Dancin' Machine

After Thursday night's super successful dance fitness class, I was recharged enough to seek out some more Zumba classes. My knee was feeling good, and I felt ready cardio-wise to get back into the game. I also did not want there to be a long stretch of days in-between my personal training sessions of not working out so that my Tuesdays aren't just me feeling like I have to catch up.

Friday I had some time in the morning and found another studio that was offering a lot of Zumba and dance fitness classes. It's an all women gym and was convienently close to my other gym and home. It's a gorgeous space, huge HUGE dance studio with an awesome floor. Perfect material, not slippery but not too grippy. I super lucked out, this class's instructor was super fun and she was really choreo based, dance oriented and hip hop flavor without being too aggressively high energy. I had a great time, my knee was not giving me problems, I could start twisting and staying on the balls of my feet without pain. My form was coming back and I was having a great time. I started to really feel like I was back in the groove.

The instructor was super nice as well and she asked me if I was also an instructor, so that must mean that I am really on the road back. I am so super excited.

I may be getting back to form, but I can definitely tell that I have been out of practice. All my tiptoe muscles are hurting from dancing on the toes all of a sudden. One thing that I have noticed is that during my long term stint having to wear flats so I could walk around SF hindered my ability to move around up on my toes and my calves and shins were much weaker. Another reason to keep up my stamina of wearing heels! Because, Zumba!

Then I decided to go again on Saturday. I need to get back into going on as many consecutive days as possible. I will train super hard on my sessions and then go to Zumba on the weekends. Sunday and Monday are my heaviest work days, so I think those will be my recoup days. Tuesday I will try to make it a two a day because The Crew teaches Tues/Thurs. I'm being super ambitious now. I usually nap away my Tuesdays. But I can try. I was at that point once. I'd do the 2 consecutive Body Pump and Zumba classes in the am then go to my then-mentor's class in the evenings. I was so sweaty all the time. But also a size 26. So, there's that. Maybe I can do it. I of course find out all these things a week before go-live hits and my schedule gets unbearable.

Anyway, I get to my Saturday class and it's one of those instructors that are SUPER HIGH ENERGY. The kind of instructors I cannot keep up with and with routines that make me feel too heavy to move fast. I'm not a fast mover to begin with, and I really have a hard time keeping up with all the jumping and running around. I was also a little tired bc I stayed up too late. So I settled in at the back, and prepared myself to have to power through the class. But then the pre workout drink kicked in and then she played one of my favorite songs, and it became a super fun class. She played familiar songs that I liked and was able to mostly keep up. I mean, she's the kind that has major hops in class and can jump super high after every grapevine. I tried it, and all I felt was the anchor that was my hips and ass working against me.

I ended up enjoying the class quite a bit and the instructor was super nice, we talked a lot about how fun Zumba is and she just gets so excited and she does it bc she loves it so. Zumba may be some cult fitness thing, but the magic is that everyone who teaches, loves it. LOVES IT.  And it always shows in their classes. They really get their energy from feeling their style and loving doing it. I wonder how instructors have so much energy for their classes and I guess it's from them really loving what they do.

...And I think I'm starting to feel that magic again.

I'm Back in BiZnass.

Zumba bizness that is. ok, well maybe not zumba, but back in Dance Fitness. I went to my 2nd dance cardio class tonight. It was no joke. They OPENED with Outkast's BOB. I've never ever heard that fast of a song up in a dance class. High energy, but super hip hop, so it was more like high steppin. It takes a CREW to teach this class. 1 incredibly fit female, and 2 sick fit dudes. I think they were all Zumba certified too.

I haven't enjoyed a class in so long, I was on cloud 9 in this class. I really tried to pace myself and I found myself keeping up with the crew - they did a lot of jumping jacks and squats and high knee hopping. I totally attribute this to my training sessions with my personal trainer, though. He's really building up my endurance and ability to keep an elevated heart rate. I also got to sleep in today and that makes a huge difference.

Then they fucking busted out the RuPaul and Big Freedia "Peanut Butter" song. Have mercy. Pop, jumping jacks, high steppin like mad. It was crazytown.

The most inspiring thing tonight was they were saying good bye to one of the regulars, easily a 200lb dude who went up there and did at least 3 songs and was REALLY GOOD. The crew bought smoothies from the smoothie bar and we all toasted to him. He's moving to Cary, NC and is going to get his Zumba cert! I got to talking with him and he told me there is a ton of zumba activities in town. Maybe I'll get in on the action.

This is the first time that I've really felt an improvement in my performance, I can regulate my breathing, my stamina is increased and I'm getting a bit better in the endurance. I can do all the arm routines without getting fatigued like I used to (thanks to lifting) and I think this is the kind of good that people talk about when they say they feel great after working out. Also could be that this is the exact kind of class that caters to me.

So happy that my knee did not give me problems and I can even jump and hop on it. (still hurts a lot when i have to climb/go down stairs though)
I hope that my remaining time here allows me to keep going to these classes.

Leg Day is the Best Day

So, after last Tuesday's terrible session, I rescheduled my Tuesdays to noon instead of 9am.
This made a world of difference. I think I had the best workout ever, thanks to sleeping in. And I didn't even get to go to the gym over the weekend due to work schedule.

Warmup:
That fucking stairmaster. He asked me to start at 7, I usually do a 6 and have to stop halfway through to hydrate (rest). Today, I went the whole time without stopping and I didn't want to die so much.

Warrior ropes: 12 seconds alternating hands, 8 sec Right, 8 sec Left, 10 sec both. I probably could have done faster, but I was trying to just keep a good pace so I could keep going the whole time.
Second round, he increased time to 15, 10, 10, 15. pant pant pant.

Burpees with kettlebells. 35lb kettle bells. 12 reps. sweat!

Box step ups holding 20 lb dumbbells in each hand.10 step ups each leg. kinda sucked. I was more afraid of falling down.

Tricep extensions. I don't know the weight but he did say my form was perfect. 12 each arm. not too bad, I wish I could have gone heavier.

Lunges carrying 20lb dumbbells. I hate lunges.

Deadlifts in the weight room. told me 10, then pushed to 12. It was a bar that looked like a cage, and you put the weights on the sides. Took the back strain out of the lifting and put the work all in the legs. I liked it. Bar - 75lbs, he put on 2 plates on each side. I don't know how heavy it was, but it was fucking heavy.
Second round, he got me to do 15.

Squat machine: first round, 160lbs 12 reps. Second round, 220lbs, 15 reps.

Leg extensions. 12 both on heavy, 5 each leg one level lighter. Getting better at these.

YAY! NO STAIR INTERVALS!
I felt really good today. I know it was that I was able to sleep in that made for such a good workout.

Session Fail.

Today I woke up and exhausted. I couldn't shake the previous two days off me. It was the first time i thought about canceling. But I went and tried to make the best of it.

The fucking stairmaster warmup. I made the 6 minutes and even bumped up the level towards the end. I felt better about today.

But then the rope jumps. 30 seconds of straight jumping from one side of the ropes to the other. I got winded pretty fast, and just the feeling of heaving my thighs and butt off the ground was pretty completely intolerable.

Extended straight leg lifts. 15 reps. Doable.

Man Makers - 8 of these with 15lb dumbbells.

Squats and shoulder presses holding 10lbs kettlebells. 15 reps. Fine.

2nd round, increased rope jumps to 35 seconds. Dying. I was like, "These suck hard" and he was all, "well, I usually make people only do it for 20 seconds at a time" - upside, but can't breathe.

Leg lifts - 15reps - fine.

Man Makers - 8 with 15lb dumbells - I struggled through them which sucked because it's been a while since I have done these and I really like them. If I wasn't winded from the jumping (and so exhausted from working) that I could have really killed these. Disappointed in my struggle.

Squats again - fine.

Mother fucking stair intervals. 3 minutes. I made it through 2 minutes, high at 11, 12 and low at 7, 8 then could not get my breathing, I had to stop and try to regulate. After a while, I did get back up and got one more high/low in but could not make it through another interval to finish out the 3 minutes.
Suck. bc this ate into my lifting time.

Lifting:
Back and biceps today. Got through it, but I feel like I didn't get to finish. My wheezing episode ate into my lifting time. mad. sad and I just wanted to go back to sleep.

Upside -
I did do the 2 sets of man makers.
I do 15s seconds more of the rope jump
He was proud of me that I got back up on the stairs to try to finish out that interval.

I really felt like I was fighting a losing battle with my body today. I'm never not tired, I'm not losing weight even though I've been eating healthy for the last 4 months, and I'm trying to work out more effectively than before but I don't know if my body can do it.
Even my trainer noticed that Tuesdays are hard for me.

I don't know why the stairmaster and the jumping is so hard. I just FEEL so HEAVY that I am not strong enough to bear my own weight when to jump or to lift my legs to each stair.
The messed up thing about this all is that I went to a zumba class over the weekend so that I would not have so much trouble with the stair master and have so much time in between workouts.
sigh. I don't know how to remedy this.

Session: How Does He Find Exercises That are Worse Than Burpees?

Well today was a really killer session, and I wasn't feeling like going bc it was later in the afternoon and i had gotten accustomed to working out in the mornings. I didn't know he was going to bring the pain today.

