<p>Looking for some new music…thanks sewhappy!</p>
<p>I’m sad and have no energy for anything… DH took off to Europe and left me behind! 
He has to be back at work right after the meetings, so no way we could have extended this business trip of his with a small vacation. As a consolation prize, we got tickets to Hawaii (dirt cheap), so I should be working on getting my body into beach-worthy shape 
. I probably will do some planks and pushups before going to bed…</p>
<p>I’m probably one of the few people here who rarely listens to music while running. I will tolerate the news if I run on the home dreadmill. When I run outside, I like to listen to the sounds made by the wind, birds, kids, etc. and think.</p>
<p>Sewhappy!!! Post number 13,000 - congrats! Yay us! Wow.</p>
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<p>I’ve switched to podcasts for at home workouts – fitness podcasts, Patriots football podcasts, and political podcasts. But, music is still my thing for walking/jogging.</p>
<p>I would like podcasts but not sure what would keep me focused and moving. I watch tv or listen to music at the gym on my headphones. Just back from a killer morning. 30 minutes of intervals on bike, pushups and weights and then walking on the dreadmill for 45 minutes. Whew! I may have tweaked a muscle under my right shoulder blade. It is a little uncomfortable, especially when I take a deep breath. Down another 2.5 lbs. I really must have been so bloated! That should teach me to plan better on these get aways! Thank heavens the water weight is dropping so quickly!</p>
<p>Dynamic Warm ups</p>
<p>3 rounds as many reps as possible
2 minutes air squats
2 minutes around the worlds with 25# plate</p>
<p>4 rounds as many reps as possible
2 minutes overhead squats with 25 # bar
2 minutes hellraisers with 14# medicine ball
2 minutes bodyweight chest rows</p>
<p>improved my overall reps since last time.</p>
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<p>:cool: love it!</p>
<p>I listen to music about 80% of the time. There are days when I just listen to sounds, especially if I am away from home. On the dreadmill I need TV or music to stand it.</p>
<p>Light day- 4.1 miles. Still not sure when my first day of work will be. To say this place is not exactly “organized” is an understatement. I’m not complaining since at least I can enjoy the time off and know there is an upcoming job…</p>
<p>@MOWC
has your daughter’s pedicure aftermath cleared up? Did you ever find out what it was exactly?</p>
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<p>I have my little GymBoss interval timer clipped to a nail in the wall next to my workout sheet. I set it as a 60 second countdown timer and press the button at the end of every exercise. That gives me a minute to lean against the wall or walk around and catch my breath. When the timer goes off, I start the next exercise (or at least start seriously thinking about it!)</p>
<p>That system seems to keep me moving along without turning every workout into a non-stop cardio conditioning deal.</p>
<p>My wife looked outside and it was raining so no walk but I set her up on the iPad with an efit30 video and she was doing it when I left for the office.</p>
<p>I’m been feeling down in the dumps from lack of exercise. I’m still trying to get my ankle incision healed. Finished antibiotics–staph infection is gone now that hardware in ankle is out. I’ve been going to a wound clinic, where everyone is focused on getting the wound healed. They keep telling me to stay off my feet and rest–which is the last thing I want to do. I’m determined to keep off the 40-some pounds I lost over the last 18 months. Been tracking my food and walking a few miles a day (at least I’m burning a few calories). Also, realizing that I really enjoyed my workouts/classes; it was a big part of my life (especially because my job was downsized at the time I was losing weight–don’t get me started on outsourcing abroad). </p>
<p>My H, who really needs to lose weight, seems serious about starting a plan. He’s ready to go to a program at the Pritikin Center in Miami. Anyone know about it? A person who works for him went there and lost weight and became an exercise convert and changed his lifestyle/eating. I figure I should just support H and not try to tell him that he could do it on his own (like most of us here). Any advice on how best to support a spouse about to embark on a plan?</p>
<p>BC: Sounds like a winner! Those workouts look like a really good transition into whole-body strength training.</p>
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<p>I’m still a little sore, after two days, from this silly little hip extension exercise. Crazy, because there’s not much to it. I’m feeling it right on the outside of my hips/cheeks, I believe in the area that the ladies call their “saddlebags”.</p>
<p>Today is NROL4A. I think I’ll try to kick up the split squats from 2 x 30lbs to 2 x 35lbs. That’s a huge jump on a percentage basis, so I may find that I can’t do it. If so, I’ll try a 30lb and a 35lb.</p>
<p>Bromfield:</p>
<p>You won’t put the weight back on. It must, however, be driving you nuts to deal with the ankle for this long. What a relief when it is finally all healed! I’d be climbing the wall. As you have noted, making workouts a regular part of your life really becomes a big deal. I know that I would not want to break that habit, once established. </p>
