Working Out: Week 2

Week 1

Still trying to keep working out every day to some degree using Wii Fit Plus and EA Active More Workouts for the Nintendo Wii. I'll keep a log of my progress on this blog and update every Monday until I either meet my goal or... fail.

The way I organize my work out days is one day I do strength exercises with EA Active More Workouts, next day do aerobics with Wii Fit Plus, and third day as my day off. However, everyday, I do a minimal amount of Yoga.

Most of this takes palce in my basement unless otherwise stated. However, because my basement has a very low ceiling I can't do stand-up Yoga poses down there so I do on my own in my room. The rest are done on Wii Fit Plus with its Yoga routines.

Video links are randomly found on youtube and not my own.


July 17 - Tuesday (Aerobics)
It was rather tough getting into the sets again today. My parents anniversary was today and we were having dinner at my sister's, so I was a bit rushed to do my workouts.

Did my usual stretches upstairs (Sun Salutation, Half Moon, Palm Tree, and Tree) and then the usual set on Wii Fit Plus (Chair, Warrior, Standing Knee, Triangle, Downward-Facing Dog, Cobra, Bridge, Spinal Twist). Struggled a little with Triangle, as usual. Then I did my usual 10 minutes of Super Hoola Hoops. Spinning right-ways was a bit agonizing, but left-ways I really got into the groove of it, haha.

I didn't have time for Free Step so I settled for Table Tilt (Advanced) and when I beat that, Table Tilt Plus. although I didn't beat it, I did get a stage further than I ever have.

At dinner, I ended up having some alcohol, however, which also made me hungrier so I ended up eating more junk food than normal that night. It also didn't help we ate earlier than normal, making me hungrier as the night goes on. I probably didn't do my body any favors.

July 18 - Wednesday (Day off)
Today, I've been really into play video games, so Yoga was done very late today. Doesn't help that it's 103 out.

Definitely felt like a struggle doing the usual stretches. Not that I was sore or anything, just that I had to force the effort in. Think that's my lazy self trying to break in. Perhaps I'm not feeling as motivated to do all this now, or perhaps the alcohol from yesterday somehow made things feel more annoying to do. Or (most likely) it's freaking hot out and doing physical things seems painfully annoying.

Besides feeling generally unmotivated, I also felt like every yoga pose I did was slightly wrong. "Am I standing up straight enough?" is a common phrase that goes through my head. The doubts are what really make my yoga poses less relaxing.

After the usual Yoga things, I played some Table tilt advanced and Super Table Tilt. I messed up the first few table tilts, so I retired till I beat it. On Super table tilt, I only played once before quitting. I think I was feeling frustrated so rather not get annoyed at the game. Hopefully, this lack of motivation is just a work out "phase," or just the heat messing with me.

July 19 - Thursday (Strength)
Was a little on the hungry side when I started today. Luckily, it only hindered my beginning. Once I got into the workouts on EA Active, the hunger pain went away.

After the yoga in my room, I decided before doing the Wii Fit yoga, I'd doing a few rounds of Soccer Heading to help motivate me. Unfortunately, it mostly frustrated me. It throws Panda costume hats at ya which can be confused with soccer balls. Also, it turns out I can't shift my weight as easily as I used to and failed to dodge. Maybe I shouldn't have just jumped into the advanced setting.

Did my usual yoga sets, but this time, I added the Grounded V pose to the mix. Not that I can do it very well-can't even get my legs straight up!-but figured it'd be good to get my stomach a little more toned. For Triangle pose today, I let myself bend the knee that positions itself on the balance board to see if I can feel a stretch out of it still. I suppose it was helping me with my hips, but didn't really help much with my legs.Usually, I won't bend my knee at all and only lean as far as I can, which makes me barely able to put enough pressure on the balance board. It usually ends with me struggling to breathe evenly, though.

Once Yoga was done, started up the EA Active for my usual Core Work outs. Mountain Climbers (3:01) didn't phase me as much this time. That didn't stop me from counting how many I did instead of relying on the in-game counter to get my rep count done correctly. I managed to do OKAY at leg raises though, and didn't take as long of water breaks. Think I'm getting a little more stamina at least.

From what I can remember, the whole workout seemed to go all right. At one point got light headed from really pushing myself on the push ups, but it was very brief. After finishing up, my lower back did get a little sore though, and still is. Hopefully won't carry over tomorrow.

July 20 - Friday (Aerobics)
Got an early start today on my exercise plan. Managed to wake early AND have an appropriate amount of sleep. That hardly ever happens! I did wake up with slight lower back pain, however, but Yoga really helped lessen the pain.

Usual routine of Yoga, including the new Grounded V, and then headed into the aerobics. Did the usual ten minutes of Super Hoola Hoops, which I had only 20 reps less than my normal amount when time ran out.

Then I did something different; did Wii Fit's Free Run. It basically lets you jog in place or around the room for 10, 20, or 30 minutes. Similar to Free Step's concept, you can change the channel and watch TV as you run, simply listening to the wii mote. Since nothing good is really on in the mornings, I just stuck to listening my music, and jogging to the beat. I got a lot of messages such as I was running unevenly or make sure the wiimote was secure, but I got my work out well. Had my 3ds also in my pocket, which stated I did over 2000 steps for the ten minutes I did!

