Round 4: Day 62: Super Cardio

My glutes are still killing me from yesterday's Legs & Back workout. When I woke up this morning, I could barely creak my way downstairs to get to the DVD player. A special gold star goes to me today for simply pressing PLAY. Even leaning down to load the DVD player was painful. So, I took an extra long time warming up and put on my game face, realizing that this was going to be one of those workouts where every move would be excruciating and each move would be crossed off a mental check-list, making the end of the workout ever closer.

The first three moves weren't pretty, but I got them done. The second set went a little smoother; the third was just ugly. Duck and Cover the third time around had my thighs burning and my heart pumping. I suppose I could have modified a bit, inserting a step move instead of a jump, but that's not the kind of person I am. I'll admit that this was a very tough workout today (Kenpo moves notwithstanding) and I was really happy when it was over. I'm still feeling gluteal discomfort as I write this blog.

The only relief came with the third round of moves, the Kenpo moves. I've been quite critical of this section in the past, but extremely grateful for it today. And to think that I once scoffed at the notion of doing the One on One videos in isolation, suggesting that the workouts be doubled up. Silly me. Obviously, those lofty thoughts did not come a day after Legs & Back.

I missed a few ab workouts this week, due to a more hectic business schedule and a lack of energy (or was it a lack of enthusiasm?). I have three additional ab workouts now to make up. I'll get to it, I promise.

That's the painful end of Week 9. Bring on Week 10.

Round 4: Day 61: Legs & Back

I was thinking last night that I should make a greater effort during my workouts. They've been a little bit stale lately, with weights and reps not moving too much in a good direction, so I think it's time for a little extra effort on my part to keep my body changing.

With that in mind, I tackled Legs and Back this morning. My added intensity allowed me to breeze through the program without any pause, and it was one of the better workouts I've had in awhile. Don't get me wrong: when I say "breeze", I meant that I managed to complete the entire workout successfully, satisfying my objectives. By no means did I find it easy. In fact, I had a tremendous leg shake afterwards, clearly indicating that I had hit the target area.

I still find wall squats (of any variety) difficult. It's strange that I can survive the 3-minute wall squat during Plyo Legs, but find the 1.5-minute wall squat during Legs and Back a greater challenge. It must be due to the order of the exercises, because I can't see any other compelling reason for the greater challenger during the shorter time span.

There is still room to ratchet up the intensity of this workout: I can increase my weights. I used 15 lb dumbbells during calf raises and really felt it; 20 lbs would be better. I'm going to do that the next time I pursue this workout.

Round 4: Day 60: Yoga

Hey, Day 60 already. That's a nice round number, and, not-so-coincidentally, two-thirds of the way through this Round. Nice job - so far.

Considering that my arms were still sore from yesterday's workout, and even typing is now a painful experience, I was extremely grateful for yoga this morning. To say that I needed to work out the kinks is a serious understatement. The upward and downward dogs and the gentle swaying motion between them went some way to soothing me. What really got me were the Crescent poses, specifically in stretching out my hip flexors. It seems odd to me that the seemingly benign Crescent pose, which is probably one of the most basic poses that's in the routine, is so therapeutic for me. I never really took it too seriously during Yoga X, but Tony puts a certain emphasis on it in the Fountain of Youth workout which has me looking at it in a completely different light. I feel the same about the Warrior poses: Warrior 1 stretches the hips, Warrior 2 the inner thighs, and I get a terrific side stretch out of Warrior 3.

As always, an excellent workout today. As previously mentioned, I immediately stopped the DVD after the workout, turned off the tele, and did Shavasana for about a minute or so. It's a great way to complete the workout.

Namaste.

Round 4: Day 59: Just Arms

At some point during the workout, Tony winces "Sleeves of pain", and you know exactly what he' talking about. This is a fantastic workout which works just the arms (hence, the moniker) and by the end of the workout, even brushing my teeth was a difficult task.

This workout exposes my weaknesses, specifically, my left arm. There's no doubt that my left arm is weaker than my right. It's noticeable on both the curl and tricep exercises. Perhaps my two forearms are of equal strength, but not the other arm muscles. I'm almost at the point where I'd use dumbbells of two different weights during the same exercise, but I'm a fan of symmetry during workouts, so I don't. This is where using dumbbells is distinctly different from using resistance bands. The bands generally gave me the feeling that both arms were essentially of the same strength. The dumbbells show otherwise. My left arm falls behind. I'm starting to notice that during pushups as well. I'm going to focus a little more on form to see whether I can rectify this situation.

I really enjoy this workout. It's fun, challenging and engaging. Tony is in good humour and it's nice to see what kind of weight he's using during the various exercises. I get a tremendous pump in my arms, and my body feels nice and tired (in a good way) by the end of the session.

Round 4: Day 58: Cardio Intervals

I know, I know. I said the last time I did this exercise that I would not do it again without pairing it with another cardio workout. Well, I woke up this morning and didn't feel like pairing it with another cardio workout, so I did Cardio Intervals in isolation. And you know what? I should have paired it with another cardio workout. The only upside to not doing so is that the workout ran (no pun intended) for only 40 minutes. And that's a beautiful thing.

There's not much to be said here that hasn't been mentioned before. I don't get much of a heart pump from this workout. Tony seems to be huffing and puffing, but cardio isn't really his thing. As I was doing the workout, I was thinking ahead to next summer (and it's not even officially winter yet!) mentally assembling a cardio workout to do by the lake, without any equipment. That's the beauty of this workout: no equipment necessary. Between this workout, Plyo Legs, Super Cardio and Plyometrics, I could put together a killer leg/cardio workout without the need for any equipment. That would be a nice thing to bring lakeside during a cool early summer morning.

My son had a fever yesterday, and we all fear that it could be H1N1. We're not too worried about him as he is in good shape, but we're keeping an eye on him to make sure that he gets plenty of rest and fluids and keeps his immune system charged. Personally, I'm a little nervous about getting sick, but I hope that healthy eating and regular exercise will stand me in good stead. We'll see over the course of the next week.

Round 4: Day 57: 30-15 / Killer Abs

30 - 15

I love this workout. It's similar to Chest and Back in P90X, but ramped up in intensity. It's so simple and straightforward: just pushing and pulling, every exercise using body weight. I start out strong, then slowly deplete in energy throughout the course of the workout until, at the end, I can't lift my body up anymore. Even washing up after the workout was tough. I couldn't really move my arms. I had to soap up, and move my head to my hands. Not pretty, but rewarding in its own right.

I think I might have it in me to do a few more repetitions of the staggered hands chataranga pushups. I'll make sure to leave a note to self for the next workout.

Killer Abs

I busted out Killer Abs around 5:30PM. I'm still finding the Ab Ripper moves more difficult than the ARX moves, but I am starting to become accustomed to Ab Ripper. Still, during the 2nd and 3rd moves, my obliques are really crunched, unlike oblique V-ups. I've heard negative things about crunches over the past few months with respect to toning abs, but I'm Old School: I still like to feel the burn.

It's a great start to Week 9 - so far.