I found this posted by a beachbody buddy on the marathon + the X thread that I post on. This is a great reminder as to why we take care of ourselves, run and workout :) Read enjoy and collect your reasons to tell folks who nag you and poke fun at your dedication to working out :) Tell them you do it for life!
STANFORD MEDICAL CENTER 20 YEAR TEST RESULTS IN:
Running is Optimal for REDUCING INJURY, INCREASING LIFE EXPECTANCY, and REDUCING ONSET OF ELDERLY DISABILITIES:
Running slows the aging clock, Stanford researchers find
By ERIN DIGITALE
STANFORD, Calif. — Regular running slows the effects of aging, according to a new study from the Stanford University School of Medicine that has tracked 500 older runners for more than 20 years. Elderly runners have fewer disabilities, a longer span of active life and are half as likely as aging nonrunners to die early deaths, the research found.
“The study has a very pro-exercise message,” said James Fries, MD, an emeritus professor of medicine at the medical school and the study’s senior author. “If you had to pick one thing to make people healthier as they age, it would be aerobic exercise.” The new findings appear in the Aug. 11 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.
When Fries and his team began this research in 1984, many scientists thought vigorous exercise would do older folks more harm than good. Some feared the long-term effect of the then-new jogging craze would be floods of orthopedic injuries, with older runners permanently hobbled by their exercise habit.
Fries’ team began tracking 538 runners over age 50, comparing them to a similar group of nonrunners. The subjects, now in their 70s and 80s, have answered yearly questionnaires about their ability to perform everyday activities such as walking, dressing and grooming, getting out of a chair and gripping objects. The researchers have used national death records to learn which participants died, and why. Nineteen years into the study, 34 percent of the nonrunners had died, compared to only 15 percent of the runners.
At the beginning of the study, the runners ran an average of about four hours a week. After 21 years, their running time declined to an average of 76 minutes per week, but they were still seeing health benefits from running.
On average both groups in the study became more disabled after 21 years of aging, but for runners the onset of disability started later.
“Runners’ initial disability was 16 years later than nonrunners,’” Fries said. “By and large, the runners have stayed healthy.”
Not only did running delay disability, but the gap between runners’ and nonrunners’ abilities got bigger with time.
“We did not expect this,” Fries said, noting that the increasing gap between the groups has been apparent for several years now. “The health benefits of exercise are greater than we thought.”
Fries was surprised the gap between runners and nonrunners continues to widen even as his subjects entered their ninth decade of life. The effect was probably due to runners’ greater lean body mass and healthier habits in general, he said. “We don’t think this effect can go on forever,” Fries added. “We know that deaths come one to a customer. Eventually we will have a 100 percent mortality rate in both groups.”
But so far, the effect of running on delaying death has also been more dramatic than the scientists expected. Not surprisingly, running has slowed cardiovascular deaths. However, it has also been associated with fewer early deaths from cancer, neurological disease, infections and other causes.
And the dire injury predictions other scientists made for runners have fallen completely flat. Fries and his colleagues published a companion paper in the August issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine showing running was not associated with greater rates of osteoarthritis in their elderly runners. Runners also do not require more total knee replacements than nonrunners, Fries said.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Necessary Reminder
I'm copying this from something I found on one of the beach body threads (I forget which one at this point, but I posted it on my own thread and a couple others as well)
It's a VERY necessary reminder. We are always in such an impatient insane rush to what?! Hurry up and finish the lifetime? I think it was Tony who posted on Facebook that 'the finish line is death'. Why are we racing to the finish line?!?! That's the edge of the grave. Do your one workout and call it a day.
Read below--VERY good....no need for me to re-say what was already done so sufficiently.
Folks, whatever your PRIMARY workout each day should be your focus. People think that they need to do extra workouts EVERY day to get faster results. This is simply not true.
Realize that your body has a FINITE amount of energy to repair/build muscle and recover from your workouts. If you are applying the PROPER intensity to your workouts, you don't need to do ANYTHING else. Every time you do additional workouts during the day you are taking away from your body's ability to recovery.
SIMPLE RULE: NO RECOVERY = NO PROGRESS Make no mistake about this.
Remember my Note a few weeks ago about Leaning out by adding muscle? How can you add muscle if your body can't recover from 2 workouts a day?
RECOVERY is the key to EVERYTHING folks.
Think of your body like a Bank account:
Your RECOVERY is deposits in the Bank.
Your workouts are withdrawals from the Bank.
What happens when your withdrawals outnumber your deposits?
We need to be stronger EVERY day. You can't get stronger if you can't recover from your workouts.
Realize that building metabolism enhancing muscle will get you leaner FASTER than tons of EXTRA cardio will.
I will give you an excellent example: ME
During my first round of the X I was doing the EIFB almost daily during the last 30 days in an effort to get as lean as possible.
I did get very lean, and I also got down to 168 lbs. Too light for my frame. I burned precious muscle in an effort to lean out.
Lets compare this to my current strategy to lean out for my end of year MDB Final Competition in 2007.
I did NO extra cardio in my efforts to lean out. I was getting STRONGER every workout and giving each workout 100%.
Emphasizing getting stronger, building muscle, and RECOVERING has made all the difference in the world for me.
Here are some thoughts on RECOVERY:
Workouts provide the stimulus for change; the change itself (an improvement in fitness level) takes place during the periods between workouts. How quickly and completely this recovery takes place is result of many commonly overlooked factors, including specific dietary habits, supplementation, age and personal stress levels, just to name a few.
Factors That Effect Recovery Rates
Age - Older individuals will need longer recovery periods than their younger counterparts. It is suggested that around 25 years old is when most trainees will need to start to allow for longer recovery periods.
Experience - More experienced trainees will need less recovery time than new trainees will.
Psychological Factors - Never underestimate the power of the mind. Work, finances, personal relationships and basic everyday life can all cause stress. If left unchecked stress can have very powerful physical manifestations - headaches, insomnia and an increase in catabolic hormones such as cortisol, just to name a few.
Replenishment of Nutrients - The availability of key micro- and macronutrients in a person's nutrition will have a large impact on recovery.
While not usually considered therapeutic, nutrition plays a huge role in the speed and completeness of recovery. Your body needs raw materials to repair and restore bodily systems stressed by training and without adequate nutrition those materials will not be available. Vitamins, minerals, water, protein, carbs and fats must all be present in proper amounts in order for the body to fully recover from training.
A deficiency in even one key nutrient could slow this process down greatly, if not grind it to a complete halt. Proper nutrition can not be stressed enough when talking about the overall success of a fitness program and most trainees' frustration about their lack of progress can be traced back to this recovery factor.
RECOVERY folks...How is yours?
It's a VERY necessary reminder. We are always in such an impatient insane rush to what?! Hurry up and finish the lifetime? I think it was Tony who posted on Facebook that 'the finish line is death'. Why are we racing to the finish line?!?! That's the edge of the grave. Do your one workout and call it a day.
Read below--VERY good....no need for me to re-say what was already done so sufficiently.
Folks, whatever your PRIMARY workout each day should be your focus. People think that they need to do extra workouts EVERY day to get faster results. This is simply not true.
Realize that your body has a FINITE amount of energy to repair/build muscle and recover from your workouts. If you are applying the PROPER intensity to your workouts, you don't need to do ANYTHING else. Every time you do additional workouts during the day you are taking away from your body's ability to recovery.
SIMPLE RULE: NO RECOVERY = NO PROGRESS Make no mistake about this.
Remember my Note a few weeks ago about Leaning out by adding muscle? How can you add muscle if your body can't recover from 2 workouts a day?
RECOVERY is the key to EVERYTHING folks.
Think of your body like a Bank account:
Your RECOVERY is deposits in the Bank.
Your workouts are withdrawals from the Bank.
What happens when your withdrawals outnumber your deposits?
We need to be stronger EVERY day. You can't get stronger if you can't recover from your workouts.
Realize that building metabolism enhancing muscle will get you leaner FASTER than tons of EXTRA cardio will.
I will give you an excellent example: ME
During my first round of the X I was doing the EIFB almost daily during the last 30 days in an effort to get as lean as possible.
I did get very lean, and I also got down to 168 lbs. Too light for my frame. I burned precious muscle in an effort to lean out.
Lets compare this to my current strategy to lean out for my end of year MDB Final Competition in 2007.
I did NO extra cardio in my efforts to lean out. I was getting STRONGER every workout and giving each workout 100%.
Emphasizing getting stronger, building muscle, and RECOVERING has made all the difference in the world for me.
Here are some thoughts on RECOVERY:
Workouts provide the stimulus for change; the change itself (an improvement in fitness level) takes place during the periods between workouts. How quickly and completely this recovery takes place is result of many commonly overlooked factors, including specific dietary habits, supplementation, age and personal stress levels, just to name a few.
Factors That Effect Recovery Rates
Age - Older individuals will need longer recovery periods than their younger counterparts. It is suggested that around 25 years old is when most trainees will need to start to allow for longer recovery periods.
Experience - More experienced trainees will need less recovery time than new trainees will.
Psychological Factors - Never underestimate the power of the mind. Work, finances, personal relationships and basic everyday life can all cause stress. If left unchecked stress can have very powerful physical manifestations - headaches, insomnia and an increase in catabolic hormones such as cortisol, just to name a few.
Replenishment of Nutrients - The availability of key micro- and macronutrients in a person's nutrition will have a large impact on recovery.
While not usually considered therapeutic, nutrition plays a huge role in the speed and completeness of recovery. Your body needs raw materials to repair and restore bodily systems stressed by training and without adequate nutrition those materials will not be available. Vitamins, minerals, water, protein, carbs and fats must all be present in proper amounts in order for the body to fully recover from training.
A deficiency in even one key nutrient could slow this process down greatly, if not grind it to a complete halt. Proper nutrition can not be stressed enough when talking about the overall success of a fitness program and most trainees' frustration about their lack of progress can be traced back to this recovery factor.
RECOVERY folks...How is yours?
Monday, December 29, 2008
Challenge--100 points a month :)
I'm copying this from a beachbody thread....Phil copied it from another thread :P good things can spread like wildfire :)
EXAMPLE POSTS FOR THE 100 POINT CHALLENGE:
DAILY LOG (Note: Each entry should be completed the day after, or at the end of the same day after all meals/workouts are completed. Will be sure to keep a running total of my points, as shown below.)
JAN 1: I did my cardio and ate all meals as scheduled.
-0 points [100 points]
JAN 2: My car broke down and I missed my back workout. I walked to Burger King for dinner and had an unscheduled cheat meal.
-2 points [98 points]
JAN 3: I missed my cardio today, but ate all meals as scheduled.
-1 point [97 points]
JAN 4:
JAN 5: I missed yesterday's update, but I did my delts and traps workout yesterday, and ate all meals as scheduled (including my scheduled cheat meal). Today I did my cardio, ate all meals as scheduled and did my leg workout.
-1 point [96 POINTS]
You continue in this fashion until Jan 31, and then the February 2009 100 Point Challenge starts. I intend to do this from January through June. My goal is to keep all months above 90, and to get a 100 on at least one month.
The reason that everything is worth 1 point equally, ie the workouts, each meal, and tracking progress, is because they are all equally important. If all of these 3 things are done, the workouts, the nutrition and the tracked goals, ripped is a mathematical certainty.
MarathonP'S 100 POINT CHALLENGE: Adapted from the 100 point challenge on John Stone Fitness Forums (thank you John Stone!)
THE MOTIVATION:
It is a mathematical fact: if you workout 6 times a week, eat clean 6 times a day (every 2-3 hours), and track your progress, ripped is a mathematical certainty. So that is the basis of this challenge, to track that mathematical certainty with a little math.
MATHEMATICALLY CERTAIN OUTCOMES:
These are what I believe to be mathematically certain outcomes of doing these things with consistency and discipline:
1) You become happy, with a happiness and inner self-esteem that you alone control
2) Your whole life goes to a new level - everything following your fitness - your work, your relationships and friendships, your hobbies and interests, your success
3) You get ripped
PREMISE OF THE 100 POINT CHALLENGE:
The premise of this challenge is pretty simple: Each participant starts the month with 100 points. A point is deducted each time a workout is missed, a meal is missed, an unscheduled "cheat" meal or snack is consumed or a daily update to your official challenge post is missed. The goal, of course, is to finish the month with 100 points!
THE 100 POINT CHALLENGE RULES:
1) The challenge begins on January 1, 2009. It is performed one month at a time. My plan is to do this Jan-June 2009, and then reassess.
2) It doesn't matter if you are cutting, bulking or maintaining. The common goal here is 100% consistency.
3) Each person participating in the challenge should start with an challenge post. Your progress must be updated each and every day. The updates won't take long (examples below). If you miss an update, you must deduct a point.
4) Miss a workout for any reason, deduct a point.
5) Miss a meal for any reason, deduct a point.
6) Eat an unscheduled "cheat" meal or snack, deduct a point.
Feel free to post before/after pictures if you like (optional).
Of course this challenge is based on the honor system. You can cheat, but that would be pointless.
THE MOTIVATION:
It is a mathematical fact: if you workout 6 times a week, eat clean 6 times a day (every 2-3 hours), and track your progress, ripped is a mathematical certainty. So that is the basis of this challenge, to track that mathematical certainty with a little math.
MATHEMATICALLY CERTAIN OUTCOMES:
These are what I believe to be mathematically certain outcomes of doing these things with consistency and discipline:
PREMISE OF THE 100 POINT CHALLENGE:
The premise of this challenge is pretty simple: Each participant starts the month with 100 points. A point is deducted each time a workout is missed, a meal is missed, an unscheduled "cheat" meal or snack is consumed or a daily update to your official challenge post is missed. The goal, of course, is to finish the month with 100 points!
THE 100 POINT CHALLENGE RULES:
Feel free to post before/after pictures if you like (optional).
