Posts Tagged ‘exercise’
Match-Up #4 – I now have a burlesque name vs. I’m not a freaking dancer!
Another day, another match-up. I’m still behind, but I am slowly catching up. (I’m currently about five workouts behind.)
I figured it up there other day; without rest days (which I will surely take), I’ll be done with this bracket by mid-September, right around the time our baby is due. I wonder who will get here first, the bracket finishing workout or our little bundle of joy? Tina and I have talked about doing Jillian Michael’s Body Revolution when she is healed up and ready after giving birth, but we’ll see. That’s still a long time away.
Today, I am going to tell you about the match-up between Goddess Workout: Cardio Burlesque and The Firm: Total Body Time Crunch.
Before I tell about the video, I should tell you a little something about Tina. She is the girliest of girls. If it is pink and frilly, she likes it. But she isn’t some naïve, childish girl. She’s very womanly about her girliness, if that makes sense. She likes 50s Pin Ups. Granted, she doesn’t like 50s Pin Ups in the same way that I like 50s Pin Ups, but she digs that girly, frilly, lacy image. Cardio Burlesque is a workout that (if it were tougher) would be right up her alley.
But sadly, this video was a dud. It wasn’t toning. It wasn’t cardio (except for one very brief two minute session). It was mostly me strutting around our living room like a show girl. Geeze, that’s embarrassing to admit.
On the plus side, I did get to watch the instructor sashay in various burlesque type outfits, so that was nice.
My favorite part of the video? Delphina (the instructor) said that everyone should have a burlesque name, a name that appeals to the sense and is enjoyable. She suggested something food-related, like Cupcake or Mojito or… I don’t remember, Pineapple or something. All I remember was the name I gave myself.
Dorito.
Okay, on to the other video. The Firm: Total Body Time Crunch was light years tougher than Cardio Burlesque. I still wouldn’t call it a hard video, but it was definitely tougher.
My biggest complaint? Too much time was spent on overly complicated dance moves, and they kept calling right and left AND they used that stupid exercise video mirror system. I HATE THAT! Basically, what I am referring to is when the video participants say “Go right!” and they are all actually going left. I can freaking work it out on my own; I don’t need to pretend like you are my mirror image!
Sorry, rant over.
This video consisted of straight cardio and strength training. This video did get me sweating.
The winner?
Total Body Time Crunch, who advances to the field of 32. Sorry Goddess Cardio Burlesque. If you had been more of a workout and less of an excuse for Delphina to sashay around (and fully clothed at all times, too, dang it), you might have given me more of a workout.
Geeze, there has to be a dirty joke in there somewhere.
Related Posts:
Tired or Excuse?
I am a big fan of listening to your body. I think when you are too tired to exercise, you shouldn’t.
I was writing a quick blog post, right now, about that very thing. I was going to post one of my match-ups (I’m a bit behind), and I was explaining about how tired I was and how I felt I should take a rest day today.
And then… even though it’s already 8:45 at night… I just had a mini-epiphany.
Am I really THAT tired, or am I just a little tired and using it as an excuse?
I still don’t know. I do think I’m tired, but I know that if I go to bed at 9, I’ll just play on my iPad until 10:30. Or, I could put on my sneakers, strap on the heart rate monitor, exercise for an hour in my living room, take a shower, and be in bed by 10:00ish with a good thirty minutes of time to spend some time with Tina (and my iPad) before 10:30.
Maybe I am tired. Maybe I’ll be so useless when I start working out that I’ll realize I should have taken a rest day.
Or more likely, I’ll start, forget why I thought I was tired, and at 10:30 when I turn off the lights to go to sleep, I’ll be happy that I made this choice.
I can’t use being tired as an excuse. When Moon Pie gets here, I know I’ll have even less time, but because I want to be the healthiest dad I can for him or her, I have to make time.
Today, I am making the time. I am exercising. For an hour, I will better myself.
Related Posts:
Vlog 2: A Breakthrough
I would have come up with a witty title, but something so big happened today, I can’t. It just is what it is, and it’s huge.
Basically, I had a significant breakthrough in my “dieting” viewpoint.
If you are in a place where you can’t watch the vlog, this is it in a nutshell. (And would you watch it for me later? Please?)
Basically, I shot my calorie budget for the day early. By noon. Ordinarily, on days when I eat too much, I just view the day as lost, don’t exercise, and I plan to start over tomorrow.
Except today… I didn’t.
Even though my calories were shot, I still exercised. I exercised hard.
I don’t even know if I can express my excitement at this breakthrough. Some of you are probably saying, “Yeah, so what?” Well, for me… this is huge. Gargantuan. Life changing, even.
I’m very proud of myself right now.
Related Posts:
Good Rule #2 – Think Through the Workout
I have a match-up of videos to share about, but I’ll do that tomorrow. Instead, I had a burst of knowledge appear in my head today, and I have to share it. It helped me out immensely today; I hope it will help me out in the future, and if it helped me out, it might help someone else out, too.
The new rule I’ve found?
Think through the workout.
I came home from work exhausted. Not mentally but physically.
Mentally I was fine, but I was tired.
I came very close to just counting my calories for the day, sitting at my desk and working on my homework, and going to bed. No exercise.
But then I stopped and thought, “Imagine how good you will feel on Monday if you step on the scale and it shows another two pound loss.”
“Imagine how good you would feel if you just decided to put on your sneakers, strap on your heart rate monitor, and worked out for an hour.”
I thought through my workout.
By which I mean… I ignored the workout itself, and I focused on the good that would come from it.
The first five minutes were a little tough, but before I knew it, fifty minutes had passed, I completed one of my bracket’s videos, and my exercise for the day was finished.
Next time I am struggling to get the motivation to workout, I’m going to focus on the small immediate good that will come from my workout.
Picturing myself thin at 180 doesn’t always work. That’s too far away, and I’ve never been there, so I can’t visualize it.
But picturing myself standing on the scale Monday morning and seeing a 2 pound loss… that’s easy. I’ve done that before.
And with today’s workout done, I’m one step closer to doing it again.
Related Posts:
Benchmark set…
First time I’ve ever used a “good” heart rate monitor. I worked out pretty hard today. Just a quick workout before date night. I really thought I would have burned more calories, but that’s okay.
I’ll burn more tomorrow.
Related Posts:
