Do I dare take the hydrostatic body fat test?

(Biting my nails). I've decided to get my body fat measured under water. Yes. I'm taking the plunge! No pun intended :) My health club is offering it at $40 bucks for members the second weekend in October. The hydrostatic water test and the bodpod are the two most accurate ways to measure body fat. So the truck is pulling in and I'm going to do it. I've never done it before and I KNOW that I'm probably NOT going to be thrilled with the results. That being said, I promise to **tch or complain about the number and just move on with a positive attitude about it :)

I've been at the gym every day and take only two days off. Usually Wednesday to play tennis, and one day on the weekend where I just relax. It's been a very good schedule for me. My meals have been excellent, so I'd like to pat myself on the back for that! I was remembering Laura's white bean soup and got inspired to make some. Speaking of which, she also mentioned that Cookie day is coming up! So in honor of that, I'm going to make some myself! :)

I know I didn't post much here about any specific exercises, but I thought it would be cool to inform on the body fat testing. Later gators!

I love my new shoes

I felt like I was gliding across water. It was a lot more fun to run in them than my black pair. I ran from work up to King west to where it meets with Kapiolani, down Kapiolani and back to work. 2.5 miles. I'm getting back into running again after what feels like too long. Actually, it feels like I ma always getting back into running. Hmm.

it's all new

Yesterday I did a workout called the "Big Muscle Stimulus Plan" from http://www.coreperformance.com/. Ale, I know how much you love stimulus plans, I thought of you. But really, joking aside, it was an Ale kind of workout. My sister-in-law and brother were telling me about Mark Verstegen and his method of training, so I bought his book to read and tried out this online workout. I'm so sore! Good sore.

The workout was a series of warm-up "pre-hab" exercises, then 3 rounds of 1) 3 point isometric chin ups and 2) Split Squats with a minute break between rounds, and then 3 rounds of 1) Romanian Deadlifts and 2) Alternating Dumbbell Bench Press again with the minute break, followed by foam rollling. The squats, deadlifts and presses I did with 2 20 lb dumbbells. I did some rows and lat raises too with little wieghts because my back is giving me grief these days.

34 minutes. In and out.

By the end of the evening, I was still shaky. My toothbrush felt like it was 50 pounds. Today, my butt is sore. Not "Toilet test" sore, but like the sore when we did the skipping on the Bozu ball kind of sore.

Today I am going running for the first time in what feels like a long while. However, I have incentive. NEW SHOES!!!! I went to the Running Room (or whichever is on Kapahulu) and tested out a few pairs. Opted for some New Balance ones. First time out will be today. They felt so nice when I test ran them. Stable yet roomy enought that I can keep my feet strong for dance.

La

Free Motion rocks!

I warmed up today doing a H.I.T. (High Intensity Training)warmup for about 15 minutes. I used the treadmill to walk for 2 minutes and then run at a high speed for 1 minute. After my warmup, I "hit" the Free Motion equipment to weight train for today:

lo-high chops with 40 lbs (all reps were 15 and 2 sets each)

high-lo chops w/ 40 lbs

standard squat w/ 90 lbs

lat pull w/ 40 lbs

tricep pull w/ 30 lbs

tricep extension w/ 30 lbs

lateral raises w/ 10 lbs each side

abs - pop ups w/ 5 lb plate 40 reps

abs - russian twist w/ 8 lb ball

abs - side plank w/ arm reach to ceiling

I'm feeling the effects already. It was definitely a productive work out. I'll be heading out for a 2 mile walk with the kids this evening too. Tomorrow I will focus more on back, legs and cardio. Tootles!

Speaking of "back at it"...in the water!

I got back into the pool today! And I forgot my post yesterday that I did 2.5 miles of speed walking...I looked AND felt stupid, but my gluteus minimus is smiling today :) Anyway, today I worked hard in the gym. here's what went down:

Run: 6 mph for 10 min (warm up)
Weights: Free Motion equipment and the TRX. (remember that from the YMCA?)
Swim: Approx 350 yards.

It was really nice to do different things, but maybe I'm being a "little" ambitious. Next time I'll pick either the TRX or the Free Motion, but not both :) I'm already feeling my muscles ache a little, although I know part of it was from the speed walking. It's actually REALLY tiring! Thank goodness for itunes!

Back at it.

Today, Melanie, Oscar and I did a little cross-fit-esque workout. It's the first I've done since Ale left. Phew, let me tell you! I am out-of-shape! But I stuck with it and I think we all will be sore tomorrow.

Here's what we did:
3 rounds, 1 minute each

1. Pull throughs - red band
2. Crazy 8s
3. Squat with overhead press - 10# dumbbells
4. Burpees
5. Bear crawls

We were going to time everything by the bear crawl (three lengths of the room), but we didn't have a total of 5 people show up so we improvised.

I also started rehearsing for my dance I am choreograhing yesterday. My first time choreographing. It's difficult figuring out if I should go on, or to review, but it was fun and thankfully the girls are patient. I'll keep you posted on how the rehearsals and the piece turn out.

Hiking counts as exercise!

Once a month, the club I belong to does "Jere's jaunts". He takes a group and we go hiking in different places from Northern Cal to Tahoe to national forests. The hikes are anywhere between 5-11 miles and range from easy to advanced. I'll be doing my first one this month since I had the kids at last months. I'll take pics and let you both know how it goes! :)


Hiking Maunawili Falls