Thursday, August 9, 2012

How Committed Am I to Working Out?

Yesterday I had hopes to run on a track while my bf went to school. However, by the time he had to leave, I had only gotten 5 1/2 hrs of sleep. I chose to sleep some more because I have come to the conclusion my work outs are terrible on lack of sleep. When I woke up, I did a round of Insanity to make it 3 days in a row. I have partially fallen off the Insanity wagon. I follow the order of the DVDs but not the schedule. I throw some running in there and have days off when I'm busy. Days off are important. My joints are starting to get sore.

But that's the thing. I will be busy soon. What if the days off get longer and longer? I went to Sports Chek the other day. I wanted to buy a pair of shorts or maybe another dri-fit tank top. But they were around 35-50$. I only have 2 pairs of shorts I work out in so I'm constantly doing laundry now. And then I asked myself, will I really stick to working out? Is it a worthy investment? In just under 2 weeks, I'm going to be starting my nursing preceptorship. I don't know what my schedule will be like. Is it 4 days on 5 days off? I sure as hell won't be working out in the early mornings. When I leave the hospital, the first thing I want to do is take a shower. I definitely could on days off but seems kind of counterproductive to have that many days off in a row.

Or maybe I should just stop making excuses and just do it. My baseline motivation right now is that there is no reason for me not to do it with all the free time i have. But I'd like for this to be a regular part of my life.

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Too Much Cardio is Bad?

That is the question.

Recently I read how cardio can make you skinny fat and cardio is counterproductive to building muscle. My personal aim is cardio. When I only do it 3x/week, it feels like a cop out. I like Insanity (despite how hard it is) because it feels like both cardio and working my muscles. I do like running too. I think the amount of cardio I'm doing is fine. My bf thinks I should do less cardio and do more weights. I'm getting somewhat bony and some muscle padding would help alleviate that. Today, I saw I was to do Cardio Recovery on the Insanity schedule which is muscle strengthening and zero cardio. I was tempted to do a cardio dvd but figured some anaerobic exercise would do me good. My legs were sore. I sweated. I suppose it was a productive workout.

Anyway, I still don't think I'm doing too much cardio. To me, too much is doing cardio for long periods of time every day. At 45 mins-ish 3-5x/week, I think I'm good.

I'm going to run on a track on Wednesday. I'm pretty stoked. It's been years since I ran on one and I like it because it gives me a good gauge of my distance. I don't have anything fancy that measures my distance for me. I'm going to aim for 5km and see how my time is.


Monday, August 6, 2012

Too Busy to Workout


I filled out an entire month (well except those four days of not working out due to hurting my foot) of workouts. It's more than I expected of myself from when I first began in May. You know what the push for me to work out is? If I can spend 10 hrs a day on twitter, facebook, youtube etc, I can sacrifice at least 30 mins of that to get my heart pumping. 

However this week, I felt swamped. I had two finals and a project. My family went to Hawaii so I was in charge of making lunches and dinners for 6 people. I had to take care of my dog who's still hobbling on 3 legs. I was still on my go to bed at 3 am (it's 3am as I type this) and wake up at noon schedule which really screwed up my productivity. So I was too busy to workout. And it sounds so lame. It makes me worry about what it will really be like when I'm at the hospital 48 hrs/week plus paper writing in between. I was only able to squeeze 3 workouts this past week: P90X Cardio X, Running 5.2 km, and Insanity Cardio Power and Resistance. 

But I have 2 weeks of freedom so we all know what that means! Enjoying myself to the full max. I am hoping that within these two weeks, I will be able to run 5km without stopping. The thing I love about Insanity is that I feel like it really improves my stamina. 

Here's some pictures. A friend sent me this pic the other week. I was in Gr 11 or 12. Man how time flies. 


Like my amazing photoshop skills? Pretend I'm in a field with my dog. 


Wednesday, August 1, 2012

So Much of Running is Mental

An elementary school classmate of mine msg'd me the other day highlighting the above quote. While I was out for my run, I debated that. I initially mapped out a 5 km route but halfway, I had to run home for a bathroom break. I altered my running route and ran that half route twice. Too bad majority of it was in the sun. I started getting a bit wheezy from the heat and wondered if I mentally thought I couldn't run anymore or I physically couldn't. I ended up slowing to a walk for a few meters then picking back up again. My HR was strong at 160-184. A little bit on the high side but I think the heat had something to do with it. I'm really pleased that I can push myself a bit further with each run.

I am totally obsessed with Pinterest.  gillybean604 exercise inspiration is my pinterest board. I do find it motivating. Although right now, my own interest in working out is motivating enough. I actually enjoy exercising!

I need to find some new ab moves for my ab routine. I'm already doing 3 sets of 5 different exercises. I could add more reps or find something more challenging. Currently the best one is the basic plank. I think I will increase  to 1min 20 secs/plank. It's an improvement from when I first started at 30secs. I seriously googled how to get washboard abs. I liked this article because it discussed different type of plank exercises. Plus it didn't suggest crunches or situps which I hate. I don't think it's rocket science to get a six pack. Eat well and exercise seems to be the underlying tone of all the articles I read. There are no shortcuts! Currently, my abs are still hiding.