Of course this challenge is based on the honor system. You can cheat, but that would be pointless.
EXAMPLE POSTS FOR THE 100 POINT CHALLENGE:
DAILY LOG (Note: Each entry should be completed the day after, or at the end of the same day after all meals/workouts are completed. Will be sure to keep a running total of my points, as shown below.)
JAN 1: I did my cardio and ate all meals as scheduled.
-0 points [100 points]
JAN 2: My car broke down and I missed my back workout. I walked to Burger King for dinner and had an unscheduled cheat meal.
-2 points [98 points]
JAN 3: I missed my cardio today, but ate all meals as scheduled.
-1 point [97 points]
JAN 4:
JAN 5: I missed yesterday's update, but I did my delts and traps workout yesterday, and ate all meals as scheduled (including my scheduled cheat meal). Today I did my cardio, ate all meals as scheduled and did my leg workout.
-1 point [96 POINTS]
You continue in this fashion until Jan 31, and then the February 2009 100 Point Challenge starts. I intend to do this from January through June. My goal is to keep all months above 90, and to get a 100 on at least one month.
The reason that everything is worth 1 point equally, ie the workouts, each meal, and tracking progress, is because they are all equally important. If all of these 3 things are done, the workouts, the nutrition and the tracked goals, ripped is a mathematical certainty.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
I'm sad because I wasted money
No....I didn't waste my money on ANY beachbody product (actually if I could, I think I'd buy one of everything!!!! Good thing I have a goal of 2009=new homeowners in RyLi!!!).
I got a subscription to what was supposed to be 4 magazines. I have read these magazines for a very long time. One is Oxygen. I love oxygen. I am a HUGE fan of Robert Kennedy's publisher page and all of his other work. Tosca Reno--she's incredible!! I also got Runner's world. WOW that is a remarkable magazine. I don't think it has a bad article in it!! The last two are the biggest sources of disappointment for me. Fitness Rx for Women and Muscle and Fitness Hers. DO NOT GET THESE TWO!!!
The problem with these two is, for starters, they boast of supporting women to get strong and shapely and state "use really like weights to not get bulky" Uhm you folks are PROFESSIONALS you KNOW that women CAN'T get bulky, so WHY are you scaring them against CHALLENGING themselves for an unrealistic fear of getting bulky?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?! (See earlier blog post for more on this). They boast of the fact that women can get really strong and yet their covergirls' workouts show them using 8 pounds for back exercises and some even lighter barbie weight for their bicep curls. And you expect to do anything of benefit with these weights?!?!?! Come on!?!?! Show these women doing what they can!!!!! Show them, as oxygen does, using heavy weights and doing really well with them!!
Second of all, M&F Hers is guilty of this one--"Tone your muscles with no workout" I don't care who is willing to pay to advertise but these magazines ought to have a sense of YES and NO WAY!!!! for folks willing to support the magazines. I am utterly disgusted by this magazine right now. Why IN GOD'S NAME is a FITNESS magazine encouraging women to not even workout?!?!?! Trash can here that magazine goes.....and cancelled subscription we come too!!!
That's nauseating for me. This magazine has lost many points over the past few issues and now it's the bottom of the pit. I will never open another one of these again, except to see if my letter to the editor makes it in the pages. Hopefully I'll be able to turn some women to the truth and away from this crap.
I got a subscription to what was supposed to be 4 magazines. I have read these magazines for a very long time. One is Oxygen. I love oxygen. I am a HUGE fan of Robert Kennedy's publisher page and all of his other work. Tosca Reno--she's incredible!! I also got Runner's world. WOW that is a remarkable magazine. I don't think it has a bad article in it!! The last two are the biggest sources of disappointment for me. Fitness Rx for Women and Muscle and Fitness Hers. DO NOT GET THESE TWO!!!
The problem with these two is, for starters, they boast of supporting women to get strong and shapely and state "use really like weights to not get bulky" Uhm you folks are PROFESSIONALS you KNOW that women CAN'T get bulky, so WHY are you scaring them against CHALLENGING themselves for an unrealistic fear of getting bulky?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?! (See earlier blog post for more on this). They boast of the fact that women can get really strong and yet their covergirls' workouts show them using 8 pounds for back exercises and some even lighter barbie weight for their bicep curls. And you expect to do anything of benefit with these weights?!?!?! Come on!?!?! Show these women doing what they can!!!!! Show them, as oxygen does, using heavy weights and doing really well with them!!
Second of all, M&F Hers is guilty of this one--"Tone your muscles with no workout" I don't care who is willing to pay to advertise but these magazines ought to have a sense of YES and NO WAY!!!! for folks willing to support the magazines. I am utterly disgusted by this magazine right now. Why IN GOD'S NAME is a FITNESS magazine encouraging women to not even workout?!?!?! Trash can here that magazine goes.....and cancelled subscription we come too!!!
That's nauseating for me. This magazine has lost many points over the past few issues and now it's the bottom of the pit. I will never open another one of these again, except to see if my letter to the editor makes it in the pages. Hopefully I'll be able to turn some women to the truth and away from this crap.
The X
So, as I usually do when I stumble on a P90X infomercial, I stayed there (well until my nephew came out and said he'd like to play ps3....*sigh* children :P). I have to say.....After having done one round of the x, I KNOW that it works. I have to say, also, that if you think it's hoaxy, it's NOT. It's real. You get those results; you get stronger; you get leaner; you get HEALTHIER. Those people are not lying--the X does work. The X is phenomenal! Yes, it sucks if you don't put anything into it; but let me tell you, give it your all and you will be BLOWN AWAY. I did the x after having done many a-different programs and workouts and stupid stuff (not gidgety and gadgety!) and I was so pleased with the increase in strength that I had. You have to try it. You have to get your butt off the couch and quit flipping past the infomercial! Order it already!!!!
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
YUMMMMY Chili!!!!
So I took an old favorite of mine from my Mommy and tweaked it to make it a bit more healthy....man is it yummmmy!!!!
1lb browned, ground lean turkey
12 oz crispy-cooked and cut turkey bacon
2 medium size green peppers sauteed
2 small onions goldened
2 cans 40 oz medium red kidney beans
2 cans 24 oz whole tomatoes.
I cook this in the crockpot on high for 4 hours. You can do low for 8 hours too.
It's very yummy. And alot of crockpot meals are amazing...this one is not quite as simple as most but that's ok. Enjoy :)
1lb browned, ground lean turkey
12 oz crispy-cooked and cut turkey bacon
2 medium size green peppers sauteed
2 small onions goldened
2 cans 40 oz medium red kidney beans
2 cans 24 oz whole tomatoes.
I cook this in the crockpot on high for 4 hours. You can do low for 8 hours too.
It's very yummy. And alot of crockpot meals are amazing...this one is not quite as simple as most but that's ok. Enjoy :)
Monday, December 22, 2008
Gidgets and Gadgets
"Stupid gidgets and gadgets that don't work" from an intro to one of the X videos kept ringing through my head as I flipped the television station back to a RIDICULOUS paid advertisement.
