Fitness update: Restart, and Some Thoughts

 So, after the 100 Minutes War (which resulted in the most cut, ripped, shredded body I've had in a long time), my two-job schedule and an up-tick in court activity regarding my Old Homestead kept me away from my Insanity workouts for a few months.

I noticed an up-tick in my weight back above 205 lbs, and I simply did not feel as strong as I had before. I had switched my push-up technique to what I thought would a more proper form that would make me stronger, but by rep count went down from 37 to 20 or lower.

So I decided to start slow. I did a one-hour long "Power Yoga" workout from a thrift shop DVD to reawaken my body, then went back to the first workout in the Insanity program.

A sample of the yoga video workout I used:

The yoga went well enough. My flexibility was a smidgen better than it had been the first few times I had tried it before beginning the Insanity workouts, but as for that first Insanity workout? FORGET IT! My strength was lagging behind my cardio, and my cardio was for shit! I dogged the last few exercises, and still felt beat up when I was done. Who knew that so much of the gains I had made would go away after two months of inactivity?

I had thought to do just one week of beginning Insanity and go back to where I had left off (two weeks into the second month) but that was out of the question. If I couldn't even get through the first day? I decided to just start over from scratch.

It wasn't completely from scratch, though.  I did have that slight bit more flexibility. I was able to lift my leg higher in moves like the "Heisman."

I also had learned, discovered, and used a few things that I figured out:

Don't drink orange juice right before a workout.

Don't chug a large amount of any liquid and then jump into the work out. Begin your hydration/pre-workout supplement intake several good minutes before, so the liquid can settle and start to be absorbed.

Take small sips of whatever you drink during the workout. You can chug when you are through.

It is OK to take a few seconds extra rest if you are not ready to continue, if it is important for you to do the reps, rather than to get used to working out when you are exhausted, or to finish in a certain time. I have not been able to really work out when I am exhausted.

There is a difference between stopping because you would have to work harder, and working harder so you don't stop. It's a choice.

And finally, you may not have time to get everything you want to say into one blog post, so when time is short, just post it and move on.