WOW it's been a long time. Not that my last workout was way back in April, or anything. I just haven't been updating this blog for life reasons. But I figure it's time to get serous about things and get back into it.
Life/workout updates:
1. I went to Canada for yoga teacher training and had an amazing, life-changing experience. Truly incredible. However, that month was so physically exhausting on the yoga/brain end of things that side workouts I had planned, like keeping up my marathon training and doing a weekly Bodyrock on my day off, did not happen. I was just a zombie, physically. It was basically 4:45am - 11pm, every day but Saturday, nonstop for a month, and each of those days had 4 hours of hot yoga asana. My body literally rebelled when I tried to toss in a run here and there so I just stuck to a weekly 3-miler to at least keep my body used to the CONCEPT of running and left it at that.
2. Upon return, I got immediately back into marathon training because I'd missed a whole month. Then I promptly broke my right pinky toe. Holy shit it took forever to heal (and actually still tweaks on longer runs). I was effectively benched running-wise for another month.
3. Cue August and me starting to panic about marathon training. I put together a revised training schedule and if I stick to it EXACTLY then I might just make it through the marathon without collapsing/dying/barfing/any of the above.
4. Last week or so: right knee has decided to put up a fight about all this running. It feels both stiff and loose at the same time and snaps ominously every time I go up stairs or do a squat. There's no pain as of yet, and I have a little knee support sleeve for running now, but I am basically walking around in terror that it's going to blow at any moment. We'll see what happens.
5. Thanks to all the running and a long car trip up to Canada and back, I've made it through books 1-3 of A Song of Ice and Fire, and am now on A Feast of Crows. It's a different guy reading it all of the sudden, but he doesn't pronounce Brienne's name correctly, either (he does say Petyr right, though, that's a plus).
So, where am I at, workout-wise? Pretty bad, actually. In an effort not to completely exhaust myself, I've been running and doing yoga and that's pretty much it. I feel like I'm gaining weight, though--which makes sense, due to the increased steady state cardio and necessary carb intake that goes with it--so I've decided to start throwing in some Bodyrocks and other stuff occasionally.
No run this morning, so I took River to the dog park and came back to do a Bodyrock. Holy shit I'm out of shape. Not a month ago, I was saying on the 14 Day Challenge blog that Bodyrocks were getting easier. No more! Shit it was hard. It was 20 minutes of 10/50 second intervals, with 10 exercises in a circuit done twice. I knew I only had time to do the circuit once, and even that one time through was really fricking hard. I just felt like I had no energy. Also, there was a lot of squatting and lunging involved in this one, and all I could think about was that it was going to make my five-mile hill workout tomorrow brutal and that was going to be awful and oh god why am I putting myself through this marathon nonsense? Couple that with the terrifying snapping of my knee on each squat and it was a pretty bad workout, all told.
I followed up my workout with a shake of whey protein, a fig, frozen blueberries and strawberries, coconut milk, and an egg. In my lunchbox I packed two burgers, some romaine leaves for buns, some cheese, 3 hardboiled eggs, some baby carrots, and some greek yogurt with more berries. In case you didn't notice, my fruit intake has increased a bit form the usual. Just me trying to pack in the carbs for running in the healthiest way I can. I've also become a Cream of Rice convert. I kind of can't wait till this marathon is over and I never have to eat a carbohydrate ever again.
Showing posts with label Bodyrock. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bodyrock. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Bodyrock: My Buns Hurt
Whoops, have forgotten to update the blog in several days. I think it's because I've been doing a lot of running, and while I like it, it's not really a scintillating workout deserving of all kind of blog space. Anyway, yeah, I ran Saturday and Monday. Monday I also did a super-fast interval workout: 5 rounds of 10 pushups, 10 seconds on, 10 seconds rest. I had to squeeze it in after my run and before showering quick and running to my EMS shift.
Yesterday I did nothing because I felt like I was coming down with a cold, and my mom is sick, so I just rested. I did take River for a long walk, though. Mostly because I didn't feel like driving to the dog park. I was bushed.
Today I did Bodyrock's My Buns Hurt workout. It was hard in a cardio sort of way, and my legs really burned during the workout, but I didn't feel wrecked after or really sore hours later. Maybe I'm actually--gasp--improving my fitness? NO WAY
Here is the link to the workout. It was in four parts:
Part 1 - Sandbag lunge back and press up & squat leg lift
Jesus that's a long title. Anyway, this involved starting in a half-squat, lunging back on one leg while lifting your sandbag above your head, returning to the start position, and then lifting the lunging leg to the side 90 degrees. That's one rep. Do 40 reps for time, alternating legs.
My time: 4:48
Part 2 - Rocket launchers
This was fun. Basically you're in a squat the whole time and you jump your feet together, then back out, then back in, and after the third jump you jump up into the air, straight body. Then on the next rep it's out, in, out. Keep alternating thusly. This was intervals, 15 seconds on/5 seconds rest. Sweat was really starting to pour by the end of this.
Reps: 6, 6, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 6, 6, 6, 5, 6
Part 3 - Kick ups
I love/hate these. This particular workout had us doing the weird turny crawl thing that Zuzana's been incorporating lately, and I did it at first but then stopped because I just didn't have the room to do it properly. So I just stayed in the crab position and took couple seconds of rest between each set of 5 kick ups. I actually felt like it was harder that way. My arms were killing me, holding me up that long. This was 20 sets for time.
My time: 3:51
Part 4 - Holy eff OW (...I mean, Jump Lunges/Mountain Climbers)
As Zuzana promised, this was total burnout. If you watch the video of her doing the workout, she stops many times and whimpers, "Ow ow ow!" It's ROUGH. It's 10/10 second intervals back to back, no rest, going from jump lunges to mountain climbers. I wanted to die. Also I had no way of keeping track of my reps without a rest period but suffice it to say, I was pouring sweat and my heart rate was through the roof by the end of this. And it was only 4 minutes (12 intervals)!
Food this whole week has been great. With my mom on Whole30, I've been cooking awesome dinners for us, and haven't had any real trouble sticking to it. Tonight I didn't even have dinner, I just had an omelette early in the day and then a shake after my workout.
Tomorrow I may do Crossfit because the Bodyrock workout looks like more glutes stuff and I don't want to overtax the bum.
Yesterday I did nothing because I felt like I was coming down with a cold, and my mom is sick, so I just rested. I did take River for a long walk, though. Mostly because I didn't feel like driving to the dog park. I was bushed.
Today I did Bodyrock's My Buns Hurt workout. It was hard in a cardio sort of way, and my legs really burned during the workout, but I didn't feel wrecked after or really sore hours later. Maybe I'm actually--gasp--improving my fitness? NO WAY
Here is the link to the workout. It was in four parts:
Part 1 - Sandbag lunge back and press up & squat leg lift
Jesus that's a long title. Anyway, this involved starting in a half-squat, lunging back on one leg while lifting your sandbag above your head, returning to the start position, and then lifting the lunging leg to the side 90 degrees. That's one rep. Do 40 reps for time, alternating legs.
My time: 4:48
Part 2 - Rocket launchers
This was fun. Basically you're in a squat the whole time and you jump your feet together, then back out, then back in, and after the third jump you jump up into the air, straight body. Then on the next rep it's out, in, out. Keep alternating thusly. This was intervals, 15 seconds on/5 seconds rest. Sweat was really starting to pour by the end of this.
Reps: 6, 6, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 6, 6, 6, 5, 6
Part 3 - Kick ups
I love/hate these. This particular workout had us doing the weird turny crawl thing that Zuzana's been incorporating lately, and I did it at first but then stopped because I just didn't have the room to do it properly. So I just stayed in the crab position and took couple seconds of rest between each set of 5 kick ups. I actually felt like it was harder that way. My arms were killing me, holding me up that long. This was 20 sets for time.
