Confidence in the Weight Room

I knew I was only going to have time for one workout today so I made sure to get to the gym early and make it count.

I warmed up skipping rope - I'm so happy with how much progress I've made in this area. I went for almost 5 minutes without stopping, and when I did it was only because the rope got caught on my shoe, not because I was tired. I'm able to hop on one leg then switch to the other, shuffle around (boxer style), and even throw in a few double unders (by the way, on Monday I managed 12 consecutive double unders! Doesn't sound like much, but definitely a big achievement for me!). After skipping for 10 minutes, my heart rate was definitely up and I was warmed up and ready to begin.

I did weights this morning. It really feels amazing to see improvements in so many areas. It's not just about lifting a lot of weight, but it's also about getting your posture and technique right. It's also about being able to do the movements with control and focus.

I found myself moving around the big weights room with confidence and ease - how different from where I was just a few months ago. It was a moment that made me smile.

Getting to the gym early meant that I had time for a 45 minute cardio session after my weights. It felt good to just zone out to some music and get my sweat on!

I tried

As I mentioned yesterday, I'm hoping to incorporate morning workouts into my daily routine from now until September. The one thing that I didn't plan for was how this affects my breakfast. I had originally planned to make my omelet muffins on Sunday and have a couple each morning for the week - however, I just don't feel like eating that much right before heading to the gym. I'd eat them afterwards, since they're a really good source of protein and vegetables, but I usually don't come back home after the gym (heading straight to work, doing errands, or just chillin') ... so I have to figure out something to eat right before my workout and then something for right after that will hold me over until lunch.

My morning workouts won't be super intense, but they will be complete workouts. I'm still saving my energy for my afternoon training sessions which will always be more intense (CrossFit, kickboxing, or boxing). At the same time, I don't want to take it easy in the mornings because if for some reason I can't/don't make it to my afternoon sessions, I don't want to feel like I didn't have a proper workout.

In terms of food, yesterday I had 3 dates before heading out to the gym and then I had a banana and 2 more dates after my workout. Today I had 2 dates before my workout, and since I had a bit of time before I needed to be at work, I stopped at the PQ (my regular haunt) and had an omelet (they're fantastic about catering to your dietary needs - cooked in olive oil, hold the sauces/cheese, and use egg whites) and some green tea.

So far, this has worked out well ... I'll just feel more comfortable if I have a more sustainable plan. I really don't want to be buying my breakfast each day. We'll see. For now, it's working.

This morning's workout was good - 20 minutes on the treadmill again. I'm slowly trying to increase my jogging so that I'm back to where I left off with the C25K. Although I know I completed the 10K a few weeks ago, I know I didn't run 5K straight, and that's something I still want to do (and then work up to 10K straight of course).

I followed this with 20 minutes of jump rope - with very little rest in between. I'm getting so much better at this. I can easily do 200 skips without stopping. I've also been working on doing one-leg skips as part of my boxing training which is also improving!

I then did 20 minutes of bag work. I didn't punch hard because I had forgotten my wraps/gloves [hadn't planned on boxing this morning] but I did focused on form and technique. I practiced some of my kicks as well.

I then went on to 20 minutes on the cross-trainer (increased the intensity a bit more than yesterday) and ended with 50 crunches, 50 Swiss ball crunches, and 100 leg raises (50 per leg).

I had a short but exhausting day at work and was absolutely starving by the time I got home. Luckily I had leftovers from last night's dinner (baked white fish with tomatoes & a crispy cauliflower, sweet potato, and kale salad).

After eating, however, I suddenly felt sick. I had been having cramps all day anyway, but this was different - it felt like food poisoning & my body reacted as if it was food poisoning.

It was terrible. I was bewildered because I ate exactly what I had last night - surely it couldn't have been food poisoning!

The thing that I was dreading most was not going to my planned CrossFit session in the afternoon. I've already missed so many classes with travel etc. that I really didn't want to miss another one.

I rested for a bit, took a 20 minute power nap with the hope that my stomach would settle down.

I felt a bit better but still quite queasy and definitely unsure about whether or not I should go to the class ... still, I forced myself to get dressed and go. If I felt really bad, I could always stop and come home. [I'm trying to keep that Plan for Success attitude at the forefront of my mind.]

As luck would have it, class was cancelled (due to a car accident and an injury - nothing too serious thankfully). The Coach had actually called me but I was in such a rush to get to the Box that I hadn't answered and thought I would just talk to him when I arrived ... the joke was on me!

Anyway. I guess it just wasn't meant to be. I was disappointed that there wasn't any class, but I was also a bit relieved that I didn't have to workout when I wasn't feeling 100%. Hopefully everything will fall into place next time!

Rowing

When I woke up this morning all I could think about was how poorly I did on that row machine yesterday. Trying for sub-2 minutes and getting 2 1/2 minutes sucked.

I know that I was tired, and I did try ... but still, I knew that if I wanted to achieve that sub-2 min row, then I'd have to practice.

So, this morning I got up, finished the bit of work that I had to do, and headed to the gym.

I had boxing scheduled for the evening so I didn't want to overdo it. I decided to practice 2 skills - jump rope and rowing.

My workout in the morning was: 

200 jump rope skips followed by a 500 m row. 

I repeated that 5 times. 

My fastest 500 m row was completed in 2 min 5 sec. 

So bloody close! 

I'm amazed at how exhausting rowing is. The first 300 meters is fine, and then the fatigue starts to set it. All of a sudden you're looking at the bar in front of you thinking, pulling it shouldn't be hard - and then you go to pull it and think - why is the bar so heavy?! 

Getting the coordination and technique right is essential. I don't think I'm rowing efficiently. I'm sure that if I work on that I'll be able to shave those extra seconds off. 

In the late afternoon I headed to boxing class. We had a really good session. I'm enjoying the mini sparring bouts that we're doing. I'd actually like to focus on that more because I think it'll help me improve my reflexes and actually think more about what I have to do. There was one point during the sparring session that the coach was punching (lightly tapping) at my gloves which were guarding my face and all I kept thinking was - what the hell should I do? He's punching at me ... and that's when he told me to focus on what areas of his body were open (his abdominal region) and go for that. Once he said that, it clicked and I was able to work on reading my opponent more instead of just focusing on defending myself. 

It was a good lesson. 

I love bag work/pad work, but I think it's only sparring that will really prepare you for thinking on your feet and landing good punches. 

My legs are incredibly sore from today's rowing. Who would have thought that just under 13 minutes of rowing would leave me so sore. I felt a bit wobbly in my high heels in the evening ... but that sore feeling is so satisfying! 

An Abnormal Day

Staying up late last night made it hard for me to get out of bed this morning. I was already quite exhausted from yesterday's double workout. Once I was up, however, it was pretty much non-stop ... I wouldn't say I rushed around, as I have been trying to slow down a bit. I think it would be more accurate to say that I had a FULL day.

At the gym today was more of an active recovery day. Just 20 minutes on the treadmill - working in a bit of a jog here and there, and then to try something new, I did the rowing machine. I really liked it. I think the different type of movements for my arms and legs are good. I only did 15 minutes today, followed by 10 minutes (not straight, unfortunately) of jump rope.

I met KD, our Body Pump instructor, at noon to go over the new choreography for the new Les Mills Release, Body Pump 81. I was really touched that she asked me to join her as she went through the choreography and give my feedback. I thoroughly enjoyed it, even though I think a few tears instead of sweat fell during the lunges and shoulder tracks!

So, that was it for me. I wouldn't normally have done a weights workout today, especially since I did one yesterday and I have one planned for tomorrow, and Friday - 4 consecutive days of weights! Still, I used a light weight today just to go through the tracks versus really working out hardcore like I hope to do on Friday.

Another unusual thing about today is how much I ate. I didn't eat anything unhealthy, but I ate a lot more than I usually do. I had scrambled egg whites this morning, lentils with veggies in the afternoon, and my spinach/tofu/mushroom creation for dinner. Snacks were a banana, protein shake, and 1/4 cup of Greek yogurt. A bit of mint dark chocolate for dessert. Overall, I didn't eat horribly, but I do feel like I ate more than normal - but I was hungry! I think it's all the weight training. I'm pretty sure things will get back to normal tomorrow.

One Step at a Time

Deep breath.

Today is a new day.

The pain is still there. The anxiety is still there. The struggle is still there ... but today is a new day. Things may be difficult, but I can try my best to make it through the day - just one step at a time.

Wake up.

Wash up.

Make the bed.

Have breakfast.

Gym or no gym? I hate working out during the TOM, but I've read, and have found, that doing some exercise does alleviate the cramps. Still, I wasn't sure.

An exercise instructor several years ago told me that the hardest part of working out is putting on your training shoes ... once you put on your shoes, it gets easier.

So, I decided to get dressed for the gym. I still had to pick my mom up from her house and drive her to work ... I had papers to grade so I decided, if my cramps are bad, I can sit at the cafe at the gym and grade for a bit until I feel like working out ... if I have no cramps, I can just workout, if I feel terrible all day, then I can just go home and rest. The final decision is mine -- but the very least I can do, is get ready for the gym.

Dropped mom to work.

Took the scenic route along the coast to the gym.

Parked, and since the pain killers had kicked in, decided to go ahead and exercise.

5 km on the cross-trainer followed by half hour of boxing training (which included skipping rope - am definitely improving in that area, which was nice to see). The training wasn't too intense. H just set me up with a routine that I could do on my own, otherwise I know that he would totally kick my ass. Still, I had a good workout -- it felt good to hit something and take some of my stress/anxiety out on the boxing bag!!

So anyway. Today doesn't feel as bad as yesterday. I'm taking things in stride and trying not to overwhelm myself with things that are out of my control.

Let's hope the rest of the day continues to go smoothly.

Everlast Talking Jump rope (Product Review)

I’ve been looking for a good jump rope for some time. The ones I’ve used/bought in the past have either been too long or the handle has been uncomfortable or the quality of the rope was too cheap. When I found the Everlast Talking Jump rope online (amazon.co.uk) I thought I would give it a chance. Although there weren’t any reviews, I didn’t think too much of it (especially at a price of – first of all, it’s produced by Everlast – and I love their brand. Second of all, it has an electronic display that tells you how many calories you’ve burned, how many jumps you’ve done, how long you’ve been jumping for etc. Plus, it talks to you! (Shouts out encouraging comments once in a while, e.g. Not bad!)

After setting the jump rope up, I tried it out. I was really happy that I was able to adjust the length of the rope – it made a big difference. The rope itself seemed to cut through the air smoothly. For my test run (or rather jump), it went well.

However, when I went to actually use the jump rope for part of my workout, I had a different result. After less than 40 seconds of jumping, all of a sudden I stumbled. At first I thought it was just me, and so I attempted to jump again … but then I looked at the rope and noticed that it had completely twisted around itself. You couldn’t just untangle the rope or step on the rope to straighten it out. It refused to budge. Eventually I did manage to get it straightened out, but by that time it was too late – my heart rate was down, I lost my momentum, and I was just overall frustrated.

Disappointing product Everlast.