Distressing.

The last time I posted I was just about to begin Phase 2 of my workout program, based on the OPT Model. I was SUPER excited to begin this phase. I knew that it was going to be extremely challenging, and I was ready for that. Unfortunately, the gym at my work was closed indefinitely.

**I work at the Washington Navy Yard. As I'm sure most of you know, my work was attacked last Monday. I started posts about it, planned them out in my head, but nothing seemed to do the situation justice. Nothing seemed to come out right. I am extremely thankful to be here today. I am thankful for to the emergency personnel and my gracious coworkers who threw themselves into the situation to assist those in need. I am sorry for the loss that has been suffered by the families of the victims, by NAVSEA, and by the nation as a whole. **

Due to the closure of the gym, I've been forced to be resourceful, and take my workouts elsewhere. As I do in most situations when I don't have gym access, I ran. Probably more than I should have to be honest, but it's how I distress so I went with it.

I ran on pavement.

I ran on dirt.

 

 

 

 

I enjoyed the wonderful 50-60 degree temperature, blasted my music and took off. But my achy foot brought me back to reality. I can't run 5 days a week at this point in my life.

So yesterday I took it back to the weight room. On the agenda:

Front Squats - 40 lbs
Bent over row - 20 lbs
Lunges - 40 lbs (each side)
Shoulder Presses - 15 lbs
In & Outs - 15 (slow)
Single Arm Bicep Curl - 15 lbs
Single Arm Tricep Extensions - 12 lbs

I did 12 reps and 3 sets and BOY did I feel it when I woke up this morning!

After my workout, I was discussing the "front squat" with my coworker. I choose to do the front squat yesterday because I didn't have access to a rack. I really enjoyed the front squat. It allowed me to sink deeper into my squat, and I felt like my upper body wasn't falling forward at all (I usually feel like it is).  However, if it's easier to do, is it really working me as much as I need?

I took to the internet. (Obviously, all of the references here are entirely credible.) Sure enough, the front squat does isn't really what I want to focus on. It targets quadriceps more than anything, when that big old gluteus maximus is what I really need to be working on:-D

I feel like there is SO much information when it comes to working out. So many variations, so many different philosophies. I'm anxious to learn more about it and keep expanding my knowledge.

And to get a rack and get some real squats done!

Jam Packed Weekend

PHEW! What a weekend it was. The boy was in Ocean City for Bike Week so Baby Girl and I hit the road and headed to VA for some quality time with our family.

 

First stop was my moms, where my starving ass was greeted with this awesome plate!

 

 

That egg muffin was amazing!! It was full of mushrooms and Italian sausage. That muffin on the side was a cranberry coffee cake muffin. My mom is a really good cook:-)

 

After a few hours with her, we went and meet up with my twin sister and one of our best friends for her birthday lunch. We headed to Uncle Julios......really mediocre. Good thing I wasn't that hungry since I had just eaten a few hours earlier. I swear, all chain restaurants are pretty crappy.......

 

After lunch I shopped for a couple of hours (Hello gorgeous Ralph Lauren Pumps) before heading to visit my father for a bit, then meet up with my brother and his family.

 

By the time we hit the couch at my sister's it was 10:00 PM and we were exhausted! 12 straight hours of visiting is A LOT of fun, but it's also a lot of work.

 

Sunday morning we were up bright and early in order to get to the Race For Grace on time.

 

My twin ran the 5K and did really well! (I am so proud of how dedicated and motivated she's been with her running recently).

 

 

I'm in the pink, baby girl is in the middle, my twin is in the purple.

 

 

 

Baby girl ran the 1 miler! I was SO proud of how hard she pushed herself. She's even excited to start practicing and wants to do another run in a couple of months:-)

 

While I didn't get to run (my foot just isn't there yet and I couldn't because nobody would have been there to watch my daughter) I did end up winning in the end...

 

 

I won a GoPED from a raffle ticket I bought. A motorized scooter! How cool is that?!? I've never won anything in my life. We had a great time on it tonight. That little thing goes pretty damn fast.

 

By the time I got back to MD, got my Sunday prepping and dinner done, it was getting too late for the run that I wanted to take tonight.

 

Instead I did 2 all-out sprints down the street while my daughter biked next to me, then I grabbed a jump rope and did 25 fast jumps and 10 push ups, 4 times each.

 

Holy crap was I huffing by the end of it. Not the longest workout ever, but sometimes the best are short and sweet and get you out of your comfort zone.

 

We finished the night with one of these bad boys.

 

 

Pistachio cake and cream cheese frosting:-)

Phase 1: Stabilization - Check!

