Thursday, September 12, 2013

Week 1 Day 4 Focus T25 - Ab Intervals


Yuck, I hate ab workouts. This one I'm pretty sure I didn't do properly, because at the end, I didn't feel a lot of residual achiness from working the abs. There were times where the workout demonstrated had the hands resting by the butt while lifting your legs up. Well, I cheated. I don't think I realized that I was cheating until most of the way through. See, my hands were further back, propping me up while I lifted my legs into the air. That didn't quite give me the workout that was intended. And once I realized my mistake, I tried to readjust, and OMGMYABS!

Also, there were a lot of moves on the floor again, and I couldn't quite move as fast because I had to look up at the screen. And then I had the added priviledge of working on knees that I had rug burns on them from last night's workout.

 
Also, working out in glasses sucks, especially when you do anything that involves bending down.

Bitch bitch, moan moan.

Ok, I feel better. And I'm determined to do better next time.

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Week 1 Day 3 Focus T25 - Total Body Circuit


I'm a sweaty mess after this workout! Yikes, this one is tough. Ever heard of a spider pushup? Neither did I. And there are burpees galore.

While I can't say I went completely without following the modifier, Tania, I did manage to try a few of the moves sans modifier, although I never got completely through without going back.

This workout was pretty confusing mostly because a lot of moves are done on the floor in a plank position. In that position, it's not the easier to look up at the screen. Also, a lot of the modifiers had me on my knees. I now have major rug burn on my knees. And I need to vacuum. Gross!

Tonight's workout had it's challenges. First off, I waiting until the evening to do it. I had to get grumpy at the fiance when he was feeling cuddly when I told him I needed to work out. If I didn't have a workout streak going, it would have been even more difficult (my perfectionist mind LOVES keeping workout streaks alive). Also, in addition to the right calf muscle that was tight starting yesterday, this morning my right shoulder decided it wanted to cramp up on me. It's moments like this when I feel old. (although I know there are older people who would read this and say, "Oh, you think YOU'RE old!")

This evening before my workout, I picked up my wedding dress today. I'm so excited, but it's also a reminder of why I really want to work out. I want to look super hot in my dress. I did buy a size that fits my body now, as I'm not wanting to create stress on myself with getting a smaller size and losing weight just to fit into the dress. Someone suggested that to me once, and I was like HELL NO, wedding planning is stressful enough as it is, why would I want to needlessly create more stress for myself. Mostly, I just want to be able to take the dress to the alteration lady and have her have to cut it way down. Now THAT would be awesome to me.

Tomorrow is a double workout day for me. In the morning I will be doing an ab workout with T25, and in the evening, I'm going to check out Fleet Feet Chicago South Loop's Chick's Night and run my 2nd workout in week 4 of my Couch 2 5K training.

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Focus T25 Week 1 Day 2 - Speed 1.0


So, I marked on my calendar that I "nailed it." However, I feel like this should come with as asterisk. See, I went with Tania's modifications the entire time. Sure, it's easy to nail a workout when you skip the burpees.

But, I really shouldn't beat myself up. After all, who else gets up in the morning to work out. Sure, lots of people, but a lot MORE people just sleep in.

I'm not really "beating" myself up, I'm just letting myself get too technical, because there isn't a box that perfectly describes how I felt about this workout, which is, "I did well, but I have room to challenge myself more."

I really did like this workout, which incorporated fast movements, followed by stretching exercises that also involved balance. It felt good, and wasn't as intimidating as the name of the workout would suggest to a sleepy Phae.

I was a bit sore this morning before the workout, but I'm thinking that may have something to do with running last night. I did my C25K workout for Week 4 Day 1 at Fleet Feet Chicago - South Loop last night. Considering the heat and humidity, I didn't feel bad. I did have some side stitched try to come at me toward the end of the workout, but nothing that was a big deal. But today, my right calf muscle isn't too happy with me. I guess we'll see what tomorrow brings for that muscle.

On the schedule for tomorrow is Total Body Circuit. It'll be interesting to see what this one brings.

Monday, September 9, 2013

Focus T25 - Day 1 - CARDIO



Day 1 of a new program is always tricky. New moves, new prompts for the next section, new trainer...it's usually confusing. Luckily, Focus T25's Cardio session isn't too bad. There are only a couple of moves that are truly confusing, but are generally broken up into easy to understand segments.

Still, this one was tough. How tough? We started with High Knees. That's something that's always hard to maintain. Through the lunges, jumping jacks, and sprints, I followed Tania, who was the lady demonstrating the modified versions (sometimes the modified versions were tougher, don't believe me, try to do a modified jumping jack at the rate they were going).

In the grand scheme of things, it wasn't too bad of a workout, and it was done in 25 minutes, as promised by Shaun T. I'm pretty positive about these next 10 weeks, because when I wake up, I'm not going to think, "I don't know if I have an hour to get a workout in." It's only 25 minute.

And, for the heck of it, here are my starting stats for Focus T25:

Weight: 196.2
Chest: 43 in
Waist: 38 in
Hips: 45 in
Right Arm: 12 in
Left Arm: 13 in
Right Thigh: 28 in
Left Thigh: 28 in