"Contour abs" it's called. It was absurd. Really. They had a 'model' get on the floor and do 50 crunches. "How many do you normally do?" they asked him. "One hundred" he answered with a resigned attitude. They wrinkled their nose to this answer. They were measuring the amount about blood flow to his muscles. "And look at how little activity their is in the lower abs and the obliques!" they retorted once he was done. He put on this stupid little belt and once he was 'done his exercise' with the oh-so-amazing contour abs (please tell me you picked up on that sarcasm.....) they, again, measured the blood flow to the entire abdominal region. "And this v-shaped design allows you to work on that dreaded pooch area" Another thing that was said was "look at how much more effective it is than those painful moves"
Oh my GOODNESS!!!!!!! Really?!?!?! And you know what?!?!?! You can't learn Chinese without studying!! You aren't going to get a nice, definted, visible set of abs (because the reality is that we *all* have abs.....their just hiding on MOST Americans) without doing SOMETHING!! Moving, cutting calories, doing some work to stress the abdominal muscles so they develop!!
Let's talk about stupid gidgets and gadgets that don't work. Thank you Mr. Horton for that one!
Really, guys, do you want to know what it's going to take for your abdominal muscles to come through? That milkshake, cookies, cake, potato chips, candy bar, and CERTAINLY NOT that contour ab belt isn't going to do it. Do you want to know what *will* make them shine? The same thing that will make your heart beat more efficiently. The same thing that will allow you to either come off of or prevent going onto medication for diabetes, cholesterol, heart conditions, and high blood pressure (that's just the beginning). You might want to add a veggie or two or three to your daily menu. You might want to add a fruit to your menu....how bout a HEALTHY serving of protein (as in skip the red meat) or some whole (WHOLE) wheat (that requires you to read the ingredient label....not just the front of the label because the ADA has very low standards for calling an item 'made from whole grains' or 'made with whole grains'....so read read read read....) You might want to set aside the condiments. You might want to talk yourself out of dessert and into a walk....instead of the other way around.
And while you're at it....talk yourself out of the ab lounge chair thing, the contour abs....oh and don't get that stupid leg slimmer trimmer stand here and slide your legs together and apart on these 'ergonomically created arches!!!" OOOOO Stop it. Sweat a bit and put in some effort. Your body will thank you
Ciao for now :)
*steps off her soap box now"
"Contour abs" it's called. It was absurd. Really. They had a 'model' get on the floor and do 50 crunches. "How many do you normally do?" they asked him. "One hundred" he answered with a resigned attitude. They wrinkled their nose to this answer. They were measuring the amount about blood flow to his muscles. "And look at how little activity their is in the lower abs and the obliques!" they retorted once he was done. He put on this stupid little belt and once he was 'done his exercise' with the oh-so-amazing contour abs (please tell me you picked up on that sarcasm.....) they, again, measured the blood flow to the entire abdominal region. "And this v-shaped design allows you to work on that dreaded pooch area" Another thing that was said was "look at how much more effective it is than those painful moves"
Oh my GOODNESS!!!!!!! Really?!?!?! And you know what?!?!?! You can't learn Chinese without studying!! You aren't going to get a nice, definted, visible set of abs (because the reality is that we *all* have abs.....their just hiding on MOST Americans) without doing SOMETHING!! Moving, cutting calories, doing some work to stress the abdominal muscles so they develop!!
Let's talk about stupid gidgets and gadgets that don't work. Thank you Mr. Horton for that one!
Really, guys, do you want to know what it's going to take for your abdominal muscles to come through? That milkshake, cookies, cake, potato chips, candy bar, and CERTAINLY NOT that contour ab belt isn't going to do it. Do you want to know what *will* make them shine? The same thing that will make your heart beat more efficiently. The same thing that will allow you to either come off of or prevent going onto medication for diabetes, cholesterol, heart conditions, and high blood pressure (that's just the beginning). You might want to add a veggie or two or three to your daily menu. You might want to add a fruit to your menu....how bout a HEALTHY serving of protein (as in skip the red meat) or some whole (WHOLE) wheat (that requires you to read the ingredient label....not just the front of the label because the ADA has very low standards for calling an item 'made from whole grains' or 'made with whole grains'....so read read read read....) You might want to set aside the condiments. You might want to talk yourself out of dessert and into a walk....instead of the other way around.
And while you're at it....talk yourself out of the ab lounge chair thing, the contour abs....oh and don't get that stupid leg slimmer trimmer stand here and slide your legs together and apart on these 'ergonomically created arches!!!" OOOOO Stop it. Sweat a bit and put in some effort. Your body will thank you
Ciao for now :)
*steps off her soap box now"
Thursday, December 18, 2008
The importance of Stretching and the cool down
Every night (or morning if you're an early riser...and have more guts than I do!) you are doing a workout...whether it be getting your heart really pumping with Hip Hop Abs or Turbo Jam or things like Plyo X, or you're doing Chest and Back, 1on1 Just arms, or Upper Body +, you NEED TO COOL DOWN.
Let me tell you why.
When you're working out and moving and grooving and going hard and giving it all you've got, your heart is pounding. I know you know this but let me just spell it out--it's part of what I'm talking about. When your heart is pounding hard, your blood is flowing faster than when your heart is at rest. When your blood is flowing faster, it flows to your extremities faster. It takes alot of work to get the blood back to your heart from your legs. Since your working hard and your heart is too, this isn't a problem. It can take care of fighting gravity to get the blood from pooling in your legs a bit.
However, when you are working hard and stop suddenly, don't do a cool down ballistic stretch, or a static stretch, your heart actually begins to slow down more quickly than you really want it too. If your heartrate drastically drops, it puts more stress on your heart to keep getting that blood that was needed to flow fast to your legs back to your heart.
Make sense? So no cool down and gradual decrease in the heart rate puts an additional unnecessary stress (not eustress) on your heart.
Your cool down is important! Do it!! don't just go off and get your recovery drink--cool down, then towel off and get your water or recovery drink.
Keep pushing play guys
Let me tell you why.
When you're working out and moving and grooving and going hard and giving it all you've got, your heart is pounding. I know you know this but let me just spell it out--it's part of what I'm talking about. When your heart is pounding hard, your blood is flowing faster than when your heart is at rest. When your blood is flowing faster, it flows to your extremities faster. It takes alot of work to get the blood back to your heart from your legs. Since your working hard and your heart is too, this isn't a problem. It can take care of fighting gravity to get the blood from pooling in your legs a bit.
However, when you are working hard and stop suddenly, don't do a cool down ballistic stretch, or a static stretch, your heart actually begins to slow down more quickly than you really want it too. If your heartrate drastically drops, it puts more stress on your heart to keep getting that blood that was needed to flow fast to your legs back to your heart.
Make sense? So no cool down and gradual decrease in the heart rate puts an additional unnecessary stress (not eustress) on your heart.
