Jessica Smith and Friends 2023

[Leonana]

Yesterday I shopped at Goodwills, so about three hours of walking. Today was M.I.S.S. Cardio. I had a really sore lower back yesterday. I think it’s due to how I sleep with two pillows, for my sinuses. However, it hurts my back. Also, I subbed heavy carries for the crunches, which ironically strained my lower back. The walking at Goodwill aggravated it. I stretched and massaged with my massage bar, plus laid on the hard floor which stretches and pops my back. But I was still a bit sore and stiff today. The cardio today helped loosen it up nicely.

I watched a video by Bob and Brad about how not to sleep. They said using more than one pillow causes back issues. I posted in the comments section about my allergies, and some posters recommended a wedge pillow. Something I need to try. Interesting side note, they recommend bands instead of dumbbells. They say they are better for increasing stability and balance. Sadly, I found no longer bands at Goodwill.

Our weather is hot hot hot. 113 today. It is so dry, you can feel the dry heat in your bones. We were out driving in the hottest part of the day yesterday. That’s a thrift addiction for you lol.

Donna, Supermans don’t seem to hurt my lower back. I just feel like they will! And I dislike them. I’m the same, forward bending is worse, especially crunches. But I prefer standing back extensions.

wishiwasinhawaii, I usually do bird dogs instead of Supermans, but planks are good too. I did check Walmart bands, and their bands are longer than Target. Target is 4 feet, and Walmart is 5 ft. I would like 6 ft, it helps with overhead moves as I'm 5'7". I found a Stott Pilates 6.5 feet on Amazon for $9, so ordered that one. Ironically, my 6 foot band broke and was 5 ft, and I replaced it with 4 ft Target bands.

Pam, I’m glad Dean’s yoga is helping. I get so stiff and sore doing strength workouts, I should do more yoga.

[donnamp]

Hi Everyone,

Today, so far:

Jenny Ford - Walk Across America - Maryland - this was filmed in one of the suburbs - Oxen Hill. It was filmed sometime during the pandemic as the people on the street were wearing masks. This wasn't the most scenic part of MD to film in, but I guess she just filmed where she could. I'm guessing some of the parks, etc. may have more hoops to jump through to film on location. It was like Jenny's other Walking workouts - pleasant, easy to follow, etc.

Trifecta Pilates - Mindful Strength - this was a nice weight training workout that was infused with Pilates principles of mindfulness and control. Nothing earth shattering was presented, but it was a nice routine. The main routine was maybe 30-35 min and the remainder was a nice stretch.

Bird Dogs are a good substitute for supermans - they ARE hard, Pilates "swimming" is also hard - it is like a superman and a bird dog all in one!

Hope everyone has a good day - at least I'm not working today!

The weather is so-so - I agree that is has been a disappointing summer -weather-wise so far - it seems we either had bad air quality from the fires or this humid soup.

Take care,

Donna

[wishiwasinhawaii]

Today is a rest day on the Build schedule. I watched youtube videos and rode my exercise bike for a half hour. I'm also continuing my decluttering project.

Donna, Lucky you that you're off today! We used to get Mondays off when a holiday fell on a Tuesday, but they took that away for whatever reason, so I'm working today. At least I'm WFH, but it still annoys me that they took this very minor perk away. Anyway, it's fun to do a virtual walk in a local place that you're familiar with. A guy on youtube posts videos from his car as he drives around the area where I grew up and I sometimes ride my exercise bike while I watch those and pretend that I'm riding through there, LOL.

Sherry, I'm only 5'3" so any band lengths will do, LOL. I haven't tried the Walmart bands yet. Wow, I can't believe how hot it is there! It's not that hot here (mid-80s) but the humidity is off the charts.

Pam, Yoga is great idea when you're doing something as intense as Cathe! I need to do more of that. I just don't enjoy it so I rarely do it, but it's important as we age.

[Leonana]

Today was cleaning off the tops of the kitchen cabinets. Phew, that was hard work! Lots of climbing up and down on the step ladder. It gets very dusty on top, and sticky with the kitchen grease. Yuck. Last time I did this, I laid down paper towels. It made it much easier this time, I just picked them up and threw them away. I still had to wash the decorative items, but not as hard as scrubbing all the tops of the cabinets. Of course, this made my lower back stiff and sore. I did Jessica's 18 Minute Stretch from WS 3, it's one of my favorites. She has some hip stretches in there, which helps. After that I was beat, so took a long nap!

Donna, Pilates swimming is tough! I rarely do it.

wishiwasinhawaii, when we visited my dh's family in Indiana, the high was in the 80's. They kept saying summer was hot, and we kept waiting for it, but it never came! To us it was nice weather, even with the humidity. Although, dd and I froze in the house, they keep their ac at 72. We both had to wear a jacket. We keep ours at 78-79. So basically, we were cold the entire time, lol. When you get used to temps over 110, everything else feels like winter.

[Leonana]

No workout today. The cleaning yesterday wiped me out. Dd and her bf are coming over for dinner. We have no plans to watch fireworks, dh only will do it if friends ask. Dd and her bf probably have their own plans for fireworks. It will probably be an early night.

My poor feral cats will be in hiding tonight. I'll put their food out, and they can eat when the noise dies down.

wishiwasinhawaii, I forgot to mention that I used to be 5’9”! I’ve shrunk two inches in the past ten years.

[donnamp]

Hi Everyone,

Today, so far:

Jessica - 4 Mile Power Walk - Miles 1-3, I was going to go for the 4th one, but stopped after 3. I may do Mile 4 later today or maybe tomorrow....

Trifecta Pilates - Pilates Plank Kick - this was a workout that focused on the leg pull in Pilates. It built up to the move very gradually - it was actually a good workout and one I would not have picked on my own had it not been in the monthly calendar for July.

I have to admit, doing steady state cardio followed by some type of Pilates workout is really my sweet spot for exercise.

Sherry - wow, that does sound like a workout. That is the type of deep cleaning i need to do but never get around to. No fireworks for us. DD and her BF are going to see a movie later. We are just going to stay home and hide! LOL!

wishiwasinhawaii - I only had the day off yesterday b/c i took it off - it would be nice to have Mondays off when the holiday is Tuesday. Why take away the perk? I bet a lot of people take it off anyway so productivity (whatever that means, LOL!) wouldn't be lost.

waves, Pam!

Hope everyone has a good day!

Donna

[Pam61]

Hi Ladies,

Back to Upper Body 1 today, with Cathe...and yoga with Dean! We had company Monday (over to the house for board gaming) and I was busy prepping for that, so nothing but yoga to help calm me beforehand.

Next week I'll be about halfway into my STS rotation, so that will be a good feeling. I'll also be finishing out Dean's FUNdamental beginners yoga just before Cathe's workouts end, if I stay on track. Dean's yoga is how I've been starting my day....well that, and coffee!

I've got to take a look to see what iFIT treadmill workouts are scheduled for July, as I skipped them altogether with the start of STS in June. Cathe says that the strength training should be our primary focus, so very little cardio since so many of the Total Body workouts have a cardio effect.

Hope everyone enjoyed their 4th of July. It was raining like cats and dogs today and our cat was so spooked by the thunderstorms we had earlier in the day! I haven't seen the skies lit up like that with flashes of lightening and thunder since I don't know when. Crazy Summer.

[wishiwasinhawaii]

I didn't get a chance to post yesterday because I spent the day at the beach with my family. I thought it would be crowded but it wasn't bad at all. The weather was great until it looked like a severe storm was coming and the lifeguards told everyone to leave, but that was later in the day anyway. The storm turned out to be a dud and it just rained briefly and then the sun came out again.

I took today off work because I have some errands to run, plus, my ridiculous boss was trying to get me to go into the office today and the best way to avoid that is to take a day off! It's still very humid here so I'm going to do my workout later tonight when I get home from my errands. Today's workout is for the quads, hamstrings and calves so I'm curious to see what Jessica has in mind. I did her optional Sole Massage workout Monday night which was only 12 minutes long. It's a foot massage and I really liked it!

Donna, I have no idea why my company took away the policy to have a Monday off when a holiday falls on a Tuesday. We also used to be able to end the day at 2:00 when a major holiday is the next day, but they also took that away. All that does is kill morale and I can't imagine it boosts productivity either. I'm so tired of the BS and really can't wait to retire!!

Sherry, Some fireworks here were cancelled due to the threat of storms. I guess there was one local town that had them, but I watched the ones on TV from NYC. Fireworks became legal here not too long ago and a neighbor put on an unexpected show a couple of nights ago that was just as good as some professional shows I've seen!

Pam, I guess the storms you had were the same ones that were supposed to hit where I was. I was more south when I was at the beach, but the area where I live was hit hard, which is more north. With all that thunder and lightning, you didn't need a fireworks show!

Hope everyone has a good day!

[donnamp]

Hi Everyone,

Made it through the 4th here - it got a little noisy for awhile, but nothing crazy. My doggie was a little nervous, but nothing too bad for her either.

Today's workouts:

Jessica - Feel Good Fusion - Cardio
Jessica - Gentle Yoga & Pilates - Floor routine

I enjoyed both of these routines this morning. I am thinking of doing either Build or Summer Series when I return to work next week. Build would make sense since it is 4 weeks and my next vacation is in 4 weeks.

wishiwasinhawaii - yes, I just don't get why companies take away perks that really don't cost them anything. Good plan on taking the day off to avoid the office. I am going to use as much vacation each year as I can for my remaining years of working. I am so ready to be done with it. I feel so better mentally not having to deal with work this week and truly, my job is not that bad. I have had and done worse. But I just don't want to do it any more and no matter what there is always stress and aggravation with work - which I'm so over.

Pam - I know many instructors say that strength is more important than cardio and they probably are right - but I generally prefer cardio!! And feel better doing it.

Waves, Sherry- hope all is good on your end.

Donna

[Pam61]

Hi Ladies,

I started with Dean's yoga today, so far 8 days with his FUNdamentals program. I added a short Morning yoga (day 2) which uses a chair to assist with a couple of the poses.

Today was Lower Body 1 and still loving STS very much. My back is a bit sore from all of the deadlifts and squats today.

In Dean's 8th FUNdamentals workout he does a variety of poses, but he had those DEEP squats that Jessica will sometimes do. I am terrible at those, but I'm getting better and deeper than I have before. I think I'm more flexible in my hips with the heavy weights that force the body to go lower, as well as more consistent yoga. Today I was doing Sumo squats with 35lb weight and I could have gone even heavier. And, Cathe (and crew) have 75lbs on their barbells for deadlifts and I'm only doing 40lbs, but know I could go heavier now. So maybe when I do Lower Body 2 on Friday, I'll up the weight a bit more. Nothing major, haha.