Workout 120709: Modifications

Thanks to a small loss I found a new blog last week, The Lean Green Bean.  The name alone pulled me in, but then I found out about Foodie Penpals (which I subsequently joined) and the posting of weekly workout programs.  Last Friday the workout posted was a 5 min Medicine Ball Workout.  I don't have a Medicine Ball and knew some modifications would be needed but the thought of timing my exercises versus counting reps was intriguing.

Monday's workout:

10 min Treadmill warmup - 3.0 mph
5 min Med Ball Workout with Mods
5 min Elliptical
5 min Med Ball Workout with Mods
5 min Treadmill walk
Stretch

To start off, I did not use a medicine ball.  I figured for starters I would just attempt to survive the 5 minutes.  Additionally,  I can't actually do some of these thing yet.  But attempting is the first part of succeeding, right?  *grin*  So here's how I modified:

20 sec Pushups - I tried a pushup with my knees on the ground.  I could get within 12 inches of the floor before I was unable to push myself up again.  So instead of pushing myself back up, I just lowered my upper body to the floor as slow and controlled as I could.  Admittedly, the last 4 inches was usually a flop.

40 sec Wall Passes - I think there are where you take a medicine ball and slam it into a wall and then catch it on the rebound.  I didn't attempt this one as the room I was working out in had mirrored walls.  Instead, I took a 6 pound ball and used it to do tricep presses.  I held the ball above my head with both hand, lowered it down behind my head and then pushed it up again.

60 sec Plank - one 35 sec plan followed by a 15 sec plank.  Versus having my arms straight with hand on a medicine ball, I was supporting my upper body on my elbows.  It turns out that a 35 sec plank is a bit harder than a 30 sec plank (which I have been doing).  I spent the rest of the 60 sec struggling to get back into plank position resulting in about 15 more sec of actual proper form.

80 sec Overhead Lunges - Here is simply left off the medicine ball.  When I lunged forward I lifted my hand in the air.  As I came up I lowered them.  I was shocked at how many of these you can do in 80 sec.  I managed 8 in my last workout; today I did a lot more than 8.  Next time I'm going to try these with the 6 pound ball.

100 sec Wall Sit - Again, I left out the Medicine Ball.  I also had to break this into a 50 sec wall sit followed by a 30 sec wall sit. 

All in all I am thrilled with how that workout turned out.  I know my total time in some of the exercises didn't match the total prescribed, but I wanted to keep close to 5 minutes.  The point of this workout for me was to (1) see if I could complete it and (2) do short bursts of strength building stuff balanced with cardio time.  I count this workout as a success.

Six months ago, I never would have attempted this.  Today...  I did it!  I have lots of room to grow, but I actually find that reassuring.  There's a lot to learn here.  I'm no where near topping out and that is so refreshing.  As long as it is going to take me to lose this weight, I don't have to be bored doing the same exercises day in and day out.  Woohoo!  I wish I could bottle this feeling and carry it through the rest of my life.