Complaints Regarding the Insanity Workout

I am currently in the process (finally!) of becoming a group fitness instructor. This has been a dream of mine for quite some time, and I am obtaining my certification through AFAA (Aerobic and Fitness Association of America).

I work out at home often, and I just finished doing the 40 minute Pure Cardio Insanity workout for my first time. I suppose it is called Insanity for a reason. For someone who has had to make daily exercise and fitness a lifestyle since the age of 14 years old, I have a few complaints regarding this workout. Before I complain, I recognize that if you or someone you know loves Insanity, then good for them! As long as you are moving and exercising I applaud, encourage, and support you! Keep at it if this workout works for you.

A few major complaints (in my personal opinion):
First off, the warm up.
Wait, there was NO warm up.
So the instructor forgot the importance of gradually building your heart rate until a steady state is reached. He just dove in to an anaerobic level of exercise, which is great after your muscles are warm and your body has ample blood circulation to really push yourself. But if you dive right in there is no conservation of energy so you are already exhausted at the beginning of the workout! He used the wrong metabolic pathway of exercise way too soon.
That really bothered me.

Second, working out should be (at least somewhat) fun.
I am picky about this. There has to be a balance to enjoy what you're doing (otherwise you'll just burn out after a few days and the exercise will not become a regular part of your lifestyle) but still push yourself to your fitness thresholds. While I do not care for something like Zumba (if I am going to spend time away from my family to workout, I am going to make it count and really burn) I did not care for this workout at the other end of the spectrum. At least I laughed out loud at how serious each of his participants were. I liked the trainer fine, but everyone else looked absolutely miserable and appeared to be hating life. Want to workout every day of your life that way? Me neither.

Okay and a pro about doing this workout and why I will go ahead and try his other routines: I like getting new movements and ideas for my own kickboxing/fitness/strength training choreography that I will soon be creating. There were some good moments, for sure! I do always love a good 60 seconds of burpies or heismans (once I am warmed up).

I thought of ranting on Facebook, but what good would that do? I do not want to offend anyone, I just want to write out my thoughts as I prepare to motivate and hopefully inspire my future class participants. I LOVE working out. I think everyone should learn to love it too! And if you love Insanity, then Kid, KEEP MOVING and being insane with Shaun T. All that matters is for you to exercise daily to maintain a higher quality of life and well-being.

Love,
Instructor Rach

Pioneer Day 10K

I sort of have this new obsession with running. I think it has to do with my new running route in South Jordan and how therapeutic it is to journey through the streets of my childhood. Passing through the streets to good old Bingham High or even further to South Jordan Middle School brings back a plethora of memories. And the endorphins and the runner's high that I get from going just 4 or 5 miles is becoming addicting. My cute friend Whitney had to sell her bib for the 24th of July 10K, because HELLO she is almost 8 months pregnant and she decided to follow doctor's orders. (I could only run comfortably up to 6 months of my pregnancy and then the Braxton Hicks started getting too intense, I am impressed she's been running at all!)

So I jumped on the chance to run in Whit's place, with a dear friend of mine who I met in 8th grade.

 

 

Being close friends with Mary all through high school and my college career really changed my life.

Her fitness and nutrition lifestyle greatly impacted me, and I am forever grateful.

Woke up at 4:15 am to feed the babe and leave for SLC by 5.   6:00am races are early!

 It's sort of funny how she still influences me, I am so grateful for this girl and her lifelong friendship. Mare is one of my bestest friends and I just adore her and her quirky sense of humor.

.

 There is never a dull moment with this girl

 Mary got me cruisin down the parade route for our 10K. I averaged an 8:20 mile and finished the race in 51:46, which is pretty fast for me these days. It was nice of Mare to slow down and stay with me (the Crazy normally averages a 7-minute something mile)! Finally for the last mile, I told her to speed up if she wanted to because I'd be sticking at that pace until the end. It sure felt a lot longer than my last 10K, but I beat my time by 6 minutes!

 

 

Trying to find a good place for our pic because we're self-obsessed and love social media, etc. ;)

 

We were both anxious to get back to our favorite little people after the race, and Mary's mom brought them to us in Salt Lake! We ate breakfast at the incredible Grand America Hotel (yes I was totally overdressed in my running gear at such a fancy venue...whoops)

 

And then we watched about 15 minutes of the Days of 47 Parade before we got too hot.

 Mary is currently living in Manhattan with her man (right outside Central Park!) and she totally converted me to her Beco carrier. Amberly doesn't love carriers, but she sure loved this one. It was super comfortable and she didn't even mind being too hot in it! See, that Mary still influences me. Now I'll probably have to buy a Beco.

 

 

It's been so refreshing having Mary in town this week. We love seeing Cora and Amberly together.

Future roommates. They better love each other!

 

 

 

Sure love ya Mare Bear. Jon and I are seriously considering an NYC 2015 trip.



Provo 10K

A 10K is my favorite length to run. Only 6.2 miles so minimal training required and you can still function the rest of the day afterwards (unless you only get 2 hours of sleep the night before but hey it all works out right?)

My sister-in-law Sarah and I were dropped off at the starting line at about 5:45 in the morning (you can't take jogging strollers on the bus). And we thought it was pretty hilarious that we were just chilling there all alone with the porta potties for a good half an hour.

OH Hey.

 

But seriously once I got these baby exercise clothes at one of my baby showers from a couple of cousins, I knew I had to run a race with Amberly Faith.

 Oh don't miss her little Nikes!!

The beginning of the race is always my favorite part, when everyone crosses the starting line and starts running together. I am so passionate about health and fitness, I get a little emotional every time. This is only my fourth race, but seeing so many people care for their bodies simultaneously is so inspirational to me.

 

 

Crossing that finish line is a pretty great feeling too!



 

Also, you get all kinds of extra sympathy and support if you run with a baby. There were lots of comments from the sidelines (as well as passerby, yes that stroller definitely slows me down) and everyone made Sarah and I feel awesome  about being running mamas. :) I finished in 58 minutes (can't remember the seconds) pushing the stroller for all but one mile. Hey I'll take it.

 

 

Oh best thing ever - they had free massages afterwards so we definitely hit that up! Brilliant, I have never seen that at a race before. They were in that white tent behind us.

 

 Jon had to stop because he got a crazy charlie horse in his shin. I stopped with him but he urged me to go on, he was afraid he'd have to walk most of it and he knows my crazy adrenaline well enough. Turns out I should have waited for him before I crossed, he was only two minutes behind me! It was fun to be there when he crossed the finish line though.

My cute sister-in-law and my brother, Anthony. Champions!!

 

 

Showing off our sweet medals. We joked about how we should just wear them to church the next day. What?



Isn't life like a running a race, in a lot of ways? I couldn't help but think of the analogy, seeing as the finish line for our course was directly in front of the Provo Temple on Center Street. It was a powerful experience as I saw the temple about 2.5 miles in the distance. That majestic tower pushed me to pick up my feet a little more, to push my daughter forward, and  to"bear with ease the [temporary] affliction" and discomfort of running.  (Alma 31:33) My ultimate goal in life is the temple, my covenants, my family.

"I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:  Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing." - 2 Timothy 4:7-8

Belly Shots and Pregnancy Weight Gain

Only a week after my little Amberly is born, and I am about 5 pounds away from my pre-pregnancy weight. I am shocked! I gained about 25 pounds the entire pregnancy, and besides eating sensibly, caring for my sweet pea, and nursing her these past 8 days, I have done nothing to help the weight shed off (doctor's advise you not to exercise for about two weeks after giving birth).