My time: 3:51
Part 4 - Holy eff OW (...I mean, Jump Lunges/Mountain Climbers)
As Zuzana promised, this was total burnout. If you watch the video of her doing the workout, she stops many times and whimpers, "Ow ow ow!" It's ROUGH. It's 10/10 second intervals back to back, no rest, going from jump lunges to mountain climbers. I wanted to die. Also I had no way of keeping track of my reps without a rest period but suffice it to say, I was pouring sweat and my heart rate was through the roof by the end of this. And it was only 4 minutes (12 intervals)!
Food this whole week has been great. With my mom on Whole30, I've been cooking awesome dinners for us, and haven't had any real trouble sticking to it. Tonight I didn't even have dinner, I just had an omelette early in the day and then a shake after my workout.
Tomorrow I may do Crossfit because the Bodyrock workout looks like more glutes stuff and I don't want to overtax the bum.
Friday, April 15, 2011
Bodyrock: Hot in Here
It's definitely warming up in the nation's capital, thank goodness. Although we are supposed to get rain tonight and tomorrow morning... but that's okay, because I've had a couple nice days of sunshine and running.
Today I took River to the dog park for a good two hours in the morning. I just sat on the bench and read (I'm in the middle of Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer, which is fascinating) while she romped around with the dogs. Then when we got back in the car, I realized that the sun is strong enough already to wreak havoc on my skin. I have really weird skin that freckles only on my face and tans like crazy on the rest of my body. After sitting in the mid-morning sun for two hours my skin was cray-cray freckled. Thankfully they fade pretty fast, but I immediately hightailed it to the Whole Foods for a) the week's meat shopping and b) a good all-natural face sunscreen, for those days when I don't wear makeup (my makeup has SPF but since I work from home a lot I rarely wear it). I grabbed a Kiss My Face sunscreen with SPF 50 and called it a day. I don't know how much I believe that SPF 50 is any better than your typical SPF 15 or 30, but whatever, it smells nice and it didn't wear off when I went running later. I'm super picky about what I put on my face, so all in all, a good buy.
My run was nice. Two miles in bright afternoon sunshine. For some reason, my calves were really tight and tired, but it was still a relatively easy run. However, my new Nike sport watch is just not working out. I initially had a different one that worked perfectly, but I exchanged it for a different color, and now this one is just a lemon. The distance is NEVER right, no matter how many times I calibrate it. And the distance being wrong throws off all the other measurements. It's essentially useless. I'm returning it and just using the Nike + on my ipod as a stopgap until the Nike GPS watch finally comes out (SERIOUSLY, when will this be available to purchase?! It's been forever since it was announced, and now it's only available in the UK--WTF?!).
In more tech news, my ipod shuffle finally died. It just won't hold a charge anymore. Two years, people, two years. I think that's pretty damn good for a device the size of my thumb that cost me 50 bucks, and that I have put through ridiculous amounts of rain, sweat, heat, and freezing cold. Tomorrow will see me at the Apple store purchasing one of those new touchscreen nanos, which I'm ambivalent about because the tiny touchscreen is annoying to use while running, but I really want the radio, pedometer, and Nike + integration that it offers. Also, I have to admit that now that I'm more into listening to podcasts and books on tape while I run, having a way to actually access my song listings, rather than just the shuffle button, is key. It is dang hard to tell where you are in a book when the shuffle starts up.
Hanyway. When I got back from my run, I did today's awesome workout courtesy of Bodyrock.tv. Here's the link to the workout so you can look at it. Explaining her moves is hard sometimes.
Part 1: Sandbag Step Ups Combo
Take your sandbag, hoist it onto your right shoulder. Step onto the chair next to you and back down the other side. Complete three of these step ups. Then, when you've stepped down the third time, extend your right leg behind you into a lunge, sink down, then bring your knee to your chest. Do that three times. Switch the sandbag to your other shoulder. That's one set. The workout was 20 sets for time, switching shoulders and active legs on each set.
