DVD/Video/At Home Exercisers - week of April 16th

[engineer]

Good Monday morning everyone. Well, I need to get working on a presentation for local high school students that I have to give tomorrow. :eek: Yikes, I’ve had a few situations around here that have prevented me from working on it sooner.

This was a good weekend all the way around.:D Friday was a rest day so that we could do some shopping. Then Saturday we had a harness club meeting and then when we got home from that I did Patrick Goudeau’s ABC2 workout. What a blast! :D OK I got lost a lot of spots as he moves really quickly, which I figure is good for me as I am trying to develop some fast muscle twitch fiber. But for not being up on your feet very much my HR stayed up there. Then we went to see ‘Wild Hogs’ – which was a very funny movie. DH then treated me to a small Blizzard at the DQ, yum.:p

Sunday I did 60 minutes on the treadmill followed by Day 2 of the old Firm 5-day Abs. To end the session yesterday I did the old Firm 5-day stretch day 1.

Today is my lower body circuit followed by a short video workout.

Here is the inspirational quote for the week:

"Keep on going and the chances are you will stumble on something, perhaps when you are least expecting it. I have never heard of anyone stumbling on something sitting down." --Charles F. Kettering

Welcome to another week.

Michelle

[JuliN]

Happy Monday!!!

Engineer -- Love your quote! How true it is.....

On Saturday, I did Bust and Butt. I love the music so this is one of my fav's.

Still cold and windy here. Where did spring go?

Very busy today. Hope everyone is well.

Juli

[cab321]

I did a longer walk on Saturday (5 miles or so?) and a couple of shorter ones yesterday. Nothing exciting, but I like it that way.

I have a full day meeting in work tomorrow, then we head to the US at 7am on Wednesday! My plans for the US include stuffing myself silly and maybe getting a couple of little hikes in, if the weather is ok. We'll be there until the 28th. Weston is getting packed away to the ILs tomorrow night.

For a variety of reasons, ranging from our own stupidity (wrong address) to the Royal Mail's ineptness (apparently losing mail destined for the agent's office), only one of four references has been returned for the house. So we are still waiting for the final word that we are definitely moving in...S T R E S S!

Michelle - What a fun weekend! What type of workout is the ABC2?

Juli - I'm so disappointed that the NE seems to have lost its springtime. Hopefully you'll all be able to get out there soon.

[JoanneOR]

Hi everyone. I'm just getting back into working out regularly after the Lasik. Sunday I went for a run with Tully. Ran three miles and walked one. This morning I started doing Cathe's Cardio Fusion. I don't know what was wrong with me, but I just stopped around 30 minutes. I wasn't tired, just lost motivation. :( Can't let that start being a habit! Folded laundry instead. I did go to the sculpting class at the gym during lunch. DH is off for 12-16 weeks for his broken elbow. :( The good thing is I can start running in the mornings before work since he'll be at home. Before he didn't get home till 7:30, then I left for work. So, I'm probably going to try to do that every other day. The bad part is that he's so used to being up all night he's been sleeping in the basement (my workout space!) since he stays up and watches TV and I need to get up early for work. So, it's impeding my workouts at home! I know, that sounds very selfish! He doesn't mind if I wake him up to go upstairs, but I feel bad doing it.

Anyway, my eyes still aren't seeing too well. :( I can function without glasses, but by the end of the day I have a headache. I went to the eye doctor last week and he said I'll probably need an enhancement, but they don't do that until three months after the original surgery. He offered to put new lenses in my old frames, but I said no, that's not why I had the surgery! But, I'm rethinking that. I really should be wearing them to drive. So, I'll probably take them in to get the lenses.

Engineer, what's your presentation on? Good luck with it!

Juli, we had horrible weather last week. This week is nice, so hopefully it'll make it's way to you soon!

Carrie, a 5-mile walk is great! Crossing my fingers that all goes well with the house.

[JuliN]

Hi Ladies -

Life is a bit busy these days. Nothing extraordinary, just life.

Last night I did Pure Power Yoga (about 30 minutes) I got too late a start to do Navel Power, so it will show up later in the week. Carrie, I think it was you who asked how I settled on the various types of yoga. I had considered going to a Yoga school here in Cincinnati, but I couldn't sign up by the class, I had to buy a whole series. That was a little too expensive for me. So I bought a few tapes/DVD's and over about 2 years, I found the ones that I like the best. I kept Pure Power (it's a Vinyasa Flow type), Molly Fox's boxed set (Vinyasa flow, was cheap on E-bay) and then I have Navel Power and Ultimate Stretch (Kundalini). I had several others but gave them away. Most of the ones I gave away with the Hatha Yoga type, which was a bit too slow for my tastes. But to each his own, there are lots of benefits to be gained from any form of yoga.

My DH's birthday is Friday. I won a gift certificate at work to a fancy restaurant, so I'm taking my DH for his birthday. Turns out it's one of his fav's, so I'm in luck.

Have a great day, everyone!

