day 3: Cardio Power & resistance
Went hiking earlier in the day, plus walked across campus a couple times for work.
This workout was more up my alley. i'm more into slow, controlled movements rather than super-hard cardio. Another friend joined us today! He laughed at me less than 5 minutes in, but I yelled at him and he's been much more respectful since then. My quads and hamstrings still really hurt all this day, and the next day, even though I ate a WHOLE BAG OF BEEF JERKY after working out... It was so good, filled me up perfectly. Bought some Gatorade, too, to replenish all the electrolytes i'm losing through this gosh darn sweatstorm! ...Also my lower legs and feet kept cramping up. I tried to walk some of the workout off after, but didn't even make it down Alumni Way... le sigh.
Later I drank at my friend's house, and they all thought I was hammered... I was just exhausted, really (I swear!!) I nearly went into hyperventilation/panic attack on the walk home because my friends just seemed that darn funny.
day 4: CARDIO RECOVERY OH MY GOD SO GREAT.
ACTUALLY took the day off, and laid in bed most of the day. Helped a friend buy furniture at Ikea, and moving all that stuff around was tiring. Got home at midnight, still had to work out. despite exhaustion and a caffeine buzz, I got through recovery and some added ballet stretches.
Okay, by recovery he means he's giving your heart a rest, not your muscles. My obliques hurt something fierce today, because recovery was all yoga poses. He at least admitted it was yoga! Using my friend's mat was really really helpful, because I did it in stocking feet, which kept sliding on just the carpet in the lounge downstairs. My quads still hurt and I can't go all the way down into some of the squats, but STRETCHING BEFORE AND AFTER HELPED SO MUCH. I used to dance and I am freakishly flexible, so the stretches that Shaun T. does don't really work for me. Instead, I put on some dance music and counted out beats of 8 with dancer stretches! ...I did the splits on day 2, with little warmup... Yeah, anyway, I stretched before and after and felt much better today. I could sit down without having to grab a wall or table for support!!
I did notice that my arms are starting to gain some muscle. I lifted my arm and I had a shoulder!! Well, I guess it's a deltoid. Had to ask my bio major friend to make sure I had the right muscle :P
Day 5: Pure Cardio
Work was prepping dorm rooms for an incoming camp... i.e. moving lots of linen packs and working out my arms.
Stretched before again, and the music we put on was enough for a mini-dance party... enough to warm up for Shaun T.'s warmup. There's so much of his crap that I just can't do because my heart rate gets up so high and doesn't fall, even if I do side steps instead of Heismans. I figure as long as I'm still doing the movements I'm working the same muscles... if less intensely. I'm DYING to get some ab workout in, because while I know the core is more than just abs, my back kinda hurts, my obliques kinda hurt, but my abs just feel flabby!!
And... Al and I decided to walk it off afterwards. I wasn't sure if we would even make it up the stairs to get down to the track, but then the Lazy Song came on my iPod and I just wanted to dance and shout and sing! We ended up doing an hour of track work after insanity... I really gotta never do that again. However, I discovered that walking with your arms stretched out straight in front of you is a great workout for the core! All that oblique soreness is paying off... i'm already seeing some definition (despite through my tummy fat... ah well...)
I replenished with a double hamburger and half a chocolate milkshake from McDonald's. I'm hoping I don't hurt too much in the morning... 8am shift, oh joy.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
day 2
oh god. the pain. i'm about to do day 3, and i'm dreading the pain i know will come... but i'm going to do it anyway. das just how I am.
yesterday during day 2's cario/plyo workout, my lower legs and feet kept cramping. I did it with three other girls, and only one other had cramps and such like I did. I tried to drink more water today... especially because i chilled out with more than a few beers last night. oops. sorry for partying.
the exercise was once again, super-intense. when it came to some of the ab work, instead of working my cardio super-hard I did some ab drills that I know to be effective. less pain, more gain.
i'm going to try stretching my quads and hamstrings before day 3 - stairs and sitting/standing were the absolute worst. (never before had i been grateful for hot black leather seats in my car - they made my muscles feel better :P)
yesterday during day 2's cario/plyo workout, my lower legs and feet kept cramping. I did it with three other girls, and only one other had cramps and such like I did. I tried to drink more water today... especially because i chilled out with more than a few beers last night. oops. sorry for partying.
