Posts Tagged ‘ fitness ’

WWYWT? Spouse 5 week Challenge: Exercise and Health

December 5, 2012
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Okay it’s been a minute since I posted on the site, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been running and working out. I just haven’t been posting. I’ve dropped about 5 pounds in the last 2 weeks. Which is great! The reason? The Spouse 5 Week Challenge. My wife recommended that we challenge each other on a daily basis. Well, not daily, but 5 days per week we have to do some sort of workout. The cool thing about this is that we don’t have to work out at the same time, but we do have to workout in the next 24 hours from when we last worked out. That’s confusing. Example time: let’s say she hits the treadmill for 25 minutes at 10am.  I have all day to meet the challenge of working out for 25 minutes. I’ve been alternating weights, Yoga on the Kinect Your Shape Fitness Evolved 2012 and Boot Camp along with running on the Kinect Your Shape. She has been going swimming and hitting the treadmill. This is a great way to get your fitness plan in order.

Today I hit the outside running path. Here is the breakdown:

Distance: 2.15 miles

Time: 27:39 I know not the fastest pace in the world, but man it was chilly and there was a wind, and the dog ate my homework (Kanye Shoulder Shrug)

Avg Speed: 4.5mph, Elevation: Up 62ft and Down 68ft Calories: 306

Music: The Roots Undun (Clean) a great thematic album that creates a slow paced run. Dope, contemplative lyrics and thoughtful storytelling, it’s like listening to a movie.

I hope you guys out there are doing something to stay motivated. Oh I forgot, shoes I wore today? ARCH CG097II (Black Steel/Pitt Yellow-Wht) Limited Edition (13)

WWYWT? 1.8 miles: Welcome Back!

September 24, 2012
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It’s been a while since I updated the site with my workout, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been working out at all. A few weeks back I tweaked the same calf muscle that is always getting tweaked so I moved my workout into the house and went back to my classic Wii Training. You can read about those below. Today, I finally got back up and out of the house. What better way to get back to running than to try out a new path. Running on the sidewalk isn’t my favorite thing, but since the county made a new sidewalk I had to give it a shot. So let’s get to it:

Distance: 1.8 miles

Terrain: The sidewalk with a lot of moderate hills

Time: I didn’t exactly check it or use an app, but it was between 12 and 15 minutes. Hey sue me, I was just happy to get back out there.

Shoes: Of course the CG097II which I currently have on sale and with Free Shipping here ARCH Sneaker Store

Music: Pharoahe Monche on Pandora. Not a good selection today on the Monche station. The music was a bit to contemplative. I needed motivational. I should have chosen the Saul Williams station for 128 beats per minute.

Overall: A good job, not a lot of speed and my weight definitely needs to come down as my legs feel very heavy until I get my second wind. I hope you guys get out and do something today. Good health is important to your success!

Stay motivated

WWYWTW? Yep that’s an extra letter in the title

June 11, 2012
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Okay it’s been a minute since I posted and I apologize. The last week and a half the family has been going to the YMCA. It’s summer and although we also bought a bike rack and bikes, we joined the Y to make sure everyone had access to a variety of potential workouts, especially the kids.

In the title today it says WWYWTW. What this means is What Was Your Workout This Week? I have to make up for the time away by explaining what we’ve been doing. That’s right we. See instead of focusing on my jogging routine, I’ve decided to share my workouts with my wife and this makes us a bit more responsible. More importantly it motivates us and it is also a great form of foreplay, okay scratch that… not really but.. awww yes it is. First things first though.

The Workout Routine: I have been using the indoor track to run .5 to 2 miles daily prior to weight training. My wife has been using the eliptical machine for her cardio. This is a great way to get the heart rate up and to kick off the calorie burning. Unlike my road training and running, the gym allows for me to get in a lot of weight training. Since my wife isn’t use to free weights we use a little of both. The machines are helping her with her form and helping to increase her strength. We alternate days upper body one day, lower body the next day. The core is a daily thing and we use the machines, with hanging leg crunches, as well as regular crunches and sit ups on the decline bench.

The benefits: It’s obvious the physical benefits, but working out with your spouse is a great way to generate a stronger relationship. When you are working out, you are vulnerable. At your weakest point, your words can encourage one another to push out one more rep. While I was joking about the foreplay, working out automatically makes you feel stronger and sexier which naturally leads to erections and moist spots. (Okay I wrote that part simply to see who is paying attention.)

As we develop a better routine, I will begin posting more regularly.

Workout Music: Pharoahe Monche station on Pandora. Dopest Song: Method Man and Lauryn Hill – Say.

Stay Motivated Fam!

