New to U Cross Training Challenge - April

Ah once again, it's the last day of the month and I'm just getting my Cross Training Challenge post up!  Again, better late than never, right?

This month I didn't try anything knew except the new Jillian Michael's "Body Revolution" program that I wrote a little bit about last time:

oh, and it even comes with a book mark...

This is EXACTLY what has been missing from my exercise regime...a Jillian Michael's bookmark...
now I'm sure to take my fitness to a new level....

So this workout comes with 15 discs and is broken up into three "phases" (or they could say 3 months since it's a 90 day workout).  Each phase has 4 strength workouts and a cardio disk as well.  The recommended workout week looks like this:
Day 1 -Workout 1
Day 2 - Workout 2
Day 3 - Cardio
Day 4 - Workout 1
Day 5 - Workout 2
Day 6 - Cardio
Day 7 - Rest
Repeat this for the 2nd week and then move up to DVD's 3 and 4 for the next two weeks and that completes "phase 1".

So this is what I have done so far.  I started on Wednesday, the 25th:

Day 1 - Workout 1
Day 2 - Workout 2
Day 3 - run 4 miles
Day 4 - rest
Day 5 - run 7 miles
Day 6 - Workout 1

So, I've already failed to do the plan as written, but I think that's ok.  I plan to run instead of doing the cardio DVD's anyway.  My goal is to do the strength workouts 4x week as perscribed and run 3x a week for the cardio portion.  After I do my Workout #2 again tomorrow I will have completed the first week.

My impressions of the first two DVD's is that they are pretty easy, but I think that's ok - these are intro DVD's to build the basics for the harder stuff down the road.  She gives great modifications for most of the moves, and you definitely can make things harder by adding jumps and/or heavier weights to the exercises.  Unlike her other DVD's she has a whole classroom full of people working out with her.  They are all very pretty and have great bodies which means, as she says, they are "inspirational" for us to see. 

The workout format is also a little different than her "30 Day Shred" or the "Ripped in 30" series in that she does 4 circuits in each which are repeated twice, but there is only one minute of cardio in the middle of each circuit - so it really is mostly strength based instead of concentrating much on cardio and abs as well.

Here is the breakdown of Workout 1 - which targets "front of body" muscles - chest, shoulders, arms, quads and core - just to give you an idea...

Quick warmup with marching/arm circles/hip and knee swivels

First Circuit (repeated 2x):
Squats
Push Ups (on knees, but can be made harder by going military style)
Plank Hold (leg raises to make more difficult)
Chest Fly on ground
1 minute cardio - this wierd running thing she calls towel runs where you pretend to run around an object in the middle of the floor?
2nd Circuit (repeated 2x)
Sumo Squats (add jump or weights for difficulty)
Triceps Kickbacks with weights
Standing Abduction Right & Left Side (keep leg out to make more difficult)
Cardio - Speed bag. This one is dumb.
3rd Circuit (repeat 2x)
Chair Squats with arm raises with weights
Overhead tricep raises with weights
Warrior Pose on right & left side (can add weights to increase difficulty)
Cardio - marching in place
4th Circuit (repeated 2x)
Balanced leg extension right side
Bicycle crunches
Balanced leg extension - left side
Lateral Shoulder raises with weights
Cardio – step out squats both sides.
Short stretching section

Workout 2 DVD - targets "back of the body" - back, biceps, glutes, hamstrings, and core.

Quick warmup with skaters/body hugs and toe taps (cross over)

First Circuit (repeated 2x):
Arm/leg extensions
Pelvic Thrusts right side (harder with leg straight up)
Supermans
Pelvic Thrusts left side
1 minute cardio - side to side knee thrusts 
2nd Circuit (repeated 2x)
Lunge with torso rotations - right (weights for difficulty)
Rows with weights
Lunge with torso rotations - left Side (weights for difficulty)
Biceps - dragging weights up the sides of the body
Cardio - kickbacks each side
3rd Circuit (repeat 2x)
Dead lift with bicep curl with weights
Donkey kicks right side
Crunches
Donkey kicks left
Cardio - knee hikes each side
4th Circuit (repeated 2x)
Rows with cable around feet
"Good Mornings" with weights
Hammer curls with weights
Step ups (weights to add difficulty)
Cardio – Squat with upper cuts

Short stretching section

That's it!  So far what I like:

• The workouts are 30 minutes long - love being able to fit it in so easily.
• Minimal equipment necessary - free weights and an exercise cable band are the only required equipment
• So far her banter hasn't annoyed me
• Good modifiers to make things harder - and Jillian repeatedly gives these tips
• No real odd exercises - squats, weights, etc - pretty basic but effective
• I like switching off the workouts thru the week and knowing I only have to repeat these for two weeks before getting new workouts.  Good variety = less boredom
• Who doesn't like a bookmark...am I right?

