Fitness Leadership (Week 4)

I thought I would post more about the Fitness Leadership class but honestly, last three weeks have been pretty much the same. I go there and do the Tuesday or Thursday workout, the girls offer critiques and advice, and then I go home starving and sweaty. This week, the workouts changed a bit - now that they have seen what I can do, they are starting to push me a bit more and in different ways. Here is the Week 4-6 workout:

Tuesdays

Warm-up:

Stretch: bicep stretches, tricep stretches, shoulder stretches, hamstring stretches, quadricep stretches, lower back rotation stretch

Treadmill: (1) 2 min, 0 incline, 3-4 mph [fast pace walk] (2) 5 min, 5% incline, 3.5-4.2 mph [faster pace walk] (3) 3 min, 0 incline, 3-4 mph [walk]

Cardiovascular conditioning: (2 min rest between each exercise)

Side shuffles: shuffle to side 10 yards, shuffle back, 3 sets with 45 seconds of rest between each set
Burpees: 3x8 (with high reach jump)
Step ups: 3 boxes high, 3x30 sec

Resistance training: (2 min rest between each exercise; repeat 3 times)

Goblet squats: 15 reps, 20 lbs

Walking lunges: 5 yards, 15 lb dumbbell each arm

Leg press machine: 10 reps, 110 lbs

Cool down:

Bike: 5 min, low intensity

Roll out on foam roll

Thursdays

Warm-up:

Stretch: bicep stretches, tricep stretches, shoulder stretches, hamstring stretches, quadricep stretches, lower back rotation stretch

Elliptical (cardio machine): 10 minutes, low intensity

Cardiovascular training: (2 min rest between each exercise; repeat 3 times)

Jump squats: 10 reps
Flutter kicks: 35 seconds
Speed skaters: side to side, 1 minute
Plank: 30-45 seconds

Resistance training: 

Military press: 3x15, 10 lb dumbbell each arm

Rest 1 min

Dumbbell fly (laying down): 3x10, 10 lb dumbbell each arm

Rest 1 min

Shoulder extension/abduction: 3x10, 5 lb dumbbell each arm

Rest 1 min
Tricep dips: 3x5

Cool down:

Stretch: mostly arm stretches, some hamstring and quad stretches

Some things I am doing for more time (like the plank), some things I am doing that I didn't do before (lots of the stuff with weights). I will do the Thursday workout with the girls tonight - if it's anything like the Tuesday one, I'll be sore tomorrow. I am still a little sore today, though not as bad as yesterday was. Yesterday I could barely walk!

One thing that was emotionally hard about Tuesday's workout was that the girls had be do burpees, which I used to do when I was smaller. Back then, I loved them - it was remarkable to me that my body was able to move that way. I felt so light. Now, though, I feel heavy. I feel big, uncomfortable, uneasy in my body. I did them, but I struggled.

I told the girls about how I have a hard time when I go back to Connecticut to visit my family for the holidays, and they said they would show me some exercises I can do without machines so I can keep active even while I am away from the gym. I hope I can do them well enough to show my mom too - she has been very depressed lately, she had a stroke last summer and still hasn't fully recovered, and she has been gaining some weight. I completely understand that, so I want to help her as best as I can.