Cardio — Page 4

Christmas Cardio

December 27, 2010 by Jenn

No, the words, Christmas and cardio, do NOT go together . . . but neither do Cookies, Cupcakes and Cardio!!! I’m going with it anyway . . . the point is to make them go together.

The gym is closed Christmas Day and Boxing Day! Panic! Seriously, I was worried that I would digress back into my lazy days of the not very distant past . . . ummm, 2 weeks ago.

It was my mission to get up and out for some calorie burning over these two days . . . and that I did!

My cousins were in town to celebrate the holidays with us this year, so Paul and I decided to take them out on some winter Kootenay adventures!

Christmas Day

First up . . . hike up to Big Tree in the Cranbrook Community Forest.

There’s Jeff coming out of the wilderness!

Climbing is cardio!

Ruby, Paul, Jeff and Katrina at Big Tree.

Sure is big!

Paul, Ruby and I at Big Tree.

We decided to continue about 5 minutes further along the trail to Windy Bluff.

Enjoying the view . . . and guided tour from Paul!

Katrina enjoying the snow . . .

. . . and the view.

Boxing Day

We headed out again the next day . . . to enjoy more truly redneck adventures!

“Let’s go shoot guns!”

No, not exactly cardio . . . unless you were in charge of throwing the skeets like I was!

Jeff’s first shot!

Katrina’s first shot!

A great time was had by all . . . especially Jeff who now claims that he is going to get a bunch of different licences so he can shoot things all the time. Oops. Created an obsession.

Filed Under: Cardio Tagged With: Cranbrook, cranbrook community forest

Lower Body Reverse Drop Sets

December 22, 2010 by Jenn

I competed Day One of my new weight training regime on Sunday morning . . . Monday (Day Two) was cardio day . . . and today (Tuesday) was lower body reverse drop sets. To simplify:

Schedule:

Day One – Upper Body/Cardio

Day Two – Cardio

Day Three – Lower Body/Cardio

Day Four – Cardio

Day Five – Abs/Cardio

Day Six – Rest

Day Seven- Cardio

As today was Day Three, it was time for the lower body workout. I’ve been dreading it because I know that my legs have not had to work harder than pushing the peddles around the spin bike in the last 6 months. I was prepped to feel that burn! Here’s what I did:

Lower Body Reverse Drop Sets

Quadriceps – Squats

No weight – 12 reps * I started out very cautiously!

5 lbs – 10 reps

8 lbs – 8 reps

10 lbs- 6 reps

No weight – 24 reps (reps 13-24, switch move to pile squat)

Hamstrings – Deadlifts

5 lbs – 12 reps

8 lbs – 10 reps

10 lbs – 8 reps

12 lbs- 6 reps

5 lbs – 24 reps (reps 13-24, switch move to hamstring curl)

Calves – Calf Raises on Step

8 lbs – 12 reps

10 lbs – 10 reps

12 lbs – 8 reps

12 lbs- 6 reps

10 lbs – 24 reps (reps 13-24, switch move to single leg calf raise)

I finished off with a good 15 minute stretch. I know my body, and I know that this routine was plenty for me to start with. I have super tight hamstrings, and no matter how light of a weight I use, they are always sore. I was hoping that an extra long stretching session would help with the amount of muscle soreness I’m bound to feel tomorrow. I’m really bad and hate stretching . . . I always feel so hurried to get out of the gym (“Thank god that is over!” is what I’m usually thinking) that I never want to waste my time stretching. But, that is not good practice!

Filed Under: Cardio, Weights Tagged With: lower body drop sets, weight training

Upper Body Reverse Drop Sets

December 22, 2010 by Jenn

To go along with my revamped desire to run, I have also remembered the need for weights. Sunday morning, after my “run” I started with upper body weight reverse drop sets (also called pyramid lifting). The idea behind this is to start with a light weight, and high reps, moving towards a heavy weight with low reps. Always start with your biggest muscle group (e.g. back, chest, biceps, triceps, then shoulders). Here’s what I did (please remember that I am not a certified trainer and you should do only what you are comfortable doing . . . listen to your body).

