Healthy Living in Connecticut Blog

I keep saying I don't want to do another challenge... I keep thinking I've done enough of them... Then another fitness challenge comes along and I sign up for it! I guess I have trouble turning away from fitness challenges, but I'm ready for this one!

For the fourth year in a row, I'm participating in the Bridgeport Regional Business Council steps challenge. This year, the competition is called the "Walk to Wellness Challenge". I once again signed on with most of the same team mates from last year at work. There are a lot of good competitors on my team.

I look forward to Wednesday evenings for the Tabata class at the Northwest CT YMCA in Torrington.

What is Tabata?

Tabata is a high-intensity workout that has fitness and weight-loss benefits. Is it like CrossFit? Is it like circuit training? It is a bit of both. Tabata training is intense and It offers maximum workouts in shorter periods of time. Tabata comes from the man who invented it - Dr. Izumi Tabata, a Japanese physician and researcher. He conducted a study using an interval-based training model. His objective was to see if athletes would benefit from a 20/10 session repeated eight times. 20/10 means 20 seconds of all-out exercise followed by 10 seconds of rest. This adds up to four minutes total.

I decided to try the hydrostatic scale that's offered at Southern Connecticut State University, in their Human Performance Lab. The hydrostatic scale is used to check your weight and how much of the weight is fat versus muscle. In addition, since I was there, I had them do a caliper test for my body fat.

The students that run the lab were very professional and I highly recommend those that want to have their body composition measured to check out SCSU's lab. The two grad students both provided thorough instructions, especially when it came to the hydrostatic scale. This scale requires you to blow out all the air from your lungs, until there's no air left, underneath the water. I didn't care for the test but the technicians were very helpful along the way.

There's a little more than a week left to the Plank Challenge I'm doing. Recently, I've held a 4 minute plank but I'm planning to get to 5 minutes by the end of the month.

I know I already have strong abs... you just can't see the muscle through the skin. I do a lot of sit ups, crunches, side planks, mountain climbers, etc. I do think my abs are noticably better, but I know it takes time.

My friend took some photos of my work out at the gym this past weekend. I wanted to see if there was any progress visible from all the hard work, with five days a week of strength training!

I think my arms are developing nicely. In fact, I'm surprised how the triceps are starting to show. The skin has tightened a lot in my arms and I feel so much stronger.