<p>I do squats with a bag of fertilizer strapped to my waist. Oh wait… that’s just what it feels like!</p>
<p>Actually, iPod nazi hasn’t let me graduate to full squats yet. I do ball squats with a stability ball between my back and the wall. As I go up, I extend arms and weights out to the sides and up to my shoulders. On the way down, the arms go back down to the sides.</p>
<p>I think he wants the squats to start against the ball to develop proper form. I’ve seen him talk about how the back should stay tall and the squat should feel like sitting back into a chair rather than leaning forward. The ball forces you into that posture with strong core.</p>
<p>Yes. You want to ‘sit back’ rather than let the knees go forward. You should be able to look down when you squat and see your feet. Your knees should not extend in front of them.</p>
<p>My personal trainer made me do the squats from the ball with 10 lb weight in each hand, extending out as I stood up. 25 of them. That was the same day she had me do a gazillion leg crunches and lifts. My legs were not happy. </p>
<p>Overall, I like the ball squats though. Seems like functional exercise to me. I want to always be able to easily get out of my chair…even if it’s one of those low sinking kinds. So I’ll be carrying that through to my regular routine. </p>
<p>Haven’t ordered my bosu yet but will tomorrow. Now, THIS will be the thing that give me six-pack abs right???</p>
<p>toneranger, you may want to look for the “BOSU Sport.” It’s a little bit smaller than the regular BOSU, but I’m thinking it’s like half the price! As with lots of rehab and exercise equipment, this stuff is expensive!</p>
<p>Twenty-five reps of ball squats is out of my class. I couldn’t come close to that and I’m not entirely sure what the point would be. </p>
<p>I’m not very strong, but I use 5 pound weights for those arm extensions. I’m ready to go up to the 8s. My sense is that the purpose of the ball squats with arm extensions is not to bulk up leg muscles, but to build “explosive” strength – i.e. as you come up out of the squat with the arms going up. Kind of like “jumping” fitness. I think form is more important that reps and weight.</p>
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<p>Yeah. I love it combined with the arm extensions. My thighs don’t love it yet, but I can just tell it’s a terrific total-body exercise.</p>
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<p>I’m thinking I might just buy a six-pack! Maybe some Sam Adams.</p>
<p>I’m shopping for a new stability ball. The TJ Maxx christmas special ball we have has to be pumped up before every use. I’m thinking that they probably make stability balls that actuallly hold air! I thought the cats had gotten our old one, but I sponged the thing off with soap suds to find the air leak on Sunday and couldn’t find any hole. It just doesn’t hold air.</p>
<p>There is a reason I never buy electronics and sports equipment that requires maintenance at TJ Maxx (clothes, dumbbells and yoga mats are fine). My cat actually attacked and punctured one of such balls with her sharp teeth - the thing exploded and scared the $h!t out of the poor kitty!</p>
<p>This BOSU ball sounds great. That’s my next birthday gift to myself. That and the fabulous shirt we talked about in the Dressing Young thread :D</p>
<p>I ran 3 miles today, very easy pace, 7 miles per hour (9 minute miles?). I’m thinking I need to increase my distances since 3 miles feels too easy.</p>
<p>Order up one of iPod nazi’s interval training workouts for runners. Somewhere between Vol 2 and Volume 5 is one that will definitely up your intensity.</p>
<p>Voume 2 looks like it’s designed to cover 3 to 6 miles in 45 minutes. There are also a new intermediate and advanced workouts after this one:</p>
<p>The idea is to spend the same 30 to 45 minutes running, but use intervals to bump the intensity and avoid the monotony of just slogging out the mileage. You can do one, two, or all three of the sections in the run.</p>
<p>I’m not a runner, but I do his interval workouts on the exercise bike and it is just incredible how much they kick it up. I just got a download of the beginner run in the treadmill trainer series – one designed for people who want a jog/walk combination. I’m not there yet, but I’ll give it a try one of these days.</p>
<p>Awesome, i-dad. Thank you! Thank you! I will definitely look into this stuff since I finally learned how to download apps and add music to my iPod. :)</p>