Upper Body Reverse Drop Sets

Back- Bent over row

10 lbs – 12 reps

12 lbs – 10 reps

15 lbs – 8 reps

17.5lbs- 6 reps

10 lbs – 24 reps (reps 13-24, switch move to upright row)

Chest – chest press

8 lbs – 12 reps

10 lbs – 10 reps

12 lbs – 8 reps

15 lbs- 6 reps

8 lbs – 24 reps (reps 13-24, switch move to chest flyes)

Biceps- Curls

10 lbs – 12 reps

12 lbs – 10 reps

15 lbs – 8 reps

17.5lbs- 6 reps

10 lbs – 24 reps (reps 13-24, switch move to hammer curls)

Triceps – Extensions

10 lbs – 12 reps

12 lbs – 10 reps

15 lbs – 8 reps

17.5lbs- 6 reps

10 lbs – 24 reps (reps 13-24, switch move to triceps kickback)

Shoulders – Overhead press

3 lbs – 12 reps

5 lbs – 10 reps

8 lbs – 8 reps

10 lbs- 6 reps

3 lbs – 24 reps (reps 13-24, switch move to lateral raise)

Filed Under: Cardio, Weights Tagged With: reverse drop set, weight training

Last Spin Before Christmas

December 18, 2010 by Jenn

This morning was our last spin class before the Christmas break. Woohoo? It’s like a double edged sword. It’s great to have a break from teaching, but at the same time, the season of gluttony is before us and like my tagline says . . . “You have to spin to sin!” I still have 17 more runs to fit in, so I’m not too worried about my lack of spin. Paul and I are also about to head out for a hike this afternoon, so my cardio component for today is definitely pretty good!

Here’s what we did this morning . . . one of my new favourites! I’ve posted this playlist before, but to make up for that I have added the artist names in so you can actually find the songs if you’re looking for them.

SPIN -L

Duration 60 mins

Warm Up

Remember to keep the beat of the songs 🙂

I Need You Now (Agnes) – 3:07 – warm up, release tension

All Night Long (Alexandra Burke ft Pitbull)- 3:49 – 20s each position (seated, hover, stand)

Catalyst (Linkin Park) – 5:40 – 6/10 very quick, standing, increase tension every minute and keep the cadence!

Get Through This (Art of Dying) – 2:28 – sprint, 10 sprint, 20 off

Airplanes (B.o.B. ft Hayley Williams) – 3:01 – seated flat, find a comfortable gear for a good strong road pace, increase speed every minute, last minute BREAKAWAY!

Around the World (Daft Punk)- 7:28 – Birthday drill – standing jog, high tension, when it’s your month, take a break, 30s each month

Good Luck (Basement Jaxx)- 3:37 – 20s sprint, 10 off

Dog Days are Over (Florence and the Machine)- 4:13 – continue from previous song, but standing!

Lost Highway (Bon Jovi)- 4:15 – climb in students choice of position, every minute, full turn up

Summer of ’69 (Bryan Adams) – 3:34 – slides with 5 second pickups in slide position

Teenage Dream (Katy Perry)- 3:48 – standing jog with seated sprints @ :51-1:24, 1:55-2:27, 2:52-3:24

Piece of Me (Britney Spears)- 3:32 – Hover

Little Lion Man (Mumford and Sons) – 3:28 – seated flat, find a comfortable gear for a good strong road pace, decrease speed every minute, last minute begin cooldown

October (Broken Bells) Cooldown and Stretch

It’s a good thing I got my spin in this morning, because I have spent the last couple of hours making my Christmas Baking To Do List! It’s a long one folks 🙂

Have a great day!

Filed Under: Cardio, Spinning Tagged With: cardio, spinning

Stomach Full of Popcorn . . .

