Weight Lifting- A Man's World?

I am intimidated by big muscley men in the gym. As a result I don't go near the weight machines and I most definitely stay away from the free weights.  In fact I wouldn't know what to do in that part of the gym.

I'm not a total newb (name that TV show) when it comes to weight lifting. I did finish P90X, but I had Tony guiding me through every workout. My results with P90X were great (they would have been better if I would have focused on my diet). But I want to be more toned and in order to get toned I have to either do P90X again or start lifting more at the gym.

Right now I am loving the atmosphere of the gym. I also like the idea of getting out of the house. So for now I am abandoning P90X and Insanity. But I have made a promise with myself that I will finish the entire Insanity program sometime in the new future! 

Ashley and I now have our own personal trainer! Well actually he is Ashley's co-worker. But he is so knowledgeable and loves to teach that it feels like we have a trainer.  We lift with him, his fiance and his brother.

I am starting to understand the addiction side of lifting and the benefits of lifting with at lease one other person. I love the fact that you feed off of each others energy. If you go harder, they go harder. It's all about competition, but with yourself. 

Today we lifted back and biceps. My favorite part of the workout was the rope excercise (I felt like a biggest loser contestant) : 

And hitting this (I forgot how much I enjoy boxing) : 

 
The goal is to lift with the group 2-3 times a week and do cardio (run or swim) the other 2-3 days. My "trainer" says I should be toned by Vegas! And by toned I don't mean this...

Or this...

 
All I have to do is make sure I stick to my diet. 

Bring it people... summer is almost here!!! 

Starting Weight (2/28/11): 134.6lbs

Current Weight: 129.4lbs

Total Weight Loss: -5.2lbs

Goal Weight: 120lbs

Note: Won the Work Weight-Loss Challenge! 

   

5 Things

ONE
Sunday the husband and I made the journey out to Calhan to visit the folks. I love it out there. It is so quiet and peaceful and most of all homey. I always come back thinking I could live out there. The husband thinks this from time to time as well. But deep inside we both know we have become too accustom to the conveniences of the city to honestly make the move to the country.

Taylor, Lindsey

Me, P

Mom, Dad

TWO
Saturday night I made the cupcakes that Curtis Stone made on The Biggest Loser. The cake part wasn't too bad, but the cream cheese/banana frosting was awful! I already threw the recipe away.

Harley with flour on his nose.

Curtis Stone Cup Cakes

THREE
I finally won at BUNCO! This is the first time I have won since us group of women started playing. I wish I had a picture to capture my excitement!! In case you have never heard of BUNCO it is a dice game.  There are many different ways to play, but basically you have three dice and try to roll as many sixes as possible. You keep rolling as long as you roll a six or three of a kind. If you don't roll a six the dice goes to the next person. You are paired with the person across the table from you. Once the head table reaches 21 points you total your points and the winning team moves up to the next table. The goal is to reach the head table and stay there for as long as possible.

FOUR
Ashley and I are eating clean starting tomorrow. Ashley and Josh are doing the Beachbody workout Insanity by Shaun T. They just finished week 2 and are seeing great results! Ashley, though, will admit that she hasn't been focusing on her diet. She recently decided that if she is going to put in the effort to do Insanity than she might as well give it everything she has starting in the kitchen. I decided to support her and eat clean with her for the next 10 days. Have you seen Ashley's post P90X pictures? If you are wondering she still looks like this!

Ashley post P90X

FIVE
I ordered the fabric for my dinning room curtains on Sunday. I am so excited to get it all put together! Luckily, my Grammie agreed to help me sew them. Here is the before and after picture of the wall that I painted and the picture that I am basing room around and the curtain fabric (the white is actually more cream). Do you think it will all come together?

Before

After

Inspiration

Curtain Fabric

Hardest. Workout. Ever.

Shaun T. & I

Today Sheila, me and about 100 other people attended Shaun T.'s Insanity Workout class. The workout was held at the Aurora Police Academy Gym. This was kind of cool because Insanity was taped in a gym. It added to the atmosphere and experience.

Let me just say this was one of the HARDEST workouts I have ever done! We started the workout by doing Shaun's famous warm-up. For those of you who have done Insanity know the warm-up is as hard as the actual workout. The warm-up consists of 3 rounds of cardio exercises. With each round you step up your intensity. This is called Max Interval Training, which is the science behind Insanity. After the warm-up my lungs were on fire and I thought I was going to get sick. But I stuck it out. 

We then stretched and went right into the hour long workout. Shaun was super motivating as he walked around the room helping people with form or pushing them a little harder.  He came around and helped me twice. Once while we were doing the "mummy kicks"and again when we were doing a jumping exercise. It was a really cool and an
unforgettable experience!

After the workout we had the opportunity to get a picture with Shaun T. and talk to him for a bit. He was a great sport about all of the women gawking over his body and begging him to take his shirt off.  
 
This workout/ meet and greet with Shaun T. is probably highlight #3 of the year!

You know what else I noticed... my BACK feels great! I am ready to get back into a workout regimen. I feel that my eating habits are in check and I am ready to really bring it!

If you recall I finished the 10 Day Eating Clean Challenge on Thursday. Sheila pointed out to me that this time I did it for myself. She's right! We didn't set a consequence. We said we were going to do it and we did! What a great feeling.

