Hey everyone,
Well, it's the day before Halloween, which is always a time with plenty of 'less-than nutritious' temptations - thus it was a perfect day for a workout to mitigate any treats we consume! There are many different opinions and perspectives out there on nutrition. Ours, in short, is to eat healthy the majority of the time, yet also enjoy life! A life of deprivation and constantly avoiding things is not a lot of fun (nor would it be easy or overly sustainable). Although working out doesn't give you a license to eat whatever you want, it certainly does help counteract the occasional treat.
Sunday 30 October 2011
Saturday 29 October 2011
Workouts - A Saturday Circuit
Hey everyone,
Well, we survived to the weekend, but unfortunately we're both still sick. Nonetheless, we decided to muster up the energy for a workout. Today we chose to do a circuit, focused on arms, shoulders, and abs (or ASA as we sometimes call it). These muscle groups are smaller, so this workout is generally less taxing, which was perfect given our colds.
For today's ASA workout, we did a six-exercise circuit, repeating it 3 times. We timed each circuit, as well as a two-minute rest in between each circuit. Our pace was fast, with minimal rest between sets. This pace and intensity left us gasping for breath, but also allowed us to complete the entire workout in about 18 minutes of actual effort (not counting rest periods).
Here's what we did:
Well, we survived to the weekend, but unfortunately we're both still sick. Nonetheless, we decided to muster up the energy for a workout. Today we chose to do a circuit, focused on arms, shoulders, and abs (or ASA as we sometimes call it). These muscle groups are smaller, so this workout is generally less taxing, which was perfect given our colds.
For today's ASA workout, we did a six-exercise circuit, repeating it 3 times. We timed each circuit, as well as a two-minute rest in between each circuit. Our pace was fast, with minimal rest between sets. This pace and intensity left us gasping for breath, but also allowed us to complete the entire workout in about 18 minutes of actual effort (not counting rest periods).
Here's what we did:
- Hand-stand pushups
- Dips
- Underhand-grip chinups
- Kettlebell clean & press
- Grasshoppers
- Walkout to an extended plank hold (for 10 seconds per hold, repeated 3 times)
Persevering and adapting
Hey everyone,
On Wednesday, Tannys and I were both suffering from a cold, but wanted to do a workout. We always feel guilty when we don't workout, although we try to give ourselves more rest days when sick (e.g. avoiding back-to-back workout days). We also pay close attention to our bodies when we design the workout and also during it to calibrate our intensity and pace.
On Wednesday, Tannys and I were both suffering from a cold, but wanted to do a workout. We always feel guilty when we don't workout, although we try to give ourselves more rest days when sick (e.g. avoiding back-to-back workout days). We also pay close attention to our bodies when we design the workout and also during it to calibrate our intensity and pace.
Monday 24 October 2011
Workouts - Strength-based leg workout & battleropes!
Hey everyone,
As Tannys wrote earlier, we are both feeling a bit under the weather (admittedly, her more than me). Perhaps it was the travelling, with exposure to more people, altered routines and diets, etc.? In any case, I wanted to do a workout this evening but didn't want to put my body under too much stress and risk developing a full-blown cold.
As Tannys wrote earlier, we are both feeling a bit under the weather (admittedly, her more than me). Perhaps it was the travelling, with exposure to more people, altered routines and diets, etc.? In any case, I wanted to do a workout this evening but didn't want to put my body under too much stress and risk developing a full-blown cold.
Workouts - Back to the Grind - sort of...
Hey everybody,
Well we've made it back from a great relaxing week in Orlando and are settling back into our usual routine. Despite the fact that I was suffering from an ongoing cold, we did manage to fit in a couple more workouts which hopefully helped to offset the less healthy eating! On Thursday we moved to the Waldorf Astoria, which was closer to the Disney resorts. This hotel had a pretty good fitness room with your usual cardio equipment and weight machines. They also had a decent assortment of free weights.
Well we've made it back from a great relaxing week in Orlando and are settling back into our usual routine. Despite the fact that I was suffering from an ongoing cold, we did manage to fit in a couple more workouts which hopefully helped to offset the less healthy eating! On Thursday we moved to the Waldorf Astoria, which was closer to the Disney resorts. This hotel had a pretty good fitness room with your usual cardio equipment and weight machines. They also had a decent assortment of free weights.
Tuesday 18 October 2011
Another day, another workout
Hey everyone,
While Tannys was off at her conference, I decided to do another workout to pass the time. Actually, that's not the only reason I did it. Whenever we're travelling, we have noticed that the food, although delicious, is never very healthy (e.g. last night, for the first time ever, I tried a fried pickle, which unexpectedly showed up as a side dish at dinner!). It's tough to eat all of your meals at restaurants. Even when you try to make healthy choices, you have less control than when making things at home and those extra calories add up. There are temptations around every corner! Thus, holiday/vacation workouts are somewhat of a defensive system against gaining weight and losing ground in our fitness.
While Tannys was off at her conference, I decided to do another workout to pass the time. Actually, that's not the only reason I did it. Whenever we're travelling, we have noticed that the food, although delicious, is never very healthy (e.g. last night, for the first time ever, I tried a fried pickle, which unexpectedly showed up as a side dish at dinner!). It's tough to eat all of your meals at restaurants. Even when you try to make healthy choices, you have less control than when making things at home and those extra calories add up. There are temptations around every corner! Thus, holiday/vacation workouts are somewhat of a defensive system against gaining weight and losing ground in our fitness.
Monday 17 October 2011
Mojito as a training aid?
Hey everyone,
I just wanted to share a few thoughts and anecdotes about the periods leading up to and following our 5km charity run (which Tannys just blogged about). Our unconventional (i.e. innovative) pre-run strategy in the night before:
Pitcher of cherry-flavour mojito
I just wanted to share a few thoughts and anecdotes about the periods leading up to and following our 5km charity run (which Tannys just blogged about). Our unconventional (i.e. innovative) pre-run strategy in the night before:
Pitcher of cherry-flavour mojito
5K Run for Reproductive Health in Orlando
Hi everyone,
We've been in Orlando for 3 days now and are having a great time! This morning we awoke before the sun came up to participate in the 5K Run for Reproductive Health at the conference I am attending. Over 250 attendees had registered and the air was buzzing with excitement when we arrived. Given our very minimal training for this run, we were a bit intimidated to see the fit people we were running with!
We've been in Orlando for 3 days now and are having a great time! This morning we awoke before the sun came up to participate in the 5K Run for Reproductive Health at the conference I am attending. Over 250 attendees had registered and the air was buzzing with excitement when we arrived. Given our very minimal training for this run, we were a bit intimidated to see the fit people we were running with!
Friday 14 October 2011
Workouts - Time crunched? How about some density training!
Hey everyone,
In a rush on Thursday night, between getting home from work and going to see a good friend on her birthday, we were looking for a quick workout. What could we do in approximately half-an-hour; something that would be intense and effective? A density workout!
In a rush on Thursday night, between getting home from work and going to see a good friend on her birthday, we were looking for a quick workout. What could we do in approximately half-an-hour; something that would be intense and effective? A density workout!
Tuesday 11 October 2011
A tough run - and 3 epiphanies
Hey everyone,
Today we did a 5km training run, to continue our (minimal) preparation for the charity race in Orlando next week. Right at the start, Tannys had some pain (a strained intercostal muscle?). We adjusted our pace to accommodate the injury, but persevered to complete the run. Reflecting on it afterwards, here are three key observations that we made:
Today we did a 5km training run, to continue our (minimal) preparation for the charity race in Orlando next week. Right at the start, Tannys had some pain (a strained intercostal muscle?). We adjusted our pace to accommodate the injury, but persevered to complete the run. Reflecting on it afterwards, here are three key observations that we made:
Monday 10 October 2011
Workouts - Strength + Circuit
Hi everyone!
We were very excited that it was finally Thanksgiving - a long weekend! On the Friday night, after work, we took the time for a longer leg workout. We started off with a strength component of three exercises, with four sets of each (plus warmups). Then, we finished with two circuits of three exercises, with a brief rest in between those circuits. This latter part was more for metabolic conditioning and as a finishing component (i.e. we used lighter weights and had virtually no rest in between the sets in the circuit). Here's the workout:
Strength:
We were very excited that it was finally Thanksgiving - a long weekend! On the Friday night, after work, we took the time for a longer leg workout. We started off with a strength component of three exercises, with four sets of each (plus warmups). Then, we finished with two circuits of three exercises, with a brief rest in between those circuits. This latter part was more for metabolic conditioning and as a finishing component (i.e. we used lighter weights and had virtually no rest in between the sets in the circuit). Here's the workout:
Strength:
- Deadlifts (rack-pull version)
- Front squats
- (Front) barbell step-back lunges (i.e. holding the barbell in front, as in the front squat)
- Alternating kettlebell deadlifts
- Kettlebell swings
- Kettlebell bulgarian split squats
GCWCC 5km Charity Run!
On Thursday, October 6th, I (Alex) participated in the Government of Canada's 5km charity run for the United Way. With only a couple of training runs for preparation, I set out with two colleagues. We set a goal-time of 25 minutes, which was a challenging pace for us (based on our one previous group run).
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