Despite being on time for class, I just never felt as good this week as I did the week before.  The class was great and I enjoyed the workout, but I never got in sync.  This was another big running class, and it had an outside portion as well.  However, it was just a bit colder than last week, which wasn't any real problem after the first couple of laps.  In the Afternoon, my wife and I went for a bike ride along one of Raleigh's Greenways that runs near our apartment.  It runs from Meridith College to the NC Museum of Art, which is a really cool place to bike.  The entire course is paved and takes you over several good sized hills; the course is 5.8 miles round trip from my door and has a lot of cool sculptures (like the one above) built in to the course.  We couldn't have asked for a nicer day for this ride.  Now that the weather has started to improve and my wife has a bicycle, I know that I will be much more active in the evenings after work and on the weekends, so I am hopeful that I will really start to see the pounds fall off as the warmer months.  I can't think of a time since childhood where I have been looking forward to summer more.

The Workout:

4 laps around the Track
50 Push Ups
100 Crunches
100 Arm Extensions

2 laps around the outside of the bldg.
20 squat presses w/8lbs. dumbbells
2 flights of stairs Up & Down

2 laps around the outside of the bldg.

20 squat presses w/8lbs. dumbbells

15 push up on a flipped bosu

4 flights of stairs Up & Down

2 laps around the outside of the bldg. 

20 squat presses w/8lbs. dumbbells

15 push up on a flipped bosu

20 lunges (each leg) w/8lbs. dumbbells

6 flights of stairs Up & Down

2 laps around the bldg.

PM 5.8 Mile Bicycle Ride

Nat'l Run Day III, Out Running Myself: Thursday Plycore

Yes, this class qualifies as another National Run Day. But, more importantly, this class marks a very significant change for me. When I started taking these morning classes, the first class that I took was a Thursday Plycore class. It was mid-September and still warm, so Dan was having us run our laps outside around the building. I remember by the second warm up lap I was so winded that I was walking part of the way. At the time, I felt kind of in shock about my poor conditioning because I had been working out for a while and could see an improvement from where I had been at the beginning of the summer. But, on that morning in September, as I tried to force my feet to move it struck me just how far I had to go if I really wanted to get healthy.

Since that day, I have attended nearly every week day morning class while continuing to work out on the weekends. I have noticed a huge improvement in body as the weather has gotten bad and we move our workouts inside. It has been easy to put that first class out of my mind, but yesterday the weather was nice in the morning, and Dan had us run outside for the first time in about four months. As we started our first lap around the building, I wasn't thinking about that first morning at all. I had settled into my normal position towards the back of the group, but I was keeping up. However, I started to think about that first morning as I ran up the little hillside that begins each lap. I could feel my pace beginning to pick up as I approached the spot where I had to start walking on that first morning. Something in me was not content to just keep walking. I had to open up my gate and leave that person behind. I felt good as I picked up speed and soon I noticed that I was passing my classmates one by one. By the time we entered the building again I was leading the class. But, I didn't care because frankly, in my mind there were only two people running out there: me and the guy that showed up to that class six months ago. Honestly, the rest of this workout was pretty unimportant. I couldn't maintain my pass and my classmates passed me, but I never stopped. I ran around that building six more times and never stopped.

The Workout:

2 laps around the building
20 Clean and Jerks 8 lbs dumbbells (10 each arm)
20 push ups
5 Squat Jumps
4 flights of stairs (up and down)
5 chin ups
sprints/butt kicks/ high knees up the hill

X4

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.

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.

   

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.