Eboncat's Winter Break

[Eboncat]

I have 2 goals for this 2 weeks.

 

I want to get back in the habit of getting at least 7 hours of sleep each night.

 

I want to find/develop at least 10 short (1/2 hr) workouts to use during the next challenges.  I've found one, so thats a start!

- try them out during this 2 weeks so I can figure out what's working for me.

[Eboncat]

Sleep:

Monday night - 6.25 hrs

Tuesday night - 9 hrs (slept in - Woot  Christmas!)

Wednesday night -  6.5 hrs (and at least 1/2 hr of that was hitting snooze).

 

I need to work on getting to bed before midnight, especially when I have to work the next day.

 

Workouts:  I have one so far - it's a combo tabata and "series" that takes 33min (not incl. warmup or stretch).  It's a little longer than I was hoping, but it looks pretty badass (at least to me).

 

Tabata 1 & 2: Jumping Jacks and Alternating Backward Lunge

30 sec each: elbow plank, right side elbow plank, elbow plank, left side elbow plank, elbow plank

rest 1 min

Tabata 3 & 4: Burpees & hop side skaters

30sec each: reverse plank, rev.plank w/ leg lifts, tricep dips, alt leg lift tricep dips, tabletop hold

rest 1 min

Tabata 5 & 6:  Bicycle crunch & toe touches (v-ups)

30 sec each: Superman hold, prone alt. leg lift, pilates swim, opposite arm & leg reach (cat position), downward dog.

 

I think the 1st 2 tabatas are intended to be a warmup.  I don't really like bicycle crunches, so I may try to find something else to substitute for those.  I'm going to try it out tomorrow.

[Kishi]

Hey there, EC! Nice to see you here.

 

I hear you on the bicycles; not a huge fan myself. Maybe a good alternative would be Russian Twists? It works a lot of the same muscles, but it's much more stable because you're holding the legs in a single place.

[idealistinfire]

I soooo wish my shoulder and neck where doing better - that workout looks amazing (and most definitely badass). 

[Eboncat]

Exactly what I was thinking, Kishi.

 

And it did wipe me out, in a good way.  I think I'll keep it.  My son came in and did it with me for a little while - then he started making up his own stretches and exercises: "look Mommy! I'm a pretzel!".  A little distracting, but I was happy to have him in there.

 

Last night we went to TKD and had "fun class" which was fun - just games that involve running, blocking and teamwork.  I did something to my toe (stubbed it? kicked someone's foot? I really have no idea) and after that class it started turning purple and was bleeding a little at the base of my nail.  So, of course, we stayed and did the workout class.  Lots of planks and pushups and core work, some cardio.  I left little blood smudges on the mat.  My toe was not happy with me after that - I could barely walk last night.  So I elevated it and iced it and took some naproxen.  It's better this morning, though still discolored and sore.  But we have cardio class this morning and we're going - I'll just let the intructor know and baby it when I can.  I have weights later too, may have to modify that also.

 

Sleep:

Thurs night: 9.5hrs (on vacation now)

Friday night: 7 hrs.

[Kishi]

Ooh, stubbed toes, not fun. I had to go train yesterday with mine still all purple and bruised. Apparently it's so dark that sensei thought I'd colored the nail. o.O Hope it's not broken!

[idealistinfire]

ouch!  Glad you enjoyed the workout though, and that your son is having fun with it too   Hope the toe gets better quickly

[Eboncat]

I made it through the cardio class Saturday morning.  The owner was there - he asked if we (hubby and I) were sore from the night before.  I wasn't too much, little bit in the upper abs.  He said the instructor's friends (she's a 20ish black belt who's going to college on a cheerleading scholarship) weren't coming in for the cardio class because they were too sore.  Made me feel good!  The cardio class was great, and I did get sore from that.  We did a lot of side hip raises into side kick or round kick position.  I need to incorporate those into some of my workouts.  I also have been fighting some kind of stomach flu since Saturday afternoon.  It seems to have worked itself out now, but I still feel weak.  Probably because I couldnt really eat anything Saturday night or yesterday after all that working out Friday and Sat.  The same instructor is teaching a CXT class (tumbling? not really sure) this afternoon.  Hubby really wants to go, so we probably will.  My toe is still super ugly and sore, but it moves, so probably not broken.

[Kishi]

ooh, tumbling work? that sounds fun.

 

Also, way to not be sore after the workout. Looks like you beat them.

[Eboncat]

Not bad for someone who's probably double their age, right?

 

I didn't get to the tumbling class.  I guess the flu wasn't quite done with me and I figured trying not to puke and tumbling would be a bad combo.  Hubby went and had a good time.  I did make it to the regular class, spent the next hour somewhat regretting it - no puking, but it was close a couple times.  I'm not really sure if it was the flu or lack of energy - I really haven't been able to eat anything for a couple days. I feel better this morning.  No class today, so I'm just going to take a rest day and go see The Hobbit.  At least I won't have to worry about wanting to eat a whole bucket of popcorn.

 

Sleep:

Saturday night: 11.45.

Sunday night:  10

Monday night:  8.75

 

I've been sick and I'm on vacation this week - makes it easier to get enough sleep.  Those don't include the naps where I've fallen asleep in front of the t.v.  I think I'll continue this into the next challenge to make it stick.

[idealistinfire]

Sorry you've been sick - I've heard a nasty stomach bug is going around. 

 

I like the idea of sticking to the goals next challenge   Hope you enjoy The Hobbit - I was pleasantly surprised, but then, I didn't have any real expectations going in.

[Eboncat]

I enjoyed it, more than I thought I would.  I guess I made up my mind ahead of time not to be annoyed by the added stuff and the deviatons from the book.  The added stuff that actually comes from Tolkein  (what Gandalf was doing when he left them) I liked.  And they did such an amazing job with Smaug, I didn't mind seeing more of him.  The movie was a little long for my 6 yr old, but he really liked the dwarves riding in the barrels down the river, and he was leaning forward with his eyes huge and a big grin on his face during the scenes with Smaug.

 

Feeling better today.  My workout is going to consist of practicing my gold belt combinations for class tomorrow.  And some stretching.

[Kishi]

Sounds like a good workout, and I'm glad you enjoyed the film!

[Eboncat]

Sleep:

Tues night: 7.45 hrs

Wed Night: guess - 9 hrs (forgot to record)

Thurs night: 8.25 hrs

 

Recap:

 

Sleep: out of 11 nights, I missed 2.  Those 2 were nights I had to get up for work the next morning.  The lesson there being go to bed earlier the night before.  81%.

 

Planning workouts:  I've found/come up with 9 short workouts I can use. So I'm giving myself 100% on this goal.  I have 3 over 30 minutes, 3 right about 30 minutes and 3 less than 25 minutes.  I also typed out a warmup sequence and a cooldown sequence so I'm not just winging it.  I'm going to get some popsickle sticks and write the workout names on them (color coded for time so I can do the really short ones on work days) and draw them out randomly to give me some variety. I've also already entered them in my workout app so they're ready to go.  I'll be looking for more too, so if anyone has suggestions, let me know. 

 

I included the ones I made up below, please critique them.  They are tabata style - 8 rounds of  the exercise (20 sec on, 10 sec rest).

 

Tabata

1. Jumping Jacks, Front kicks, Plank, Squats, Combo #2 (front punch, front kick, back punch)
2. X jumps, pushups, side kicks, chin ups, Combo #3 (front punch, side kick, back punch)
3. Jump lunges, leg raises, round kicks, mason twist, Combo #4 (front punch, round kick, back ridge hand)

on the kicks/combos I'll switch legs for each set.

[idealistinfire]

Congratulations on a successful mini-challenge!  I may steal your workout ideas for the future - they look like fun!  Well, fun meaning "They'll kick my butt but I'll get to feel all sorts of badass once I can actually complete them, which is, in fact, fun."

[Eboncat]

That's fun.  And I fully expect them to kick my ass for awhile.  Then it'll be time to find something harder.

[Kishi]

Those look like great workouts! I hope you enjoy them.

 

Have you considered "cards" workouts? You basically take a deck of cards, assign an exercise to each suit, and shuffle the deck. Afterward, you start to draw off the top, and you have to do x amount of reps of whatever exercise the suit represents.

 

So, just for instance, you could go:

 

Clubs - Push Ups

Spades - Inverted Rows

Diamonds - Squats

Hearts - Leg Raises

 

Draw a two of spades? Two inverted rows. And so on. Face cards are ten reps each, Aces are eleven. And if you're stuck for time, set a timer and try to get through as many cards as you can.

[Eboncat]

That sounds pretty cool, Kishi.  Thanks!