Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Holy Cow

Owchie.  Seriously ... Owchie.  100 push-ups have got NOTHING on kayaking for upper body workout and now I am even MORE hooked than I was yesterday.  Just imagine what a sexy core and upper body I would have if I kept at that sport?!  I found a simple little picture showing muscles of the body, again, and am guessing at which of my muscles hurt based on the proximity of my soreness to the areas shown on the diagram.  Basically if it's green in this picture, it's sore and THIS is why kayaking is an AWESOME source of physical activity ... and you can do it sitting down!!!!

As with all the photos that I post to my blog, you should be able to click on this image to view a larger version.  Use your browser's back button to return to the blog when finished.

I know the recolor job is imperfect but I have to get some school done before work this morning so I couldn't spend too much time working on this image to make it pretty.  I'm pretty sure my inner thighs and sides hurt from stabilizing myself on the kayak in the choppy water.  There were a lot of boats and wave runners out there making ripples and though neither of us tipped over, even once, you do have to do a fair amount of core adjusting to maintain balance ... like when Mr. Miagi made the karate kid stand on one leg for long periods of time to strengthen his leg muscles and improve balance.  That works, by the way.  You don't have to look quite as silly as 'the kid' but I used to have super weak ankle muscles and Ki, my ... well far too many adjectives fit her to pick one but suffice it to say I have learned a great deal from her, told me to stand on one leg and hold the other foot just an inch or two off the ground in front of me.  I wobbled a lot at first but as I used my legs and ankle's to compensate they got stronger and stronger and now I am probably the only person in my family that doesn't have weak ankles (my knees and feet still suck though).  (Hint, hint bro.  You could do this while holding X before bed and it might actually rock him to sleep and help with your ankles at the same time ;).





Food:
144 oz of water
1 cup of coffee w/creamer
1 Fiber One bar
1 Healthy Choice lunch
3 dolmas
3 falafel
3 tbsps hummus
6 oz red wine
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Daily Caloric Intake: 865




Activity:
Walking: Not far but toting a folding chair, water belt, mine and Snackers' supper, and a small cooler full of drinks.  My thighs hurt so bad and I thought 'Once I get walking they'll loosen up' but the more I walked the more they hurt.  I cannot believe that SITTING in a kayak can cause so much muscle strain in the legs.  What an awesome sport!

3 comments:

  1. There are a couple of books on just using our body weight for resistance. They maintain that we do not need all these weights and equipment. I think this is pretty close to the five best exercises we can do that require nothing but our own body weight for resistance: push-ups, pull-ups, planks, lunges, and sit-ups. I think I am pretty close on the list. You are doing such a great job developing yourself and challenging your limits.

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  2. They say crunches are supposed to be better than sit-ups but I got to where I was doing 200 crunches in a single day and not even feeling tired so I started looking for ways to increase intensity - planks are AWESOME but almost impossible for me to do for more than 2 - 3 seconds. Seriously though, if anyone ever wants to come to Vegas and try out kayaking, we got to know the people that own the rental place pretty well and they said that if we brought friends they would give us the same deal that we had on the coupon. I think they're just trying to get more exposure because they're so out of the way. There are a dozen or so kayak tour and rental companies on Lake Mead and they're probably killing this little mining town's business but I'd take kayaking on the colorado any day over Mead. Mead has gotten filthy, over crowded, expensive, and it is now full of barnacles and muscles that can slice you open like razor blades. We've decided to sell our boat and use the money to get kayaks - I found some gently used ones online last night for a great price.

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  3. Love the new picture. Very pretty. :)

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