Day 53 - Max Recovery

Another Thursday means another Max Recovery.  It seems last week was so long ago and I can't remember how this workout went then.  I don't think I improved much.  I felt the burn early and it hurt some of the first workouts but I think that has been the case every time I do Max Recovery.  I can handle most of the moves that are off the floor with minimal breaks, but then we get in to the low plank/high planks. Those are sadistic but are also the moves that I put the most effort into.  The whole workout uses a lot of strength but the muscles feel so relaxed once its over.

Tomorrow we wake those muscles up with Max Interval Circuit!

Day 46 - Max Recovery

I didn't really want to do this workout today.  You see, I met a friend last night for some drinks.  It was fun but I regret it today.  I went way over my calorie limit and I was up too late resulting in me being a zombie at work today.  I also ended up having to work later than usual so I didn't have as much time this afternoon to work out as I normally do.  I managed.

I really don't mind this workout.  I hated the recovery days of the first month but this routine is much better and less boring.  I have also learned to just chill if I am having difficulty with a move.  They aren't easy but this is a recovery day so there is no reason to get frustrated or kill myself trying to do a move.  The workout went fine and my body feels nice and relaxed now.  Now it is time for dinner and hopefully an early bed time!

Tomorrow is Max Cardio Conditioning with the return of Cardio Abs!

Day 39 - Max Recovery

This was the first time doing Max Recovery and I was dreading it because of how much I hated the recovery days from the first month.  My dread only grew when I popped in the DVD and hit play only to discover that this one is 47 minutes long!  I think Cardio Recovery was only a half hour.  Anyway, it turned out not to be too bad and I think my muscles actually do feel better.  They were pretty sore over the past few days.  The actual work out was much like Cardio Recovery in that it was more yoga/Pilates moves.  I liked how Max Recovery was set up more, though.  With Cardio Recovery it was a warm up stretch followed by random moves and then some cool down stretches.  Max Recovery breaks things down into a warm up, Workout 1, Workout 2, Workout 3, Workout 4 followed by a cool down.  Each workout kind of focused more on a particular muscle group or base move.  I don't remember all the stretches and moves and I'm not going to look it up.  I don't think there were as many holding moves as Cardio Recovery which makes me happy.  However, a lot of time is spent in plank position and I am not a fan of that.  It's hard to focus on the appropriate muscle when my noodle arms are shaking and about to give out under me.  If I had known there would have been so much plank work and push ups in Insanity I probably would have spent a month building up that strength.  My verdict so far on Max Recovery is that I like it more than Cardio Recovery but I still think my time would be better spent on a run or a bike.

One dilemma I have is trying to track my calories for the recovery workouts.  I wore my heart rate monitor today out of curiosity even though I don't think they are very accurate for non-cardio workouts (I'm not totally convinced with their accuracy for cardio workouts either).  It reported that I burned over 400 calories.  I do not believe that at all.  I went to a generic calorie calculator and had it crank out a number for 47 minutes of "yoga" and it said about 153 calories.  I think the recovery workouts are a little more intense than an actual yoga workout but I guess I'll go with the lower calorie value.  Any insight?

Tomorrow is the return of Max Interval Circuit.  I'm looking forward to seeing how it will be without killing myself on the fit test prior to it.