Exercise and Getting Fit » Exercise

Monday, GameOn Week 2

admin — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 00:36:19 +0000

Monday 1-18-10 Revolution

Week one of the GameOn started out with a bang and I finished with a whimper, Thank God I have excellent teammates. At one point during the week I was down 8 pounds and finished the week down a total of 3 pounds. Still no chew or soda and I am very pleased with that, just have to keep focused and my mind in the game.

Today I went to the noon Revolution class, it was so crowded we actually ran out of bikes and 3 folks had to row instead--that was the biggest class I've been in, another testament to the great programs offered at Joust and today's instructor Mara runs and awesome class.

In the Revolution class instead of a "traditional" warm up we cycle for approximately the first half of the class and then continue onto the Workout of the Day (W.O.D). This is rapidly becoming my favorite class-it's funny the two classes I did not think I would enjoy, Olympic Lifting and Revolution are probably my favorites, of course subject to change on how much pain I'm feeling on any particular day.

Another odd observation I recognized last week during one of the classes--it seems easier to do sit-ups when using a medicine ball, kettle bell or weight plate. I do not know if this is real or just evidence of some of my mis spent youth. I'm sure I'll have the opportunity to more research.

One of my co-workers paid me a nice compliment, not only does my face look thinner she said my eyes and skin look clearer and brighter.

Keep on keeping on.

Tags:bikes,medicine ball,olympic lifting,soda

Words Escape Me

admin — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 01:54:39 +0000

Tuesday O-Lifting 1-12-10

Ah Tuesday Olympic lifting. I can not believe how much I've come to enjoy the Olympic lifting classes. I have never really enjoyed lifting weights, therefore I've never really done it on a consistent basis. I have to give the credit to my instructors, they really break it down and stress the fundamentals, I'm even starting to amaze myself at some of the weights I'm lifting and my increase in range of motion.

Wednesday, adjectives escape me, the only phrase that keeps going through my mind is 'This

Wednesday 1-13-10

Sucked". This was a brutal workout from start to finish. We started with a 2000 meter row and I was pitted against the 2 fastest members of the class, I came in about 1:40 behind the leader and was spent. From there we went straight to the 25 reps of each exercise, this tme Melissa mixed things up, instead of doing 25 repetitions of each exercise we did one rep of each exercise 25 times--so it flowed in a nice sequence--dead lift, clean, front squat, push press and finally the over head squat. Both yesterday and today the overhead squats have been bothering my shoulder--still haven't figured out which exact movement is causing the pain other shoulder related exercises don't bother me at all and I tend to excel at them.

There was quite a large turnout so we were not able to get to the second 2000 meter row, so instead I did 200 sit ups. Another odd thing, doing a normal sit up was exhausting and I could definitely feel it in my upper abdomen. After about 50 sit-ups I grabbed a 10 pound plate and have no idea why but made the remainder of the sit ups doable, go figure. I kow my body is going to let me know about it tomorrow.

So far so good with the game that gym members are participating in and for me it's been 5 days without soda pop and chewing tobacco. I was doing some math today and figured I was consuming somewhere between 11,000 and 13,000 calories per week. Not only that I'm saving anywhere between $5-$7 a day. Keep on keeping on.

Tags:chewing tobacco,lifting weights,pound plate,push press,repetitions,sit ups,soda pop,workout

Back At It

admin — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 23:28:21 +0000

Monday 1-11-10

Monday was the first day of the Lifestyle change game. Participation is voluntary, we broke up into teams of 4 and make positive change in our lives. Like most things at Joust I really enjoy the camaraderie and "belonging" to something. With the game there is a lot of logging, keeping track, ciphering and math none of which are my forte, however there is one area that I am focusing a great deal of energy on--the “Transformation" category--getting rid of a bad habit and implementing a new good habit. There are two bad habits that I have had for approximately 20 years and want to eliminate—consuming soda pop and chewing tobacco. Unfortunately, these go hand in hand for me so I thought now is as good time as any to address these two habits. I did get a jump start on the “game” and started Saturday 1/9/10 so I am into my 4th day without dip or soda, and am happy to say I have not ripped anyone's head off.

