High humidity is the worst. This morning - 68 degrees and 94% humidity at 5 am. Fitting start to July. I’m in my midd-fifties and I don’t handle it well!
@partyof5, I’d be thrilled with a 4% reduction in body fat - that’s terrific. If I gain weight, mine settles at the midsection as well. I need to do some HIIT workouts to boost my metabolism and that often does the trick.
Did my last measurements on Saturday - down 25 pounds, 18.75 inches. Last week of lessons. If there’s one area I think they could improve it’s the maintenance portion of the program. Mr. Sabaray is enrolling for the next round. I think he has seen the light.
I guess I shouldn’t be so hard on myself. Mentally I would like to see the scale move. I’ve also adopted a gluten free diet which had helped tremendously with other issues(if you get my drift). I recently tried brown rice pasta and it was surprisingly good!
Have you “guys” ever heard of an exercise called “Thrusters”? Thrusters shred body fat, especially when combined with another exercise in a HIIT workout.
A thruster is a compound (utilizes more than one joint) exercise that combines a front squat and a press overhead. Since there are multiple movements, you get multiple benefits. The thruster works all of the major muscles in your legs as well as your shoulders, upper back and triceps (when you press the barbell or dumbbells over your head).
It’s not easy, but if interested, google it. I suggest the CF video, since it’s short and to the point. I mention it, because it happens to appear in my workout today/tonight. And unfortunately, I had to do them yesterday, because I was a day behind on my workouts and Sunday is usually an off day.
I like to see the scale move too, but try doing measurements and photos month to month. I think you’ll find that very motivating.
I like brown rice ramen and edamame pasta - both items I found at our Costco. I think there is something to be said for wheat products and bloat. I’m trying to cut way back on dairy but that’s proving to be a bit more challenging. it definitely creates digestive issues for me.
@sabaray yes, they asked that we go gluten free and no dairy for 6 weeks. The dairy was easy. I hate yogurt, etc. I’ve never really cared for milk either. I’ve never drank a glass of white milk my entire life, but Used to have it in in cereal. I stopped eating cereal about 4 years ago. That’s not to say I won’t occas indulge in ice cream or a baked good that has milk but but gluten/dairy free hasn’t been as hard as I thought.
I’ll check out the Cross Fit videos, thank you for the suggestion. I usually watch Nia Shanks or Mark Rippetoe, although I find Rippetoe talks & talks, whereas Shanks gets to the point + ticks off some tips and form reminders that seem to stick in my head better.
I was reminded that one of the best things about starting up a strength-lifting routine is you see gains very quickly, which is so motivating.
The other thing I like about Nia Shanks’ web site is she has a section on older lifters (+40, ouch) and gave tips for making adjustments if you find you’re getting shoulder pain, for example.
@Bromfield2 Are you lifting at home or at the gym or both?
@partyof5 They’re both (burpees and thrusters) full body movements. So now we know the reason why you’ve lost 4% body fat. <:-P
Just for kicks, the HIIT portion of my workout tonight is 3 rounds of 10 burpees, 10 thrusters and 10 pull-ups. To make it a bit more difficult, we have to jump over the barbell each time before start the next burpee.
@Midwest67 I go to the gym; the few things I do at home every morning (yoga moves for flexibility/strength: downward dog, plank on forearms, dolphin, and chair) don’t require equipment. I don’t have an issue getting to the gym. I am more likely to blow off exercise at home because I keep finding things to do and think I have time to exercise later. I don’t know if that makes sense, but the gym has has worked for me. I use the free weights there—almost never use machines.
This morning was a fun Pilates workout - kind of the highlight of my week to work one on one with my instructor. We’ve worked together over 3 years and physically I feel so much better than when I started and my posture is so much improved. Now I’m tweaking all the smaller muscle groups - like within my back - and it’s so hard to get the effort there without involving other muscle groups. PN wraps up on Friday so I’ll have a few weeks on my own before the next cycle starts. I’m going to do some fun classes I enjoy with the idea of doing more with weights when I resume coaching. I keep telling myself that this is going to happen. I’ve accepted that to see the results I want, I can’t keep doing what I’m doing now.
I absolutely hate doing this bicycling move in Pilates. It’s not particularly difficult but I’m so uncoordinated it’s hilarious. I need to be talked through the entire sequence step by step.
I love running with my group. Now that I’m just running for fun and not so hung up on pace it’s a lot more enjoyable. A little over 7 miles today to kick off the holiday.
I actually like burpees and planks. Short and long spine and pikes are fun too.
I hate rolling, stretching and warming up. It’s absolutely necessary, but it’s boring and a drag. I also hate burpees. And the worst version of them are called “burpee box jump overs” where you do a burpee and then jump up and over a box to the other side and then do another burpee. And on and on. The other exercise I’m not a big fan of is called “manmakers,” which is a combination of a plank, push-up, one-armed dumbbell row, squat and a dumbbell overhead shoulder press. Essentially I don’t like anything where you hit the floor and have to get back up. =))
What exercises are my favorites? Hmm. Running. Sometimes I can get into such a rhythm that I feel like Forrest Gump (“I just felt like running”). I really enjoy rope climbs. Yesterday I did a HIIT combo of assault bike and rope climbs. They’re extremely difficult to do, but I really enjoy an exercise called muscle-ups, which is a pull-up where you get the top half of your body (waist) to the same level as the pull-up bar. Anything with a barbell is fun too.
I wish I liked running, lol.
I like burpee/planking/piking, and I like to do them on TRX or bosu or Pilate ball, anything to introduce instability is good. But like is really a wrong word to use here, I hate them all when I was huffing and puffing doing them, ha. I like using kettlebells, though I can only do small weights.
I don’t like bicycle crunches or mountain climbing. I could do them well but just do not feel much from the exercises.
I prefer aerobic exercise. There is a guy that does hip-hop step and I love his videos. I can do aerobics for hours if the music is good but I know it’s necessary to incorporate weights, hence the women’s bootcamp group that I’ve recently joined.
Rope climbs - I belong to a gym that trains clients for obstacle course races, so they have a rope climb and a wall for folks to practice on. It’s a fairly new gym, so they’ll be adding more obstacles. BTW, CF HQ sends out a daily email with
success stories and one recent story was a 62-year old female, who had shoulder surgery, climbing several feet up a rope. Pretty amazing stuff.
Today is a scheduled rest day for me. No anything. I’m still recovering from this cold.
Yesterday, prior to all the 4th of July festivities, the HIIT (or WOD) portion of my workout was 7 rounds of 10 calories on the rower and 10 overhead presses and 10 reverse lunges with a weighted barbell.
My running mileage is down the past week, since the air quality wasn’t good due to fires in Napa and Yolo counties. I’m in the Bay Area, but the smoke spreads. Air quality has improved, so hopefully I’ll get outside this weekend.
Visiting our D for the next few days - so workouts will be yoga in the hotel. I deliberately didn’t bring running gear so I could dial it back and relax a bit. Plenty of walking yesterday and the rest of the weekend holds more of the same.
Fire can definitely be a deterrent to outdoor running. I’m close to a national park where we had a large fire a few years ago - when the wind shifted you knew it. Hope conditions improve.