5-day ICE/X-train/Yoga hybrid starts 6/27/16

[mrschi]

Life is conspiring against my workout schedule, and so I've missed just about every Saturday workout so far. Last weekend was due to my son's slumber party. This Saturday, it was because I had to take a life insurance exam, which meant fasting and no vigorous exercising. I did get in a dog walk before hand, though. And, with walking around at the kids' football game the night before, and with all of my chores, etc, yesterday, I did more than my step goal each day.

This week posed another scheduling challenge with an early morning ortho appt. on Tuesday, so I switched Mon/Tues to Sun/Mon. I opted to continue with Phase II of 20-min body. First, I walked the dogs. Then, it was The Hitman. Good workout, and I LOVE that these are only 20 minutes - well, 30 once you add in the warm up and cool down. That is SOOO doable, and it's a quick in and out which works great for my day. Afterwards, I've been walking around all day, doing errands and chores, so I am due to beat my step goal again today. Finally got my flowers and plants planted outside in time for nicer weather. The heat killed most of it this summer. I'm even growing my own mint and lettuce in my kitchen, having sprouted some romaine from the bottoms of 2 heads that I used for salad. That is so neat.

Tomorrow is 4x4. The disc looks different, but I have to imagine it's the same 4x4 as last phase. I can't see why they would name 2 different workouts the same thing. But, I do think it's weird that they would send me a 4x4 for each phase.

 

[mrschi]

Wow, The Universe really IS conspiring against my workout schedule, but I am fighting back!! So, as I said above, I switched Mon/Tues to Sun/Mon, and that worked out well.

So, Monday was the 4x4. Turns out that it IS a totally different workout for Phase 2. Same name. That is so weird! They should at least give it a slightly different name. Anyway, it was tough. I can't remember if I finished every round.

Tuesday, we drove to my son's orthodontist appt., and the office was dark and closed!! Turns out the appt. was really for Wednesday and not Tuesday. I have never made that mistake before, so I don't know where the disconnect was. I really hated to have missed my workout on Tuesday, and Wednesday (yesterday), I was so antsy because I couldn't work out because I had to take him to the dr. I was trying to figure things out but then remembered that Thursday is normally a rest day. So, no problem. Wednesday's workout was switched to today.

After walking the dogs, I came home to do 30 Hi/30 Lo. Again, same name but a DIFFERENT workout than what we did for Phase 1. The workout kicked butt, and I finished the whole thing.

I looked on the calendar for tomorrow, back to my normal schedule, and it's supposed to be 30 Hi/30 Lo again! Normally that would be OK because there's the day off in between. But, since everything got all turned around, I have to decide if I want to do the same workout two days in a row or perhaps switch Saturday's/Friday's workouts. They are all cardio, so there's really no difference. So, not sure what I'm going to do.

One thing I'm noticing for Phase 2 is that he uses NO WEIGHTS. Any strength move is body weight only. I'm not sure how I feel about that. It could be the point of Phase 2 is a body fat burning phase with the stepped up cardio. Once I see what happens in Phase 3 in a few weeks, I'll be able to figure out how it all fits together and whether this makes sense.

What I do know about this program so far is that my legs are looking REALLY good, and I feel like my cardio condition is really great. Like, I could step back into any Cathe CARDIO workout and be able to keep up.

 

[mrschi]

Wow, I can't believe it's been a month since I posted!!!!

I've still been hanging in there with the 20-minute Body Workout. This week, I did Week 1 of Phase III. What's interesting about this workout is that I don't think the workouts actually get harder from phase to phase. The warm ups definitely ramp up, but the workouts themselves don't really that much at all. Maybe a tiny bit, but not much.

So, today was supposed to be a cardio day, but I felt the need for weights. So, I subbed the cardio workout with ICE Chiseled Upper Body. It definitely was a challenge for me since 20-minute body doesn't bring in a lot of weights at all. It felt good to get that change. I have been adding in some weights here and there, but not a full workout. I felt that I needed it.

I've been following a Whole 30 way of eating also this week; not planning a full Whole 30, but I just wanted to tighten things up. Did 7 days, and then we went to the movie yesterday, and I had popcorn and soda. Then, wine later last night. I'll be back on for 7-8 days, and then we are going to a party next weekend, where I plan on having a glass of wine. So, that is my plan through the holidays. Lots of Whole 6s, 7s, 8s; a tight diet with the occasional treat at parties only. It's too easy to slip into the mindset of allowing yourself a treat "just because," so I knew that when I'd had some candy 3 days in a row and wine 2 days in a row, it was time to do this.

Good time to do this also, so I won't give myself a pass to raid my kids' Halloween candy. I mostly eat clean anyway, since I found out what foods don't do well with me the other times I've done Whole 30 (so, I mainly don't eat dairy, I don't eat a lot of grains, rarely have legumes, really don't eat sugar so that is when I knew a 3-day in a row candy craving meant I needed to act, etc.). So, I got a lot of energy (tiger blood!) right away when I started it this week, and I just feel so much better. I think I'm losing my taste for wine, too. My hubby and I had to open 2 bottles of wine until we found one we liked last night. And, he's said he didn't like any wine he tried on a recent business trip he took. I think it is possible for that to happen.

Well, I'm rambling. I'm still planning on finishing 20-minute body. There is just 2 weeks to go. I might slip in a Cathe workout during the week, but we'll see.

 

[mrschi]

This week went well as far as workouts but not as planner or expected. It should have been Week 2, Phase III of 20-minute body. But, after I returned from walking the dogs early Monday AM, my husband was up and wanting to work out, so we ended up doing PiYo. I continued the trend with Cathe Yoga Relax on Tuesday, PiYo again with hubby on Wednesday, and ICE Rock em Sock em Kickbox on Thursday. I did a rest day on Friday, but I tried to do some stretching as my back was bothering me. I ended up booking a massage for Friday afternoon, and that helped immensely.

Today's workout was running around a golf course at my sons' Cross Country meet.

Not sure what will happen next week, but I think hubby is on an exercise roll, so that probably means doing PiYo with him Mon/Wed. And, not sure what I'll throw in the other days. I'm sort of "off" of 2o-minute body now, so we'll see.

 

[mrschi]

Wow, I could have sworn I posted since November 5th. How weird that I haven't!!! Maybe some of my posts disappeared.

I've been keeping up with workouts for the most part, working out about 5 times a week, keeping active, and getting out with my dogs as well. I've been bringing in PiYo and Cathe workouts.

The week before last week, same thing - mixing PiYo with Cathe ICE or X-train. I haven't formally worked out a plan, just doing what workout I felt my body needed that day, trying to bring in a mix of weights, cardio, and stretch.

Last week, I was in Hawaii for my kids' band at Pearl Harbor. My knee has been acting up, and all of the walking during that trip didn't help. I've been doing some ultrasound therapy on it since I've been back, and I have a knee brace on it, in hopes of keeping from bending it too much.

This is a fresh week, but I decided to skip a workout today and give my knee a break. I'm contemplating taking the dogs for a walk - my steps have been pretty low the past few days - but I really don't want to go out.

Tomorrow, I've decided to start up again with my mixture of PiYo and Cathe workouts. I really like that. I've also been sticking with the Time Saver options, so I'm sure to get in a "full" workout without feeling guilty about stopping early. This week, I might mix PiYo with the ICE Muscle Meltdowns, and do cardio options on other days. I sort of really like not planning a specific workout but just doing what my body feels like doing. I have in mind tomorrow doing PiYo Lower Body and then ICE shoulders. I'm really feeling a withdrawal from weights!

After I rest my knee a bit more, I may add in some light running. We signed up for a 5k in February, so I'd like to run at least part of it if my knee allows.