The 5th Day of Fitness

On the 5th Day if Fitness my trainer gave to me... 5 cardio days, 4 vitamins, 3 strength days, 2 mini workouts, and a Bodybugg to track those calories.


So today is the day where I commit myself to 5 cardio days. There will be days where I have a strength/cardio day. Those are days when cardio get cuts to 30 minutes, but I make sure to incorporate my 2 mini workouts in my workday. So here is my basic schedule starting this week...


Monday - 30 minutes strength, 30 minutes cardio
Tuesday - 50-60 minutes cardio
Wednesday - 30 minutes strength, 30 minutes cardio
Thursday - 50-60 minutes cardio
Friday - rest day
Saturday - 30 minutes strength, 30 minutes cardio
Sunday - rest day


I have mentioned interval running before. I'm not exactly an outdoorsy kind of girl so I prefer to workout inside a controlled environment with a/c. So that leave me to machines and classes for the most part. If I'm on the machine, whether it's the treadmill, elliptical, or the stationary bikes, I always do my cardio in intervals. It breaks up the the 30 minutes or hour and time flies by much faster when you are getting through a bunch of mini goals. Here is an example of how I do interval running on the treadmill. This example also works on the elliptical or stationary bikes. Play with the settings and challenge yourself. Surge on the bike for 30 seconds, then back down the speed for 30 seconds. I love the hill or alpine settings. When I get to the top of the hill, I push myself, but stay at a good pace that I can retain throughout my hill climb. Feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions.


As far as classes go, my personal favs are:
Spinning/ cycle class - I imagine that the sweat that pours out of me is fat melting off me. If you have never done this before, please commit to at least 4 classes before giving up. Sometimes it take our rears a while to get used to the bike seat. I promise though, you will feel tired, good and accomplished by the end of class.

Kickboxing - Had a tough day? Kick some butt in the class. It's a little fast paced, but just do your best and you'll get the hang of it. Remember that everyone was a beginner at one point.

Water aerobics - This is not an old lady class. It really is challenging, but easier on the joints. It;s great if you get in a rut and what do do something different.


So here's my calorie breakdown today. Now I know I said that I would be doing strength and cardio, but I had to reschedule my strength session to tomorrow so it was a full out cardio day for me. Melissa and I hit the treadmills and did interval running.


So here is my real honesty in my day. This is what my Bodybugg shows me. You can see when I put my Bodybugg on and rushed out the door to work. You can see when I went to and from lunch. You can see my 10 minute walk around my office building (100 calories burned), and you can see when I hit the treadmill for 50 minutes (560 calories burned). My highest burn was 12 calories a minute. It was when I was running for 30 seconds on and off.



So how would your day look on a graph??? Doesn't it look like I slept though work? Again, I need to remind myself to move around more. Every movement is a calorie burned and I need all the movement I can get :-)



Stay tuned for Day 6.

Happy workouts everyone!