Fatigue Part 2

I wrote about fatigue once before (here) -- way back in January in which I worked out in the evening and then again the next morning.  The fatigue I am feeling now is of a whole different breed.

It's the fatigue from a week of vacation and then two weeks of weddings and parties (including lots of alcohol and rich foods!).  From stress with my upcoming graduation and the party to celebrate it.  From stress of job searching, and feeling that the search is going nowhere.  From trying to remember that not everything can be solved and that it's not all my responsibility to fix things.

All this to say that working out is hard.  I'm pushing myself through the workouts -- increasing my weight and reps -- but I want to stop and rest a lot more (especially during Plyocide, but that's normal). Next week I'm doing an Insanity Week, so we'll see how that goes.  If nothing else, it will be a change of pace -- talk about muscle confusion!   

Insane P90X2?

Now that I'm back from vacationing in Maui, I can stop and think about how it went.  Insanity is ridiculous.  Such a good workout to do on vacation though because it was short and didn't require any equipment to speak of.  It was awful because we had never done it before, and as I noted in previous posts, frequently said "What?"  and "Are you kidding?" to our computer as Shaun T. called out the exercises.  But, the ridiculousness of the exercises means I only gained 4 pounds over vacation -- which feels like a miracle!

So, I'm going to revamp my entire workout routine that I had set up for the next few weeks and transition into an Insanity-P90X2 hybrid.  I'm thinking one week of P90X2 then a week of Insanity... sounds like fun, right?  Plus the running I've added in?  Sounds great. :)

Insanity in Maui

While this also describes my vacation so far...as Day 2 begins it has been super fun!... yesterday John and I did Insanity Plyo Cardio Circuit.

OMG. I took so many breaks (not long, but breaks nonetheless)! The 30 second water breaks were not long enough for my heart rate to really recover. I kept saying, "Are you kidding me?" It was nonstop. The warm-up was RIDICULOUS! The workout was crazy.

John and I did this together, which was awesome! It's one of the first workouts we have done together. We supported each other and had fun while doing it!

At the end, I told John I might consider doing a week of Insanity, then a week of P90X2 -- Insane P90X2. Then I woke up today with sore inner thighs and am wondering how good of an idea that is... just kidding! It's a good sore. And working out on vacation is hard, so I'm psyched that John and I ran 4 miles on Saturday and then did Insanity on Sunday. The goal is to work out today too, but we'll have to see how the day progresses.

This was the view we had while we were working out. Not so bad.

Calories Burned: 539
Time in Zone: 38:57 (93%)
Average Heart Rate: 151
Peak Heart Rate: 177

interesting fact

Yesterday I actually went and did some number crunching on my weight, body fat, and body fat percentage from the beginning to the end of P90X2.  As I think I've mentioned, I haven't lost any weight.  That's usually the first question people ask, and they are surprised when I say I haven't lost any.  But, I hadn't really looked at the numbers to see what that meant.

January 12 --> April 19
Weight: 134.1 --> 135.7 (+1.6 pounds)
Body Fat: 32.2 --> 32.3 (+0.1 pounds)
Body Fat Percentage: 24.1 --> 23.9 (-0.2%)

So, yes, I gained weight, but the majority of it was muscle weight.  And, my body fat percentage still dropped, even though I technically gained a bit of body fat.  FASCINATING.

This reminds me that I should stop worrying about the scale every week.  It's constantly up and down.  I know that, and I still feel compelled to check it compulsively each week.  Since I'm going to be in Maui next week, and not checking it, it will be the perfect time to go to an every other week checking situation.

This morning I got up and did Balance & Power.  I like this workout a lot.  The moves are all really different -- with three rounds of 6 exercises.  I've been working on using the Stability Ball to do Sphinx to Plank Roll Ups and Plyo Bounces -- they aren't pretty, but they are getting done.  My core is SO MUCH stronger!  I'm not very good at the Forearm Alternating Side Plank on the stability ball.  I can do this with med balls, but the stability ball is just still unpredictable.

Calories Burned = 529
Time in Zone = 40:52 (83%)
Average Heart Rate = 137
Peak Heart Rate = 171

yay for Total Body!

I have been looking forward to Total Body and Ab Ripper ALL DAY!  I have gotten in such a habit of taking, at most, one day off between workouts, that taking the last two days off has been harder than I thought!

Here's what I like about where I am now -- before I did P90X2, when I didn't work out for a few days, I would also eat terribly.  The last two days, I have intentionally cut my caloric intake - mostly by not having an extra dairy serving or not having the protein bar.  So yay for that.  Plus, I always felt like the two days I would take off before really made me less toned -- like I could see the difference between workout me and not workout me.

I feel buff all the time right now. :) And so much stronger.  I did 12 push-up side arm balance moves ON MED BALLS!

Calories Burned = 848
Total Time in Zone = 54:38 (62%)
Average Heart Rate = 129
Peak Heart Rate = 171

Hit My Plyocide Limit

I started the warm up for Plyocide yesterday, and just could not make myself get past the foam rolling.  I was angry yesterday for a variety of personal reasons, and in hindsight, Plyocide might have made me feel better, but thinking about it just made me more angry.  Since I didn't have plans to work out today, that makes 2 days that I won't work out. 

Luckily, I have big plans to do Insanity while in Maui next week.

Your Old Pal, The Frog

About halfway through the Frog, Tony Horton says, "So, if this is starting to feel easy for you, you can move your knees apart."

This has never happened to me.

The Frog hurts me for the entire 90 seconds I do it.  I'm getting better, but geez.

Calories Burned = 367
Time in Zone = 9:26 (15%)
Average Heart Rate = 103
Peak Heart Rate = 154

Total Body Round 2

It turns out that working with a real set of weights is different than working with resistance bands.  Especially when you have two weights that are adjustable, so you have to pause to make sure you have the right weight.

I was really excited because I tried a few things differently this round -- like Push Up Side Arm Balance on Med Balls!  It's hard enough on the floor -- but when you do it with your hands on two med balls, the instability is so amazing for your core!  I was able to do 10, which surprised even me.  Maybe I'm almost ready for the 4 Med Ball Push-Ups (minus the fact that I only have 2 Med Balls). 

I also tried to do Boing Push-Ups, in which you hold the stability ball and "fall" toward the floor, do a push-up on the ball, and then "boing" back up.  I did 4-5 -- they were pretty ugly, but I'm still working on engaging my core in order to not collapse onto the ball.

The last exercise I tried with some different results was the Crunch Lever Pull-Up, in which you hold yourself close to the pull-up bar, in kind of a ball, and... well, here's a video of someone doing it.  (This person actually looks a little like me with their bleached hair... but I guarantee you it's not me!)  I used our handy pull-up assist to do a few of these (again, ugly, but I'm working on it!), and felt good that I was strong enough to hold myself up there. ;)  

Calories Burned = 804
Time in Zone = 49:40 (54%)
Average Heart Rate = 123
Peak Heart Rate = 171