Dose of Climbing, Tony and Gloria

Shake out your arms and figure out where you're going -- a belayer to his climber.

Hadn't been climbing in a month. Can you say struggle? There was an arete route in my grade range. Never did get over the arete but it was fun trying. Some of the routes just annoy me but I enjoyed figuring out where I was going on this one.

My hands were so fatigued at the end of the climbing session and I could barely hold my head up when I got home. Climbing, 42. 'Drea, 1.

Did Kenpo X today. There are always two segments that capture my attention. At the drag claw and punch point, Tony Horton says punchpunch in a funny way.

I am also captivated when he does this little monologue:

Take care of your body and it will take care of you because time keeps on ticking and you keep getting older. You can get better or you can get all gooey and crotchety, old, pathetic, icky, gross. Not me, not into it...

At the 12 minute mark, I usually feel my energy wane and Tony steps in with Where's your intensity?

During the Kenpo X breaks, I usually swing my kettlebell instead of doing whatever Tony and his crew are doing. I get back into the routine when it's time for jumping jacks. Didn't swing the kettlebell for long because my hands still smart. Punchpunch...

Went to Gloria's yoga class to get a dose of Gloria and yoga before Gloria heads off for vacation.  A couple of people complained of back pain so we did a back care class. It was so sweet that I could have rolled over on my yoga mat and turned in for the night.

At one point, we went into rag doll and Gloria said Release the head; let it be free and I did.

What made this class even sweeter is that I felt like I really nailed, alignment-wise, Warrior I for the first time.

You Gotta Hold Out...

No Shoes Required

Woke up at my leisure which was nice.

Made myself a smoothie and then put Kenpo X into the DVD player. Thanks Gingerzingi for hipping me to this part of P90X. I like the punching and the kicking but also like the way that the workout is broken down. I also feel like it's such a well-balanced workout.

I managed to get to my Saturday yoga class earlier than I have been getting there so it was kind of funny when I walked in and only one person was in the room. It ended up being a full class but not nearly as stuffed as it was last Saturday.

One of Alison's lines of the practice: At the bottom of the exhale, let go of something in your life. Always a good reminder during corpse pose.

My Champion (Advanced C9 Semi-Fitted) t-shirt works well and is really the only shirt that I'm happy with wearing to yoga right now. I picked it up on sale at Target almost two summers ago and glad that I snagged it.

What does not work well -- Hanes women's boy shorts. Gave myself a major wedgie while working on yoga fundamentals.

I've been watching Pit Boss and Ronald, who works for Shorty of Shortywood, was given the task to train one of Shorty's pitbulls for a photo shoot stunt. The dog trainer tells Ronald You gotta hold out for the behavior that you want. I'm actually feeling that way about myself. At the other facility that I go to for yoga, I feel distracted by the latecomers and I want to move past that feeling of distraction.

About a month ago, I felt like I was devolving. Don't quite feel that way anymore but there's still plenty of progress to make. Feel like that fits into that "holding out" category as well.

Peace in Sphinx

No Excuses

Having a lot of workout DVDs is like having cable -- so much on but nothing to watch. At least that's the way that I remember it because I haven't had cable in years.

Patti gave me P90X's Cardio X which I did a long time ago. The only thing I remembered was the kicking legs over a bar stool segment. Definitely didn't remember the dreya roll which I couldn't execute.

After doing Cardio X, headed to Gloria's yoga class. There were about 20 people in line when I arrived and the crowd only got bigger. I headed for the front of the class because I knew that there would be a logjam in the back and middle but I ended up being too close to the mirror for my taste.

I was worn out after the warriors and sun salutations but found such relaxation and peace in sphinx -- pretty sure that it was the cumulative effect of all the poses but I noticed the peace in sphinx.

I like how Yoga Journal refers to sphinx as the infant of backbends.

A Different Day

I think the whole muscle confusion thing is working. After doing Jackie Warner's Xtreme Time Saver workout, I woke up on Thursday with a wicked charley horse in my calf. I tried to simultaneously not move and to reach back and massage my calf. Um, yeah, ouch.

Kind of ironic because my mother, who takes water aerobics, asked if I ever get sore. Guess I don't say much about being sore but, for as much as I exercise, I'm actually not sore a lot which I attribute to my yoga practice and the practice of soaking in about four cups of Epsom salt -- not daily but often.

I did P90X's Kenpo again and my muscles didn't seem to remember the moves from earlier in the week. I struggled but have to remember that a different days brings different energy.  

