What Was I Thinking!

... in doing three sets of chest exercises followed by a burn set for!?! My chest is on FIYA and I did the Burn Sets dvd on Sat! I'm realizing this dvd is not a misnomer! I'm living proof of it! I can hardly open and close doors or put a fork to my mouth. Wait a minute, that might be a good thing! I'm not regular at doing weights for my chest and it's also my weak area as it gets sore really easily, though I have no problems doing full push ups whether on the floor or inclined with my feet off the step. But I just wasn't putting my little noodle of a brain in gear to assess this a little further before being so ambitious. Oh well, they say no pain no gain for a reason. Just gotta suck it up sometimes.

I Love Step!!

... Cathe's Party Rockin' Step 2 to be exact!!

OMG, I had a very productive satisfying day. And man it feels goooOood! And Party Rockin' it made it that much better! I got alot done by my standards. Now, I say by my standards as I'm sure others beat me by a mile like my EverReady Bunny, Mom. Who keeps going n going n going! Haha! I can't compare to that! So I do my own thang! So, by my standards it was productive. 

I made a wicked two bean veggie chili. It was supposed to be a three bean chili but I ran out of room! And I had a big pot! (Check out my Recipe section.) Then I did Party Rockin Step 2 followed by Burn Sets Chest, Back & Shoulders. Then as it was my cheat day foodwise I went to my fav fish n chips restaurant and pigged out on my usual "Fish, Ceasar and a Few (chips)" and not to be outdone, chased it all down with my fav dessert "Apple Walnut Crumble with Icecream." I kinda went a little overboard on my cheat and at home had my saved in the freezer Godiva dark chocolate with creamy mint center and, wait I'm not finished yet, along with one melt in your mouth frozen christmas shortbread cookie. I take cheat to the extreme! Then I sketched my composition on my canvas in preparation for tomorrow's creative painting fest. And now watching good ol' TV. So it was a very satisfying day.

Party Rockin' Step 2

Once again Party Rockin' Step 2 was rockin for me. I love this dvd as it has a great fun factor, great music and a great blend of steady state mixed in with Cathe's famous blasts that keep me challenged and my heart pumping. I even noticed that I hardly paused this time around. Actually only one time! Okay, there was two other minor times only to remember the steps quickly, that's it. So, it's great to see my cardio improving. And I think it's due to a more regular ~ trying at least ~ cardio schedule and incorporating more metabolic workouts. ... Oops, but I have a confession, I didn't do the last combo or the complete combos put together at the end. So, sue me!

Burn Sets

Then I followed it with Burn Sets' Chest, Back & Shoulders. Love this disc as it's a traditional strength workout that's the same as I do at the gym. And is very effective in muscle building. With this dvd you work each muscle group entirely before moving to the next and you do three exercises per muscle group doing 3 sets each with the last working to failure using heavy enough weights to peak out at around 10 reps. Then you finish each muscle group with a burn set to totally "burn" the muscle group before moving on. And man, I "burned" those muscles! I know I'll have great DOMS the next day! Yowza! I love this as I don't have to go to the gym every second day. Yeah! ... And I DID do it all!

... so practice, love what you practice and all will be coming!

Back from Miami ... And No Cop Out!

Fortune House, what a beautiful place to stay.
Reminded me of Agatha Christie's Bertram Hotel.

I'm back down from the heights that was Miami! What an experience! I hope and plan for many more in the future. New day, new chapter, I say! However, I've landed like a drug come-down into the dank depths of reality. No fun! ... To counter this see saw highs and lows I've decided there's nothing better than planning. The bible says "Where there's no vision the people perish." I know, I know, sounds rather heavy. But it's helping me to plan and keep my focus so I don't go keening into a real depression. So, I've got three main goals/plans for now: planning and saving for my next vacation, widening my social circles, and artistry specifically painting. By the end of this month I need to have two canvases prepped; by next month a nice big deposit into my vacation fund; and by the next two months getting my butt back to Mysore School and joining some cool groups of interests. This will keep me buoyed up and mind busy to get me through these dull, cold, non-Miami days! Lol! But I digress ...