Mondays workout was quite the challenge, kind, gentle Melissa is the writer of the workouts this week and my what a wonderful job she does. Five rounds of 50 wall balls and 25 pull ups what a nice gentle start to the week. Boy that Melissa sure knows how to ease into things—baptism by fire comes to mind. To finish things off we were lucky enough to do 100 sit-ups with a medicine ball (with a partner). I was the odd man out so one of the gym stronger members was there and volunteered to assist me.

Thus far turn outs at classes have been up and a lot of new people have been showing up which adds to the fun. Melissa and JenN, co-owners of Joust, are constantly tweaking things to offer the best possible product, which I appreciate, keep up the good work.

Tags:chewing tobacco,medicine ball,pull ups,soda pop

First Week of New Year

admin — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 02:17:36 +0000

Wednesday Fun

This was a fun workout, please don't confuse fun with easy. We broke up into teams of 4 to do the 25 minute AMRAP (As Many Rounds As Possible within the time frame) main set, the whole workout was kettlebells, not my favorite but that is one of my goals--to get out of my comfort zone.
Since we were a team of 4 and 4 work stations we developed a strategy that would make it easy it flow from station to station, the plan worked for about 30 seconds and then it became somewhat organized chaos. My goal was to get 2 sets of the 3 kettlebell exercises in per one 500 row. I seem to fare much better when I have team mates I like the encouragement and encouraging them.

Thursday was an off day from the gym. I did go to my orthopedic surgeon to get my first set of injections of Euflexxa for my knees. These shots are supposed to act as a lubricant for patients with osteoarthritis. I am scheduled fo the next two weeks to complete the serious of 3 shots per knee. They told me I should expect relief approximately 2 weeks after my final shot. My doctor is on the fence if these shots will provide any relief considering the advanced state of my osteoarthritis, I figure I would try non surgery options instead of jumping right into two total knee replacements. My doctor is telling me that I can expect to get 35 years, which would be great-that would put me at 85 years of age, from a knee replacement which would be fantastic, however I am just having a hard time believing it.

O-Lifting

Friday, I took the day off work and went to the noon Olympic Lifting class with the Queen of Mean, JenN.
There was only three of I us, it's great when there are few attendees at O-lifting classes, you get much more individual attention and correction as needed. I know JenN was excited, as was I, when we were doing our over head squats to finish up the workout all three of the class members achieved personal bests. That is a huge confidence boost and gives me the encouragement to keep doing what I'm doing, knowing I'm on the right path.

Next week we start "The Game".

Tags:kettlebell exercises,olympic lifting,osteoarthritis,total knee replacements

Getting Back in the Swing

admin — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 01:36:28 +0000

Monday

Back in the swing of things. I knew getting back after taking a break over the holidays was going to be difficult, I just didn’t expect it to be this bad. JenN, the writer of evil workouts, started the week out on Monday with this incredibly difficult set which included and exercise called manmakers—which is a combination burpee, squat, clean, thruster and other movements that cause pain. Manmakers is a misnomer, emasculators would be more appropriate. The funny thing I noticed was the women in the class were done and recovering much quicker than the men. I finished which was my goal, this is the 1st time since I’ve been at Joust that there was a time limit to finish the set(s), I barely squeaked in under the line—like I said I finished and at this point that is my goal. The improved times and heavier weights will come with time right now I need to continue to build the “foundation”.

Tuesday I attended the Olympic lifting course and there was quite a turnout. Instructor MandiE ran the course and smiled

Tuesday

throughout the whole ordeal--she's always so encouraging, I wonder if she was a cheerleader in school. After the warm up we did a series of shoulder exercises, push press, push jerk and push split jerk. Most people are able to lift more with the split and jerk, however I feel much stronger with the push press and able to lift the same amount with all three exercises. I don’t feel I have the confidence in my knees to do the jerk and the split jerk and am much more comfortable performing the push press—basically a dip and push the weight up.

