First - been forever since I last updated. I completed Body Beast which was awesome. If it weren't for the brutal leg day I'd probably still be doing it. I had a lot of fun with that one and saw some great results.
Once I completed that I set a new goal to take up running and try to run a 5K. I last ran one 12 yrs ago and I was in pretty good shape back then (at the time I thought it was the best shape of my life). My plan was to alternate the Couch to 5K app (3 days week) with Power90 Strength (3 days week). I did that for a month and it wasn't great. The Power90 stuff simply wasn't a challenging enough strength workout. I just came from Body Beast for fucks sake! There is one sequence in the program where they do a lunge/squat combo sequence and it is all without weights. I was using 20lb dumbbells with it just so I could push myself more. A lot of the exercises in Power90 are body weight exercises and they only do them for a certain length of time. So, if you do push ups as an example and they are only doing them for 1min and you've done that but not gotten the push you wanted... then what? It was time to find something else.
A friend from one of my fitness groups had been recommending a kettlebell program called "Kettleworx" as a solution for sometime (initially she thought it would be a great workout for my wife). I kept pushing it off as in all honesty I didn't want to buy more shit. I already had enough fitness crap to be fit, why do I need more? How much shit can you have? lol A LOT! The short of it is, I bought the program and have bought a bunch of kettlebells and the program is fantastic. Works really well. REALLY well.
Where am I on my running? My goal with the running was to complete the C25K program. Be able to run a 5K and have my pace be 10min miles. As my last run for the C25K program I ran my first 5K. I finished in 27min 56sec. I guess 9min miles. Pretty excited about it, but I want to improve upon that. More on that probably in a separate blog entry.... however, my thoughts on that brought up the thoughts about goals. I really need a separate post for that, because honestly every time I think about it my brain goes in 12 different directions and I want to just do a brain dump... at the same time though I want to make sure it makes sense to someone other than me and my random logic mind.
Back to workouts.... so right now, I'm running scarcely. lol Once or twice a week is probably the max my body can handle at this time. My knees just hurt from it and I HATE that a workout can make me feel so weak. That can, instead of empower me, it breaks me down. I try to think about the positives it also brings, like the cardio.... the decent amount of calories burned in less than 30min. It is just the pain the knees AFTER the run that kills me (mainly the right knee). The whole run not a single bit of leg/knee/shin/feet pain at all. NOTHING. Not until after my cool down. Then the right leg just kind of gets weak. It hurts to push off of anything (like when you are walking up steps) and the pain stems straight from the knee.
Other workouts, for strength it has been Kettleworx - Evolution. I can't say enough good things about the program. Cardio without doing HIIT? Good stuff. Strength/core training without dumbbells? Cool. Everything is all compound moves. Meaning, you work more than 1 body part at a time. One of the favorite moves is probably the squat-upright rows. Squat down with the kettlebell and when you come up from the squat do an upright row. Just always seems, no matter what the exercise, you are working more than 1 body part. The downside I guess would be cost. I spent $90 on the program and probably another $200 on kettlebells. Good thing my wife and I have good paying jobs. lol
Kind of a workout side note.... I have a couple of friends that do Crossfit and both speak so highly of it. Highly of how much the workouts push you. How varied the workouts are. How goal driven everything is. How tight knit the community is, how encouraging everyone is about you getting to your goals. Both of them have told me repeatedly that it is a place where they think I would thrive. Anywho, I investigated it a little. There is a new place not far from the house called Great Woods Crossfit. They offer 3 free sessions. My first one is May 4th. :) We shall see how it goes. I'm nervous about it. I don't think I'm in horrible shape, but I really think I could be better. I like the thought of the challenge. I like the thought of getting my body closer to the way I envision it. I feel I'm close and every time I think I'm right there, I seem to push myself away. Is that a workout issue thing? No. Accountability thing? Maybe... More of a discipline thing most likely. Either way I don't know what the hell I'm doing. I'm looking for answers and I'm hoping to find some there. We shall see.
Next post will be about goals. Until next time.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment