Cardio Bliss Thursday

It's such a nice day, sunny yet cool and breezy, that I was shocked at how few people were at the gym this morning. Because my son is at camp all week, I didn't have to rush my workout. Yay! Did my 10 min cardio warmup with 4 min Tabata but realized that doing Legs on Wednesday, sandwiched between two cardio days, makes it all the harder. By the time I came back to do my 2nd set of cardio (10 min with 5 min Tabata), I wasn't really sure I'd be able to do it. Afterwards, I put my hoodie back on and lay down on the Mat to stretch out my lower back. Kickboxing the Nexersys machine seems to make my lower back a tad achy. Not quite sure why though. I don't think it's the kicking per se. Actually, I think it's the twisting torque from throwing a Cross right after a Jab because I'm standing Left side forward.

12 rounds at Beginner Level felt pretty good. The following 3 rounds at Intermediate Level, especially the last round with it's crazy onslaught of combinations, kicked my butt. But I felt really good when I got done, albeit, a bit soggy. Then I rushed home to toss my gym gear into the washer, and headed out to test drive some cars.

I was a bit disappointed because the gal I spoke to on the phone was not the salesperson and had actually misrepresented what inventory the dealership had in stock. Still, I got to test drive a 2015 Forester. I love how it's so adjustable I didn't even need the 3 pillows I use in my current car to boost me high enough to see over the steering wheel. It handles as nice as my car too. It's just way too expensive. But of course, I didn't tell them that. Just that I had to talk it over with my hubs.

Double Cardio Thursday Workout

10 min Precor = 3 min steady state + 4 min Tabata (20 sec On / 10 sec Off) + 3 min steady state
Cage Stretch

Nexersys Kickboxing Follow Me Avatar Program

  12 rounds Beginner
  Accuracy 98% / Strikes 99% / Average Power 133%

  3 rounds Intermediate
  Accuracy 85% / Strikes 96% / Average Power 98%

10 min Precor = 2 min steady state + 5 min Tabata (20 sec On / 10 sec Off) + 3 min steady state

Photos for actual stats:

 

Cardio Thursday

Fuzzy tricep photos from yesterday.

I'm dragging this morning because I stayed up too late watching Restaurant Impossible. I know it's silly because it's loaded on my DVR so I can watch it any time, but I usually wait until everyone is asleep to watch these sort of shows. I have my right hand pre-taped. My pointer finger is starting to feel better. All the bruised skin has peeled off my knuckles as well. I know the first 4 minutes of Tabata is going to hurt (my lungs mostly) but I still do it after 3 minutes of slow steady state. 10 minutes later and I'm barely moist. Bummer.

I start with the right machine which is the more popular of the two. It behaved okay on Tuesday, but today, after half a round of it arbitrarily not registering a blow and then screaming that I'm punching too hard, I exit and move over to the left machine. That's the machine with a foot pad half on the rubber matting and horrible screen glare. It's less popular. It's also less glitchy today. Not that it's perfect. It still doesn't register the one combo: Power Kick / Jab / Cross, which makes no sense because the data for each round shows number of strikes. I'm logging a big fat zero, but not missing the strikes. This goes on for rounds 8 and 9. On the final round (15), I log 100% for all my blows, but the system only rates my accuracy at 99%. And yet on other rounds, 100% means 100%. Go figure. I still got a good workout though.

The last 10 minutes of cardio (2 minutes steady state, 5 min Tabata, 3 min steady state) aren't as painful only because it takes me longer to ramp up. I'm just not able to reach the faster speeds in just 20 seconds. I'm not too concerned.

My son seems subdued when I get him from the Child Care room. He's upset about his size and weight again. He's not a fat kid but he is thicker than his peers (his arms and legs are twice the thickness of his best friends). But he's at the age where he's starting to notice whether he fits in or not. He wants to play a sport but he's not really interested in team sports. I'm going to sign him up for swim class again. He's an excellent swimmer, his strokes are effortless, like a jellyfish. The only kid's program suitable for him is the Olympia Excel which is basically stroke technique for racing. He likes golf too, but I don't think I can afford golf lessons now that the school has lost its after school golf and tennis program. He's also good at archery but there's no archery program either. We'll just have to figure it out.

Cardio Thursday

10 min cardio = 3 min steady state + 4 min Tabata + 3 min steady state
Cage Stretch

Nexersys 15 rounds Beginner Level
  Accuracy 97% / Strikes 99% / Average Power 130%

10 min cardio = 2 min steady state + 5 min Tabata + 3 min steady state

photos posted for actual stats:

Note 0% scored next to the combo yet total strikes 109 matches strikes requested.