WWYWT? 1.5 Miles with Wristweights

May 22, 2012
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I haven’t posted in a minute but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been getting it in. It was so hot in Memphis this past week that I just couldn’t get out and run so I hit the Wii and did boxing and all of the sports in the Wii Sports package. If you don’t think this is a workout, actually move like the sports intend for you to move and do 10 matches of boxing with push ups, jumping jacks and squats between sets and at each knockdown, then give me a buzz. I also did XBox Kinect Your Shape. Let me say this, easily the best workout I’ve done in years. If you are not in great condition and you are looking to get toned this is an excellent workout that is progressive. I will do a more in depth write up once I get a solid routine implementing this. Which won’t be long considering it’s only going to get warmer.

So today I got in a quick 1.5 mile run with wristweights. Suprisingly the wristweights made me use my arms more which enabled me to pick up the pace. I didn’t time this one, but I know I listed to 4 songs on Pandora’s Talib Kweli station including “Oh No” (one of my favorite songs!)  which I would say equals to about 12 minutes overall. After doing the Kinect and Wii, my run felt a lot better which reminds me that you have to incorporate weights to build muscle and strength. These things will help you to have better form when running. My tendency is to start kind of throwing myself when the run gets more difficult. However, the squats and leg workouts I did made my legs feel much stronger.

No breakdown of the run today; I hope you get up, get out and do something.

Stay motivated
Chris B.

WWYWT? 2.5 miles of Brian McKnight?

May 1, 2012
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I’m actually just kidding about the Brian McKnight thing, but for some reason I can’t stop laughing at the absurdity of Brian McKnight’s latest Youtube vid… especially since one of my friends from high school brought it up this morning. Dude is on one for real! On to today’s run: Let me show you how your legs work on a 2.5 mile run when you are a big guy. Once again I was in pursuit of my son and his neverending goal of riding standing up. Watching him makes me forget I’m jogging because for the life of me I can’t remember having to learn how to ride a bike standing up. I just remember getting on the bike and automatically jumping hills and curbs.

Temperature: 82 degrees. It’s warm out but there was a small breeze which was great when I was running with the wind, but not so good when I was running against it.

Terrain: The suburban concrete jungle (with weeds, bugs and the non stop supply of lawn dudes chopping the grass.

Distance: According to Google Maps it was 2.5 miles.

Time: 25 minutes I have to stop  answering the phone during runs, but like Jon Coffee “I can’t hep it.”

Soundtrack: Talib Kweli on Pandora. I can definitely listen to the Talib station. Talk about classic material again and again! Rakim, Talib and the most memorable song during the run was Scarface: My Block. People forget how much of lyricist Scarface is. Most motivational track Dead Prez: Way of Life. The video below is not the actual video but it is a perfect representation of the song.

What was your workout today? Leave comments in the bottom if you want.

Stay motivated.

Need some running shoes visit the site www.arch-usa.com

 

WWYWT? Running the Streets

April 23, 2012
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Monday morning!!!!!! I hope everyone had a great weekend and you are digging in for another week of work. I also hope you are still rolling on your own personal workout schedules and getting it in! Last week I finished the week with two days of virtual workouts on the Wii and on the Kinect. This week I started with a nice long jog with my son in tow. He rode his bike though, which is still pretty tough.

Temperature: 50 degrees. I’m trying to figure out what happened to the warm weather all of a sudden.

Terrain: The suburban concrete jungle, the skreets, the hood, actually just the sidewalk with moderate hills.

Distance: According to Google Maps it was 2.17 miles. I give myself 2.5 just for the record.

Time: 24 minutes, give or take a phone call. Hey, I’m a business… man.

Soundtrack: Pharoahe Monche channel on Pandora. I think I made a good decision in buying an Android phone finally. Streaming music is the bomb!!!!! I really didn’t know what I was missing.  Dopest song of the run? DWYCK: Gangstarr featuring Nice and Smooth. Talk about a song that was just right for the moment! On that note I have to drop the vid here and leave it up to you. What was your workout today? Leave comments in the bottom if you want.

Stay motivated.

Need some running shoes visit the site www.arch-usa.com

 

WWYWT? What was your workout today?

April 17, 2012
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Everlast Wrist weights

I’ve been playing in a basketball league and running as usual, but not enough. Last week during the game I dislocated my finger so for the past week I haven’t been really running (which has nothing at all to do with my finger), but I have been consistently doing my favorite workout… Wii Sports. Unlike most people who play the Wii, I get a full workout because I run in place (cardio), I do squats and lunges and between certain sports I get down and do pushups. Anyway, it’s a great workout and today’s workout was more of the same. The difference in the past workouts and today is my inclusion of the Everlast Wrist Weights (everlast should be paying me for this). Since the Wii requires you to hold a remote in one hand and the small nunchuk in the other hand, their is an imbalance of weight. I bought the Everlast Wrist Weights and using these helps to one the left arm while the right arm tends to do most of the work in Tennis and Bowling. These things are highly recommended.

Workout: Wii SPorts 45 minutes.

First I warmed up with the best of 5 tennis match. The tennis match allows for squats, slides (side to side to mimic the action) and a slight arm workout, if you stay on your toes and really move and step into the swings you can also do lunges. I won the tennis match 3 sets to 1.

Second was baseball. I don’t know why but baseball actually makes me sweat a lot. I think it’s my desire to mimic the actual movements so much. I squat when batting and get some trunk twists in when swinging. Once again a small shoulder workout is included by default when pitching and batting. I lost the baseball game 7-4. It sucks, but I’m just not the good in baseball.

The third part of Wii sports is bowling which is really just a cool down before taking on the toughest aspect of the game… boxing.

Boxing is an incredible workout on the Wii. If you actually use your core you can get a great workout and moving side to side and leaning, squatting and alternating punches (long jabs, short quick jabs) will make you sweat like you wouldn’t believe. I won every match in boxing. The best part about this workout is that it is competitive and allows for you to have an opponent although it is very isolated.

I cool down after boxing with golf. Today’s match was 9 holes and I finished 1 under ( I can’t remember the score) but for me that is pretty good. Yesterday my Wii fit age was 20 which is the best you can get. Today I finished with a 22. This is all pretty good considering I’m holding the controller with one finger sticking out. Which is kind of painful.

If you worked out today, write down your workout. I’m going to be more consistent in posting this here because you never know who you might inspire to begin there own workout routine.

Stay motivated!

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?

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 9, 2011
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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.

ARCH Summer 2010 – CG097 Running Shoe

August 17, 2011
By
After the success of the Tori, I decided to get back to my roots in sports. Since I don’t play basketball as often as I use to, I decided that I would dive into training. My background as a NFHS certified coach and my camp coordinator experience led to the creation of the CG097 running shoe. I developed an idea called P Grip which placed rubber lugs where the foot strikes the ground during running. The goal was to minimize the amount of rubber to decrease the weight. The concept was great but the actual production model of the shoe looked akwward because of the outsoles use of foam. The shoe took its inspiration from two of my favorite brands: New Balance and Nike. The name was derived from my boot camp company 097 and my point guard who was murdered in San Diego last year: Courtney Graham. I made only 120 pair of these shoes and sold out. I took the profits though and did something that wasn’t smart. I worked on a basketball shoe sample. I should have continued making colorways. The cost of my samples drained my resources and I haven’t released a shoe since the summer of 2010.
Chris Dixon the winner of the Future Sole Jordan Brand contest made the white colorway. The video below is of me running in the original sample. My current CG097II takes its cues from the original sample and uses a blend of two technologies, but remains faithful to the lightweight concept of using foam.

1st sample

Chris Dixon colorway

production blue/grey

P-Grip

WWYWT?: What Was Your Workout Today?

August 2, 2011
By

Since I redesigned the website I erased a lot of information on the update of the CG097II running shoe. I will try to update as much as I can here. I took about 9 days off from running to concentrate on the business since the big collapse from ebay and the market. Read about that below. Big mistake in regard to my conditioning. I was getting my mile back to under 10 minutes and moved back to 2-3 miles per day. Today, just to get the feel back I ran a short distance, but I used long strides.

Distance: 1.1 Miles on the sidewalk with one medium sized hill. 

Temperature: 90 degrees, heat index 95.

Notes: I am still working on my forefoot strike form to reduce injuries, knee and hip pain, and it is working. My calf muscles are burning and it feels like my achilles is straining some, but there isn’t any pain at all, just tightness. I was able to complete the mile without resorting to using my whole foot when I felt slightly tired.

Shoe Notes: I have had the sample for over a month now and Ian and I have redesigned the shoe. We lowered the collar around the ankle which is the biggest change. Ian suggested an increase in the size of the logo and an added heel pull tab. I wish I could go ahead and make another sample and do the order, but finances have slowed the project down considerably. Which is perfect since the side panels on the shoe were made for Fall running and wear. Back to the shoe. The foam is beginning to compress, which place the foot closer to the ground when running. This isn’t a bad thing. I can feel the ground and I am responding a lot better and not resting my feet between each footstrike. I am staying on the balls and midfoot where the rubber is on the shoe. I have been using the outside of the my foot some and the foam is shredding some, but the shoe is still very responsive. It is still an 8 out of 10. I need to decide on the shoe insert. The thicker foam insert slips some although it does provide additional cushioning, heavier runners may feel some problems with stability.

Soundtrack: Mos Def “Roses” from The Ecstatic 3:42 seconds, Fashawn “Intro” from Boy Meets World 2:17, DJ Quik feat. AMG “Trouble” from the Best of DJ Quik 3:39, Mos Def “Ghetto Rock” from The New Danger 2:00 minutes. Total time 11:00

Overall: Not a very good time, but that’s my fault for taking all of that time off. Anyway, What Was Your Workout Today?

stay motivated

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