Heart Rate Monitor

Wow, I haven't been doing a very good job of updating my blog!! I guess I've been busy working, exercising, playing with the horses (which I post about on my horse blog at http://rdxhorses.blogspot.com) and cleaning house . . . not really a whole lot to blog about I guess. :)

I've been doing pretty good sticking with my sprint interval workout routine. I was stepping over a fence on Monday and my pants leg got hung up causing me to fall, so I was bruised and sore and missed that workout. I did workout today though and the exciting news is I got a heart rate monitor!!

I don't remember if I posted about this, but I was worried my heart rate was getting too high during the sprint intervals so I decided to get the monitor to make sure I wasn't doing something that could hurt me. It was a lot of fun to play with. It uses my age to decide my target heart rate (it chose 126-162bpm as my range). My resting heart rate is 69bpm (this is what the doctor recorded when I went in for annual bloodwork).

When I started my five minute walking warm up I expected to reach the low end of my range (126bpm) fairly quickly, but it actually took several minutes, which just drills home the importance of a proper warm up to me. During the first couple of sprints (running approximately 5mph) I don't think my heart rate went over 162bpm, but on the third one it spiked to 177bpm! Yikes! I was talking and I think that was part of it. Another thing I think is a problem is my breathing. I'm very bad about breathing shallow (grew up in a house with parents who smoked cigarettes indoors) and I think that's affecting my hearts ability to slow down during the walking part. I was doing the 30 second sprints and am now doing only 60 second rest intervals (as opposed to the 90 seconds I started out on) and I noticed each rest interval my heart rate stayed higher. Like the first time it went down to 130bpm, the second was close to the same, the third was 140bpm, the fifth 150bpm and obviously the sixth started the cool down which put me back down to 110bpm.

Out of curiosity I left the heart rate monitor on while I sat down to rest after my five minute cool down. Within five minutes it was down to 90bpm and was still the same after ten minutes. I'm not sure how long it's supposed to take to get back down to the resting heart rate, but didn't want to waste the battery in the monitor so I took it off. So anyway, it's all very interesting. I'll keep you updated on my progress. In another week I will be taking my new measurements to see where my body fat percentage is. It's not uncommon for there to not be a change in the first month (especially since I haven't been very good about the whole eating at my resting metabolic rate (1725 calories a day)) so I'm not too worried about it. I'm also thinking about starting my weight training again soon because now that I'm exercising I miss it! :D

Disappointed in myself . . .

Wow, since I stopped working out three and a half months ago I've put on almost ten pounds (okay seven or eight), gained four inches around my waist and gone up 8% in my body fat percentage . . . wow! And I've noticed a big decrease in my strength. :(

So instead of sulking over it I'm using this as motivation to get back in shape. I'm going to be following the Lose Belly Fat Workout (www.losebellyfatworkout.com). I tried this last summer, but ended up with a heat rash from running in the heat and humidity so I've set my treadmill back up and I'll be working out indoors. The website is free. You just have to sign up and they will email you some very helpful information. Basically it's intervals training (google it or read the website for more info) and eating at you resting metabolic rate (for me it is 1725 calories a day). There is a calculator on the website for figuring out what your resting metabolic rate is.

So for my first work out I had a five minute warm up, 6 sprint intervals and 6 rest intervals, followed by a five minute cool down. The sprint intervals are gauged on a scale of one to ten. One is sitting on the couch and ten is being chased by a lion about to die. For the first week we're aiming for a seven. For me right now on my treadmill (which is old and the legs fell off so it's permanently on an incline ack!) is approx. six miles per hour. The rest intervals are walking at a normal speed. I did the first two intervals easily. The third was getting tough. By the forth rest interval I had to increase it to two minutes (which is allowed, the rest intervals can be however long you need so long as you keep your heart rate up). By the time I was finished my hips hurt (forgot to stretch and not used to the incline) and I was a bit shaky. It's a lot tougher than it sounds.

I'm going to give myself a week to get used to this, then I'll add in the strength training again because muscle helps burn calories. Besides I miss being strong enough to open jars and lift things at work. So wish me luck!! I'll update my progress every so often. I'll share my body fat percentage, but I'm not going into all the details (boring!) lol. My body fat percentage is 29% and my goal is 22%. :D

P.S. Oops sorry for the double post. Completely forgot I had one scheduled.