After that, I decided to do a few Balance games, like Penguin Slide and Obstacle Course (Beginner), but as I was playing them, I noticed my calves were rather stiff, so I only did one playthrough of each before stopping for the day. It's good to get a few games in for balance and variety, though. I forgot how much I liked Penguin Slide and Obstacle course. Soccer Heading I'm still not a huge fan of though, but I'll play it every now and then, same with table tilt.

Wondering if maybe I should add a strength exercise to my Yoga play list just so I always do something with strength; I haven't really had much change in weight lately, so figuring I could add more. I'll probably wait until week 3, so I can add one thing new a week perhaps.

July 21 - Saturday (Day off)
I was really lazy in the beginning. Played a bunch of video games, watched tv shows... After I got my usual Yoga stuff out of the way, I played with Faith a little, thanks to it being pretty nice out for a change. I got over 1200 steps on my 3ds so I suppose that helps. Sadly, my calves were rather tight and felt like moving bruises, so looks like they may linger some. Hopefully for not too long.

Also, besides yoga, I played some table tilt, but nothing extraordinary happened.

July 22 - Sunday (Strength)
I was lazy today. My claves hurt when I woke up today so I took my time on having to do my work out. Also, I was busy looking around for my lost 3DS stylus, so I didn't start the work out until even later than normal.

Did my usual Yoga, and after finishing, I noticed my calves still felt stiff. Since EA Active's Core and Body workout set has a lot of running and leg movement, I decided to just do some strength exercises with Wii Fit Plus.

Started with my favorite, Jack Knives for 30 reps. I love this exercise since you can really feel your abs working. I got a bit tired so went to something not too involving of my abdomen; Lunge exercise, but only for 10 reps since it's been awhile since i've done this style. I was satisfied with this mostly, and got my blood pumping.

Next I went to Torso Twists at the max 6 reps. I know it helps with your abs getting more defined, but I tend to not get much out of this. When working on the diagonal twists, it tells you "you're twisting, not bending forward" but the trainer itself seems to bend bending forward himself. I find it hard to tell the difference between "bending forward" or "twisting forward" personally, but maybe it's just me. Just doesn't help I get all self conscious about it.

After that, I did 60 seconds of the Plank exercise. It's actually really good for forming your abs, but I have hard time find a good position where I feel the tingle in my abs while the score on the game doesn't give me a zero. It also doesn't help that the balance board hurts my arms when I plank. What I usually do is get a blanket and double layer it over the board so I can rest my arms without hurting them, but I'm not sure if it causes a problem with the form/sensors either. I sucked at this however, but did get a tingle in the abs.

Next was 45 reps of the Rowing Squat exercise. I really get nothing out of this. I think I can't get the form right to actually feel the results, but I can sure as hell get the reps to count in the game. It's very easy to unintentionally cheat I suppose? I did feel a little in my legs, but really, I don't think the game gives much help on this. Maybe I need to go through the demonstration another time...

After all that, I decided to go back to the plank exercise to try and get a good score on it, but I dropped the time to 30 seconds. this time i got a decent score but hardly felt a tingle in my abs. Annoyed, I did another 30 reps of Jackknives before calling it a day.

I don't think I lost as much calories this time, but I hope my abs got a good enough work out. I'm thinking I'll add a rep of 10 jack knives for every day just to get that feeling and reinforce stimulation around my stomach. I think the jackknives (and even planks when done right) do more for my stomach area than EA Active, but EA Active does better with helping my whole body rather than just my stomach. It was an interesting change of pace though.

Tomorrow for aerobics, I may be going to the arcade to play Dance Dance Revolution/In The Groove for my aerobics if my friend ends up going. Figure it'll be a nice change of pace. I just need to hope my calves won't hinder me too much.

July 23 - Monday (Aerobics)
 Calves still hurt me this morning, but it still wasn't too bad. I did my usual Yoga exercises and they felt a lot easier to do this time. Triangle wasn't as bothersome, Downward-Facing Dog didn't make me feel out of breath, and I even could bear with Grounded V. Then I did Basic Step which for some reason wasn't picking up my rhythm very well. I want to blame the machine, but maybe I was in my own world while doing it, not sure.

Then there was a waiting period until my friend and I set off for the arcade. I did about 5 games, 3 songs per game on Doubles (Video is not me btw, just an example of playing on doubles). After the first game, I felt a little winded; it had been quite awhile since I exerted so much energy. There was a line there, cause it was quarter night (games all cost a quarter only after a certain time) so I couldn't play more than 5 games or so. I did play some Pump It Up but I don't care for the version they have at the arcade, nor were the pads working well. By the time I got to my last game of the night, I was so tired, I couldn't even do an easy song very well. Still was loads of fun, even if a pain in my feet some. Also met with some other friends which was nice too so over-all was a good night.

I didn't get to eat a real dinner until after 12 because of how late we stayed, so that probably didn't help my calorie count much. I did try to eat light and make it the first thing I eat before I went to shower and get ready for bed though, so it had time to digest. While at the arcade, i had some mozzarella sticks just to tide me over; nothing worse than playing and having a very hungry stomach.

For week 2, I think I was rather lazy, even if I did something every day. I didn't want to do Yoga or exercises, had to force myself to. Hope I can get past that. My weight hasn't changed too much since I started, which is disappointing, but I know weight doesn't get lost in high amounts over two weeks (unless unhealthy methods are taken). I haven't hit a normal BMI since the last time I mentioned it, though.