Combat Challenge: Week 1

The week before last, after New Years in Tennessee, I got home and prepared to get back in to the routine, the workout routine, that is. 

Saturday: Michelle Dozois' Rockin' Body Cardio

After going up and down stairs all day to pack up Christmas decorations, I was not physically ready to do anything more difficult than this cardio workout.  I needed to ease back into working out after 10 days of lethargy with family, and this video fit the bill.  I sweated and got my heart rate up without killing myself.  Yay!

Sunday: Peak 10 Cardio Interval Burn Remix 

I was ready to really work today.  Since I meant to do this workout right before leaving for the holidays and did not, I did it today.  It's still a favorite!

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This week, I start my first 8-week Les Mills' Combat Challenge.  This program has been on my wishlist for a long time and I finally received it for Christmas this year.

Monday: Combat 30 - Kick Start + Dozois' Calorie Burning Cardio Blast + walk

My first day of Combat!  I was a bit surprised at how little actual cardio there was in the Kick Start workout, which runs for 30 minutes.  There were tons of punches and kicks.  I sweated and my heart rate was up but I immediately began to worry about losing weight with so little cardio.  To start my workout, I did Michelle's 15-minute cardio blast on Glo.  That sure got me going!  At lunch, I walked at the rec center.

Tuesday:  Combat Shock Plyo HIIT 2 + Ilyse Baker's Dance Intervals 101 + weights

I started my workout off with 15 minutes of Ilyse's dance workout.  It really gets you moving fast.  Then on to my second Combat workout - Shock Plyo (30 minutes).  I was a bit worried after the crazy hard warm-up.....   But that ended up being shorter bursts of the same moves done later in the video.  Still, this was a tough workout.  At lunch, I did weights at work.  My arms were achy from all the punches done the day before, but I got through my weight routine with minimal pain.

Wednesday: Combat 30 - Kick Start + Dozois' Calorie Burning Cardio Blast

The workout calendar for Combat had this workout done twice in the first week.  Okay...  I don't know if I'll ever do it twice in one week again but at least I had a chance to get more familiar with it.  I may sub in more intense cardio next time.  I started off with Michelle's cardio workout again; it's just so good.  Is there anything that Michelle does badly?

Thursday: Combat Power HIIT 1 + Dozois' Quick Lower Body Shape-Up

Since the Power HIIT used weights, I decided to add in Michelle's weighted leg routine from Glo.  This one always makes my legs burn.  Power HIIT (again, 30 minutes) began with another crazy intense warm-up and then weights for about 10 minutes.  Ouch!  The cardio that then followed was 90% burpees - tons of them with various slight modifications.  I don't mind burpees but is that really all they could come up with?  It gets a bit redundant.  In the future, I don't see myself looking forward to this particular workout.

Friday: Dozois' BodyFit 360 Vol. 3: Athletic Conditioning

What I really wanted to do, and what was on my schedule to do - since this was my "rest" day on the Combat calendar - was Dynamic Flexibility.  But my holiday weight doesn't seem to be budging (I refuse to actually get on the scale for another week or so) - sigh.  So I opted for Michelle's Athletic Conditioning.  It contains 25 minutes of good, effective cardio, followed by arms, abs, and then stretching.  Very nice!

Saturday: Combat 60 - Extreme Cardio Fighter

I had no idea what to expect from this new video.  It turned out to be a lot like Combat 30 - but a bit more difficult with more cardio.  There was one 6 minute segment near the end that really tested my cardio limits.  Holy cow!  I did some of my own cardio to stretch this into a full 60 minute workout and then I stretched.  I love stretching!

Sunday:  Michelle's Cardio Interval Burn on Glo

The Combat schedule called for another round to Combat 60 today, but I wanted more sustained, full-body cardio.  And I missed Michelle and Peak 10. I think I'll do at least one of these a week.  I miss them too much if I don't do them!

Calorie Counts:

Monday - 1263
Tuesday - 1293
Wednesday - 1288
Thursday - 1263
Friday - 1425
Saturday - 1274
Sunday - 1389

My new goal for calories is to stay under 1300.  I was super happy with myself for being good on Monday through Thursday, even with one day of eating out for lunch.  We stayed in on Friday, trying to save money and calories.  I splurged on dessert, but was otherwise good.  Saturday was easy to stay on track, for some reason, but I allowed myself a few extra calories on Sunday.