Last Day

So I apologize to my readers for not blogging about my workout endeavors for so long now. I have been incredibly busy and honestly, quite lazy with it all.

But just to catch you all up, nothing has changed with our workout. Me and Paula have been doing the "Body of an Action Hero" workout for the past two months. I can say that I have seen a change with my body. Now, mind you one week I had to take off because of the flu, but I do not think that it hindered too much of the work that I put in. My arms, shoulders, back, and my abs are toned more than they have been. I have increased weight in several of the exercises we have been doing (which was my goal). This last week, we were both excited to be done with this workout because it was very constant and we were getting kind of bored with it, but we pushed through.

After speaking with Paula, she pretty much said the same thing about the outcomes of the workout. She has seen more definition in her arms and abs; she has also seen a difference for when she does Body Pump (weight bearing class) and being able to do more push-ups and other exercises with ease. One of the problems that she faced with this workout is that we did not have enough time to do the cardio portion because we had to leave for work. Our weight training took about an hour to do everyday so she would have to come back to do cardio at a later time, which was inconvenient.

Our recommendations for this workout:

1. Definitely try it!
2. Use low weight for the first week so you can get a feel of the exercises and so you do not hurt yourself (like I did the first week)
3. Try to workout in the morning, you will feel great throughout the day, it will increase your metabolism (not by much, but me and Paula were hungry all the time because we worked hard) PLUS you don't have to dread the workout later in the evening. Just get it over with
4. Keep pushing through the workout as best as you can
5. Try it for at least two months to see results (ours were not drastic changes, but we can definitely tell and you will too if you stick to it)
6. For cardio, it is easier for you to do it with the weight training, if at all possible. If not, then try to commit to a class like a Cycling/Spin class to get your cardio in. We know that it is difficult to workout in the morning and then come BACK to do some cardio.
7. Have fun and enjoy!

Here is the link to the workout that we did if any of you want to try it out. If you do, please let me know how you like it or what you would recommend for other people. Also if there is a workout that you are not sure about that you would like me and Paula to try, we are always up for suggestions.

http://www.today.com/id/37815447/site/todayshow/ns/today-entertainment/t/making-action-hero-body/

For the next two months, Paula and I will be embarking on a new adventure, P90X!
Now even though this workout has been around for awhile, we are going to try it for two solid months (maybe three) and give you our feedback and results.

The Bird is the Word.....actually it's the Flu.

So I have not been able to blog for awhile now and for my readers I apologize. I have been sick with the flu, Influenza B to be exact. It snuck up on me on Saturday, and just some advice. Regardless of how healthy you are, you still need to take the necessary precautions to be smart, like washing your hands. I had gotten the flu shot, but yet I still got it.

With all that said, I haven't been able to workout because I have had no energy. It's been an entire week but now I have been feeling much better. I am getting out of the house and starting to get back in normal routine. So watch out for more entries coming soon.

Be healthy and safe guys.

Expectations

So I realized that I have not blogged in a few days. And to my readers (or mainly my sister haha) I apologize. This week has been so incredibly busy with work and getting ready for the GRE that I just took today and just with other things. But I have been faithful to working out, even though I would have liked another hour of sleep. But just remember everyone to push through and to get your butt up and get going. Like I have stated before, it is easier to get up early and get your workout done and not have to worry about it for the rest of the day.

Well this week has been interesting. I do have a confession to make. Me and Paula were not able to finish two days or workouts because we ran out of time, but that is due to us chatting. So just try and stay focused everyone, it can be hard especially with friends but I wouldn't have it any other way. We were not really able to increase much in weight, but we just really focused on controlling the weight and "engaging" our muscles. The last day, we we able to increase weight and really push ourselves. I am pretty sure next week we will try and increase the weight and make sure that we are pushing ourselves to the fullest. My goal is to be honest with you guys and with myself to try.

Now as for advice, it is the same that I keep barking at you all to control the weight and to try your hardest. If you sent results you have to work hard. Like they said no pain, no gain. This week I felt it in my back more this week and Paula felt it in her abs, this could be because I am trying to re-strengthen my back and Paula was really working with her abs. Now one thing that has changed from the last week, is that we were able to do the an exercises with no qualms at all. We were able to do three sets of 50 consistently without stopping. Which is a great accomplishment for us :)

Well I am off. I hope everyone has had a great weekend!

Week 2

So this post I did not have a catchy title, but I hope it doesn't hinder you reading it. So Friday was a super quick day as far as working out. And me and Paula were both glad that the weekend was coming up because we could rest. I know I definitely needed it because my back was till a little sore from when I strained it. And my legs were super sore too so I wanted to rest.

Over the weekend, I did not do too much except spend some time with the family and also work at the Y.

Week 2, we were ready for what is to come. I was actually excited because I could see some definition in my back. I honestly don't feel any different and neither does Paula when I asked her today. But we have only done one week out of the 8 weeks we are planning on doing.