This also occurs in Round 9. 

Round 15 tallies 1005 for all blows requested, yet average accuracy for this round is 99%. WTH?

All 15 rounds today.

Another Cardio Thursday

When I tape my right pointer and knuckles this morning I suddenly realized that they felt much better. They don't hurt in general, but taping them made them feel positively good. Weird. The proximal interphalangeal joint of my right pointer finger has been tender for some weeks now, making it difficult to do mundane things like pump a spray bottle. I taped it just as a precaution since I've split my kickboxing glove at the seam there. I tape my knuckles to keep from skinning them under the wraps and gloves. I have very small hands, and they get very sweaty when I'm working out.

I was worried that I'd somehow gotten a hairline fracture but the actual finger bones feel fine when I palpate my hand. It's just that one joint. My knees are intermittently wonky. Because I have my son with me, I'm doing my abbreviated workout: 10 min cardio, stretch, kickbox the Nexersys for 15 rounds (60 min), 10 min cardio and just enough time to shower and change. I make a point of incorporating 4 min of Tabata for the first cardio session, and 5 min for the last one.

I always enjoy smacking the Nexersys, but today was frustrating. The machine had half a footpad half on the thick rubber mat and half off, so eventually, with all my blows, it was completely off on the left side. When I was done, it'd moved 4-5 inches in the 10 o'clock direction. This put it in major glare position which made it hard to see the screen. The machine allows you to pause it but it's too heavy for me or any of the ladies at the front desk to move. If you leave it paused for too long, it loses all your data. The machine is also malfunctioning in that the sensors seem to be registering my blows for the combination Power Kick / Jab / Cross, but then drops my accuracy by 20% and registers a big fat zero at the end of the round. I know the sensors work because the screen lights up when I land the blow. What's really odd is that each blow separately will register, just not the combination (which the machine dictates in its programming).

So I had a good workout but left a bit frustrated. Tomorrow is Back and Triceps Day. Yay! Oddly, since I've switched my Leg Day with my Back Day, I've been a bit more sore upper-body-wise. Today, my glutes are actually a tad sore but only when I flex them. Still, I take it as a sign that the GHRs are working.

Thursday Workout

10 min elliptical = 3 min steady state, 4 min Tabata, 3 min steady state = 0.8 miles

Cage Stretch

Nexersys 15 rounds Beginner Follow Me (60 min)
  Accuracy 94% / Strikes 99% / Average Power 139%
*accuracy reading is skewed by machine not registering several combos

10 min elliptical - 2 min steady state, 5 min Tabata, 3 min steady state

glare prevented any decent photos for stats

Making Lemonade

It wasn't too far into the morning when I had the urge to crawl back into bed and pull the covers up over my head. Of course, I was already at the gym when the thought occurred to me. And I'd already dropped my son at school early for his extra gym class, gotten gas at the cheapest gas station in my area, and checked out Kohl's Dept store to see if they had any stuffed bulldogs. (Kohl's periodically sells $5 plush toys for charity and they're advertising characters from Rio 2.) One of my girl friends is a big bulldog fanatic and I thought she'd really like Luiz. But of course they sold the last two yesterday and aren't sure if there's any in the next shipment. Get to the gym, the parking lot is packed and all the ellipticals are in use. Plus someone's boxing one of the machines. I plug in my iPod only to have it give me a Plug Into Power Source warning which I've never seen before. I charged it two days ago, but it's possible that I didn't turn the iPod off when I put it away yesterday. Sigh.

Luckily, there are a few tunes on my iPhone that downloaded automatically when I'd purchased a song for my iPod. Thank you Apple! I don't normally plug into my phone because it's unwieldy enough to fall out of most of my pockets. Today I happen to be wearing an old pair of mesh Nike running pants that just happen to have pockets. Most of my workout pants don't. I can stuff the phone into my pants pocket and still workout. Yay! There are no ellipticals to use so I clamber onto the Step Mill for just 15 minutes. I have no idea what all these steps translate into for distance but livestrong.com has a formula for converting steps to inches to miles (number of steps x 17" / 63,360" [inches in a mile]) but I suspect that it doesn't translate into very much.

