|
Maintainers Moving in April
Feeling winded in March and showered with sweat in April brings forth ... flowers? Healthy, fit bodies?
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lk1Qwqs1to...ningInRain.jpg We're tracking our movement during the month of April in this thread. Everybody work it! |
As for me:
Sunday, April Fool's Day: 15 minutes Life Fitness elliptical, backward 60 minutes weights, only 10 pounds 45 minutes back on the elliptical This was in the fitness room at the Hyatt, which felt luxe, and had great, new cardio machines ... but it was overheated, and there was only one set of 10-lb dumbbells, and I can't do enough reps with the 15-lb dumbbells. Still, this is one of the nicest hotel gyms I've worked out in, outside of the big Las Vegas casino hotels. |
Thanks again for starting the thread.
I didn't get as many days in March as I like (only 24), and April looks like it will be tricky. I will be traveling to see dd on Wednesday after work and returning Saturday night. I don't know that I'll get ANY true exercise in, but I'll bring my workout clothes and hope. We'll be doing a lot of driving so those days (2 of the days), I'll be very sedentary. I'll have to work hard on my food choices..... April 1: 90 minutes Bikram Yoga Totals: 1 day 90 minutes |
Monday, April 2:
90 minute endurance spin class, mostly long, steady state cardio, though with various intervals thrown in. This is a great class. It's at the very edge of what I can do. It's worth getting up at 3:30 AM to make it. And the further April drama of wrenching open my frozen car door, scraping the windows while running defrost on high and driving behind a truck spewing salt over the ice-slicked roads. |
Quote:
35 minutes Core/Strength training class Totals: 2 days 160 minutes |
Tuesday, April 3:
15 minutes Stairmaster stepper, resistance at eight, aerobic intervals 60 minutes back, shoulders and triceps 45 minutes recumbent bike, resistance at eight, with 30 minutes of this done as intervals of one-minute sprints alternating with steady peddling. This is partly to make the recumbent bike more interesting. More windshield scraping and defrosting the back window of the car at 5:30 AM before heading to the gym. But once I got there, and got on the cardio machine, I realized that I felt weirdly good. Like something overcast in me had cleared up. I don't know what that was about. I am still anxious about so many things, and as usual, fretting. But it was a momentary feeling of clarity and also, for a change, of competency. Cardio can do that for me, occasionally. |
Let's see if I can keep up with this thread too this month.
April 1: long dog walk April 2: 24 min run, just over 2 miles, plus 5 min warmup 5 min cooldown and stretching April 3: 30 mins yoga this morning, hopefully bike ride this afternoon |
April 1: zilch
April 2: 40 minute jog on bike path, 3 1/2 miles or so April 3: hopefully some walking during lunch and after work |
Wednesday, April 4:
45 minute spin class, a good class, with me trying Pilates moves afterwards. I need to write out an actual routine. I can't believe I've forgotten it already. And then there was the amusing sight of me running around the Citgo station afterward in bike shorts (yes, the tight black ones with the padded seat) filling up the gas tank of my mother's car, which lit up & started pinging that it was almost empty when I left the parking lot at the gym. My car won't start and needs a new alternator, so I had to borrow hers. |
Thursday, April 5:
15 minutes warmup, Stairmaster stepper, aerobic intervals, resistance at eight. 60 minutes back & biceps routine, using 15-lb pound weights on several of the moves. (I do high reps, like at least 12 and generally 16 to 17 each, so my weights are not as heavy as many here.) Next time, I'll try 75 lbs on the lat pull-downs. 45 minutes Precor elliptical, intervals at nine and five, entirely done backward. I'm trying to counter my usual peddling movement in spin class. Then rushing home to shower & change and do hair & makeup before taking my very tired mother to church for Maundy Thursday. |
April 3: Didn't end up doing squat diddly...
April 4: 2 sets x12 at 15 lbs dumbbell rows, 2 x 12 at 10 lbs bicep curls, 2 10 each at bodyweight split squats, 90 seconds planks, 15 min running at 6.5 mph, 15 min resistance intervals elliptical. |
Bike ride didn't materialize.
