Round 5: Day 54: Insanity: Core Cardio and Balance

I had a vague memory of sore shoulders following this workout from the last Recovery Week. I recalled that the final three minutes of the workout were particularly tough, with flapping arm movements being the primary culprit. Today, that wasn't really much of a problem. My shoulders still felt sore, but completing the routine wasn't difficult.

There's a section of the workout which really works the hip flexors: standing on one leg, raising the other leg first in a tapping motion, then keeping that leg elevated and pulsing it up and down without the toe tap, then keeping that leg up while extending the foot out and back. The whole sequence takes about 1.5 minutes per leg, but the final motion, swinging the leg out and back while keeping the foot flexed, was very tough on my hip flexors, especially the left side.

Overall, this isn't a difficult workout, which makes it perfect for Recovery Week. It moves at a slower pace than a typical Insanity workout, and Shaun T. spends more time than usual at the start of each exercise demonstrating technique. I appreciated that, as I discovered that there was, indeed, some form tweaking to do. So far, I don't really have regrets about having temporarily exiled Core Synergistics from this Round.

Workouts in past days included Kenpo Cardio Plus and X Stretch. Tomorrow, Recovery Week wraps up with Yoga.

Round 5: Day 51: Plyometrics

In making the last adjustments to this Round's schedule, I deleted Core Synergistics and substituted Plyometrics. To be honest, I've never really enjoyed Core Synergistics all that much, in spite of finding it challenging and rewarding (when it was over), whereas I've always had a crush on Plyometrics. As this is Recovery Week, I felt that Plyometrics would be a reasonable insertion, as it is done during Recovery Week in the P90X+ schedule, and, having done all those Insanity workouts, I was looking forward to seeing how my body would react to Plyometrics again.

It's been some months since I last did this workout, but to me, it never gets tired. I definitely saw some improvements in both my leg power and in my endurance due, no doubt, to Insanity training. My heart rate never rose above 145 during the workout, in spite of my really trying hard, although it did stay fairly consistently above 130 (at least when I was checking) and I did manage to work up a good sweat. My breathing never really approximated the labour that I usually feel during an Insanity workout. Although Plyometrics is a great workout, it doesn't really approach the intensity of the Insanity workouts. This just goes to justify my decision to put this workout in a Recovery Week.

During my post-workout shower, I reflected back on the first time I did Plyometrics, and how I felt out-of-sorts for the entire day following the workout. How times have changed.

So far, Recovery Week is treating me well. I'll be away from a computer for the next couple of days, but will try to catch up with my posts on Thursday.

Round 5: Day 50: Yoga

I always enter Recovery Week with mixed feelings. Part of me is relieved to forego the crazy lifting and jumping for a week; part of me worries that giving up the crazy lifting and jumping for a week will lead to a weaker body. You'd think that by now, I would have learned that Recovery Week is inserted into the program for a reason: to allow the tiny micro-tears in the muscle fibres to mend, and to give your body a bit of a break after the pounding, pushing, lifting, pulling, jumping, squatting and leaping that its been doing for three weeks in a row. As I've heard many times before: "trust the program".

Today's workout was straightforward: yoga. It's easier to get into the proper frame of mind for yoga when yoga occurs on a Sunday, as it's possible to wake up a little later, more relaxed and ready for a good stretch. The pressures of work are still one day away, and the pleasure of being with the family for an entire day is still ahead of you. It's a good time for some deep breathing and to stare at your kneecaps.

I did One On One's Patience "Hummingbird" yoga today, which is the shortest of the three yoga routines I own. I like this workout because of the calming music and the lack of chatter, and especially the shavasana pose at the end, which is missing from Fountain of Youth of the same series. This is just a good, basic routine which emphasizes form over quantity of poses, so it forces my mind into a different place from the other yoga workouts. Short, stretchy, and sweet.

Namaste.