Schooled...

So while Wednesday’s bike ride was a challenge, I was feeling pretty good on Thursday.   Both excited and dismayed that I apparently didn’t get a workout out of the brutality that was Wednesday’s conflict with the wind.  

It was late by the time I had time to exercise so the bike was out (I’m not riding in the dark!) but Core de Force still exists.   Lol I haven’t been nearly as dedicated to that as I’d like to be – unlike P90X3, this one has a pretty serious time commitment and, well, that time is not always there.  But I am loving the results it gets even with less than ideal commitment so I picked the most intense video and away I went.

But while I felt I wasn’t tired, something was clearly nqr…   Each of my “roundhouse” kicks sent me spinning in a circle (this was really quite comical I must admit, but disconcerting as it wasn’t on purpose!)  And I quickly noticed that any jumps that involved moving forward were not, in fact, propelling me particularly far forward.

It only got worse…   When she asked “is your guard up?”  No, no its not.  And trying to put it there resulted in tapping myself in the face (I say ‘tap’ because there was so little power it doesn’t count as a punch!)   And “are you retracting your kick?”   No.  If I ever have to actually fight someone, they’re just going to grab my ankle or my wrist and I’ll be done.   

Lol I got through the program, but while I didn’t feel muscle sore going in, I have to acknowledge my poor body was very definitely tired.   So today, instead of exercise, I’m going out for dinner ;)   This seems an entirely reasonable deviation from all current goals.

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**I am participating in this year’s Ride to Conquer Cancer.  Your support would be greatly appreciated!**         

  

Core de Force returns!

As you may remember if you follow this blog, I decided to test out the home workout program "Core de Force". Unfortunately this plan got derailed, as so many have in the last year, thanks to eye surgery *sigh*.   However, I got the go-ahead to start exercising again last week and was good and built things up slowly.  But now I have five weeks till vacation and no sign of an ab in sight.  Hmmm.  Time to step it up a little ;)

Last night I stayed up late writing a Friday flash, and I was moderately happy with it which put me in a good mood when I went to sleep.  This morning I slept in, got up long enough to let the dogs in to cuddle and then dozed a while longer.   Read in bed a bit.  Was just generally lazy.  It was amazing.  I was not at all inclined to spoil it with a workout.  But given that I have trouble fitting exercise in as regularly as I'd like during the week, I'd committed to doing some form of exercise.  What was still open for discussion, and that commitment was sorely tested when the DVD play decided it wasn't inclined to function *sigh*.  But I got it to cooperate, and then not only did I push play, but I pushed play on the next video in the series.  

Logic would suggest after more weeks off than I put in, perhaps I should start over.  Right, you're not new here.  The new video of the day is Piyo -- described as Boxing, Muay Thai, and plyometrics in one workout.  Have I mentioned recently how much I hate plyometrics *sigh*.  As with all the others in the series, this video is broken into 3-mintue "rounds".   A combination of moves that you repeat for a set amount of time, a "spike" that is supposed to be 30 seconds of high intensity cardio to get your heart rate up.  Then repeat both.   You do this 12 times.  Each spike is in two rounds, but all the exercises in the rounds differ.  And the one spike I really hate isn't in this video.  Hence, my new favourite video ;)

I very quickly learned the complexity of the moves and exercises is greater in this one.  I discovered this as I nearly landed on the ground trying to do a knee jump forward -- jump forward, leading with your knee while leaning backward.  But the lean caused my landing leg to slide forward on the carpet.   Dodgy, very dodgy ;).   And of course this is combined with other moves to exasperate the situation.

Anyways -- I kept going, all good, and was introduced to the superman punch.  This one is simply fun.  I'm certain I looked like a complete idiot -- esp once I figured it out and so really threw myself into it (literally).  But there's something about it that just makes me feel like a little kid.   It did pose a distinct risk to my TV though -- as it's a very small space I'm exercising in, and I might've had a bit more forward momentum than I'd realized *g*.  This one I *really* can't coordinate on the off leg.   You basically kick one leg backwards to power the same hand forward while jumping forward at the same time.  Amused me anyways.

Yeah along with that, the switching sides was a bit of a fail.  Usually for the second half of each exercise I switch which limbs are doing what.  But for two or three rounds in the middle I just could *not* wrap my head around that.  Hopefully once I've done the video a few times.  But that was, shall we say, less than successful.

