<p>I’m betting that BCEagle hopped on the scale and saw that it showed a major milestone: the big Five-Oh pounds lost!</p>
<p>If so, congratulations. That’s huge.</p>
<p>So, I really had to suck it up to do today’s workout. I’m not sure why, maybe the tuna curry salad for lunch didn’t agree with me, but I was feeling mildly queezy all afternoon. It had kind passed by 6 pm, but I was very tempted to skip my regular Friday workout. But, I talked myself into it and actually had a pretty decent, albeit workmanlike, session. I cut the medicine ball stuff to bring the workout down to 1 hour on the nose. Third time out with the Valslide reverse lunges and they are really starting to come around. Felt strong on those today, back knee all the way down to the floor.</p>
<p>MOWC:</p>
<p>I did those one-leg balance drills with the miniband during my warmup again today. Those things are fantastic. Not only are they good for balance, but they work the hips and glutes like crazy.</p>
<p>Ah. 50 pounds. Duh.</p>
<p>In that case, I have to admit that I’m only around 12.</p>
<p>(But I weigh half of what you guys do to begin with.)</p>
<p>Wow! Lots of inspiration- from tough morning runs, Tough workouts and major weight loss successes. Hope some of it rubs off!</p>
<p>Am still on a get away, so no gym. Close to an hour of pretty tough mountain/ trail biking. Didn’t set any speed records, but definitely worked on coordination skills given the very bumpy terrain. Adrenaline moment was getting very close to a young bear, who was right on the trail. He, apparently, was more startled by our small group than vice versa and quickly scampered up a tree.</p>
<p>Congrats, BCEagle --that’s a milestone in deed, and a milestone off your body as well.</p>
<p>The trainer has got me doing this exercise where I’m standing one-leggged on a step, then reach back with the other leg and tap the toe on the floor, and then bring that unweighted leg back and up into a knee to waist-height maneuver. And repeat. And stay with the weight more through my heel on the weighted leg, not the toes. And gack, that is hard, though much harder on one side than the other.</p>
<ul>
<li>Close to 2 hours of biking</li>
</ul>
<p>arabrab:</p>
<p>Oooh. I’ll have to try that one. iPod nazi used to make me step back down and touch the floor, but the whole knee raise thing adds a serious layer of difficulty and balance. That sounds like a terrific hips/glutes/butt exercise.</p>
<p>CJane:</p>
<p>Two hours of mountain biking is a pretty intense workout. I’m guessing you’ll be a little sore tonight!</p>
<p>Idad – and the step back is just a touch-down, not a full weighting onto the unweighted leg. I’m feeling it tonight.</p>
<p>And BCEagle – I meant to say, that’s a millstone off your body, not milestone.</p>
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</p>
<p>Yep. That is to prevent you from getting any assistance by pushing off with that leg. It turns the whole thing into a pure single-leg exercise. The step down is basically a mini single leg squat.</p>
<p>Wow, BC. Awesome.</p>
<p>CJane, it definitely rubs off! This thread kept me going on tough days like yesterday.</p>
<p>I’m trying to convince DH to go out tonight for some light dancing. He might have a different idea involving a certain home improvement project, so my plan is to get home before he does, spray some texture on the wall and tell DH that it needs to dry for a few hours before anything else can be done there. 
</p>
<p>Awesome, BCEagle! </p>
<p>IDad- I need to try that mini band one. What do I need forna band? Can I wing it with some of cords and wide rubbery bands from PT orndo I need to order something?</p>
<p>MOWC, you could probably get by with using one of your therabands from PT. But you could also purchase a mini-band for about $3-4…</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Yeah. Like Hops says, this isn’t a critical thing. Just about any kind of elastic band or tube tied around your thighs would work. </p>
<p>On the other hand, these minibands are dirt cheap, easy to carry, and are incredibly effective for hip activation exercises. I’m guessing that you would get mucho benefit from some mini-band monster walks.</p>
<p>[Product</a> - Exercise Bands (Mini-Bands)](<a href=“http://www.performbetter.com/detail.aspx_Q_ID_E_3893_A_CategoryID_E_327]Product”>http://www.performbetter.com/detail.aspx_Q_ID_E_3893_A_CategoryID_E_327)</p>
<p>I have the green one, the blue one, and the black one and tend to mostly use the blue one. I’d probably recommend getting a green one and a blue one.</p>
<p>[YouTube</a> - Miniband](<a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zAliFKDt8A]YouTube”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zAliFKDt8A)</p>
<p>Success! I quickly grabbed the spray bottle and covered the wall with “orange peel”. DH had no choices other than to go out. We exercised our dance muscles for a couple of hours and ate healthy (salad, cheese plate, and red wine). It is way past midnight… My run tomorrow will be a challenge. :)</p>
Yes, my quizzical post referred to weight - I was pretty sure that idad would know what it meant.
