Cynthia's Cynsational Workout log :)

Are you still teaching it? How is that going?

Sonya

Cougie, I just had an amazing flash - an AMRAP of pole climbs and lap dances. Whew. Is it hot in here or is spring finally arriving?

Anyway, I am SLOWLY getting back into working out. The only place my hand hurts now is overhead, and then it's just a twinge so I think if I keep on working on my "bizness" as Kstar says, it will soon be fully functional minus the owies. I went to trampoline Airobics yesterday, which was fun; I think I am becoming addicted to the jumping jacks, as there is something really cool about doing them 10 feet in the air. I have had to remind myself to hit the loo before class though, just in case.

Did a run-through of a potential introductory workout for the new Martial Arts fitness class I'm going to start teaching TOMORROW!!! ... I figured a Fight Gone Bad style workout would be appealing, after a warmup, some mobility and gymnastics work (which I am not going to refer to as mobility and gymnastics ) I was thinking jump rope singles, double punch double hooks, walking lunges, pushups and alternating roundhouse kicks.. but that was too easy.. so I'll take my slam balls and my kettle bells and we'll do jump rope, kettlebell swings, slam balls, punches and kicks. Haven't decided if I'll give them 5 rounds or just 3 - I don't want to kill them first time out!

This evening, I tricked myself into doing a short workout by "just going into the garage to play around".. a few one-handed kb swings led to some snatches and clean & jerks.. then I accidentally ran through the Burgener warmup just to see if I remembered it... which led to doing 3 rounds of the Main Page wod [sort of] with ring rows, power cleans and front squats. 3:44, 3:36 and 3:21 for the 3 rounds, and I took 2 mins rest in between as I am REALLY out of shape after 7 months of virtual inactivity.

I think I'm happy. Still subject to tremendous "unsettledness" in my personal life, but finding a non-stressful way to play with my fitness is good, and looking at this new opportunity to develop a martial arts fitness program, while scary, is also a move in a good direction.. Plus, it's sunny and warm, which feels really good!

I am really loving the idea of the sensual dance class. For real. I think it takes a deeper connection to yourself, your body, your emotions and a bigger commitment to letting go of your fears than CrossFit.

At least it would for me. Hmmmm I wonder if there is anything around here?

Really sounds marvellous and thank you for sharing that!!! You may have inspired a new combo - Sensual Crossfit. LOLOL

that Sensual Dance sounds like a really good balance for Crossfit. There seems to be something spiritual about it. It seems like it could be especially important to me now that my hot flashes are becoming more intense and I don't feel so sensual.

Thanks,

S.

Karin, I have done the medball to the face move also... and my friend Jackie actually broke her nose doing wallballs just like that. Ow. The trampolining is super fun, and amazingly hard work, especially when we do a couple laps around the whole place!

Sonya, the sensual dance class was wonderful. The studio is just for women (and you can't even get the address unless you are taking a class). I thought I'd feel uncomfortable and self-conscious, as I was ridiculously out of my element.. but I didn't. The beginning of the class was focused on getting [re]acquainted with your body through touch and movement, some yoga-type stretches combined with using fingertips & hands to "wake up" your skin. The first thing I learned was how to do the "Rising Goddess" to get from a flat-on-your back position to sitting Then, to my surprise, there were specific movements to learn, some on the floor (the Tick-Tock and the Double Rainbow, for example), some standing (the wall walk, figure-eights), some for making the transition up and down; those movements, once we learned them (and they weren't hard to learn but were quite taxing to do!) were choreographed into a specific dance. Many different songs were played, but all were very smooth and sensual. Lots of emphasis on allowing yourself to feel your body and to move with the music as it moved you.

Several of the women had boyfriends, husbands etc for whom they wanted to perform their dance (and the studio even has a private room which you can reserve for a "special occasion"), but others (like me) were just there to rediscover the joy of having an animal body, and to reconnect with the sensual world. I had totally forgotten what it felt like to be a sensual being.

It was a wonderful experience, and a terrific way to balance what has been an emphasis upon more "masculine" movement - the weightlifting, CF-WODding, etc. To be sexy and smooth and soft, powerful in a completely different mode, felt great. And even more so since it was just for me, not geared towards "performing" for anyone else, just for my own pleasure.

I HIGHLY recommend going to such a class if there's a place in your area that offers it. I'm planning to expand my horizons in the coming year by going to the "Pussycat Dance", Pole Dancing, and Lap dance classes

Hitting self in the face with a foam ball=you.
Hitting self in face with medicine ball (Saturday)=me.
It wasn't actually pleasant but it didn't do me any actual harm.

The trampoline stuff does sound like fun. Though i doubt i could do it (or rather i doubt i'd want to pay the price later...) myself. I used to love doing backflips on the things. Trampolines are awesome.

Sensual dancing? What's that like?

Erm... long time between postings, and sadly that's because there's been a lot of time lapsed between workouts

The bad news is that I have lost so much strength and metcon-ability: I did the Games Open WOD #1, had to scale the weight to 45# because even #55 made my hand twingy, and totally sucked at the double-unders (although I did eventually start stringing several in a row together). Two humongo rounds, woohoo The good news is that I think the worst of the schedule disruptions are behind me (having spent the past 3 weeks dealing with cleaning out my former house so we can sell it and get this damned divorce underway).

Tried out something different last weekend - a 50 minute "Airobics" class at the indoor trampoline place. That was a TON of fun, and quite an intense workout actually - quite a bit of skill involved, as well as balance and agility and coordination, and who knew that bouncing laps around the place could be such hard work! The hardest part was doing partner ball tosses - you're bouncing at a different rate than your partner is, so often you're up and she's down and the ball is moving in an arc between you! I whapped myself in the face a few times, so thank goodness it was a foam ball, not a medball.

Haven't made it to yoga recently, but did Kelly Starrett's Mobility Cert (very good info), and have kept up my once-a-week kickboxing. I try not to laugh at the end of the class when we are supposed to do sets of 25 pushups and 25 crunches, since no one, and I mean no one, has a range of motion even close to chest & hips on the floor for the pushups and I think crunches are not only a joke but harmful (according to the spine experts). I decided this week to hit as hard as I could on every round and I was wiped out by the end of class

Next week at my Sensual Dance class we're supposed to wear something to put us "in the mood". Yikes. I'm not sure I'm ready for that. But I love the class and my new skillz, even if I don't have anyone other than myself to dance for at the moment.

Hope all y'all are enjoying yourselves!

i do love to run. but NOT uphill like that.

and i understand the part about it being beautiful. there is nothing that compares to walking/running/biking to have that space to enjoy nature. yay!!!

that was this morning! I had signed up to do a 5 mile trail run at King's Mountain. The name should have been a hunt. 2.5 miles up, turn around, 2.5 miles down. Took me 59:55. 34:21 up, the rest down. Having had no exercise other than the first week of Wendler in the past 2 weeks I don't mind. It was fun, it was beautiful, and I didn't walk any of the first mile of gradual uphill (and stuck to my 20 or 30 steps run, 10 walking all the way up the steep part). Coming downhill was a ton of fun, especially since on this run, unlike the Pacifica one in January, the trail was pretty smooth and I wasn't too worried about turning an ankle.

The fellow who was first in the half marathon finished in 1:15. Whoosh.

45# bars are good to have, but not necessary. i will take a "girl" bar over a "boy" bar nearly every time, unless deadlifting... But definately for the oly lifts. nice to have a smaller bar to wrap my fingers around :-)

hmmm. that's a good idea Patty!

1 35# bar plus 2 1 kg plates = 35+2*2.2 = 39.4#
1 35# bar plus 2 15 kg plates = 35 + 2*15*2.2 = 101# etc...

I bet I could make a spreadsheet for all the variations with 3 bars, all the kg plates and all the lb plates!

If I had the $$ I'd buy a 45# bar and some more weights in lbs

Cyn when we had bumpers in kilos herm made me a color-coated chart (ex blue + bar = 155) so then I could just add the small weights in lbs to that. Kilos are just a language I cannot speak!

it's combining the Kgs and the Lbs that screws me up! Multiplying by 2.2, adding, sheesh. Especially when it's supposed to add up to something like 48.5

Plate math does get a little nutty....Especially when you're dealing with a bunch of them because you keep increasing something by 10 lbs at a time. The other day with the deadlifts if found myself asking "What's 15 + 25 + 45.... times 2....+45?" (215, BTW,, but i actually wrote it down to double-check my math).

I think Lauriel is the best at "plate math".. ha ha.

managed to find some time to do a quickie bike ride for a warmup and then my Wendler Week 1 for deadlifts & Bench Press. The hardest thing is figuring out how to get close to the specific weights: I have 15, 22 and 35 # bars, 5 and 10 lb plates, then .5, 1, 2, 2.5, 5, 10, 15 and 20 KG plates.. tricky!

Thank you for the encouragement, Cougie

Finally managed to get in a short workout yesterday, a wee warmup and my first Wendler back squats & shoulder presses. I went REALLY conservative on the weights because a) my previous PRs weren't huge, and b) after 4 months of not being able to lift anything I imagine I've lost quite a bit of strength. The upside is that there's a huge potential to get better!

Then, in the evening we went to make up the Sensual Dance class I missed last week due to my son's double ear infections. Whew. I don't think I have EVER been in an environment that was all about women and the sincere and frank appreciation of the sensuality and beauty of the female body in motion. Not raunchy, not sleazy, but soft, fluid and strong. Soft, yet not, because it's all about core strength and hips! Where have I heard that before? We did a wall dance (in humongous platform stilettoes), and the last movement was with your back to the wall, shoulders on the wall, drop into a deep squat. Woohoo! I can get below parallel in ginormous heels.And up again, too, I might add. Here's another place that "Functional Fitness" pays off

Cynthia,

I think we often overlook or tend to poo poo how emotionally exhausting change can be. There are times when it is really RIGHT to lie in bed for three days and not move. Other times, it's more important to keep ourselves active. Only you can know that. I think the dance class and kickboxing is PHENOMENAL! I really look forward to seeing how you do!

And as for divorce and kids and all that? HOLY HELL. I mean,what is more exhausting than all that? except being at the end of the relationship before you decide on the divorce... you've made it this far. You will be stellar!

From the exercise perspective, down the hole and into a vacuum thanks to single-motherhood with sick kids (one with double ear infections requiring ER trips and heavy-duty drugs) and "figuring-out-divorce-arrangements" stress. Ah well. I'm getting back into things with a little different intention and perspective. Starting a 6-week "Sensual Dance" class that is so far outside my comfort zone it's ridiculous; me in stilettos? Adding a once a week kickboxing/boxing class (it's pretty much the same format every class, so once a week will be fun and satisfy my need to whomp things, whereas multiple times a week I'd soon be bored!). Picking back up with a Bikram yoga class once a week too, and for a change of pace, starting a month of CF Endurance WODs (both the Strength&Conditioning and the running). Would like to start the Wendler 5/3/1 program but haven't quite sorted it out yet..

I'm not in the mood to wipe myself out with every workout, because there's so much change and emotional mayhem to deal with that just setting myself in motion seems like an impossible challenge on most days. But I got my LifeCycle fixed and a friend is donating her treadmill to me, so I'll have some other options when it is pouring with rain and freezing cold (and dark!), which will help get me into the garage to do something. I have a 5 mile Mountain run on March 5th so I'd better do some running prior to that

Today, warmed up with 20 minutes of random Sport Training at level 6 on the bike (which turned out to be way too easy, but it did get me warm in the freezing garage). Ran twice through a little circuit of 5 pullups, 10 ring dips (assisted), 5 "real" pushups, 10 GHDs, 10 hip extensions and 10 step-ups on the box holding a 15lb medball. Topped it off with tabata rowing. Nothing really awesome about it, but I'm glad I got myself moving again, even though I didn't get started til after 8pm!

That is too freaking cool, shame i can't run, lol.

The satalite view has helpped me a lot for trails. They tend to show up, unless there are way too many trees. An issue we don't have much in Arizona! LOL

Hi Lauriel - I do use MMR, but I couldn't locate the exact start and turnaround points for this one (never though of using the satellite view! I'll have to try that!). I went from "the north end of the parking lot" to "the start of the green fence"

Cynthia, have a look mapmyrun.com. You can put in your zip code or address and map a run based on satalite images. I use the satalite overlay for trail runs, many can be seen in the image. For street runs I just use the normal overlay. It takes some getting use to, but is cool once you get the hang of it. it will tell you how far you went. you can even save and share your runs with others.

cynthiaj wrote:

Got out for a nice trail run this morning alongside Crystal Springs reservoir. No idea how long it was, as I wanted to go for an hour and so did 9 minutes run/1 minute walk three times on the way out and then came back, for a total of 1:03.. The road was closed so I couldn't measure it, but it's somewhere between 5&6 miles. I was happy to be able to do most of the uphills without walking (just walked the really steep ones). Beautiful way to soak up some Vitamin D

Got out for a nice trail run this morning alongside Crystal Springs reservoir. No idea how long it was, as I wanted to go for an hour and so did 9 minutes run/1 minute walk three times on the way out and then came back, for a total of 1:03.. The road was closed so I couldn't measure it, but it's somewhere between 5&6 miles. I was happy to be able to do most of the uphills without walking (just walked the really steep ones). Beautiful way to soak up some Vitamin D