Weekly stats (I’m looking for the perfect  application/ API that feeds 2 facebook programs, Daily Burn and TeamBeach body… or maybe I should write one)

• Running – 25 miles
• Bike/spinning – 24.5 miles
• Swimming 1,300 yards
• P90x – Week 5 workouts – all.

It was  a good and unpredictable week, seemed every day required a bit of adjustment.   I shared about the juggling act of last Sunday (11/22/09) with a Sprint Triathlon, the new tortures of the Week 5 Chest, Shoulder and Triceps.  Round 2 for that workout went much smoother today, a five-mile run helped get the blood flowing and Ab Riper X was the perfect cap.

That juggling act seemed to continue the whole week.

Monday, Day 30 – Plyometrics. This has typically been my favorite workout (having done some similar jump training before the summer’s Pike’s Peak Double weekend).   After the previous day’s triathlon,  I was feeling a wee bit tired and struggled through some of this.  I did my best and forgot the best – no sense throwing off the weekly rotation by resting a day (though sometimes that’s warranted).

Tuesday, Day 31 – always one for purchasing things as cheaply as possible, I embarked on my early P90x venture in the same way – google some ads, hit eBay and pick up some DVD’s for around $50.00.  I paid the piper though on Day 31 – Back and Biceps.   In place of a #11 DVD there was a bonus #1 DVD.  So thanks to some more googling I got the sense of what should be done.  I also promptly ordered a new set of DVD’s from Beachbody.  I’m no shill.  Though I’m a Beachbody coach, it’s a reminder that cheap is not always lowest price.  Not a lot of recourse to call a help desk that doesn’t exist for 6 month old product.

Paying the piper meant google and finding a couple of good overview of the workout.  I find a nice series here http://stanford.wellsphere.com/exercise-article/p90x-review-day-11-back-and-biceps/11921 (take a peek), scribed the workouts and hit the workout at our YMCA while my kids were at swim team (though tough, they had the tougher workout – 90 laps =])   My arms felt like falling off would feel better than the wonderfully painful rotation of 2 bicep and 1 pull/chin up workout.  Wow!

Wednesday and Day 32, Yoga.  I really didn’t want to do Yoga.  Kids were at home and it was my turn to watch them.  I was debating a 1/2 Yoga X workout.  Then it happen.  Weather warms up, kids play with friends and my Yoga workout turned out well and full duration.  I still stink on the Warrior 3 poses and routines.  Abs were hurting.  Static poses were just a bit better (can do the bridge up for 30 seconds now!).  Yet all in all great to get er’ done!

Thanksgiving, Day 33, brought the old friend back and legs to me.   A run on Thanksgiving has been a tradition for me.  This year I added a spinning workout.  So after 6.75 miles running and 14+ miles on the bike (about 2 hours total), I felt my legs were just fine.  So in between I worked in the back pull up/chin up sets and Ab Riper X – again at the Y.  This was a fun adaptation, pushing probably more cardio but still building legs (especially spinning and some good running hills).

Ah, Friday, Day 34 KenpoX, was the one seemingly normal day.  I rested from my morning run, hit KenpoX and then a 750 yard swim at night.

So all in all, when things do go as planned, it’s OK.  Learn the workouts well and you can take them on the road.  There’s some fun in doing this stuff at your gym now (got some, “wow, you look like you know what you’re doing looks” from a few people, which was surprising for me around weights

Back at the end of Week 6!

  Bon,il n’y a encore une fois pas grand chose à dire là dessus, le dessin étant assez explicite. Je vous laisse donc tirer les conclusions.

DS

I am not sure how long this post will be tonight, because my tris are shaking so bad typing takes effort.

I did Chest, Shoulders, and Tris. Odd workout…chest and shoulders are my weakest part and tris are my strongest…odd!

I was looking through fitness websites before I worked out and ran across Nicole Wilkins-Lee and was so inspired by looking at her. She has such great shape, build, and symmetry. I have a picture of her from the current issue of Flex posted on my fridge and it has really helped me to stay focused on my goals today. During the breaks of my workout, I was thinking to myself “if I could get into the shape I want to be in [which is closer to her level] I would be  my own walking billboard”, how cool.

I love the feeling of the after burn and the pump, I feel like my shoulders and tris are popping like crazy. I love this sport.

PS: sorry if this was a little random tonight my thought process is slightly shot. HeHe!

Kicking butt and taking names…be back soon!

William Sparkman the census worker who was found dead hanging from a park tree in Kentucky with the word FED written on his chest in black magic marker committed suicide it was concluded by police.