Hello there! Hope that your Friday is going well. Mine was looooong. I worked from home today, and it always seems like I have SO much more to do when I'm at home. Then I had to go sit at the MVA and pay them over $800 just to get a title and tags for my car?? Highway robbery.

 

Anyways, I took today as a rest day since I've had some serious workouts the past four days. As I mentioned, I finished Phase 1: Stabilization of my new workout routine this week and thought I'd let you know a little about that.

 

The main focus of Phase 1 is to work on your balance and stabilization. Every move you do is on a box, one leg, or a stability ball! I have absolutely ZERO balance so this was pretty tough for me.

 

I have 2 days with 30 minutes of cardio in zone 1 and my core/stability/plyo workout, 2 days of cardio intervals and weights, and 2 days of yoga.

 

My core/stability workout is as follows:

Ball Bridges - 20

Quadrup Opposite Leg/Arm - 20

Single Leg Hip Rotation on a half foam roll - 20

Single Leg Lift and Chop (with a 6.6lb medicine ball) - 20

Tube Walking

Box Jump Up and Down with Stabilization - 8

Jump Squats with Stabilization - 8

 

I do 3 sets of each exercise. This workout is not necessarily challenging, but I have really felt the difference in my balance and my core. Who doesn't love that??

 

The interval and weight workout though, now that gets me sweaty!

Step up, Curl to Press (Frontal Plane w/10 lbs) - 20

Single Leg Hammer Curl - 20

Ball Combo (Shoulder/Back) - 12

Hamstring Curls on Stability Ball - 12

Stability Ball Tricep Extension - 20

Stability Ball Single Arm Chest Press - 20

 

Again, 3 sets of each move.

 

Since I've started this routine, these have made a daily appearance.

 

The foam roller is my new best friend. I do it faithfully (combined with static stretching) before and after every workout. Boy oh Boy do I feel it in my quads, IT Band/TFL, and adductors....for some reason I get NO feeling doing it in my hamstrings or calfs. Does anybody else experience this?? I KNOW that they are tight though, because when I hit them with "The Stick" it's serious business.

 

As you can see, this phase is not about high weights, building muscle, etc. The purpose of it is to focus on correcting your muscular imbalances, strengthening your core and improving your balance/stability.

 

and hopefully, to avoid all these pesky injuries I seem to keep accumulating.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

To say it's been a while would definitely be an understatement. I had a lot of things going on in my life, and running wasn't happening all that much, so I took a step back.

Most of my time for the past couple of months was dedicated to studying for my Personal Trainer Certification through the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM). Let me be the first to say that this course was no walk in the park. It was hard, intense, and there is a ton of information to learn. Isn't that the point though? I'm glad that I picked NASM to get my certification through, because fitness is something that I really want to know. Not just cram for a test, do really well, and forget all of the information I've learned.

Since I received my certification I have revamped my own workout plan a lot. I basically started from scratch, which I really feel I needed to do. The first phase ends next Thursday. I have spent the past 5 weeks realllllly focusing on my core, stabilization, and balance. I feel like I've made huge improvements and I'm ready to move on to Phase 2: Strength Endurance. I'm really anxious because I have never put the focus more on weights/core. I've always been a cardio junkie......but it's time for a change!

I've also moved! After 26 years, perfectly happy and in love with Northern Virginia, I decided to make the move (with my daughter of course) to Southern Maryland. What could possibly be my reason for leaving the only place I've ever known and called home? It might just be this country boy that my daughter and I are pretty damn fond of.

Baby girl also started soccer when we moved (plus a new school)! What a commitment that was, for all of us! We have been going to practices a couple of times a week and practicing in the back yard almost every night. What a great way to still get in a bit of cardio since it's recently taken a back seat in the gym.

As you can gather, the break wasn't for negative reasons. Everything is changing and exciting and I wanted to be able to give it my full attention.

Slowly Getting Back There and The Greatest Find

The weather around these parts (Washington, DC) has been CRAZY! Seriously. 2 weeks ago we had the biggest snow storm of the year and today, it’s over 90 degrees. While most runners detest the high
temperatures, I yearn for them. I don’t want an overcast, 50 degreeday. I want it sunny and 75 when I lace up those shoes.

This was exactly what the weather was when I left my desk at 9:45 AM to take my “lunch” break early and go for a jog.

Anybody who has read my blog before knows that January was the last time I set out for a run. I was deep into marathon training and diagnosed with a stress fracture… My second fracture in 6 months…Many x-rays and doctors appointments later I was cleared! But not to run, to walk, to slooooowly
incorporate jogging, and to slowly build up my base.

Since I'm tired of my bones being made out of glass, I am going to take the doctor’s words seriously.