I would say I managed the first 8.5 rounds well enough -- other than some coordination challenges, I was keeping up and playing the game.  It did amuse me every time they referred to "this will help improve your agility" -- I wonder what they'd think at work if I put in that recommendation since "improving agility" is very much the in thing there right now ;-P

But then my body was done.   The "Big Jump" spike more closely resembled a minuscule shuffle.  And when the overly perky trainer said "I want to see you jump higher" I may or may not have responded, out loud, a response that might have contained some snark.  However, like with talking at ignorant drivers on the road, talking to trainers who can't hear you equally makes it more tolerable.  And lets be honest, any real life trainer that I've worked with for any length of time I would've said to their face ;).    I did get an extra boost in round 12 randomly -- had all kinds of power for that one.  Don't know where it came from, but I'll take it.   And while I talk back to the trainers once I get tired, I will admit the "only five more seconds" will usually convince me I can give a little more effort.  Unless I'm really having a bad day, which leads to "oh only five seconds, I may as well be done now" ;).  But today was a good day, so it got more results.

They do offer corrections throughout, most of which I find are bang on so credit to the scripting.  They clearly know what mistakes beginners are going to make and when.  I can't comment if this would be any use to anybody who has martial arts experience, but for me it's ideal.   But the one that always gets me is "is your guard up?"   No.  No it's not.  There is not possibly enough time for me to put my guard back up between move A and move B.   And when I try, the usual result is me punching myself in the face, so suffice to say I'm not all that eager to try ;-P.   I do understand the necessity in an actual fight, but so far the shadows I'm boxing have yet to land any blows *g*

But the final insult comes in the cool down -- which is the same (or very close to) in all the videos.   In one stretch which requires balance, there's a line about "if you need help, grab a friend" -- and shows one person holding another's shoulder for balance.  But of course then it follows up with "if you don't have a friend, use a chair."  So very sad.  Which for some reason I found this highly amusing, but I had just finished 12 rounds, so maybe the shadows landed more punches than I thought ;-P

Anyways -- there is a golden orb in the sky that vaguely resembles something I recall seeing once upon a time, so Sasha and I are going adventuring.   

If you think a minute goes by really fast, you've never tried planking

Five minutes.   They took the time to make a five minute workout video.  That in itself had me concerned; the fact that it was titled "Core on the Floor" didn't help.  Okay so this is a supplementary video done after the Strength workout.  I really dislike the strength workout, so for a couple weeks I just skipped it.  Then I realized it was actually necessary as there's no upper body workout in the rest (or very little).  But that didn't make me enjoy it more, so my solution is to sub in P90X3's Eccentric Upper.  Which is technically harder than the Core do Force Strength workout, but I like it better and get more out of it, sobeit.   Eccentric Upper isn't nearly as good without a bar as it is with, but was still a solid workout.  And then stuck in the follow up workout.

Right, so the entire workout is done in plank or variations of it.  It starts with a normal plank but you rock forward and back.  Then the others are a bit of a blur -- there were side planks, normal planks on one leg, normal planks with feet moving in and out, side planks lifting hips up and down, and side planks with a twist.

Suffice to say I landed on the ground a few times; at least it's a short drop!  But, in my defence, I also kept getting back up and trying the next one.

How does one get fit without horses?

So as some of you know, I’ve spent some time over the last year on a quest for a way for me to stay fit that doesn’t involve four legged creatures that cost half a month's mortgage to keep…

The first of these options was a standard gym.  Why not?  Clearly works for some people.  Well I discovered you have to actually *go* to said gym to see any benefits.   Who knew?  And I used to go regularly after work, so why not this time?   Well it turns out, as energetic as I may be after work, after the 1.5h commute, I’m done.  There will be no gym as long as I have that commute regularly.  Turns out the only way I can do the gym is if I have a trainer and, well, that cost as much as my horse’s board.  So no.

Then I found P90X3.  Those of you who’ve been reading this blog for a while may remember that adventure ;)   Those who have not – it’s a 90 day program that I think I wanted done before we went away in Feb, so check out blog posts starting November-ish…  It was intense, entertaining, and effective.  I debated repeating it that spring, but well – life.  

Life in that we moved, which is a workout and a time drain all in its own J

Then the weather got nice – okay, that I can do.  There was cycling most of the summer, playing with Sasha, and when I got really desperate, I trained and ran a half marathon.  Yeah – surprised me too ;)  And cycling is high on the list for next summer too.  (some of you might note, running is not ;-P)

The problem?  We’re now back to that awful part of the year known as “not summer”.   The next thing I tried was climbing, which was a ton of fun.  I really enjoy the puzzle – knowing there is, in fact, a way to the top; I just need to figure out how.  Well that, and be physically able to execute it.   That was fun and entertaining, but has a few down sides – first it requires a buddy.   Steph was game and came along with me, but coordinating two busy schedules is a challenge.   Secondly, due to the aforementioned commute, I can only go when it’s packed.  Which would be okay, except that both Steph and I are novice and there are only so many routes we have a chance of making it up.  And then there’s the fact that while most climbers I know are very fit, this – at least the way we were doing it – is not going to get us there anytime soon.   Steph at least has riding and other fitness opportunities, but for me not so much.  

