Just taught my new Friday morning adult yoga class and it went very well. Up next is the *last disc* of STS Mesocycle 1 and then I have a recovery week, which means zero strength training next week. I actually love strength training and think I'm going to miss not doing it so I've borrowed a Zumba DVD set from my friend to help spice up next week's cardio.
This recovery week is perfectly timed with the start of an online art class I'm taking with Flora Bowley that starts Monday that I've SO been looking forward to (yes, I *did* plan it that way back in December)!!! ;) Can't wait. It was just meant to be. I had just bought some huge canvases (like 15!!!) for the first time ever and a load of art supplies and then this class offering was announced which listed big canvases and much of the same things I had just purchased in the supply list. Sweet serendipity.
I'm in my basement, about to start my workout for today: STS Disc #12 Legs... The last disc in this mesocycle. I still have disc #11 to do - planned for Friday so I'm still a few days away from my recovery week. I switch it up and do Back & Triceps on Fri to give some extra recovery time for my Chest/Shoulders/Biceps that I work on Sunday.
Again, I am reminded of how much I adore this workout series!! This is my third (or fourth?) time doing Shock Training System (a 3-month strength training program) and I like it more and more every time. And I liked it from the beginning!! More STS thoughts and observations to come, but for now I need to get moving...er, get squatting... And lunging.
I'm really excited to share a new project that I have in the works. Starting in February I'll be teaching a kids yoga class on Tuesdays after school at the local elementary school once a week. Sign-up for the upcoming 7-week session starts today (and I just got finished printing out the flyers and putting them in the teacher's mailboxes for distribution). Class will be filled on a first-come, first-serve basis and I'm limiting class size to 12 for this first session due to the room that we are holding it in. We'll see how it goes with this many and then open it up, if we are able to, for future sessions.
My adult classes are growing as well, as my current students asked if I'd be willing to add another day of classes so they could come twice a week. So good things are going on over here! I'm trying to manage growth in a sustainable way and I need to find/make some space in my schedule and may need to look into an additional space outside of my home so that I can have classes for more than 3-5 people. I've been resistant to doing this so far because it's nice (and convenient) to be able to have it my home so far but we're definitely close to approaching a space limitation with my current house configuration. It's definitely a good issue to have, don't get me wrong, it's just now I have to do some thinking on *how* I want this to grow and will be adding some items to my "to do" list. It's nice to be able to think about the possibilities of this and other heath and wellness classes that I'd like to offer including cooking classes/healthy eating workshops.
Okay, now that I've shared the good news, I need to go and do my workout for the day (it's a cardio day)... kickboxing here I come!
My legs are so incredibly sore from yesterday's Total Body Trisets Lower Body Premix!! Bending down to tie my shoes is a real challenge, as is bending down to pick anything up. And I could have kicked myself yesterday when I walked downstairs only to realize I forgot to bring something down with me. That meant an EXTRA trip up the stairs. OWEEEEE! Though, that's the sign of a fantastic workout!
Today I thought about going easy and doing some gentle yoga to stretch things out but then decided to stick with my plan and go for it and I'm so glad that I did! On deck for today: Low Impact Challenge (from Cathe's new Low Impact Series), which is a step workout. I felt really creaky in the warm-up, as in ouch! this hurts to move any part of my lower body, but then once the blood got flowing through my muscles I was feeling a bit better (not great, just better). This 50 minute workout consists:
warm-up
step combo #1
step combo #2
step combo #3
step combo #4
all combos together
cardio blast
coodown/stretch
In addition to a bunch of premixes (including 4 express ones), this workout also contains a 22-minute step circuit bonus that uses gliding discs and dumbells, which I will have to try some other time since today was strictly a cardio day.
This was a FUN step workout and has all the complex choreography that Cathe fans love! I was never able to get all the moves down for step combo #4. There were times where I just knew I couldn't get the footwork down and would be staring at Cathe saying, "Really?!" and other times where I would think that I had it and I'd look up and see that Cathe was on the other side of her step. LOL! So I'll need to do that one a few times before I am in sync with Cathe and her crew. There are some moves for the core and also some burpees with pushups built right into the combinations. Pretty clever, Cathe, pretty clever! There were also some lunges and squats in the combos. I was wincing and grimacing through all of those!