December 18, 2010 by Jenn

. . . makes for a very uncomfortable run. Yuck. It was like a solid mass in my lower abdomen. No, it wasn’t from breakfast, it was from the movie last night! So sick. As much as it tasted like heaven last night, this morning, it was a bad choice . . . “milk was a bad choice.” A bad choice and about 8000 calories! Not really that many, but too many for sure!

I woke up super early this morning (5:45), so excited to be on holidays that I couldn’t sleep in! So, what did I do? Researched and read my favourite blogs of course . . . while enjoying a cup of coffee. It was really unfortunate my coffee tin was empty this morning and the coffee I was enjoying was yesterday’s warmed up in the microwave. Gross, yet happiness made it delicious . . . it also might have been the French Vanilla Splenda that I added.

After I had had enough (cut myself off) I decided that my holiday resolution had to start today! RUN. WEIGHTS. Run. Weights. run. weights. I managed to succeed on day one! One run down, 17 to go. Uhhhhh….mmmmmight have to look into that again.

I’m still on the basic run program from 2 weeks ago . . . I have been having such a difficult time getting a run in when work has been going full tilt and I’m continuing to spin up a storm. Excuses, excuses . . . I have none now.

Here’s what I managed to do this morning . . . with my favourite spin routine pumping through my ears.

Minutes 0-5 Warm up at Speed 4.o (I busted out to Waka Waka by Shakira . . . almost sang out loud I was so into it . . . and no one else was in the gym!)

Min 5 – Speed 5.0 – pick that pace up to a steady light jog

6 – 5.3

7 – 5.6

8 – 6.0

9 – 6.5

10 – 5.0

Repeat 4 more times until 25 minutes, then pick a steady speed (I did 5.8) to maintain until minute 30.

Enjoy grooving on the treadmill. Careful not to fall off! I’ve seen that happen. Ouch . . . mostly hilarious.

Filed Under: Cardio, Running Tagged With: running

Wonderful Winter

December 6, 2010 by Jenn

Saturday morning, I jumped out of bed (seriously) and went to the gym for a run on the treadmill (again, seriously). It felt so great (you got it, seriously)! I was full of energy the rest of the day and when Paul called to go for a cross country ski, I was super pumped. I managed to get a couple of pictures off before my camera died in the cold. A new camera needed for Christmas, perhaps? Paulie…hint, hint.

Super Pumped!

We love to cross country ski in the ski trails above my house . . . South Star Trails. They’re great in the summer too for mountain biking. A perfect place to live . . . all season uses.

Camera on it's last legs in the cold . . . that's all I could get from our day. Too cold for the batteries I guess.

It was an absolutely beautiful day to go out in the winter weather . . . and what better way than to end of the ski adventure than a steaming cup of hot chocolate.

Mmmmm, hot chocolate.

Holiday Mallows from Jet Puffed

Since this is a cardio post I thought I would do some research on the benefits of Cross Country Skiing. Here’s a little of what I found and what I know.

It’s easy! You can just strap on your equipment and go . . . literally right out your front door.
Paul and I have Rossignal backcountry cross country (BC XC) ski gear, and it is awesome. BC XC skis are slightly wider to distribute your body weight in power snow, but they still fit in traditional sized tracks on established XC trails. These skis also have metal edges to allow you to cut into fresh snow, and the edge gives you a little bit more control than those out-of-control alpine skis. You know what I’m talking about if you’ve ever found yourself going too fast down a hill using alpine gear! The BEST thing about these skis is that they are waxless!! Whooo hooo! No sticking to the snow for us. There are also scales on the bottom of the skis to help prevent you from sliding backwards when going uphill . . . you still slide, but not as much. BC XC all the way 🙂
You can work up a serious sweat! Burn baby, burn. On average, a 150lb woman can burn around 500 calories in one hour spent x country skiing at a moderate pace!
It is fun! A great way to enjoy a cold winter day. I used to HATE winter, but I’ve found myself activities that I can enjoy, and slowly, my opinion is changing.

I hope you had a good weekend too.

