Week 15

So this was the last week of Lauren's class :'( . I really enjoyed Lauren's workouts and will miss them a lot! Just not the guest instructors so much.

This week was a week of exams for me, so the bulk of my workouts were in the beginning portion of the week. On Monday I ran for half an hour on the track without walking at all ( yes-  goal achieved!!) and Tuesday, I did some amazing Yoga with Lauren. I felt really good after running and I want to continue doing that in the future. Hopefully I'll find a place to run this winter break. And the yoga felt good! I think I didn't have enough focus and didn't detach myself enough from my thoughts enough, because I was not as relaxed as I would have liked. I felt a lot more sore than I thought I would afterwards though!

Then I fell ill and then had a multitude of exams to study for :(

Here's the last motivational picture of the week!

Week 14

I cannot believe that the semester is almost over! I've definitely have grown in many ways, including being more fit. I ran for about 10 minutes and then rode the bike for 20 minutes on Monday. Tuesday, I went to Lauren's class and absolutely loved the workout! It was intense, but I persevered! We did circuits that were Lauren's greatest hits. My favorite would definitely have to be the squats on the bosu ball - they're so much fun! And then on Thursday, I did a biking and running biathlon. I ran for 15 minutes on the track, which turned out to be so much easier than running on the treadmill, and then 15 minutes of biking with the stationary bikes. On Friday, I ran for a full 30 minutes, maintaining a speed of around 5.0 mph without walking once! Whoot!

I definitely have gotten better at running. Now my new goal is to run the 7k in the Shamrock Shuffle!

Week 13- the Week of N0mz

This is the weekend of Thanksgiving!
Like most others, I'm not sure how good I feel about the amount of things I ate this week -.-, but hopefully my participation in cardio workouts can make me feel better! On Monday, I ran for about 10 minutes at a MPH pace, rode on the stationary bike for about 10 minutes and then used the elliptical for 10 minutes. On Tuesday, we did the Fitness test. I rode my personal stationary bike on Thursday for 30 minutes.

 I was super close to reaching my Cooper Test goal! I was very proud of myself for only walking  less than a 1/4 of a mile of the 1.24 miles I ran in the Cooper Test! Whoot! I also wasn't surprised that my weight hadn't changed that much, even though I was hoping it would.

However, it was interesting to compare my changes to the Pre/Post test of my KN 136 class with Lauren and my KN 137 class. I definitely lost a lot more weight in my KN 136 class last semester, but there are a few variables that could have gone in to it, including me religiously doing aerobic exercise 5 times a day in addition to Lauren's excellent resistance workouts last year and the fact that we did not have student instructors last year. I'm going to try to make my workout more intense and incorporate more resistance once I'm done with my 137 class. I'm going to try to model it off of Lauren's 136 class last year to achieve the same results as before.

Motivational Picture of the Week:

Week 12!

This week was a decent week, I didn't make it to the gym as often as I wanted to. I worked three days - Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Tuesday I ran for 10 minutes, was on the elliptical for 20 and then used the resistance machines. Thursday, I ran for 10 minutes, then participated in the workout that was "land-based". It wasn't very well organized, and I was almost forced to crab walk for 1/8 of a mile! However, we did planks for an extended period of time, and my muscles were sore the next day and the day after. On Friday, I used the resistance machines, used the stationary bike for 5 minutes, ran for 5 minutes and was on the elliptical for 20.

I'm a little anxious to take my fitness assessment tomorrow and see how the results turned out. Eeep!

Motivational Picture of the Week:

Week 11!!

This was a wonderful week for me!! I successfully completed Lauren’s 5k! I think I beat my time, but I walked a lot more than I wanted to. However, considering that I beat my time, it must have meant that I went a lot faster in the beginning than I expected myself to. Yaaay! That Thursday, I also ran another 3.25 miles instead of swimming during class. Running the first two miles were a lot easier than they ever were for me. Also, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, I did a combination of various cardio exercises, including the elliptical, treadmill and the stationary bike.

I’m super proud of myself for not giving up on myself and completing my goal of finishing a 5k! Hopefully there will be more to come!! Eep!

MOTIVATIONAL PICTURE OF THE WEEK

Week 9

Hey there!
So Week 9 I was fasting half of the time, so I didn't get in all of the exercise that I wanted. On Monday I ran. Tuesday it was nice to have Lauren back and get out of the monotony that was the student instructors. That was a really fun day in class! We did somewhat of a bootcamp type of training and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I walked probably about 2 miles on Thursday. I didn't run since I was fasting. Friday was a religious holiday for me, so I didn't work out at all.

Motivational Picture of the Week:

Week 8!!

Week 8 is our last week of students instructors! I'm sad, because the workouts won't be as easy now, however I'm excited to push myself to Lauren's routines. This week we had two students trainers who both utilized circuits. They both had a decent difficulty level, and definitely worked in a lot of resistance, as well as cardio. I ran on Monday and was able to run 27 minutes without walking! Woo! Granted, I wasn't going as fast but progress is definitely being made. On Friday, I decided to mix it up and used the elliptical. I was so surprised that I burned 230 calories in just 20 minutes! Crazy!

I realized how much of a difference music can make on your workout this week. When Lauren made us warm-up/bust a move to Gangnam style, I absolutely loved it an enjoyed myself like no other! I will try to pick more upbeat music from now on.

Picture of the week:

Week 7

I had two really good workouts this week, and one okay one!
 The first really good one that I had was on Monday, where I ran for a 20 minutes! Then I did the exercise bike for 10 minutes. I'm definitely making progress on running, even though it's only a little bit! That little bit of motivation should be enough to help me reach the goal.

The second great workout I had was on Thursday with the student instructor- he knew how to make things fun and interactive! He also had a good balance of cardio and resistance.
I had another workout on Tuesday with the student guest instructor. She had a good difficulty level, and I like the post it notes to let everyone know what was going on, but it just threw me off when she said "You must be really hot!" to just me. I don't think that's anyway to encourage your workout group!


Motivational Image of the Day:

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Week 6!!

Hi all! This week has been very much so resistance based for me. In class, we did cross training led by Richard on Tuesday and I was definitely sore. However, I finished the entire set he asked us to do, even though I had to switch from a 25 pound weight to a 20 pound weight after the first sets. On Thursday we integrated more cardio, even though we did do some resistance. The exercises seem easier to me than the ones that Lauren has us do.

MOTIVATION FOR THE WEEK:

Week 5!

This week was super tough for me. I had four exams and the only time that I worked out was during class. However, both times those workout were enjoyable. I loved step aerobics and didn't realize it could your heart pumping so much! I enjoyed how the guest instructor didn't have us repeat any of the exercises that we did, because then I didn't get bored. I also enjoyed the incorporation of resistance, once more. However, I'm ready to get back in to the swing of things this week!

Also, I read a chapter in my social psychology book and we were examining the topic of "self". It stated that research has found that the people who are the most successful at different things are the ones who have failed, but let that increase their motivation. That will be my motto and my philosophy on running. 

Week 4!!

This week in class we've been running, running and did I forget to mention running? Haha. We've also been integrating more and more resistance into our routines, as well.  For example, we did sit ups with medicine balls, dragging sleds with weights and wall sits, all things I really enjoy.

Outside of class, I've been running on a treadmill. My two times that I've done a mile on a treadmill have been 14:50 and 13:30, so I've been improving! The fact that I can actually now run on the treadmill for that long is an accomplishment for me. My friend suggested that I put a towel over the dashboard, because I feel like I'm always looking at it and that is something that I plan on doing.

MOTIVATIONAL PICTURE OF THE WEEK:

This is so pertinent, considering this is my exam week! Wish me luck, all :) !

Week 3!

Hey all!
So I've noticed that I have had an increase in stamina, which is great because that was definitely one of my weak points. I completely filled out my fitness log today, and I was a little disappointed. My fitness level is classified as "Poor" based on a test of running, but I know that I'm at least average in resistance and other activities. In class, we did some more running and stair climbing and it seemed to be getting easier than last week. It was also a lot more circuit-like compared to last week, but I enjoyed that. I like stopping and doing something new before I get bored. One thing for sure is that I could definitely work harder. As soon as I felt some discomfort and pain, I stopped running and started walking. My goal for this week is not to do that. Now that my mp3 player is functional, I will utilize music to help me stick to my goal.

Motivational picture of the week:

Week 2!

Hello all! So as expected, my Aerobic Conditioning class got more difficult. There's a lot of running involved and for some reason running has always been difficult for me. I notice that the first lap is fine, but then I get distracted by how heavy I start breathing and then I become aware of the fact that I am tired. I do thing that it's more psychological then anything and would love to overcome that conception. In all honesty, right now I would take 6 minutes of wall sits over two laps of running.

I am not dropping the class though, because I feel so amazing afterwards. This week has been stressful, and exercise has been the only thing that has really helped me to destress and relax. Outside of class, I also went to the Recreation Center twice and both times I rode the stationary bike on the Cardio Fitness Level 6 Setting. One of the times that I went I also did some resistance, as well.


Well, here's to doing cardiovascular exercise at least 5 times a week next week! Until then, here's this thought:

Week 1!!!

Well, hi there!

This is officially going to be my fitness blog for me to track my progress. Hopefully it'll add a greater sense of accountability for me to reach my fitness goals.

A few of my fitness goals are :
1) To decrease my BMI by atleast two points by the end of the semester. Right now, I'm about 27, which puts me in the slightly overweight range and by losing 2 BMI points I will in the normal range. However, a quick caution with BMI - individuals with muscle have an increased BMI, and it makes them not look as healthy as they are. I have done a lot of resistance in the past, so that could be a reason for my seemingly too high BMI.

2) To run a 5K by the first week of December! Running has been one of the more difficult things for me, but I know it's so healthy. So let's see how it goes.

3) To take 2 inches off of my waist. In order to aid with this, I'm going to start eating a healthier diet and also do resistance training exercises, as well.


What I did this week:

1) I am in an aerobic conditioning class, so the majority of my aerobic conditioning of the week happened during the class. For the first day, we did twenty minutes of calisthenics. The second day we did fitness testing and did the Cooper Fitness Test, which is a 12 minute running fitness assessment. I ran about a mile, which I was super proud of.
I felt liberated knowing that I could at least run that much, and I cannot necessarily use the excuse that "I can't do it again."

2) Twice last week, I did weight training. Each time I did 15 minutes. t I performed were 3 sets of 12 reps on the deltoid, lower back, inner thigh, abdominal, oblique, biceps and triceps machines.

MOTIVATIONAL PIC: