First full weekend after surgery 3/5-7/2010

This weekend marked a milestone in my recovery.  Though I did three days of Beachbody Ho Ala ke Kino Yoga during the week, this weekend was the first "let's-see-how-far-I-can-push-myself" workout.  On Saturday I woke up, and my dad, who is visiting for a week or so, went to breakfast at Bob Evans.  I decided if I was going to work out, I needed good fuel in my body. I had an egg substitute omelet with tomatoes, onions, and spinach and then I had a cup of oatmeal with just 2% milk.  When we got home I did P90X Yoga X, which is not static, meditation Yoga.  This is Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga; it's serious strength, flexibility, balance, and core work. (This Wikipedia article explains more... http://bit.ly/98mZpH ) Anyway, P90X Yoga X is 1 hour and 30 minutes.  I took two ten minute breaks at 30 minutes and 60 minutes.

For the first thirty minutes, I discovered that I could do all of the dynamic connecting postures, except for upward dog and transitioning between plank and caturaṅga daṇḍāsana, or low plank.  There was too much stress on my lower abdominal muscles to hold my body in a straight plank and perform a slow pushup motion to get to low plank (picture yourself in a pushup-ready position with shoulders over wrists now lower yourself in a pushup-type move with elbows squeezing your sides until your shoulders are only a few inches from your wrists... that is low plank.) However, I did do the motion on my knees instead of my feet, so I still kept my body moving and breath flowing throughout. The first thirty minutes gets your most of the way through the series of Sun Salutations, and at that point, I was very stretched, contracting and using my abdominal muscles really for the first time for such a long duration, and I needed a short rest.  I sipped on some Beachbody Results and Recovery formula and was really taken a back by how conscious I was of every muscle in my body that was being engaged during that first thirty minutes.  I continued to focus on that for the rest of the workout...

The last thirty minutes has static balance postures but more importantly it has a series called Yoga Belly, which is a lot of isometric-type abdominal movements. I was able to do all of them though slightly modified.  For instance, there is one move where you are flat on your back with arms at your sides- with legs straight, lift them up so they are perpendicular to your back and the ground- lift your arms straight up so they are parallel to your elevated legs- now reach your arms toward the ceiling keeping your arms parallel to your legs, using your core to lift your upper body off the ground so your shoulder blades are no longer on the ground- hold this for 45 seconds- from here, lift so your middle back is off the ground and hold this for another 45 seconds- from here, lift again as high as you can and hold for another 45 seconds.  I was able to do the first elevation help for the entire time; I could not do the last two elevations.

When I was done, I felt really good.  I felt like the blood was pumping, and I was acutely aware of my body, each muscle, each connective tissue, each breath... it was a really cool feeling that was really beneficial....

So the next day, Sunday (today), I decided to "kick it up a notch" and try cardio.  Now, I didn't think I'd be able to jump around yet, so I decided to do P90X Kenpo X, which is high intensity Kenpo Karate, where the heart rate is elevated without two feet leaving the ground simultaneously.  Though I've done this workout a million times and knew a lot of core was involved, I didn't realize how much until I started.  At first it was a little uncomfortable, but as I continued and, again, was able to feel each muscle contracting and working to complete the movements, I gained more and more confidence to do the moves harder, sharper, more engaged, and eventually leave the ground.  So during the 30 second breaks between multiple exercise sets, there is running in place, jumping jacks, and big X-jumps.  The first two I did not do, and instead I marched in place with high knees quickly.  By the third one, I was feeling really good and loose and strong, so I gave it a shot.  I didn't jump as high as I usually do, but I was able to leave the ground temporarily without much discomfort. I finished the workout with over 100 vertical punches, where I actually used my heavy bag to see how it would feel.  I was a bit cautious of the jarring factor, but it actually felt good... it always feels good to hit something! lol

Ok, so after we did Kenpo X, we did Patience Hummingbird Yoga, which is still Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga, but it's very slow.  You are in strength positions for a long time, which requires a lot of muscle control, and your muscles are burning the whole time.  I was starting to get tired about twenty minutes in, but I kept breathing deeply and was able to complete the whole 40 minutes workout.  In fact, today I was able to go from high plank to low plank and to upward dog! I was unable, however, to go from low plank to high plank; so, I modified and did the pushup on my knees to get to downward dog.  I definitely made progress today!!

I can also say that Saturday night, I reached another milestone... I am able to laugh without any pain! Now, I'm not sure about sneezing yet... last time I sneezed was Wednesday and grabbed a pillow.  I'm sleeping normally still through the night and in normal positions (instead of like a corpse!), and I can even lay right on my stomach!

Tomorrow, I have clients coming over to try out P90X, and we are going to do Plyometrics.  Before they come over I am going to do P90X Legs and Back.

Stay tuned...