I've been dreading that fucking stairclimber, but today I tried to face it on my old setting of 7-8 for warmup. I did 3min at 6, and then upped it to level 7. It sucked but I think it's getting slightly easier.
I should not have spent so much energy on that bc he had me do rope burpees. This is what he opened with.
Rope, burpee, rope. x 8. Jeezus.
Single arm Kettle bell squats and swing - 8lbs kb for 12 reps each side. ok not bad. He'll probably up it to 10lbs next time.
12 pushups on Kettlebells. I was afraid I would not balance and roll off those Kettlebells, otherwise, success.
Lunges across the room with 12lb weight on my back. Suck.
2nd round through - he increased the reps. I was able to get to 9 with the rope burpees, and up to 15 on my pushups.

Weights:
Chest and Tris day.
Did some strange chesty thing that will puff up my cleavage. Woot. I was probably only at 20lbs but at 12 reps, it was so hard.
Triceps: single pulldowns 12 reps each - bummed bc I had to lighten the weight after first set bc I was falling apart, form wise.
Chest Fly things 10-12 reps - on the machine they are weird to balance.
Triceps: both arms, with that rope thing and split out at the bottom. 12-15 - I did better at these.
Chest flys again - he may have pushed me to 15. But I probably did 12 again.
Triceps: single pulldown drop sets - 10 reps, then cut the weight and do 20 reps. Did. Not. Like.

Then he threw this in: clock pushups.
Pushup at 12 o'clock, rotate to 3, pushup, rotate to 6, pushup, rotate to 9, pushup, back to 12, pushup. PUSHUP again and then back around.
I made one and a half rotations and my triceps literally gave out.

upside: NO STAIR INTERVALS.
I expressed disappointment in going down in weight with the single tricep pulldowns, but he said: "gotta give credit where credit is due - you have strong triceps"
Improvements: he said my pushups are getting way better.
He asked me how my leg day was. If I was sore today. I admitted that I wasn't sore, so I may be looking at a hard hard leg day next time around. I also said that I didn't like the light weights, lots of reps thing, bc I think I don't have endurance, and he said that my endurance has also way improved. So good.
He also said that today's HiiT sesh was a pretty hard set. I think he did take it easy on me with the ankle thing.

training session rundown

I think I'm on my 3rd week of training sessions, and we are finally back to legs.
My sessions are typically 30 min HiiT training and the rest lifting.
Today's HiiT:
fucking stairmaster. 7 minutes on level 6 (to be kind to my ankle, he usually makes me go up to 8 after 2 min) - getting ever so slightly easier.
walking angled pushups with bosu ball. started out 8 each side, then went to 12 each. Getting better with my pushups.
20lb kettlebells, one in each hand, carry them shoulder level, squat, then push them all the way up. 25 reps. - nasty!
obliques on the hanging over thing - 12, then 16 each side. - Zumba REALLY helped me with this one. All that ass shaking and side stepping is obliques if you do them right.
captain's chair - straight leg raises, 12, then 15. with threat of burpees if I stopped. Didn't stop.
Two rounds of the above, increasing reps 2nd time around.

Lifting.
Since I injured my ankle last week jumping out of a tractor tire, my trainer didn't want me at the big barbell thing, so we ended up just doing machines.
Super Set squats/leg raises
squats, started 140lb, for 10, then went to 160lbs for 15 reps. - he made me do a bonus 5 when I wasn't dying by 10.
leg raise quads thing - 40lbs for 15, twice. Then second set upped it to 60 for 10 reps, halved the weight for 20. That killed. I'm becoming a fan of heavy lifting for shorter reps.
Straight leg deadlifts - 2 sets of 15. I didn't see the weights.

Legs. Burning.

Took the best nap ever after this session, woke up with sore obliques already.

Measurements and Such

This is going to be brutal. But I got my measurements done today at my training session and it's pretty bad. I did a lot of damage in SF.
I'm the heaviest I've ever been at 165, Body Fat at 30%
My chest is 34 (before I started working out, I was a 32)
Waist 34 (i feel like this might be big, it doesn't look as wide as my chest, but it's my true waist at the belly button)
Hips 42 (no surprise there)
Thigh - 26 (what my waist was when I was 18)
Arms 14 (starting measurement- 11)
Calves - probably about 16 - always big.

I have a lot of work to do. I will try to go to the gym for supplemental classes on the days that I do not have training sessions, and stay on this clean eating track, no matter how boring it gets.

Upside: I squatted my body weight today and it wasn't bad
Stairclimber machine is getting incrementally easier, but fuck. Time stops on that fucking thing.
Trainer said that my body fat % was on the lower side of my age bracket. I'm merely overweight and not obese.
I did not want to jump off a bridge at the sight of all these numbers. I accepted them and set my mindset.
I think I'll start recording what my workouts have consisted of so that I can look back and have a reference of what I can do.