April 4: 2 mile run, just under 24 mins, plus warmup/cooldown |
Friday, April 6:
45 minute spin class, not as hard as usual. I arrived late, after class had already started -- because of always trying to do one more thing before heading out the door -- and that seemed to disorient me for the entire class. Such guilt. But I am the kind of person who won't watch a TV show or movie if she misses the first 10 minutes. I have to be there for the very beginning. Anyway, recognizing my insanity, I stayed on the bike peddling afterward to make up. Then, afterward, a series of Pilates moves, trying not to think of how easy they once were. I could really feel most of them in my abs. |
Saturday, April 7:
60 minutes on Stairmaster, aerobic intervals, resistance at eight. This was tough. Sweat just poured off me. But I was determined because I did just 45 minutes last Saturday and thought I could do a little better. 15 minutes Pilates routine. My abs have not turned into jelly, as I feared, though I'm not as good as I was at the end of last summer. I believe strength training has somehow helped with this, even though I've focused on my chest, back and arms. |
Quote:
April 4: 30 minutes elliptical on dd's evil elliptical before driving to Seattle. April 5: none April 6: 30 more minutes on the evil elliptical before flying back home. Totals: 4 days 220 minutes |
Easter Sunday, April 8th:
15 minutes Stairmaster, resistance at eight, aerobic intervals 60 minutes shoulders, triceps and biceps routine, with me trying to use 15-lb weights as much as possible 45 minutes arc trainer, hill intervals, resistance at nine All the big guys who usually lift weights alongside me on Sunday morning were at church or watching children enjoy Easter baskets. Or, who knows, maybe enjoying their own Easter baskets. |
Quote:
Totals: 5 days 310 minutes |
Monday, April 9th:
45 minutes spin class, a challenging class as usual, though not the sweatfest I'd been experiencing in my past few sessions. About 20 minutes doing Pilates moves. I am no good at the corkscrew and I still can't keep my legs turned inward enough for that one move where you balance on your butt with your legs elevated in the air & arms reaching forward. But I'm not bad at scissors -- I can grab my ankles without trouble. And I'm good at the criscross. I will keep working on this. Can't wait to get back to class. |
Tuesday, April 10th:
15 minutes Stairmaster stepper, aerobic intervals, resistance at eight 60 minutes shoulders and triceps routine 45 minutes recumbent bike, steady resistance at nine, peddling at 70 rpm or above Out to the gym by 5 AM because I had an 8 AM meeting with two new trainees in England. I did bench presses rather than pushups, with high reps (about 16 each time) at weights ranging from 55 lbs to 45 lbs toward the end, or whatever an unloaded bar is. |
Quote:
April 10: 90 minutes bikram yoga Totals: 7 days 490 minutes |
Falling behind again!
April 5: none April 6: 2 mile (just under 24 min) run April 7: 75 min yoga class, longish dog walk in the park April 8: long dog walk April 9: just over 2 mile, 25 min run April 10: 25 mins yoga on my own, 15 mins pilates on my own (using POP Pilates printables!) |
Wednesday, April 11:
45 minute spin class, at a quick pace, with sprints, hill sprints and tabatas. One of those where I just wanted to make it through to the end. 20 minute Pilates routine afterward, and feeling yesterday's lifting session in my shoulders and chest any time I had to use my arms a little. Wish I had the teacher around to check & correct my form. There are no mirrors in the stretching section of the gym where I perform this routine, so I miss the guidance. At least I'll be practiced in the classic sequence once class resumes and I can move from one exercise to the next. |
Quote:
Totals: 8 days 580 minutes |
Michele, wow, you are on a streak with your yoga classes. As a curiosity, how many yoga outfits do you have? I think of my daily gym clothes hanging over a towel bar in the shower to dry out a little before I throw them into the hamper for the wash. I wash gym clothes probably every three days.
Thursday, April 12: 15 minutes Stairmaster stepper, resistance at eight, why does this never get any easier? 60 minutes back & biceps routine, with me moving up to 75 lbs for the various forms of lat pulldowns, still squeezing out about 17 reps, though with occasional pauses 45 minutes backward on the Precor elliptical, intervals, resistance at nine and six |
Quote:
|
April 11 - 16 min run, haven't measured distance yet, plus short dog walk
In terms of gym clothes, I have two pairs of shorts, two pairs of capris, and three pairs of long pants, plus five short-sleeved shirts and three long-sleeved shirts. I find that since I'm doing regular yoga instead of bikram, I don't get super sweaty, so it's not a big deal to wear my yoga clothes multiple days in a row. My running shorts dry out super fast so I reuse them (and the long pants), but I go through the short sleeved shirts pretty quickly. For me the limiting factor is how many uses I can get out of my two sports bras before they need to be washed. I figure if I'm just going to exercise nobody will care if I'm stinky so I usually only do laundry once a week. :o |
Quote:
Totals: 9 days 670 minutes |
Oh, Jessica, I'm afraid to tell you how many sports bras I've got, but it's at least eight, and that's because when I'm living in my apartment, I do laundry just once a week. It's not as convenient as living in a house with a washing machine right on the premises. This particular item of clothing is always wringing wet when I finish my workout. And I'm nearly always exercising in a gym, so I'm trying not to impose too much funk on neighbors in spin class & on the machines.