Tuesday TABATA

If that wasn’t enough we finished the workout off with this thing called a TABATA have no idea what it stands for just know that it hurts. In this case it’s 45 seconds of activity and 15 seconds of rest. We did three exercises, three sets each of kettlebell swings, wall sit-ups and wall ball squats. When it comes to these TABATA's I usually pick a number and shoot for that depending on the exercise it is usually between 15-20 reps. I feel better at least doing something within the allotted time instead of taking a whole set off.

That’s it for now, Wednesday Melissa should be in and I’m looking forward to getting official measurements to establish my baseline numbers.

Tags:ball squats,joust,olympic lifting,shoulder exercises,sit ups,weights,workouts

Welcome 2010

admin — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 01:51:02 +0000

The Holidays have come and gone and like so many others I fell victim to the many festivities and now it’s time to get back to business. I had a very wacky schedule the last 2 weeks and was fortunate to get in as many Joust workouts as I did and was able to go to recreation center to make up for missed workouts. The last workout I did was Saturday at the recreation center, a 30 min NuStep session and a fun interval set on the rower – row for 1:40 and rest for :20 and repeat nine times. To recap my last Joust workout was Wed. Dec 30th, took Thursday 12/31 and Friday 1/1 off, Saturday 1/2 at the recreation center and took Sunday off. I am out of sorts and can not wait to get back on track even though I know that 1st workout is going to hurt, but I have to do it. Boy, was I right it was painful

One of the reasons why I wanted to write this blog is especially evident this time of year, when so many folks are trying to live up to their New Year’s Resolution. I saw it Saturday when I went to the recreation center, normally it’s almost empty on a Saturday afternoon, on this particularly afternoon it was jam packed.

I think it’s great that so many folks want to get active, however it is disheartening when I see an individual at an exercise facility with that "deer in the headlights" look. They’ll hop on a machine load it down with weight and do the exercise improperly or they’ll look at a machine like it is from outer space and just walk away, sadly never to be seen again.

I always thought that folks were intimidated or afraid to ask questions and possibly look stupid, who cares? Most machines will have directions on them, take the pertinent information down and look it up on the internet to find the proper use. I will caution that just because someone has big muscles and appears to be in shape does not mean they know how to use the equipment correctly. Remember this is a lifestyle change and you take baby steps, the main thing is keep coming back-sticktoittiveness-if you will.

Two anecdotes come to mind, the first was when my Mother was diagnosed with Type II diabetes, Mom never did exercise, she was busy chasing around seven kids and taking care of the household. It was a different time and setting aside certain amount of time per day devoted to exercise was not the norm.

When Mom got the news, the doctor told her to lose weight and start exercising. Here was a woman in her mid-60's with no athletic ability instructed to exercise. I gave her a recumbent bike and gave her instructions on how to use it. We started off very slow with a goal of 5 minutes a day and built up from there. She actually built up to the point where she was able to do two, 20 minute sessions a day and within six months she had dropped 60 pounds and was able to control her diabetes with diet and exercise. I am still amazed at how much she enjoyed it, I gave her a little license plate and I can still picture her riding-nothing fast, she actually reminded of Tim Conway from the old Carol Burnett Comedy show when he played the old man that would slowly shuffle his feet. The point is she did it and saw the tangible results from her work.

The second story literally started with one step. My oldest sister was diagnosed with breast cancer, had both breasts removed along with some lymph nodes. Once again a woman that never exercised and was instructed to start doing something. Another sister went to assist her after surgery and all my oldest sister could do was one step and my other sister had to hold her. Fortunately, five years have passed with a clean bill of health and now she takes her daily 3 mile walks and gets a bit irritable if she doesn't get her walks in. I find it funny in our family that the two most un-athletic, uncoordinated people have proven to be the most inspirational.

Bottom line just start moving, use the internet to educate yourself, try not to be intimidated, ask questions and always use proper form when exercising.

Tags:breast cancer,diabetes,exercise facility,interval,recreation center,workout

Tuesday 12/29 & Wednesday 12/30

admin — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 02:41:14 +0000

Tuesday 12-29-09

Tuesday and I'm working off, and will be for some time, all the holiday treats and it is taking it's toll, I'm spent.

Tuesday I warmed up at the recreation center for 35 minutes on the NuStep, these warm up sessions really help me when it comes time for the hardcore workout. Instructor M ran the 4:30 session today, she is always so positive and quite the "cheerleader". The workouts this week have mainly been working with body weight which when you're sporting 300+ pounds does not necessarily work in your favor.
Today after the warm-up we did the following: 100 each, anyway you choose to get it done Squats, Box jumps, Sit ups, Knees to elbows and Push ups. I modified the box jumps, using the 10" box and doing step ups, however I did use two 15 lb. dumbbells. The second modification was the knees to elbows, instead of using the pull up station and bringing my knees up to my elbows, I laid on the ground, holding onto the base of a weight rack and did the same movement, bringing my knees to my chest.

This was a killer ab workout and since we all enjoyed it so much when it was time for the "Instructor's Deelight" to finish up, we were fortunate enough to get to do 50 sit ups with a 20 lb. Dynamax (medicine ball), which is doing a sit up, throw the medicine ball against the wall, catch and repeat. I'm definitely feeling it today.

Even though the instructor's time all the workouts at this point in my journey, the times are not of importance to me, my goal is to do everything and just finish. My classmates have been very patient and it also gives them more time to recover before the next round of pain is doled out.

Wednesday was my fourth consecutive day working out and my body was sore and achy. Jenn, the kettlebell guru with

Wednesday Kettlebell 12-30-09

her twinkling eyes and bright smile was so gleeful as she administered the pain at the noon class. The noon class people do not mess around, there are some hard core freaks of nature and I am amazed at the strength and speed at which they completed the workout. For example, after the warm up we did a 10-1 set, meaning 10 repetitions of the exercise, then 9-8-7 and so on to the final set of 1 repetition. I usually do not worry about the other class members I just focus on doing everything and just finishing as I stated before. Growing up in a large familyI was taught to be considerate of the "the group" and I don't want to hold things up for the others. I thought I was doing a good job of keeping up or at least not falling too far behind. I was floored when I was just finishing my 6 repetition set when the 1st participant finished and I was finishing up the 4 repetition set when the last of my classmates completed the 10-1. Here is another example of why I like Joust so much, the other class members were offering words of encouragement to keep me going. I am relatively new there and it felt good to hear the motivating words, it really adds to the "team" atmosphere. I'm pretty sure most people that have participated in team sports know what I'm talking about. Keep on keeping on.

Tags:dumbbells,killer ab workout,medicine ball,nustep,sit ups,workouts

Post Christmas Pain

admin — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 22:54:10 +0000

12-27 O-Lifting

Last Sunday I had set the goal of going to the recreation center for some cardio and head over to the gym for the Olympic lifting class, that plan fell through, so I gave it a shot this week. Made it to the rec. center and was able to get 35 minutes on the NuStep machine, this works well because it incorporates arms and legs which will warm the muscles up for the O-Lifting class.

I can remember back to the old swimming days-it takes me longer than the average person to get warmed up, that’s why I try to show up early for classes to get loose (relatively) so when they hit us with the warm up I’m almost ready to start.

I look forward to the Sunday O-Lifting class, it is normally a slower, deliberate class and a nice segue to the week ahead. Today the normal instructor wasn’t there and I was taken by surprise. You emotionally prepare yourself (at least I do) for one thing and something totally unexpected happens. Each instructor is different and I was in the mood for a slower, “less-intense” workout. As usual I was spent after the warm up. The gist of the class was focused on “cleans” which was enjoyable and as usual the instructor was a stickler for detail, which is always appreciated.

Monday is just around the corner and once again due to a late afternoon/early evening commitment I will do my best to get over for the noon session.

Made it over to Joust for the noon Revolution class. This was my first Revolution class and I quite enjoyed it. The big difference is the warm up, in Revolution we ride the Schwinn Spinning cycles and upon completion we go onto the main set(s). I have never taken a “spinning” type class and was excited to get started, that excitement soon turned to nausea. After making the necessary adjustments to the bike I was ready to ride, we did a serious of sprints and “climbed” a hill, followed up by some more interval training.