Juli

[Valerie226]

Hi all, just checking in. Been doing my regular workout. Did Bootcamp on saturday, took sunday off.
Went to yoga this morning. my class unfortunately looks like it's toast. It's a morning class with 6 regular people but it still looks like it's being cancelled. something to do with building rental for the owner. the other classes are evening & I can't do those. so I am looking for another class or maybe a DVD. I have the yoga for dummies but I've progressed beyond that. I'm not sure I can do it by myself without mirrors,space, and instruction. just used to the class atmosphere and huge mirrors so you can see what you're doing or not doing.

Joanne, I'd rethink the new lenses. 3 months of potential headaches, eyestrain and bad vision are a big price. sorry it didn't turn out perfect right away. give yourself a break.... 30 minutes ( especially of cathe) is enough some days. You just picked the wrong workout for that day. somehow I missed that your husband broke his elbow. how'd he do that?

Juli, I'll try to take a look at some of the yoga DVD's you've mentioned & see if something will fit.

Michelle, you really have an ambitious program. congrats on doing all that work!. Great quote too.

[engineer]

Hey everyone I’m finally here today.:) It went ok, it was an engineering career expo for the local high school students so I tried to show them what I do and make it interesting. I don’t know if I succeeded but at least I got them exposed to it. ;) As for workout last night I had my lower body circuit which Rita thinks takes 15 minutes. Ha!:p More like 40 minutes. And I was really sweating and breathing hard from the plyo type stuff she has added for that fast muscle twitch fiber. Then I pulled out Firm BSS3 Advanced Cardio Blast – wrong choice.:mad: :eek: :( It was only 30 minutes long but my HR was already up there and I really struggled to finish. I used a lot of low impact moves and managed to keep my HR below the beep-beep on the HRM (which actually worked!). All told I did about 70 minutes of workout.

Tonight is Upper body strength followed by treadmill and a stretch.

Valerie - I'm sorry to hear that the Yoga class is toast, a total bummer. Hopefully you can find another class somewhere in the morning. But I will say your workouts are super.

Juli - Good way to find a style that suits you and now that you've done the 'leg work' I can take advantage of your knowledge and skip the 'slow' forms;) Keep up the good work.

Joanne - I'd have to agree on rethinking the glasses if it's that long before the tune-up. You'd just be miserable and that's not fun. Good job on working out in spite of things. And remember 30 minutes of Cathe is better than camping on the couch so I'm giving you a virtual pat on the back for that. Perhaps getting out and running in the fresh air with the birds singing for you will help with motivation.

Carrie - have fun on your trip. And I'm sorry to hear about the problems with the post. Just going to have to be patient right? Hang in there.

Hope you're Tuesday is fantastic.

Michelle

[engineer]

Hi everyone, we’re half way there.:) Last night was a good (long) workout for me. First I did the upper strength work. It went good. Then I got on the treadmill and did the hill interval program that Rita has outlined. That took me 73 minutes and my HR stayed in the zone almost the whole time – big calorie burn when I’m at 10% grade and 3.7 miles an hour – too bad it’s only for 4 minutes:o . Then I did the Firm 5-day Abs – day 5, followed by Firm 5-day stretch – day 2. It took a total of 2:15 minutes to do all of that.

Tonight is training with Rita and then I’ll do some Yoga.

Hang in there everyone; it’s all down hill from here. Wheeee (that’s me sliding down hill:D )

Michelle

[cniles]

Hi guys!!!

I"m here. (I think!) Last week was a wash. I only worked out on Monday - argh. Baseball will NOT be the end of me. Saturday was opening day so we spent all day at the park FREEZING.

I did BSS4 with Pam last night - weight work. Tonights a bust again as I have to work the concession stand. MY GOAL: tomorrow for 30 mins and either Sat or Sun weight work and since it's supposed to be in the 60's and SUNNY I plan on digging in the dirt this weekend.:)

Engineer, Joanne, Juli, Valerie and Carrie - you all sound like you're doing great!!! Carrie - have a good trip back here:)

Will talk more tomorrow (AFTER I workout and go to Sam's game!);)

[JoanneOR]

Charisse, I feel your pain with baseball! When my boys played, I used to dread the start of the season because we'd be freezing our butts off!! They've all decided they didn't want to continue playing, now they just do soccer. Well, actually my youngest told me after baseball signups that he wanted to play again, but he's already in soccer and the games would conflict. Fit in what you can - you're probably burning calories keeping your body warm!

Engineer, have fun with Rita tonight! Wow, 73 minutes on the treadmill is long!

Valerie, that's too bad about your class. Hope you can find a good substitute.

Juli, enjoy your night out with your DH!

My eyes seem a bit better today. So, we'll see. It's mostly reading street signs or the signs in the grocery aisles that is a problem. I am going to get new lenses for my glasses when I go for my next visit.

Yesterday I took Tully for a 4-mile run and today I did a new step tape by Nekea Brown, Amazing Hot Stepping. Where do they come up with these names?? Anyway, it's the second time I've done it and I really like it. It's kind of like Cathe's Imax, but not so intense that you think you're going to die! I wanted to do weights today, but my legs are so sore from the sculpting class I went to Monday I could barely walk!