Your cool down is important! Do it!! don't just go off and get your recovery drink--cool down, then towel off and get your water or recovery drink.
Keep pushing play guys
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Don't skip, modify
I can't tell you that every single vinyasa in Yoga X, I'm gleefully anticipating. I can't tell you that in 30/15s I'm able to do every single push up on my toes with Tony. Or every single pull up without missing a beat. No. Yea right. That one's a tough one.
I will tell you what I do. I modify. If it gets hard, I don't skip it. Why? Then I'm not moving because I'm playing with the dvd player remote AND I'm losing part of my workout! Double whammy! If push ups from my toes gets hard, I go to my knees. And if push ups from my knees gets hard what do I do? Quit? No. I bring my knees closer under my hips and keep on going! Those diamond push ups get hard! You know what? That's not even the last option! If that gets too hard, do I quit? No! You know what I can do?! I can stand and arm's length from the wall with my hands in whatever position Tony's doing them and keep on going! You have some limitations with what you can do on the wall, but that's ok! Because you know what? There's plenty of things you CAN do!!
So in Legs and Back, Tony does 2 30second chair stands. Do those, no matter how you do them, hurt your back? Then go into an iso squat and hold it. When they break from the first chair stand, try to stay in your squat if you can.
The point that I'm making is that you do not have to stop moving. There are modifications to everything--from moves in chest and back, shoulders and arms, plyo, chest shoulders and tris, even moves in Turbo Jam and Hip Hop Abs, there are modifications! If you can't do what they're doing, don't stop; bring down the intensity, allow yourself to ACTIVELY recover and when you're ready come back and do what they're doing. If you can't get back to where they're at, just keep moving!! If you feel that you're working hard, you probably are and do NOT discredit that. Feel good about moving and doing your best because your best, certainly in this case, is good enough!
If you have questions about modifications to keep moving, drop me a message here or in my email. I'm here and listening!
Keep pushing play.
I will tell you what I do. I modify. If it gets hard, I don't skip it. Why? Then I'm not moving because I'm playing with the dvd player remote AND I'm losing part of my workout! Double whammy! If push ups from my toes gets hard, I go to my knees. And if push ups from my knees gets hard what do I do? Quit? No. I bring my knees closer under my hips and keep on going! Those diamond push ups get hard! You know what? That's not even the last option! If that gets too hard, do I quit? No! You know what I can do?! I can stand and arm's length from the wall with my hands in whatever position Tony's doing them and keep on going! You have some limitations with what you can do on the wall, but that's ok! Because you know what? There's plenty of things you CAN do!!
So in Legs and Back, Tony does 2 30second chair stands. Do those, no matter how you do them, hurt your back? Then go into an iso squat and hold it. When they break from the first chair stand, try to stay in your squat if you can.
The point that I'm making is that you do not have to stop moving. There are modifications to everything--from moves in chest and back, shoulders and arms, plyo, chest shoulders and tris, even moves in Turbo Jam and Hip Hop Abs, there are modifications! If you can't do what they're doing, don't stop; bring down the intensity, allow yourself to ACTIVELY recover and when you're ready come back and do what they're doing. If you can't get back to where they're at, just keep moving!! If you feel that you're working hard, you probably are and do NOT discredit that. Feel good about moving and doing your best because your best, certainly in this case, is good enough!
If you have questions about modifications to keep moving, drop me a message here or in my email. I'm here and listening!
Keep pushing play.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Yoga Tips
Today I did Tony's one on one Yoga--Fountain of Youth, which was amazing by the way--and he mentioned a couple good pointers to keep in mind and practice while doing the poses.
With warrior one, you are supposed to square up your hips for proper form. Well say you are lunged so that your right leg is back and your left knee is bent. If you have your arms above your head and find that your hips are twisted, drop your right arm straight out in front of you. You will find that it straightens out your shoulders, then your hips.
Another pointer that Tony gave was in terms of the knees. When you're doing warrior one, two, or reverse, you want to be sure that front knee isn't falling in to the middle of the body. You want to keep your knee over your ankle front to back and side to side as well. Bring your foot closer to the center if your knee is collapsing.
When you're doing seated single leg hamstring stretch, you can intensify it if the block isn't enough for you (or if you need the block but don't have one). Cross your left leg across your straight right leg so that your left ankle is laying on the floor on the right side of your right thigh. Bend forward reaching over your left leg toward your right foot. Breathe and stretch as you would if your legs weren't crossed over each other.
I have moderately weak knees from dislocation and then favoring that knee. When I go into reverse warrior, it puts alot of strain on the medial (aka middle) part of my knee. I'm sure this isn't the best for yoga form, but what I do to take the strain off my knees is widen my stance. I don't actually line up my heels. I know you're supposed to, but I do not.
I do hope those few pointers help ya out!!
With warrior one, you are supposed to square up your hips for proper form. Well say you are lunged so that your right leg is back and your left knee is bent. If you have your arms above your head and find that your hips are twisted, drop your right arm straight out in front of you. You will find that it straightens out your shoulders, then your hips.
Another pointer that Tony gave was in terms of the knees. When you're doing warrior one, two, or reverse, you want to be sure that front knee isn't falling in to the middle of the body. You want to keep your knee over your ankle front to back and side to side as well. Bring your foot closer to the center if your knee is collapsing.
When you're doing seated single leg hamstring stretch, you can intensify it if the block isn't enough for you (or if you need the block but don't have one). Cross your left leg across your straight right leg so that your left ankle is laying on the floor on the right side of your right thigh. Bend forward reaching over your left leg toward your right foot. Breathe and stretch as you would if your legs weren't crossed over each other.
I have moderately weak knees from dislocation and then favoring that knee. When I go into reverse warrior, it puts alot of strain on the medial (aka middle) part of my knee. I'm sure this isn't the best for yoga form, but what I do to take the strain off my knees is widen my stance. I don't actually line up my heels. I know you're supposed to, but I do not.
I do hope those few pointers help ya out!!
Sunday, December 14, 2008
No, chica, you won't get 'bulky'
Men and women are, in fact different. Now it's not a good or bad thing that we're composed differently. But men are naturally stronger than women. Men and women have their own make up in terms of hormones. Testosterone and estrogen are two of the most well-known hormones in the human body. There are many others, but those are the two that we'll focus on.
Women do have testosterone in their bodies--just very low levels of it. Testosterone, while it has other purposes, is one of the elements that allows men to build such bulk, maintain higher percentages of muscle mass than women. Women have a little bit of testosterone, but not enough to 'bulk up'.
Too many times, I was asked by random people 'I really like working out in the gym, but I'm not seeing any results. What am I doing wrong?' I inquire about what it is they're doing--cardio. Everyone answers cardio in some form or another--running on the treadmill, using the stairclimber, or, most commonly, hitting the elliptical machine. 'Well, girlfriend, you gotta hit the iron a bit.' 'Well, I want to get thinner, not be bigger.' Every time, I hear that statement in my mind before it's said, and, every time, I stop whatever it is I'm doing, turn, look at them and ask them 'Am I bulky?' 'No! Not at all!' 'Well, I lift heavy EVERY time. EVERY single time, I lift heavy. I life heavy enough to fatigue my muscles in, preferably no more than 10 reps. If I can do more than that, I certainly do, but make note to up the weight next time.' No one EVER believes me with that statement so I continue with this point. Remember the goal isn't to see how many bicep curls you can do in 20 minutes before you fatigue. If you want to size up (men more drastically than women!!!!), use a weight that's going to finish the job in 8-10 reps (sometimes, even 6 reps). If you want to gain strength and not size, stick with a weight that will finish the job in no more than 15 reps (SOMEtimes 20 reps). If you're pumping out 50, 60, 90, 100 reps, go home, shower, call it a day. Come back the next day ready to work because the unfortunate reality is that you're pretty much wasting time. Experiment with new, heavier weights. See what you can do. If it's too heavy....Lighten it next time. But the goal isn't to compete for the highest number of reps with the least amount of effort. Don't be scared of heavier weights. See what 5 more pounds will do for you. I'll tell you what it won't do for you--it won't make you 'bulky'
Women do have testosterone in their bodies--just very low levels of it. Testosterone, while it has other purposes, is one of the elements that allows men to build such bulk, maintain higher percentages of muscle mass than women. Women have a little bit of testosterone, but not enough to 'bulk up'.
Too many times, I was asked by random people 'I really like working out in the gym, but I'm not seeing any results. What am I doing wrong?' I inquire about what it is they're doing--cardio. Everyone answers cardio in some form or another--running on the treadmill, using the stairclimber, or, most commonly, hitting the elliptical machine. 'Well, girlfriend, you gotta hit the iron a bit.' 'Well, I want to get thinner, not be bigger.' Every time, I hear that statement in my mind before it's said, and, every time, I stop whatever it is I'm doing, turn, look at them and ask them 'Am I bulky?' 'No! Not at all!' 'Well, I lift heavy EVERY time. EVERY single time, I lift heavy. I life heavy enough to fatigue my muscles in, preferably no more than 10 reps. If I can do more than that, I certainly do, but make note to up the weight next time.' No one EVER believes me with that statement so I continue with this point. Remember the goal isn't to see how many bicep curls you can do in 20 minutes before you fatigue. If you want to size up (men more drastically than women!!!!), use a weight that's going to finish the job in 8-10 reps (sometimes, even 6 reps). If you want to gain strength and not size, stick with a weight that will finish the job in no more than 15 reps (SOMEtimes 20 reps). If you're pumping out 50, 60, 90, 100 reps, go home, shower, call it a day. Come back the next day ready to work because the unfortunate reality is that you're pretty much wasting time. Experiment with new, heavier weights. See what you can do. If it's too heavy....Lighten it next time. But the goal isn't to compete for the highest number of reps with the least amount of effort. Don't be scared of heavier weights. See what 5 more pounds will do for you. I'll tell you what it won't do for you--it won't make you 'bulky'
Friday, December 12, 2008
Hang Your Finishers' Medal With PRIDE
The things you can learn on 6 miles. Still in love with running :)
I typed this and posted it on my myspace (www.myspace.com/lisaerin82) Read and enjoy :)
Four years and about 4 months ago, I discovered a passion. Well that's a lie. Then it was a level of disgust. A necessity. I conveyed to Ryan my desire, need, for a treadmill; Ryan convinced me of his approval of the acquisition. We got a treadmill. I hated the stupid thing. It was the enemy. It was hard. It hurt. Alot. My feet hurt, my legs hurt (my knee didn't! This was pre-dislocation of it); my chest hurt; my heart felt like it was rising in my chest, pounding hard, just to satiate the desperation for oxygen. I ached. Everywhere. Everything that could ache did and muscles I didn't know about introduced themselves to me in a nagging way. Yet I got off the treadmill after a mile in less than 12 minutes GLOWING. GRINNING from ear to ear. It hurt and I conquered it and I LOVED IT! I ran more. I turned the treadmill into use for sprinting, short runs, or down-pour day uses. I dislocated my knee and Ryan had to reprimand me just for entertaining the idea of getting back on the treadmill too soon. Three weeks was enough. Back to working out, weights, running. It hurt. Still. It wasn't comfortable. As the stress from wedding planning mounted, the intensity and frequency increased (was it possible? ..found a way for it to be.) The idea of twenty-six POINT TWO (hehe) was introduced to me. I ran my first 'distance run' 6.1 miles from Dewey Beach's Gold Leaf Best Western Hotel to the beloved Indian River Inlet. Up and over the bridge (gasp!) and down the steps. "I MADE IT!" It was exhilarating. A runner? I was a becoming a runner? Through training for 16 formal weeks (and many informal weeks preceding), I pushed and worked and logged miles and miles and miles. I escaped. I had my stress relief. I conquered my first marathon (goal: to finish....to cross the finish line before they closed the course) and I did just that. (Oh to go back to that....the comraderie at the Philly "stomp"). I continued to run and workout, though training for nothing in particular other than stress relief and weight loss. I entertained the idea of running the 06 marathon in Philly but ended up going to Pittsburgh for 7 weeks. I didn't even have time to think about the upcoming marathon in Philly in 07, but entertained the idea of running the NJM in 5/08. After spraining my ankle on my first training run, that slipped out of reach (rehabbing it without knowing the proper rehab was a problem). I started the summer with the intention of running Philly to qualify for Boston this year. I ran and worked out hard. 18 miles over Labor Day weekend, though, told me that I didn't work out quite hard enough. I was becoming comfortable...complacent?...with running. My love affair for running was stagnant. I stopped running with sacrifice. It stopped being a challenge. It stopped being hard. I stopped making it hard. I removed the sacrifice and started jogging. I wasn't a runner, I was a jogger. It was easy. My heart was pumping, but not hard. My legs weren't aching. Was it because I was just that good of a runner that it was easy? No. Running isn't easy. That's the whole point of this: Running isn't easy. Run easy? Great. Did you enjoy your jog? Run hard; run with sacrifice; run with discomfort (not near-death-pain-and-discomfort, just discomfort). I just got back from my first stomp since the ugly, easy, love-less, chore of 18miles and IT HURT! (yes I'm celebrating that pain!). My chest hurt. My heart was POUNDING! I was working hard for air. My legs hurt (not my joints though!!! WOOHOO!) My toes felt every step on the pavement. My knees were lifted and plowing through to the next push off and MY GOODNESS IT WAS AMAZING!!!! I am back!
