That class felt great!

In my gym, there are some class snobs. They look down on some of the other cardio classes. I'll hear steppers saying, "Oh, I went to that bodyvive class. Yah... that was hard (heavy sarcasm)." I'll hear runners diss Zumba people. And spinners dis any nonbike aerobics, and so on.  I don't know what's up with the "I can do more than you can do" syndrome so many people have. I HATE that crap. And it's simple not true that you can't get really good workouts in almost any of them. It's what you put into it.

So, I used to do BodyStep and BodyPump religiously. I stopped doing BodyPump a month or so ago due to a knew injury. I've been doing other strength stuff to let that tendon heel.  I haven't done BodyStep in 7 months or so. Instead, I've been doing some intervals, doing Zumba, fast walking and  that 'easy' BodyVive class and an occasional spinning class. Three or so times I've done a step workout at home. I've also even dabbled in a wee bit of light running.

When I left step 7 months ago I was using two sets of risers with all propulsion. I was pretty fit then, but I stepped away from step, so who knew where I would be today.

So, today I decided to use a single riser (options are no step, flat step, step with one set of risers, and step with two set of risers.) I also wasn't sure I would be able to do all the propulsion as it's been so long.

Well, I was fine and never felt, in the entire hour that I was going to pass out. Next time I will add the second set of risers under the step. I did as well if not better than a big chunk of the class of stepping regulars, especially whenever there were intervals or strength moves. I actually think I'm stronger and better at step than I was 7 months ago when I left because I've been doing a mix of other stuff, including some of those "easy" classes.


A lot of steppers (and runners and spinners) are cardio junkies. The specialize in their one thing and are really good at it, but they ignore other things. It's obvious when we go to do push-ups in step and most of the women drop to their knees immediately. Or when we do some planks and they all give out immediately. On the other side, people who do only strength, can't keep up in cardio classes.

I'm not feeling smug as I have a LOT more to go to get better. I still consider myself a dabbler in many ways, but this whole idea of, "Stepping is harder than X" or Y is harder than Z is bogus. I've done no step in 7 months and was doing the much dissed "easier" cardio and I was able to increase my cardio endurance doing it. How? by moving bigger and harder.

I think it's perhaps that you can't really make step easy, so it's always a fairly hard workout and hard for a beginner. You have to go up and down the step. In Zumba or other low impact floor aerobics, you can start easy and build up. Or, if you have a tendency to not push yourself if you aren't forced to, you can 'cheat' and go easy. You can move less and not get much out of it.

Same with spinning. It can be a great workout, but how hard it is completely dependent on how hard you push yourself - same with treadmills and ellipticals and weight training. Hard for running to be 'easy' or step as you have to have a certain level of fitness, but is it the only exercises that can build up great cardio endurance? Heck no!

So, today felt great. I am as strong and as fit as when I left step 7 months ago. I'll add the second set of risers next time and if I still find all that interval stuff is easier going than I remember it 7 months ago, then I will know for sure that the 'easier' stuff I've been doing, wasn't so easy.

And, I think it is fair to say, I'm at tied at my fitness level I was at last spring around late April. I was just 20 pounds lighter then. Still working on dropping the weight (just not checking the scale for awhile and doing what I need to do to see the progress soon enough).

Going to try something new - no more scale and more cardio

I have been a slave to the scale for over two years. I know my patterns. I know how to eat. I know how to exercise, so why am I letting the scale beat me up?

I was so bummed at the slow losses with the weight loss challenge, that I just ate more than I should have for the last several days - undoing some of the work I just did! How stupid is that? Why did I let a slower loss than I wanted to see upset me so much? It's stupid!

So, I've decided that I'm not going to step on the scale until sometime in late May or early June. I'll do it in the part of the month where I can expect to see the least amount of water weight. If my cycle stays as is, that will be around May 29th or so. In that time, I hope it will down about 10 pounds (or more), but if it isn't, am I going to get upset? No... the only thing I will be upset about is no weight loss or a weight gain. Those just aren't options!  It doesn't matter how fast or how slow it comes off at this point. It is the weight coming off and getting more fit that matters. The pace of it DOES NOT.

We'll see if I can stick with it. It will be a big change after monitoring my weight so frequently for so long. Though, even now I haven't been weighing myself daily until it's the time of the month I expect to see losses. What's the point of watching the water weight creep up on me?

I'm also going to do more cardio. While strength is good, it's the cardio that burns more calories and it boosts my mood the most. So, I'm going to shoot for cardio 4 days a week and strength 2 times a week. I had been doing about 3 and 3 or 2 and 3 (with more strength than cardio). I need to mix it up a bit and go with what I know works. I've lost better with doing more cardio.

I plan to start doing step again (a great cardio burn), some spinning, and maybe some fast walking outside and/or some running on the treadmill - oh and Zumba with the only instructor that really works us (on Fridays!). On other days, I'll do strength training. My husband and I are thinking of moving away from bodypump and going to the weight room to work out. If I don't like that, or can't get the hang of it, then I'll switch to TRX.

So, lots of options. Lots of things changing. I just need to change things up as I'm feeling a bit in a rut and disappointed with how things are going. That's no good.

I'll probably monitor my measurements a bit, but again, not stress about it. I just need to do what I know I should be doing. Warmer weather and more daylight will help. The winter funk will lift and I will have an easier time of it.

This winter was one of the easiest it's been as far as winter funks go (actually the last three have been) and I know it's the exercise, but I still feel it. Darn lack of sunlight!!! I'm already planning some gardening/landscaping projects too - more ways to get some vitamin D the natural way too! But this year I will be ultra vigilant about poison ivy (and poison oak!)

Starting weight is probably about 185ish as I'm sure I gained with the M&Ms and Reeses Pieces the last couple days.

Back at it Melissa!!!!! (Hey, and only two to three days of too much isn't the end of the world - though not caving in would have been even better!)

Oh, and our snow day yesterday? Pffft. Nothing of it. There is no evidence of snow left either. It snowed a bit and then rained. it looked like a big slurpee where there was snow. No fun and so we just sat in the house all day and felt bummed at the lack of snow! Wah! Another year of no snow to play in. Last year we didn't get ANYTHING, this year we got snow 4 times but less than an inch each of those times.

Spinning class

Yes, it's true, I am competitive, but being competitive, not only with other people but myself means that I improve and improvement is what I'm after.  So, after today, I know what I can do, so next time I'll try to match it or do better. I hate, hate, hate, having to take it down a bit. I'm always trying to do just that tiny bit more. It's also why I like this class and this gym better. It's the only gym of the three that has computers on the bike to record what we did.

So, today in spin class I realized about halfway through class that the man just in front of me had a visible computer so I could see his numbers. I could also see he is a cyclist (has those cycling legs) and I could see he was pushing himself and sweating in class. I wanted to see how my effort compared to his.

About halfway through the class I  saw I was pretty close in watt-hours to his (like within 2 watt hours), so I wanted to try to push it to catch up. In the end, I couldn't and he outdid me by about 12 watt-hours (his 110.1 to my 98.6), but it is exactly 31 more watt-hours than I did last Tuesday where I thought I was pushing myself hard too. Having that rival number really made me take it up a couple notches to really, really push myself.

When we were on flats, I had a higher tension than he did. When we were on hills, we both had the same tension, but he could pedal a bit faster and maintain that speed - better than I could. But, it gave me a much better idea of my physical condition to have someone to compare to who I could see was quite fit. And you know what? I am not too bad! That still surprises me - not that I'm resting on my laurels. I want to do MORE!

I spoke to the instructor after class to get an idea of what the numbers means as they don't jive to things I see online for exertion/workout level. She said a good workout is mid-60s (which is about what I had last time). So, I really was pushing myself today with the 98.6. Online I'll see things like 150 watt-hours is a middling workout and 250 is basically impossible unless you are some extreme athlete. I cannot see how anyone could get over 150 on these bikes. But, I did find something on these green bikes that say that 70-100 is an average workout. Here's an article from Harvard and here's more on watt hours and biking here which even gives the world record.

