WWYWT?

WWYWT? What Was Your Workout Today? Introducing the Kinect

January 9, 2012
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Xbox Kinect

Okay those of you that follow the site know that I either post here or on Facebook about my daily workouts. Sometimes I forget to post (not really, I just don’t do it) which isn’t very cool; but anyway… I actually did a two part workout. The family took off for a bike ride and since I jog and I don’t have a bike, I walked with my daughter who has a Balance Bike. She is getting really good on the balance bike and I actually had to trot to keep up. It was kind of chilly out so I realized that I just didn’t want to face cold air jogging today, so I came back in and jumped on the Christmas gift: The XBox Kinect Sports. I’ve been playing this already, but this is the first article about it. I have to make a comparison of course. The Wii provided a very good workout, but holding the controllers created an unnatural stress which could contribute to joint stiffness or the old Carpal problems. More importantly, I tended to focus on the controller movement instead of isolating muscle groups. The Kinect utilizes a sensor that reads your body and therefore doesn’t need controllers. What a difference!

There is a more complete overall body workout because your range of motions are not limited by the controllers and therefore you can actually torque the body, twist, lunge, jump, squat and place yourself into more realistic workout positions. While the Kinect Sports lacks all of the games needed on one disc Season 1 is not bad at all. It has Boxing, Track & Field, Beach Volleyball, Bowling, Soccer and Table Tennis. I actually have both Season 1 and 2 which also includes Football and Tennis as well as Golf and Darts.

Today’s Workout: 1 mile walk and then 45 minutes on the Kinect. Nice warm up and then I jumped into boxing. Boxing uses the core: trunk twists, side bends and extensions when punching. You get a serious burn when punching in your shoulders as well. There is also a slight leg workout when squatting to uppercut. After Boxing, I rolled into Track& Field which provides you with an explosive workout. You begin with running in place for the 100m dash, running and throwing in the javelin, a great core and leg workout in the long jump and then the hurdles and then the discus works on the core. I capped off the workout with bowling which is basically a cool down. Overall an excellent workout with sweat dripping from the beard.

What Was Your Workout Today? Oh yeah, buy some kicks and stay motivated.

WWYWT? What Was Your Workout Today? 11-29-11

November 29, 2011
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Okay it’s been a long weekend and all of the Turkey and fixins are firmly settled into the rolls of stomachs across America. I haven’t done a WWYWT in a minute with all of the sneaker updates, so here is what I did to start getting rid of the Apple Pie and Sweet Potato Pie, both a la mode, that I killed this last week.

Temperature: 37 degrees. I stayed in the house. I had been using the weather as an excuse not to run. I was also using my lack of cold weather running gear as an excuse, until last night. In the middle of the night the Treadmill sitting in the corner of the room spoke to me. It said, “I can smell the turkey and dressing seeping from your pores into the sheets of your bed. You are getting chunky, chunky, chunky.” Then it shut up. So I woke up this morning did a couple of blog updates and jumped on the treadmill for a jog.

Workout: Program 1 Calorie burner 300 calories. I ended up at 296 calories, but that’s okay it was a good jog.

Distance: 2100 steps, which I equate to 2.1 miles in 30 minutes. I know my pace though so I had to be closer to 3 miles.

Soundtrack: A mix of music. What stands out? Wu Tang Clan Ain’t Nuthin To F With right when I needed it most and during the cool down, The Police -Wrapped Around Your Finger. I can’t help but feel like the treadmill was sending subliminal messages with these two songs.

Overall an excellent workout. Make sure you get out and do something today.

Stay motivated

WWYWT? What Was Your Workout Today?

October 25, 2011
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Everyday you should do something that keeps the heart pumping. I hit the pavement again for today’s workout. While the weather may have changed at around 10pm the temperature is perfect for a nice jog. While most of you are probably working or in school at that time and you may find it hard to run, the weather is equally as nice at around 5-6pm. Let me know what you do in the comment area for a change. I know this is a sneaker site, but sometimes you have to use those expensive sneakers to relieve stress and keep the body in tune.

