Let the games begin

Well, I didn't get a chance to do DB365 yesterday, because I gave blood at work and was told no exercise for the rest of the day.  So I wisely took the American Red Cross advice and took a day off from DB.  I have been exercising regularly for several months now.  So I was antsy to get back to working out and today's program didn't disappoint.

Today's DB365 kicks off with the opening of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio.  J.D. has been super excited all week, because he's a huge Olympic fan. He's been holding Olympic trivia all week long and today he welcomed 1996 Olympic gymnast Dominque Dawes to talk in the studio and exercise with the group.

Dominque is a mom to two little girls and she spoke about passing along her wisdom of health and exercise to her children.  She said that she learned a lot in her childhood while training for the Olympics.  "It's not about standing on the podium in 1996," she told J.D.  "It was the 13 years it took to get to the Olympic games and 18 years in the sport of gymnastics -- that was where my character was developed."

She stated that she made thousands of mistakes and failed many times.  "I learned from persevering. I learned from sacrifice and making commitments.  That's what makes me a good role model for my girls.  I love being a mom...and my plan every day is to make sure my girls are happy and healthy."

As for the workout, trainer Nora Minno opened the DB365 games with an Olympic-themed routine of two full-body circuits finishing with exercises resembling the modern pentathlon.  Some of the moves resembled rowing, basketball, tennis and hurdling.  It was actually a fun workout (and no planks for once)!

At the end of the program, J.D. said that there was a new challenge for the DB community.  It's the "DB Decathlon challenge" where one lucky winner in the DB community will win $1,000.

So yeah, I'm signing up for it.

Takeways:
Instructor:  Nora Minno
Guest:  Olympian Dominique Dawes
Sweat Factor:  7 out of 10
Difficulty:  6 out of 10
Phrases of the day:  "Time is one thing you can't get back." -- J.D.
"Life without a cheeseburger and fries would be a miserable life.  It's all about moderation, all about balance and wise choices."  -- Dominique Dawes.

Barefoot workout with Phoenix

Today's workout was a barefoot class consisting of three total body circuits combined with boxing. Great arm conditioning with the boxing.  For cardio, Phoenix took us through multiple rounds of jumping jacks and simulated jump-roping.  She did two rounds of tricep push-ups, but no planks today.

That's what I like about this program.  One day, we're bombarded with planks, planks and more planks and my shoulders feel like they're on fire.  The next day, there's push-ups, but no planks or down-dogs, so my body gets a break from the routine.

Doing my Daily Burn 365 workout after work is the one thing I look forward to every day.  I may come home from work tired, but I want to workout before I relax or eat dinner.  I always do my workouts barefoot in my living room or bedroom.  It's much more comfortable for me.

Takeways:
Instructor:  Phoenix Carnevale
Sweat Factor:  6 out of 10
Difficulty:  5 out of 10
Phrases of the day:  "If you feel uncomfortable -- good." -- Phoenix
"Fatigue is a sign of effort."  "Ego is the enemy of progress."  -- J.D.

Also, J.D. wants to see "Dishwash Loading" as an Olympic sport (don't ask, just do the workout to see what he means).

Continuous Flow ... Linear Workout

This whole week is the "Countdown to the Olympics."  There's been Olympic trivia every day before and after the workout.

The workout was four circuits of a "continuous flow" meaning, the DB instructor doesn't stop to demonstrate a move -- she just goes from one move to another without interrupting the heart rate, intensity or flow.

The workout was four circuits of a linear fashion ending with a cardio blast.  It was a really enjoyable workout, not too hard, but definitely challenging.

J.D. ended saying that Friday, Aug. 5, Olympian Dominque Dawes will be the guest in studio.  He thanked everyone for making the commitment to show up for the workout.

Takeways:
Instructor:  Erika Shannon
Sweat Factor:  7 out of 10
Difficulty:  5 out of 10
Phrase of the day:  "Defend yourself against haters.  Defend yourself against negativity."

Been at it for about 3 1/2 months now

I've been doing DB365 faithfully every day for about 3 1/2 months now.  I don't have time to come here every day, but I make sure I have 1/2 an hour for myself every day to exercise with J.D. and the gang.

I'll try to come here weekly and describe my progress and how the workout is coming along.

