Using It - April 9 to 15

[Shadow]

Happy Sunday, everyone :). I decided to stick with endurance training this week.

What's everyone else planning on for the week :)?

Sunday - Step cardio followed by total body weights and abs.
Monday - Cardio (step & floor)
Tuesday - Upper body, abs, flexibility
Wednesday - Step cardio with lower body intensity blasts
Thursday - Total body weights and abs/core.

My week is now complete :).

[Ottawa]

This may be a short week for many of us and heading into a long weekend. I made up 9 mecicine balls last week using the guide in the previous "Using It" post. My camping friends all wanted one and a few of the Young Mens leaders asked as well. The Body Sculpting teacher has asked to use a few to demonstrate some new workout moves as well.

With the weather getting better I will do some more biking and it looks like the last of the daytime, below freezing days are gone.

Sunday: Today is a day off.
Monday: 100 situps, handweights, planks - 60 minutes
Tuesday: 1 hour biking to/from work - 20 minute medicine ball Abs workout
Wednesday: 100 situps, handweights - work on chest
Thursday: Body Sculpting Class at lunch - medicine ball followup
Friday: One hour fast walk, 20 minutes curls/hammers
Saturday: Soccer game with relatives in Peterborough

[hawk]

HAWk is out of commision. I have strep again. I see a doctor at 3 pm today. I've had 102 fever for three days. I helped out at spring break camp at the YMCA with 5-12 year olds. We played all kinds of games and relay races in the gym and swam an hour a day and watched vidios. I did everything I could think of to make it fun for them that week. What kind of pay back is THIS!!!??
Today the fever broke but my doctor said I could be contageous for a month if I don't take antibiotics.

[banshee]

I was really pleased this weekend. I didn't get in any formal exercise, but I did go to see a band with DH and ended up dancing for the entire 3 hours that they played! I had to massage out my calf during the intermission, and my ankle started to get sore toward the end, but I was having too much fun to stop.

I figured that I was going to be really really sore after that, and I especially expected my ankle to act up for a couple of days. But other than a slightly sore back the next day, and being tired because I was up until 3am, I felt fine! My ankle wasn't sore at all, so apparently the stair climbing and other exercises are helping it. What's really interesting is that I didn't even notice that my ankly wasn't sore until today. :p

Anyway, my hand is better, so I'm back to my normal schedule, I hope!

Plan: (actual in bold)
Sun: Lifting boxes of beads
Mon: Core strength
Tues: Total Gym upper body
Wed: rest day (although I will be doing a fair amount of walking today)
Thur: basic core
Fri: rest day
Sat: Total Gym full body and core

[Mitra]

I enjoyed my weekend with my family, though I ate far too much and didn't find time for much formal exercise - just fitting in a few push-ups or squats or whatever I could whenever nobody was looking! I'm back home again now, and will do my usual exercise schedule for the rest of the week, though I may end up with four sessions rather than five, because of the late start.

I don't want to push my knees too hard this week, because holy week services always leave my knee feeling a bit stressed, so I'd better focus more on core, back, upper body and be gentle with my legs.

[realruth]

Well my week will be ?
Sunday 55 mins weights, 10 mins cardio, 3 km bike
Monday 15 mins weights (had to leave gym ,,period flooding,, unable to go back later) 1 km walk
Tuesday.... 1 km walk and 25 mins cardio 20 mins Fit and Trim tape (got through both stage 1 and 2 easier this time)
Wed.....40 mins weights, 3km bike, 1 km walk
Thurs.... Rest day but did fit in 6km bike ride
Fri.... 60 mins weights, 35 mins cardio.....
Sat....1 km walk and 45 mins weights 10 mins rowing machine, 4 km bike ride....3 hours painting a deck good squats ;)

A good week
16 km biking, 4km walking,80 mins cardio, 20 mins f+t tape, 215mins weights

[banshee]

My planned week changed a couple hours after posting it. Friends we're taking vacation with wanted to have dinner to discuss it, so I didn't get home until almost 10pm. But I did do my core workout and slept like a baby.

I tried some really basic modified planks (http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/core-strength/SM00047&slide=12). I couldn't get up onto my toes to do a "real" plank (http://exercise.about.com/od/abs/ss/abexercises_10.htm). If I had done them first instead of in the middle of my routine, I might have been able to do the real thing... I'll try that next time. I was only able to do three "sets" of the modified planks. I can see this is going to be challenging!

[Ottawa]

I tried some really basic modified planks (http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/core-strength/SM00047&slide=12). I couldn't get up onto my toes to do a "real" plank (http://exercise.about.com/od/abs/ss/abexercises_10.htm). If I had done them first instead of in the middle of my routine, I might have been able to do the real thing... I'll try that next time. I was only able to do three "sets" of the modified planks. I can see this is going to be challenging!

It is amazing when you let things go a while how you can be caught off guard when you go to try an exercise you have not done in a while. Last week as part of the Young Men's activity we were to see how many full pushups (body straight, full extension, chest to the floor) we could do in 2 minutes. I already know my number but figured that I would go past it by 5 since we were all together and are a bit competative. The spread was 2-46 in 2 minutes and I was definitely in the bottom half.
I had not done any for the week prior to that and missed my target miserably. The situps, and other exercises went well but the muscles that I was sure I could use easily/quickly just were not up to the task and the burn and shakes started early:( .