This past Friday I rewarded myself with a Starbucks non-fat vanilla latte and a reduced fat banana chocolate loaf. I ate clean for lunch and then Preston and I went on a love-cheat-meal-date to Salsa Brava. Today I am back to eating strict. The final Work Weight Loss Weigh-In is this Wednesday. I gotta stay focused!

Shaun T. in the House!

This is who I get to meet and workout with tomorrow morning! Shaun T. is coming to Denver and I will be in attendance! I am a little intimidated because this will be the first real hard workout I will have completed since I hurt my back.  

Shaun T. is the creator and instructor in the Beachbody workouts Insanity and Hip Hop Abs. 

Check out the crazy hard workout program Insanity by Shaun T.



If you have any questions or would like more information on Insanity just let me know!

Restarting Insanity

 

Instead of picking off from where I left off (day 2, week 2), I decided to restart Insanity. I really want to get the most out of this workout and I think this is the best way to do so. I am also adding jump roping to the end of as many workouts as possible. The main reason is to get my number of calories burned up. I have the Body Bugg, which is supposed to be 99% accurate but it only calculates me burning an average of 300 calories per workout. People who wear Polar often report they are burning 1000 calories per workout!! Some days I wish I had a Polar instead of a Body Bugg...

What type of calorie/heart rate monitor do you use?

P.S. Check out Chalene Johnson's website for a $15 discount on the Body Bugg.

1 Week Down 8 To Go

    I have officially completed week 1 of INSANITY! I am super excited for my scheduled rest day tomorrow. For one precious day I don't have to wake up (or attempt to wake up) at 6:30am. Tomorrow is going to be a great day!

Hardest Workout in Week 1

Plyometrics Cardio Circuit, specifically the level 3 drills (jump down into a plank, do 4 push-ups, then bring knee's to chest as if running in place for 8,7,6,5,4, jump up, repeat) and in and outs (blank position, bring knees into check, back to blank, repeat). 

 

Most Surprising Moment in Week 1

Being able to complete the entire warm-up without stopping. 

Average Calories Burned 

350 calories

What I Want to Improve On in Week 2

I would like to push myself a little harder, meaning do one more rep than I think I am capable of.

  

 

Sore from my Head to my Toe

Today is Day 2 of Insanity. I was so excited to start the workout I set my alarm and actually got up at 6:30am. It is so much easier to wake up early when all I have to do is walk into another room to start my workout. In the past I would pack my gym bag and lunch at night, plead with myself to get out of bed when my alarm goes off, drive to the gym, workout, and then take a shower and get ready for work in the locker room. Working out at home ROCKS!

The theory behind Insanity is you preform long bursts of maximum-intensity exercises with short periods of rest. This mornings workout was Plyometric Cardio Circuit in which you "burn fat with intervals of intense lower-body plyo and sweat inducing cardio". Translation, 40 minutes of grueling pain. Basically you do 3 rounds of each circuit. The first round is at a medium learning pace, followed by 30 seconds of rest, round two is at a little higher intensity, followed by 30 second of rest, and then the third round is why they call this program Insanity. You give it all you got, going as fast as you can. 

Initially I was curious if I was going to get a full body workout doing Insanity. As a P90X enthusiast, it is engraved in me that I need to have resistance training in my workout to add balance and get better results. Only after 2 days I am sore ALL OVER from my shoulders to my calves. Every inch of my body hurts. I could barley raise my arms this morning to wash my hair. Tomorrow is Cardio Power and Resistance.

Have a good weekend everyone!

Let's Get Insane!

This afternoon I made an impromptu decision. I decided to start the beachbody workout program INSANITY. I knew I had to workout today to get my 4 workouts in for the week. I had originally planned on going to the gym, but I am already getting board of that place with its equally boring treadmills. My next thought was maybe I should run outside with the dogs. I checked the temperature and decided that 88 degrees was just a little too hot for me. Then I found out that my co-worker ordered P90X from me and I thought you know I would love to start a structured beachbody program. I knew I wasn't ready for P90X again. I needed something new to keep my interest. What I really wanted to do was buy the new Chalene Johnson beachbody program called TURBO FIRE, but I knew I had TURBO JAM and INSANITY at home. Both of which I never gave my full attention to. So TURBO JAM or INSANITY... a great, uplifting, fun workout or a tough, gut wrenching, dieing on the floor workout. What was I looking for? 

And so I made my decision on INSANITY. Mainly because I wanted to make sure my workouts would help prepare me for The Cure 5K. I didn't want to feel like I had to find time to run on the side.

Today is Day 1. The INSANITY calendar says Fit Test. I thought okay I'll do the fit test and then move onto the next workout, Plyo Cardio Circuit. Umm I must have forgot how hard even the fit test is! I started Insanity sometime last year and I didn't get very far with the program because at the time I didn't feel like I was at the needed fitness level. This time already feels different. I didn't get as tuckered out during the warm-up and my numbers were higher.

The first number is from last year and the second number is today's (if I was a true blogger extraordinaire I would put this in a nice neat table, but I have no idea how).

Switch Kicks: 56, 73  

Power Jacks: 53, 64

Power Knees: 97, 102

Power Jumps: 35, 44

Globe Jumps: 10, 11

Suicide Jumps: 13, 20

Push-Up Jacks: 23, 26

Low Plank Oblique: 50, 60

Tomorrow will be the true test! I can't wait to tell you all about it.

If you want to learn more about INSANITY or other Beachbdoy workouts check out my website: http://beachbodycoach.com/lhollis.