Sore Core

Sorry I have not blogged in awhile.  I've still been at it though.  I am still seeing Sam twice a week and he is still kicking my butt lol!  I really have to do better when it comes to my own cardio at home.  I am the type of person who does it just to say I did it.  I really need to get in the habit of pushing myself though.  I know I won't have Sam forever.  We did two new exercises on Thursday and I was really feeling it yesterday.

Plank on Stability Ball
This was the first of the two.  It was harder than I thought it would be.  I only did 3 of these and I held each for 60 seconds.  I was sweating like a crazy person!

Stability Ball Knee Tuck
I thought this was going to kill me lol!  It was insanely hard to do.  I did not do many of these at all.

Today I am feeling better, but yesterday I was hurting in parts of my core that I did not realize existed.  Soreness always makes me realize which muscles are used when I do simple things like walking.  I can tell I am getting much stronger though, and I absolutely love that.

Here is a list of the rest of my workout:
120 squats
90 modified push ups
60 leg lifts
a circuit of (10 burpees, sprinting half a track, 15 modified push ups, walking down stairs, back up stairs, 10 walking lunges, and sprinting the other half of the track)  I did this circuit twice.

I've been asked what a burpee is, so I'm including a link to it too.
Burpees

I can remember back 7 weeks ago, and I never would have been able to do all of this.  I have really improved.  My eating is better too.  When I do go out to eat I am learning to only eat half of what I get.  It has truly been a learning process.  I definitely have a long way to go, but I'm definitely making progress.

Today's song has grown on me.  I did not like this song at all the first time I heard it, but now it really makes me move.  Enjoy!
Jason Derulo - Don't Wanna Go Home

The Boobies are Always the First to Go! (6 Weeks In)

Today marks 6 weeks of working out for me.  I have not done anything hardcore, unless I'm with my trainer.  So, don't expect any mind blowing numbers lol!  I see my trainer twice a week and I'm supposed to do cardio on my own 3 other days a week.  In all honesty I only do about 2 other days of cardio, and until the last two weeks I was not putting in all I could to those cardio days.  I also don't eat as I should.  Don't get me wrong, I definitely eat better, but I cannot say I'm eating clean.  Anyway, enough with the excuses I know you all want to see the numbers and here they are.

	6/7/2011	7/16/2011
Arm	14.75	14.75
Bust	46	44.75
Band	38.5	38.25
Waist	41.5	40.5
Navel	46	45
Hip	48	47.5
Thigh	32.25	31.5
Calf	17.75	17.5
Total Inches:	284.75	279.75
Weight	244	236.8

So, I've lost 5 inches and 7.2 lbs.  I wanted more of a loss on the scale, but I know I didn't do all I was supposed to do.  That's my fault, so I'm not stressing about it.  Plus, a loss is a loss.  That is 7.2 lbs I am no longer carrying on my body.  I know what I need to do for this next 6 weeks and I'm more motivated now to do it.  I'm super excited about the inches lost though.  I lost the most around my bust (1.25 inches).  This always happens, so I'm not shocked.  I'm also really happy about the inch gone from my waist.  Whoop Whoop!

I started jogging on Wednesday and it was fabulous!  I was planning to do the Couch 2 5k plan, but for whatever reason I just was not feeling it.  So, what I did was walk 0.25 mi to warm up then I alternated jogging and walking 0.25 mi.  I did  close to 3.1 miles in 48 minutes.  I was not in any pain or anything.  I was really shocked because when I tried C25K back in March it was horrible.  I was in pain and aching every single time I jogged.  So, I expected the same thing this time, but it was not there.  I think this is because of the strength training I've been putting in with Sam.  That's really the only thing I can think of that is different.  Regardless, it was a really exciting day for me.  It felt GREAT!  I'm going to keep walking the 0.25 miles, but slowly increase the jogging intervals.  I had a slight injury.  My shoes rubbed the skin off my heel and I was bleeding.  I've learned to wear socks that completely cover my heel.  I was supposed to jog yesterday, but I visited my grandmother for a few hours instead, so I'll do it today.

The bottom line is that I'm excited about working out.  I look forward to working out and it makes me happy.  I know it's going to be hard work, but I get excited to see Sam.  I'm also looking forward to my next jog.    This has been a good week!

Today's Song is Whitney Houston's Million Dollar Bill.  I'm a slow jogger, so this song is perfect for em when I'm jogging.  I love when I'm on a section of the trail by myself so I can sing out loud haha!  Enjoy!
Whitney Houston - Million Dollar Bill

Appreciate the Sweat

In my session today I did mountain climbers, leg raises, step ups, some other up and down exercise on a step bench, and 84 burpees (yes, 84 freaking burpees).  Burpees are so hard for me and I am not even incorporating the push up in yet.  I also dislike mountain climbers too.  I basically dislike things that involve some type of cardio.  My cardiovascular shape stinks.  It's that simple.  I know it's improving, so I'll just have to suck it up until I'm better.

I was in the middle of my burpees and I noticed I don't look quite as fat as I thought I looked in the mirror a few weeks ago.  I know I have not lost much weight, but maybe I have lost an inch somewhere.  I will be able to let you know definitely on Saturday (that's when I take 6 week measurements).  I also noticed that I have a slight concave curve from my waist flowing out into my hips.  I was looking kinda curvy and I liked it.  By the time I left the gym today I was covered in sweat, literally.  At first I thought it was gross and I said, "Ewww....look at my back."  Sam said, "Yeah, look at that!"  My sweat was evidence of my good workout.  I took on a different appreciation for my sweat lol! 

