Fiery Core

I may have annihilated my core in with this workout today...

HIIT, 50on/10off 

Side plank (on hand) leg lift L: 27, 27, 18, 27

" " " " R: 23, 23, 28, 18

plank up downs: 16, 15, 13, 12

side v-ups L: 29, 28, 25, 23

side v-ups R: 30, 30, 25, 26

Total reps: 452. 

Holy crap, that's a lot of reps. But it was worth every one! This workout got me sweating a river and actually having to stretch my abs out for the following 5 min post-workout. Intense shit I tell ya. 

Post workout meal: Protein shake and one banana. 

Since I worked out 5 days this week I wanted to give myself the weekend to recover and spend some quality time with my boyfriend :) Oh, and we're watching the Avengers tonight! woohoo! And helloooo weekend! 

Happy lifting all! Have a fantastic weekend! 

- Marie

Obstacles

So we all have our rough days. We also have days where our motivation levels have plummeted southwards. How do you get through those days? That's a pretty good question.
Today was definitely one of those days for me. I guess it didn't help that I lacked a couple hours of sleep today then attempted a 20 min nap that turned into an hour and a half nap. That sabotaged my day. I felt sluggish, groggy, crappy, and unmotivated. I ate like crap too might I add. I looked outside my window to find really lovely weather but the wind was so harsh that it didn't even look worthwhile to go outside to enjoy some fresh air. Reluctantly I had to run a couple errands that required walking a couple blocks to Trader Joe's and a postal service place. Both nearby but I really hate walking in the wind. I wanted to stay cooped up in my room and do... nothing. But deep down I knew not moving around while feeling mopey  is really bad so I'm thankful I went on those walks despite that fresh air whipping against my face and ears.

I ended up doing a 12 min HIIT workout around 6p. I felt better-ish but still feeling sluggish. But at this time of night I realize that the biggest obstacle with my goals is my will power and, well, myself overall.  A skinny model from a H&M advertisement at the Muni bus shelter doesn't make me feel ugly or fat.  It's when I look at myself in the mirror to remind myself I have a long journey ahead of me that pulls at my motivation.  I need to have stricter discipline when it comes to eating. Living at home with my parents doesn't exactly help either. Although my mom cooks very healthy food it's the snacks that are bought in between. My dad doesn't exactly have a healthy palate either. He likes his burgers, ice cream, sweets, and other not-so-healthy foods. I'm trying to work on improving my will power even more. Anyway, enough mopey crap.

Here's today's HIIT WOTD:
50 seconds active/ 10 seconds rest
20lb sandbag squat/overhead clean- 19, 20, 20
Alternating mountain climbers- 36, 42, 37
Leg lifts- 13, 21, 20
Plank w/ alternating toe touch- 22, 30, 30

At the end of the workout I wanted to do a little more so I tacked on 50 squat jacks to make it more satisfying. :) Ya know, playing the right workout music also plays a big role in getting into your workout and your day. I kind of forgot about that today. Gotta make sure I upload the right songs onto my iPod :)

Alright, it's getting late, I need a proper beauty sleep.

Happy lifting! And don't forget to persevere!

- Marie

Stairs & Trying Something New

4 laps of stairs today... I think I am outta shape but I'm glad I was able to do 4 as my first time in a while. My legs are definitely feeling the burn so I made sure I stretched out thoroughly. Let's see, here's the workout breakdown:
Lap 1: descend, ascend without skipping steps, at the top 15 spider planks each leg.
Lap 2: descend, ascend with side-lunge steps (can skip steps if you have longer legs), at the top 12 push-offs (start on your stomach, hands off ground, then push off ground into plank/push-up position, hold for 3 seconds, return to starting position, make sure you don't drop yourself onto the ground)
Lap 3: descend, ascend running steps (skip steps), at the top elevated planks (legs up)
Lap 4: descend, ascend running steps, at the top cool down, stretch.

I wanted to do a ice bath but I definitely don't have enough ice... grrr. Anyway, post-workout "meal" was 8oz milk + last measly scoop of whey in my jar... The whey was from Costco by Muscle Milk I believe. But at this point I got tired of using their stuff so I looked into Optimum Nutrition that my bf and many others invest in. The quality is supposedly better so I bought the Vanilla Creme flavor to try it out. And it came via UPS today! Woop! Can't wait to try it out tomorrow. Wait... tomorrow. Hmmm, what should my workout be?