Also here is the link for the body fat calculator (you can find more of them by googling it) http://www.losebellyfatworkout.com/bodyfatcalculator/

Busy!

I didn't write yesterday or today and I haven't worked out all week. I think I'm going to take a break from working out for November since I'm so busy. We're working on doing some improvements to our fixer-upper house since my husband has the time for it now, so that has kept me busy the last two days and tomorrow too probably. I will try to write tomorrow though. :)

Edit: Wait I did write some, but it was only 429 words. Hardly worth mentioning lol.

Workout Week Fifteen

Week Fifteen

Strength Training: Monday (Upper/Abs), Tuesday (Lower), Wednesday (Upper) and Thursday (Lower/Abs)
Yoga/Pilates/Tae Bo: None
Dancing: Twice this week, don't remember which days.
Biking: Monday (2 miles)
Walking/Running: Monday (1.4 mils), Tuesday (1 mile) and Sunday (2 miles)

I did better on weights, but not so great on cardio. When it's so cold I find it hard to get motivated to go walking/running/biking, so I'm pulling the treadmill out of it's summer hiding spot. :)

I alternated an upper/lower routine on the Bowflex. I'm slowly increasing my weight (resistance actually), but I think I'm going too slow because I'm rarely ever sore . . . that's right, isn't it? I'm supposed to increase the weight by five pounds when I can do fifteen reps of the exercise perfectly, but I get lazy and lump them all together because I don't like switching out the tension rods between each exercise. I'll try to do better with that.

The dancing is actually belly dancing. I've been wanting to learn how and finally found an informative DVD on Netflix that breaks down the moves, so I've been practicing that. I only practiced with the DVD twice, but I was practicing some of the individual moves on my own almost every day. :) It's fun, but it's so hard to separate the different body parts and then try to coordinate them doing completely different things at the same time (haven't made it that far yet lol). Hopefully this will help me with my coordination and muscle control (yay for dressage!). :)

The cardio I started out doing well, but then it got cold lol. Time to start running intervals on the treadmill. Just have to figure out how to get the dogs to trot on it with me . . . hehehe. (note: I know to be careful with dogs around treadmills, it can be very dangerous)

Workout Week Fourteen

I took the week off. :) I needed a break. Sorry for the short post.

Workout Week Thirteen

Week Thirteen

Strength Training: Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday
Yoga/Pilates/Tae Bo: None
Biking: Wednesday (1/8th mile)
Walking/Running: Tuesday (1/4th mile) and Friday (4.4 miles)

Okay, so I was feeling like I hadn't done enough, but I guess I did okay. Working out three days a week is better than none. :)

I took the dogs on both walks, but the 4.4 mile one was too far. Poor Jackal has been limping around since then. He's been much better today. He's had problems with his left rear leg before so I'm not panicking about it. We just did too much. I'll shorten his walk again and slowly lengthen them back out. I need to get more consistent with them too. It's difficult though because I despise the stupid cold weather. Sigh. I think that's why I'm feeling unmotivated in general. The shorter days are killing me.

Back to work . . . oh and sorry this was so late.

Workout Week Twelve

Week Twelve

Strength Training: Tuesday and Thursday
Yoga/Pilates/Tae Bo: None
Biking: None
Walking/Running: Thursday (1.4 miles)

I had every intention of doing great this week and . . . didn't. I got busy. I know it's a lousy excuse, but I guess it happens. One thing I've noticed with the Bowflex routine I've been doing is that the four day workout doesn't work well. Doing it that way makes it only twice weekly that I work the upper and body . . . and that just doesn't show any results.

So I think I'm going back to the three day a week work out . . . and I'll cut out some of the exercises so it's not an hour long workout. :) I technically only have one more week with this routine, but I might extend it another three weeks working out three times a week, since I haven't been very consistent.

I do have my weight up to forty pounds on everything except the wrist curls and bicep curls. My wrists just aren't strong enough to support anymore than thirty pounds. I'll just do less weight, more reps on those.

I have to do better! It's just been so pretty outside that I can't make myself stay indoors lol.

Workout Week Eleven

Week Eleven

Strength Training: Tuesday, Thursday and Friday
Yoga/Pilates/Tae Bo: Tuesday and Thursday
Biking: None
Walking/Running: Wednesday (1.4 miles)

Okay, I did better, but still not back to where I want to be. Nothing wrong with easing into it slowly again. :) I did the weight lifting all three days at thirty pounds, except for curls and wrist exercises which I did at twenty pounds and abs and squats were at forty pounds. :)

On Tuesday I did ten minutes of Salsa dancing and ten minutes of Pilates Cardio. I love the Crunch videos available on Netflix. :D I'm so uncoordinated, but I'm actually getting better at the Salsa dancing, so maybe I'm improving hehe. The Wednesday walk was with the dogs. I've been trying to take Jackal with me in the car more when we go to friend's houses or fishing since it's cooled off some. He loves it. I just hope he learns to stop whining!!

P.S. Sorry I haven't been posting! I've been so busy, but things are going really well, so it's okay. :) The sad thing is I have plenty to post about I just haven't sat down to do it lol. I'll post everything this week.

Workout Week Ten

I didn't do anything this week again. I went for a one mile walk yesterday with the dogs, but that's it. I've still not felt great. I think not feeling well has totally derailed me so I'm going to do whatever it takes to get back into the routine of working out. I feel so much better when I do. :)

Workout Week Nine

Week Nine

Strength Training: Tuesday
Yoga/Pilates/Tae Bo: None
Biking: None
Walking/Running: None

Umm . . . I got sick so I basically did nothing. :( I'm feeling a bit better so I'm going to start working out again tomorrow.

Workout Week Eight

Week Eight

Strength Training: Monday, Tuesday & Thursday
Yoga/Pilates/Tae Bo: None
Biking: Monday (5mi) & Wednesday (1mi)
Walking/Running: None

My poor dogs. I haven't done any walking. I biked five miles on Monday and one mile on Wednesday, but that's all of the cardio I've done. For some reason I've had no energy this week. I did my Bowflex routine on Monday at 35 pounds (with legs at 40lbs and arms at 25lbs). On Tuesday I did everything at 35lbs, except for the curls I did at 25lbs. On Thursday I did everything at forty pounds, but didn't do the curls. Boy I felt that workout. I think I've had my weight too low. I really hate this routine though so I didn't do anything Friday.

I made a new routine after doing some research. I learned that the reason a lot of people don't like workout equipment like the Bowflex is because the majority of the exercises are isolation exercises that only work one muscle group. Compound exercises that work several muscle groups are a lot more effective for building muscle and burning calories. The Bowflex doesn't have many compound choices, but I don't have the money for free weights so I'll make do. My new routine is going to consist of doing upper body Monday and Thursday and lower body Tuesday and Friday. I'll do my compound exercises first and then any isolation exercises I want to do after. I also learned that mixing the routine up instead of doing the same order every time helps to prevent muscle adaptation so the workout will be more effective for longer. I'll do this routine for three weeks and then switch to something else. :)

Workout Week Seven

My rash is gone so I started my new workout this week. I missed one day, but I think I did really well (although I really need more cardio!). :) We're having a nice cold front so I'm going to start my intervals again. I was supposed to do it today, but getting up at five am for three days in a row when I'm used to waking up at seven or eight did me in. I'll do it tomorrow instead.

Week Seven

Strength Training: Tuesday, Thursday & Friday
Yoga/Pilates/Tae Bo: None (friend that I do Yoga with has been sick) :(
Biking: None
Walking/Running: Wednesday (1 mile) & Friday (2 miles)

Monday is the day I missed. I don't even remember why now. Tuesday I did everything at 30 pounds because I was learning some new exercises. Thursday I did everything at thirty fives pounds and legs at forty pounds. I only did five bicep curls. I don't know why they have that two days in a row. Doesn't make sense. Friday I did everything at thirty five pounds with the curls (biceps and reverse) on twenty five pounds.