Today's Song is "Hello, Good Morning" by Diddy (Diddy Dirty Money....I really don't know.  All of his name changes are confusing sometimes.)  This is one of my power songs.  It pushes me a little bit more when I'm tired.  The version I use is clean and does not include Rick Ross.
Hello, Good Morning

Music Makes Me Move

This was the end of week 5 with Sam, my trainer.  I'm not making progress like I want, but I know it's my own fault.  My eating habits are still not so good.  Calorie wise I'm doing fine, but my nutritional content sucks...big time.  My sodium intake is HORRIBLE!  I know this and I need to take the steps to change this.  It's so easy to stop at a fast food place and get junk though.  Ugh!  Excuses excuses!  I have one  week until I take 6 week measurements.  I'm going to try really hard to do what I'm supposed to do on my own this week.  Although, I am not doing everything I need to be doing I can say that I am definitely stronger.  When I think back to my week one and the the things I am doing now...it blows my mind.

I'm going to start up my 5k training again.  I am signed up for the Mayor's Cup on August 27th.  It was supposed to happen at the end of April, but was cancelled due to the tornado damage.  My ultimate running goal would be a half marathon.  For some reason I have no desire to finish a full marathon.  It seems like too much.  I've read the blogs of those who absolutely love marathons and afterwards they are in pain and have to recover for weeks sometimes.  That just does not appeal to me.  You never know and I might change my mind.  I know someone who felt the same way I do now, and she has now completed a few full marathons.  Anyway, baby steps first...my 1st 5k. 

Music really does make me move.  If I'm jogging and feel like I just can't do it, certain songs will completely change my attitude.  I really need a new ipod.  I'm still using the very first shuffle that came out.  I've had someone at the gym say, "What is that?"  Haha!  Yeah, time for an upgrade.  It still works though, so at the moment I don't have a large desire to replace it just yet.  I think I might start posting a link to some of my favorite workout tunes at the end of each blog. 

Today's song is by Janet Jackson.  I actually have quite a few of her songs on my workout playlist, but this one always gets me going. 
Janet Jackson - Make Me

New Stuff = Hard Stuff

So, today during training we did new things.  The hardest thing I did was probably the Jiu Jitsu Alligator Walk.  This was freaking nuts!  I'm going to post a link to a youtube video of a guy doing this.  I was much slower than the guy in the video, but it's still an insane thing to do.
Jiu Jitsu Alligator Walk

New to me today were also squat jumps, incline press, flat bench press, in and outs on a bench, squats with weights, wall squats while pulsing a ball between my knees, and squats with a crossover knee lift.  I did other things too like push ups, lat pull downs, and something else that I'm not remembering but I had done those before.  The new stuff is what brought me to a talk to Jesus moment.  The alligator walks are horrible.  They work EVERYTHING, no exaggeration!!!!  The squat jumps would not have been so bad if I didn't have to do the alligator walks.  By the time I was finished with the alligator walks, I felt like I was done for the day (and those were at the very beginning of our session).  The incline and flat presses were not too bad.  It made me realize just how far my strength had fallen though.  In high school I benched 225.  I'm not sure how many lbs he was using for me, but I know it was not even close to 225...maybe 50 lbs total (15 lb each side and a 20 lb bar).  For my squats I was using about 70 lbs (25 lb each side and a 20 lb bar). The wall squats were easy at first, but as time dragged on I thought I was going to give out.  My time would always end just as I was about to reach my breaking point. 

Ooooh, I forgot about another new exercise I did.   It's a type of cable crossover exercise, but it works some weird muscle under my shoulder blades.  I felt that INSTANTLY!  That was insane too.  Between that and the alligator walks I was like what the hell is going on here!  The good thing is that I completed it all though.  I stopped once during the alligator walks, but at least I still held my low position when I stopped.  I didn't just get up.  I also did front, side, and back raises.  I don't know the official name for these, but I'm holding the circular weights used for bench pressing and I raise my arms straight out to the front, then straight out to the side, and back at an angle.  Whew.....I think that covers everything for the day. 

My legs were jello when I left.  It's a good stress reliever though.  I felt so much better after I was finished.  Well, after I was in my car, because while walking to my car I kept thinking that I was not going to make it to my car lol!  Maybe about 10 minutes after being in the car I began to think, "I feel great!  Let's go jogging!"  I did not jog and the feeling of wanting to jog has completely left the building haha!  My muscles are starting to express the beginnings of soreness right now.  I will go jogging tomorrow though.  I have to begin Couch 2 5k training this week.  Only a week and a half or so until a 6 week stats update!

Death By Burpees

Training last Thursday was the devil lol!  It wasn't so bad at first.  I did some lat pull downs, all different sorts of squats, and walking up and down stairs.  Then he lowered my burpees.  You see, I was doing them on a bar that was probably at my waist.  First, he had me doing a few on a bench, which was MUCH lower than what I was used to.  It was soooo hard, but he believed I could do more.  So, he flipped a BOSU ball over and I used that.  Now, I'm not only practically on the ground, but not there is also a new, brief element of stability in play.  They were incredibly hard.  I cannot describe it.  At this point, I'm thinking we are done...not so fast.  He then takes me through a circuit of push ups, burpees on the BOSU ball, and walking lunges.  It just kept on and on forever!  I literally thought I was going to cry.  Towards the end of the 2nd circuit he looks at me and says, "Is that a...are you going to...don't you do it...do not do it."  Yeah, I was really about to cry.  It was just so hard and I felt defeated knowing that I still had another round to go.  Something about hearing him say that did something to my pride though, and the tears that were about to fall dried up lol!