 

So here is some food for thought, as well as my own personal notes to refer to for future pregnancies. Here are my tips for feeling great (other than that beginning 24-hour nausea I had for the first trimester) throughout pregnancy:

 

1) Continue to Exercise. This must have kept my metabolism high these days after giving birth. Obviously I brought the duration and intensity down, but the stairmaster was my best exercising buddy throughout the last three to four months. Great cardio with low impact for baby. 20 minutes is all you need on that bad boy and you've got a good workout in for your day. Other than that I still jogged up to 6 months until it got too uncomfortable (if you jogged before pregnancy, you can by all means continue if it still feels good). The elliptical was wonderful, and I continued kick boxing until the last 6 weeks or so. I also did light weight-lifting to strengthen my back and arms.  Listen to your body and your maternal instincts. You'll know when to slow down. But if you want to feel good, make exercise a priority of your day. Other than Sundays, I can count on one hand how many days I missed getting my daily exercise these past 9 months.

 

2) Water water water. Always the answer to so many health problems, right? Well drinking LOTS of water during pregnancy will actually prevent you from retaining and swelling. It's like a magic potion.

 

3) Don't give in to unhealthy food cravings. You have will power. Of course the pizza, French fries, and treats would entice me. However, I imagined my sweet little Amberly inside of me trying to develop and grow healthy and the thought of giving her empty calories and greasy foods wasn't very appealing anymore. I wanted her to be nourished with protein, fiber, leafy greens, fruit, and healthy fats. Spinach was one of my besties, I threw it on most soups and meals as much as I could. I would like to think she was healthy at 37 weeks because of my diet that consisted mostly of nutrient-rich foods.

 

4) If you sit at work, sit on an exercise ball. My supervisor is a physical therapist and because I borrowed his ball as my chair the entire time I've worked there, he takes full credit for my lack of back pain during pregnancy. I'll give it to him! The only back pain I had was after giving birth because I had to push baby girl out in two contractions for her safety and I was determined to do so. I strained my back in the process. :)

 

Anyways, I didn't mean to write that much. I just wanted to give a few tips to myself for the future and have some fun posting these preggers photos side by side! Some day my sweet girl will look at these and smile knowing that this was her little body growing inside of mine. What a miracle.

 

 

4 weeks

(A major break in photos - I was trying to survive my nausea and constant food aversions. :)

 

 

13 weeks

 

14 weeks

16 weeks

 

 

 

 18 weeks

 

Light jogging still feels good.

 20 weeks - halfway mark

 

23 weeks

 

25 weeks

 

27 weeks

 

28 weeks

 

Nearly 31 weeks

 

33 weeks

 

 35 weeks

Now that bump looks legit!

 

36 weeks

 

37 weeks - I am so grateful we took this shot the night before I hit week 37. This photo was taken literally 5 hours before my water broke!

And the ending result

My precious precious girl, Amberly Faith Ditto.

What a gem.

 

So there you have it - my personal theories on how to feel as good as possible for a normal, low-risk pregnancy. We don't have to feel victimized as women who are expecting. Take care of yourself, connect with your baby in the womb, and feel good! And that's all I have to say about that. :)

Bucketlisted Billy

We all have our own bucketlists of life. Working out with Billy Blanks has been one of mine for quite some time. Ha ha! I am very pleased to announce that shortly after returning home from our "move" to Ohio last summer, this was checked off of my bucketlist. 

Post workout Chat:

It's pretty obvious we're besties by now.

Did I mention that for the past 12 years, I have always wanted to hit this?

Jon's favorite part about this clip: me mouthing the words "This is awesome!" LOL

This was everything I dreamed of and more. He screamed in my face, he held his punching bag directly in front of me so I could punch and kick harder, and he helped me with my form. I stayed for both sessions and was extremely sore the next day. LOVED it. I also got a shirt and a picture signed. Let's face it, I am an Old School gal and still a huge Tae Bo fan. And for the record, he is just as ripped as ever. Jon was pretty impressed. Seriously how could I not meet Billy? It was only a matter of time.

 If you've ever done the videos, you'll recognize Shelli, his daughter.

Now to attack the next item in the fitness category of my lifelong bucketlist: Become a certified aerobics instructor. All in a matter of time! Let's be honest, I might as well get paid for working out. I am debating between spin and turbokick.

Think I can motivate people to move?