The ELFF Diet

A Treadmill Workout To Try

I saw this workout in a magazine recently.  I think it may have been Shape, but it could have been Fitness.  I had, let's see, eight or nine exercise magazines of various types sitting on the counter, guilting me with their mere presence.  Not now!  Sitting around recuperating means lots and lots of time for reading.  So, I found a treadmill workout that looks pretty inspiring and I cut it out, planning to add it to my fitness regimen as soon as I'm medically cleared for take-off. My only beef with the entire article was the picture of the athlete participating in said workout has her very long, thick hair hanging down her back - so not realistic for a cardio workout - at least not for me - I always feel like I'm suffocating if my hair is on my neck, and it's not even THAT long yet. (And, yes, my formatting is screwy below - sorry!)

LOWER BODY SCULPTOR


Time                             What to do                                            Incline               

0-2                                warm up at 3 mph                               0%
2-4                                Increase to 3.3                                    3%
4-6                                Increase to 3.6                                    5%
6-9                                Increase to 4                                       8%
9-10                              Jog at 4.5                                           8%
10-14                            Decrease to 1.5,
                                    do walking lunges (lift
                                    back leg after each step)                      10%
14-16                           walk at 4 mph                                       10%
16-17                           Jog at 5 mph                                        10%
17-20                            Decrease to 1.5 for lunges                    10%
20-23                            Walk at 4                                             10%
23-25                            Jog at 5                                               10%
25-26                            Walk at 4                                             10%
26-27                            Jog at 5 - 5.5                                       10%
27-28                            Walk at 3.5                                           4%
28-30                            Cool down at 3 mph                                1%

Twisting Planks of Torture

(Try it - it is MUCH tougher than it sounds!)

Get into push up position. Lift right leg and try to bring knee up and touch your left elbow.  Return your leg to beginning position and then repeat with the other leg.  That's one.  Now, do 3 sets of 10.  I promise you will feel it in your obliques in the morning.  Don't rush it, just take your time.  Ow.

I saw this exercise in one of those "How to have Abs like xxx", with names like Jessica Biel and Britany Spears and Pink.  I've done it daily for a week and it's kicking me down.

How was week three of the Ab Challenge?  Anyone still hanging in there?

Beth, from sixidoit, you won the book.  Please contact me at momtothescreamingmassesATgmailDOTcom and I'll hook you up with Shauna.  Everyone else, I'm really thinking about sending my copy out - and once you read it, you'd need to send it on to the next reader.  Does that sound like a workable plan?  Of course, I absolutely think that everyone shold buy it - but if you can't afford it, I still think you should read it - it's that awesome. 

Ok.  Let;s plan to do the sit up challenge, starting on Tuesday - which happens to be Election day. New president, new abs for all of us, yes?  You'll need to check out the site for the initial test.  I'd like everyone to take the test on Sunday or Monday and post your results here, and then we can check in with each other every Friday. 

Sound good?

Oh! Oh! OH!

Guess what I did tonight?  Go on, you'll never guess.

I CLIMBED the rope at the gym all the way to the top!  The second time, I made it 3/4 of the way.

Now, it was the rope that has rubber balls interspersed every two feet or so, so I was able to use my legs.

But I did it! I've never done it before - always wanted to - but I was too heavy/too chicken/not strong enough.

Today I broke another roadblock. 

What have you done that pushes you to the next level?

Well, I did say I wanted a challenge

And wow, what a challenge it was.

Tuesday night, I took the introduction to Muy Thai - Total Defense - Thai Boxing.  It goes by many names, but all of them to me signify one thing - kick my booty.

The intro class was only about 30 minutes long, and I learned the four basic punches - the left and right jab, the cross and one other whose name I have forgotten.  I also learned two basic kicks, which are almost exactly like two of the kicks we do in capoeira.  I felt more than a bit stupid, seeing as how my punches resemble baby taps rather than full on, shake an assailant in their boots, wowie kazowie punches.  The instructor was great - all of the instructors there are, the owner really has a lot to be proud of with these guys.  He reassured me and invited me back, and so I agreed to come in on Thursday at 12.