the exercise was once again, super-intense. when it came to some of the ab work, instead of working my cardio super-hard I did some ab drills that I know to be effective. less pain, more gain.
i'm going to try stretching my quads and hamstrings before day 3 - stairs and sitting/standing were the absolute worst. (never before had i been grateful for hot black leather seats in my car - they made my muscles feel better :P)
Monday, July 25, 2011
Day 1: Fit Test
So all my friends have been talking about this Insanity workout and Shaun T. and how they love to curse him out, so I've decided to try it too. I've been trying to get in shape this summer, but with my weird work schedule I find it impossible to hit the gym when it's open.
The dorm I'm living in has a spacious, finished basement, so I brought my laptop downstairs to do the fit test while I did some laundry. 30 minutes? I thought to myself. Can't be that bad, can it? I'd been trying this app called Nike Training Club on some days, and granted, while it's great having an app tell you when to change activities and switch sides all while playing my music, I have little motivation to do it.
Well, after the fit test, I have little motivation to do Insanity again, other than being able to check the little box on the calendar that says I SURVIVED THIS WORKOUT (well, that's what it says to me, anyway.)
Before I tell you about the first day, let me tell you about myself - 21-year-old college girl, 5'10, 180 lbs. My license says 146, and I want to get back down to that weight eventually... Given that last week I had strep throat and literally stayed in bed all day other than to go to work, where I sit at a desk and do nothing, I'm just glad to say I survived the fit test.
I think I spent more time recovering than actually doing the workout. The 30-minute drill set took me a good 40 or 50 minutes, and I was completely drenched with sweat and looked like I had just run a marathon by the end. Shaun T. had me nearly in tears a couple times, but he was so damn nice about making me sweat myself to death I just kept trying.
I don't notice a difference in my body yet (who would afterr less than 24 hours?) but I have noticed that I am sore in places I didn't know I could get sore. Shaun T. encourages keeping the core tight, and I was like whatever, my abs are fine... it's my back I should have kept tabs on! After reading a few other blogs, the hamstrings and calves are the main worry of most people... not me, my quads are DYING, and my back is rather sore. My arms don't want to be lifted. Stairs are a beast.
And yet... I'm going back in for more in about an hour. Wish me luck that I can get through the workout... or at least the warmup!
until tomorrow!
The dorm I'm living in has a spacious, finished basement, so I brought my laptop downstairs to do the fit test while I did some laundry. 30 minutes? I thought to myself. Can't be that bad, can it? I'd been trying this app called Nike Training Club on some days, and granted, while it's great having an app tell you when to change activities and switch sides all while playing my music, I have little motivation to do it.
Well, after the fit test, I have little motivation to do Insanity again, other than being able to check the little box on the calendar that says I SURVIVED THIS WORKOUT (well, that's what it says to me, anyway.)
Before I tell you about the first day, let me tell you about myself - 21-year-old college girl, 5'10, 180 lbs. My license says 146, and I want to get back down to that weight eventually... Given that last week I had strep throat and literally stayed in bed all day other than to go to work, where I sit at a desk and do nothing, I'm just glad to say I survived the fit test.
I think I spent more time recovering than actually doing the workout. The 30-minute drill set took me a good 40 or 50 minutes, and I was completely drenched with sweat and looked like I had just run a marathon by the end. Shaun T. had me nearly in tears a couple times, but he was so damn nice about making me sweat myself to death I just kept trying.
I don't notice a difference in my body yet (who would afterr less than 24 hours?) but I have noticed that I am sore in places I didn't know I could get sore. Shaun T. encourages keeping the core tight, and I was like whatever, my abs are fine... it's my back I should have kept tabs on! After reading a few other blogs, the hamstrings and calves are the main worry of most people... not me, my quads are DYING, and my back is rather sore. My arms don't want to be lifted. Stairs are a beast.
And yet... I'm going back in for more in about an hour. Wish me luck that I can get through the workout... or at least the warmup!
until tomorrow!
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