Mamavation Monday. January 15

I guess I pushed myself hard last week. I haven't been feeling too hot this week so far. I am on the mend, so that's a good thing. I'm still pushing hard in my Combat challenge group. I've also been on a Reset diet since January 2, so getting used to foods that are purely fueling and cleansing is something that has been a bit wearing on my body.

Here's my workouts for last week:

Monday: Les Mills Combat Lower Body Lean Out and teach Silver Sneakers Yoga Stretch class (DONE!)

Tuesday: Combat HIIT: Plyo and Inner Warrior (Last Saturday's workout)

Wednesday: Les Mills Combat 60 Ultimate Warrior's Workout. It was really raining, so no run.

Thursday: Combat HIIT: Power and Inner Warrior (Stretch). Then observed (take) a Silver Sneakers MSROM class, and walked with my neighbor.

Friday: Combat 30 LIVE and Core Attack. (That Core Attack is intense.) I also did a 1 mile test run for my knee on the treadmill.

Saturday: Combat HIIT: Power and Inner Warrior

Sunday: 3.14 mile run with my running buddy. It was an awesome run, and my knee felt wonderful!

Here's what's going on this week:

Monday: Combat Power Kata (makeup for Sunday) and Upper Body Blow Out. Taught my SSYoga Stretch class.

Tuesday: Rest day. I totally needed this because I have not been on my A game.

Wednesday: Combat 60: Extreme Cardio Fighter. Scheduled an evening run with running buddy.

Thursday: Combat HIIT: Power and Inner Warrior, MSROM class, and walk group.

Friday: Combat 60. Not sure if I'm going to do Extreme Cardio Fighter again or the Ultimate Warrior's Workout.

Saturday: Combat HIIT: Power and Inner Warrior

Sunday: Combat 30 and Core Attack as well as a run with the buddy. Hoping for 5 this week.

I'm really excited to see how this last week of the Reset diet will energize my body. I'll make sure to let you know how it turns out.

How's your week turning out so far?

Mamavation Monday...er, Tuesday: January 8

That's it. I'm scheduling phone alarms from here on out to write more. I really don't know what my deal is, and I need to write more. I need to give you my readers more content about me and I need to write because that's how I process. Here's my weekly Mamavation post:

Here's my workouts for last week:

Monday: Les Mills Combat Kick Start 30 and taught Silver Sneakers Yoga Stretch class 

Tuesday: Nada...New Years Relaxation.

Wednesday: Les Mills Combat Kick Start 30

Thursday: Combat HIIT: Power and Inner Warrior (Stretch); 2.34 mile walk with my walk group.

Friday: Combat 30 and Core Attack. Then, taught YogaStretch.

Saturday: I was in Dallas most of the day and had unexpected company so no workout for me.

Sunday: 2.81 mile run with the running buddy and Combat 45 Power Kata

Here's what I've got in store for this week!

Monday: Les Mills Combat Lower Body Lean Out and teach Silver Sneakers Yoga Stretch class (DONE!)

Tuesday: Combat HIIT: Plyo and Inner Warrior (Last Saturday's workout)

Wednesday: Les Mills Combat 60 Ultimate Cardio Fighter and evening run with the buddy if it's not pouring down rain.

Thursday: Combat HIIT: Power and Inner Warrior (Stretch). Then observe (take) a Silver Sneakers MSROM class.

Friday: Combat 30 and Core Attack. 

Saturday: Combat HIIT: Plyo and Inner Warrior

Sunday: Run day and Combat HIIT: Plyo and Inner Warrior

I'm feeling fatigued in my knee, which I know is good, because of all of the squatting and kicks I'm getting in with the Les Mills Combat. Foam rolling has also become my new best friend and we have a date every night before bed. 

How is your week looking? Please share.

Mamavation Monday: December 31

Christmas and everyone home on break really has thrown me off on everything.

Here's my workouts for last week:

Monday: No workout. Not having class really threw off my schedule.

Tuesday: Christmas. Yea … nada.

Wednesday: Les Mills Combat 45 Power Kata

Thursday: Observed (which means taking) a Silver Sneakers MSROM class. I'm a sub for this class and will be teaching it at another rec center soon.

Friday: Combat 60 Extreme Warrior Fighter

Saturday: Nada … I have no idea why.

Sunday: I was supposed to run with my buddy but then got distracted by baking and purging the kitchen after she needed to reschedule.

Here's the plan for this week (I've got it scheduled on my calendar so I refuse to skip workouts):

Monday: Les Mills Combat Kick Start 30 and teach Silver Sneakers Yoga Stretch class (DONE!)

Tuesday: 3-5 mile run

Wednesday: Start date of my Warrior Combat Challenge Group. Les Mills Combat Kick Start 30

Thursday: Combat HIIT: Power and Inner Warrior (Stretch)

Friday: Combat 30 and Core Attack. Then, teach YogaStretch.

Saturday: Combat HIIT: Plyo and Inner Warrior

Sunday: Run day and Combat 45 Power Kata

I'm sure there will be more running involved. I'm at a crux with my running and really trying to focus on strength and endurance right now. I'm purposely not scheduling runs so I avoid overuse injuries and boredom. I really think my Combat Challenge group will accomplish everything I'm looking to do right now and running will come back to me soon.