<p>I think the best thing you can do is just encourage your husband when he shares his journey. Pritikin wouldn’t be my recommendation for an ol’ (fat) guy. Diet wise, it’s the classic high-carb, ultra low fat, veggie and turkey burger “healthy” diet. Ya’ll know that you couldn’t get farther from the diet that has helped me lose 94 pounds. I especially don’t think it’s the best “guy” diet. I just like to eat too much to go that route. I’ve gotta have ribs and steak and pork roast and blue cheese salad dressing and stuff to stick to a fat loss diet.</p>
<p>Their exercise program seems to be largely cardio based (six days a week) with strength training (they talk about “bicep curls”) and core days with “ab crunches” and Pilates. So that’s probably not right up my alley either. The total package seems kind of old school, but I’m sure that the get their clients to focus on fat loss which is a big part of the challenge.</p>
<p>If that’s what your hubby thinks will be the answer for him, then it might well be the answer. There are certainly many different ways to skin the cat.</p>
<p>Bromfield, has your husband tried going on his own and failed? A trip to FL is not the worst thing one can come up with. Just be supportive of his decision and keep him company when he exercises at home.</p>
<p>Speaking of weight loss coaching… This is a program advertised on TV by a local sports club, and it seems to incorporate a lot of what many CC members have been doing to lose weight:</p>
<p>[20/20</a> Lifestyles | 20/20 Program](<a href=“20/20 LifeStyles | Home”>20/20 LifeStyles | Home)</p>
<p>I wonder if something similar is offered in your neck of the woods.</p>
<p>iDad – I’ve done those Mike Boyle glute kick-ups the past couple of days, and you’re right, you can feel them. But either five seconds goes by a lot more quickly for him than it does me, or I can’t count, but it doesn’t seem like a five second hold. Hamstrings don’t seem to threaten cramping, which they’ve done with some similar exercises. Either I’m in better shape, or this one is hitting me differently, or both. </p>
<p>Did a new exercise yesterday that ended up really working the muscles on the upper sides of my rib cage as well as around to the back. I’ve felt the back ones before, but this is the first I remember ever being so aware of the ones on the side. And then we’ve got 8-10" of snow overnight on tree branches that still have most of their leaves, so I’ve just spent an hour outside with the extension pole knocking snow off as many branches as I can reach. I suspect I’ll be feeling that tonight. Probably a good night for a nice, hot bath.</p>
<p>My wife got back to me - she liked the workout and felt the areas where she was tight (I assume that there was a stretching session - she did a video that I haven’t done before). They have a bunch of area specific videos too which I have loaded on the iPad. At some point, I think that she will be able to pick a workout and do it. That should be good for her as the the weather makes it harder for her to exercise outside.</p>
<p>I also have a bunch of Exercise TV videos which she could try out but they aren’t on the iPad.</p>
<p>arabrab:</p>
<p>I felt my hamstrings start to cramp the first time I did that exercise, but not any time since. I think it’s because the first time I just tried it out of the blue without any warmup. Now, I’m doing it about halfway through my dynamic warmup, after I’ve already done some toe-touches, lateral lunges, and squat to stands, so my hammies have been loosened up a bit. I agree, Boyle looks a little short on his five second count to my eye, too! Oh well, it’s probably the thought that counts. I haven’t found too many exercises that are that easy and produce such apparent results to a particular muscle. Given how hard it is to find glute exercises, this seems like a real winner.</p>
<p>Upper sides of the rib cage sound like your “lats”. I was really sore there when I first started doing a heavy dose of chinups; in fact, that’s what made me realize that my idea of doing chinups every day wasn’t going to work! I would say that feeling some soreness there is a good sign that whatever exercise you have been doing is a good one. Getting the lats engaged is the key to chinups and inverted rows, making them more of a large muscle exercise rather than just trying to do it all with the arms.</p>
<p>Jane- My daughter went on antibiotics once her dr. husband came home, which helped with her flu and the leg stuff. He/she thinks it was just the over-abrasiveness of the salt scrub coupled with normal bacteria, made worse by sleeping in her Zensah calf sleeves after the half marathon. I wanted her to go back to the salon and tell them, but I’m not sure she ever did it.</p>
<p>I didn’t know Pritikin still existed. That was big about, what, 15 years ago? Agree it is high cardio compared to what most recommend now and is a little hard to carry over into real life.</p>
<p>My only recollection of Pritikin is seeing their soup products in the supermarket.</p>
<p>It’s no longer sold by the supermarkets that I shop at.</p>