I typed all that to tell you this: Run with purpose; run with pain; run till it hurts, then run farther; run harder; run faster. Whether you are able to do a half mile, a half hour, or a half marathon, run with all you have. Run so that you FEEL your heart beat EVERY SINGLE BEAT. If you can do a mile in 20 minutes, 12 minutes, or 8 minutes, do it with sacrifice. If you find yourself, like I did, finding excuses to slow down or *eek* stop, take a break from running, do some cross training (yoga is great! weights are amazing!). Take two [active] weeks off of running and go back to it with your heart back into it. You'll be glad you did. I was....my run today 6 miles <50 minutes Yippeeeeee!!!!! Now off to do my power90x workout. *grin* Run. Don't jog. :)
I typed this and posted it on my myspace (www.myspace.com/lisaerin82) Read and enjoy :)
Four years and about 4 months ago, I discovered a passion. Well that's a lie. Then it was a level of disgust. A necessity. I conveyed to Ryan my desire, need, for a treadmill; Ryan convinced me of his approval of the acquisition. We got a treadmill. I hated the stupid thing. It was the enemy. It was hard. It hurt. Alot. My feet hurt, my legs hurt (my knee didn't! This was pre-dislocation of it); my chest hurt; my heart felt like it was rising in my chest, pounding hard, just to satiate the desperation for oxygen. I ached. Everywhere. Everything that could ache did and muscles I didn't know about introduced themselves to me in a nagging way. Yet I got off the treadmill after a mile in less than 12 minutes GLOWING. GRINNING from ear to ear. It hurt and I conquered it and I LOVED IT! I ran more. I turned the treadmill into use for sprinting, short runs, or down-pour day uses. I dislocated my knee and Ryan had to reprimand me just for entertaining the idea of getting back on the treadmill too soon. Three weeks was enough. Back to working out, weights, running. It hurt. Still. It wasn't comfortable. As the stress from wedding planning mounted, the intensity and frequency increased (was it possible? ..found a way for it to be.) The idea of twenty-six POINT TWO (hehe) was introduced to me. I ran my first 'distance run' 6.1 miles from Dewey Beach's Gold Leaf Best Western Hotel to the beloved Indian River Inlet. Up and over the bridge (gasp!) and down the steps. "I MADE IT!" It was exhilarating. A runner? I was a becoming a runner? Through training for 16 formal weeks (and many informal weeks preceding), I pushed and worked and logged miles and miles and miles. I escaped. I had my stress relief. I conquered my first marathon (goal: to finish....to cross the finish line before they closed the course) and I did just that. (Oh to go back to that....the comraderie at the Philly "stomp"). I continued to run and workout, though training for nothing in particular other than stress relief and weight loss. I entertained the idea of running the 06 marathon in Philly but ended up going to Pittsburgh for 7 weeks. I didn't even have time to think about the upcoming marathon in Philly in 07, but entertained the idea of running the NJM in 5/08. After spraining my ankle on my first training run, that slipped out of reach (rehabbing it without knowing the proper rehab was a problem). I started the summer with the intention of running Philly to qualify for Boston this year. I ran and worked out hard. 18 miles over Labor Day weekend, though, told me that I didn't work out quite hard enough. I was becoming comfortable...complacent?...with running. My love affair for running was stagnant. I stopped running with sacrifice. It stopped being a challenge. It stopped being hard. I stopped making it hard. I removed the sacrifice and started jogging. I wasn't a runner, I was a jogger. It was easy. My heart was pumping, but not hard. My legs weren't aching. Was it because I was just that good of a runner that it was easy? No. Running isn't easy. That's the whole point of this: Running isn't easy. Run easy? Great. Did you enjoy your jog? Run hard; run with sacrifice; run with discomfort (not near-death-pain-and-discomfort, just discomfort). I just got back from my first stomp since the ugly, easy, love-less, chore of 18miles and IT HURT! (yes I'm celebrating that pain!). My chest hurt. My heart was POUNDING! I was working hard for air. My legs hurt (not my joints though!!! WOOHOO!) My toes felt every step on the pavement. My knees were lifted and plowing through to the next push off and MY GOODNESS IT WAS AMAZING!!!! I am back!
I typed all that to tell you this: Run with purpose; run with pain; run till it hurts, then run farther; run harder; run faster. Whether you are able to do a half mile, a half hour, or a half marathon, run with all you have. Run so that you FEEL your heart beat EVERY SINGLE BEAT. If you can do a mile in 20 minutes, 12 minutes, or 8 minutes, do it with sacrifice. If you find yourself, like I did, finding excuses to slow down or *eek* stop, take a break from running, do some cross training (yoga is great! weights are amazing!). Take two [active] weeks off of running and go back to it with your heart back into it. You'll be glad you did. I was....my run today 6 miles <50 minutes Yippeeeeee!!!!! Now off to do my power90x workout. *grin* Run. Don't jog. :)
Introductions
Hello and Welcome!! I appreciate you coming to see my rants as well as pieces of information that I pick up along the way and feel it necessary to share!! I look forward to learning and spreading the knowledge around.
Let me introduce myself.
If you know me you know two important details: I'm a wife; I'm a fanatic about health, fitness, and clean eating.
I've been happily married since May of 2005 to the love of my life. Ryan is a wonderful, amazing, patient, strong man. He is my best friend. We started out not feeling that way, but quickly feelings evolved from frustration to a like, then a love. His initials permanently mark my left ring finger and I would say that is my favorite tattoo--a symbol of a wonderful blessing in my life.
School was not fun for me. I was the fat kid with the skinny twin brother whose last name meant (as in it's now my maiden name) pig or pork in italian.....Yes I was picked on. Fat girl....glasses....braces...pig...Oh yea. Skinny funny popular twin....I remember middle school and high school being horrendous, terrible, forgettable years for it. I never did anything about it when I was in school, though.
The year before Ryan and I were to be married, I graduated from college. We decided that we would be able to sustain ourselves with me working as a full time life guard until fall. I put on my bathing suit and *gasp* I had back fat and horrible rolls. I knew IMMEDIATELY that I wanted to change my ways and lose that weight. I got rid of all the junk food, stopped going to fast food places, stopped going to Wawa for every meal (for those of you not in the northeast part of the country--Wawa is a convenience store....it's all too convenient to pack on the pounds while maintaining a Wawa diet). I started working out. I had some pilates videos that I decided to start with. I didn't want to waste money on something that I didn't know about. Pilates very quickly became too easy for me. I was eager to up the ante and I did just that with the firm. I then got what seems like every firm video known to man (I still have them.....the step(s) come in handy too!) I added TaeBo, Core Secrets, and eventually added Ripped to the program. I also started running. At first I struggled through the first mile. Then one mile became two; two turned into four, five, and six. At that same pool that I worked at right after graduating college (the next summer) a girl suggested that I train for a marathon. HOLY COW?!?! She clearly didn't know me well. ME?! A RUNNER?!?! A RUNNER of MARATHONS?!?!?!?! That was literally laugh out loud funny.....Then I started training for it. I ran ALOT--I quickly upped the weekly mileage (stupidly) to 50 then 60 then 70+ miles a week. She helped me out a bit. She told me where to get a good training schedule. We started doing our long runs together. Every Sunday morning. Rain or shine. It was exhilarating! In September of that same year, I also started studying for my ACE personal trainer exam (MAN, Ryan sure *is* patient!!!!) My running buddy and I started my first (her second) Philadelphia Marathon together (we didn't finish together--she kept running when I had to stop and walk. She finished in 4:08. I finished a half hour behind her at 4:38 and some odd seconds.) After I finished the smile just would NOT go away! I couldn't believe it. Twenty-six POINT two miles?!?! I DID IT!!!
