| Tuesday, January 6, 2009 |
| WiiFit Blog Day 3 |
OK, welcome to day 3 of my workout. Big improvements today all around IMHO. The first thing I noticed is that pretty much everything in my body feels stretched (not sore). This means I am getting some benefits without hurting myself! I feel progress most particularly in my abs and calves, but today after finishing I also felt some stress in my thighs and shoulders. The good news is I was down in Weight, BMI and WiiFit age today, as such I pushed myself pretty hard, maybe too hard on a couple of things which I'll talk about when we get there.
So starting off today, here were my stats:
Age: 35
Height: 5'1"
Weight: 167.1 Down 2.41 Lbs
BMI: 31.55 - Obese Down 0.46
At this point my Wii made me do a couple of balance tests to find my Wii Fit age:
Walking in Place: 20 Steps. L 47.1% R 52.9%; Balance 73%. *I find it funny that when standing I favor my left foot more often than my right. The right would seem to make sense as I am a righty, but I think I have some displacement due to being overweight. Hopefully these workouts will eventually improve that.
Single-Leg balance Test: Time Held 26.55 seconds. Stability 60%
Wii Fit Age - 33 (-2) Down 5 Years
Center of Balance: Left-55.6% Right-44.4%
Total Fit Credits = 40 Minutes
So in an attempt to make my Yoga workout more productive, I at first decided to bypass WiiFit Yoga exercises altogether and try my Yoga DVD "Yoga Conditioning for Weight Loss" by Gaiam. I only lasted about 10 minutes at this, just long enough to finish the warm-ups before I got completely frustrated. Rather than aggravate myself to a point at which I would give up working out altogether, I quit the DVD, chalked my DVD time as my warm-up, and moved on.
I just couldn't concentrate on everything at once. The breathing, the lining things up, and trying to remember what to do in the exercises all at once. I may have to just watch the DVD through a few times to get the gist of it beforehand. I kept thinking (especially during exercises where you have to bend downward or away from the TV) How the heck am I supposed to know if I'm doing it correctly when I can only hear, not see what they are doing?!
My final decision is that perhaps Yoga is not something you can truly do at home, or at least not without having been to a proper instructor first; and then practice at home. I KNOW I was totally doing it wrong just trying to mimic movements... so this is what I did instead:
I printed out instructions for Mountain Pose from yogajournal.com and focused on learning the technique. I concentrated on attempting to follow those steps and keep things aligned and stretched. From there I did 5 repetitive trials along with the WiiFit breathing exercises to try and concentrate on breathing/maintaining the pose at the same time, without feeling rushed to keep up with the instructors on the DVD or do as many poses as possible in a single time frame.
Here's how that went down:
Trail 1 - 40Pts. I mainly concentrated on the breathing and not at all on the balancing, and it shows!
Trial 2 - 60 Pts. I started breathing in counts of 5. I also tried to focus on one spot in the room. This helped me keep my balance.
Trial 3 - 86 Pts. Now I got the hang of the breathing and balancing at the same time I decided to kick it up for trial 4.
Trial 4 - 66 Pts. I tried adding in stuff from Mountain pose, mainly extending my spine/sternum. This shifted concentration off my balance momentarily as I continued to try breathing correctly.
Trial 5 - 58 Pts. I found that if I extended properly in the pose, the outward breathing came more naturally. My body forced itself to breathe rather than me forcing it. I think this is a good thing? My balance was still way off, hence the low score but I was satisfied in the small discoveries I made today by focusing more on the exercises and less on the point goals. I think if I keep it up I'll see some improvements all around by the end of week 1 (day 7).
In an attempt to focus more on learning the fundamentals of Yoga first, I did not do any of the other poses today. Total Yoga Deep Breathing = 10 Min
My workout included the following exercises:
Strength Training - Single Leg Extension 2 Min 10Reps/Leg Left 35pts/Right 42Pts; 72pts=3Stars Down 14 Pts
Strength Training - Torso Twists 3 Min 6Reps Horizontal/Vertical 37/46; 83Pts=3Stars Down 11 Pts
Strength Training - Push-Up and Side Plank 2 Min 3Reps/Side 16Pts=0Stars Down 50 Pts
Strength Training - Jack-Knife 3 Min 20Reps 65Pts=2Stars Down 25 Pts
Strength Training - Lunge 3 Min 15Reps/Leg 100Pts=4Stars No Change
Strength Training - Rowing Squat 1 Min 15 Reps 33Pts=1Stars Up 33 Pts
Strength Training - Single-Leg Twist 1 Min 10 Reps/Leg Left 40/Right 41; 81Pts=3Stars Up 5 Pts
Total Strength Training = 15 Minutes
As you may recall, I unlocked more reps of some of the exercises yesterday. As such I decided to push my limits today and see if I could do them. This accounts for the lower scores as I grew tired and less balanced. I did not increase the reps on Push-Up/Side Plank (though it allows my 6reps/side now) due to the fact that I still cannot consistently do a true push-up without dropping my knees. I don't intend to up it until I can do the exercises properly. I did adjust Single-Leg Extension (from 6-10 reps), Torso Twists (From 3-6 reps), Jackknife (from 10-20 reps) and Lunge (from 10-15 reps). Of these items the only one that I seriously had a hard time completing was the Jackknife. I think I will step that back down to the 10 Reps for tomorrows' workout. The rest I will keep the same and try to improve. Again my strong suit seems to be the Lunge. I did not do any of the new exercises in this category, as I decided I had already over-exerted myself by doing more reps.