The main set consisted of 30-20-10 weighted lunges, jumping pull-ups and flutter kicks. Thirty of each exercise, then 20 and 10. Not too bad and the only modification was with the weighted lunges, these are still a very difficult maneuver for me so I hold onto a weight rack and work on my form, seeing some improvement but still a long way to go.

Finally, we ended the workout with push presses-very similar to a military shoulder press however you “dip” down and generate force from lower extremities. This is one of my favorites, since I’ve been working out seems I have a lot of favorites, and I was able to surpass my previous personal best. This should also benefit me in the next “Fight Gone Bad”.

The plan is to meet with Melissa, the Nutritionist, next week and get some measurements to establish a base line. Also heard talk of some gym weight challenge that I’d like to participate in, I’ll pass details along as I get them.

Tags:intense workout,olympic lifting,pull ups,schwinn,spinning

‘Tis The Season

admin — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 22:51:07 +0000

What a busy week, Christmas has come and gone and now time to get back to business. I have recognized that I can go no longer than two days without a workout. Anything longer and I start to get irritable, anxious and generally "out of whack". Having missed Christmas Eve and Christmas, today I needed to do something. I went to the recreation center and rode my favorite cardio machine, NuStep, and when finished decided to go for a swim, nothing major just reintroducing myself to the water--an easy 300 yard swim and 300 yard kick with fins.

As I mentioned previously swimming is my forte, however it has been some time since I have been consistently swimming. This is definitely an area I try to do too much way too soon, I have to remember I am 45 and don't bounce back like I did when I was younger. There have been times when I decided to get back in the water and it goes something like this: day 1, 500 yards feel rusty, day 2 another 500 yards not as rusty, day 3 600-700 yards feeling spry, getting the "feel" of the water. Day 4 all logic goes out the window and I swim a mile--(you got to love the ego) which is great but I don't get back in the water again.

This time around I really want/need to focus on small increases in yardage and use swimming and cardio machines as a complement to my work at Joust.

The other key issue that continually rears it's head is the nutrition factor. As much work as I'm doing some simple changes (easier said than done) would greatly improve my weight loss and overall well-being. Soda pop is my downfall, I'm embarrassed to admit I consume approximately 100 ounces of soda per day, combined with the gallon of water I drink daily it does not make for restful nights. I'm hoping that it will click--"hey, what's the point of doing all this work if you continue to consume all those empty calories".

It seems like my New Year's Resolution is pretty obvious.

Tags:cardio machines,swim,Weight loss

Wednesday Kettle Bells–AARRRGGGHHHH

admin — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 12:15:47 +0000

Wednesday 12-23-09

Once again due to my personal scheduling conflicts I attended the noon session on Wednesday. I quickly became reacquainted with Melissa, along with JenN she is co-owner of Joust Strength and Fitness, as they say time heals old wounds, I guess I’ve forgotten how brutal Melissa’s workouts are, considering it’s been some time since I’ve been able to train with her. She smiled throughout the whole class and the more I gasped for air the brighter her smile, we have an inverse relationship.

Aside from her duties as inflictor of pain, Melissa is the nutrition guru, I was fortunate to pick her brain and she has given me the best advice ever when it comes to nutrition. After explaining the numerous “diets” I’ve tried and how my weight yo-yo’s, she told to me relax, take the pressure off, eat what you want and let your body find its natural balance. Quit beating yourself up and take the pressure off, what a wonderful, common sense, real life approach. You can find more wisdom from Melissa here.

Another surprise with the noon class was that it was a kettle bell class, after yesterday’s adventure I wondered how I was going to hold up. I made it through the class but did not use my 44 lb. for some of the exercises i.e. lunges. Lunges are a very hard exercise for me and I have difficulty performing them. I hold onto something to keep me steady and do my best. Melissa offered a great tip I found helpful—put your heel down and “dig” it in and then place the rest of the foot down making sure the knee does not extend past the plane of the foot. I immediately noticed a difference and as I get more practice hopefully soon I’ll be able to do bonafide lunges.

As I’m typing I feel yesterday’s soreness and a new layer of soreness from today on top of that, I wonder if tomorrow I’ll be able to move my upper body?

Tags:exercises,joust,lunges,nutrition guru,workouts

Exercise and Getting Fit » Exercise

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