Exercise: Jogging/Running Shoes: ARCH CG097 II ES

Distance: 2.5 miles

Time: 25 minutes

Surface: Streets, concrete and grass in certain areas, moderate hills with one really big hill that I stayed on my toes and pushed it hard to climb

Soundtrack: Aesop Rock, Del, Talib Kweli, Common and Bilal.

Most motivating song of the run: Guerilla Monsoon Rap (Talib, Black Thought and Pharoah Monche)

What did you do today? Stay motivated and buy some kicks.

Chris B.

WWYWT? Running at Shelby Farms

October 2, 2011
By
Woodland Park Shelby Farms

Actually I was supposed to post this on Friday. After playing some backyard soccer with my son and daughter, and basketball as the workout during the week, we took a family day to Shelby Farms in Memphis. They have an incredible park for the kids named the Woodland Discovery Park, which is surrounded by bike paths and trails. I saw this as the perfect opportunity to get in a run out of the neighborhood. I only intended to run about a mile, since I was not familiar with the trails, but about 1 mile in I pulled a Bugs Bunny and took a wrong turn at Albuquerque.

So instead of a 1 mile jog, I ended up running past the Pavillion taking a turn and entering one of the older trails that was off of the new path. Since I was lost, I just kept running and saw some of the coolest parts of the park, that I’m sure I wasn’t really supposed to see considering I ran across a family of deer. 

One of the many trails

Yep I ran far enough to actually experience wildlife and a mouth full of a swarm of gnats or some random bugs. I ended up gone for about 35 minutes, but with the change of scenery I kept a great pace and pulled off about 3.5 miles. My biggest issues when running is still my weight overall and actually my shoes. The CGs are going flat, and it’s about time. My feet actually were sore a little the next day, but overall it was a great run and my goal now is to find various locations and run them throughout the city of Memphis. Maybe I will keep everyone posted and you can join me, beat me, run past me… whatever you do get up, get out and do something.

Stay Motivated

WWYWT? What Was Your Workout Today?

September 20, 2011
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Wii Training… Okay now that you are done laughing I dare you to take Wii Sports for a test drive. As far as motivation is concerned, it’s tough to get to the gym sometimes and when you are working through a calf injury like mine, you have to stay active and running on a calf injury for a 6-2, 220-5lb guy can wreak havoc on your legs and lower back. In other words, as much as I have grown to love jogging, I can’t do it with this leg injury.  I have to find another workout that will allow me to get cardio, stretching, legs and arms in. It is an overall workout.

Okay so this is the key to a great Wii workout using Wii Sports.  When you are playing, clear out enough space and perform the actions in the same manner that you would the actual sport. During the workouts make sure you keep a focus on your core, twisting and flexing while making the movements. Here is the breakdown of my workout today.

Wii Tennis: Best of 5. My level is Pro +2000. I do a full body extension with toe raises when serving the ball. I also do squats between matches. When I perform backhands and other swings I use my core and it is basically a trunk twist. This works.

Wii Baseball: I am only at the +1000 level in baseball. When I swing I crouch and make my strikezone smaller which is like going to basketball practice and sitting in defensive position for an extended period, which works the quads and glutes. Instead of simply using the Wii remote and moving it, I use my shoulder and perform a full swing. When pitching I lift my long and step through which is a lunge.

Wii Bowling: Wii Bowling is not a strenuous exercise and simply allows for a cool down before diving into the hardest part of the Wii workout… boxing.

Wii Boxing: If you are looking for a way to get those biceps burning and shoulders toned, Wii Boxing is perfect. Wii boxing is also a great cardio workout. I typically go for 5 bouts. I stay on my toes when I am not boxing and then I use lunges, trunk twists, side bends and I jump probably 200 times during these 5 bouts. My pro level is 2000+ which makes my matches very difficult. Between matches I sometimes get my Billy Blanks on and use the remotes as the height bar to lift my leg which also works on the core.

Wii Golf: After Wii Boxing, golf is a perfect cool down and in all honesty it will work on your real game. Using the correct form for swinging off of the tee is another alternative workout for your core and balance.

