What are five simple exercises to do at home?
For a simple prompt, I’ll give some simple exercises. These are not in any order.
And more. If you were to combine those into 30 reps for each exercise, you can do a circuit. 4 or 5 of those circuits will get your day off to a good start.
I hope helps. Cheers!
Share a hobby you’ve picked up recently — what got you into it?
I’ve recently gotten back into running. I was looking for a way to shed extra pounds from my frame. I was running with a club that meets monthly but lately I’ve added extra runs into my fitness routine.
I got into it more when someone I met at the club told me about Strava. I had seen the app before but I wasn’t able to use it because I had an old phone that was filled to the brim.
Anyway, I downloaded it. When I saw that I could track my runs and incorporate the outputs and exercise into my other fitness apps, I became more motivated to run. It gave me numbers to hit and strive for. I wanted to see how much I could do and how many calories I was burning. Let me tell you, it was a revelation.
Now, I’m not necessarily a running enthusiast, but I’m picking up the habit again from 6 years ago. Back then everything was closed, including the gyms. I was at my lowest weight ever and quite possibly my fittest since I discovered the Insanity home workout program.
Can I beat 2020 me?
Remember this?
Well, yesterday I got better. I learned a new workout from my gym colleague.
I was sore as heck after finishing, but I got a good sweat out of it. I definitely felt like I got better.
What is your favorite hobby or pastime?
My favorite hobby nowadays is to read and ingest all the political news that’s out there on social media. But it’s mainly through Twitter. (I still refuse to call it “X”.) I can get so lost in consumption that I forget to be a learner and a producer. The news of the day is a very compelling product.
Also, another one of my favorite hobbies is working out, especially in the morning. It’s critical for me to get a good sweat before I start the rest of my day. It makes me feel like I’ve accomplished something. Therefore, I can check it off my list.
I took my 25th ride at Soul Cycle yesterday and I got this neat badge from the app.
(Shout out to IAM. She put me onto the franchise and she loves it. She has taken 125 classes.)
Spin is a great alternative to running for cardio workouts. It’s a bit pricey for a single class, but you get a discounted price for first time purchasers. Also the more classes one purchases at once, the cost per class lowers.
Also IAM is able to find various discounts for the classes so that makes a difference. You should go to her blog to check out her other tips for saving money!
Improving Stamina – Update No. 3
I finally did the workout on 12 mph with the 5% incline. What I did would be considered “assisted” sets. 12.0 is very challenging. I had to hold on to the handlebars for at least 6 of the 8 sets. I was really exhausted after completing it. Next time I will aim for how many sets I can do unassisted.
This morning at the end of my workout I did the stamina treadmill workout again. This time I started at 11.0 mph through the 8 rounds. This was very challenging. By the time I got to the 4th round of sprints I was gassed. That 30 second rest felt like it wasn’t enough.
Next time I will do it again at 11.0 mph.
Update: I did this workout 2x this past week and got some decent results. This morning I ran at 10 mph for most of the working sets (6 of 8). The last two, I ran at 10.5 and 11 mph. I broke a sweat after my regular workout. I’ll report back with the 11.0 mph and see how that goes.
Here’s a workout that I’ve tried a couple times. The first time, I couldn’t keep up with the 12 mph pace during the 2nd or 3rd set, so I turned it down to something more manageable, e.g., 8.0 mph.
Today I attempted it again. This time I set the treadmill to 9.0 during the working sets. I felt like it was bit easy to manage, so I raised the speed to 10 mph. It felt more strenuous when I attempted it that fast. Next time I’ll set it for 10 mph and report back.
Check out my run on Strava.