I started off the day with a pumpkin pie smoothie. It was my first time and I have to say it was interesting. I drank the whole thing down and it was quite easy going down. There were no greens in the mix but I still think it needs some work.
Here's what I did threw in the mix:
a frozen banana
1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree
whatever was left in my jar of ground cinnamon
about 10 swipes of nutmeg on the grater
probably 1 1/2 cups of unsweetened almond milk (I think I used too much and will try to measure better next time, mine was thinner than I like my smoothies)
2 tablespoons of leftover my oatmeal/quinoa mix (that I defrosted from the freezer yesterday. This mix is usually what I have for breakfast topped with fruit and almond butter but I haven't felt like having it for a the last two weeks, favoring challah and cream cheese), and a tiny pour of some molasses.
I think vanilla paste or extract would be good here as would some almond or cashew butter. I'll have to try that next time. I also added some brown rice protein powder since I wanted something higher in protein as my muscles have been pretty sore from the new workouts.
After the kids were off at school I tackled another new workout from the Low Impact Series. Today was Total Body TriSets - Lower Body. I'm not sure why my legs still feel like they are trembling as I sit and type this. I mean, I've done much longer lower body workouts than this before. I've done the 90-day Shock Training System workout two times through already, in which the last mesocycle has a bunch of plyometric training. I've done HiiT training. This workout was only 39 minutes and I can't believe how gingerly I'm walking and how much I'm dreading the stairs in my house right now.
Here's what the workout consisted of:
Warm up
Lower Body TriSet #1 (you repeat this set of exercises twice)
Stability Ball Wall Squats w/Dumbells
Dixie Cup Front Lunges
Dixie Cup Side Lunges
Lower Body TriSet #2 (you repeat this set of exercises twice)
Step Ups on High Step + Step Lunges w/Dumbells
Elevated Lunges
Dumbell Squats
Lower Body TriSet #3 (you repeat this set of exercises twice)
Deadlifts w/Dumbells
One-Legged Crossover Dip Squats w/Dumbells
Roll-ins on Ball
Cooldown/Stretch
On *almost* all of the exercises you do 16 reps(some have 12) rather quickly with little rest in between sets and your heart rate really gets high and I often paused so my heart rate would come down a bit (and, yeah yeah, to catch my breath). So again, this is a muscular endurance workout, as opposed to a strictly muscular strength or hypertrophy workout where you'd use heavier weights, go slower, and have more recovery between sets. Though I have endurance in terms of being able to go bike riding for 3 hours without much problem, muscular endurance weight training is always challenging for me. STS Mesocycle #1 in the STS series always kicks my butt because it is of a similar style. And did I mention that challenge is good?!
The deadlifts in the third TriSet felt like a great rest compared to all the other stuff but don't let that fool you. I think the last two exercises in the 3rd TriSet are the reasons I'm still so wobbly. That One-Legged Crossover Dip Squat is HARD! What a great balance challenge as designed but I needed to put my back foot down to help balance me or I would have fallen over.
Between the One-Legged Crossover Dip Squat and the Elevated Lunges in TriSet #2, I found a slight muscular imbalance when I have my left leg back and the right leg is the leg working (either squatting or lunging, depending on the exercise). I feel a bit of fatigue in my lower back that probably is triggered by an imbalance in my obliques that I suspect has something to do with the foot surgery on my right foot. The good news is that when you find something like this... when you KNOW IT EXISTS you can work to strengthen and balance things out. I will definitely be doing these until I don't feel any different in my lower back on that side.
Oh and then the ROLL-INS. I hate these. No, I love these because I know they are good for me. No, I love to hate these. Oh, I can't decide! Why do these make my legs so sore?! LOL! These make my hamstrings feel SO on fire. The first time through I only did 10 out of the 12 but the second time through I was able to eek out the full 12 (though, admittedly, my hips weren't in the air quite as high as Cathe's).
This is another great workout that I look forward to adding to my rotation!