What I don't like:

• Not as challenging as I was hoping so far - but I expect that will change as I prgress through the program
• Stretching section is pretty minimal.
• Some of the cardio just seems silly - the punching bag move seemed like kind of a filler.

So those are my thoughts so far.  I'm sure as this program progresses I will have a lot more to say.  And I promise that I won't use the remaining 13 disks to complete my "new to me" cross training posts for the next two months!

Updates from a blogger slacker...

Wow - apparently when I fall off the blogging track I fall WAY off! I haven't posted anything since April 2nd...and I honestly don't really know why.  I have been sporadically reading blogs, and commenting even more sporadically - but I miss everything about this awesome community, so I promise to be better! 

Anyway - I have a problem.  I am seriously addicted to workout DVD's (Hi my name is Kathy...).   Recently I've been on a Bob Harper kick, but today in the mail I got this from my favorite lady:

This is a 90 day workout program - 15 DVD's broken out into three phases.  You do one phase each month, and walla you will have a body like Jillian.  haha.  I'm excited to try this.  I've thought about doing P90X in the past, and while I think it is a fabulous workout system, the workouts are very long and I can't see where I could fit in that demanding of a program along with running.  But these Jillian workouts are only a half hour long, so I think it will be more do-able.

With two relays on the horizon (Ragnar NW Passage in July and Hood to Coast in August), I want to make sure I am as strong as possible.  This program gets progressively harder as you move along, so it will be good to start slowly and build as I move through the system.  Day 1 is tomorrow, so I will keep you all posted.

And I have some promising running news!  I ran my longest miles to date on Saturday- 7 miles!

SEVEN! 
(think I was a little excited?  I look like I'm shouting!)

I ran with these lovely ladies, Michelle and Robin...

Michelle ran 16 and Robin ran her first 20 miler ever!

 ...and my foot held up quite well.  I'm only running 3 times a week right now - and I'm still icing/stretching/rolling my foot on a golf ball/sleeping with the sock to stretch my foot (whew!)...but this seems to be letting me run and recover well from it.  I'm also going to a new physical therapist, who has me doing some new exercises that I think will be beneficial as well.   So we'll see how it goes but I'm optimisic!

So that's my update - hope to catch up with everyone soon - I have a lot of reading to do!

Recharged

Ah - Spring Break is over!  We had such a wonderful time - we went up to Mt. Hood and had so much fun playing in the snow, playing endless games of hide and seek, Uno and go-fish, going for mini-hikes.  It was the perfect family weekend and a great way to recharge.





 

Oh, and I did also get a little running time in this week.  On Tuesday I ran my farthest distance in months - a little over 5 miles.  My foot held up well, so I was really happy about that.   Before we left for the mountain, I went for a 4 mile run with one of my friends in the neighborhood.  When I walked out the door the rain was POURING and the wind was blowing sideways.  Seriously torrential downpour - but we got out there and got the run in.  Can't get wetter than wet, right? 


My coat was so soaked afterwards a puddle of water formed
underneath where it was hanging!

I also got a run in up by the cabin we stayed in.  I went just as it got light out, and it was so beautiful...

These pictures don't do it justice, but it was so pretty.  It was so still and quiet, with only the sound of the creek to be heard - such a peaceful run.

Now it's back to the routine - school, work, etc.  I'm so thankful for the last week to refresh and recharge!

Happy April!

New To You Cross Training Challenge - March

Once again, I'm getting my entry for Kim's New (To me) Cross Training challenge posted just in the nick of time.  I actually did 2 new workouts this month - one was Bodypump at my gym, and I also did a Bob Harper workout DVD which completely kicked my boot-ay...

intense Bob

So, I think I'll talk about the workout DVD for two reasons:  1)  I like the DVD and I've already done it more than I've done Bodypump (which isn't really that impressive since I've only done it twice) and 2) I did Bodypump way at the beginning of March and my 42 year old brain can't remember many details (can you still claim you have "baby brain" when your youngest is 5?  Or do I just need to admit I'm getting old?)

OK so Bob Harper Body Rev Cardio Conditioning.

This is a 60 minute workout from warmup to cool down.  The warmup is pretty generic - nothing too strenuous.  Bob walks around talking about how important the heart is and how important cardio is...you know usual stuff.  Then he begins with squats with weights.  He has you use the weights kind of like you would a kettlebell both with raises and swinging them, but seriously,  it just.does.not.end.  Then when my legs are shaking and I'm about to die you get a break - yeah, with weighted jumping jacks, squat jumps, fast feet and more.   This is an extremely fast paced and strenuous workout.  If you are like me you will be sore for days afterwards. 

What I like about the workout:

• It's hard - in a good way - you definitely feel like you're working out
• It doesn't require much equipment - two sets of weights (he just says heavy and light - I used 8lb for heavy and 5lb for light.  I could have probably used 10lbs on the heavy, but I definitely felt it with 8).
• Good instruction from Bob.
• The people he has working out with him are normal looking and the banter isn't too annoying.
• There is a timer counting down the workout (like on P90x for those familiar) so you know where you are at in the workout.
• Good overall body workout with incorporating the weights into a cardio workout. 

What I didn't like about the workout:

• The squats seemed to go on for a really long time - I can see where this might get boring if you do the workout often and/or if your knees can't take the squats.

This is a really good workout DVD that I would highly recommend.  It comes in a trio with Warrior Yoga and also a strength training workout that are also challenging.

Whew - there's my March entry...just in the nick of time.  I think next month I might try to do this a little earlier!

Spring break!

The kids are off school and that makes life way too BIZZZAYYY.  Instead of stressing about fitting in blogging, I've decided to give myself a break...

Will be back with randomly written posts of unimportance next week!

Five for Friday

Yippee!  Friday again!  I just love the weekend...here's the Friday five...

1)  I'm a HUGE Sheryl Crow fan.  I have a total girl crush and I'm sure if we ever met that we would be BFF's.  We already sing lots of duets together in my car.  Anyway,  I was super excited to read that she's a runner too!  She's running the Country Music 1/2 Marathon with a fundraising team named "Run Baby Run" to benefit a local school in Nashville on April 28th. 




she heel strikes just like me too!

So I think if there was any doubt before, it is solidified now that we are virtually twins.  Sheryl, call me...we'll run...

2)  I ran my longest distance in the last few months on Tuesday!  4.5 miles and my foot felt great!   Then yesterday I ran 4 and it still felt good!  Yippee!  I'm so hopeful that I'm getting a handle on this injury.  The things I'm doing:  rolling my foot on a golf ball periodically throughout the day, taping my foot for support, rolling foot on an iced water bottle at night and sleeping with this lovely thing on:

I definitely wouldn't say it's 100% yet, but it's recovering well from the runs and feels fine the morning after.  I'm so relieved to finally feel like I'm getting somewhere - being signed up for two relays this summer has put the pressure on to get recovered.  If I can't run I'll feel like I'm letting the team down, so I'm really trying to be smart and hopefully will continue to see improvement.

3)  Next week the kids are off school for spring break.  We'll be spending a good deal of the time out at my parent's property doing some work out there, but the last weekend of the break we are going to a cabin up by Mt. Hood.  I'm so excited to get out of dodge with the family - it will be a good place to recharge and relax.  There will probably be a lot of snow, so maybe I'll try running in snow shoes? 

4)  Speaking of snow - this is what the Portland area woke up to yesterday morning:

source

Is this winter or spring?  Crazy weather here in the Pac NW.  I wasn't too upset about it though - the kids got a 2 hour school delay out of it, so everyone had a much more leisurely morning than usual.  Well, except me, because I had already gotten up to run in it.  A little slushy!