Thinking of another HIIT. Arms and... hmm... legs I did today. Arms and core it shall be. I will post the workout, breakdown, and results after completion.

On another note: my shipment came with a sample to try what seems like a workout booster thingamabob. I honestly do not trust what is in it or what it does. If it says to not take it if someone is under 18 how would it be any different from someone that's 20 y/o? It's not FDA approved or regulated and I really don't want something synthetic in my system.  While I'm trying to lose inches and tone I want to do it as natural as I can make it. Meaning eating clean and maintaining daily exercise. I don't care how long it takes, I want to treat my body the way it should be. I take a daily multi-vitamin supplement, and may start implementing fish-oil (thanks to the reinforcement from the bf), and the whey protein. Although now I want to start drinking more green tea. It has such overall great benefits so I want to add that to my diet.
I know that some of you may want to get thinner, toner, bigger, faster, better overnight or in one week. In reality it's NOT going to happen that way. Maintenance and consistency is the slow and steady way to achieve your goals. I know I learned that the hard way but if you have the right support system and the right approach you may not notice any differences until someone points it out or you take a picture a month later. Keep going and stay persistent.

Persevere!

- Marie

WOTD And the Beginning Of Progress

Workout of the day!
HIIT 3 rounds, 50s active/ 10s rest
Burpee w/ toe touch- 8, 8, 8
Good mornings w/ 20lb sandbag- 16, 18, 19
Plank up-downs- 13, 12, 14
Prone back extensions w/ alternating arms - 23, 28, 28

Total Reps: 205
I created this workout today, though it may not seem like a lot, sweat was dripping down my face onto the carpet. Yea, kinda gross but it's a sign that I'm doing work and I love feeling that. I decided not to play basketball since I'm not exactly feeling it, I would rather cook for my parents since i haven't done so in a while.

As I progress into making working for a daily routine I want to mix it up to stimulate and "confuse" my body as to why I torture it in so many different ways.  Once muscle memory kicks in, I'm done for. Plateau galore! Tomorrow I'd like to run the Lyon street stairs about 4 laps, ideally. I may do an exercise in between laps/breaks to keep up the intensity purposes. I'll let you know how that goes. If you have never been to these stairs you should check it out,  Lyon street between Vallejo and Broadway. There's also a second set of stairs from Vallejo northwards that's a half block length and those stairs are steep...  The stairs also comes with a pretty nifty view of the bay except the eucalyptus trees from the Presidio is blocking out half the view....

Here are my progress shots for today 5/15/2012. I hope to update on a monthly basis to get a good look at my progress since summer is coming up an all ;) Gotta rock a bikini nicely ya know??

Back on Track

It has been months since I've written. Thanks to a plethora of non stop events I find myself to make the time to update finally. Since I've written I have earned a Master's Degree in Kinesiology, I will be graduating in approximately 2 weeks, and I will have fulfilled my contract with SJSU as the ATC at Monta Vista. So right now my name looks like this:

Marie Gishifu, MA, ATC.

My next educational goals are to attain a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist credential (CSCS), and go back to massage school to earn my CMT credential. So I want my name to look like this:

Marie Gishifu, MA, ATC, CSCS, CMT

With these credentials I want to be able to jump start an athletic training program with a performing arts school to provide the necessary care to dancers and performers alike to treat their injuries, strains, and sprains. In the coming months I hope to update my blog way more often. I find that I have no excuse to not update this on a daily basis really.

Today's workout:
600 rep workout
Breakdown:
100 skip jump rope
100 squats w/ 30lb bar
100 skip jump rope
100 alternating lunges (each leg) w/ 20lb bar
100 skip jump rope
25 side v-ups left
25 side v-ups right
25 sit-up into a v with arms and legs
25 alternating vertical leg lifts

Time yourself with that one. Challenge yourself to finish it faster and faster :)

Tomorrow's workout plan is to squeeze in a 12 min HIIT workout in the morning then playing basketball in the evening at work. I'll be tired but I love being on the court, except the out of shape aspect. Last week I finally started getting into the workout groove. The 3-4 weeks before that  I was scrambling to finish my research project which lead to lack of sleep and very limited time for squeezing in workouts into my schedule. So I'm determined to get back on track, lose some inches, and get back on a healthier lifestyle. That's all for now, I think I'm going to actually, finally, post up a picture of how I look currently, then update monthly for progress sakes. I think that will give me more motivation to keep going. :)

Hope you are all having a great start to the week! Take care :0)

Happy lifting!

- Marie