But for now, believe me when I say my back feels fabulous and much stronger.  Each DB365 workout usually has some sort of plank, burpee or push-up exercise, and after doing that for four months, my back muscles feel fabulous.  Additionally, I can squat with much more ease and control than when I started.  My knees don't hurt and my legs feel strong.

The other day I was playing with my four-year-old granddaughter and she wanted me to give her a piggy-back ride on the floor.  No problem.  We played on the floor and when I had to get up, I did so with her on my back and without any help pulling myself up on something.  I just went from being on my knees to a squat and stood up with her on my back.  Nothing like doing squats with a 35 pound weight on your back.  That wouldn't have been possible at the beginning of this year.'

I've lost about 15 pounds.  It doesn't seem like much, but I think I may have some gained some muscle weight.  I'm down a pants size and my stomach feels a little flatter.

So, thank you DB365, for this wonderful resource to help me lose weight and get healthy.  This program is a blessing and J.D. and the instructors are so inspirational.  I'm so glad I found this community.   I hope to keep doing this for a long time. 

Some early observations

So I've been doing DB365 for about two months now and here are some of my observations.
1.  First of all, I feel strong -- or at least stronger than I did at the beginning of the year.
2.  I've lost about 13 pounds.  Since I'm in my 50s, loosing weight is a lot harder with a slower metabolism.  A few simple changes in my diet and daily exercise have made a huge difference.  I'll address the dietary changes another time.
3.  I can get up from a kneeling or squatting position without having to hold on to anything.   I hope I never find myself in the "help, I've fallen and can't get up" situation, but I think strengthening my lower body definitely helps in this case.
4.  I have tinnitus.  I've had it for several years.  I take lipo-flavenoid and have cut out all caffeine to help curb the symptoms.  The tinnitus has not gone away and likely never will, but I've noticed in the evenings the ringing is softer, not as severe as it used to be.  I don't know if this is related to exercise, but I'll take any change to the confound noise that has been going on inside me head for years. 
Also, a white noise generator really works!
5.  I can hold a plank for about two minutes.
6.  My energy is great! 
7.  My stomach is still flabby.  But that's okay for now.  I hope that some of the belly fat will begin to go down a bit because it's hard to do exercises on my stomach or do yoga up-dogs or even child's pose.  My flabby tummy gets in the way.  Oh well, I'll keep working it.  I'll check back in a few months to see if this has any noticeable changes.

Getting "STRONG" with Daily Burn

For the next three days, J.D. and DB365 are teaming up with the winners of the TV reality show "Strong."  Winners Bennie Wylie and Jill May were on hand to lead the class, and I have to say this was one of the most intense, yet satisfying workouts I have done so far.

Since I'm a Grandma doing Daily Burn, I'm much older than most of the people on the show.  The instructors and students in the class appear to be in the 20s and 30s.  I spent 20 years of my life active duty in the Navy, so I was always active and somewhat fit and healthy when I was younger.  Since retiring 13 years ago and taking it easy, alas, a few pounds have crept up on me.

So in an effort to get back in shape, I found that Daily Burn seems to be the right answer for me.  I especially like it because each workout is different every day.  Each instructor brings their own unique perspective and training style to the classes.  Every day I do it, I'm challenged and feeling better, healthier and STRONGER!!

Bennie challenged me like no other.  I was able to keep up with the class through all the lunges and used 8-pound weights during some of the moves.  Today was "The Word of the Day" challenge and the word was -- of all things -- STRONG!  Every time Bennie said "strong" the number was counted and that many burpees would have to be done at the end of the workout.  Of course, since Jill was using weights, she was demonstrating the "strong" variation of each exercise and Bennie would say the word.  In the end, he said it 12 times.  You know what?  I had no problem doing 12 burpees at the end of an intense, sweaty 30-minute workout.  He was fantastic and I really enjoyed training with him.

He and Jill are going to be on the program for the next two days, so I'll be there, looking forward to more intensity!  I'll be back tomorrow.

Some catching up to do...

I haven't posted in about two weeks, but I have been doing Daily Burn every day.  I take Zumba classes on Mondays and Thursdays, so I do the DB workouts on my non-Zumba days.    Even though I haven't posted, I did take some notes on previous workouts and I wanted to share them before talking about today's workout.