After the marathon, because it's this ugly season called winter, I hung up the running sneakers (ONLY temporarily!!) to go back to working out with weights (when I trained for the marathon, I only ran and did ab work .. nothing else). I went back to the firm and fell in love with Ripped (it's a good workout program...ask me about it...I'll tell ya more if ya like). It wasn't until Ryan's youngest brother asked me December 2007 to look into P90X for him. As a now-certified personal trainer, he asked me to review and approve or deny certain workout programs for him. So I looked it up. "HONEY!!!! Look at this AWESOME PROGRAM!!!" I remember telling the hubby. I think he gave me a dose of my own medicine--he rolled his eyes and went back to what he was doing. I went on and on and on about why I thought P90X was amazing but I don't think he heard me "Well, order it if you want it then." I finally did just that in April 2008. My first workout was Plyometrics!!! WHEW!!! AWESOME!!!! Ciao Firm, Ciao Jari (from Ripped) Ciao Billy Blanks!!! I've moved onto Tony now!! The first weekend in April, I had an investigator's meeting for work and a women's retreat for church. I brought the X with me JUST IN CASE the hotel in Atlanta (for work) had a dvd player in it. No...boo. Oh well. I started April 7th. I was HOOKED!!! Thank you Kirby (Ryan's brother)!! This is awesome. In June, I took an 'early leave' from the X to try to start training for the Philadelphia marathon--to make it a Boston qualifier. My run on Labor day weekend told me to abandon that idea and make my way back to the X. And I just finished my first round (with a modified week 12/week 13). During which, I ran two half marathons (the second was supposed to be a full but was just much too cold to allow for good breathing). The first was in September. The second was in November. Both were with my sister. That brings me to now (WOOHOO you think!! Gee thanks! :P). I just started the x+ yesterday on 12/11/08. Wow....it should be fun. I'm getting ready to get my butt off the couch and do my second workout of the schedule--Interval x+. This one is my second favorite workout from TH--Plyo Legs from the one on one series being my favorite--so I'm ready for it!!
That's me and my fitness history in a nutshell :)
Let me introduce myself.
If you know me you know two important details: I'm a wife; I'm a fanatic about health, fitness, and clean eating.
I've been happily married since May of 2005 to the love of my life. Ryan is a wonderful, amazing, patient, strong man. He is my best friend. We started out not feeling that way, but quickly feelings evolved from frustration to a like, then a love. His initials permanently mark my left ring finger and I would say that is my favorite tattoo--a symbol of a wonderful blessing in my life.
School was not fun for me. I was the fat kid with the skinny twin brother whose last name meant (as in it's now my maiden name) pig or pork in italian.....Yes I was picked on. Fat girl....glasses....braces...pig...Oh yea. Skinny funny popular twin....I remember middle school and high school being horrendous, terrible, forgettable years for it. I never did anything about it when I was in school, though.
The year before Ryan and I were to be married, I graduated from college. We decided that we would be able to sustain ourselves with me working as a full time life guard until fall. I put on my bathing suit and *gasp* I had back fat and horrible rolls. I knew IMMEDIATELY that I wanted to change my ways and lose that weight. I got rid of all the junk food, stopped going to fast food places, stopped going to Wawa for every meal (for those of you not in the northeast part of the country--Wawa is a convenience store....it's all too convenient to pack on the pounds while maintaining a Wawa diet). I started working out. I had some pilates videos that I decided to start with. I didn't want to waste money on something that I didn't know about. Pilates very quickly became too easy for me. I was eager to up the ante and I did just that with the firm. I then got what seems like every firm video known to man (I still have them.....the step(s) come in handy too!) I added TaeBo, Core Secrets, and eventually added Ripped to the program. I also started running. At first I struggled through the first mile. Then one mile became two; two turned into four, five, and six. At that same pool that I worked at right after graduating college (the next summer) a girl suggested that I train for a marathon. HOLY COW?!?! She clearly didn't know me well. ME?! A RUNNER?!?! A RUNNER of MARATHONS?!?!?!?! That was literally laugh out loud funny.....Then I started training for it. I ran ALOT--I quickly upped the weekly mileage (stupidly) to 50 then 60 then 70+ miles a week. She helped me out a bit. She told me where to get a good training schedule. We started doing our long runs together. Every Sunday morning. Rain or shine. It was exhilarating! In September of that same year, I also started studying for my ACE personal trainer exam (MAN, Ryan sure *is* patient!!!!) My running buddy and I started my first (her second) Philadelphia Marathon together (we didn't finish together--she kept running when I had to stop and walk. She finished in 4:08. I finished a half hour behind her at 4:38 and some odd seconds.) After I finished the smile just would NOT go away! I couldn't believe it. Twenty-six POINT two miles?!?! I DID IT!!!
After the marathon, because it's this ugly season called winter, I hung up the running sneakers (ONLY temporarily!!) to go back to working out with weights (when I trained for the marathon, I only ran and did ab work .. nothing else). I went back to the firm and fell in love with Ripped (it's a good workout program...ask me about it...I'll tell ya more if ya like). It wasn't until Ryan's youngest brother asked me December 2007 to look into P90X for him. As a now-certified personal trainer, he asked me to review and approve or deny certain workout programs for him. So I looked it up. "HONEY!!!! Look at this AWESOME PROGRAM!!!" I remember telling the hubby. I think he gave me a dose of my own medicine--he rolled his eyes and went back to what he was doing. I went on and on and on about why I thought P90X was amazing but I don't think he heard me "Well, order it if you want it then." I finally did just that in April 2008. My first workout was Plyometrics!!! WHEW!!! AWESOME!!!! Ciao Firm, Ciao Jari (from Ripped) Ciao Billy Blanks!!! I've moved onto Tony now!! The first weekend in April, I had an investigator's meeting for work and a women's retreat for church. I brought the X with me JUST IN CASE the hotel in Atlanta (for work) had a dvd player in it. No...boo. Oh well. I started April 7th. I was HOOKED!!! Thank you Kirby (Ryan's brother)!! This is awesome. In June, I took an 'early leave' from the X to try to start training for the Philadelphia marathon--to make it a Boston qualifier. My run on Labor day weekend told me to abandon that idea and make my way back to the X. And I just finished my first round (with a modified week 12/week 13). During which, I ran two half marathons (the second was supposed to be a full but was just much too cold to allow for good breathing). The first was in September. The second was in November. Both were with my sister. That brings me to now (WOOHOO you think!! Gee thanks! :P). I just started the x+ yesterday on 12/11/08. Wow....it should be fun. I'm getting ready to get my butt off the couch and do my second workout of the schedule--Interval x+. This one is my second favorite workout from TH--Plyo Legs from the one on one series being my favorite--so I'm ready for it!!
That's me and my fitness history in a nutshell :)
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