On working out and brownies
Holy crap, it's a super long post from me. It rambles, somewhat "stream of consciousness". This hasn't happened in ages. Have a seat, grab a drink....
In other news...
My upcoming trip has been the motivation I needed to go ramp up my workout. Back in June or July I competitively outbid a co-worker in a charity silent auction, getting myself two one hour personal training sessions (Value $95, although at the time I was told that the value was twice that - I think they were confused about total price vs. session price). On Monday I used my first one.
I'd communicated with the trainer last week and sent her an email outlining my "regular" routine, what I do when I'm regularly attending the gym. That exercises, sets, reps and other details. I listed my goals as flexibility and cardio endurance, mentioning my inflexible hips and hamstrings. Her response:
Wow... you seem to know a lot and workout a lot so I am sure you are really fit which is great!!
Right now doing a four day split with 4 sets of 8-10 reps you actually working in the strength/hypertrophy zone which will build muscle but I see you do a lot of cardio too so it is a good balance.
You seem very familiar with all the traditional exercises so how about doing something completely different to spice things up and challenge you in a different way. I am thinking to do non stop circuits that include exercises to get your heart rate up and improve your strength conditioning. I can put in non traditional exercises that will target core strength and balance while working on a particular muscle group. I think this will challenge you in a different way and really improve your cardio endurance while also strengthening and conditioning. Hopefully you will also learn new exercises and techniques.
And circuits, we did.
I ran stairs holding 8 lb weights, 5 times up the flight of stairs, lunges on the Bosu ball (21s - 7 full range of motion, 7 top to half way down, 7 bottom to halfway up), push ups on the Bosu (ball facing down), planks off the Bosu (again, ball facing down). Planks are always a challenge. That was just the first circuit. Three times. Stairs to lunges to push ups to planks. Those lunges were hard. The first two sets were done with 5 lb weights. For the third I went weightless.
Second circuit:
Jump squats over the Bosu. If you've ever attended a Cardio Bosu class you've done these. Similar maneuvers are done in Step classes. The Bosu adds an element of stability, and I lack coordination and balance (though not completely). Then came the assisted pull ups, which I do at the gym anyway. My main challenge here was remembering to do the full range of motion. After that were reverse crunches on a bench. As usual, the challenge lay in lowering my legs far enough. Lowering them more makes the exercise more difficult.
I ended this circuit with the most challenging exercise of them all, one that I'd never seen before: Tricep extension in plank. It's not a plank against the floor but against a bench, feet on the floor, body leaning toward the bench, one hand holding onto the bench. Hips forward, plank position held, + tricep extension. Whew, that's hard. It requires balancing and engages a large number of body parts. I learned that I could NOT watch my form in the mirror beside me because turning my head meant that my body (& hips) followed. I found it difficult to keep the one hand anchored to the bench and that arm was shaking. It was supporting my upper body. The lower the incline of the body the more body mass is being used as resistance. It's a result of the law of gravity. I don't know how much of my body weight was being engaged but I imagine that it was at least 60 pounds. I regularly fluctuate between 118 and 122, sometimes day-to-day, which I don't understand (water weight maybe? I've started paying attention to scale calibration each time I weigh myself at the gym).
My oblique muscles and transversus abdominis were feeling actively engaged ("Um hello, remember us?"). The tricep extension itself wasn't so hard, but I kept neglecting to extend my arm fully because I was focused on perfecting the rest of the technique. This one is going into my repertoire.
Two days later, it's my abs that are the most sore. The simple acts of coughing and laughing bring awareness to the muscles. Side bends remind me that they were worked
Monday evening I intended to go to yoga at my gym for a good stretch to complement the intense workout of earlier in the day. I packed a little umbrella in my purse and set out. Arriving in my apartment building lobby I stopped. The rain was heavy and appeared to be no match for my umbrella. The rain, I believed, would kick my umbrella's ass. I went back upstairs and commenced baking brownies. Not my usual favourite recipe but a recipe that I've had for years but never used. I should have known this from common sense, but using chocolate squares instead of cocoa powder results in a moister brownie. The name of the recipe is "Sticky chocolate brownies". They weren't what I would call "sticky" but were moist and fudgy, and just a little bit cakey in parts. I skipped yoga to bake brownies but man, they were good brownies.
Made it to a noon yoga class at the yoga studio across the street yesterday and after work I went to the gym for 25 minutes of cardio, and a lot of chatting. Ran into a lot of people that I know, including the sister of the guy I was dating in the summer (she's cool - I knew her first and wasn't aware of their relationship until during my first date with him), a couple of Israeli dudes, and a girl I went to high school with. Last December she saw me and recognized me. I didn't remember her at the time (different age/grade, different hair) but I see her around the gym and yesterday we had one of those conversations in which you discover common experiences and qualities with an acquaintance. Who doesn't like those "me too!" bonding moments? I visited my old krav maga class, chatted with my old instructor (his baby has started punching him) and briefly saw kinra's girlfriend in her class (don't think she saw me). The community centre aspect of the gym is great but so easy to forget about.
Today is Wednesday. I've had 3 workouts in two days. I won't make it to the gym today (spending the evening with a group of girls at a spa to celebrate a birthday) but tomorrow looks good, with three classes at the gym that interest me (I'll take one or two consecutively but three hours is excessive) and after-work drink plans that are only tentative. I might take Friday off of the gym too, depending on timing after work. Morning workouts don't really suit me. There's a 6:30am spin class, but the time is unappealing. There's a 7:15 yoga class, slightly more appealing (7am is as early as I can imagine getting to the gym) but not a good idea if I plan on a late night,
I might abandon the "body building" type workouts for the next 7 weeks and - along with yoga - stick with exercises that combine cardio with body weight resistance. It's strategic thinking: I'm thinking of what's going to help me hike the Lares Trail. I can't train for the altitude change (although I suspect that Rob or someone else will tell me how I theoretically can) but I can train for the hike. I've heard from everyone that I've spoken to about it who have been to Peru that the altitude is the hardest part.
All this exercise talk, but I've eaten badly a few times this week. The evening I made the brownies I ate leftover boxed mac 'n' cheese for dinner (the fact that it was organic does not make it any less trashy- okay, maybe a little). Monday (?) I had a couple of "fun size" chocolate bars for breakfast. My first meal this morning was brownies and coffee . Yum. Chocolate: The real breakfast of champions. Less bad: Last night I craved sushi for dinner and voraciously ate what I think was around 16 pieces of spicy tuna rolls and crunchy rolls. I still wasn't full, and I went to bed shortly after. Healthy dinner, unhealthy practice. Even less bad (good, actually): I made a big slow cooker soup on Sunday and have been eating that daily for lunch, and my second meal (second breakfast? first lunch) has been my regular breakfast oatmeal (steel cut oats).
Actually, I'm less concerned about the calories and bad fat that I consume than the exercise I get, although generally speaking I prefer to stick to good fat. I'm striving to be fit and have muscular and cardiovascular endurance along with flexibility, not lose weight, though if weight loss is a natural result that's okay because I trust my body to stop when it's ready. I avoid processed food as much as possible anyway and all the sugar I'm eating this week is rare.
And now, dear readers, I will let you get back whatever it is you were doing and I apologize if I just took your entire lunch hour. :) - Okay, it's only two document pages, but that's long.