My exercise buddy has been sick with the flu or something so I didn't do any Yoga. I really need her help to stay motivated to do Yoga/Pilates/Stretching/etc. I guess it's just not really my thing. I still need to do better with it though.

On Wednesday I took the dogs for a one mile walk/run. I think I ran about one third to half of it. :) Then on Friday I took them for a two mile walk/run. During the first mile I did sprint intervals, but I was counting it out in my head so it probably wasn't completely accurate. It's still better than just walking. On the one mile back to the house I just walked.

So I really need to get it in gear for the Yoga and cardio. I guess I need to figure out what is motivating me to do the Bowflex that I'm lacking in the other. It might be because I don't have a fixed schedule on cardio . . . Hopefully the intervals will help with that. :)

Workout Week Off

Sigh. Last Monday I tried out sprint intervals. I really liked it actually. I walked for five minutes to warm up, then I sprinted thirty seconds (turned to jogging as I got more tired lol) and walked ninety seconds. Repeat six times and then walked five minutes to cool out. Unfortunately when I went inside to cool off I had a heat rash on my chest . . . crap! If you haven't had a heat rash, basically it's when your sweat glands get clogged and infected. Everything I read said stay out of the heat and it will go away in three or four days. So I stopped exercising and stayed in the air conditioning.

After four days it was Friday and I couldn't go to the doctor so I decided to wait until Monday (today) to go to the doctor, which means an entire week of no exercise. I can't believe how negatively it has affected my mood already. I miss working out. I miss the energy it gave me.

I've never had a heat rash, but from doing research and looking at pictures I'm sure it's what I had. The weird thing is that it spread to my stomach, back, neck and my entire arms. It's even on my face a little bit. It basically looks like goose bumps (chill bumps) that don't go away. It's only red if I go outside and get hot. So I tried everything I could think of vinegar, desitin, baking soda bath, gold bond powder, benadryl (orally and topically), etc. For the first three or four days it didn't itch at all. Then it started itching on my chest where it first started. The itching spread to my neck, so I figure that means it's healing. When I got up this morning bumps were very much diminished. On my chest it doesn't even feel like there are any bumps, just a a little redness. I think it's healing at the same speed it spread so my arms and face will probably heal last unfortunately. Luckily it's not very noticeable at all. It just looks like goosebumps. So I think I'll skip the doctor since it's healing and I don't have health insurance or money. Save it for an actual emergency. Most rashes don't require medical attention anyway. I don't have a fever, not tired, nothing. Anyone ever experienced a heat rash like that? Or maybe it was hives? I thought hives went away quickly though. I did mow on Monday too and I have horrible grass/tree/plant allergies.

So nothing to report on the exercise. I think I'm going to try to pick back up some of my exercise since the rash doesn't bother me. I spent some time outside today taking picture of the horses and it's not red, hot or inflamed. That's a good sign. :)

Workout Week Six

Yay!!!! Week six done! I completed the six week challenge. That's officially the longest I've ever stuck with a formal work out plan. :D I'm excited.

Week Five

Strength Training: Tuesday, Thursday & Sunday
Yoga/Pilates/Tae Bo: Monday & Friday
Biking: Sunday (5.1 miles)
Walking: Monday (2.4 miles) & Friday (2.5 miles)

On the strength training I did everything at forty pounds, 2 sets of 10-15 reps. On Tuesday I did my Biceps Curl at 30 pounds because I'm having trouble with the weight (only able to do 8 reps). On Thursday and Sunday I did them at 20 pounds and was able to do all 15 reps. I'm going to start doing low weight, high reps on the biceps. I'm not after big muscles anyway lol. On Tuesday I didn't do my leg exercise or back exercise because my hamstrings were really sore from the Tae Bo we did on Monday.

Monday I did 30 minutes of Tae Bo with my friend/work out partner and boy were the stretches intense! My hamstrings hurt for two days lol. I need to do more stretching. I can't even touch my toes. On Friday I did approx. 20 minutes of Yoga with my friend, but I wimped out because the routine we were doing kept going back to a Vinyasa containing a lot of Downward Dog and my wrists gave out. They are weak in general, but I had fallen and bruised my hand a few days before so that made it worse. Some of the poses felt really awesome though. I need to get more consistent with the Yoga.

