Posts Tagged ‘exercise program’
Since I am getting this post out a little late, I have decided to combine day 26 and 27 (yesterday and today). This works out well since I added a swim to my exercise routine for the last two days. Though technically I was snorkeling, and the water was too cold to stay in more than about 10-15 minutes, I tried to get as much exercise out of it as possible. It also helped me to realize another reason to break up your exercise routine through out the day. Something unexpected may come into your schedule that stops you from completing that day.
Being that it’s February, it had been a while since I had been out under the direct sun swimming. Putting my body under a bright sun for a little over an hour zapped all of my energy. I didn’t notice it at first, but a couple hours after I returned home I became very tired and wasnt motivated at all to do my exercise routine. My whole body felt heavier and sluggish. I would have been perfectly happy to fall asleep in front of the TV.
I actually did go on and push myself to complete the rest of my routine and even went for a short run. I felt much better afterwords and my energy seemed to be restored. It also helped that I knew I would be writing about it later and that the results wouldn’t be as accurate if I missed a day.
However, I had already done a parts of my routine in the morning and combined with the swim that would have been an adequate workout for the day. It wouldn’t have been a big deal to let my body rest for the night. If I had a set workout schedule, skipping the routine without effecting my results wouldn’t have been possible. Knowing that part of the workout was already finished also made it easier to start again when I was tired.
Tomorrow is technically the last day of the challenge so please be sure to tune in for the final results. Technically the challenge was 30 days, but the following 2 days would be rest days and so won’t count.
Exercises of the Day
Bicycle Crunches- Laying with your back on the floor and your legs bent and elevated of the floor, slowly crunch your right elbow to your left knee (then do the same with your left elbow and right knee). Using your stomach muscles lift your upper body as much as possible off the ground when doing the crunch. I also hold each one for a second or two. This exercise is still one of the most difficult for me.
Pull-ups- The reason I am such a big fan off pull-ups is because of the number of upper body muscles it requires. Not to mention that using only a bar, you can do several types of pull-ups, working different muscle groups. Seeing my upper body strength increase by the ease I can do pull-ups has been very motivating.
Finally, the last week of the challenge has started. The first two weeks were definitely the most difficult as my body tried to adapt to a new workout routine. They were also difficult on my mind as I saw almost no change in my bodies physical appearance. Now I am on the downhill side of the challenge. I am able to increase my workouts and my body doesn’t fight me anymore. In fact, my body feels much better the days I exercise. Starting today, and continuing for the next few days, I will be going over the top 5 exercises I feel have been the most effective in my progress.
As I mentioned last week, the amount of time I spend working out each day is actually not very long. On average I spend about 20-30 minutes exercising and from last week have included about a 10 minute run each day. However, this also isn’t all at once. I break the workout into small sections and complete them whenever I can fit them in my schedule.
I am by no means a professional trainer, but splitting up my exercises though out the day hasn’t seemed to have any negative effects on my progress. Since my body can’t adapt to the changing patterns of my workouts, it may have even helped by forcing my body to be ready at all times. The workout program I am using actually even talks about the importance of changing up your routines so your body can’t adapt. This especially makes a lot of sense when you look at the way animals exercise. Most animals have a sleek muscular body, but only exercise in short bursts. You never see your dog or cat running for 2 hours a day. They exercise (or play) in short intensive burst throughout the day.
Exercises of the Day
- Jumping Squats- Though it is a difficult exercise, jumping squats give a big bang for the buck. They allow me to get a great leg workout that uses both my calves and especially the thighs. They also require use of the mid section and get your whole body moving. After just a few reps my legs start feeling the burn. They also have the added benefit of increasing your vertical jump.
- Balance Ball Crunches- Balance ball crunches are just as simple as they sound. You lay on a balance (exercise) ball and do crunches. The reason they are better than regular crunches is because your upper body is not supported and causes your body to use addition muscle groups. Since the ball moves, you also have to use stabilizer muscles. By sightly turning you body as you crunch, you can also work your obliques. The key is to do them slowly and really “squeeze” the crunch each time you do it. Try to focus on using your muscles rather than momentum.
Tomorrow, I will be giving more updates on my progress for the last week and covering another of my favorite exercises. Sign up to my RSS Feed to make sure you don’t miss it.