Today was my 5th time running since I was told that I could. What I’ve been doing is a mix of walking and jogging, using my music to let me know when to switch, since I’m determined not to time myself for at least a couple of months. Until today, I’ve been walking one song, jogging one song, and repeating until I hit 4 miles. Today, I bummed it up to jogging 2 songs and walking 1.

It was amazing:-)

I don’t even care how fast I was running. I’m just happy to be out there doing it and promise myself to NOT overdo it and truly listen to my body!!

After my run, I hit the weights and tackled an arm and shoulder workout:
Bicep Curls - 15 lbs
Upward Row - 15 lbs
Tricep Extension - 20 lbs
Lateral Raises - 10 lbs
12 reps, 4 circuits.

I am going to try focusing on one body part a day, lifting 3x a week and see how it goes. Recently, I've been doing full-body weight workouts 3-4x a week and I just don't think that's my jam.

In other news, I have found the.BEST.SNACK.EVER.

Angie’s “Sweet and Spicy” Popcorn. It’s kettle corn with paprika, cumin and cayenne pepper on it, and it’s perfect. I am a HUGE fan of popcorn, so really fantastic popcorns are my weakness. I thought freshly-made kettle corn was the best but this just brought it up a level!

I have plans to venture out into the city on Friday with some friends and find what is said to be THE BEST popcorn ever though, so we'll see were we stand after that:-)

What do you prefer for your weight routine?

Do you LOVE popcorn like me?

Where is the weather where you are?

Race Envy

First and foremost, I want to send a huge "congratulations" to my twin sister, Becca. She totally killed the Rock N' Roll DC Marathon on Saturday! PRed by over half and hour!!

Now to the bitching portion of this post.

I have serious race envy. Everybody around me is running races! Marathons, 1/2 marathons, 10 milers. You name it. I know somebody running it.

The weather is just beginning to get warm yet we're months away from the summer heat waves. It's the perfect time of year to lace up my Brooks and de-stress with a run. But I'm not. I'm not even allowed to walk for long distances.

So as much as I love talking about running with my peers and cheering my friends (and family) during their races, I want to be out there with them. I want to feel the adrenaline rush as I pass people and conquer courses, I want to feel the pride that comes from saying that I completed something that I have a passion for. I want to run.

I have an appointment with my podiatrist on Thursday. Even if the xrays come back ok, I know that my foot isn't. I know that even walking for an extended period of time makes it ache and that I shouldn't rush back into running, or I'm going to end up in the same predicament that I am now.

I know that I can still say in decent shape without running in my life. I've had great workouts and I'm taking this time to get stronger and focus on different areas of my fitness and when the time is right, running will be there. It's not an end all.

But right now, I just want to bitch.

Stability Workouts and The Bosu Ball

Who has tried the Bosu ball?? Stability ball? I'm sure the majority of people reading this post have, as I had to before last week. However, this week I cranked up the intensity!

Inspiration for my stability packed workouts? My NASM knowledge being put to work! (and I'm only on the third chapter!) The idea behind NASM's personal trainer certification is whats called an Optimized Performace Training Model, or OPT Model. I'm not going to go in depth too much but one of the key concepts is that people must first teach their bodies to use their stabilizing muscles and to strengthen them before they can reach their fitness goals.

How many people actually start working out like this? We all know that our "core" is important but to what extent really? It's not just about flat abs (that's just an added bonus). It's about adequately preparing our bodies. If we skip this step, injuries are bound to occur. I know many have for me!

When I first started working out I dove head first into cardio. I walked and I ran and I ellipticized my little heart out. I could literally run for hours but you ask me to do a plank? HA. Something is wrong here....

Since I have a stress fracture and can't run right now I am taking advantage of this new little nugget of information and focusing on my stability muscles.

Workouts this week have looked a lot like this:
 

10 minute elliptical warm-up
20 1-Legged Squats
Back Extension - 15, Jump Squats - 15, push-up on bosu ball - 10 (3x)
20 1-Legged Squats
Squat to press on bosu ball - 15, Pull down (80lbs) - 10, Ro... read more

10 minute elliptical warm-up
Circuit 1: Back Extension - 15, Jump Squats - 15, push-up on bosu ball - 10
Circuit 2: Squat to press on bosu ball - 15, Pull down (80lbs) - 10, Row on stability ball - 15
Circuit 3: Lateral lunges on bosu ball - 20, Step ups w/knee on bosu ball - 20, Crunches on stability ball - 30

I did each circuit three times. I also added 10 one-legged squats on each side between them, just for fun:-)

and just because I love food and I love sharing my food with others. Tonight's dinner....

 

Brown rice with black beans, chickpeas and chicken. Topped with cucumber, garlic & supremely spicy hummus, Siracha and avocado.

 

Food baby.