Weekly Check In: December 26

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas holiday! I know I did! We even got snow!!! Snow seems to make our Christmases even more magical because we don't get it very often here in Texas.

This is what I had planned for last week:

Monday, Les Mill Combat 30 LIVE and teach Yoga Stretch class
Tuesday:Les Mills Combat HIIT: Power and Inner Warrior and walk group in the evening
Wednesday: Les Mills Combat 30 and Core Attack. 
Thursday: Les Mills Combat HIIT: Plyo and Inner Warrior, then my evening Walk Group
Friday: Les Mills Combat 45
Saturday: Les Mills Combat Warrior 2 (or Lower Body Lean Out)
Sunday: Minimum of a 5 mile run. 



This is how my week turned out:

Monday, Les Mill Combat 30 LIVE and teach Yoga Stretch class
Tuesday:Les Mills Combat HIIT: Power and Inner Warrior
Wednesday: Les Mills Combat 30 .
Thursday: Les Mills Combat HIIT: Shock Plyo and Inner Warrior, then my evening Walk Group
Friday: Nada
Saturday: My family over for Christmas so I ended up cooking, hosting, and cleaning.
Sunday:Exhausted from not usually hosting a holiday meal. Another Rest Day.
Monday: Christmas Eve (no workout)
Tuesday: Christmas (no workout)

Here's what the rest of my Christmas week looks like:

Wednesday: Les Mills Combat 45 (CHECK!)
Thursday: Combat 60 Extreme Warrior Fighter
Friday: Combat Warrior 2 & Inner Warrior workouts
Saturday: Not too sure, but I'm sure a core workout will be involved.
Sunday: 5 mile run minimum.

How is your week shaping up? Are you still with family or traveling?

Changing It Up

This past week, I took a break from P90X to change things up a bit before I started on Phase 2, a.k.a Days 30-60. I took advantage of some Les Mills classes offered at one of my local recreation centers as well as hitting the road and field.

This is my schedule of last week:

Monday: Les Mills Body Combat (high cardio, alot like KenpoX/kickboxing)

Tuesday: Les Mills Body Pump (cardio/weight mix)

Wednesday: Rest (I tested heavier weights than normal on the Body Pump and could barely move my arms)

Thursday: Les Mills Body Flow (a mix of Tai Chi, Yoga, Pilates - I love, love this class!)

Friday: Unintended rest day

Saturday: Early morning run. Short, sweet, slow. 1.64 miles in 22 minutes.

Sunday: Soccer training with P and the boys. Shooting, passing, sprints, one-on-one practice with P as the keeper/coach.

I'm glad I changed up the routine a bit. A little mix up is good for the body, but for me, it's a more mental thing. I get bored easily with workouts, therefore the change up was just what I needed to get excited about starting Phase 2 of P90X.

The Les Mills classes were really fun. That's a surprise coming from me because I don't get into the whole group fitness classes. Yet, I think they were more fun because I've been working out at home. I know I would have made a fool of myself in the Body Combat classes if I had not done the KenpoX. Tripping over my own two feet is not my favorite way to embarrass myself. I was confident though during the class, probably because I did all the self-tripping in the comfort of my own home where no one was watching. The Body Flow class was exactly what I needed that week. Full of calming and centering techniques with strength poses intertwined, I felt stronger and calmer at the end of the 60 minutes. My confidence soared when I hit and held two strength moves (the Crow and Warrior 3) consistently. I could not do that in May. I think I'll definitely be taking the Body Flow classes again. I added pictures of the Crow and Warrior 3 poses for you to see these amazing strength moves.

The Crow and Warrior 3

My run on Saturday was amazing and difficult. I felt free again, and loved the feel of my feet hitting the pavement. Despite the humidity, I felt strong and ran all but 0.10 of the 1.64 miles I tracked. The difficulty of the running was the mental motivation. I have been scared to get running again, even though I felt I could. I did not want to push myself out of excitement or the internal want to do more. I have a tendency to push myself to do more than my body should. After the run, I was glad I got out there and just did it.

Sunday morning, I got P and the kids up to help me with some soccer training for my upcoming season. Why Sundays? My games are on Sundays. Why training? I feel that since my workouts have been indoors and with very minimal running, I need to get out on the field and acclimate myself to the heat, the humidity, the field, and my cleats. I always need work on my long balls and shooting. P makes a great coach. Even though he only played a couple of years when he was younger, he knew enough to push me when I was ready it call it a day. He knew what I needed work on and yelled across the field to keep my mind out of the zone I get in when it comes to soccer and mentally aware of the skills I needed to work. The boys helped me with passing and I also got to do a little coaching of my own with T and teaching him how to kick the ball and the Cy-guy and keeping his dribbling consistent. A perfect morning to get us all up and moving for the day.

Now, Week 5 of P90X starts. I'm ready with a mental excitement and ready to keep moving on this journey to get stronger and healthier. Those are my main goals from this round of P90X. The lost weight and inches are only an added bonus, as well as the look in my boys' eyes when they see my arms while we compare muscles in the evenings.