<p>This ipod nazi definitely needs to sponsor you.</p>
<p>Bunsen Burner…wow you’re doing great with your running. Since I can’t run anymore, I need to find a way to kick it up a notch with walking. Either speed walking or maybe some steep hills. There’s a place around her called Mount Misery…I used to drag my H there…I think it’s time to go there again on a regular basis. </p>
<p>I am really tempted to try Mr Ipoz nazi. He seems pretty cool in the You Tube Videos. My old NANO is at full capacity and I don’t want to lose any music…so I’ll wait till I get my iphone next month (can’t wait to deep six my blackberry!).</p>
<p>Re diet, my personal trainer had me writing down everything I eat. I did so - down to the last chocolate covered pomogranite seed. She looked at my diary and told me “well, you need to increase your activity. You’re eating very clean and the calorie count is good…if you decrease what you’re eating, you’ll be hungry.” I remember research that say you get hungrier with vigorous exercise. Ack. </p>
<p>Sooo…I’m gonna keep up with the weights and increase my walking pace (or add hills) and hopefully THAT will make a difference.</p>
<p>TR - Watch that hill work. It is so easy to have bad posture or pull a hamstring if you aren’t careful on a hill. Hills + intensity can lead to injuries. </p>
<p>I really think if you would incorporate a little racewalking into your routine, you would be surprised at the results. The basic technique is keeping the lead leg straight as you land on your heels and roll up and off your toe. The idea is to walk an imaginary center line and keep the stride very short and the pace quick. Arms are bent at about 90 degrees - and at your sides w/out any chicken wings. </p>
<p>Just incorporating the technique for about 15 minutes would change your workout. The arms increase your heart rate and the straightened leg firms up butt and thighs.</p>
<p>I’ve mapped out an extension on the end that will take my hill walk up to an even 2 miles. The addded distance is mostly flat, so it will give me a little cool down instead of now where I finish with a steep up hill. It will also give me one quarter mile on the route that is more or less flat.</p>
<p>@2279, Cardinal Fang
Computer today shows 400 cals. Good enough for a Safeway muffin at a New Reduced price of 59¢. It’s definitely warmer today.</p>
<p>Remind me never to do that again. I did my iPod workout after dinner. Well, actually, to be precise, I should say that my iPod workout did me. I was panting after every exercise and dying during the intervals on the bike at the end. I got through it all, but wore out the pause button on the iPod. Not a pretty sight. Didn’t feel good until I got a a little ZZ Top for the five minute cool down at the end.</p>
<p>Ouch, i-dad. I learned this lesson the hard way in HS when I was running XC. Just a couple of donuts can mess up your weeks of training. Puking your guts out in the middle of a very important race - not a pretty sight.
I felt that I was starving before my run (a stop by a Euro deli on the way home to load up on smoked herring and rye bread will to that to ya!), but I did not touch the goodies until we finished our run. Phew… The herring is delicious!</p>
<p>I was OK on the digestive front. I waited a couple hours after dinner. But, I had no energy. This was the really hard workout on top of it. I figured out that it was going to be ugly early on and just set my mind on getting through it, no matter what.</p>
<p>45 sec each of:</p>
<p>lunge walks with dumbells
plank
stair step with dumbell curl and press
ball crunches with twist
pushups
ball squats with dumbell lateral arm extensions</p>
<p>Repeat. </p>
<p>This circuit just eats me up. 45 seconds of each exercise is tough for me. They are all core stability/proper form kinds of exercises.</p>
<p>lol…zztop. I listen to slow Stevie Nicks songs for cool downs. </p>
<p>Went to a party last night. Stayed away from the “pigs in blankets” but indulged in the brie ( I love brie!) and had a small piece of chocolate cake. Also ate fruit! Unfortunately, this was all AFTER I already ate dinner. I don’t want to weigh myself today. That’s for Monday. At least I got in a nice long walk today.</p>
<p>Well, a little Thievery Connection came up for the cool-down, but the world-beats techno just wasn’t enough to kick me out of all-out panting mode. I was hanging on by my fingertips at the end of that workout.</p>
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