Kick it up a notch with at-home medball workouts

The time has come to go hard core with my medicine ball workout once again - The Tar Heels Workout, which Men's Health calls their Ultimate Medicine Ball Workout.

The workout is basically 200 repititions, 20 each of 10 different exercises using a medicine ball. I am going to start by using an 8-pound ball, since I haven't been working out this intensely for a while. But within two weeks I plan to move up to a 12-pound ball. I was using an 18-pound ball before, but I'm going to give myself at least a month to six weeks to work up to that again. I want to avoid injury at all costs.

Here are the basic 10 exercises that are part of the Tar Heels Workout with a brief description of each. These ten exercises together are considered one complete set. The goal is to do all 10 exercises with no break between them for a continuous 200 repititions, but start off slow and take short breaks as necessary until you can do more. Then, work up to three sets of these exercises, resting no more than three minutes between each set. (Go to the Men's Health site for better descriptions and pictures of each exercise, as this is a description of my personal exercise routine, and I am not a certified personal trainer.):

1. Big Circles - Start with the ball in both hands, outstretched above your head. Feet shoulder-width apart. Then make big circles in front of your body, with your arms acting like the hands of a clock, twisting your core to the side at the 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock positions. Do ten circles in each direction.
2. Wood Chopper - Start in the same position as Big Circles but with legs slightly more spread. Make a chopping motion with the ball, thrusting it through your legs and returning to the erect position, ball stretached above your head. (Last summer I posted a video of me doing this exercise on YouTube.)
3. Russian Twist - Start with the ball in both hands stretched out in front of you at shoulder height. Then, twist and stretch fully to the right, pivoting on your left toe, and then to the left, pivoting on your right toe. Once you are back to the center this is one repetition.  
4. Squat to Press - Start again with the ball raised above your head. Then, as you squat, bring the ball down to your chest. Once in the squat position, burst up again to original position. This is one repetition.
5. Medicine Ball Sit-Up - Lie on the floor with your legs bent comfortably and with the medicine ball at your chest. Hold the medicine ball to your chest as you do your sit-ups. Be careful to hold the ball in a stable position to avoid injury.
6. Rocky Solo - Start in a seated position, holding the ball in front of you. Then, twist to place the ball around behind your back and leave it there as you twist around to the other side to pick it up. When in the original position, this is one set.
7. Toe Touch - Starting flat on your back with your legs straight and on the floor, place the medicine ball in both hands and stretch your arms along the floor above your head. Then, at the same time, life your legs and your arms to touch the ball to your toes. Return to the original position for one repetition.
8. 45-Degree Twist - Seated, with legs slightly bent and your back at a slight angle, take the ball in both hands straight in front of you. Then twist to the left side with arms outstretched and touch the ball to floor. Twist back to the right side, touch the floor with the ball, and return to the original position. This is one repetition.
9. Suitcase Crunch - Start with your back flat on the floor, similar to the Toe Touch, and bring up one leg toward your chest separately while bringing the ball forward at the same time, over the knee, crunching, to touch the toe. Repeat with the other leg. This is one repetition.
10. Diagonal Crunch - Start this exercise lying on the floor as in previous exercises, but this time with your torso twisted to one side and with your legs spread wide apart. It is like doing a twisted sit-up, where you come up from the twisted position to sitting straight up on the floor. Tap the ball to the floor and go back to the lying position, this time twisting to the the other side. Sit up, tap the ball and return to the original position for one repetition.

I did this routine for nearly six months straight, about three to four days per week, but I stopped doing this it in its entirety after moving to Boston last July. After quitting my favorite gym - Island City Health and Fitness in Wilton Manors, FL - I just couldn't find another place to get into the routine. I loved that gym because there was a quiet, mirror-clad room where I could do the full workout and see myself from every angle and during every exercise. That kept me motivated because I could watch my form and measure my progress at every moment of the workout.

Now that I am in a new place and have plenty of room to workout at home, I'm setting things up so I can do this workout four days per week without having to worry about gym dues. I will supplement this exercise, as always, by walking and/or hiking at least 20 miles per week.

Going all the way: Setting a new healthy weight goal

I am inspired right now to reconsider my healthy weight goal. When I originally started this project, I weighed more than 420 pounds and set a goal to halve my weight. I settled in on a number - 227 lbs. - because it was just under the mark for Class I Obesity for my height. But the more I consider that goal, I feel it doesn't go far enough. It's a good goal. Hell, it may be a great goal. But it is not reflective of my desire to live in a way that leads me to optimal health.

I want to reduce my risk of chronic disease. That's the point. It's not about how I will look. It's about how I feel. And more, it's about what I can do.

Realizing this will take a new level of focus for me, I am exploring ideas. I've considered prescribed exercise plans like P90X, the Insanity 60 Day Workout and CrossFit, and I haven't ruled them out, because exercise is a huge part of what will make me successful at reaching my new goal (just as it has been to the point where I am today).

More important though, I want to take my food intake more seriously and begin cooking seriously healthy foods on a daily basis. I need to stop eating out on a regular basis, because even if I select healthy options while I'm out, I want to have more control over the ingredients, and how the ingredients are prepared.

I'm watching the new video called Hungry for Change, which talks about addictive chemicals in processed foods, which is stuff I already heard about in Food, Inc. But it also talks about juicing and a raw diet and other things I haven't given much thought to as of yet. There's also a recipe book that you can order from them as well (I think this is related to Tony Robbins), so I plan on buying that since it's in line with my desire to prepare healthier foods at home.

Meanwhile, I'm very much considering taking up a hard core workout routine. If something has worked for you, let me know and tell me why. I'm looking for all the information I can before deciding which path to take on the next step in my fit life journey.

So, you may be wondering, "Where's the part about your new goal?" Here it is. I'm almost hesitating to say it, probably because I still harbor fear and doubt over my ability to achieve it. But it is do-able, I know it. And I have developed a strong system of support, so I know where to go for help and am not afraid to ask for it.

So here goes: I will work to achieve a goal weight of 190 pounds. That's nearly 80 more pounds to go, and 30 more pounds than my original goal of 220. And I will strive to lose this weight by the end of the year. That gives me nine months. I will remain with the goal of weighing 227 pounds as an interim goal to be met by my birthday in August.

Now I just need to come up with the new plan...

Save money (and calories) on snacks by planning ahead

Planning ahead can make a big impact on your bottom line

Packing a lunch is sometimes impossible. With so many cheap, convenient options on the road, who needs it anyway, right? I mean, if you're anything like me, it's tough enough to simply get up, get showered and dressed and get out the door with a cup of coffee most mornings. Besides, I have found a select few ever-present fast food joints that I can rely on to eat healthy in a pinch.

But snacking, ironically perhaps, is a bigger problem for me. Even if I do make the time to have some oatmeal or a fried egg sandwich before heading to work, that mid-morning pang in my belly will have me thinking of food long before the dreaded 10 a.m. meeting that's bound to stretch into lunchtime. And where I work, there just aren't any healthy options that I can grab during that always busy rush that seems to consume some mornings.



So if I don't want to have to rely on casing that nasty vending machine for my mid-morning snack, I know that I better think ahead. In the past, I have stocked up on my favorite snack ahead of time - 2% Greek yogurt with a bit of honey. But my brand costs about $1.70 for a single serving, and sticky fingers sometimes walk away with one or two of my stash, so it's just not feasible on my current budget to count on that five days a week at work.



Beware the evil vending machine!



Plus, I run into the same problem in the late afternoon as I do in the morning. Around 3 p.m., I wonder how I often lack the energy to finish the work day, let alone fight traffic for 30 minutes, greet two yipping dogs waiting at the door to be walked and get set to prepare a healthy dinner. So what's a guy to do?

The answer: plan ahead. If there's one thing I learned in Boy Scouts, it's be prepared. If you're interested in fit living, which I'd imagine you are since you're reading this blog, being prepared can help you stay healthy while at the same time being economical and being kind to the environment by promoting recycling and reusing, etc.,

So for healthy, pre-planned snacking, I buy the four-serving container of yogurt for around $6, which brings the per-serving cost of the stuff down by twenty cents. Not a bad start!

Then, I shave even more cents off the per-serving cost by adjusting my own personal serving size. I have always found that the serving size listed on the container is more than I need to eat as a snack. By cutting the serving size in half I not only save money - when one serving makes two I spend only seventy-five cents per serving - but I also save 85 calories, 2.25 grams of fat, while still getting 11.5 grams of protein.

To put this into perspective, by saving just one dollar per day on snacking, I'm saving $365 per year. That's a round-trip ticket to Miami. And because I'm snacking healthy, I'll look good in a bathing suit once I get there!

So at the beginning of the week I pre-portion all of my yogurt. One container makes enough yogurt cups for the first four days of the week. Then on Thursday I crack open another container and make enough portions to last through the weekend.

There are other benefits of pre-portioning my own yogurt cups, too. For one, sticky fingers stay away from my homemade yogurt cups. Plus, I find that adding my favorite local honey tastes way better than any of the pre-packaged yogurt and honey recipes I've tried. And, at the end of the day, I feel better about reusing containers so I'm doing my part to keep unnecessary trash out of landfills.

Exercise Log: Keeping things up to date

I've been exercising quite a bit lately, though I haven't been able to blog about it since I've moved to a new apartment and don't have internet service there yet. So here I will provide a summary of what's going on with me lately.

Walking/Hiking

During the week, I make it to the trails in the Sandia Foothills at least two times and hike for at least two hours, or about three to four miles depending on the intensity of the route I choose. Each weekend I have been doing one strenuous hike of at least three hours, or about five miles. In addition, I have begun walking my dogs between two to three miles daily around my new neighborhood.

Strength Training

I have been doing my medicine ball exercises about two times per week lately. I plan on upping this to three times per week doing the full workout described in a previous post. As I modify this workout to add more sets of varied excercises I will post that here.

So while I may not be posting daily about my fitness routine, I will try to keep this blog up to date as I make changes, adding or deleting activities to my exercise routine. I am also going to begin posting more exercise videos to YouTube in coming weeks.