Thursday, September 30, 2010

Keeping Up with Yoga by Integrating with Morning Warm-Up

Since I am not a yoga enthusiast (although I know the benefits), I do try to incorporate yoga poses where possible.  So, I have added a "rise & shine" energizing routine from Yoga Journal (October, 2010) which includes the following postures:
  • Upward Salute
  • Standing Forward Bend
  • Downward-Facing Dog
  • Three-Legged Do Pose with hip open
  • Low Lunge
This is done after I do the TT Warm-Up, which includes:
  • Jumping Jacks (20)
  • Prisoner's Squat (20)
  • Step Over (10)
  • Duck Under (10)
  • Leg Swings (20)
  • Push Ups (10)
When I am motivated, I fit in another 20 minute yoga (primarily stretching) sessions in the afternoons.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Turbulence Plus Workout A

In this particular workout I have a combination of Coach Dos Cardio Strength Training, Craig Ballantyne's TT Training with a dash of Alwyn Cosgrove.  Before I do the TT Training (see video below), I warm-up with a series of "complexes" from Coach Dos.  I do a warm-up series for dumbbells and then process with the intermediate dumbbell complex (curl/lunge/press-->romanian dead lift-->bent row-->squat jump).  I can only handle about 10 lbs if I want to complete up to 10 reps on the first exercise.  After this, I continue with the TT workout followed by a quick Tabata training session (10 minutes).  I do this because I end the TT session with a "finisher" type of circuit so I keep the cardio session short.  Before I even got to the gym, I had done my warmup and a walk-run, so I am burning plenty of calories without diminishing my cardio strength training.

Monday, September 27, 2010

Trying Something Different for My Consulting Work

In an effort to try and jump start my consulting work, I joined a national "professional" business association for women.  This is not an inexpensive association and they did a good job in keeping my interest by bringing down the price but my main goal is to network with other professionals looking for my skills.  Additionally, they provide free webinars and podcasts directed at women-owned business.  My experience with associations have been fairly negative (they really don't have your interests in mind) and are geared toward making money for the administrators not the members.  So, I have traded out one association for another to see if they can convince me they are worth it.

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Working On Combining New Strategies

Most of you know that I change my workouts quite frequently and even combine different types of workouts into one.  Right now, I am working a combination of Cardio Strength Training (Remedios--Coach Dos), Rachel and Alwyn Cosgrove training, and Craig Ballantyne's Turbulence Training.  I am using Complexes from both Remedios and Cosgrove plus the TT training as one workout.  I do a truncated complex 2-week routine going from 6 - 10 repetitions and then rotating through barbells, dumbbells, and finally kettlebells.  After using the complexes as a warm-up, I then move to the Turbulence Training sessions.  I will feature the current training videos over the next 2 weeks so you can see what I am actually doing.  The warm-up shown in the video below is done before my walk/run in the mornings and then I go to the gym 3 times per week and do the complexes and TT.  This has worked to keep my body always guessing because using all these different routines allows for unlimited options.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

I Have Returned!

A number of months ago, I decided to abandon blogging. After evaluating my goals (both personal and business), it seemed redundant to have a website, 2 different blogs, articles, and audio clips in multiple places getting very few hits. So, as it has become apparent to me that my "business" is not producing the results I expected, I have decided to pursue my interests first and if business appears, great! This blog will be modified to present all the material that appeals to me and hopefully it can be helpful to those out there still experiencing difficulty maintaining a healthy lifestyle. I will provide basic information about my lifestyle management services, links to my weekly podcast and monthly articles as well as various other items I see as I go through my challenges in maintaining (and possibly improving) my overall health and fitness. If anyone out there has suggestions or recommendations, please feel free to forward them via the comment box. Otherwise, I will use this space as a way of keeping track of my progress and the various pieces of information/resources that assist me.