Fit Friday - cross training

As regular blog readers will know I've completed the classic round of P90X. That's exercising 6 days a week with a mix of resistance, cardio and yoga for a 90 day period of time. I personally love P90X, I think it's a great system for those that are motivated to work out on their own accord at home. Since I finished P90X I've been doing a mix of P90X, P90X plus and working out at the gym (as well as teaching classes). Basically I've been cross training more, and I am liking the results. Last week I did mostly gym classes and cardio, this week I've mixed things up even more. I've dropped a day because I didn't do yoga this week. Something I need to find time to add back in next week.

Monday - Spinning class

I decided to try Spinning again this week. Basically I last did spinning in 1996 when I did an instructor course at one of the local city council run gyms. I did the class and really didn't find it as enjoyable as step or aerobics so never did it again. I figure after almost 15 years I should give spinning another go right? So Monday I went to the gym and did spinning for 55 minutes, and I remembered my Heart Rate monitor which showed I burned 373 calories. I did enjoy the workout which kinda surprised me. I'm gonna try it again next week now that I bought a gel seat cushion cover :) Those spin bike seat are HARD! Hopefully the cushion gel in the cover makes all the difference and I can enjoy the class more without thinking about not being able to sit down later that day!

Tuesday - P90X upper body plus & home workout 

 I did P90X plus Upper Body Plus workout, then did some core/abdominals and finished off with 30 minutes of step. Upper body was ok, I don't work up much of a burn during this work out but with the added abs/core and the step cardio at the end, that ramped it up to 388 cals burned in 90 minutes.

Wednesday - Kickboxing

I've been a quest to try as many different classes as possible at the gym so I know what the format is like in case I have to cover the class. Also I want to do more kickboxing as I take my certification in February and want to be kickboxing fit and familiar with the moves. Nikki took this class and she worked us hard!!! I forgot my HRM but we kicked booty. Discovered that I'll soon be covering this class during Nikki's maternity leave.

Friday - P90X plus workout (total body plus)

After a day off Thursday (should have done yoga, but didn't get time) I was raring to go today. I had kinda planned on doing more cardio today after the resistance workout but Bob worked from home, then we had lunch plans so the morning got cut short and I only got in one 45 minute workout session burning 279 calories.

Other ways I increased my calorie burn this week:

Twitter and facebook followers will know that last week one of our dogs (River) was sick. Upon the vet visit I discovered she is 60lbs!!! Fat little.... Anyway we knew she was overweight as it was so this confirmed that operation doggy diet needed to be put into effect! On the vets request to curb her sickness I am feeding the dogs 3x a day instead of 2, and giving them less at each meal. We've also started walking further again in the morning, and they get an extra walk midday before meal #2.

Cross training is a great way to burn calories and fat because the body never knows what to expect, so you don't plateau! Plus staying with one form of fitness isn't good for anybody, always include some resistance and cardio in your workout plan. but switching up forms of cardio and resistance is good too. If you always to Turbojam or Zumba for example try kickboxing or spinnng one day a week instead. 

I know I'll be doing spinning, kickboxing, yoga and resistance training next week. Think of ways in which you can change up your routine this coming week