The Nexersys are free by the time I get done with my quick Cage Stretch. I wrap my hands and stuff them into my gloves. By the time I'm done, they'll be sodden. At home, I toss the wraps into my mesh nylon lingerie bag along with other delicates and toss it all into the washing machine. I'm a lot worse on the Beginner rounds today, but better on the Intermediate rounds. I'm not sure why. I'm still stopping the machine by punching, kneeing and kicking too hard in the Beginner rounds so that's definitely detracting from my accuracy score. And trying to pull my punches is detracting from my power score. I fair better in the Intermediate round and get a good rhythm going. I find that my accuracy improves a lot when I hop forward for each blow or kick and then step back slightly. It's so humid that I'm drenched way before the rounds are over.

I skip doing abs altogether today. By now the cardio platform is nearly deserted so I climb onto one of the Precors. I'd like to get 4 miles, but I don't want to be here all day. So I settle for 3 miles, paying absolutely no attention to the heart rate monitor except to pull back when it screams 190. The gym scale reads 112.8 lbs and I look like a drowned rat. Whatever. I still have a bunch of errands to do, like catching a sale at the CVS to pick up more Ensure High Protein drinks. The nice thing about living in a small town is that the clerks all know you and everyone's so friendly and helpful. The store only has 3 cartons and I was hoping to buy 4 because buying one entitles you to the 2nd at half price. Plus I have a $6 coupon if I spend $30. I can't because they don't have 4 to sell me. So they override the computer and give me the $6 off anyway. And take 25% off the 3rd carton. I'm all smiles.

"Is this good" the clerk asks me, "because I'm trying to lose some weight. Can I drink this for lunch?"
"I like it. It has the highest protein of all the RTD, and 300 mg calcium as well."
"I heard using protein drinks is really good for weight loss," she continues.
"I like to drink it after I work out," I venture, "but it's kind of expensive so I like to buy 4 when I have a 25-30% off coupon, but you never have 4 for me to buy."
"Well, next time you get a coupon, tell us ahead of time before the coupon expires and we'll order it special for you. But we need that UPC code."
"Wow, I didn't know I could do that," I gush.
"Oh sure," the clerk smiles.

Cardio Thursday

15 min Matrix Step Mill = 811 steps

Cage Stretch

Nexersys 5 rounds Beginner Follow Me Avatar
  Accuracy 79% / Strikes 95% / Average Power 141%

Nexersys 9 rounds Intermediate Follow Me Avatar
  Accuracy 72% / Strikes 98% / Average Power 109%

37 min Precor elliptical = 3.02 miles

photos posted for actual stats:

The Numbers Must Be Wrong

Prodded by a bi-monthly reminder to take some progress photos, I set up my tripod and snapped a few in my hallway. The lighting is terrible there, but it's the only place with a blank wall for background. I probably shouldn't be taking upper body photos on Leg Day but I did. And it was a bit depressing. Although today's home scale measurements show that I haven't changed much body composition-wise for the past several weeks, the photos say different. I've lost the three-fingers of delts I used to see when I raised my arms over my shoulders. I can barely make out the horseshoe of my triceps. I'm bigger, but I'm also smoother and I don't like it. It's surface body fat and it makes me feel coarse and ungainly. Traps are bigger though, and my back is fuller, with the diamond shape in the top center. So that's nice.

I'm crabby when I get up this morning and I feel a bit guilty when my son dawdles at breakfast and I want to leave the house already. Spring break is already half over and I still have stuff yet to do. Like sort through and either donate or toss piles of outgrown clothes and toys. That in itself is a two-day event. The gym parking lot is horrendously crowded and I wonder if everyone is going to the movies. I'm not psyched but I do 20 minutes of HIIT cardio anyway, because I know I should. My legs feel thick and heavy and might actually be a tiny bit sore from yesterday's Leg Workout. Still, I manage to hit 256 Strides Per Minute for a second or two during the 30 second phase, and drop down to between 120-150 for the 90 second "resting" phase.

After a quick Cage Stretch, I wrap my hands and stuff them into my gloves. I've forgotten the moleskin today, and I can tell that I haven't wrapped my knuckles as well as I'd like because my right hand stings a little when I punch. The Nexersys is working mostly, but doesn't register my Lead Sweeps so that negatively impacts my Accuracy rating. I'm also having trouble with the Lead Hook and Lead Elbow (which to me are the same thing because I'm too short to elbow the top pads). My Power Hook (right hand) stops the machine with the Warning: You Are Punching Too Hard. More than once. As well as my Cross. And Power Dig (side pad). My scores are only minimally better than last weeks. But at least they're not worse. And I feel good when I'm done.

After I strip off my gloves and wraps, I clamber up the Step Mill. I don't know why it's so hard because it's really just walking up a fast escalator, but after 20 minutes I'm soaked. I toss my hoodie back on so I can do crunches. I don't want to lay on the Mat as soppy as I am and the hoodie will keep my hair from completely drenching everything. I still hate these Knee-to-Elbow crunches, but I do them. I can't say that I'm getting better at it, only that I do them.