Now we made some changes in week two because we wanted to make sure we do the exercises to its fullest and not hurt ourselves. We were able to go up to 20 repetitions in the hanging leg raises (which we did 15 last week) and even though it was harder, I was glad we were able to push through. Also, we weren't able to always increase the weight in some exercises. Now I am not quite sure why we decreased weight, because we were not sore. We thought that maybe it was because we had a lot of hyped-up energy the first day, so we had this strength that helped us push through a bier weight. However, I was also not wanting to re-injure my back. After the workout, we both felt great. I am not as sore as the first time; of course tomorrow morning may be a different story.

One thing I recommend when doing this workout, is to take your time with each workout. One of the fellow members at the Y noticed that I was just throwing the weight up and down and gave me some advice. One thing that I have learned in all my weight training classes is to control the weight, especially when increasing muscle. For instance, when doing a dumbbell bicep curl, you want to raise the weight up not so quickly and not slow where it is painful. You want to control the weight up and really engage (what I mean by engage is to really activate the muscle you are working) the bicep muscle. Same thing when you lower the weight. You want to control it and not just let the weight drop. That is not good for your muscle. So remember CONTROL!!!

Well that is all that I have for ya so have a wonderful evening....I hope to publish something tomorrow.

Day 4: Push on through

So from yesterday's post, you all know that I strained a muscle in my back and what did I say to do? REST IT! And that is exactly what I did. Thankfully it was a rest day so I didn't lost any ground on the workout. But this morning my back still hurt when you touched it, but I would move easily without any problems.

Today, we worked on legs along with abs. It wasn't too bad today and went by quickly. We didn't go for a full hour but that was because while Paula was doing one exercise, I was doing another. I hope this blog is being somewhat helpful for you all.

Once again, if you have any questions or concerns please feel free to write a comment.

Day 3: BE CAREFUL!!!!

This blog post is dedicated to the topic of knowing your body and understanding its limitations. I pushed myself the past two days because I knew the workout would be hard, I knew I would be sore, and I knew that I could push through. However, because of that mentality, I pushed myself too far and did not listen to my body. Now I have a strained muscle in my back. It is inflamed and it hurts like crazy especially when I bend over of twist. I am assuming that it is due to the hyper extensions that we were doing with a 15lb weight.

Now what are you supposed to do when this happens? Well just from what I have learned through schooling (I majored in exercise science....FYI) it is extremely important for you to REST that muscle. Use the acronym RICE which is Rest, Ice, Compression (heat), and elevation. As I said rest is very important because you do not want make the injury worse and prolong recovery. Ice is useful as it decreases inflammation and should be put on for about 10-20 minutes. Compression is good to help ease the pain and decrease swelling as well. I like heat better because it is very comforting. The last part is elevation. If you have strained a muscle in let's say your leg, you would want to elevate it while you are sitting down RESTING.

My suggestion to you especially if you are starting a new workout or getting back into it....don't push yourself too hard because you will hurt yourself. Start out easy. Seriously. It takes time to lose weight, bulk up, etc. So listen to your body. If it is too much weight, back off. If you are working too much, your body will tell you.

Just be...careful.

Day 2: Soreness is not something to laugh about

So as the title explains, I am super sore from the workout yesterday. I am more sore around my abs and back. Now I was supposed to do a cardio circuit last night, however I decided to do yoga with my mother. I believe that this was the reason why my abs hurt so much. My arms were not so bad, but Paula said that her triceps were a little sore.

Today, we worked on abs just like yesterday and then chest/shoulders. The abs was actually a little easier than yesterday even though it hurt because I was sore. It helped when I counted by 10's and took like a second break after each ten. I have noticed that if you can break up the repetitions or count them by fives or tens, it is a little bit easier. So those 3 sets of 50 went by much quicker.

For our chest and shoulders, me and Paula had to decrease the weight because it went from three sets to four. We wanted to be able to finish each exercise and not over exert ourselves. My suggestion for today's workout would be to decrease weight especially if you are sore or new to the workout. Just remember that you have a few weeks to raise that weight up.

As for food, I did pretty well yesterday. For lunch, I ate a grilled chicken sandwich for Chick Fil A without the bread, but it had provolone cheese, tomato, and lettuce. Instead of fries, I got the parfait with granola which was really good. I did have a sprite because I had an upset stomach but water or crystal light are usually my drink of choice. For dinner, I splurged and ate a leftover half eaten burrito from Chuy's (thanks Alex) with some sour cream. It was just enough to fill me up. Today, I had the same breakfast which was a meal bar from South Beach diet (before my workout) and then a bowl of Special K original when I got home.

Well that is all I have for today, I must take a nap before work. Tomorrow is our day off so no workout blog.
Take care and have a terrific day!

Day 1: Body of an Action Hero

Today was the first day of me and Paula's adventure through the fitness world of working out. After recovering from the unhealthy eating habits and battling sickness throughout the holidays, it was time for us to get our butts back into gear and start exercising and promoting health. As I stated before, we both decided to try different workouts and then blog about it as honestly as we could and relay the results. Also stated before, me and Paula are not certified or are professionals when it comes to personal training. We both know our limits and how hard we can push ourselves where we will not harm our bodies. If you are wanting to tray our workouts please consult a physician or someone such as a personal trainer beforehand.

I was not excited waking up at 5am to get ready to workout, but I knew that my day would be so much better if I got this out of the way. In my personal opinion, it is so much better to workout in the morning because once you get going you start waking up and then you don't have to dread working out later. JUST GET IT OUT OF THE WAY! Anyways, day 1 started today.

For Mondays workout, we started with a 6-minute warm-up on the treadmill/elliptical at an "aggressive" speed (as the workout referred to it). We then started with abs which is different than some workouts because they usually leave that until the end. The first exercise was grueling and we knew that this workout was gonna get the best of us. We were supposed to do 3x50 of crunches (3 sets of 50 crunches = 150 crunches total). I can honestly say that we did finish all of them but not without a struggle. the next two exercises focused on abs which we modified to workout not only the "abs in front" but also our obliques (side abs).
The next three exercises focused on our biceps with a series of bicep curls using dumbbells, barbells, and the cable machines. Since this is new for us and because we have been semi-sedentary for the holidays, we had to decrease the repetitions of each exercise in lieu of getting hurt. Now these exercises, for our biceps and triceps, required us to do three different sets. The first set were 15 repetitions of a low weight (which for us was about an 8lbs weight), the second set were 12 repetitions of a higher weight (about 10lbs), and the last set were 10 repetitions of an even higher weight (we used either a 10lbs to 12lbs). The bicep curls the first time were not so bad, however, when we used the barbells we were having a lot of difficulty. So we decided to decrease the repetitions accordingly.
**If you look on the website that shows our workout (in the first blog below) it says to do cable bicep curls. We changed that exercise to work a differs part of our arms so to get the full workout of the arms. I am not quite sure what the exercise is called but once I find out I will definitely put it in the blog next time.**
The last three exercises pertained to our triceps (back of the arms) doing triceps extensions, cable pull downs, and tricep kickbacks. These exercises were not as bad because we used lighter weights since we both knew are triceps were not as strong. The kickbacks was the only workout that we decreased repetitions at the highest weight to prevent injury.

This entire workout last for about an hour and five minutes. So if you are wanting to try today's workout, you will need a good solid hour to get the right amount of rest in between sets so your muscles can recover. When I asked Paula how she liked the workout, she said that she liked it a lot because we have done workouts (such as Insanity) that is just purely cardio, but this one really focuses on the weights and getting more muscle. Now we are supposed to do cardio later today as the workout (by Michael Torchia) stated that results are most effective if cardio was done 6 to 9 hours after the weight training. We will see how that goes!

Please definitely leave comments, questions, or concerns. I would love to hear feedback and if there is anything I need to add or leave out.

Oh and I forgot. As far as food, I ate a Meal Bar made by South Beach that is 12g protein 9g of fiber and about 180 calories. It was a small bar but it filled me up. And I also drank a bottle water throughout the workout and finished it afterwards. So far so good on the Healy food stuff, but we will see how long that lasts haha.

Well enjoy!

What's in store for 2013

Hello everyone and happy 2013!

This year is going to be full of great things, great new beginnings, and wonderful endings. I am hoping that this blog will be a great new beginning for me as I will be blogging about a topic that is near and dear to my heart. This blog is a fitness blog, I would say, but it is going to be about my experiences doing different workouts and giving you the scoop on if these workout "fads" actually work or what to expect. I am also starting this blog due to my sister constantly nagging me about blogging...haha (love ya Big Sister)!

Here is what to expect:
My friend, Paula, and I will be doing a series of workouts that are popular to the eye, such as P90X and Insanity, and we will be blogging about our experiences.
 We will tell you how hard the workouts are, what works, and what we don't think is helpful, as well as are diet to the best of our ability.
This blog is not a professional blog, but something fun for us to do to get fit and to keep us accountable.
If there are any questions or comments that you would like to make, please do so. We want this to be interactive. If there is a workout you would like us to try, that is also something we would love to hear.

For our first two-three months, we will being doing a workout called "The Making of an Action Hero Body". Definitely check out the link below. We will be starting this coming Monday on the 7th.

The Making of an Action Hero Body

Just a side note, Paula and I are NOT experts or do not have any certification in personal training. However, both have our degrees in Exercise Science and has constantly kept learning about the body. Keep in mind that me and her are both very healthy and do not have any limitations to working out, that is why we are pushing ourselves to try these intense workouts. If you are wanting to try these workouts that we are doing, please either consult your physician or speak with a personal trainer to see if these workouts are applicable to you.