The trekking poles made a huge difference when we hiked in the Italian Dolomites this past fall, so we thought it would be good for him to have a pair of his own.
2017-Dolomite-landslide
The area has had terrible landslides and the trails were closed in some places. The mountain hike led us through all types of terrain, or as my husband commented “the Dolomites has complex geomorphology” Go figure.
The rain finally gave us a break and everyone is soaking up the sunshine. I joined the group golf lesson at the Mid Pacific Golf Club and worked on my driving skills. After an hour, I thought I’d improved. Sadly, a later round of golf showed that many more hours of practice are needed.
The highlight of the morning? We saw President Obama on the course.
For the past few months, I have been working out with my Body Opponent Bag using the Fight Trainer app. I had limited myself to only to boxing rounds but decided I would do a basic kickboxing training session today.
My warm up was 2 minutes of jump rope and the 10 minute workout I included under Guidance/Exercises on this site. (Do it twice and you’ll burn about 170 calories.)
I did the Fight Trainer basic kickboxing session at a really slow pace and was doing well. Unfortunately, I realized that I completely forgot how to do a back kick! Just in case anyone else wants to refresh her/his memory:
OK- It’s been a couple of years since I’ve had a gym that offers kickboxing classes near to me anymore so I thought I would start up again with the very basics. I’ve copied a Fitness Magazine article that includes a 10 minute kickboxing workout [with pictures] into my Guidance and Exercise section. There is a nice short workout and illustrates how to do each move. 10-Minute Fat-Burning Routine (Do it twice and you’ll burn about 170 calories.)
75 minutes of Anusara yoga this morning with Ursula before running all my errands! The Crunch gym description says:
Based on the teachings of John Friend. This class balances an opening to grace and the higher self with strong attention to alignment. The result is a strong synthesis between mind body and spirit. Taught in the Vinyasa style, Anusara Yoga is open to all levels.
The class went really well so I expect to continue with the yoga classes at least twice a week. With two to three kickboxing classes a week and walks/runs in the park, I will have a full weekly workout schedule.
After dinner with two old friends, I now possess the name and address of an acupuncturist and a chiropractor. On my list of to-dos is to make an appointment to see them.
We’re back from our cruise and Christmas dinners! We are also almost at our historic highs for weight and Body Fat%. Bad news….
Fortunately, we are looking forward to better eating habits and regular exercise next year. I have begun the Couch to 5K in 8 week pod casts at http://runningmate.podomatic.com/. You are supposed to do the Week One pod-cast 3 times in one week. It comprises a 27 minute podcast with a 5 minute walk followed by 4 intervals of two-minute jogs and three minute walks. I’ve done two of the three workouts for the week and have had to ice my ankle already. 🙁 I will need to work on it; wearing an ankle brace this morning helped. I am also rewarding myself and buying a new pair of sneakers.
I had a pretty good work out session with John Salgado this afternoon. My stamina is awful, however, and my knee has not improved very much at all. After my work out, I went to get a massage at Wu Lim Qi Gong Master, 179 Grand St (between Baxter St & Centre Market Pl) in Chinatown. It had great reviews on Yelp so I thought I’d give it a try. Jack, the masseur, was amazing. I was a bundle of knots so it was a pretty painful session but I’m so glad I went. As Jack said: “No pain, no gain”. So was I frightened? Yes, a little bit…. but I’ve had some fairly lousy massages recently, so I was getting desperate. Clearly, my back and legs still need a lot of work but I have hope that my knees will ultimately benefit from further Qi Gong massages. Woo Hoo!
I have to say that it was gratifying when the masseur said that it was clear I work out. Was he referring to all the knots or that I actually had some muscles? I prefer to think it was the latter.
I am including a video on how to do some facial massages for relaxation by andrewn2healthplitt. I was doing the facial massages as he spoke and thought it was pretty good. Enjoy!
We went to our final New York Liberty game of the season and despite a slow start, the New York Liberty pulled off a win! 🙂 The Liberty have secured a spot in the playoffs so their season hasn’t yet ended. Congratulations to the team!!!
I didn’t do any kickboxing drills today at the gym with John Salgado – we focused again on circuit training. Today’s rounds included bicep curls on the bench, followed by leg lifts and v-sit ups. The second station used the gymnastic rings for pull-ups and then moderated dips. At the last station, I used the stability ball for various kinds of bridges and sit ups.
Juny’s comments on her Kuk Sool Won practice was inspiring. It brought back memories of my Hapkido classes in London at Chang’s Hapkido Academy last year. I really enjoyed the classes, and although I didn’t continue my studies I have very fond memories of my time there. I wish them all the very best. 🙂
I thought I would include a short video demonstrating some of the Kuk Sool Won wrist locks.
ki bon soo 1-15 (yellow and orange belt) basic joint locks with pressure points and throws
I went to see John Salgado again this morning [three days in a row!!!] and did circuit training with another of his clients. We had rounds of dips, Bosu Ball push ups, pad work, and medicine ball crunches. One of the circuit training stations was using wooden gymnastic rings for pull ups, very much like Frank uses the TRX straps. I think that I’m showing some improvement but overall all I could think about was that I was tired. LOL
I did a cool down on the small trampoline, trying to loosen some of the tightness in my joints. Additionally, I got to try something new today: an inversion table! It was fun although I only stayed in it for a few minutes.
I thought this video demonstrating boxing pad work drills was good. Enjoy!