I thought my shoulders were tender from executing Roundhouse Punches, but no. Actually, I noticed while taking a shower I had small black and blues where the pain was coming from. I didn't injure myself, I was bruised from being manhandled...lol. I took my lumps and next week, I will be back for more :)
I was pleasantly surprised that my weight went down to 166.8. However, I will keep an eye on this because losing about 2.5 lbs in a week seems a bit excessive. I want to make sure I am eating enough for the amount of effort I am expending. I think adding all the cardio on the treadmill has really helped to burn the stubborn fat off. At this point, I have gone up to 4.2 - 5 mph for a half hour. I am still doing the 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 minute thing with a 3.5 mph walk for 60 seconds in between. I am getting much faster and my endurance is definitely improving substantially.
I was also happy to discover that I can now jump. In Krav class, we do Knee Tuck Jumps, which right now are very hard for me. I don't think it's so much because I can't do them, but anything that involves jumping and taking the brunt of the impact with my knees literally makes me cringe:
I feel as if I am going to land and the pain from the knee is going to shoot up my leg, or my knee will buckle. This actually hasn't happened for a long time, but the fear is still there. But, this past Tuesday in Cardio Kickboxing Class, the instructor cued for Jumping Jacks and jumping an imaginary rope for a few minutes so I decided to give these a whirl and I was able to do them. The funny thing was that the class was way more intensive this way rather than what I was doing before. I would shuffle from side to side, but would not jump for anything. The best part was that even after class, my knees were fine. I think the running is now strengthening my legs even more and I am learning how to land more and more softly on my feet and manage the impact so it doesn't harm my legs.
So...good times!
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Defeated by a Roundhouse Punch
Last night in class we were doing Roundhouse Punches, I looked at myself in the mirror and made sure my form was replicating that of our Instructor:
What I didn't count on was the fact that the bursae in my right shoulder would be complaining that very evening. The pain was not excruciating, but it definitely caught my attention. The area over the joint was tender and hurt whenever I put the slightest bit of pressure on it. I was a bit surprised since I have not experienced any post workout pain in quite some time. I took a nice warm shower last night, and got a good night's sleep, but when I woke up this morning, the area still felt tender. I found some good shoulder stretches:
Shoulders Stretching Exercises
which I plan to keep repeating every hour or so in hopes that the pain will subside by tonight. I am leaning towards participating in my Cardio Kickboxing class tonight without my usual hand weights to avoid further injury to the shoulder. I will gauge how I feel before class and will err on the side of caution even if my ego will have to suck this one up.
My 2 partners last night were on 2 completely opposite poles of the fitness scale. For the first part of class, I paired up with an older woman who had difficulty executing too many kicks in a row at one time. For the second part of class, I paired up with a muscular young man, who was about a half-foot taller than myself. We were practicing defending against choke-holds coming from behind. I was having trouble executing all the steps of the move and my partner's strength was quite overwhelming. So much so, that the Instructor asked him to be a bit more gentle with me, which is something not normally done since the goal is to mimic real life conditions. By the end of class, my neck looked like I had gone to some weird auto-erotic party that had gone terribly wrong...lol.
Other than that, I have managed to lose .5 lbs in a week. That's actually pretty good at this point. I am happy about this and hopefully will see another half pound gone by the beginning of next week.
What I didn't count on was the fact that the bursae in my right shoulder would be complaining that very evening. The pain was not excruciating, but it definitely caught my attention. The area over the joint was tender and hurt whenever I put the slightest bit of pressure on it. I was a bit surprised since I have not experienced any post workout pain in quite some time. I took a nice warm shower last night, and got a good night's sleep, but when I woke up this morning, the area still felt tender. I found some good shoulder stretches:
Shoulders Stretching Exercises
which I plan to keep repeating every hour or so in hopes that the pain will subside by tonight. I am leaning towards participating in my Cardio Kickboxing class tonight without my usual hand weights to avoid further injury to the shoulder. I will gauge how I feel before class and will err on the side of caution even if my ego will have to suck this one up.
