On Today's Plate: Double Whammy!!

Day 1: Mission Accomplished

Part 1: The Workout Bit:

Today was my BJJ day. Usually on Saturdays I wake up early, and, if I'm not scheduled to work that day, I attend my jiu jitsu practice. So, from approximately 9:00am til 1:00pm, I'm warming up, doing some cardio, some techniques, some grappling, etc. By the end of practice we're all scattered around the mats looking like sweaty squashed bugs. lol. Normally after BJJ, I just go home, and nap for a while. Today was a little different.

Last night one of my friends had the brilliant idea to go to the gym today. I was a little hesitant to say yes, since BJJ is exhausting. I agreed to it anyway, a little more cardio never hurt anybody, right? A little side note before I continue with my story. I was talking to my friend, and he tells me that he can lose weight faster than me. heh...I can get a little bit, what's the word, competitive at times. As soon a he said that I took it as a challenge. Now I have to prove to him how wrong he is/was/and will be. But yeah, a little more cardio never hurt anybody, right? Last night all I could think of was how tired I was gonna be after bjj and how I was just gonna slack off at the gym later. Since I remembered how I wanted to beat him at this competition (that only exists in my head, and he has no idea that's going on, lol), I made a little routine for today.

I started of by running internals for 20 minutes. Started out with 2 minutes of a brisk walk, then ran at 5mph for 3 minutes, and then ran at 6.5 mph for a minute. And you get the gist of it. And then...oh just look at the pic :P

I was tired, drenched in sweat, but I felt revitalized and glad to be back in the gym.

Part 2: Food Bit:

Breakfast: oatmeal
Snack: organic peanut butter on organic whole wheat crackers, and sliced bananas
Lunch: chicken and corn on the cob (no butter) -- kind of a late lunch too
Snack: plum
Dinner: _____

It's too late for me to make myself dinner (it's 11:15pm). The gym kind of interrupted my 6 meals a day thing. boo :P

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I think that's all for today. Tomorrow...CARDIO!

On Today's Plate: Circuit Training!

Man, oh man --

Hello, and welcome to another edition of "On Today's Plate"...

That should be the official heading from now on, lol. Today, I had scheduled to do some light cardio, and later some Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. I started on the stationary bike, a small 7 minute warm-up, just to get going. Then, I moved onto the treadmill, where I usually do intervals. Instead of doing intervals (I usually do 2 minutes on 5.5mph and then a minute of 7.5mph for abour 20 minutes), I went "up-hill" (incline at level 10) for a minute on 4.5mph (light jog), and later flattened it out (incline at level 1) at 6.5mph for 2 minutes. It wasn't easy. I don't have a problem admitting it to the little users that do follow my blog. And it was probably a dumb thing to do, but I wanted to switch things up a bit. I didn't last too long, at around minute 8, I was walking up-hill instead of trotting. At that time, my BJJ trainer signals me over. Since no one else had shown up to the BJJ session, my trainer took it upon himself to give me a hell of a good workout. And he did. I'm still sore, and I can't wait to freakin' fall asleep! No pain, no gain, right?

We did a full body circuit. Started with the core, worked our way into my shoulders and back, did some cardio (stationary bike -- intervals between level 10 and 12...AND I had to keep my RPM over 100), chest, more cardio (elliptical -- intervals), arms, more cardio (treadmill -- intervals, started out at 5mph to 6mph, and finished with 6.5mph to 7mph), and finished with the core again. I wish I new more in detail, but, my mind couldn't keep up with all of the exercises, and their descriptions, that we did!

I do encourage you to do your own circuit! It's all about repetitions and speed. So, good luck!

over and out!

On Today's Plate: Upper Body and Core

I totally killed my upper body routine today!! Too bad my shoulder is still sore from my injury. I mean, I've been on a fast track of recovery, but there are still some things I can't fully perform how I used to. For example, I used to be able to bench press with 25lb plates on each side. I had to drop it to 12lb on each side. Everything that I do with the barbell I've had to drop about 10 - 20 lbs off it because of my shoulder.

Here's a glimpse at tonight's routine:
• warm-up: stationary bike
• bent-over barbell row x 3
• lat. pulldown x 3
• inclined dumbbell bench press x 3
• standing overhead dumbbell press x 3
• lat. raise x 3
• alternating dumbbell curls x 3
• one-arm overhead dumbbell extensions x 3

On top of all that, I did my mandatory rotator cuff exercises.

I love the burn I feel when I work on my upper body. I just feel everything shaping up. Overall, I love the burn anytime I work out. I hate it when it lasts more than 2 days, though...lol. Happened last week, when I did my lower body routine O.o

On Today's Plate: Goals Revisited

Hello everybody!! I know I haven't been updated because I've been a little bit busy...but not busy enough to stop with my daily exercise routine! Or to prepare savory healthy meals, which I will post soon :)

So March snuck up on me (hello),  and it's time to take a look at the goals I set for February...and you should do the same.

In case you forgot, or just don't want to scroll down, here are my goals:

- Drink more water: check! I carry my water with me at all times and refill it 

- Lose 5lbs by March: check! To my surprise, I actually lost 6.5 lbs!

- Study hard and train harder at Brazilian Jiu Jitsu: I started to train at the club that I used to train in last year again. It's been going rather well. 

- Sketch every day. no check :( I've kinda been slacking on this one. I did only one sketch for fun, the rest were for work purposes.

- Improve my posture. I think I've been improving it. I have a book on exercises to do in order to improve that posture! ...so check!

I think I managed to fulfill most of my goals, and I couldn't be happier! Especially that unexpected 6.5lb loss. Now would be a good time to set new goals. But, I think I'll post those tomorrow. 

Good night everybody (or good morning...it's morning somewhere!)

On Today's Plate: 4 Miles With A Side of An Awesome Core Workout

Double whammy! Posting twice today!

Today's workout consisted of running 4.5 miles and working on my core. For those who are new to fitness, this fitness blog explains in great detail (and really well) what the core is, and the muscles targeted when working it out.

I started out by running 3.25 miles (including a 2 minute warm up) at 6.0 mph on at an incline (I am not familiar with the incline percentiles, but...it was up 1.0). After running, I did 3 sets of 25 reps of the following exercises: crunches on an exercise ball, oblique crunches (on each side -- also on an exercise ball), cable crunches (with 75 lbs of resistance), and kick-out crunches. To do a proper kick-out, you should lie on the floor, face up, with your knees and hips bent at 90°. Extend (or "kick-out"...ha!) your legs out to about a 45° angle, keep it for a couple of seconds, and retract. Your hands should be placed to your side. After working on my core, I finished off with a 1.5 mile run (including a 2 minute cool-down) at 6.0 mph, also on an incline.

Remember, keep in mind your form when performing any type of exercise. Also remember to stretch before AND after your routine. And finally, if you have any questions, remember to ask a professional!