Carrie, you're probably on your way to the U.S. now. Hope you're having a good trip and enjoy your visit!

[JuliN]

Hi Gals --

Sounds like we're all making progress here. (You too, Charisse -- starting again after a hiatus is progress, too :) Pats on the back to you!)

I'm in a bit of a slump myself. I've been working really hard and I can tell that TOTM is on the way. More tired than usual. Tuesday, I started Navel Power Yoga, but only did 30 minutes of it. I was just really tired and struggled, even though I really enjoy this DVD. Yesterday was better, I did Core Cardio 2. I did the whole thing (49 minutes) but was a bit uncoordinated. I think I have the premenstrual fuzzy brain. Most months, I have no pre-men symptoms at all. About 3-4 times a year, I get the tired thing going. It would be worse if I didn't exercise. At least that helps clear my head.

Michelle -- Your presentation at the HS sounds a lot like something we used to have here in Cincinnati called "Engineer for a Day" I had to do something similar when I worked at the design firm. I always envied the people who worked in a plant because they could at least do the plant tour. Since we were on the design end, it was really hard to show calculations and make it interesting;) I'm sure you influenced them more than you know.

Joanne -- Glad to hear the eyes are settling down. It takes a little bit of time. My DH had Lasik in January and he needs a retouch in one eye. Mine was great from the beginning, but I don't have an astigmatism the way DH does.

Valerie -- sorry to hear about your yoga class. Real bummer !!! Really throws things off schedule, doesn't it? I hope you find something else real soon. I hope maybe some of the DVD suggestions help. I wish I had mirrors but it's not to be since I work out in the finished part of my basement.

Have a great day, everyone!

Juli

[Valerie226]

We went xc skiing yesterday. nice day but unpleasant snow conditions. what's called breakable crust. there's a icy top crust about an inch thick on the snow but when you break thru it's soft underneath and it's easy to sink in and twist or tear something. quite unpredictable, snow might be fine for several hundred yards and all of a sudden you're in a section that breaks thru and wants to rip your leg off. so we went less distance than planned, but still about 3 -4 hours. Snow like that is OK on the way up but on the way down it's hazardous to joints and ligaments.

But I had a pleasant surprise. I know this isn't a weight loss thread but (like lots of people) I'm always working on it in the background. my ski pants were dangerously loose. I got on the scale and I've lost 5 pounds in the last 5-6 weeks. I've been doing a lot of core work ( thank you Cathe!) and that's where I can tell the most. whoopee!! I should lose 10 more. I've had waistline creep and look and feel much better when I'm thinner but it gets harder to get it off when you get older and I don't want to lose quickly & lose the hard won muscle I've gained. gotta go to yoga, more later,

[engineer]

Well it’s late for me to check in today but I had a couple of rush items that came up at work. Got them both done though so I’m doing my happy dance.:D As for last night Rita came over and we came up with new neck exercises and she corrected my form on several exercises. But I have to tell you what she has me doing now! :eek: Hamstring curls using BOTH the stability ball and the bosu. I put the ball on the bosu and then put my calves on the ball. I then push my hips up to a bridge and then while maintaining a straight line from knees to shoulders I roll the ball in like a regular hamstring curl. Try that, it’s so hard to keep it in a straight line and not roll off to the side. ;) When she left I pulled out Sara Ivanhoe’s On the Ball Yoga. It’s about 40 minutes long and it went pretty well.

Tonight is upper body circuit and then a video, but since DH has his jam session tonight I might do a slightly longer video.

Valerie - That snow is what sled dog folks call punch-y. And yes it is very easy to get hurt. Glad you made it ok. Oh and I want to say you go ahead and celebrate the weight loss and the smaller waistline. I think it's fantastic! Isn't it great when all the hard work pays off with visible results.

Juli - Hang in there, I almost always go through the slugish thing each month and it stinks. But at least it passes. Just do what you can for now. At least I have broken things I can show high schoolers since that's the biggest part of my job, failure analysis.

Joanne - good job on getting out with Tully and getting in a video. That's great considering everything that is going on. I hope the eyes continue to improve.

Charisse - I figured you had been pulled into the summer sports season. Or is this the spring sports season and summer is yet to come? Anyway good job on getting that workout in and having a plan for the future.

Tomorrow is Friday and I hope everyone has a great weekend planned.

Michelle

[engineer]

Good Friday morning. :) Well last night went pretty good. I did my upper body circuit and completed that in half an hour, she keeps telling me 15 minutes which means I must really dawdle.:o Then because DH had his jam session I did Firm BSS2 Maximum Cardio Burn + Abs. All told it’s about 51 minutes long and I managed to work up a darn good sweat, although I had to modify down some sections to keep the HR down. It’s so embarrassing especially when I read about some of the advanced work others on the board are doing.:eek: Oh well, got to be grateful for what I can do right?:D

Tonight may or may not be a rest night depends on how things go this afternoon. Either way my next workout will be lower body strength and treadmill plus abs and stretch.

Have a rejuvenating weekend everyone.

Michelle