The plan for the rest of the week:
Thursday - Low Impact Challenge
Friday - CycleMax
Saturday - rest (aka shuttle kids to their sport/activites) :D
To read about Total Body TriSets Upper Body Premix or Slide and Glide from Cathe's new Low Impact Series, check out yesterday's post.
Off to run some errands, which hopefully includes finding some jeans that fit!
I pre-ordered Cathe's new Low Impact Series as soon as I found out because her exercise workouts always ROCK! And when I say rock, I mean exhaust, and work you, and push you to your edge! The DVDs have just shipped this past weekend and although I haven't received mine yet, I've already been able to get moving with these new workouts because I also ordred the workout downloads this time around and was able to get all the new workouts on Saturday. Since Saturday was my rest day for the week I was ready for a whole new set of workouts on Sunday.
Although I had Core Cardio Circuit planned for Sunday I am reworking my previously planned exercise schedule to make room for these new ones this week. How can I resist?! The new Slide and Glide workout was the first one I tried. It uses a mat, glider discs, and a firewalker band (though any exercise band will work, you'll just have to knot it). After the warmup I was prepared for an easy workout and didn't think that it was going to be high intensity. Why, oh why do I ever doubt Cathe? I was pleasantly surprised that I was huffing and puffing with those gliding disc jacks. Jessica was laying comfortably on the LoveSac next to me while I was doing it and kept pointing out how easy Cathe makes it look and how I don't make it look so easy. Sheesh! I have a peanut gallery of one... not so cool while I'm sweating away and she's relaxing so nicely in cushion-y indulgence. If she wasn't home from Hebrew School with a really bad headache I would have made her get up and do it along with me. That always silences her. And how about those walking plank/staggered push-ups?! Hello! Those are going to work my core, arms, and chest quite nicely.
This workout is defintely coming with me when we head to FL soon. There's no jumping so it's great to do in a hotel room (or apartment) and not have to worry about disturbing the people below you with (not like those HiiT workouts that will likely get you evicted). Since I'm not bringing a mat with me I'm going to bring my travel yoga paws and see if that will work and I'll use a towel when I need to sit on the floor for stretches.
Today's workout originally called for Slow & Heavy: Legs and Shoulders but my inner thighs were sore from all of that sliding and gliding and I wanted to try something new so I opted for the new Total Body TriSets (Upper Body Premix - 56 minutes).
Total Body TriSets Upper Body Split Breakdown: 56 mins (warm up 4:13, lower body 48:00, stretch 4:05).
The upper body split workout is broken up into three different trisets for your chest, shoulders, and triceps and then three different trisets for your bck, biceps, and core. In each triset you hit the muscles worked with one exercise for each (so three total) and then repeat the three exercises again. Then you get a rest (!!!!). This is a muscular endurance workout so the weight selection is 60%-80% of your 1-rep max and you work on the high end of the repetitions. For example one of the trisets (the first one for chest/shoulders/triceps) looked like this:
Chest - Soldier Plank Pushups - no wt - 16 reps
Shoulders - Incline Press on the Ball - Cathe used 15s - 16 reps
Triceps - Lying Extensions on the Ball - Cathe used 10s - 16 reps
Then you repeat these three exercises, get a rest, and go onto the next triset
I won't even tell you how long it REALLY took me to do this workout because it took WAAAAY longer than you'd think. I was writing down all the exercise names, the weights Cathe uses as a benchmark to work towards, the weight amounts that I used, number of reps, and notes about how I did the exercises (so that I can note that I only did 7 of the Leg Crossback Pushups and then went to my knees for the next 11! Yeah, good little nuggets like that.). And then I'm going to type it all up to make a workout log of this as I do with all of my workout svideos so I can see progress (or lack thereof) or patterns (indicating illness, when it's time to increase weights, etc.).
My favorite exercise here was probably the One-Arm Row with Opposite Leg Raise with the other hand steading itself (or not) on the stability ball. GOOD STUFF - there's back, there core, there's balance - a lot going on. The one I need work on the most is probably the Divebombers for triceps. I was able to do the first set with no problem but I was getting so fatigued that I switched to the modification for the second set and did the See Saw Pushup on the Ball). My Plank Kickbacks (for triceps, obliques, and overall core) were ugly too... so add that to the list of ones that I need improvement on. But I love being challenged which is why I always stick with Cathe! She's the absolute BEST!