My time: 6:42
Z's time: 7:59
I absolutely do not count this as a win because I'm pretty sure her sandbag is 5x heavier than mine. Mine is totally makeshift right now, as I have not yet procured the rice I'll fill my bag with, and instead just wrapped my two 5lb dumbbells in a couple towels and stuffed them inside the bag. So it's only like 12 lb, tops. This round was basically not that hard, and I could definitely have done a lot more weight. I'll be visiting the international food store tomorrow for some giant bags of rice.
Part 2: Pike Jumps & Pushups Combo
Start in sort of a loose down dog with your hands on your mat and your feet together beside one edge of the mat. Jump and kick your legs to the other side of the mat, back and forth three times. Then do two traveling pushups. That's one set. This is hard to explain so just go watch her do it on Bodyrock. The round was 6 30:10 second intervals, doing as many sets as possible in the 30 seconds and resting the 10 seconds. This was fricking hard and I had to switch to knee pushups halfway through because my arms were just burning too much.
My sets per interval: 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 2
Z's sets per interval: 5, 3.5, 3, 3, 2.5, 2.5. Yeah, she's a beast. I have no earthly clue how she squeezed 5 sets into a measly 30 seconds. And I'm certain she didn't take any rests mid-interval like I did.
Part 3: Crab Toe Touches
Start in a crab-walking position. Reach one leg up to the sky while reaching the opposite arm to touch the toe. Alternate back and forth. This round was 50 reps for time. It was hard. My arms literally gave out and sent me crashing to the ground twice.
My time: 2:09
Z's time: 1:36
Another really fun, hard, great workout! Thanks, Bodyrock.
For dinner I made trouts baked with ghee, herbs, and lemon, with bacon-wrapped asparagus on the side. I also had a protein shake post-workout.
Tomorrow it's supposed to rain. I might do Bodyrock, might do Crossfit, probably won't run. We shall see.
Today I took River to the dog park for a good two hours in the morning. I just sat on the bench and read (I'm in the middle of Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer, which is fascinating) while she romped around with the dogs. Then when we got back in the car, I realized that the sun is strong enough already to wreak havoc on my skin. I have really weird skin that freckles only on my face and tans like crazy on the rest of my body. After sitting in the mid-morning sun for two hours my skin was cray-cray freckled. Thankfully they fade pretty fast, but I immediately hightailed it to the Whole Foods for a) the week's meat shopping and b) a good all-natural face sunscreen, for those days when I don't wear makeup (my makeup has SPF but since I work from home a lot I rarely wear it). I grabbed a Kiss My Face sunscreen with SPF 50 and called it a day. I don't know how much I believe that SPF 50 is any better than your typical SPF 15 or 30, but whatever, it smells nice and it didn't wear off when I went running later. I'm super picky about what I put on my face, so all in all, a good buy.
My run was nice. Two miles in bright afternoon sunshine. For some reason, my calves were really tight and tired, but it was still a relatively easy run. However, my new Nike sport watch is just not working out. I initially had a different one that worked perfectly, but I exchanged it for a different color, and now this one is just a lemon. The distance is NEVER right, no matter how many times I calibrate it. And the distance being wrong throws off all the other measurements. It's essentially useless. I'm returning it and just using the Nike + on my ipod as a stopgap until the Nike GPS watch finally comes out (SERIOUSLY, when will this be available to purchase?! It's been forever since it was announced, and now it's only available in the UK--WTF?!).
In more tech news, my ipod shuffle finally died. It just won't hold a charge anymore. Two years, people, two years. I think that's pretty damn good for a device the size of my thumb that cost me 50 bucks, and that I have put through ridiculous amounts of rain, sweat, heat, and freezing cold. Tomorrow will see me at the Apple store purchasing one of those new touchscreen nanos, which I'm ambivalent about because the tiny touchscreen is annoying to use while running, but I really want the radio, pedometer, and Nike + integration that it offers. Also, I have to admit that now that I'm more into listening to podcasts and books on tape while I run, having a way to actually access my song listings, rather than just the shuffle button, is key. It is dang hard to tell where you are in a book when the shuffle starts up.
Hanyway. When I got back from my run, I did today's awesome workout courtesy of Bodyrock.tv. Here's the link to the workout so you can look at it. Explaining her moves is hard sometimes.
Part 1: Sandbag Step Ups Combo
Take your sandbag, hoist it onto your right shoulder. Step onto the chair next to you and back down the other side. Complete three of these step ups. Then, when you've stepped down the third time, extend your right leg behind you into a lunge, sink down, then bring your knee to your chest. Do that three times. Switch the sandbag to your other shoulder. That's one set. The workout was 20 sets for time, switching shoulders and active legs on each set.
My time: 6:42
Z's time: 7:59
I absolutely do not count this as a win because I'm pretty sure her sandbag is 5x heavier than mine. Mine is totally makeshift right now, as I have not yet procured the rice I'll fill my bag with, and instead just wrapped my two 5lb dumbbells in a couple towels and stuffed them inside the bag. So it's only like 12 lb, tops. This round was basically not that hard, and I could definitely have done a lot more weight. I'll be visiting the international food store tomorrow for some giant bags of rice.
Part 2: Pike Jumps & Pushups Combo
Start in sort of a loose down dog with your hands on your mat and your feet together beside one edge of the mat. Jump and kick your legs to the other side of the mat, back and forth three times. Then do two traveling pushups. That's one set. This is hard to explain so just go watch her do it on Bodyrock. The round was 6 30:10 second intervals, doing as many sets as possible in the 30 seconds and resting the 10 seconds. This was fricking hard and I had to switch to knee pushups halfway through because my arms were just burning too much.
My sets per interval: 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 2
Z's sets per interval: 5, 3.5, 3, 3, 2.5, 2.5. Yeah, she's a beast. I have no earthly clue how she squeezed 5 sets into a measly 30 seconds. And I'm certain she didn't take any rests mid-interval like I did.
Part 3: Crab Toe Touches
Start in a crab-walking position. Reach one leg up to the sky while reaching the opposite arm to touch the toe. Alternate back and forth. This round was 50 reps for time. It was hard. My arms literally gave out and sent me crashing to the ground twice.
My time: 2:09
Z's time: 1:36
Another really fun, hard, great workout! Thanks, Bodyrock.
For dinner I made trouts baked with ghee, herbs, and lemon, with bacon-wrapped asparagus on the side. I also had a protein shake post-workout.
Tomorrow it's supposed to rain. I might do Bodyrock, might do Crossfit, probably won't run. We shall see.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Bodyrock: Yeah!
Oh Zuzana. Ow.
Like I said last night, it was heartening to see that even Zuzana's perfect little self had to take gasping rests during this insane workout. I sure had to take rests, too. But I didn't skip a single interval, didn't shorten any reps. I did the whole workout. Whoo! This is what it was:
Part 1:
Pushup and Monkey Kick, 30 reps for time
This was a one-two set of basically a burpee followed by spinning your crouched body around and kicking the opposite leg in an arc behind you. Go here to watch the video and see what I'm talking about, because it's hard to explain. The 30 reps were actually less difficult than I was anticipating, but still really hard.
My time: 4:48
Z's time: 3:42
Part 2:
Cartwheel and Mountain Climber, 5:10 second intervals, 24 sets
You do a full cartwheel (that takes up the 5 seconds) and then do 10 seconds of Mountain Climbers. This was REALLY BRUTAL. Thankfully, due to childhood gymnastics, I've always been able to do a perfect cartwheel, but around... oh... set 15-ish of the mountain climbers, my arms were shaking so hard that when I lifted up into the cartwheel I was worried I was going to crash back down and break my neck. Thankfully this didn't happen, but on the last five or so sets, I definitely only did about 7 of the 10 seconds, gasping the last three seconds until the next cartwheel.
24 sets = 6 minutes.
Part 3:
3x Jump Lunge and Front Kick, 50 reps for time
ABUH THIS WAS SO HARD! You start in a lunge and jump, switching legs to a lunge on the other side, repeat two more times. Then with the leg that's behind you, you kick forward and up into a high kick. 50 REPS! Dear Christ. I took a ten-second breather every 10 reps, and nearly cried when I finished, I was so happy to be done.
My time: 6:14
Z's time: 7:43 YYYEAAAAHHH I BEAT ZUZANA! Nevermind that she was probably going twice as deep in her lunges and twice as high in her kick. I'm still calling that a win.
My time: 6:14
Z's time: 7:43 YYYEAAAAHHH I BEAT ZUZANA! Nevermind that she was probably going twice as deep in her lunges and twice as high in her kick. I'm still calling that a win.
All in all, the Yeah! workout was really difficult, I sweated my ass off, and I feel awesome now. Time for the dog park with River!
In food news, my mom really wants to do Whole30. Any interest she has in eating better/exercising is something I want to cultivate, so I told her I'd do Whole30 again with her. We're starting tomorrow (I have to go grocery shopping). I had no real problem doing it the first time around and really appreciated the benefits; I definitely enjoyed this past week of cheats like chocolate and cheese, but all in all, I'm glad to get back to super-clean eating.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Back to the drawing board
What a year. I'm back to this blog after basically a full year away. I definitely didn't stop working out--in fact I feel the past year has really solidified my workout strategies more than any other time in my life. Now I know what works, what I like, and what I can sustain.
So what happened to this blog? Well, quite simply, the first time around, P90X was not sustainable. The biggest reason for this was that I didn't have any equipment in the tiny basement room I was renting, and had just moved to Canada from the US with nothing but a single suitcase and my cats, so I was relying on the gym for weights, pull-up bars, etc. The other reason was time: all told, because I didn't have a car and was relying on the bus, it was taking me a solid three hours to get to the gym, do the entire P90X workout for the day, shower/change for work, and then go to work. Just not sustainable.
I basically kept doing modified versions of the P90X workouts every other day or so, or whenever I could make it to the gym. But then during the summer, I got really motivated to work out due to an upcoming high school reunion of sorts (I haven't even hit my ten-year reunion yet, but all the choir kids were getting together for a mini-reunion). On the same week as the reunion, I was going to go to the Outer Banks with my family. I decided I wanted to impress in a swimsuit and also impress my former classmates, so I started looking around for a more sustainable, convenient home workout option.
Enter Bodyrock! If you've never been to bodyrock.tv, check it out. Zuzana and Freddy, a husband-and-wife team who are both ridiculously fit, come up with daily HIIT workouts that they film and clearly explain. The best part is, most of the workouts use only bodyweights--I think the only other equipment ever used is a kettlebell, a jump rope, a pull-up bar, a dip bar (which I don't have, I just use a chair/bench/table/whatever's nearby), and a Gymboss interval timer. I managed to assemble all of these items for less than 100 bucks. The other great thing about Bodyrock is that the workouts are 20 minutes tops, and usually end up between 12 and 15 minutes. And they're incredibly effective. No overtraining and exhaustion, no three-hour gym trip, no expensive equipment.
So last summer around May I started doing a Bodyrock workout in my backyard every day. I added some of my own ideas to the workouts, too, being that I could take advantage of being outdoors in a backyard that was woody, with variable terrain. I basically did interval workouts, about 1 minute on/30 seconds off, with exercises ranging from kettlebell swings to pushups to hill sprints to plyometric jumps, and more. I lost a little weight and really toned up, and ended up looking great in my swimsuit later that summer.
Then winter came, and without the space in my room to really work out effectively (seriously, NO SPACE at all), I turned back to the gym and my workouts sort of petered off into the typical 3x per week, strength + treadmill routine. It was boring. I did get a puppy, and when she was old enough I started taking her for runs and it got me back into running, which I love. But all in all, I was really glad to move back to the States in December, where I now have a big bedroom with plenty of space for workouts, and where it's not so cold when I want to run.