No Cop-Out!

I finally won mind over matter. And dragged myself to my gym at 9pm tonight. My shadow hadn't crossed it's threshold in almost a month! What with Christmas, a cold, running around in readiness for my Miami trip there just wasn't any time. Besides I was getting great workouts at home. However, there's no substitute for going heavy at the gym. And my legs really need it for therapy. So finally I was able to psych myself to get there and it was no easy task I tell you! You have no idea the war that goes on in my head every Friday to get there. But my head finally won and I did the "Just DAMN WELL do it!" moto. And it worked! Got my butt there and a-kickin. Did my leg extensions for my vastus medialis quads to help my patella track in place. Can do 90lbs and 105lbs now. Did my barbell plie squats at 100lb (down from 105lb) doing 2 sets of 16 plus 4 low ends. I usually do 3 sets but since I haven't been at the gym for about a month I need to ramp up slower. But now that I finally lost the weight (I was NOT going to Miami not at my best, no way no how!) down to my normal 114lbs, my knee braces aren't fitting tight enough and I have to really watch my form. Time for new braces, but with saving for said vacation, I may have to put it off for late summer. We'll see how my knees fair. I did back work, chest pec machine, triceps and abs on the nearly 90° ramp. Wicked! But totally forgot to do my inner and outer thighs! Bummer! I'm going to be SORE tomorrow. I always get sore when I've been delinquent in my weight workouts. Yowza, serves me right!

More Plans

My plan is to do yoga tomorrow, maybe Eion Finn's Power Yoga for Happiness, Strong Free and Happy 53min sequence. As it's got some nice arm balances thrown in and an ashtanga type floor work. Also, has some good warrior holds for strengthening the legs. Then on Sunday, I'm going to decide what two paintings to start and the ground colours to use. And do my step aerobics possibly Cathe's Athletic Step or 4 Day Split High Intensity Step plus shoulders and biceps thrown in.

... so practice planning and DAMN WELLs, and all is coming.

Had a Blast! ...

... tonight with Cathe's Lower Body Blast dvd. Check out my sweaty forehead to prove it. Okay, it could've been sweatier but I kept forgetting I was going to take a pic and kept wiping it off with my oh so cool superstar wristband.

I can't remember where or when I got that thang and discovered it in my drawer just lately. And I'm oh so thrilled it appeared. It's definitely handy, if I do say so myself. lol! And check out the pink nail polish, in the middle of winter no less. Very matchy matchy. I promise it wasn't planned. I was just trying to channel summer. But I digress ...

Lower Body Blast!

I decided to do my new fav lower body workout again. I have a secret, I don't really want to admit to myself. But I think I ramped up my high impact cardio too quickly for my achilles' own good. Humf! So now they're kinda complaining, with their old injury giving me reminders. I get over enthusiastic with cardio as I LOVE step and I LOVE jumping as it reminds me of my old love ballet. I was really good at jumping in ballet. My teachers used to say I had amazing ballon, I had height ~ took air ~ and looked weightless when I jumped. So getting achilles tendonitis or a hint of soreness there is my nemesis as I LOVE to jump. So, I've been really diligent about icing but it seems to be still creeping in. Yuck! With that I've been taking calculated risks trying to figure out how many high impact cardio's I can slip in here or there to assuage me need for speed and before my achilles say it's really time to go grounded now. So I decided Lower Body Blast is now or never. And I must say it was a blast! 

It's a 60 minute funtastic, effective, lower body strength workout that intersperses fat burning cardio blast intervals in between the strength segments. It worked me good! We started out with a warmup into the first cardio blast off the mini step with  repeaters, power 7's, jacks, etc then into the first segment of leg work using free weights, barbell, gliding disks and stretch band for floorwork. And man she worked my legs good with walking lunges Cathe burn style, low step ups to low lunge (really works the thighs and glutes), barbell squats with pulses and low ends (I sub plie squats as they're safer for my knees), barbell plie squats, lunges, sliding warrior lunges, dead lifts, hover squats (killer), you get the drift. Done at an almost non-stop pace with cardio blasts interspersed to keep the heart pumpin and the fat burnin. And all to great music. I felt the burn and Missy Cathe kept my sweat glistening and me wiping with my superstar wristband. Cathe never fails.

P.S. Me hopes I'm still walking tomorrow or the next day! Those DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) can really sneak up on you and take you by surprise. Just like when I did my step aerobics on Saturday (still have to post on that one as I was so proud of myself) using 3 risers instead of 2 and surprise, surprise, my legs were killing me not on Sunday but on Monday!! Ouch!! I haven't had sore quads from step in YEARS!! ~ until those 3 risers kicked in!! Wow!!

... so have fun and ballon and all is coming.

My Lazy Week 2 Schedule and Post-Mortem

Well I followed my Friends Week 1 Schedule with some few tweaks. Here's the original schedule:

If Out With Friends:

SAT: Gym Legs & Back work (See how my wrists handle the weights. Got a bit of wrist issues)
SUN: Home Practice
MON: Step (Cathe Friedrich: 4 Day Split Higher Intensity Step)
TUES: Mysore
WED: rest
THURS: Out with Friends
FRI: Home Practice
SAT: Gym Legs

Here's what I ended up doing. Still got my goals in there though I had to flipflop: 

Post-Mortem:

SAT: Gym Legs & Back work (my wrists handled the weights with flying colours!)
SUN: Step (Cathe Friedrich: 4 Day Split Higher Intensity Step + Namaste Yoga Season 1, Ep11, forward fold to lunge to standing splits sequence. That's such a nice flowy stretch sequence, perfect for post cardio. And my hips and hamstrings were nice and opened after jumping around. Felt amazing!)
MON: rest
TUES: The Rocket DVD (couldn't make it to Mysore, had to work late)
WED: Friend reunion. Totally fun!
THURS: Mysore (totally awesome, had the teacher all to myself at the end. Nice!)
FRI: Too.Much.Grocery.Shopping.Yikes!
SAT: rest
SUN: The fun and fab Finding Your Lift Workshop

Here's My Lazy Flexibility Reigns Week 2 Schedule:

MON: nada!
TUES: Gym Legs and Back
WED: nada!
THURS: Mysore
FRI: hmmm ... will see
SAT: hmmm ... be flexible
SUN: hmmm ... flexibility reigns supreme

Lol! Gotta have some lazy flexible weeks where you do what you feel. I may wake up and feel like yoga or I may wake up and feel like jumping around. And that could even change as the day wears on. Who knows my hmmm days may turn out to be VERY active AND flexible.  ; )

Gym Done! ... Tres Leche Cake ... Oops!

Just had my first ever taste of Tres Leches Cake (recipe by none other than The Pioneer Woman) that my Mom and I made for an intimate dinner party with my cousins. It was THE BOMB! And totally bombed me out of whatever gains I made in my gym workout today! Haha! But I digress ...

I exagerate, all is not lost as there's still the muscle gains that no Tres Leches Cake can take away. Had a good workout, psyched myself up having had only 4 hours sleep (don't ask) and seeing stars whilst bathing, strapped myself into my knee and wrist braces (working on healing wonky wrists got from ramping up too quickly with yoga hand balancing and handstands 1.5 years ago, not a good idea!) and just getting on with it and had a great workout. Sometimes when I gotta put on my braces especially when I have to add my bicep brachialis braces on my forearms I feel like the veritable bionic woman. Yet I still get complemented for my workout outfit and my wee buffness so I must be doing something right. lol! I'm a bit of an ectomorph so ashtanga will NOT build muscle for me even though I will get WAY strong! Believe me when I say I find ashtanga way harder to do then any weight or cardio workout. Go figure! But I need the muscle tone for other things in life and it does help to keep my stamina in yoga and in life in general and besides I just love pumping iron. And one other thing, ladies, here's a tip, as Dr. Oz says, as you get older ya lose muscle mass and it's for real! And baby, I want me my muscle into my OLD OLD age thank you very much! And besides it "make me feel strong like bull!" Besides that it's actually physiotherapy for my knees. I have patella femoral syndrome and if I don't keep up those machine leg extensions and weighted plie squats (my most basic leg program) and warrior poses (those are a Godsend!) to keep my muscles strengthened around my knee joints my knees WILL decompensate and I won't be able to do a-n-y-t-h-i-n-g, which is SO no fun! For me it only takes 3-4 weeks slacking off for my knees to degrade, think Christmas time. Suddenly the pains start coming back and I'll suddenly have trouble wearing heels, taking stairs, walking, etc. And then getting back into my exercising is a study in patience. So it's a MUST! Oh well, it's a great excuse to keep fit! So as I'd been off on vaca for 1.5 weeks I did my basic leg program of:

Leg Extensions, 90lb:
4 sets, feet turned out to isolate my vastus medialis quad muscle and
2 sets done straight for overall quad.

Plie Barbell Squats, 100lb:
2 sets x 16 reps + 4 pulse squats tacked onto the end of each 16 reps. Ouch!

Also, I decided to test my wrist wellness by doing some back work and did:
Lat pulldowns, 60lb: 4 sets
Wide Grip Seated Row, 60lb: 4 sets

Chest Pec Dec
Seated Tricep Pushdowns: but only 1 set as I started to feel a little pain in my left palm so I decided to leave well enough alone and opt for the wiser wait-n-see approach for the rest of today and tomorrow.

Superduper Nearly 90° Incline Situps: Yowza! 30 reps, rest, 20 reps. Down from 50. Ouch!

Then home and ICE, ICE, ICE on my knees and achilles. I always do this after ANY workout whether ashtanga, weights or step. This has been KEY to my recovery and continued maintenance for a number of years. I've discovered that I just need to do this as part of my exercise program for me to continue to do what I do. And for me it WORKS. If I don't inflammation will set in. If I do everything works like a charm and I can continue to workout and not get stiff, sick and rusty.

Hmmm, if all goes well with my wrists I might try to start back on some bicep and shoulder work tomorrow but only 2 sets of each to see how my wrists are. If I do too much too soon with weights, yoga, etc. my wrists start to act up again. So for the past 1.5 months I've had to back off of weights as I will NOT sacrifice my ashtanga. That seemed to do the trick so I must go s-l-o-w-l-y! In fact, I think I better work it out again, methinks I will delay my over eager bicep/shoulder plan for next week. Better safe than sorry!

Life's good ... etc. etc.

My Wishful Scheduling

Here's my first wishful scheduling for this week. I wanted to go to my Mysore class tomorrow or rather today but my shoulder muscles are too sore due to an unplanned week off on vacation to beautiful Quebec. I had all good intentions of doing my yoga there, brought my mat and all, but only got one practice in before distractions set in. What are vaca's for. I'm quite undisciplined. Another thing I'm still working on. lol! So with that and taking my led primary yesterday then coming home to some chatarunga holds and practice tuck, jump backs, I did my shoulders in. Ouch! My wee shoulders are a bit DOMSy (delayed onset muscle soreness). So schedule gets a reshuffle like this:

If Out With Friend:
SAT: Gym Legs & Back work (See how my wrists handle the weights. Got a bit of wrist issues)
SUN: Home Practice
MON: Step (Cathe Friedrich: 4 Day Split Higher Intensity Step)
TUES: Mysore
WED: rest
THURS: Out with Friend
FRI: Home Practice
SAT: Gym Legs

If NOT Out With Friend:
SAT: Gym Legs & Back work
SUN: Home Practice
MON: Step (Cathe Friedrich: 4 Day Split Higher Intensity Step)
TUES: Mysore
WED: rest
THURS: Mysore
FRI: Gym Legs
SAT: Rest

etc. etc. ...