My 6 week challenge

Okay, I apologize for not getting on today. I got my new phone in and you know how that goes. Been playing with it ever since. I even have the internet on it. It is not an Iphone or anything that fancy, so I can't get the app for MFP, but I will try to check in on it and get use to it.

I will definitely be on tomorrow to check in with everyone. I did not forget you. I hope you all had a fabulous weekend and I will talk to you tomorrow. :bigsmile:

Jennifer,

Thanks for the advice! I would love for you to suggest some core and upper body strength moves. Just to clarify, you do think it is okay to lay off the lower body strength training all together for right now, right?

One thing I would like to know is it bad for me to run on consecutive days? I feel fine for the most part running every day. I would like to do some form of cardio every day, except for maybe one rest day a week. If not running, what lower impact workout would you suggest? Thanks so much for your patience with me oh fitness guru!

I do agree that you should not do too much more than running for your lower body if that is what you are doing. You don't want to over do it and injure yourself. Overtraining is a bad thing. Usually when working a large muscle group you should at least have a day of rest before doing it again, to give those muscles a rest. They deserve it after working so hard, but if you look at all the runners out there, they run every day. I think if you are to run every day, change your intensity level each day. Do a shorter and slower day then a longer more intense run the next day and just switch it up. You may even do some HIIT training with it. Meaning, change your intensity level while running. For example, do a slow and steady pace for 5 mins then hit it as hard as you can for 60 secs, then slowly decrease your speed again for a couple of mins and then do it again. That is only one example, but that would up your heart rate and increase your endurance to running.

Now, upper body training. This is just what I have been doing for the last 6 weeks and I have had great results. It goes something like this. Monday and Friday strength training days. Now do these in 3 set of 10 reps. Make sure the last rep is off the chart and you know you could not do one more.

Monday:
Tricep Extension
Bicep Curl
Shoulder Press
Tricep Pull Downs (5 thumb in & 5 thumb out)
Hammer Curl
Front Delt Raises
Side Delt Raises

Friday:
Bench Press
Wide Pull Downs
Incline Press
Individual Rows
Upright Rows

Let me know what you think and if you have any more questions. :bigsmile:

Jennifer I was so excited that I didn't stop I felt like I could have moved mountains coming around the final stretch was the hardest but my hubby just kept saying you have come to far to stop now and I pushed it on through one of the greatest feelings in my life!!

Believe me I completely understand that feeling. Keep up the awesome work. :bigsmile:

Glad to hear your doing good just having fun with your new phone!!!:laugh:

I had a great weekend and still hitting Insanity today week 2 day 8 Cardio power and resistance done plus my biggest loser challenge stuff I am starting to add some weights in also MWF just to add that little extra something!!!

Hope everyone had a great Monday!!

You are doing awesome, keep it up!!! :bigsmile:

Day 12-Friday, 3 mile run and strength training. Went for my run right when I got home because I asked Jon to run with me and he had to be at work at 9pm. It started to rain when we were walking to warm-up. I said, let’s just keep on going I know it won’t continue for long and I was right. Well, then it got really warm and humid out and that did not help the run at all. We may have run maybe 1.5 miles all together. I was pretty hard on myself and Jon just told me that we all have bad days and that today was one of them. I just don’t like bad days, but I guess he is right. Strength training went well. I really pushed hard to get more weight in and I did on a couple moves.

Day 13-Saturday, 30 minute cross training. I was going to do the TurboFire workout and Insanity Cardio Abs, but I changed my mind. Women can do that. LOL I decided to go On Demand and find some Yoga. I did Jillian Michael’s Yoga Meltdown and I really liked it. I also decided to get in some abs, so I did another On Demand workout that worked on the Abs. I am not sure who the instructor was, but it was a kewl workout. It was just nice to do a couple different workouts. My body definitely enjoyed them.

Day 14-Sunday, 4 mile run. I did not run today. My lower back was really sore and had a major headache and was just overall not feeling good. So I used a rest day. I also ate horribly today. Not even going to get into how bad it really was, but trust me it was bad. I have made a pact with myself. Any time I feel like cheating on food during the week, I have to eat an entire tomato before I go and purchase any type of cheat food. I HATE TOMATOES. YUK!!! I think that is the only way I can get myself from cheating during the week, especially since my boss is on vacation this week. It would just make it easier to go to Walgreen’s and get a bunch of candy. NOT DOING IT!!!

Day 15-Monday, 4 mile run. Okay, my back and head were stilling keeping me down, but I decided that I would at least walk the entire 4 miles. I got Jon to go with me. After about 2.5 miles I noticed that I was starting to feel better. My headache was gone and it felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. So, I decided to run the last mile and I did really well. I did my best not to stress over the breathing so much and I think it worked. No cheating either. It was a fairly good day, all-in-all. :bigsmile:

Jen glad to see you are all caught up and I like the tomato idea about having it before your cheat day that keep your eyes on the prize especially since you don't like them.

Your body probably totally appreciate the yoga you should try to keep that regularly in your routine!!! Keep working hard!!

I know I should definitely be putting in more yoga with all this running that I am doing. I have had success this week with cravings. Since I have the tomato in my head, there have not been any crazy cravings. LOL:bigsmile:

Day 17-30 mins cross training. I actually did a little over an hour. I first started off with Insanity Cardio Abs, I had not done that one in a while and really liked it. I love feeling my abs working. Then I did the TurboFire Sneak Peak, approximately 17mins. I burned 252 calories in only 17 mins, if that tells you how tough the workout is. I was sweating like crazy in the first 2 mins of the workout. Loved it. My ankle/calf was hurting during this one though, so I did have to be a little careful. I then decided that after dinner I would do some yoga to maybe stretch out my ankle/calf. Downward dog felt really good. This yoga I found was On Demand and it was really nice and relaxing. I am really glad that I did it. I slept really good last nite. No cramps in my leg. :bigsmile:

I did actually go to the doctor this morning. He just stated that since I have started my HM training I have upped my mileage significantly and I need to back off a little. He has practiced in Sports Medicine so he had seen this before. I asked him about my run tonite and Saturday. He said you can do it, but take Ibuprofen afterward and ice it. So, I am glad he did not tell me not to run, just to back off on how many miles a week. Whew, nothing serious. :drinker: