Only Your Homework

DO NOT PANIC!  This homework blog is only super long because I got creative. It did start off short and sweet but the more creative I felt I just added a lot of  fluff for your enjoyment. 

HOMEWORK:  March 11-17

This week ends with St. Patrick’s Day.  To CELEBRATE this holiday, cardio is going to be taking place in “I.R.E.L.A.N.D.”.  Watch out for those sneaky leprechauns. They try to put unmotivational mojo on you! Any unmotivational, unproductive thought that comes into your mind is being planted by them. Do NOT let them get the best of you for this one week.  If tasks are completed,  the pot of gold  at the end of the rainbow will be yours!  So let’s get started.  Each letter will correspond to a PHYSICAL activity that is to be completed each day. “I” on MON, “R” on TUE, “E” on WED,  etc.  This should be your second week of exercising so you should be able to push yourself a little harder! J Also, blog to let me know how your doing. 

“I”- For Monday, your first stop is in the city of Intervals. With its jumping nightlife, you can go to the many fast paced raves or the equally abundant slower paced jazz clubs. I recommend you switch back and forth between the two. Your Task:   At  least 15 min of interval exercise. Intervals are when you switch back and forth between a harder exercise and an easier exercise.  The hard execise is half as long as the easier exercise.  Here are some examples you can use: Walk-reg. pace, 2m; walk-fast pace, 1m; walk-reg pace 2m, jump rope 30sec; or you can combine both of those; make up your own. Here’s a link for more info on Intervals and at the end of the article there is a link to show more examples.

http://exercise.about.com/od/intervaltrainingworkouts/a/Interval-Training.htm

 “R”- On Tuesday, the city of Resistance training is your second destination.   It’s an old school industrial city characterized by interesting architecture with its hardcore heavy metal buildings and cookie cutter Irish houses.  Your Task: Intermix some weight training with cardio. Why? Because muscles burn more calories and adding weights to cardio will help you lose weight faster.  Here are some examples of what you can do: As your walking add whatever wt dumbells you have OR use 2 soup cans, find a dvd at the library (Jillian Michaels 30 day shred fits this category-only 20 min) or make up your own exercise just be sure to include wts. I put in part of an article that I found to be helpful and interesting. But if you need more convincing, I added another link to a different article at the end (Sorry, it’s a bit long).

Part of Article: “Did you know that strength training is crucial for successfully losing weight and keeping it off?  It doesn't have to be a huge, hulking workout where you're trying to look like Arnold Schwarzenegger in his prime, it just has to be some basic strength training.

Why is strength training important for losing weight?  Most believe if you have a calorie deficit, you're going to lose weight, if you consume extra calories, you'll gain body fat. While that's true, it's only part of the picture. Sure, you need a calorie deficit to lose weight, but how does your body actually use calories? It's your lean body mass, that muscle mass underneath your body fat, that burns calories 24/7, allowing you to actually eat more calories without gaining weight.

Let's say you happen to be quite obese and you have a high percentage of body fat…underneath that body fat you actually have a very strong skeleton and strong muscles. Your body has built up those muscles in order to carry all of that extra body fat when you move your body. Just the very act of standing up, walking across a parking lot, going up a flight of stairs or lifting your arms requires more effort when you're overweight, especially if you're obese. So the heavier you are, the stronger your muscles have to be just to allow you to do basic, everyday things.

Now this can actually work to your advantage -- if you manage to keep all of that muscle mass and bone density in place while you are losing body fat... This will leave you with a greater proportion of lean body mass to body fat, meaning that you will be slimmer, yet you'll have the muscles that you had when you were overweight.”

http://www.crankyfitness.com/2009/01/strength-training-for-beginners.html

“E”-The scenic beach town, far away from the city is Endurance.  You'll see nothing but beach and water for miles around this town. This is your Wednesday destination. Your task: Pick any and all physical activity (jump rope, trampoline, walk, jog, dvd, etc) and rack up minutes. You are trying to get as many minutes as possible today.  It can be broken up in 10m  (5m for something like jumping rope, hopping-not walking unless it’s speedy), if you like. Think of this kinda like a Last Chance Workout without the weigh in.  This should be you highest physical activity day of the week.  BTW, anything that gets your heart rate up counts. So if you have to take stairs at work and it takes you 2m add that 2m to your total workout minutes.

“L”- The fourth destination is the slower paced, quaint little country town of Lunges and Lengthening. This town makes you feel like you’re in Mayberry with Andy, Opie and Ant Bea.  The people are friendly & everything moves at slower pace.  Your task: Do 3 sets of 10 or 30 total lunges (each leg). This can be broken up thru out the day or all at once. Link on lunges: http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/exercises.asp?exercise=22

The Lengthening task is to do a 10 min warm up and then stretch each muscle, holding the stretch a few seconds. Do this for 10min at least 3 times this day AND/OR do a yoga DVD or sparkpeople yoga video (which might even be easier) .

“A”-The fast paced city of Aerobics and Abs is your Friday destination. With its skyscrapers and  millions of people, it has the feel of NYC.  Your task:  For Aerobics, pick a dvd and do it.  Go old school like Jane Fonda,  perky pants like Denise Austin, hardcore like Billy Blanks, any number to choose from. For abs, I need 50 crunches any style: regular, twists, bicycle. This is in addition to the dvd. If the dvd  had crunches, great but you can’t count those towards the 50. Again, do them all at once or spread out throughout the day!

“N”- Your trip is winding down and you need to relax. No better way than to go to one of the finest bed and breakfasts called No Activity and Nutrition. It has cute color themed rooms. One to your liking might be the firefly room with different shades of yellow. Get your massage, mani and pedi on!  You’ve worked hard all week! Your Task:  Focus on resting those muscles and concentrate on your nutrition.  Follow the eating guideline you set out for yourself.

“D”- Final destination in I.R.E.L.A.N.D.  lands on St. Patrick’s Day! It’s very fitting that your last spot to visit is the fun, touristy city called Dancing.  People leave here happy and in good spirits. Good food, Good drink and Good shopping! Your task:  This is an “active rest” day.  You can go as hard or easy as you’d like.  I remember you have a dance dvd hopefully you know where it is. But you can also do Zumba dvd or youtube, salsa, line dance, turn on your own music and shake your booty, etc. However you like but at least 30m, continuous or broken into 10m. When you're done get yourself a little green drink!

HAPPY ST. PATRICK’S DAY! 

Tips: Sparkpeople has a ton of videos if you just don’t feel like messing with it. Youtube is surprisingly good with the workout vids too. 

Please blog and let me know how you do each day. Ask if there are questions.