Barefoot & On the Mat: November 2020 Check-In

[luvcritters]

Paine, thanks for starting the month.

Sherry, I don't get trick or treaters either. Baked potato soup sounds good. I really want pumpkin pie but I know it will make me sick. I ordered a Thanksgiving meal from QVC so the man gets some sort of T-day meal at my house. Turkey, mac and cheese, and two other things I don't remember. I can't have any of it but I don't like any of it either.

Sandra, its hard to believe your grand niece is already 5 years old. Seems like yesterday.

Anny, I should join you with the Joyce rotation. I know its a bad word around here but Joyce is the only rotation that didn't make me bulk. I gain muscle faster than I lose fat and that makes me bulk.

Beth, its always so cloudy lately I can't see the moon, the sun, or anything else up there.

cyana, I'm glad your busy season is starting to wind down. You need time for you. I probably won't be moving so Meow can stay put. The man likes coming to the mountains to rest and regroup. And I'd like to be 10 - 20 degrees warmer at his place! Maybe we should trade houses. The hospital has joint class for orthopedic surgeries as part of pre-op. That will tell me how to get dressed and eventually showered and anything else I need to know. Like sleeping with a sling. They say to sleep in a recliner. Recliners are evil with my spine.

I did nothing today. Absolutely nothing. I didn't even get dressed. I might have to cancel surgery. Whoever takes me to surgery, and me, has to be tested for covid a few days before surgery. A few days before is Thanksgiving. If my person takes time off work the day before or the day after, she won't get paid for the holiday. I'm paying her wages to take me to surgery. I can't afford to pay two more days. My SO will be here on the testing days but he can't take me to surgery unless they give him two days off work. They're already shorthanded. I don't see that happening. I'll wait to see what he says but I think the best option is to cancel and make ice my best friend. It already is.

[JustSandra]

Hi again!

Today's Workout: Day one of my Jessica Smith rotation was Total Focus from Boost Metabolism + Muscle.

Beth: My grandniece had quite the weekend -- a kids Halloween party on Friday evening and a costume birthday party in a local park Saturday afternoon. She and her mama kept it mellow for Halloween night with a movie at home, but this morning they were off to a trampoline park. My brother and I were supposed to join them for lunch out afterwards but my grandniece was finally partied out so we skipped. Her daddy then picked her up and she'll undoubtedly have yet another party with him. She celebrated turning five very well!

Cyana: Glad things should finally be slowing down for you.

Sherry: Baked potato soup and garlic bread? I'll be right over!

Linda: Sorry to hear getting to the hospital for surgery has turned out to be so complicated. I hope you can work something out, but I would also certainly understand if it is just easier to cancel for now.

Take care everyone -- see you tomorrow!

[yogapam]

Hello mat mavens!

Today was a lovely hike with DH, my sister, & my BIL. It was a warm sunny day so we had lunch on an outdoor patio overlooking the harbour. I did some yin & restorative yoga on my own after.

I’m doing an online pre holiday fitness & health challenge a friend is organizing for November. Not sure what she has in store for us, but I’ll be doing that along with my usual Essentrics, yoga, strength, & cardio. It starts tomorrow.

Sandra - Wow, your little grandniece is 5 already, they grow up so fast! Our June will be 7 in a few weeks.

Beth - Sorry you’re having difficulties with Alchemista & SW! So far I haven’t had any issues with streaming either set.

Cyana - I’m glad to hear work is slowing down for you. I agree about getting outside, find it’s very important for my mental health.

Paine - Thanks for starting us off & enjoy that warm sunshine!

Sherry - I must check out Yoga Ranger. Honestly, as much as I am enjoying the Alchemista workouts, I think it’s overpriced and I would not have bought it. It’s really just 3 workouts and a short meditation. The workouts are good, but I’d prefer them shorter. I’m very happy with Shakti Warrior, know I will use them more.

Linda - Hope you can work out a plan for your surgery. Perhaps they can reschedule.

Waves to Anny, Pat, Carolyn, & Garrie!

[toaster]

Sandra, it definitely sounds like your grand-niece did things up in style. Are there still issues between your niece and her ex?