Ran seven miles yesterday - the distance does get easier as you lose weight. Then went to visit my sisters from the West Coast last night. It was very interesting chatting. One is mid-50s and the other late-40s. Both look to be in excellent shape - they carry themselves well and there is no hint of injury in their gait. One does a lot of walking and she’s a nurse and has to lift patients frequently so there’s her strength training. The other does a lot of exercise classes which includes vigorous aerobics, strength-training and yoga. My guess on their motivation is my mother who has a number of physical ailments that she probably wouldn’t have had had she done strength training in her 50s. She had an injury that led to injuries and damage elsewhere. Strength-training for women wasn’t terribly popular forty years ago.
We also discussed spouses - their husbands are in okay shape weight-wise but they don’t workout other than walking. There’s not a lot that you can do to get a spouse to workout if they don’t want to other than a little nudging and advice here and there. I think that personal example also helps.
We got in late last night and my body felt very sore this morning (wrestling with one of my incredibly muscular nieces or the running or the tennis from Thursday). I felt a lot better after washing a few dishes.
It looks like a very nice day - 70 degrees and somewhat overcast (my kind of weather). We’re not going anywhere near Boston today as this is Bruins celebration day and I don’t want to deal with the traffic. I’m planning to do weights and stretching - maybe a yoga video.
I’m looking forward to hitting 60 later this summer.
I received the signup for the Manchester 5K this week. They will be giving out tech shirts this year instead of a cotton shirt + coffee mug. My approach on running is to run three times a week - two longer runs and one shorter run. That should keep me out of injury-land if I don’t overdo it on the tennis.
The tennis racquet that I ordered the Friday before yesterday is en-route to the US. I purchased it from someone in France and it just cleared French customs - I’m amazed at how long that took. I expect that it will cross the Atlantic fairly quickly and then it hits US customs and I read that that can take three days. Then it has to be shipped and then I have to get it strung. Ordering from Tennis Warehouse is much easier. The thing arrives one to two days after you order it and it’s strung. So I’m looking forward to getting the racquet late next week or early the following week.
For me, summer is the best time for losing weight as stress levels are down. It sounds like everyone else is doing quite well on the journey.
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</p>
<p>Those who do “cut” and “bulk” cycles often try to do the “cut” during the summer, since they are more active in outdoor sports and the like, while winter tends to reduce outdoor sports and increase feasts, making it better to be doing the “bulk” at that time.</p>
<p>Our work schedules tend to be lighter in the summer but that’s not true this year. But winter just takes time away from working out. In the Northeast, there’s just extra time spent on dealing with snow and ice. There’s also the effect of less light changing sleep/wake times.</p>
<p>“Cut and bulk” is also a ritual of the body-builder crowd, where the whole purpose is to look “ripped” in a speedo. I suspect that beach weather is the underlying motivation behind the timing of the cut cycle. Of course, the other ritual of the body-builder crowd is using anabolic steroids.</p>
<p>Rats. It is 60 degrees and raining relatively hard. There is no way I can run in a windbreaker in these conditions. Either I will have to wait fro the rain to stop or hop on the treadmill, which would be awful.</p>
<p>No rain here. I had planned on a two-day rest after a hard week of workouts, but it is so gorgeous here that I couldn’t resist. 84 degrees. Bright blue sky. Nice breeze. So I took off on the long version of my hilly state park route. 4.1 miles, adding a mile loop over a couple of stone bridges arcross a pond and long the river. I added a sixth 2-minute jogging interval, which made it a pretty good workout with the hills and the heat. Average heart rate 80%. Max 100%. Definitely worked up a sweat.</p>
<p>Slow jogging intervals today – half of them were on the same dirt trails where I’ve done faceplants, so I was looking to be a little careful. I do feel like I’m finally starting to get to a steady state exertion level on these intervals.</p>