Ab work 101

So, in order to try to break myself out of a slump, I've vowed to work on my ABS.  That's probably the weakest part of my body, and the one that could use the most work.

I bought my husband a set of dvds for Christmas - P90X, a super intense workout.  I've done a few of them and they are REALLY tough.  I'm doing the Ab one every day, and whoa, do I have a lot of work to do.

Core work is essential to fitness.  A strong core will help you run faster and farther, improve your posture, make your clothes look better, and help with a host of other situations. 

What do you do for ab/core work?

Use Your Brain, Girl

I went running on Sunday.  When I put my shoes on, they felt weird.  A few steps out of the house and I was already complaining.  This was unusual.

When I first started walking, my feet hurt and I had blisters everywhere.  I suffered through, padding my feet with bandaids and covering the blisters with moleskin.  I kept on, even though my feet were covered with sore spots. When I finally made it to the running store, I discovered that I was wearing shoes that were more than a size too small, and the wrong socks.

I wasn't sure that I bought the sock thing.  Socks are socks, right?  I assumed that it was a sales ploy, but I really liked the store owner, who had spent close to an hour with me, trying to get shoes that fit exactly right.  So I sucked it up and bought two sets of these.  One pair was my favorite, with the letters PMS on the back and the words "Don't mess with me" on the bottom.  I quickly became a convert to good socks, and I bought several more pairs during the past year.  The cool designs help, but I am a big believer in these socks.

Running The Gauntlet

We did a challenge today in capoeira.  Holy crud, was it a good one.

Step one - jump from side to side over a six inch high pad.  Jump from left to right, pulling your knees as high as possible.  Complete twenty jumps.  Run to step two.

Pick up a 12 pound medicine ball.  Lunge forward with left foot, twisting upper body to the left.  Come back to center, and reverse to the right.  Do ten on each side.  Run to the next step...

Ten high kicks on the heavy bag, on each side.  Next?

Run to the ring and jump up onto it, about midcalf height - and then jump back to the ground.  Repeat twenty times.  And then the final step...

Run to the bag area and do ten pushups and ten situps.  And then?

DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN - THREE TIMES TOTAL.

The best part?  It was a competition and I came in fourth of fifth.  That may not sound like much, but number 3 only beat me by ten seconds and when I taunted the guy behind me - "Are you gonna get beat by a girl?" - his reply of, "Damn straight I will, you are TOUGH!" - was music to my ears. I was seriously wiped out after class and barley managed to do my extra ab work.

Lesson here?  Hard work is fun. You can do more than you think.

And pee before you start.  I'm just sayin'.

Medicine Ball Work

Medicine Balls - those weighted rubber balls that you see others using effortlessly at the gym - can be a bit, shall we say, intimidating.  I'll never forget the first time my husband used one and popped himself in the mouth.  Who knows, really, how many people have done that? 

One way that I use one is when I'm doing a crunch, I hold the ball up over my head to add intensity. You can also squeeze a medicine ball between your knees while doing squats to add more inner thigh work.  Oh, ouch.

A great tricep/bicep workout is called the Triple Press.  Stand with feet shoulder width apart and hold the ball in front of you.  Curl the ball up towards your chest and then in one movement, press it overhead.  Bend arms 90 degrees so that ball is behind your head, and then straighten your arms.  Reverse moves by bringing ball to chest and then back down.

I also have pretty good luck doing ab work with the ball.  I hold it in front of me and drop straight forward, leaning over.  Stand up and raise ball to the left as high as your shoulders.  Hold it for about 5 seconds, and then reverse, ending up facing right.  I try o do about 25, or until I feel like I'm going to vomit. :)

Quick!

Exercise challenge check in!

How are you doing?  Making your goal?  Need to increase it?  Finding it too difficult?  Any challenges we can try to help you work out?

Let me know what's going on with it.