Last night, I would have paid (extra) for someone to massage my calves. They were so tight that I wanted to deflate them. I got out Cathe's Stretch Max and decided to do the segment with a resistance band and wondered, as I hog-tied myself, Who thinks up this stuff? The combo of stretching and salt bath worked because I was in better shape this morning. So, yeah, thanks to all of you who think of that stuff...

My coworker shared this Buzz Feed about work. Nice to know that the work experience is a universal one. In disbelief that this work week was a short one because it felt exceptionally long.

We Call That DNA Removal

Kenpo has been staring at me from the top of its bar stool perch.

I put Kenpo in the player once and decided to change directions. Same thing today. I started off with another DVD but ended up with Kenpo. I'm trying to make sure that I don't rely on the same DVDs since I'm working out at home more.

I've dabbled in P90X workouts but I've never done them consistently and thought that Kenpo was going to leave me uneven with mostly an upper body workout but I was wrong and I had fun. Well, except for the start when I was annoyed by the prolonged stretching. When I'm ready for cardio, I'm ready and want to strike before I lose the desire to bounce around.

Tony Horton seems to cover all the bases -- all the ones that I know about anyway from jab/cross to claw/hammer combinations.

I like the directional kicks (front, side, back) and the block/punch combos.

The star blocks felt kind of odd to me but I pretty much dug everything else including the elbow series (up, down and across). I found the back knuckle with front and back kicks pretty funny.

Even funnier is when Horton points to his female cohort to emphasize how her shirt went from light green to dark green. We don't need any spray bottles; we call that DNA removal...

When I told my Aunt Al that I had gotten TKO'd by one Benadryl, she gave me a look. I usually take two and it doesn't do anything to me, she said. She then told me that my cousin takes more than two. I need to talk to my cousin.

My Aunt Al's dog, Teddy, hardly ever barks until he sees you eating...and then he barks. I need to be around this dude more often to have my own canine calorie counting system.

Teddy -- Paws In The Air and Not Barking for Food

Month-End Review, April

Anyone else shocked that it's April 30th or is it just the queen of denial who is surprised?

I hardly set foot inside of the gym but I worked it out – it being my body. ;)

My water consumption went down somewhat; I got in 193.5 cups of water -- 56 less than last month but c'est la vie.

How did you all fare this month on the fitness front? Is there an exercise or DVD that rocks your boat and that you regularly look forward to facing?

X = Exercise and a half X = under 30 minutes:

10 Minute Solution: 5 Day Get Fix Mix

Power Yoga, 1 x

10 Minute Solution: Dance your body Thin!

Dance Toner, 1 x

Smooth & Sexy Moves, 1 x

10 Minute Solution: Fitness Ball Workouts

Upper Body Workout, 1 x

10 Minute Solution: Tone Trouble Zones!

10 Minute Stretch, 6 x's

Sleek and Sexy Abs, 4 x’s

10 Minute Solution: Quick Sculpt Pilates

Core Conditioning, 1 x

Strength and Flexibility Pilates, 1x

Total Body Toner, 1 x

Bicycling, 9 x’s


Cardio and Muscle Class, 3 x's


Drills to Make You Sweat Class, 1 x


Mowed the Lawn, 2 x’s


Personal Training with Jackie: Power Circuit Training

40-Minute Total Body Circuit, 1 x

P90X

Cardio X, 1 x

Rock Climbing, 7 x's


Swimming, 3 x's


Treadmill, 1 x


Walking Outdoors, 7 x's

Disclosure: I received 10 Minute Solution: Quick Sculpt Pilates without charge.

Month-End Review, March

X marks the exercise spot and I exercised for 27 days. Yay! Here's how the calories were burned:

10 Minute Solution: 5 Day Get Fix Mix

Cardio Kickboxing, 1 x

Power Yoga, 1 x

10 Minute Solution: Belly, Butt & Thigh Blasters!

Better Booty Camp, 1 x

Belly Flab Fighter, 1 x

10 Minute Solution: Dance your body Thin!

Smooth & Sexy Moves, 6 x's

Dance Toner, 2 x's

Get Fit Club Mix, 1 x

Cardio Dance Party, 1 x

Ballet Sculpt, 1 x

10 Minute Solution: Fitness Ball Workouts

Firm Flat Abs, 1 x

Ultra Stretch, 1 x

10 Minute Solution: KnockOut Body!

Knockout Body Blast, 1 x

Fierce & Fabulous Abs, 1 x

10 Minute Solution: Tone Trouble Zones!

Stretching, 3 x's

Adaptive Motion Trainer, 1 x


Cardio and Muscle Class, 4 x's


Personal Training with Jackie: Power Circuit Training

15-Minute: Abs Only Circuit, 1 x

15-Minute Total Body Circuit, 1 x

P90X

Ab Ripper, 2 x's

Cardio X, 1 x

Rock Climbing, 6 x's

Stair Climbing (Out and Indoors), 6 x's

StairMaster, 1 x

Swimming, 2 x's

Treadmill, 3 x's

Walking (Outdoors & Lazy River) 8 x's

I'm most proud of the fact that I set out to drink eight glasses of a water a day and got in a total of 249.5 cups during the month of March.

Erin Gudeux from Consumer Reports Health Blog had me chuckling when she said that she is more likely to climb Mt. Everest than get in the newly recommended 60 minutes of exercise for women over 40. Well, duh, Erin; you'd have to be in great shape to climb Mt. Everest. So, go ahead and get in that 60...


Disclosure: I received the following videos without charge: 10 Minute Solution: 5 Day Get Fit Mix, Belly, Butt & Thigh Blasters! KnockOut Body! and Personal Training with Jackie.

RX For Sunday Blues

I was feeling sore and sluggish and the thought of actually getting dressed and venturing out the house was so unappealing. Then, the rain came. I think that I get in a blue funk of sorts on Sunday.

I read an article, not this one although it sounds similar, that talked about Sunday depression being a serious issue for some people. Like, they can't even sleep or won't go to sleep in order to extend the weekend.

For me, I think about all the stuff that I wanted to do: clean the fish tank, organizing, clean xyz, plan meals.

I remember one professor that I had from Africa. He said: you people put too much stock in Friday. The you people didn't even bother me; I understood where he was coming from. He also said something about it being a no win situation when you put all of your happiness in one day...

I also remember reading The Artist's Way and the author talked about taking advantage of small moments and not waiting for huge chunks of time to enjoy activities or to get things done which is why I try to read for, at least, 15 or 20 minutes in the morning instead of looking at Today or GMA and listening to repetitive horror stories with anchors who are on automatic. I can always read the newspaper later to catch up on important news.

I decided not to go swimming as planned because I didn't have the heart to exit my abode. So, I'm catching up on The Biggest Loser and it's time for the last chance workout. Daris is doing army crawls under his blue team cohorts who are making it hard for him to crawl under. Tears are seeping out my eyes, a frequent occurrence when I watch TBL and when the last chance workout is over, Daris says:

I left everything I had in the gym. I don't have any skin on my elbows to prove it.

I decide that I will work out. I do Cardio X from P90X and I have to tell you that I love the swing kicks which you do with the aid of a chair or stool. You swing your left then right leg over the chair and vice versa. I felt like a Rockette. I wasn't so crazy about The Dreya Roll which just seemed like a Burpee in reverse and I hate burpees and trust me when I say that hate is not too strong of a word.

I Don't See Any Camels

A smile hit my face and spread from ear to ear when I read Patti's e-mail saying that her trip had been canceled and that we could go climbing on the weekend.

Patti pulled a muscle doing the yoga portion of P90X. She would normally start out on a 5.8 to warm-up but started out in my neck of the woods on a 5.6. We played monkey see, monkey do for awhile. She climbed Truxton or Bust then I climbed it. I even attempted a 5.9 (Patti's neck of the woods) and made it half way up. When it was time to warm down, Patti asked me if I wanted to down climb the route. I did. When I came back down, Patti asked me if I wanted to climb the route again. I did. And I down climbed again. I went up. Down climbed. Patti looked at me with wide eyes.

Me: This might be the last straw...

Patti: I don't see any camels.

I went up again but this time I asked Patti to lower me because I was fatigued.

Down climbing was good though. I was much more aware of when my body wasn't squared off or when I wasn't properly balanced. It was a nice challenge to do laps on that route and I felt like I got in a great workout:

5.6, Truxton or Bust (Warm-Up)
5.8, Bright Idea
5.8, JW
5.9, One Liner (Attempted)
5.8, Face Plant
5.8, A Savage Salvage Project
5.6, Unnamed Yellow Route (Ascended 4x's & Down Climbed 3x's)

Here's a video with some tips on down climbing.

How to Down Climb a Rock Wall - Courtesy of Trails.com