The past couple months, though, I've really been slacking. I've been averaging maybe 2 Bodyrock workouts a week, 2 runs a week, and general laziness otherwise. I've also been lazy about my food. This, combined with winter weather that has me moving around a lot less, has led to some noticeable weight gain and a loss of muscle tone. I'm not too happy with myself (I think I probably look the worst I've ever looked), but thankfully, I know how to fix it. I just need a jump start.
So, I'm doing P90X again. The time commitment is much less severe this time around, being that I have the equipment (pull up bar, resistance bands) and space to be able to to it at home. It's just about an hour a morning. I won't be doing the Yoga X day since I do yoga anyway (more on that in a minute), and I'll do the Kenpo X if the mood strikes me, but otherwise will probably leave that out too. I'm doing this--leaving out days--because of a couple other fitness things I have to squeeze in:
1. I'm signed up for the Marine Corps Marathon in October and need to train for that.
2. I'm doing a five-week intensive yoga teacher training in Victoria, BC this summer, and have to get serious about my yoga. No more "oh I'll do yoga if/when the mood strikes a few times a week". I have to do five yoga practices a week, period.
Another motivator for me right now is the fact that I'm going to be dressed skimpily in a hot yoga room about six hours a day for the entire month of June, and I want to look good. Right now I'm not happy with the way my flabby, untoned self looks in my yoga clothes.
I've set up my workout schedule so that it's sustainable and so that I incorporate five runs and five yoga practices per week. I don't think this will be too much because my runs are mostly low-mileage for the time being, with the longest one I might do being 10 miles. Once I get back from yoga training, I'll ramp up the mileage in preparation for the marathon. I'm also hoping that P90X will get me to a place where I can maintain my fitness with Bodyrock, yoga, and marathon training. I just need to shock my body right now and I saw great gains with P90X last time.
I'm also going to be really diligent about my diet. Primal all the way! I've been great with staying away from wheat and grains lately, because they so obviously affect me poorly, but I decided I also need to fully cut out the dairy, and to spark a weight-loss mode, cut the fruit for a few weeks. I'm basically doing Whole30, but I am eating a whey protein shake post-morning workout (it's my breakfast), and I find it unnecessary to give up the small amount of caffeine I enjoy in the morning. But otherwise, no dairy, processed sugar, continuing with no grains or white starches, and no fruit for a month to see if it has an effect. (I'm not counting avocados or sweet potatoes as fruit, both of which I view as essential parts of my diet, especially with all the running).
The end! Back to ripping! Honestly, the hardest part of it might be waking up with the douche extraordinaire (though a truly great trainer and a very fit individual) that is Tony Horton. He makes me stabby.
So what happened to this blog? Well, quite simply, the first time around, P90X was not sustainable. The biggest reason for this was that I didn't have any equipment in the tiny basement room I was renting, and had just moved to Canada from the US with nothing but a single suitcase and my cats, so I was relying on the gym for weights, pull-up bars, etc. The other reason was time: all told, because I didn't have a car and was relying on the bus, it was taking me a solid three hours to get to the gym, do the entire P90X workout for the day, shower/change for work, and then go to work. Just not sustainable.
I basically kept doing modified versions of the P90X workouts every other day or so, or whenever I could make it to the gym. But then during the summer, I got really motivated to work out due to an upcoming high school reunion of sorts (I haven't even hit my ten-year reunion yet, but all the choir kids were getting together for a mini-reunion). On the same week as the reunion, I was going to go to the Outer Banks with my family. I decided I wanted to impress in a swimsuit and also impress my former classmates, so I started looking around for a more sustainable, convenient home workout option.
