Friday, July 1, 2011

P90X-Day 5 Legs and Back + Ab Ripper X. TOTD= BMI

The legs and back portion contained a variety of lunges/squats. My knees did ok actually, I was pretty happy. It is a hour long but isn't extremely hard. It's a great strengthening video. It also focus's on your balance, as well as your arms. 
 
The portion I found the hardest was the calve raises. Tony works them in 3 parts (1. Feet in 1st position, 2. Feet in parallel, and 3. Feet turned in) each time you do 15 slow raises then 10 double time. By the double time my calves were already cramping up...but, I love feeling the burn. It makes me feel like I'm doing something  rather than sitting and watching tv.

This video also involves a lot of pull ups. Now, We don't have a pull up bar, nor a doorway to put it up in SO.. I invested in some cheap resistance bands. I wrap them around our recliner and sit on the floor. It's probably more of a bicep workout...but I focus on my form and make sure I'm contracting and retracting my scapular muscles (shoulder blades) as well as keeping my back in a straight line to flex my lats.

I feel as if I did a really good job on keeping up with Tony and his fellow demonstrators.Of course though, there is ALWAYS room for improvement. Next week I'm really going to focus on getting lower in my squats/lunges, as well as increasing the reps on my "pull ups". The last rep of the switch grip pull ups, I really pushed it in 30 second time frame and did 54 reps (with the bands)...maybe I can do 64 next time? ;)


As soon as I finished this video I popped in the 15 minute Ab ripper x workout. This workout is programed every other day in the classic calendar worksheet that I'm following. Even though it's been 2-3 days since I've done the video, I've noticed some improvements. :) Last time I did it alone as opposed to adding it with a workout. I got a little queezy this time during some of the reps and took a break for 1-2 reps. Still, I'm proud that I did it...

SO Hooray, Another day down :) If you're thinking about doing P90X you should talk to me or check out their website! It looks REALLY intimidating, but, Honestly...it's not going to kill you. It will give you SO much strength...honestly, if I can do it, anyone can do it :).. I honestly HATE working out.(unless it involves dancing HAHAHA)  I really have to push myself. I look at the little timer (on the side of the video it always tells you how much time you have left) at the end of almost every workout...But I keep on thinking..ok YOU CAN do 30 more seconds..(almost every workout he does is 30 seconds to a minute long) . I do pause my videos for 5-10 seconds sometimes to get a quick drink. I just make sure I listen to my body BUT If I feel that I can push a little harder (no think, my brain will ALWAYS tell me to stop) I do push. If I just go through the motions..yeah I would be wasting an hour every night when I could be doing something better. If you are going to put a lot of time and effort into something, you might as well as do it right? ...right ?! :)

. BTW I'm really excited! I went to the library and checked out a few nutrition books as well as some women's health books, and a metabolism book. Ok.. so go ahead and say it.. "wow what a nerd"..but REALLY, when you think about it your body is SO amazing!! It's so unreal that this is OUR body, yet we ourselves barely understand it!! Think about it, how many times a day..or even a week do you ask yourself "why am I SO TIRED, why CAN'T I get full?! " wait..aren't  we in charge of our bodies yet we don't know the answer to why we are feeling (insert adjective)?? lol. SO, I'm not in the best of shape,nor do I eat the best BUT I want to learn all I can about how to be healthy and how to help others be healthy. I ..kinda know my body...but in order to grow I need to understand more and it is when I DO understand I can create and become better. It's like a plant. A plant grows, Yes, BUT unless there are intervening instances it will sit there and eventually die. The next step would be to have proper sunlight and water. Yes you can have the two but still, will it fully flourish? How about good soil, FULL with nutrients, and proper care for it's surroundings. With this extended care the plant will flourish in all it's glory; Just like our bodies. ...and I've gotten carried away..again :)

SO TOTD: How long has it been since you've checked your BMI? Your BMI is Your Body Mass Index. It's a really great way to measure yourself according to your weight, hight, and age. A lot of sites are really user friendly, all you have to do is plug in the information. Some websites even follow up on how to maintain/lower your BMI with nutritional and fitness information. The AARP has a really nice site

AARP BMI Calculator

Compared to just looking at your weight on a scale, this is a much better way to see your body and how you're maintaining it according to your height and age group. Even though there are standards there are still a few exceptions. Those that are the same height may have bigger/ smaller frames plus it can give you more information other than numbers on a scale. Remember muscle weighs more than fat. Numbers on a scale, are just numbers. I'd rather judge my fitness by how my clothes fit and my body fat % any day over using a scale.  Anyway, be sure to check in every now and then with your BMI to make sure you're making the right choices to keep your body happy and healthy!

Thanks for reading!
As Always, Stay Posted, STAY HEALTHY!

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