The gym scale reads 112.8 lbs. My home scale reads 110.6 lbs and 20.7 % BF which is okay number-wise, but not how I look. Most people get heavier but look leaner when they gain muscle. The Zumba teacher, AM looks even skinnier lately. She claims she's put on 2-3 lbs but since it's muscle, she just looks skinnier. I feel just the opposite. I'm getting noticeably bigger but I don't look leaner. I've put on about 4-5 lbs but it looks like so much more. I compare photos of me at 113 lbs (from when I first met my husband) and photos of me now. I look much bigger now. That's not how it's suppose to work. But I've never been one to follow the rules.

Boxing Thursday

20 min HIIT cardio Precor elliptical (30 sec On / 90 sec Off) = 1.90 miles

Cage Stretch

Nexersys: 5 rounds Beginner Follow Me Avatar
  Accuracy 90% / Strikes 100% / Average Power 142%

Nexersys: 9 rounds Intermediate Follow Me Avatar
  Accuracy 86% / Strikes 101% / Average Power 120%

20 min Matrix Step Mill = 1197 Steps

50 Crunches / 50 Knee-to-Elbow Crunches / 100 Crunches / 50 Knee-to-Elbow Crunches

photos posted for actual stats:

Is Cardio Making Me Fat?

I got to the gym knowing exactly what I wanted to do today: HIIT cardio, boxing, LISS cardio. In that order. And that's what I did. Although my walk portion of the HIIT routine was more akin to a jog, so I did log in slightly higher mileage. I suspect it's because my quads are feeling a tad tired today and I tend to push through soreness. The LISS portion on the steps left me sweaty at nearly 21 minutes, but I could read and text on my phone so I figure I was going "slow enough". Still, I know I'm getting fat. Or fatter. My shape has changed, and I'm not liking how tight my pants waistbands are becoming.

I don't worry about any of that when I wrap my hands. I'm using a full wrap for my right hand and I can barely stuff it inside the pepto-pink kickboxing gloves. I only use half a wrap for my left. I've seen the videos that show how to wrap each finger, but I'm worried that then I truly won't be able to get my hands inside my gloves so I just wrap my pointer finger and then wrap my entire knuckle and wrist. However, when I'm done, I've got screaming pink bruises on the first two knuckles of both hands. Well, at least I didn't break any skin. Yet.

I'm not expecting the Nexersys to be funky like last week, but it is, not registering Cross Punches, Power Kicks or Digs. I tell the gym owner (he's conveniently at the front desk just a few feet away) and move my gear over to the next machine. It's even worse. The gym owner comes over and resets both machines. He's got replacement parts on order but is worried he's going to have to take them to the shop. When the system comes back online, the machine works like a dream. I'd planned to do seven rounds Beginner and then seven rounds Intermediate, but my fat gloved hands are clumsy and I wind up with just five rounds Beginner. Oh well. I make it up by selecting nine rounds Intermediate so I still have 14 rounds in total.

I feel really good when I'm done so I pull my hoodie back on and climb onto the Step Mill. Afterwards I just do some abs, a quick lower back stretch and then off to shower. When I get home, I compare today's Nexersys rounds with last weeks and I'm pleased to see progress. I'm getting better at the Intermediate round in all aspects and that makes me happy. What I'm not happy about is the fasting annual physical I have tomorrow at noon. No food after 6 am. I still plan to work out, but I'm debating whether I should get up at 5 am just to east oatmeal so I can manage a decent workout before I go see the doc. I want to know if I have any thyroid issues that could be causing me to put on body fat. I wish menopause was better understood. All I know is that women tend to get fat as they age, and that just wasn't in my plans.

Thursday Workout
20:26 min:sec Precor elliptical HIIT: 45 sec run / 75 sec jog = 1.98 miles
(my quads slightly sore which is unusual for me; legs feel a little tired)

Cage Stretch

Nexersys 5 rounds Beginner Female
  Accuracy 89% / Strikes 100% / Average Power 141%
(stopped the machine several times by punching or kicking too hard)

Nexersys 9 rounds Intermediate Female
  Accuracy 84% / Strikes 102% / Average Power 109%
(the last two rounds were over 120%)

20:45 min:sec Matrix Step Mill = 992 steps

50 crunches / 50 knee to elbow crunches / 75 crunches
Lower back Mat Stretch

photos for actual stats: