Work it out

Waaaaaaaaay back on January 4, 2015, I posted this on Facebook:

Just in case you can't read it, it says,

"I worked out 244 times in 2014.  That is 67% of the available days of the year.  Some months (like May) were more successful than others (ahem, December).  My goal for 2015 is to increase it to 75% of the available days, with 273 workouts.  My new piggy calendar as a sticker chart is going to help keep me on track.

This is the calendar I got for Christmas in 2014 that I referenced/showed in that post.  It hangs on the bulletin board in the hallway.  Every workout I did got a sticker.  I also planned out each workout for the whole month ahead of time and tracked what days I did them on.

This was the workout plan for 2015:

January

Slim Series

February, March, April

ChaLEAN Extreme

May

T25- Gamma

June

Variety of DVDs and trainers

July, August, September

ChaLEAN Extreme

October, November

PiYo

December 

T25/ChaLEAN/PiYo Hybrid

I thought it would be fun (or, you know, the most BORING post ever) to do an analysis of how I did in 2015.

I bought the Slim Series DVDs on Black Friday in 2014.  The whole set was maybe $15.  That's probably double what I would now pay for it.  I HATED these DVDs.  They were slow, used light weights and were loooooooong.  Like 60 minutes to 80 minutes for each workout, six days a week.  I dreaded each and every one.  They were hard, no doubt, and I felt sore the whole month, but I just couldn't handle 80 minutes.  Especially on the days I worked and couldn't even start until 5:00 pm.  

I should have worked out 24 times in January.  I completed 21 of them.  I can almost guarantee that the three I didn't do were because I was sore and because I hated these workouts.

I started ChaLEAN Extreme in February.  There are three phases- Burn, Push and Lean.  Each phase is four weeks.  I loved these DVDs and workouts.  First of all, the schedule calls for five workouts a week- two cardio and three strength.  That extra day off is heavenly when you've been doing six days a week.  And two days off was needed because the whole premise of these workouts is using really heavy weights and your muscles need the break.  I also really like Chalene as a trainer.  The workouts were challenging, but enjoyable.  

February was the Burn month.

I did 20 out of 20 workouts.

March was the Push month.

Elliott was hospitalized on March 5th and stayed in the hospital until the 6th.  I ended up sick, sick, sick, sick on the 7th.  And that explains why there are no workouts from the 5th until the 16th.  I hadn't been sick since December 2010 and this illness just took me down.  I would have died it I had picked up a 25 pound weight.  Heck, I would have died if I picked up a 5 pound weight.

I amended my workout calendar to account for the missed week so I still did all four weeks of Push.  I just ended in April instead of March.  And this is where I can no longer say how many workout were in a month, since it went into another month.  I also added a bonus workout one week because I felt bad about missing more than a week.  If you don't count the missed week I did 19 out of 20 workouts for this phase.  If you do count it I did 19 out of 25 workouts.

April was the Lean month. 

I was healthy again so I did 20 out of 20 workouts.

I switched to T25-Gamma for May.  These are also five day a week workouts because they are pretty intense and based on strength more than cardio.

Another 20 out of 20 workouts for this month.  I also found a mistake whilst doing all my computations.  I did not work out on Tuesday the 26th.  That sticker is a lie.  It was responsible for my having to add and re-add and pull my hair out for, like, hours when my numbers didn't match or make sense.

I came up with my own work out schedule for June using all the DVDs by different trainers that I own.  The top should actually say May 31 to July 4, but whatever.  I made sure that I never did the same workout twice.

The first week I missed a day because we went to Flagstaff.  Then at the end of the month I missed a little more than a week because we were in Vermont.

I did 21 out of 25 workouts.

I did ChaLEAN Extreme again in July, August and September.

July was the Burn phase again.

I had vacation weight to lose so I was hard core and did 20 out of 20 work outs.

August was the Push phase.

I missed one workout for unknown reasons so I did 19 out of 20.

September was the Lean phase.

I got sick after our birthday weekend in San Diego, so I missed five days in a row and then added another week on to the end.  If you don't count the week I was sick I did 20 out of 20.  If you do count it I did 22 out of 25 (because I managed two workouts while I was sick).

I started PiYo in October.  I didn't know how it would be because it is a very different program from what I had been doing.  PiYo is, as copied from Beachbody, a workout with the muscle-sculpting, core-firming benefits of Pilates with the strength and flexibility advantages of yoga.

It is a two month program, six days a week.  I did month one in October.

I loved this workout and did 24 out of 24 workouts for the month.

November was month two.

We went to Las Vegas on the 20th, came home late on the 22nd and went to Tucson for Thanksgiving on the 25th.  I just kind of gave up that whole week so I added another week on so I could actually finish the second month.  If you don't count that week I did 24 out of 24 workouts.  If you do count it I did 24 out of 30.  Elliott added some embellishment to my calendar this month.

In December I found a schedule online that combines T25, ChaLEAN and PiYo.  

Oh December.  You always get me.  I had the best of intentions to workout while we were in Tucson for the holidays, but not so much.  I think I should get bonus points for doing a workout on Christmas eve morning with my entire family in the room.  And it was a PiYo workout which takes extreme balance and concentration.  I did 13 out of 24 workouts for December.

So, let's do some math.  21+20+19+20+20+21+20+19+22+24+24+13=?  

Guess how many workouts I did in 2015.  Keep in mind I did 244 in 2014 and my goal for 2015 was 273.

Yeah.  I did 243 workouts.  243!  Exactly one LESS than 2014!  How is that even possible? When I first added everything up it came to 244 and that totally blew my mind, but then I realized the extra liar sticker and, well, the one less blows my mind almost as much.

I don't want to explain away how I came up so far under my goals, but I think that it can be contributed to two factors: most of the programs I did in 2015 called for five workouts a week because they are so intense (the biggest factor) and I was sick twice (a less important factor).

This is my schedule for 2016.  Michael is going to follow the same schedule as well.  

ChaLEAN Extreme is five days a week, but everything else is six days a week.   I didn't actually come up with a number of workouts goal for the year, but I'm hopeful I will beat the previous two years.  If I don't miss a single workout I will come out at 276.  I'm going to Massachusetts in May and we're going to Florida in June, though, and realistically, life just happens, so maybe 260 will be my goal.

The first three weeks of January have been successful. 

I'll try to not stick any fake workout stickers on this year.  It will save me a lot of time and sanity come January 2017.