I know that some people journal thier exercise and it gives them a target or goal in working towards it. I will start one and post it in the basement where I work out most times.
It may help if you start off with some planks, etc., to give yourself a target. It helps others and it may be a motivation that gives you a change or a competative view of yourself. Often we let our routines get too routine and we miss out on a full workout.

i.e.:

Planks Left: 2 --- Target for April 30th: 4
Planks Right: 2 ---- Target for April 30th: 4
Front Plank: 2 ---- Target for April 30th: 4
Sit-ups: 8 ------- Target for April 30th: 15
Pushups: 4 ------- Target for April 30th: 6
and so on ...

[banshee]

Hey Randy,

That's a good idea, but since is the first time I've ever done planks at all, I was just commenting on how challenging an exercise it is. :D

I am trying to push myself with all my exercises. Instead of just "doing what I did last time", I always try to do at least one more. Basically, I do what I did the last time, and then push myself to see how many more I can do. For my TotalGym exercises, if I've gotten to where 20 reps are easy, I'll bump up the resistance either that day for the next set, or the next time I do the exercises. My only exception to this, and I know it's weird, but I won't ever stop at 13. I always have to push to 14 even if it's really tough. :p I don't set formal targets for myself, I just try to do "more".

However, my routines are getting complicated enough, now, that I've thought about writing things down. My memory may be pretty good, but some days I can't remember what resistance level I was at the last time, or how many reps I was able to do. I just haven't gotten to the point of pulling out pen and paper or the comptuer to record everything. Some days it seems like getting the motivation to even do the exercises is tough enough, and taking the time to record what I've done seems like more than I want to deal with. :o

[ShayKNJ]

Today was my second day doing "The Ab Diet" exercise program. It included a weight routine and an interval training routine for a total of 40 minutes.

[Mitra]

This week seems to be turning into a maintenance week exercise-wise. Going away last weekend, having visitors next weekend, and my husband has taken this week off work, so it's a bit of a holiday atmosphere. I'm still doing my sessions, but somehow the drive to get that last bit of effort just isn't quite there. Oh well, I suppose some weeks are like that! And a couple of years ago, a week when I even did the exercise was a major success, without worrying about working harder.

[banshee]

I'm having something of an exercise epiphany this week, but I'm not sure how to interpret it.

I ended up doing my 2 flights of stairs 3 times yesterday and I noticed that while I'm still out of breath when I reach the top, my breathing and heart rate are getting back to normal a LOT quicker than they used to. I also noticed last night on the TotalGym that my exercises feel different, but I'm not sure how/why. I'm doing the same exercises, at the same levels and number of reps, but it felt more relaxed and at the same time more intense. :confused: I wasn't getting out of breath, but when I would get toward the end of a set I noticed I was starting to sweat a little and I could feel my heart rate elevate. Before this I haven't been sweating when I use the TG.

I was wondering if both of these situations are being caused by an increase in endurance. Even though I'm still feeling out of breath after two flights of stairs, does the quicker return to normal mean more endurance, or is it something else like having a lower resting pulse so it doesn't get as elevated and therefore gets back down to a more normal range more quickly? Or am I just getting used to doing the exercises and how to maximize my effort without overworking my lungs/asthma? I also wondered if my core exercises might be affecting things - if having a stronger core might be changing how I use the TG - allowing me to focus more of the lifting in the muscles the exercise is supposed to target?

Whatever the reason, it's kind of neat! :D

[hawk]

I'm not using it just yet because of illness. But I had a cool thing happen this week. Last November my resting pulse was 80. This week at the docs when I went in ,even with a fever, it was 66. Today is supposed to be nice. If it does not rain, I'll take Gus out and go for and easy walk around the walking trail at the park.

[banshee]

I think that Thursday is just not going to do it for an exercise day for me. DH wanted to do Thursdays, but we have company that day, and trying to fit in exercise while also planning for dinner and company just doesn't work real well. DH is pretty much the last one to arrive of the group, and I just can't see exercising while everyone watches, even if it is a very informal gathering of friends!

The original plan was to exercise before everyone arrived, but I'm usually trying to do some last minute clean up and get something to eat. Also, DH has somewhat dropped out of the exercises the last couple weeks. He keeps saying he wants to, but then something at work keeps him late and it just doesn't happen. I think I'm going to just do my own thing from now on and if he wants to join me, great. If not, his loss. The other day he wanted me to keep him company while he exercised at 10:30pm, which is my normal bedtime. <sigh>

I guess I'm a bit frustrated that I didn't get my exercise in yesterday, other than some ab vacuums. I haven't actually done a real lower body workout in a while. I have been increasing my stair climbing and I did get in 3 hours of dancing last Friday, but haven't done any specific lower body stuff for at least 2 weeks...I can't help but feel that the fat is not going to start moving if I don't get those big leg/gluteal muscles involved.

[banshee]

Lynn, I hope I can get my resting pulse to drop eventually! My normal resting pulse (with meds) is 80-84. Without the meds it's in the 98-110 range. If I can drop everything by 20-30 points with the exercise, I might be able to get rid of the meds, which would be wonderful.

[ShayKNJ]

Yesterday I did my abs and circuit training.