Michele, yes, I was thinking that with daily Bikram, you are definitely not suffering from any form of fluid retention. As for the clothes, if I were one of your daughters or your DH, and wanted to earn "points" with you, I'd be buying you some Lululemon. People in NY are obsessive about Lululemon for yoga class & even second hand, the clothes have a decent resale value. As for me ... Friday the 13th, the April Edition: 45 minute spin class, lots of standing and crouching in Position 2 & 3 20 minute Pilates routine afterward. I will never, ever, ever be able to do the Teaser, in which you balance on your butt with your legs and arms outstretched. I've got some of the form right but I just can't keep my legs sealed together & aligned. (Which sounds like the start of a dirty joke, but really denotes some obscure physical weakness.) |
Saturday, April 14:
60 minutes on the Stairmaster, resistance at eight. How this machine wears me down, gradually but relentlessly as time passes and the steps keep coming at me and coming at me. Nothing makes me sweat like this. And not just my face and hairline. My forearms are running with sweat. I've no idea what I would look like if I didn't keep swiping myself with a towel. I climbed over 200 floors, or so the digital readout told me. Then about 15 minutes stretching, including pigeon and shoulder stands. I feel pretty much done for the day, but no, I have to pick up my antique clock and get instructions on running it, and there's a charity antique show at a middle school. I wonder what kind of lunch stuff they'll have there. It's an affluent area so more likely to be health-conscious. I hope, anyway. And, too, there's a Panera in the general area if I hate their fare. |
Sunday, April 15:
15 minutes Stairmaster, resistance at eight, aerobic intervals, much easier after yesterday's long endurance climb 60 minutes shoulders, biceps & triceps routine 45 minutes hill intervals arc trainer, resistance at nine In the weight area, I was finding the 12-lb weights too easy for 16 to 17 reps, and as if to admonish me to push myself, there was a guy lying on a bench to my right who was bench-pressing dumbbells, each one 110 pounds. So this guy was basically pressing 220 pounds. Only then did I realize how massive his upper body was: He was a truly triangular, wedge-shaped person, like a toy action figure. The other guys in the weight area were covertly watching him. I felt I didn't have to hide it: Me and my 12-lb dumbbells. |
Quote:
Dagmar :dizzy: |
Quote:
April 14: none-- dd's fundraiser event-- we moved tons of tables and chairs but no actual exercise. April 15: 90 minutes Bikram Yoga (trying to sweat out all the sugar I ingested!) Totals: 11 days 800 minutes |
Monday, April 16:
45 minutes spin class, mostly steady state with some intervals at the end through Meatloaf's "Paradise by the Dashboard Light." About 20 minutes Pilates routine afterward. I am remembering where my abdominal muscles are. I can feel them, even if they are in hiding under fat, retained fluid and loose skin. |
April 12: 75 min yoga
April 13: none April 14: 75 min yoga class April 15: 40 min 8 mile bike ride, 25 min dog walk April 16: 2.25 mile 25:21 run |
Quote:
Totals: 12 days 840 minutes |
Catching up:
Tuesday, April 17: 15 minutes Stairmaster stepper, resistance 8 60 minutes shoulders, triceps and biceps 45 minutes recumbent bike, resistance at nine, steady peddling Forgot what the gym was like with so many young guys stopping by after dinner to use the weight section. I was the only woman in sight, a bit ashamed of my low weights, but they were polite about the benches. And this was my refuge last night, after my mother got into one of her moods and said some nasty things, one after another. I mean, what can I do to get away? Wednesday, April 18 45 minute spin class, up out of the seat a lot 20 minutes Pilates routine afterward, making myself practice that wretched Teaser, which, as I stretched afterward, a young woman was doing repeatedly and seemingly effortlessly. Feeling old ... |
Quote:
April 18: 90 minutes Bikram Yoga Totals: 13 days 930 minutes |
Thursday, April 19:
15 minutes Stairmaster stepper, the usual, resistance at eight 60 minutes back and biceps, working that lat pulldown machine repeatedly and finally also a stint on the Gravitron 45 minutes Stairmaster stepper, resistance just at six, which did not challenge me enough, but I wanted to try it for a change. Next time I'll try it at seven. After spending my Upstate exile working on my upper body, I am thinking that going sleeveless is going to be a whole new experience this summer. |
Quote:
April 18: approx. 1 hour hiking, ascent and descent of small local mountain April 17: 10 min treadmill @ 7 mph, 20 min upper body lifting, 10 min elliptical resistance at 7, 5 min treadmill @ 6.5 mph (I have severe gym ADD) - total 2.5 machine miles. April 16: nothing formal, but worked double shift w/lots and lots of scurrying April 15: 3 1/2 mile walk with mom April 14: 4 hour mountain hike in the Catskills April 13: very similar to April 17. ~30 min cardio + upper body lifting + leg press and wallsit machine. April 12: not much April 11: 2 mile jog outside, 10 min treadmill @ 7 mph, 20 min upper body lifting. |
Quote:
Totals: 14 days 990 minutes |
| All times are GMT -4. The time now is 08:49 PM. |
Copyright © 2026 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.