Overall my workout on the Wii extends to about 1 hour 10 minutes. If you are having trouble getting motivated to workout, start working on your Wii fitness routine to stay motivated.

WWYWT? What was your workout today?

September 13, 2011
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As CCB and ARCH begins to diversify the type of posts on the website, this is becoming one of my favorite posts to write. A year ago when I began making the first CG097, I began to run. The goal was to test the shoe and kind of recapture the level of fitness I had as a college basketball player. 15 years removed from that period and 6 years removed from running everyday with my high school basketball team, I was 260 lbs. At 6-2 it was hard to see that I was that heavy, but I felt it. So to test the shoes before I launched them, I began running on the treadmill and then on the street. Over the past year and a half, through multiple injuries and a persistant calf strain I ran. Through work and entrepreneurship and the selling of the first CG I ran. I increased my mileage from half a mile, to 1 mile, to 2 miles, reverted back to one after sitting for a while to heal and finally made it to 3 miles this year.

Today, I ran 3.5 miles or in other words a 5K for the second training day in a row. I am now at a steady weight of 220-225. Which isn’t steady but considering the amount of weight I lost this is an incredible thing. I feel that it should motivate you to get up and attempt conquering your own weight loss goals through jogging. While there is considerable shock to the joints, once your legs build up strength you will begin to see the benefits physically and in your breathing. I feel better, and I have less physical pain overall.

Todays Distance: 3.5 miles. On the street with multiple hills and grassy as well as concrete areas.

Shoes: CG097 II GA – The shoe continues to hold up and while the foam is beginning to compress and shred (due to the harsh streets and my weight) it is holding up very well. I have to say that, no exaggeration, the shoe is the lightest most comfortable shoe I have. I worry though, that the use of foam in the forefoot may feel awkward to some people because it is almost like walking and running barefoot. You can feel the placement of the foot which I know strengthens the feet and legs and makes running a lot better. It feels more natural. I think a lot of people may prefer a stiffer more motion control type shoe.

Time of the run: 9:42 to 10:20. It was a long run and contrary to what I thought the sun is actually pretty hot right now. It had been cooling down. I am still running through the calf muscle injury because I just can sit and ice anymore especially when it seems that as soon as it is healed, I run and it begins to strain again. It’s not so bad, but I can’t really forefoot strike right now and I am using very short strides to avoid toeing off too much.

Soundtrack: Rage Against The Machine – If you don’t feel like running, just put on bombtrack and every political frustration you have will come into your head and you will run through them and remember “How long, not long, because what you reap, is what you sow.”

Great run today.

WWYWT?

WWYWT: What Was Your Workout Today?

September 9, 2011
By

I was using Facebook Notes to do my updates for WWYWT? So today I decided to come back to the blog. For the past 2-3 weeks I was using the Wii for my workout. Don’t laugh… I dare you to do 10 matches on Wii boxing and 5 matches on Wii Tennis and then round it off with baseball, bowling and 9 holes of golf.  It’s an incredible workout. Seriously. I was on the Wii because I had a calf strain and I had to rest up but I didn’t want to lose the cardio.  With a calf strain it is very hard to toe off which means running is out of the question.

Yesterday I rolled off 2.5 miles. Today I went back to 3 miles. Using the Wii actually strengthened the muscle because in boxing I was lunging and in tennis I was doing toe raises.  So how did I do today?

Distance: 3 Miles on the road with several medium hills and one very big hill.

Time: 9:40-10:15 Not a very good pace at all. But those hills were tough. 35 minutes total.

Style: A combination of forefoot striking and heel to toe. My feet begin to roll towards the end.

Shoes: CG097II I continue to love the lightweight feel of the shoe. Although I can feel a lot of the rocks in the street, the lack of weight allows me to keep a solid stride instead of dragging my feet.  In most shoes for big guys the shoes add another 5 lbs which over the course of a 5K can really slow you down.

Soundtrack: The Reunion Mixtape- Talib Kweli and DJ High Tek.  Excellent running music.

Get up, get out and do something!

Stay motivated.

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