Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Burning off the holiday excess!

Got on the scale first thing this morning and I was down to 176.8. Only 48 hours before that I weighed 182.6. So in that time I went back to my regular eating habits and did an intense 21 minute tabata and dropped 5.8 pounds. I would guess much of my added weight was water and just excess garbage hanging around waiting to be burned off. So as easy as I put it on, I took it back off. I was never really concerned.

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Getting Primed!

I did an intense 21 minute tabata to get back on track yesterday during my lunch hour at work consisting mostly of jumping rope, air squats, ab roller and spinning the Bulgarian Training Bag. I felt pretty good considering it was my first day back at the gym in a while. I was all set to do another lunch workout when I realized I had a chiropractor appointment during my lunch hour today so I will take today off and tomorrow morning do my kettlebell/burpee workout. I was pleased this morning when I got on the scale and weighed 179.8. It was a nice one day drop. It is amazing how easy it is to lose when you drop the bad holiday eating and go right back to a regular healthy routine.

Monday, December 28, 2009

Back From Christmas Break

Spent Christmas week visiting the in-laws in New York and New Jersey. It was a fun eventful week but exhausting. It is nice to be back home before the new year.

New additions to my exercise arsenal from Christmas include a Garmin 405 GPS watch which I will review here in a week or so and some Brooks running clothes for the colder weather.

I plan on doing more running in 2010 and want to compete in the 2010 Charlotte Grand Prix Series put on by Run For Your Life. It is a series of 9 short races where you accumulate points for each race based on where you finish in relation to the fastest runner. They have cash and prizes for the overall winners and the top winners in each age bracket. I thought I would give it a go in the 40-44 category. If I actually do more running to train this year I am thinking I could be quite competitive. The Garmin 405 watch and the new running clothes should provide me with some good motivation.

My diet went into the hopper while I was up north. I got on the scale this morning and weighed 182.6. I haven't been over 180 pounds since early last year. I was fairly good as far as meals but went crazy on the desserts - cheese cakes, chocolate mousse cake, moose munch and other assorted goodies containing lots of sugar, chocolate and caramel. It has been non-stop since Christmas eve dinner.

I did not exercise since December 17th other than trying out my sister-in-law's Total Gym 14000 with a few brief exercises. That version of the Total Gym is a top of the line solid home version. I am not an advocate of spending lots of money on expensive gym equipment but I have to say it is a great way to work the entire body. I will talk more about it in another post.

So here it is the 28th and I have lots of work to do to get back in shape. Time to go burn some fat and build some muscle in the the gym.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

The Power Runner Machine


My boss told me about his gym, The Fitness Factory over in Plaza Midwood in Charlotte, NC, and a machine they have there called the power runner.  Looks like a pretty great machine to improve power and speed.  Wish I had one of those!  At $1732 plus shipping I will use my hypervest as a poor man's version.  Maybe one weekend I may head over to the Fitness Factory and try it out.  The picture above is courtesy of BodyBuilderFitness.com

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Progress!

I had to do a quick workout this morning as I had to get to an early dentist appointment so I did a ten minute jumping routine on my mini-trampoline. Whenever I am pressed for time, the mini-trampoline is a great way to get moving. I will run in place, do jumping jacks, jump and kick, jump and punch, perform jump squats and jump side to side just to name a few things.

After ten minutes of jumping I was warm and ready to do my Pistol routine. I started with doing my usual descent first on my right leg and rolling back and coming up on both legs. After ten on my right leg I felt ready to try to roll up back on just one leg. I have tried to do this in the past but never was able to do it without collapsing back down on my back. With my right leg, I did it on my second try and then did three more to make sure it wasn't a fluke. This boosted my confidence - I was making real progress. It felt great!

Next I did ten on my weaker left leg rolling up on both legs. Then the moment of truth - rolling back up on my left leg. My first two attempts were unsuccessful. Back on my butt I landed. For my third try, I got all psyched up and did it! It wasn't pretty but I got it done. I tried it again and failed but then did two more successfully. With my left leg it requires more focus on getting the momentum to rise. I expected my left leg to be weaker so I am still very pleased with the progress.

I think at this point I will roll up only on one leg for my routine as I think I have graduated from both legs. I will work on getting it smooth and easy as I was doing on two legs. Once I am fluid at descending and rising on only one leg, I will try to roll back and hold the bottom position which I think will be my biggest challenge. I am going to also practice just holding myself in that bottom position either holding a weight or just holding onto something to keep me balanced. This feels good and I want to keep the momentum going.

Monday, December 7, 2009

Countdown To My Black Belt Test....

My Tae Kwon Do (TKD) 1st Degree Black Belt test is finally here this Saturday at Karate Charlotte. I have been learning (TKD) now for over 2 1/2 years and can't believe that I am finally ready for the big test. It will consist of a 2 mile warm-up run, two board breaks (a run jump side kick and a back elbow) as well as sparring and my 50 step form called POWER. I don't consider myself a great martial artist but I feel I have benefited from the training. My flexibility has improved through the training but I still don't feel I am as flexible as I should be but overall I am happy with the results.

My workouts this week will focus on keeping myself as ready as possible for the test and will do lots of punching and kicking to prepare in these final days. Today during lunch I put on my 10 pound hypervest on and I brought my Spri resistance tubes and did some resistance kicks and punches and worked on my pistols. I also threw in some side shuffles in middle stance with the resistance tubes and did some burpees and some work on the speed rope to get my heart rate up. I rotated among the exercises with very little rest break and worked up a pretty intense sweat by the time I was done. I always feel great after my workout using those tubes and the vest.

As a side note, I think I have the down movement of the pistol accomplished. It is holding at the bottom is where my trouble is and I know I don't have the strength to push back up either. I will now work on balance and control at the bottom of the movement and also working on getting back to starting position and will keep performing the down movement. It actually helped using the hypervest for my first 5 reps and then doing the other 5 reps sans the vest. I am still happy with my progress with the pistols and will keep pushing forward. I will get this yet - even it takes me a few months! I remember the first time I learned how to do spinning kicks and how I could hardly spin and lift my leg to kick. I looked like a total klutz. Now they are easy and use them in sparring. It just took some time and practice. These pistols seem even more daunting to me than the spin kicks but I am confident that I will get there.

Pistol Update - Still Struggling But Not Giving Up

Everyday for the past week, excluding Thursday, I worked on the lowering movement of the Pistol and then rolling back and coming up on both feet. I notice I can lower myself much slower and controlled now but near the bottom I just collapse and roll back mainly due to not being able to balance on one foot. I have also started practicing holding the bottom position separately. This will likely be my biggest issue as it takes everything to try to balance on the bottom but just cannot do it yet on one foot without holding onto something. I wonder if a career of sitting at a desk has ruined my posture in a way so that I will not ever be able to balance like that.

Regardless, I will keep practicing each day and not give up at least for now. I do feel I am improving each day but if I get to a point where I no longer see any gains I will call it quits and maybe try to master the one-armed push-up. I now do 10 reps on each leg for the pistol once a day on the way down. I am no longer doing sets but may do a few reps in the morning and a few in the evening each day.

Starting in your forties to do these little feats of strength is not easy but I will keep plugging away!