I had a four-day weekend during the Memorial holiday a few weeks ago and I made it a point to do DB each day.

There was kickboxing on May 27 which I did live that day because I was off from work.  On Saturday, May 28, Dara Theodore taught the class and brought a great deal of energy.  She reminded us that the Memorial Day holiday makes her feel grateful for all she has.

Sunday, May 29 was led by Erika Shannon who did a linear workout which involved balance, coordination and rotation.  I always like the Sunday routines because they seem more laid back than during the week, but at the same time challenging.  While the Sunday routines are not as intense as the weekday ones, the workouts involve different muscles and different balances which challenge and motivate me.

Now we get to Monday, May 30 --  Memorial Day.  Host J.D. said Mondays are usually "Never Miss a Monday" workout -- and especially on Memorial Day when they have ALL SIX trainers in the studio.  They each took turns doing a few minutes each.  Gregg Cook started it off with the warmup and Pheonix Carnevale followed it with Martial Arts.  Erika Shannon worked our arms and Prince Brathwaite made our legs stronger with Jack Squats.  Dara Theodore followed with a good core workout and Becca led our cool-down.  The highlight of the workout was when the instructors participated in the "DB365 Backyard Olympics."  J.D. said these were games families could play in the backyards during a cookout that incorporates physical activity and fun and kids playing won't even realize they're getting a workout.

The first game played pitted Gregg against Prince.  They had beanbags set at various intervals that they had to run to, pick up with their mouth and drop in a box.  The first one to pick up all beanbags wins.  Gregg came out the victor here.

The second game was "Balloon Burpee" and it was Dara vs. Phoenix.  They had to throw a balloon in the air and proceed to do one burpee and catch the balloon before it hit the ground.  First one to complete three burpees wins.  Dara could not catch the balloon quickly enough and Pheonix won the game.

Finally, all six instructors played a game of tug-of-war.  It was a lot of fun watching the games.  

Granddaughter's Birthday today!

Happy Birthday Mo!  You're 4 years old today.

So I splurged on my diet today and had a piece of your Disney-themed birthday cake.  It was so worth the extra calories to see your smiling face after you ate cake and opened your presents.

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Anyway, it's been about two weeks since my last post.  Grandma Does Daily Burn has an announcement.  In addition to my darling 4-year-old granddaughter, I have a new grandson!!  He was born two week's ago and Mo is now a proud big sister.

So I haven't been here because it's been hectic with the new baby and helping my daughter.  I have continued to do the daily workouts, but haven't had much time to talk about them.

Today, however, I did do a great workout.  The May 26th workout was led by Gregg Cook.  It was a Sports-themed workout that incorporated moves from Basketball, Volleyball, Discus throwing, Boxing and a bunch of other sports-like activities.  It was a great aerobic workout that had high cardio and a bit of lower body workout toward the end.

Also, Jenna Ushkowitz from "Glee" was a guest on the show.  Before the workout started, J.D. said that Jenna was stuck in traffic and tweeting about being late.  However, Jenna has a podcast called "Infinite Positivities" on i-Tunes.  When she finally showed up in the studio, she spoke about her podcast and how she uses positivity in her life on a daily basis.  She said that positivity is a choice and when she wakes up, she chooses to be positive.  Gonna have to check it out!

It was a very good interview and I'm going to try and take some of the things she said to heart.  There are times where I get so frazzled and hurried in my day-to-day activities, I can't help but have some negativity in my mind.  Listening to her make is sound so easy to be positive, really makes me want to try and reframe my mind and work on being a more positive person.

Reframing or resetting has been the theme all week long and Jenna reminded us that it's not difficult to reframe a negative to a positive.  "You learn from your past experiences," she said.  "If you're not learning, you're not growing."

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So I have a four-day weekend for the Memorial Day holiday.  I'm going to spend the weekend catching up on some zzzzz's, doing some Spring cleaning, and of course, working out with Daily Burn.  It's gonna be great -- I'm positive about that!

"Positivity is a choice.  When I wake up, I choose to be positive." 