Enter Bodyrock! If you've never been to bodyrock.tv, check it out. Zuzana and Freddy, a husband-and-wife team who are both ridiculously fit, come up with daily HIIT workouts that they film and clearly explain. The best part is, most of the workouts use only bodyweights--I think the only other equipment ever used is a kettlebell, a jump rope, a pull-up bar, a dip bar (which I don't have, I just use a chair/bench/table/whatever's nearby), and a Gymboss interval timer. I managed to assemble all of these items for less than 100 bucks. The other great thing about Bodyrock is that the workouts are 20 minutes tops, and usually end up between 12 and 15 minutes. And they're incredibly effective. No overtraining and exhaustion, no three-hour gym trip, no expensive equipment.
So last summer around May I started doing a Bodyrock workout in my backyard every day. I added some of my own ideas to the workouts, too, being that I could take advantage of being outdoors in a backyard that was woody, with variable terrain. I basically did interval workouts, about 1 minute on/30 seconds off, with exercises ranging from kettlebell swings to pushups to hill sprints to plyometric jumps, and more. I lost a little weight and really toned up, and ended up looking great in my swimsuit later that summer.
Then winter came, and without the space in my room to really work out effectively (seriously, NO SPACE at all), I turned back to the gym and my workouts sort of petered off into the typical 3x per week, strength + treadmill routine. It was boring. I did get a puppy, and when she was old enough I started taking her for runs and it got me back into running, which I love. But all in all, I was really glad to move back to the States in December, where I now have a big bedroom with plenty of space for workouts, and where it's not so cold when I want to run.
The past couple months, though, I've really been slacking. I've been averaging maybe 2 Bodyrock workouts a week, 2 runs a week, and general laziness otherwise. I've also been lazy about my food. This, combined with winter weather that has me moving around a lot less, has led to some noticeable weight gain and a loss of muscle tone. I'm not too happy with myself (I think I probably look the worst I've ever looked), but thankfully, I know how to fix it. I just need a jump start.
So, I'm doing P90X again. The time commitment is much less severe this time around, being that I have the equipment (pull up bar, resistance bands) and space to be able to to it at home. It's just about an hour a morning. I won't be doing the Yoga X day since I do yoga anyway (more on that in a minute), and I'll do the Kenpo X if the mood strikes me, but otherwise will probably leave that out too. I'm doing this--leaving out days--because of a couple other fitness things I have to squeeze in:
1. I'm signed up for the Marine Corps Marathon in October and need to train for that.
2. I'm doing a five-week intensive yoga teacher training in Victoria, BC this summer, and have to get serious about my yoga. No more "oh I'll do yoga if/when the mood strikes a few times a week". I have to do five yoga practices a week, period.
Another motivator for me right now is the fact that I'm going to be dressed skimpily in a hot yoga room about six hours a day for the entire month of June, and I want to look good. Right now I'm not happy with the way my flabby, untoned self looks in my yoga clothes.
I've set up my workout schedule so that it's sustainable and so that I incorporate five runs and five yoga practices per week. I don't think this will be too much because my runs are mostly low-mileage for the time being, with the longest one I might do being 10 miles. Once I get back from yoga training, I'll ramp up the mileage in preparation for the marathon. I'm also hoping that P90X will get me to a place where I can maintain my fitness with Bodyrock, yoga, and marathon training. I just need to shock my body right now and I saw great gains with P90X last time.
I'm also going to be really diligent about my diet. Primal all the way! I've been great with staying away from wheat and grains lately, because they so obviously affect me poorly, but I decided I also need to fully cut out the dairy, and to spark a weight-loss mode, cut the fruit for a few weeks. I'm basically doing Whole30, but I am eating a whey protein shake post-morning workout (it's my breakfast), and I find it unnecessary to give up the small amount of caffeine I enjoy in the morning. But otherwise, no dairy, processed sugar, continuing with no grains or white starches, and no fruit for a month to see if it has an effect. (I'm not counting avocados or sweet potatoes as fruit, both of which I view as essential parts of my diet, especially with all the running).
The end! Back to ripping! Honestly, the hardest part of it might be waking up with the douche extraordinaire (though a truly great trainer and a very fit individual) that is Tony Horton. He makes me stabby.
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