Filed Under: Cardio Tagged With: back country cross country skis, cross country skiing, south star ski trails

Spin Swansong

December 4, 2010 by Jenn

I taught my last early morning 6:00am spin class the other morning . . . bittersweet. I love teaching, obviously, or I wouldn’t do it, but honestly, getting up at 5:00am is a bitch. I did enjoy that I only had to do it once a week . . . I don’t think I could have done anymore than that. Hopefully I get another class soon to call my own, but for right now, it’s back to alternating Tuesday’s and Saturday’s and subbing for the occasional vacationer or sickie. Here’s the spin from earlier this week.

SPIN – G

Duration 45 mins

Warm Up

Born Losers – 5:20 – 10 pushups (chest to the bars), 1 min seated, 1 min hover, 1 min stand, repeat

Footloose – 3:41 – very quick tempo, try to stay on the beat! Stand for 30 seconds on the beat every time the chorus comes on.

We Didn’t Start the Fire – 4:30 – slides – slide for duration of chorus. Watch out for the last one! It’s a long one.

When Love Takes Over – 3:05 – sprints, 10s on, 20s off

Candle – 4:00 – climb, increase speed (bursts) for duration of chorus. Add tension after every “burst.”

All You Did Was Save My Life – 3:45 – hover/stand 30s jumps

Life In Technicolor II – 4:00 – standing climb, with running arm(s). Alternate between right and left arm.

Lucky Man – 4:53 – seated to standing climb

Call on Me – 8:03 – yes, I said, 8 minutes and 3 seconds. Endurance sprint! Sprint for 1 minute on, 30 second recovery.

Wipe off the sweat and you’re finished! Remember to cool down and stretch.

These are the bikes we use at my gym. They’re pretty great for the most part. Easy to ride, smooth, and easy to adjust which makes it easy for new comers, and vets alike.

Filed Under: Cardio, Spinning Tagged With: spinning

Spinning

November 24, 2010 by Jenn

I have had a wicked week of teaching spin…..it’s Thursday night and I have already taught three classes and I have one more to go on Saturday morning! Whoooo hooooo….kicking butt and taking names 🙂

Here is the new routine that I made last weekend and have been enjoying with my classes this week. It is awesome how a couple of new moves can rejuvenate your workout, and add an extra challenge! This routine is slightly harder than others have been.

SPIN -L

Duration 60 mins

Warm Up

Remember to keep the beat of the songs 🙂

I Need You Now – 3:07 – warm up, release tension

All Night Long – 3:49 – 20s each position (seated, hover, stand)

Catalyst – 5:40 – 6/10 very quick, standing, increase tension every minute and keep the cadence!

Remember When – 4:31- climb….I scratched this song off my playlist as I found it too slow. Nice song, but not for spinning.

Get Through This – 2:28 – sprint, 10 sprint, 20 off

Airplanes – 3:01 – seated flat, find a comfortable gear for a good strong road pace, increase speed every minute, last minute BREAKAWAY!

Around the World – 7:28 – Birthday drill – standing jog, high tension, when it’s your month, take a break, 30s each month

Good Luck – 3:37 – 20s sprint, 10 off

Dog Days are Over – 4:13 – continue from previous song, but standing!

Lost Highway – 4:15 – climb in students choice of position, every minute, full turn up

Summer of ’69 – 3:34 – slides with 5 second pickups in slide position

Teenage Dream – 3:48 – standing jog with seated sprints @ :51-1:24, 1:55-2:27, 2:52-3:24

Piece of Me – 3:32 – Hover

Little Lion Man – 3:28 – seated flat, find a comfortable gear for a good strong road pace, decrease speed every minute, last minute begin cooldown

Cooldown and stretch

Let me know what you think!

Filed Under: Spinning Tagged With: spinning

Christmas Cardio

Lower Body Reverse Drop Sets

Upper Body Reverse Drop Sets

Last Spin Before Christmas

Stomach Full of Popcorn . . .

Wonderful Winter

Spin Swansong

Spinning

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