My 2 partners last night were on 2 completely opposite poles of the fitness scale. For the first part of class, I paired up with an older woman who had difficulty executing too many kicks in a row at one time. For the second part of class, I paired up with a muscular young man, who was about a half-foot taller than myself. We were practicing defending against choke-holds coming from behind. I was having trouble executing all the steps of the move and my partner's strength was quite overwhelming. So much so, that the Instructor asked him to be a bit more gentle with me, which is something not normally done since the goal is to mimic real life conditions. By the end of class, my neck looked like I had gone to some weird auto-erotic party that had gone terribly wrong...lol.
Other than that, I have managed to lose .5 lbs in a week. That's actually pretty good at this point. I am happy about this and hopefully will see another half pound gone by the beginning of next week.
Friday, December 25, 2009
Expanding My Horizons
I have amped my workout to 5 times a week, adding the Krav Maga instruction as well as changing out my old medicine ball routine with a cardio day. I am lucky that since I am making this transition during the holidays, I have been able to take some time off to let my body bounce back. I am now up to 10 consecutive minutes on the treadmill at a time. I first begin with 4.2 mph and then finish with 10 additional minutes at 4.5 mph. My endurance has really increased greatly and I am grateful for that.
I have also consistently kept the Assisted Pull-Up Machine. I can do 2 sets of 15 reps of each of the hand-grips at 90 lbs. assist. I can probably go to 80 with lots of resting in between, but I may try it next week. I was happy to find one of the gyms here in Manhattan have the machine so I no longer have to trek to Long Island to use it. However, I am a bit disappointed I no longer have access to a punching bag. I do feel that in time, I can always practice with the bag at the Krav school and that should be fine.
I am trying to keep an eye on my diet during the holidays and not go overboard, but it's hard since we do have the Swiss Colony's Petit Fors in the house. I am only human...how can I resist them? I have mastered somewhat the whole moderation thing, but I am not going to obsess over weight right now. There is always time for that later!
So, I am holding steady at 169.6 for now. I will also sign up for a yearly block of Krav classes somewhat soon, but since the school raised its prices somewhat, it threw me off entirely. I did however, manage to purchase some new wrestling shoes for class. But for now, I simply will keep going and paying for individual sessions until my financial situation is a bit more defined....so, that's it for now. I feel I am in a good place both physically and mentally.
I have also consistently kept the Assisted Pull-Up Machine. I can do 2 sets of 15 reps of each of the hand-grips at 90 lbs. assist. I can probably go to 80 with lots of resting in between, but I may try it next week. I was happy to find one of the gyms here in Manhattan have the machine so I no longer have to trek to Long Island to use it. However, I am a bit disappointed I no longer have access to a punching bag. I do feel that in time, I can always practice with the bag at the Krav school and that should be fine.
I am trying to keep an eye on my diet during the holidays and not go overboard, but it's hard since we do have the Swiss Colony's Petit Fors in the house. I am only human...how can I resist them? I have mastered somewhat the whole moderation thing, but I am not going to obsess over weight right now. There is always time for that later!
So, I am holding steady at 169.6 for now. I will also sign up for a yearly block of Krav classes somewhat soon, but since the school raised its prices somewhat, it threw me off entirely. I did however, manage to purchase some new wrestling shoes for class. But for now, I simply will keep going and paying for individual sessions until my financial situation is a bit more defined....so, that's it for now. I feel I am in a good place both physically and mentally.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
My First Krav Maga Class
Yesterday, I went to my first class. I had the day off so I got there really early. Every one made me feel welcomed and the class itself was a lot of fun. Since it was my very first day, it was nice that my partner was also a newbie. I was worried at first that I wouldn't be able to keep up with the initial drills, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that I am in much better condition than I thought. I was able to make it through and was feeling fine after. I was a bit winded, but not gasping for breath.
During the maneuvers part of the class, I knew a lot of the basic kicks and since I had the advantage to learn a few of the moves from the seminar at my job, it was all pretty familiar. I was able to follow along and do quite well for my first day. Yes, I made some newbie mistakes like being on the wrong side of the room when we lined up. I was a bit taken aback when everyone fell back and I was still on my feet only to find that I had no room to fall back. Mental note: snag a spot closer to the middle of the room, stay away from the back.
I will definitely be returning next Monday. I was also happy to find a few older adults like myself present, although all the females in the class were much younger, but hey! I guess you can't have it all. For now, I am the old bag, but I am quite proud that I am the old bag that can keep up at the same pace that all those 20 something year olds can!
During the maneuvers part of the class, I knew a lot of the basic kicks and since I had the advantage to learn a few of the moves from the seminar at my job, it was all pretty familiar. I was able to follow along and do quite well for my first day. Yes, I made some newbie mistakes like being on the wrong side of the room when we lined up. I was a bit taken aback when everyone fell back and I was still on my feet only to find that I had no room to fall back. Mental note: snag a spot closer to the middle of the room, stay away from the back.
I will definitely be returning next Monday. I was also happy to find a few older adults like myself present, although all the females in the class were much younger, but hey! I guess you can't have it all. For now, I am the old bag, but I am quite proud that I am the old bag that can keep up at the same pace that all those 20 something year olds can!
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Holy Smokes...I can Jog Now!
Throughout my entire fitness journey, I have always aspired to being able to jog, but could never quite get there. At first, I had the diminished lung capacity one has when you smoke cigarettes. Then, in April, I discovered that carrying a lot of weight on your body, does not help the stress that jogging imparts on the body. I also became painfully aware then that my right knee would have no part of any jogging routine without constantly demanding that I quit this instant!
So now, 9 months later, my knee is finally strong enough to bear the shock of jogging and since I quit smoking several months ago, my overall endurance has soared greatly. I am still a newbie at the whole jogging thing and have not graduated off the treadmill, but now I am able to sustain a steady pace of jogging/walking for about 20 minutes. I begin with a warm-up of 2 minutes walking and increase the speed every 30 seconds until I hit about 4 mph. I then jog for 2 minutes and walk at 3.5 mph for 60 seconds, then jog for 3 minutes and walk for 60 seconds, followed by a 4 minute jog and another 60 second walk, and finally wrap it up with a 5 minute jog and a 2 minute cool down. I do this at the end of my usual workout to increase the amount of weekly cardio.
My first goal is to be able to sustain 30 minutes of straight jogging without rest.
So now, 9 months later, my knee is finally strong enough to bear the shock of jogging and since I quit smoking several months ago, my overall endurance has soared greatly. I am still a newbie at the whole jogging thing and have not graduated off the treadmill, but now I am able to sustain a steady pace of jogging/walking for about 20 minutes. I begin with a warm-up of 2 minutes walking and increase the speed every 30 seconds until I hit about 4 mph. I then jog for 2 minutes and walk at 3.5 mph for 60 seconds, then jog for 3 minutes and walk for 60 seconds, followed by a 4 minute jog and another 60 second walk, and finally wrap it up with a 5 minute jog and a 2 minute cool down. I do this at the end of my usual workout to increase the amount of weekly cardio.
My first goal is to be able to sustain 30 minutes of straight jogging without rest.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
New Haircut
So I contemplated for the longest time on what to do with my hair. It had just kept growing and growing and was not looking healthy. I started out with this:
And finally decided on this:
I really like the way it came out and it should be functional enough so I can put it into a pony-tail when I go to the gym. I can't be bothered with constantly styling it, particularly when I am gonna sweat it up at least 4 times a week!
And finally decided on this:
I really like the way it came out and it should be functional enough so I can put it into a pony-tail when I go to the gym. I can't be bothered with constantly styling it, particularly when I am gonna sweat it up at least 4 times a week!
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