MHB- Week Sixteen- Cardio-less

 It's my last week being off on maternity leave, as I'm sure everyone that is a regular reader is sick of hearing about! But it is. It can't be my last week of working out though. I can't let that happen. So even though it's going to be a big adjustment and a total challenge, I have to keep up with the hard work. I plan to wake up at 6 to workout, then shower and be ready for work by 7. Then I'll get baby girl up and have her ready and fed by 8:45. Ship her off to daycare and myself off to work..! Busy mornings are ahead for me but that's what happens when you add another human being to the mix! All part of the package deal.

MONDAY-

Day 1- Full Body Strength and Conditioning. This is that workout I mentioned before that is only done once a month in the Beginner Calendar. Lucky for me, I get to do this workout more than once a month. It is ... challenging. In the first set of pictures I'm demonstrating the entire first 5 minute round. It includes doing 10 air squats and 5 hindu push-ups as quickly as I can for a full five minutes. The idea is to get your lactic acids flowing right away, like you could in a fight, if an opponent is coming at you right away. (Like I'm some big tough fighter girl or something. Ha.)

 The other picture shows the Alternate Dumbbell Y Press. I should have had my arms a bit higher.

Goals: My hindu push-up form is lacking. I'd like to do this exercise more (gasp) just to build up the muscles in my arms that I use when I do the hindu push-up. I find that I'm a bit weak yet, to do demonstrate the best form.

TUESDAY-

Day 2- Cardio. Buuuuut, I skipped it. I know, I know I shouldn't be skipping any of my exercises. But I woke up Tuesday morning, super tired and my body, more specifically my ass and legs were uber sore from the big workout on Monday morning. So, I decided that more sleep and no running was what I needed. Alina had her one year shots this morning and did very well. I have two pictures of her at Public Health; getting weighed in the big girl chair and playing with the other kids toys in the waiting area. The pictures of us swimming were actually from Monday morning, but I thought they were cute enough to share in Tuesday's recap. Although, sitting in a pissy kiddy pool doesn't really count as exercise..

WEDNESDAY-

  Day 3- Explosive Power Training. One word- wow. It's pretty intense. Round one had my heart fluttering and I was completely out of breath after the five minutes were over. In the photos above I'm showing two exercises- the Jump Squat and the Ice Skater.

The exercise I'm showing above is pretty simple because it's just jumping with one knee raised up and swinging my arms in different directions. This was the first time that I did this entire workout and it was both awesome and challenging.

Goals: To do it again and to do it all better.

THURSDAY-

Highlights from our Thursday.

 Day 4- Skipped Cardio... again. Well my little one had her first year shots on  Tuesday and she really hasn't been herself since. She's been really docile, sleepy and it seems like her little cough has gotten worse, with the return of her runny nose. Sigh. She woke nearly every hour Wednesday night into Thursday morning, so I was up a lot checking on her and making her more comfortable. Needless to say- I was in no mood to get up and exercise. Alina did two hours at her new daycare today. She was really out of sorts and ended up crying hard when someone came to the door and it wasn't me. (Awww.) She wasn't herself, I was sad and that was basically our Thursday.

FRIDAY- 

 Day 5- Fight Conditioning. In the photo above I'm showing part of round one and how I'm circling in one direction in one stance and then I switch directions. After that, I switch stances and do the same. It gets the heart rate going pretty effectively. 

 The other photo is of me showing a Standing Guard Pass with Two Punches. It's more difficult than it looks because you're going from a standing position to down on your knees and back up over and over again. Because I cheated a bit this week and didn't do any of my cardio workouts, I felt like this workout was a great way to end the week. I was pretty tuckered out.

Goals: I want to set my goals low because I'm headed back to work on Monday. So I'm just going to go for DOING the workouts next week despite my new busy schedule.

Improvements: I was punching with force, like there was an opponent opposite me. It really made a difference.

Here's a list of all of my Mission Hot Bods over the last few months- take a gander if you're interested!

MHB- Week 1     MHB-Week 2     MHB-Week 3     MHB-Week 4     MHB-Week 5                                                                                                                                                         
MHB-Week 6     MHB-Week 7     MHB-Week 8     MHB-Week 9     MHB-Week 10    

MHB-Week 11     MHB-Week 12   MHB- Week 13   MHB-Week 14  MHB-Week15

Okay I'm about to get all lame up in here.. with my song choice for #backthatazzup Friday.. It's a song that the Dixie Chick's sing for their children and I couldn't agree more with the lyrics. I know, I know.. I promise I'll slow down with the sappy sadness posts as soon as I get this whole returning to work thing over with next week... Until then- you're stuck with my sap...!