Sherry, I'm with you - I often want my yoga to be all floor, which is why I have so often turned to Yoga Ranger and other yin routines.

Pam, thanks for the feedback about Alice's workouts. I cleaned up cache and some other things on my computer to see if it would help. I might wait until next weekend before I try again though. I agree with you about Alchemista not being worth it if we had to pay for it! I second Sherry's recommendation of Yoga Ranger.

Linda, covid is definitely complicating everything! I hope you get it to work out.

I need to go do my "Election Sanity" meditation for today (part of a series from Ten Percent Happier).

[Paine]

Sandra, I think you'll enjoy your Jessica Smith rotation this month.
Happy Birthday to your grandniece! It sounds like she had a wonderful birthday. It's hard to believe that my youngest grandson will be 2 this month! Kids grow up so fast.

Beth, sorry you had the internet snafus--that is so annoying! I hope you can get the rest of Alchemista to run without interruptions.
I previewed that Yoga for Emotional Stability practice that you did and I like what I saw. I bookmarked it.
Enjoy our pumpkin apple bread!

Cyana, thank goodness that your work schedule will ease up soon.
A few years ago my family doctor had me try a low dose of Melatonin. He had me buy it in drop form so the dose could be low. When that didn't work, I tried Melatonin supplements at a higher dosage but that didn't help either. I'm a stubborn insomniac!

Anny, you make me want to try working out to a Joyce Vedral book! Which Vedral book do you like the most?
I think it's great that you are able to get together with friends. I can't wait for the day when I don't have to worry about social distancing.

Sherry, I like my yoga on the floor too.
We didn't hand out candy on Halloween either.
Your baked potato soup and garlic bread sounds wonderful!

Linda, I hope you are able to have your surgery as you planned.

I'm waving to Carolyn, Pam, Pat and Garrie!

[JustSandra]

Hi!

Today's Workout: Cardio Interval Sculpt from Jessica Smith's Walk Strong 3 set (Day 2 of her Healthy For the Holidays rotation).

Paine: We are finally having cooler nights here, which helps my sleep as I get to use heavier covers.

Yogapam: Can't believe little June is 7!

Beth: Yes, my grandniece's parents still have a contentious relationship a year after their breakup. However, the parties have a court hearing tomorrow where they hope to sign off on a written custody agreement. That will just leave the issue of child support and attorney fees. I'm keeping my fingers crossed they can work out a settlement there also.

Waving to all!

[toaster]

Paine, in that yoga practice, Tim said he based it on an Iyengar sequence that appears in Light in Yoga, but with a few modifications. I did another practice with Tim tonight; I like his down-to-earth goofiness.

Sandra, I'm sorry to hear that there is still animosity. I hope it goes smoothly!

Today was busy and tomorrow looks to be to; I'm glad to have had the foresight to take Wednesday off. There is a "candlelight yoga" class after my Tuesday class that I plan to attend tomorrow night.

[Garrie A.]

Hi all from the Mat Maven who can't keep up. LOL!

I've had a crazy October. Three weeks into the month, I learned that a student who took one of my classes tested positive. It was about two weeks since his last visit to the gym, so they told me to just monitor myself over the next few days. And lately, my BF had to quarantine due to close contact with a co-worker. So I've mostly been having to video chat with him every night. I was hoping to go out for Halloween, but alas we couldn't.

Work hasn't been too bad, although I did have to teach some extra classes during the month because one of the instructors traveled to Mexico to visit family, then when she got back had to quarantine for two weeks. Her quarantine period ended over the weekend. I had to work by myself a few days at the bookstore due to the manager having some health issues, but thankfully she is better now. This week she's taking time off so I'm back to working alone again.

On the workout front, last month I did Meso 1 of Cathe's STS, and this week I'm starting Meso 2 (Hypertrophy), my favorite. I've really enjoyed going through the program a second time. I noticed both some gains and losses in strength since my first round last year. One big factor is that the leg workouts aren't as dreadful as they were my first round. They still challenged me but they were much more doable.

I forgot to mention something fun that happened last week...