I've been relying heavily on my workout DVD collection. During the summer I was spending less time on my workouts opting for 30-45 minutes max, 4-5 times a week because I had the kids home and didn't want to take too much time away from them and our day. Now that they are back to school I am spending 45-60+ minutes a day, 5-6 days a week.
Here's what it's looked like:
SUMMER WORKOUTS IN EFFECT
Aug 1-7
Mon - Lower Body Blast
Tues - Supersets Upper Body (34 min)
Wed - 4 Day Split Kickbox Premix #2 (37 min) + core work
Thurs - Butts & Gutts Standing Legs only (44 min)
Fri - Upper body (35 min) on my own
AWAY ON VACATION: Sat - Elliptical
AWAY ON VACATION: Sun - rest
Aug 8-14
AWAY ON VACATION: Mon - Cardio Core Circuit (brought my iPad with some workouts on it that didn't require anything more than an exercise band)
AWAY ON VACATION: Tues - rest
AWAY ON VACATION: Wed - rest
AWAY ON VACATION: Thurs - Bike 30 min + run 5 min on treadmill (in hotel gym)
AWAY ON VACATION: Fri - Recumbant cycling 30 min + upper body strength training with machines (in hotel gym)
AWAY ON VACATION: Sat - Cycling 30 min + core
AWAY ON VACATION: Sun - Run/walk - 36 min @ 3.5% + dips, rows, assisted chin-ups, triceps exercises
Aug 15-21
Mon - High Reps Premix #1 Upper Body & Core - 40 min
Tues - High Reps Premix #2 Lower Body - 34 min
Wed - HiiT 30/30 + Yoga-inspired Abs
Thurs - Circuit Blast (44 min)
Fri - Step Moves + core
Sat - rest
Sun - rest
Aug 22-28
Mon - Swim 30 min during Ryan's swim lesson
Tues - Swim 30 min during Ryan's swim lesson
Wed - Swim 60 min during Ryan & Jessi's swim lesson
Fri - 90 minutes of tennis (unless it continues to rain and then I'll do Low Max - 70 min or something like that)
Sat - rest
Sun - rest
WHAT'S ON DECK FOR NEXT WEEK
Sept 12 - Sept 18
Mon - Butts & Gutts (78 min) + 30 min swim in afternoon during Ryan's swim class
Tues - Teach 60 min yoga class + High Reps Upper Body Premix (39 min) + 30 min swim in afternoon during Ryan's swim lesson (I'm tired just looking at what I've just typed for this day... obviously I will not do the swimming if my arms are fried and will opt to rest instead... I'll keep you posted!)
Wed - HiiT 40/20 (~30 min - need to do a shorter workout today because I am planning on close to 3 hours of yoga observation towards my 200-hour certification)
Thurs - Drill Max 72 min + core
Fri - Tennis class - 90 min
Sat - rest
Sun - rest
Well that's it for now. Let me know if you have any questions or want me to go into further detail about anything.
Nope, I'm not just eating my way through the road trip!! Today's workout will be 30 minutes on the recumbent bike in the hotel's gym. There was a lady on the bike next to me who was sporting a new style (so cute with laces) and asking me some questions about mine and sharing her experiences with them (she had done too much too soon in them and was taking a break for her injury/soreness to heal) so it ended up as a discussion on how to strengthen the muscles in her feet and a recommendation to check out the book Barefoot Running which recommends a slow breaking in period of 6 months to a full year.
About once a week for the past 3 weeks I've haven't had the normal hunger that I do at breakfast time so instead of skipping breakfast I opt for a fruit filled green smoothie (whatever's fresh in the fridge, a frozen banana for creaminess, water/almond milk, and a handful of spinach).
Last week I opened the pantry and wanted to add a little protein to my shake so grabbed a packet from a bin of smoothie add-ins that I've somehow amassed and recently organized during a pantry re-org.