Apparently he had taken out a life insurance policy on himself for $600K and wanted to commit suicide but his son would not be able to collect any money if his death was ruled as such. So he staged the entire “murder” which was cruel to the very son he tried to help.  So now the kid is out the money and has no dad. My conclusion: I was wrong about the murder and I know think that William Sparkman did not live up to his name instead he went out with a whimper – the coward.

—Bonju Patten

They were all high, and their faces glistened under the cheap florescence that twitched above them. Kyle slipped the glass pipe into his pant leg, feeling it fall to bottom and keeping his wrist on the bulge. Everyone else just kept their hands busy, rubbing and toiling over friction and finger. So how the fuck did you get a black eye? Seth asked Richard, keeping his chin tight to his chest like he does. Richard didn’t say anything, but moved his dirty tongue out of the clamp of chapped jowls as if he would start to speak, but didn’t.

He got it doing something dirty, that’s what. Kyle said behind his square glasses. It’s pretty swollen, when did it happen?

I think like a week ago, Richard said, standing up and tightening his jacket up to his neck. Kyle and Seth stood-up. It hurts like hell, but it gives me street cred’. Kyle and Seth did something horizontal with their lips, but never approached a laugh. It was an old joke.

Seth brought the garage door up and bit, so everyone could lay on their bellies and roll into the sunlight. Kyle went first, then Richard. The two squinted as the concrete that surrounded them in the coldesaque dispersed the sunlight at all angles. The garage door slapped shut, bending slightly in the middle.

We need to check out the Chaparral, Kyle said. It’s this dank forest behind the park – you know what, I think it’s owned by the park. Either way, no one goes back there and there’s this tiny-ass river that goes through it. It’s pretty fucking rad. Richard didn’t have anything to say, and after a bit of breathing billowed between the two, Seth came out. He was running with his short little arms clamped to his tee, panting and grinning.

What the fuck are we doing?! Seth asked all at once.

We’re gonna check out the Chaparral. Smoke the rest of the shit, and who knows, maybe run into some other rats who wanna match bowls. Maybe they got danker shit.

I don’t know, that flake you have is pretty good. It burns like a gold amber. Is that stuff from Ah-dee?

It is most certainly from Ah-dee, and Kyle’s glasses bobbed down to the bump in the middle of his long bridge. His left wrist still focusing and pressing on the pipe and bag. You know what? We can get their through your backyard.

We can?

That’s what I’m thinking. You know how your neighbor’s fence goes all the way to where it drops down to the road? Kyle used his long fingers to convey a cliff, and thinly legs traversing it’s rim. We can just shimmy along the fence and drop down. The Chaparral is just across the street and through a fire exit. I think it’s just another block from there.

We can smoke my shit along the way, Richard confessed.

We can.

Can we get to the back through the side, or are the vines still crazy-shit?

I think we can. If we can’t, then we can just go through the front again.

Next person to say ‘can,’ has to do the whole journey barefoot.

I ‘can,’ Kyle said, kicking off twelves and shoving them in a bush that grew around a mailbox.

Two posts in a row about push ups – your students are gonna love me. This is actually a fun way to get students to do a little warm up before they begin a class of floor hockey or ringette. Your goal is to get students participating in fitness activities and fitness can take many different forms.

Two people in push up position face each other about 5 feet apart. Using a bean bad or ball (whiffle balls work well), try to slide or roll the object between the partners two hands. The object is not allowed to come off the floor. The partner may stop the object with only one hand. Games typically go until one player can not stay in the push up position any longer or when one player gets to 5 (which ever happens first).

If you use any short activities such as push up position hockey to satisfy the fitness component of your physical education program, be sure to keep track of the approximate time spend on each activity. For instance, according the grade 7-9 physical education curriculum guide  for Newfoundland and Labrador, doing 12 minutes of fitness related activities during each class would mean that a grade 9 physical education class would meet the 4 class minimum for fitness after 16 class.

If you have any ideas on how to incorporate fitness into other activities, I would love to hear about them.

Yours in Movement,

Coach

Lots of stretching and foam rolling and some moderate benching

Bench sets of 6-8 reps: 135, 155, 165, 170, 175, 180, 165, 155, 135

Triceps stuff: 7 sets

Correct posture is important to the structure of the body because any misalignment in the spine can lead to pain in other parts of the body. Many people struggle with their posture due to sitting for extended periods of time, standing incorrectly, or just having weak back muscles/rear shoulder muscles and tight chest muscles/front shoulder muscles. To correct posture it is important to strength train the back muscles and rear shoulder muscles by performing rows, pull downs, upright rows, and reverse flys. It is also important to stretch the chest muscles and front shoulder muscles. Some yoga postures that would benefit these areas are Cow Face, Upward Facing Dog, and Bow Pose. By balancing the muscles in the back of the body with the muscles in the front of the body, correct posture will be easier to maintain!

If you missed the show this morning, awwww!  Well Michelle and I delivered our next monthly featured body part…the chest.  We discussed the two primary muscles that make up the chest, what their function is and how to go about developing them.  We then clued you in as to what can happen if you’re not careful…a pulled chest muscle.  But don’t worry also told you how to take cared of it as well!

Check out the chest! Your chest muscles are composed of two primary muscles; the pectoralis major which is the larger chest muscle that travels from the collar-bone to the sternum, and the pectoralis minor which is a small triangular muscle located under the pectoralis major.   Both of these muscles are responsible for shoulder flexion, adduction and inward rotation.

If you’re looking to burn more calories faster and to a greater degree, then working this large muscle group can really help!  How should you go about it?  Well believe it or not, you can perform chest exercises as much as three non-consecutive days per week.  But keep in mind; if you’re pushing yourself hard, you may need at least two to three days rest between workouts.

Some of the most common chest exercises include pushups, chest presses, and chest flies.  Make sure you choose a mixture of different exercises to target different areas of your chest and vary your routine every four to six weeks to avoid plateaus.   You can use free-weights, machines, resistance equipment and/or simple body weight to get the task done.

Now be careful you don’t pull your chest muscle.  The common symptoms of a pulled chest muscle are sharp chest pain, swelling, bruising and inflammation caused by overloading.  Symptoms of a pulled chest muscle are manifested within twenty-four hours after the injury.  Depending upon the severity of the condition, the symptoms of pulled chest muscle can be classified into the following grades:

Grade 1: Pulled muscle in chest portion characterized by mild discomfort.  You can manage and perform free movement activities.

Grade 2: Pulled chest muscle with moderate pain often accompanied by swelling and inflammation.  You may experience sharp pain during high level physical activities.

Grade 3: This is the most severe intolerable chest pain.  This grade includes muscle spasms, increased sensitivity, tenderness, swelling and bruising.

A pulled chest muscle takes time to recover completely.  If you experience a pulled chest muscle, then stop training or other physical activities until you’re complete recovered.  Proper rest is key for management and treatment of pulled chest muscle, and applying ice packs may help relieve pain.  But for severe and long-standing pain, you should always consult the advise of an exercise professional or healthcare provider!

For help with chest exercises, to podcast the show or simply for more fitness and health information, visit Totallyfitradio.com.

When I first decided that I was going to workout, I wanted to do some research first so that I wouldn’t look like an idiot in the gym. And before I continue, I have to credit www.bodybuilding.com It gave me all the information I needed for free to start effectively gaining muscle (and no they didn’t pay me to say that). So after doing tons of research, this is what I found out. I am an ectomorph (skinny) and therefore it’s harder for me to put on muscle mass. The other types of bodies are mesomorph (muscular naturally0 and endomorph (fat). After learning about training for ectomorphs, I formulated a training and nutrition program for myself. For the training aspect, basically (if you’re an ectomorph), train heavy, not to long periods of training, and high intesity with lots of rest. Also, use mass building/compound exercises (uses more than one muscle, builds more muscle mass) rather than isolation (gives definition) if you’re skinny. For the nutrition aspect, I have to consume anywhere from 2400-2600 calories a day divided up into 50% carbs, 25% protein and 25% fats (good fats such as peanutbutter and nuts) .
Training: I train 3 times a week as follows
Monday: Chest and Back
Wednesday:Shoulders and Legs
Friday: Arms
Most people like to do chest and triceps and back and biceps together because you use triceps already while working chest and biceps while working back, but I find my biceps/triceps are too fried to do any exercises particularly for them after doing chest or back.
Here is a list of exercises for each body part:
biceps:any curls
tricpes: french press,  tricep extention (seated) ,close grip bench press, tricep pushdowns, dips
back: deadlift, t bar row, lat pulldown, one arm db row, bent over row
chest: bench press (any type), incline dumbell press, cable flyes, db flyes
shoulders: military press, arnold press, rear delt raise, lateral raise, front raise
legs: squat, leg press, hamstring curls, quad curls, calf raises

Another type of program I would recommend for anybody trying to gain muscle is the hypertrophy specific training program : go to http://www.hypertrophy-specific.info/ for all the information about this program. BTW also do abs on off days.

Alright… it felt like a long day at work but then 3:00 rolled around and I was able to get home.  Prepped the house for a big shindig tonight… bunch of people are coming over to watch the Pacquiao / Cotto fight.  Then I did shoulders, triceps and chest.  Felt like I burned it down… matched or superceded many of the sets from my previous attempt at this routine.  Not gonna see this one for a while as next week is a rest week.  ARX seems like it’s getting a touch easier.

I hope I don’t blow it by pigging out tonight on all the yummy food!  Gonna probably order in some pizza for the fight!

So far today: Oatmeal, cup of juice, 3 granola bars, a large apple muffin from Costco, a cup of spaghetti with meat sauce, a diet Coke.

GO PACQUIAO!!

OH MAN totally blew the diet cause of the fight and my weak will power.  Dinner: We ordered in a 24 slice pizza and I had 4 slices, a small bag of chips, about 6 mini cream puffs, and a several mini oriental h’or derves (like 10 maybe?), washed down with a diet Dr. Pepper.  Like I said, I blew it big time.

Your hair is frizzy.  It looks like shit.
You’ve got a double chin.
You have zits all over your fucking face… disgusting.
Your nose is too big.
Your eyebrows are so thick.
Your neck is also thick.
Your chest is too big.
Your shoulders are wide.
Your arms, wrists, and fingers are incredibly fat.
You have ugly scars up and down your arms that I made you put there.
Your stomach is huge and you have so many fat rolls.
Your hips are so wide.
Your thighs are disgusting and flabby.
Your knees are fat.
That’s not muscle on your calves, it’s fat.
Your feet are huge and ugly.

You’re a stupid piece of shit and no one wants you.  So starve yourself, bitch, and maybe.. just maybe, you can make some of this better.

Love always,
Ana

1. Secure your legs at the end of the decline bench and slowly lay down on the bench.
2. Using a medium width grip (a grip that creates a 90-degree angle in the middle of the movement between the forearms and the upper arms), lift the bar from the rack and hold it straight over you with your arms locked. The arms should be perpendicular to the floor. This will be your starting position. Tip: In order to protect your rotator cuff, it is best if you have a spotter help you lift the barbell off the rack.
3. As you breathe in, come down slowly until you feel the bar on your lower chest.
4. After a second pause, bring the bar back to the starting position as you breathe out and push the bar using your chest muscles. Lock your arms and squeeze your chest in the contracted position, hold for a second and then start coming down slowly again. Tip: It should take at least twice as long to go down than to come up).
5. Repeat the movement for the prescribed amount of repetitions.
6. When you are done, place the bar back in the rack.

Caution:

• If you are new at this exercise, it is advised that you use a spotter. If no spotter is available, then be conservative with the amount of weight used.
• Also, beware of letting the bar drift too far forward. You want the bar to fall on your lower chest and nowhere else.
• Don’t bounce the weight off your chest. You should be in full control of the barbell at all times.

Variations: You can also use dumbbells or exercise bands to perform this exercise.

1. Lie back on an incline bench. Using a medium-width grip (a grip that creates a 90-degree angle in the middle of the movement between the forearms and the upper arms), lift the bar from the rack and hold it straight over you with your arms locked. This will be your starting position.
2. As you breathe in, come down slowly until you feel the bar on you upper chest.
3. After a second pause, bring the bar back to the starting position as you breathe out and push the bar using your chest muscles. Lock your arms in the contracted position, squeeze your chest, hold for a second and then start coming down slowly again. Tip: it should take at least twice as long to go down than to come up.
4. Repeat the movement for the prescribed amount of repetitions.
5. When you are done, place the bar back in the rack.

Caution: If you are new at this exercise, it is advised that you use a spotter. If no spotter is available, then be conservative with the amount of weight used. Also, beware of letting the bar drift too far forward. You want the bar to fall on your upper chest and nowhere else.

Variations: You can use several angles on the incline bench if the one you are using is adjustable.

Here is a little game I used to use during classes which focused on upper body strength – Partner Patty Cakes.

Two people in the push up position face each other. Each person remains in the push up position but lift their right hands and slap each others right hands. Then the left hands. They continue this until they are too tired to continued. To make it harder, try increasing the distance between partners or give them directions to follow (i.e. right, right, left, right left).

This is a great alternative to regular pushups and students can keep track of how long they can last and try to beat that value as the semester goes on. I wouldn’t suggest that this activity becomes a competition as it will lose the fun aspect for those students who may only be able to get a couple patty cakes completed.

Yours in Movement,

Coach