Karen Voight is now offering live online classes through Zoom. I heard about them through an interview on Muscle Mixes Music's Facebook page. They are pay by the class, and she is offering two types: Core & Stretch on Mondays and Fridays; Body Sculpt on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays. I took a Body Sculpt class last Sunday. The class was 90 minutes but flew by. It started with a long warm-up then moved into light weight work. This part reminded me of her Great Weighted Workout, but with a modern feel to it. I used 3 lbs. but dropped to 2s. She fried my shoulders and upper back, then picked up heavier weights (I switched between 5s and 8s) for upper/lower combo moves. Some of the moves were kettlebell inspired. My heart rate was in a moderate range during the standing work. After this we moved to the floor for some tough core work. My entire core region was sore the next day, along with a little DOMS in my upper back. She did an interesting tricep push-up that also incorporated a superman variation. We finished with some hamstring and glute work on all 4s then did a nice, long stretch. I really enjoyed the class. Karen was excellent as always, and since some people had their cameras on, she was able to see you and correct your form in real time. I got both a little starstruck and startled at the same time when she corrected me at one point. "Garrie, watch your ribcage. You have a tendency on this exercise to protrude it out when you stand back up." And it came at just the right time, similar to how she instructs in her videos.

Back in a second with this week's workouts and personals...

[Garrie A.]

Workouts this week:

Sunday:
STS Meso 2, Disc 13 (Chest, Shoulders & Triceps)

Monday:
STS Meso 2, Disc 14 (Legs)
Barbell hip thrusts, 4 sets of 15 with a one minute break in between (45 lb. barbell)

Ahhhhh......Meso 2. The upper body workouts are similar to some of Cathe's other strength workouts (Gym Styles, Lift It HiiT It), but you use heavier weights and longer rest periods (no rush to change weights). And no push-up or band finishers. This week you start at 70% of 1RM. I missed doing barbell bench presses using the Fit Tower, and it felt great to do them.

The leg workout was killer, and consisted of three trisets (three exercises done for 10 reps each, each triset repeated three times with a 1 minute break in between). My heart rate got into the peak zone for 12 out of the 48 minutes. Then, to give my glutes a little extra love, I did four sets of barbell hip thrusts. I, of course, did lots of stretching afterwards.

Paine: Thanks for starting us off! Enjoy that warmth. It got down to 29 at my house last night and only in the 40s for highs today. I'm not Anny, but my favorite Joyce books are The Fat Burning Workout (upper body only), and Bottoms Up. I also like the Hard Bodies books she co-wrote with Gladys Portuguese.

Sandra: I can't believe your grandniece is already 5! Enjoy your Jessica Smith rotation. I tend to skip over core and stretch, too. My goal is to work my core 1-2x a week and devote one or two days per week to focused stretching. But I'm also giving my glutes extra focus, by adding barbell hip thrusts to my STS leg days, a lighter weight/higher rep glute focused workout to end the week, and a Ballet Beautiful add-on once a week (either one of the butt blasts on Body Blast, or a floorwork mix from Total Body or Backstage Workout). I ended up going on a Ballet Beautiful binge last week, and I bought two bundles from Amazon.

Anny: I've thought about doing a Joyce rotation at one point.

Linda: Hope you can work something out re your surgery. Not shifting gears, but I decided to cancel a DMV appointment to change my license to a REAL ID (since the Cathe road trip was cancelled).

Sherry: No candy giving at my house, either. Baked Potato Soup and Garlic Bread sounds YUMMY!

Pam: Congrats to you (and Beth) on winning the BellyFit workout!

Waves all around!

[yogapam]

Today’s workouts:
~Neighbourhood walk
~WOW Bee Gees walk
~30 min gentle Yoga Flow on Vimeo - One of the studios I frequented in the city converted my class punch card to cash & I bought a virtual punch card. I still have $ left for another. I haven’t been using it & one of my goals for November is to do more yoga practices.
~Steps: 8417

Garrie - Wow, you’ve had quite an eventful month! I hope you & your BF stay safe & healthy!

Beth - I hope the computer clean up fixes your streaming issues.

Sandra - I hope your niece & her ex can find some middle ground. That’s tough, I feel for her! Yes hard to believe our wee June is now 7 years old!

Paine - I hope you get some sleep!

Waves to all!