On Monday I actually went on two walks. One was a mile with the dogs and the other was 1.4 miles with my husband. On Friday I was actually on a treadmill and I was walking/running intervals. I'd walk one minute, run one minute, walk one minute, etc. A couple of times I even managed to run two minutes which is really amazing for me. :D I forgot I'd raised the incline though so my calves have been really sore for several days. Ouch! It was cool running on a treadmill again though because I was able to see my speeds. I was walking at 4mph and running at 5.5mph. :)

So that's a recap of week six. Now here is my new work out routine for the next six weeks.

I'll be working out four times a week, so I'll have to get really strict with myself. If I miss a day it will wreck my whole schedule. There isn't as much leeway. The new routine will consist of Day 1 & 3 doing 1-3 sets of 10-12 reps of Bench Press, Seated Shoulder Press, Triceps Pushdown, Biceps Curl and Leg Extension. Then Day 2 & 4 doing 1-3 sets of 10-12 reps of Seated Lat Rows, Seated Lat Pulldowns, Crossover Rear Deltoid Row, Biceps Curl, Reverse Curl, Standing Low Back Extension and Seated Abdominal Crunch. So for example I'll work out Monday and Tuesday, take Wednesday off, then repeat on Thursday and Friday. That leaves the weekend free because I get up really early to open the store and work really long hours. Fun! I'm just happy there are new exercises to learn hehe.

I'm going to skip today since I worked out yesterday, so I'll only work out three times this week and then I'll pick up a normal schedule next week. Sorry for the long winded post lol. It's a mile marker. :D

P.S. I'm trying out a free online workout based on interval training. I'm going to see if I like it this week and if I do I'll share it with you all next week. It looks cool so far, but I don't want to waste your time if it turns out to be phony or ineffective. :)

Workout Week Five

Yay only one more week left to my six week challenge! The main reason I'm excited is to change to a different routine. This one is getting too easy and boring. For the last week I'm going to up the weight to forty pounds, except on the bicep curls. For some reason I'm still having trouble with them. Even at thirty five pounds I can only do two sets of eight reps when I'm doing two sets of fifteen reps on everything else. I think I'm even going to decrease the weight on them back to thirty pounds. It's really weird that everything else is progressing so quickly except for those. Maybe I need to do more bicep curls with free weights during my workout days or something. Not sure. Any weight lifters out there with advice?

Week Five

Strength Training: Wednesday, Friday & Sunday
Yoga/Pilates: None
Biking: Wednesday (2 miles), Thursday (2 miles) & Friday (2 miles)
Walking: Sunday (1.4 miles)

The reason I switched from biking to walk Sunday is because Jackal has a leg injury (not serious, just needs a break) and this is the second time he's been hurt while biking so I'm going to stop taking them. I'll still bike solo, but I'll also be taking the pups for a walk/jog. I forgot that different muscles are used in walking and biking. That 1.4 mile walk/jog almost killed me lol. Just kidding.

I did all of my Bowflex workouts on thirty five pounds. Two sets of ten to fifteen reps. I haven't done any Yoga or Pilates. Bad me!

Workout Week Four

I did really horrible this week! Between no air conditioner at work and working on repairs around the farm I just didn't have the time or energy to work out. I will do better this week though I promise!

Week Four

Strength Training: Wednesday & Sunday
Yoga/Pilates: None
Biking: Thursday (2 miles) & Sunday (2 miles)
Walking: Tuesday (1 mile)

Yeah, not great. I guess I just didn't feel like doing anything because after sitting at work for 6-8 hours in 100F degree temps I didn't feel like going home and sweating some more lol. Not to mention I had a work dinner I had to go to and I had to help a friend move on Monday in the 120F heat index temps (I sweated enough for that to count as a workout hehe). I'll do better this week.

