Giving Your Body a Break

This week I was hit with the startling realization that my body isn't quite as young as it used to be. I came to this conclusion when I awoke Tuesday morning so sore that I was barely able to get out of bed. However, somehow I managed to push myself through three more ladder sets over the following two days until I finally decided to throw in the towel on Wednesday afternoon.

My muscles burned and my body ached, and I needed some rest. It's been almost 6 full months of pretty consistent workouts, and I believe my body was due for a breakdown. So, rather than push through the remainder of the week and subject my body to even more pain, I decided it would be best to relax and pick back up where I left off next week. As Livestrong.com explains, "Working out actually causes trauma to your muscles, and this trauma is repaired after your workouts when your body is at rest."

Pictured: My muscles after this week

With that being said, I took their advice and have listed my results from this week of rest below:

Date	Workout	Sets	Total Time (Morning)	Total Time (Night)	Beak Time Per Set	Total Burpees
6/18/2012	Ladder	14	17 min 38 sec	17 min 41 sec	60 sec	210
6/19/2012	Ladder	14	17 min 39 sec	17 min 36 sec	60 sec	210
6/20/2012	Ladder	14	17 min 37 sec	REST	60 sec	105
6/21/2012	REST
6/22/2012	REST
6/23/2012	REST
6/24/2012	REST

This week I'll leave you with a quote from the ancient Roman poet Ovid:

"Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop."

L&R,

Drew

Forming a Good Habit

Over these past 6 months Burpees have become ingrained in my daily routine. I eat, sleep, and dream Burpees. It's even gotten to the point where I hate missing a day if I'm out of town for work or on vacation. That's something I can say never happened to me in the past when it came to working out. I don't know about all of you, but I used to be relieved if something came up and got me out of having to work out.

"What? It's National Aboriginal Day in Canada? Looks like I can't workout..."

But now, Burpees have not just become part of my daily routine, they've also become a habit. So much so, that it literally affects my mood if I'm not able to do them. My wife can attest to that... And forming this new habit has helped me defeat one of my oldest and most vicious arch enemies: The Couch Potato.

Get it?!

Being able to step away from the couch and TV has been wonderful. It's not only given me the time I need to work out, but it's also given me time to do so many other things around the house. So, here's to breaking one bad habit and replacing it with a good one!

My new habitual needs were filled this week as I was able to get all of my workouts done. The results are below:

Date	Workout	Sets	Total Time	Beak Time Per Set	Total Burpees
6/11/2012	Star	6	5 min 14 sec	30 sec	60
6/12/2012	Ladder	15	14 min 46 sec	40 sec	120
6/13/2012	Pull-up	6	7 min 04 sec	30 sec	60
6/14/2012	REST
6/15/2012	Buddha	6	5 min 34 sec	30 sec	60
6/16/2012	Mix	7	9 min 19 sec	50 sec	70
6/17/2012	REST

And I'll leave you with a quote today from a lesser-known Dutch Renaissance humanist named Desiderius Erasmus:

"A nail is driven out by another nail. Habit is overcome by habit."

L&R,

Drew

The Super-Grain

This week's post is another shout out to a food that my wife and I became aware of in the past year. It's been quickly becoming more and more prevalent in the health world, and there are plenty of reasons why. If you haven't heard of this "super-grain" yet, then it's time to go to your local grocery store and pick some up. This awesome alternative to rice, beans, pasta, and any other side dish you can think of, is known by it's original cultivators as chisaya mama or "mother of all grains". Most of you may not know this, but those original cultivators I speak of were the Incas, and the mother of all grains? Quinoa.

Superman's mid-day snack

Now, this may just look like your average bowl of rice or couscous, but this my friends truly is the mother of all grains. Per MindBodyGreen.com, Quinoa is "one of the most protein-rich foods we can eat. It is a complete protein containing all nine essential amino acids." For those of you that don't know what an essential amino acid is (I'll admit I had no idea), it's basically something your body needs through diet because it can't be synthesized otherwise. I could bore you with the molecular components of an amino acid, but I'll spare you all from one collective facepalm.

Not only is Quinoa nutritionally the mother of all side-dishes, it's even simple to cook and quite tasty. So move aside Granny Smith! There's a new sheriff in town that will keep help that damn doctor away.

As for my workouts this week, everything continued as planned with my two-adays. My results are listed below:

Date	Workout	Sets	Total Time (Morning)	Total Time (Night)	Beak Time Per Set	Total Burpees
6/4/2012	Ladder	13	14 min 09 sec	13 min 55 sec	50 sec	182
6/5/2012	Ladder	13	13 min 59 sec	14 min 03 sec	50 sec	182
6/6/2012	Ladder	13	13 min 57 sec	14 min 06 sec	50 sec	182
6/7/2012	REST
6/8/2012	Ladder	13	13 min 54 sec	13 min 55 sec	50 sec	182
6/9/2012	Ladder	13	13 min 57 sec	13 min 52 sec	50 sec	182
6/10/2012	REST

And if this quote from weight-loss coach Jonny Bowden doesn't get you excited about eating Quinoa, then I don't know what will!

"Legend has it that the Incan armies would march for days at a time eating nothing but quinoa and fat."

L&R,
Drew

Summertime Blues

I'm not sure about the rest of you, but there's something about summertime that always seems to bums me out a little. I don't know if it's the sweltering Texas heat, the fact that I still wish I was a kid, or that the ice cream man continues to torment me by driving one street over while refusing to come down mine.

My Newest Arch Nemesis

Whatever the reason may be, it also seems to aid in making me sluggish and lazy. I've talked in the past about finding motivation, and for me, summer just happens to be one of those times I need it the most. Luckily, this summer, I'll be hitting the beach multiple times, and this, of course, is probably the greatest motivating factor behind anyone wanting to workout, ever... They don't call it "working on your beach muscles" for nothing.

So with a little help coming from the thought of hitting the sun and sand, I'm going to beat those summertime blues and keep pushing forward.

This week, I've added two new workouts that are sure to liven things up a bit: The Diamond Buddha and Star Jump Burpees. The Diamond Buddha consists of doing wide set squat jumps and diamond pushups, while the Star Jumps are basically doing jumping jacks while leaping off the ground (P90x calls them X jumps). My results from these workouts are listed below:

Date	Workout	Sets	Total Time	Beak Time Per Set	Total Burpees
5/28/2012	Vacation
5/29/2012	Ladder	15	15 min 04 sec	40 sec	120
5/30/2012	Pull-up	6	7 min 10 sec	30 sec	60
5/31/2012	REST
6/1/2012	Buddha	6	5 min 47 sec	30 sec	60
6/2/2012	Mix	7	9 min 36 sec	50 sec	70
6/3/2012	REST

This week, I'll leave you with a quote from Pulitzer Prize winning author and satirist, Russell Baker:

"Ah, summer, what power you have to make us suffer and like it."

L&R,

Drew