Aerobics - Hula Hoop 2 Min Beginner Level 231 Spins w/5 Hoops 2Stars Up 101 Spins and 1 Hoop
Aerobics - Basic Step 3 Min Beginner Level Perfect (2Pts) 92, OK (1Pt) 65, Miss (0pt) 0; 263=3Star Up 70 Pts
Aerobics - Basic Run 3 Min Long Distance 49% Burn Rate=1Star Up 2%
Total Aerobics = 8 Minutes
I am getting to be a regular whiz at Hula Hoops! Maybe that Circus career isn't out of the question after all, LOL. I've gotten a lot better at both maintaining my center of gravity and keeping a steady pace, not to mention doing all that while trying to "catch" the hoops (which IMHO is the hardest bit). As I promised yesterday, I nailed the steps in Basic Step and concentrated on the rhythm, with very satisfying results. A few more sessions and I confidently think I can more up to a harder routine. In running I decided to try my newly unlocked "long" distance mode. Boy was that a Mistake. I hardly got halfway through the course and had to slow down to almost a walking pace before I mustered up enough second wind to finish the course. Definitely overdid it, tomorrow I'm going back to the short course until my stamina improves!!!
Balance Games - Soccer Heading 1 Min Beginner Level 57Pts=2Star Up 21 Pts
Balance Games - Ski Slalom 1 Min Beginner Level Time 32.95 Sec, 4 Misses x 7 Sec= 28 Sec; 1:00.95=1Star Up 8. 81 Seconds
Balance Games - Ski Jump 1 Min Beginner Level 1st Jump=119m; 2nd Jump=93m. Total 212m=2Star Up 30m
Balance Games - Table Tilt 3 Min Beginner Level Completed level 7; 70Pts=2Stars Up 30 Pts
Balance Games - Tightrope Walk 1 Min Beginner Level 16Yards=1Star Down 2 Yards
Total Balance Games = 7 Minutes
Today was experimental day in the Balance Games section. I decided to take my real life knowledge of these events and apply them to real life. In soccer, as I used to play Goalie, I was used to trying to catch items. Sometimes this involved heading, but more often than not I used my hands. So I played the heading game with my arms outstretched like I was trying to catch the ball, and was better able to determine my movements. In Skiing, much like I used to do when I was on Ski Team, I concentrated first on trying to keep in the gates and speed secondary. I always found that in trail runs it was better to get a feel for the course, and that applies here as well. Once I can nail all the gates then I'll work on taking them tight and building up my speed, eventually shaving precious seconds off my time. In ski jump I remembered what I learned yesterday about first and foremost keeping a steady center of balance. This brought my speed coming into the ramp at over 55MPH and sent me flying once I straightened my legs. Now I think if I can just find the sweet spot on the ramp for maximum height. In the Table Tilt, I again focused on my center of balance. This kept the marbles from flying off the table and made it easier to steer them. I still have issues with trying to pressure my heels for reverse rolling, but I'm getting better. I was so happy to not be stuck at level four for a third day in a row! I still however royally suck at tightrope. Not so much the walking part but every time I have to jump I inevitably fall off...
Items Unlocked = Yoga: Palm Tree, Strength Training: Sideways Leg Lift, Strength training: Push-Up Challenge, Strength Training: Jackknife Challenge, Aerobics: Rhythm Boxing, Balance Games: Super Hula Hoop, Balance Games: Penguin Slide. Also based on my higher scores in the Strength Training Category, I have now unlocked more reps of some of the exercises. Rowing Squat - 15 Reps, Single Leg Twist - 20 Reps/Leg. |
posted by IshtarAndromeda @ 7:38 PM  |
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Name: IshtarAndromeda
Home: Medford, Massachusetts, United States
About Me: I dabble in many things. I'm not really a professional anything, though I try to be all of the following: music critic, dream intrepreter, DJ/podcaster, Astrologist, crafter (jewelry, clothing & acessories, as well as other miscellany), television theorist, video gamer, and the list is always evolving and changing.
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