5)  The Biggest Loser.  The "excuse" this week is "I can't lose weight on vacation" and they send the clan off to Hawaii to tackle it.  In a nutshell:  Kim feels like an outsider because she's a threat, Jeremy gives Conda a win in the challenge so that she will have immunity (she's so lucky her brother is on this show), both Kimmy and Megan fall below the yellow line at the weigh-in, and, per her request,  Kimmy is sent home to keep her daughter on the ranch. 

So yeah, all that happened.  One cool thing did go down though - the group got a surfing lesson from Bethanny Hamilton of "Soul Surfer" fame. 

Considering how extra whiny this group is (I'm looking at you Chris/Conda), I think hearing Bethanny's story, and seeing her determination to get back on her surf board despite losing her arm to a shark attack, maybe gave them a little perspective.  Bethanny seems super cute and positive, which is a welcome change of pace on this show.

that's just a bunch of pretty people right there...

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Head over to Fitness, Health and Happiness for Fitness Friday!

Week in review - Shamrockin'

As you may recall, last week I said that I was going to post my workout plans here in the hopes that it would motivate me to be more accountable to my workout plan.  Let's see how I did...

Workouts Planned/Actual:
Monday:  Bob Harper's cardio workout, then Ab-Ripper X./Bob Harper's Cardio - no Ab Ripper
Tuesday:  2 or 3 mile run (depends on foot) - Jillian Michaels Killer Buns and Thighs/3 mi run/JM DVD
Wednesday:  1 hour pool running/nothing
Thursday:  Jillian Michaels Banish Fat/Boost Metabalism/Kenpo X
Friday: 2 or 3 mile run - Zuzuka light you tube workout/3.25 mile run
Saturday:  Firm Power Yoga/nothing
Sunday: 4 mile run (hopefully if foot is holding up well)/Shamrock run - 5k and 1k

So this week was ok.  My running was pretty good, I increased my mileage a little bit from last week, and my foot held up well, so that's encouraging.  My daughter was sick all week, so my routine was thrown completely off and accounts for Wednesday's unplanned rest day.  Thursday I felt like punching and kicking (working out some aggression I guess?) so I did Kenpo X instead of the Jillian Michael's workout.  I have no excuse for Saturday.

Going forward - plan for this week:

Monday:  Bob Harper Cardio
Tuesday:  3 mile run/JM Killer buns and thighs
Wednesday:  Jillian Michaels Banish Fat/Boost Metabolism
Thursday:  1 hour pool running
Friday:  3 mile run/20 min Pilates workout
Saturday:  Firm Power Yoga and Zuzka Light workout
Sunday:  4 mile run

We'll see how that goes! 

This weekend we did the Shamrock run as a family.  My husband ran the 8k and I ran the 5k with my son and the 1k "Leprachaun Lap" with my daughter.  It was a fun morning, although brrrr freezing!  I love the Shamrock run because it's such a big Portland event.  The weather is usually guaranteed to be crappy - yesterday it was cold/wet and a few snow flakes thrown in - yet the event draws 30 thousand people.  I just love that.

We were running late to get to the race, so I had to drop my husband off to make his start time while I found parking - which means no pix of all of us at the race.  My sweet sister met me to help out with the kids while I ran each race.  Here's a few pix of the morning...

My daughter's run was first - she had a 1k run, and she was NOT into it.

Don't let the smile fool you - she didn't want to run...

I don't know if she's still not 100% from being sick all week, or if she just didn't feel like running - but she was not into this at all.  I ended up carrying her for most of it.  I did make her run across the finish though! 

Next was my son's race - the 5k.  We lined up with about a bajillion other people and waited....and waited....and waited....

Finally we were off and he did so great!  We only stopped to walk twice (and only for a few minutes each time) and once to get water.  It was so fun to run with him.  I think he loved it too- although he was pretty tired afterwards!

After everyone was done (my hubby finished his 8k while my son and I were starting the 5k) - we drove to a restaurant for a nice big breakfast.  We met my running buddy Michelle there with her family -  Michelle ran the 15k, which is one of my favorite races, and her kids and husband did the 5k. 



Shamrock kids, in front of the beer sign...nice...

And here's the whole gang...

All in all it was a great morning based on running and family, which will always make me happy.  I wish I could have run the 15k, but next year I will be back to rock it for sure! 

Happy Monday!