And then I ate enough cookies for a girl-guide troop over the Xmas break.   Oops.   Being pretty much out of ideas for fun ways of getting fit (why is there no adult gymnastics or circus school near me?!?!) I was considering P90X3 again.  They have different programs – last time I did the Lean one, and I’d be interested in doing the Classic.  However, my absolute favourite part of those workouts is the chin-up bar.  What can I say?  I was a jungle-gym kid.   But my bar doesn’t work in the new house.  Booo.   And while the program does provide alternative exercises, every time I have to use a stupid band instead of a fun bar I get really aggravated.   This does unfortunately, makes it highly unlikely I’d stick to the program.

However, the company that sells P90X3, also sells a variety of other programs.   “22 Minute Hard Corps” I’d been considering.  The trainer is the same as in the P90 series (and I find him amusing, so was okay with that), and the workouts are short, which makes odds of happening before work greatly increased.  But Nicole has done it, and from what she described to me it would not be a good fit (mostly because it’s very repetitive, which to me equals boring).   So I went online to browse the others; I read and debated and googled and eventually decided I would try Core de Force.  It seemed to be based on various martial arts – and the kind of fighting where your only opponent is a shadow, which I really enjoyed that one in P90X3 (lol went back and reread that post -- turns out there's some impressive foreshadowing there).   Wasn’t sure I’d want a whole training program focused on it, but meh – worth a try.

My lovely DVDs arrived and the first thing I noticed was, unlike many of the other programs, these are not half an hour.  Routines range about 35-50 minutes, not counting warmup and cooldown.  And looking at the calendar – some days you do two!?!?!  Right – we’ll get there.  Right now I’m only on week one and here are first impressions.   The first video, MMA Speed, was a moderately entertaining coordination challenge.  I liked the layout of the exercises (roughly a minute of exercise followed by 30 seconds of cardio.  Repeat twice.  Rest 30 seconds.  Rinse and repeat with both the exercise and the cardio changing).   I was slightly disappointed that they don’t do a good job of working each side of the body equally, but easy enough for me to alter once I figured out the system.   I was also slightly disappointed that it didn’t seem nearly as impressive a workout as P90X3.  Yes I was tired and dragging a little by the end, but not the lying-on-the-floor extreme of P90X3, and I’m significantly less fit now than I was then.

And then I woke up the next day and couldn’t get out of bed.  Like literally throw one leg out and let gravity do the rest because sitting up was just not an option.  Core de Force.  Core.  Did any of you catch that part?   Hahaha cause I definitely did not.  Right.  Made it through the day somehow but by dinner even breathing was a challenge.  Okay, day two can skip a day.  Core de Force for the win.   The next day I tried the next video – this one was strength rather than fighting and I did not enjoy it at all.   Evenly divided between upper and lower body, but the upper body section is almost entirely variations of pushups and I am simply not strong enough for that.   They do have a person doing modifications – so sometimes I did those, and sometimes I picked up random free weights and used those instead, but yeah.  Less fun.  And very frustrating.   The lower body part I was able to do no problem, again didn’t seem like that big a challenge, and again I felt it the next day ;)

So you get to repeat those – all good.   Then a new one "MMA Shred" – this one it looks like replaces the Speed video for the remainder of the month.  It follows the same concept – fight some shadows, do some cardio (running away from the shadows?), rinse and repeat.  Here though, however, there are some new moves.  If you try this and have zero martial arts training, keep it slow.   Please trust me on this.  I, as you may have guessed, did not.  There’s one move where you slide your hand (open palm) along your cheek (think as though you were running your fingers through your hair), this is to bring your elbow up so you can promptly use it to destroy the person in front of you in a sharp out and down strike (moderately good stress relief this ;).  All good right?  Except when you get going fast, and this move is combined with others that involve twisting, it becomes ridiculously easy to instead of running your hand smoothly past your face, in fact either smack and/or punch yourself.   Sadly I am not kidding.  Keep it slow and structured folks – the people on the TV have done it a few times ;-P

So the next morning my core wasn’t as toasted – although it’s possible I didn’t push *quite* as hard being
that I wanted to be able to breath at work.  But I definitely did feel through my back and shoulders, so still impressive even while guarded.   I have the icky strength video again tonight and then an “active rest” day – we’ll see what that’s about.  Next week there’s at least a couple entirely new ones; should be entertaining, esp as judging by the description both the difficulty and the complexity goes up significantly.   And assuming I don’t critically injure myself in a shadow battle, I’ll let you know how it goes!