-- Jenna Ushkowitz

Laughter as Medicine

Today, DB365 continued with its weekly theme of the theme of "Laughter as Medicine."   Host JD Roberto emphasized how important it is to laugh on a daily basis as a way to stay healthy.

The guests were Chis Ryan and Giovanna Cicerchia who are on the reality show "Strong."  Chris is a trainer and Giovana is one of the contestants.

JD said it was "word of the day" Wednesday.  The word of the day was "love."  Every time fitness instructor Dara Theodore said the word of the day during the workout, then the class would do burpees at the end -- one burpee for each time she spoke the word.

Dara led the class through a combination of standing lunges and ground abdominal moves.  The first half of the workout was gradually getting the heart rate up.  I didn't start breathing real hard until she introduced an 8-count move.  She began standing and counted 8 moves to the floor to get into a plank position (1 left thigh, 2 right thigh, 3 left shin, 4 right shin, 5, 6, 7 and 8 hands on the floor to plank). Once in the plank, she took one hand and touched her and then did a salute.   She switched hands and did heart/salute with the other hand.  Then she brought one knee to her chest and then the other knee. Finally, she did a cute "shake your booty" wiggle while still in plank followed by the 8-count in reverse (floor, floor, floor, floor, shin, shin, thigh, thigh, stand up).  This move was done for one minute and I did that about eight times.  Once the minute was up, I was dripping with sweat and my heart was racing.  I'm going to definitely have to remember that move.  It was fun to do and not too difficult, but it got my heart rate up in such a short time.

Oh, by the way, the word of the day was "love."  Dara only said it two times, so after doing today's workout, two burpees were a breeze.  I don't (can't) go down to the pushup position, but I do plank and jump my feet out and then jump up to standing.

The take-away quote from today's workout is:

"Go out and conquer because you are awesome." -- Dara Theodore

I REALLY love Daily Burn!

Hi!  I'm Mary.  I'm a Grandma.  I love Daily Burn.  I really love Daily Burn.  I've been doing it now for about a year and just started following the DB365 program.  I'm going to talk about my experience doing this program, my ups and downs, success and failures  (wait -- no failures -- just setbacks), successes and setbacks, and overall opinion of this wonderful resource.

So, today is my first post.  I just finished a workout after coming home from work.  I don't think I'll be able to do this every day, but I'll certainly try.  Life does get in the way sometimes.  I also take a Zumba class on Mondays and Thursdays, so I'll probably do this on my off-days.

My goal is to do the half-hour session and then write about what I got out of the workout.

Today the instructor was Erika Shannon and the guest was Joe Wicks (The Body Coach).  I like Erika's spirit and energy so it was nice to see her lead another class again.  She led the class with a kick-boxing workout today. We threw a lot of punches and quite a number of kicks.  She mentioned that there's always one side of your body that everyone has a harder time with.  For me, it's my left side when it comes to kicking.  I have mild scoliosis that went undiagnosed in my youth.  My spine has a slight "S" curve in it.  It's not a major curve, but it's enough that my hips are misaligned and the left hip cracks whenever I try to lift the leg above my waist.  It's just something I've learned to live with.  I know how to adjust my body to compensate on the left side to avoid the hip cracking.

Today's workout was not as intense as other workouts, but my arms did get a bit of exercise and my heart rate got up a little.  There was no floor work or strength moves today.  Overall it was a nice change from the usual Tabata routines.

But Joe Wicks.  OMG, what a gorgeous hunk of protoplasm.  Oh, if only I were 30 20 years younger.  And better looking.  And about 50 pounds lighter.  And no gray hair.  Did I mention that Mr. Wicks seems to be the long lost twin of Kit Harington?  (Spoiler alert -- Jon Snow lives!!)  Seriously, it's like they were separated at birth.  He spoke about his food book "Lean in 15 -- 15-minute meals and workouts to keep you lean and healthy," and demonstrated some quick and easy high-protein meals.  He mentioned that one of the keys to keeping weight off was to prep meals in advance to control the portions.  Preparing your own food allows you to control the ingredients and making small changes in your diet will yield results over time.  So I'm probably going to have to buy the book because I want to look at the pictures of Joe... I mean the recipes.

So, that's it for today.  My first DB365 workout.  I will try to come back here as often as possible and give my opinions of each workout.  'Till then.