I like the ingredient list and all the healthy things packed in it. I'm not vegan but I like that this isn't whey-based as I often feel energetic when I eat completely plant-based. That being said, I will not be adding Vega's Vanilla Chai to my smoothies again. Blech!
I love chai!
I love vanilla!
So of course I was going to love this, right?! Wrong!
There was something strong and artificial tasting about this whole food powder. I added the packet to an otherwise delicious smoothie of almond milk, a frozen banana, and some mango chunks. I brought it with me to drink while the kids were at swim practice and it was hard getting through even half of it, which then left me ravenous because we're there for 2 hours and I had nothing else with me. Two thumbs down.
Some of the things on my to do list today:
take Ryan for blookwork (allergy testing follow-up)
book birthday party for Ryan
find/research goodie bag alternatives for the kids' upcoming parties - suggestions welcome!!
call the babysitter and see if she can do some other dates
weed/harvest garden
plan another play date for J while R has a friend over (this is tougher than it sounds in summer when everyone is away or in camp)
workout (don't think the bike ride on the trail is going to happen - totally my fault, too as my bike rack is alllll the way in the corner of my garage and it's hard to get to. I should have done it yesterday but the swim meet runs late and yada yada I didn't plan enough ahead so it'll either be a day off or I'll do it after a light lunch)
possibly add another stake to the garden for the cucumbers to climb (I can see myself putting this off until the weekend too, so we'll see) because I'd rather just plan some get-togethers with friends and look through cookbooks.
Summer has been amazing and awesome and all kinds of WONDERFUL! I love the warmth. I love the sunshine. I love our schedule. I'm not loving that I haven't figure out exactly how to fit in my workouts totally (because I'm loving sleeping in a bit later) but I've still been doing very well getting them in (though not at the exact time that I want)... so I've been doing shorter workouts, sometimes in the morning, sometimes after lunch, sometimes more intense and sometimes less so. Today's workout was a steady-state 30 minute indoor ride on the bike trainer, and you know what?! It's all good! Tomorrow might even include a ride out on the trail. I'm taking my bike off the trainer and putting some air in the tires so that I'm ready to go. And let's hope that there's sunshine tomorrow morning!
So can you tell that I absolutely love summer?! Often I just mutter that to myself... or to others (like last night when I said it to Mike during our date night - our first one in 2 months!)
We've been crossing things off on our summer wish list (though we're completely cool if we don't cross even half of them, as long as we're having fun and doing things we want to do). I made a quick digital layout using the activities I listed in my previous summer wish list post. It's great when things come together so quickly. I have a list of more pages to make from things that happened in the last few months but those are going to have to wait because we play hard and then rest hard (LOL! As soon as the kids are in bed I'm in bed with my latest book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years (and any cookbooks that catch my eye while walking to my room)! No, this book is not about bicycles in any way at all, but rather about life and living and intention and creating a good story for your life and other such goodness. I'm really enjoying it so far and I'm trying to savor it instead of rushing through it because then what good is it if a really fun book is over so quickly? It's likely that it would be tempting to pick the next book and move on from this message and I'm not wanting to do that just yet.
So what's been going on? I've been hanging out at the pool deck for swim practice, visiting my in-laws (photos to come), grilling with friends, packing (since Jessi is going away to camp soon), trying to configure coordinating playdates so both kids have a friend over at the same time, getting fitted for a night guard (that was earlier today), scheduling doctors appointments and follow-ups for the kids (and a blood test for Ryan tomorrow - shhh! Don't tell him yet because I'm not telling him until tomorrow when he needs to know), figuring out where we're going on our vacation, and looking through some new cookbooks like:
Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams (and I DID make room for the ice cream maker so it's ready and waiting for ME ! Though we're recovering from those cupcakes that I posted on Facebook that we made and Jessi decorated for July 4th)
and Ancient Grains for Modern Meals by Maria Speck:
Good stuff!!!
::: This post has been brought to you by coordinated kids' play dates (of which this is the first of the summer) so I've been able to cut up a cantaloupe, put some food in the cooler in preparation for tonight's swim meet, sync my phone so I know where tonight's swim meet is, and post this. All without being interrupted. Amazing. Must try to do this more often. Now to see if I can fit in some core work. Booyah! :::
