Round 4: Day 69: Medicine Ball Core Cardio / Cardio Intervals

Somewhere in the history of this blog lies a promise (threat?) that I wouldn't do Cardio Intervals in isolation anymore, but would pair it with another cardio workout. Today, I made good on that promise. I started off with a typical P90X warm-up, something like a Plyometric warm-up crossed with an Upper Plus warm-up. That got my heart rate up, limbered up my upper body (anticipating those torso twists) and stretched out my quads, hamstrings and calves. This was done prior to my starting the disc, as I've found that I'm not particularly enamoured with Tony's stretches. Truthfully, I'm not crazy about vinyasas and upward dogs for a cardio workout, although I do love doing that during Yoga. I did my own stretches while watching the "Plays of the decade" on the local sports station. It's nice to see baseball again, even in the winter. What can I say: I'm a hard-core baseball fan.

I used several weights for the Medicine Ball workout: 5- and 10-lb. I don't have a 6 lb medicine ball, which really looks ideal for this workout, but I have dumbbells [insert joke here] which serve the purpose. I used the 10 lb dumbbell to start, but I found it a bit too heavy after awhile, and switched to the 5 lb weight, which is a bit too light. It's like the 3 Bears: I need something in-between. I don't really see myself going off to the store to pick up an 8 lb dumbbell, so I'll likely just make do with what I have.

I don't find the Medicine Ball Core Cardio workout too exerting. There are a few moves which I enjoy, but nothing I find particularly challenging. Looking back to the P90X workouts, there are moves which I found impossible at first, then manageable; some are still impossible (airborne pushups, anyone?). This workout just breezes by in comparison. That's why I found it necessary to pair this workout with Cardio Intervals. In essence, doing Medicine Ball Core Cardio is just an extended warm-up for Cardio Intervals.

While I really enjoy Tony hamming it up at the start of the Cardio Intervals DVD, I didn't want my body to become too cool, so I fast-forwarded immediately to the workout. Again, like Medicine Ball Core Cardio, I don't find this workout to be a killer. There are a couple of moves I find challenging. In the half-moon sequence, I find it difficult to raise my free leg parallel to the floor in the time allocated. The jumping side-kicks are difficult for me due to balance issues. I'm just not the greatest kicker around, and although I can certainly Bring It during Kenpo Cardio Plus, I wouldn't say that I'm a strong candidate for Mr. Miyagi's dojo any time soon.

It's a good thing that the entire workout sequence is repeated, because I needed the extra work. By the time the entire workout is over, I had a pleasant, warm feeling. I wasn't exhausted, I wasn't sweating buckets, I wasn't huffing and puffing or grabbing my knees. I just felt that I had enjoyed a reasonable cardio workout which offered a good full body range of motion. It was a good, fairly light cardio combination to end Week 10.

Bring on Week 11!

Round 4: Day 41: Medicine Ball Core Cardio / Cardio Intervals

Another double header with Tony today, this time going One on One starting with Medicine Ball Core Cardio, immediately followed by Cardio Intervals.

I was psyched up last night, looking forward to doing this for the first time. I recall that my last few posts regarding Cardio Intervals stated something to the effect that this workout wasn't tough enough, and something similar for Medicine Ball Core Cardio, and was musing about doing these back-to-back to try to get the burn I was looking for. So, this morning, I popped in Medicine Ball Core Cardio, picked up a 5 lb weight (the handle only from the newly purchased PowerBlocks) and away I went. The workout went well, and I developed a reasonable sweat. In the future, it might be worth exploring using a 10 lb weight, at least for some of the exercises.

Following the completion of Medicine Ball Core Cardio, I immediately started Cardio Intervals, skipping the warm-up. I actually didn't find the workout to be too tough, although some of the moves are a bit awkward for me (half-moons and jumping side kicks come to mind). One move consisting of a side leap to a single leg squat followed by a front kick with the free leg gave me balance issues at first, but by contracting my core, I was able to control my tendency to fall off to one side and really improved my form. That was satisfying. From then on, I focussed on what my core was doing during all exercises, and it made a difference in the overall intensity of the workout.

When I completed the workout, I was sweating profusely. My knees had a slight soreness (nothing particularly uncomfortable or concerning) and my legs were rather tired. I'd say that these two workouts should be combined again in the future. In general: success!

That ends Week 6; looking forward to more intensity during Week 7.

Round 4: Day 26: Medicine Ball Core Cardio

Today was the first time for this workout. I don't have any medicine balls, but did investigate purchasing one or two. They're expensive: about $29 for a 4 lb ball and $36 for a 6 lb ball. Due to cost, I decided to forego purchasing the balls. A few weeks ago, I dropped into a local sports store and found dumbbells covered with some kind of soft coating. They were much less expensive than the medicine balls and I was going to purchase one or two (at a cost of about $4.50), but couldn't find the appropriate weights. Recently, my next-door neighbour left a milk carton full of steel plate weights at the curbside for trash pick-up. I dipped in and picked out a couple of 5 and 3 lb weights. Instant medicine balls.

The steel plates aren't the ideal shape for this workout (the coated dumbbells would have been fine; medicine ball ideal) but they are certainly an acceptable substitute. The workout starts with a fairly brief warmup; actually, a bit too brief for my liking. I should remember to do some extra lunges and warrior 1 poses to open up my hips and stretch out my legs a bit more. Also, I could benefit from some shoulder stretches, side stretches and shoulder rolls. A modified combination of upper and lower body stretching would suffice.

The workout consists of 4 moves done in rapid successions without pause, then repeated, followed by a brief break. Then, another 4 moves, repeat, and break. There are (I believe) 4 sets of these moves. Tony accidentally missed repeating one of the moves, and repeated the first set 3 times. I'm not really sure what was going on with that, as he is usually rather organized about a workout sequence and keeps a list of moves in front of him. Perhaps he was just a bit tired, or had an off-day.

Most of the exercises involve using a weight; one exercise has you jumping over a medicine ball, Heisman-style. I used the 5 lb weight for all exercises. I could probably increase that to 10 lbs on most of the exercises. After a while, the weight feels a bit heavy, even though it's light. It's the result of keeping it up in the air or swinging it around for so long. The workout didn't feel particularly strenuous in that it didn't have me huffing and puffing, or bending over reaching for my knees, but I did work up a really good sweat and felt limber and good afterwards.

I was surprised that the workout was over quickly and I didn't feel gassed. This is one of the few times that I felt that the workout wasn't challenging enough. For a moment, I contemplated starting the disc from the beginning and doing the entire workout twice; alternatively, I think that an increase in weight will help to adjust the intensity of the workout.

This workout might still have a place in this modified program, but I'll either have to do it twice, increase the weight, or do the workout in combination with another workout. As it stands, it's not really sufficient on its own, even in a Recovery Week.