Workout Week Three

Note: This was supposed to have posted already, but didn't so I'm back posting it for Sunday. And yes I missed Sunday Stills again. :(

Week Three

Strength Training: Wednesday, Friday & Sunday
Yoga/Pilates: Monday (about ten minutes)
Biking: Tuesday (5.1 miles), Wednesday (4 miles) & Thursday (1 mile)
Walking: Tuesday (1.4 miles)

On the dog exercise side of things I did much better. The 1.4 mile walk on Wednesday was with the dogs, the one mile bike on Thursday was with them and at that point Jackal started limping because he scraped one of his paw pads so we took a break from the biking. My husband took them for walks on two other days when I was busy so they got out a little more. I still need to get more consistent with their exercise, but even though Jackal wants to go I want his paw to heal too. He's looking much better though now that he's lost some weight again. :)

I did my Bowflex workout three times, so that was perfect. I left the lower back extensions out on Friday because I was a little sore, but other than that I did the full workout of two reps at thirty pounds of each exercise (8 total exercises). I've been focusing mainly on my form on the exercises and now that I've got those down I'm going to increase the weight by five pounds.

Also on Sunday we spent two hours at a friend's swimming pool and played a really long game of pool volleyball so I'm sure that counts as exercise. :D

Workout Week Two

Jackal goes from person to person and encourages them to keep working out. :)

Week Two

Strength Training: Thursday & Sunday
Yoga/Pilates: None. Oops.
Biking: Monday (2.1 miles) & Thursday (2 miles)
Walking: Monday (very short walk with the horse)

I didn't do so well this week! I was so much busier than I thought I would be. However the two days that I worked on the bowflex I did my whole routine 2 sets of 10-15 reps on 30 pounds of weight. :) I'm starting to notice a difference just with the things I have to carry on a daily basis. It's so much easier. I also have more energy. I just have to carve out the time. My husband took the dogs biking once without me so they got out three times last week. That's not great. I'll just have to keep working on it. I have a friend who is going to start doing aerobics and Yoga with me on Mondays so that will help in the motivation department. :)

Storm is always ready for Yoga.

New Workout Program

My new workout routine loosely is strength training three times a week, yoga/pilates two to three times a week, daily bike/walk and long distance bike one to two times a week. I'm going to start doing a weekly update on Sundays (separate from Sunday Stills) reporting what I accomplished during the week. That way if I slack off you guys can give me the virtual kick in the pants I need to stay motivated lol. :D

Week One

Strength Training: Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday
Yoga/Pilates: Tuesday (15 minutes - arms too tired after strength training) & Saturday (10 minutes - again did it after strength training - need to do it on a different day)
Biking: Tuesday (1 mile), Friday (1 mile), Sunday (5.7 miles)
Walking: Friday (1/2 mile)

So not bad for the first week. I need to be more consistent on the cardio for sure. Especially since that's the dog's exercise too. It's been really hot, so I've done what I can. :)

My strength training consists of a beginner workout (because I have no muscles) on the Bowflex (approx. twenty minutes). I've been doing approx. one set of ten reps (need to start doing two sets soon) of Bench Press, Seated Lat Rows, Crossover Rear Deltoid Rows, Biceps Curl, Triceps Pushdown, Leg Extension, Standing Back Extension and Seated Abdominal Crunch, most of it at twenty five pounds. I can do the shoulders at thirty pounds, but my arms and back are pretty weak. I can do abs at thirty pounds, but I don't like it because it burns (I know I'm a wimp) and the legs depend on how long of a day at work I had since I'm standing all day lol. So I've mostly been doing twenty five pounds. Next week I'm going to add a second set of ten reps to everything and then the week after that increase the weight. I don't want to push too hard and injure myself so my plans are definitely not set in concrete. :)

Sorry if this is boring, but I think it will help my motivation. Maybe, just maybe, I'll do before and after pictures when I finish the six week challenge on the Bowflex.

10 Minute Morning Workout

I did a google search for a ten minute morning workout because I want something quick and easy I can do in the mornings. If I wait until evenings after work I'm tired and can't find the energy to work out.

Here is what I found: http://www.liveawesome.com/public/381.cfm

I am not a paid advertiser for them or anything. I just happened to find it this morning and it looks like it would be quick, easy and helpful. I tried it this morning and got about halfway through it before I couldn't do anymore! My arms completely gave out. When did I get so out of shape?? I'm going to do this every morning for a week and see how it helps me. If anyone else wants to give it a shot I would love to hear what you think of it. Have fun working out everyone!!