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Yesterday started with too little sleep. I should have known it – I went for a longish walk (6.5 km) on Sunday and then went running the day after. Working out two days in a row always makes me need more sleep, and yet I never learn. Good thing it wasn’t one of my running days. Luckily I felt fine when the time to work out came around.
I more or less follow a calisthenics program for my strength, via an app based on the One Hundred Pushups program and its related programs (for situps, squats and dips). My usual problem when doing strength is warming up. I have tried improvising warmups and I’ve tried one or more of the warmup parts of my numerous DVDs, it doesn’t help. Usually I end up nice and warm in my leg muscles, but the core and even more so my arms are cold and uncooperative, making pushups even more painful than they usually are.
As a result, I’ve started using Beachbody’s Hip Hop Abs (yes, I know, cheesy name, but it’s great) for warmup on my strength days. So far I’ve used the cardio program, but I might also use the ab sculpt program, as it not only warms me up but incorporates some strength as well. Anyway, even the cardio program has plenty of arm moves. Not just those where you move them a little bit and call it a day, but where you actually use some force.
It’s not the most strenous program out there by far, but it’s good for days when I need to train, but cannot run. In between the running and the dancing my ankles and legs really take a beating, so it’s really nice to not need to do any remotely heavy landings or anything. Back when I first started working out voluntarily and actually did it long enough to get into some kind of rhythm with it, I used Hip Hop Abs (I think I followed the program for an entire month), and it’s actually a fun program and good for both the arms and the core.
Nowadays there’s no point in aiming for the entire program. The cardio part is not challenging enough for me anymore, and I don’t have the time to follow the full program. It has only one rest day per week, and considering that I also have four hours of dancing and three or four hours of running every week, it would be too much. Besides, I easily become bored by doing the same thing over and over again (but running, the most repetitive type of workout on earth, is somehow not boring). But for warmup on my strength days? Excellent. Plus, eye candy 😛
Aaanyway, back on track – warmup went well (237 cals, and plenty of energy left for the actual – but far shorter – workout). The squats went well – I managed 52 in a row plus the same amount spread over the four sets before it – but the pushups, situps and dips were hard this time. I thought it would be some improvement from last time, and perhaps there was in pure numbers, but it felt far worse. And even so I’m really not very sore today. Strange.
Today is a rest day, before dance practices will resume on Thursday. I expect some difficulty walking on Friday…
