Week 2, Workout 6

I decided to keep a little log of what I've been doing - mostly to keep myself motivated and also so I can look back and see my progress. I had Justin take a picture of me last week with bike shorts and a bra top on but I'm not about to post that.... at least not yet. Maybe once you can see a DRASTIC difference between the before and after pictures. And even then... I'm not so sure.

This is about how my at-home workouts are looking. I also teach Jazzercise on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. On Tuesday I noticed a huge difference in my cardiovascular endurance while teaching which was really cool - and one of the main goals of interval training: to effectively burn fat, build endurance and not spend hours doing it.

So here goes:

Cardio:
Warm Up: 2 minutes 3 mph, 0 incline; 1 minute 5 mph, 2 incline
Interval 1: 1 minute 7 mph, level 4 incline
Active Rest: 2 minutes 5 mph, level 2 incline
Interval 2: 1 minute 7 mph, level 4 incline
Active Rest: 2 minutes 5 mph, level 2 incline
Interval 3: 1 minute 7 mph, level 6 incline
Active Rest: 2 minutes 5 mph, level 2 incline
Interval 4: 1 minute 7 mph, level 6 incline
Active Rest: 2 minutes 5 mph, level 2 incline
Interval 5: 1 minute 7 mph, level 6 incline
Somewhere in here Steele got out of bed and I spent about 45 seconds putting him back in bed and hopping back on the treadmill....
Active Rest: 1 minute 5 mph, level 2 incline
Cool-down: 1 minute 4 mph, level 2 incline; 1 minute 3 mph, 0 incline


Strength Training:

3 supersets each of:

Step-ups (8 ea. side)
Bent Over Rows (10 reps. 8 lb weights)

Prisoner Squats (10 reps)
Chest Press (12 reps, 8 lb weights)

Belly Blasters (10 reps)
Mountain Climbers (10 sets)

I finished in about 40 minutes.

Now to get the eating under control.....

*Update*

I realized while showering that you might all be wondering what the heck I'm doing working out at home when I own a Jazzercise studio. Not very good advertisement for Jazzercise, huh? Well, there are a few answers to that. The truth is, I am a busy business-owning mama of two little ones and I just can't seem to find the time to add any more classes to my life. If I could just go to the studio, take class and come home it would be different - but by the time I get dressed, get the kids dressed and loaded up, get to the studio and answer the bazillion questions everyone has for me and finish the bazillion tasks I could do while I'm there - the whole thing usually takes 2 1/2 hours. Unless, of course, I arrive after class starts and leave before it ends... but even then - I once had a class manager ask me to show her how to do something on the computer at the very top of the cardio curve... What the???

Jazzercise is a phenomenal workout - when I started over 5 years ago I was quite pleasantly surprised. As an instructor though, I have plateaued a bit. Unless I were to go to 5 or 6 classes a week and use heavier weights I don't think I could make much progress very quickly. And I certainly don't have the time (or desire) to go 5 or 6 times a week. BUT! I can work out for 40 minutes at home, 3 times a week while my kids are napping or while my hubby is feeding them breakfast. I like that. I can do that. So there's the long answer. And yes, you should definitely still give Jazzercise a try. It rocks and is way more fun any day than working out on my treadmill.