I also don't understand and neither did the instructor, what the total watt hours number means for the class. Last Tuesday there were all 27 people in class. The total for the hour was 530 watt-hours. (or about. I didn't write it down). This week there was 24 people in the class and the total watt hours was 550.

Now, divide 550 by 24 bikes. That would mean that everyone had an average of 22.9 watt-hours. That can't possibly be right, so I don't get it. Here is the webpage that shows the watt-hours per class at the gym. Green Revolution bikes are kind of cool as we are putting our work to use!

As we were finishing up I took a quick peak at the people's computers around me; not to compete, but to get a better idea of what these numbers mean and how we get this 550 for a total output. Of the people around me, three were  pretty fit people - the cyclist guy was about my age and he had the 110.1. Another was about my age, then there was a man a quite a bit older, and then a getting fit woman next to me, again about my age. They all had numbers around 45-55 watt-hours. So, that 550 means what??? I'll figure it out as it has to mean something!

Interestingly, I don't think spinning class is a good indication of how well you can bike outside of the studio. I find biking extremely hard. I can't get up tough hills, etc. But maybe if I keep going, I can get it so that I'm not dying while pedaling around my community that is full of freaking hills!

And I know I worked hard. I was wiping sweat nonstop. When your hands drip sweat, you know you're really working it! And my face was red for an hour. Might still be, who knows!

But, workout for the day is in and the great things about spinning is that it doesn't aggravate that hamstring tendon, so I can really push it without worrying about injury!

Stinking hormones and spinning class

I haven't stepped on the scale the last couple days because I knew it would be up from hormones. I was eating perfect, exercising, doing everything right, but hormones are raging with my monthly cycle.

Last night I stepped on the scale before going to bed. WHAT? I stepped on this morning, and while going down 3 lbs over night, I'm up 3 pounds since the last weigh in DESPITE eating at 1400-1450 each of those days and exercising those days too (only didn't exercise Sunday - as always).

I have a weigh-in tomorrow for this competition. I really would not like to see a gain on the scale, but there's not much I can do.

I tried to figure out what might have gotten my up 3 pounds and then realized I've had soup. It's homemade beef soup, but soup is naturally salty. I didn't add table salt to the soup (like everyone else did), but it was still probably saltier food than I usually eat. And I probably made it as my body was probably demanding salt and I didn't figure out, "Oh, if you eat soup, you are increasing your sodium level." Same thing with homemade salsa. These foods that are mostly really good for you, but they are high in sodium.

I guess today, for the rest of today I'll be drinking water with lemon juice to hope to drop this water weight by tomorrow's weigh-in at noon.

In other stuff, I figured out what was aggravating my knee. In the strength training class I do there is a back track. In that track we do a combination of upright rows, dead lifts, clean and presses and overhead lifts. I'm supposed to skip anything overhead for my shoulder (it aggravates that biceps head). So, instead, I've been doing more dead lifts and rows. Well, guess what, those aggravate the hamstring tendon. I have been doubling what is normally done and it's created an overuse injury. Duh! So, that means I should skip that entire track and do something else for awhile to allow my shoulder to recuperate and my hamstring recuperates. ugh...

This morning I took a spinning class and that didn't seem to aggravate my hamstring at all, so that's good. It seems the injury is minor, so it should heal quickly. Yay! I'm not a huge fan of spinning, but it was a good class today. I think I can handle taking it once a week and Tuesdays there is NO OTHER class I like, so it's a perfect fit. I wore my diaper (AKA biking shorts) and it went well. I had stored in my iphone the settings for the bikes at this gym, so I knew the best for me. Also I had put down what my watts per hour output was the first time I took the class at that gym (not the first time I took the class - this gym is the only one that has computerized bikes). I had 37.2 wattage hours on 11/28/11. This time I had 68.6. So, yes, I've definitely gotten stronger in the last year plus as I always give it my all in classes. Of course, every work out is not created equal, but that is a HUGE difference. Wish I would have written down the few other times I had take it too to see the progress, but least there is that!