BAK again

Walked over 10 miles in two days in AC.
Then our son needed help with his form in doing squats and lunges so I wound up doing a lower body workout as well when demonstrating the correct form in various ways.
We both may have major DOMS tomorrow! LOL

Loving Caitlin

This morning I warmed up on the bungee with Caitlin youtube clips then did most of CS 705 and some of 706.

LURVED this particular clip!

Humidity = Pain?

My joints and muscles are screaming today even though I slept a solid 8 hours with Melatonin. I think the painful areas are worse on more humid days even when the air conditioning is keeping the inside comfortable. Or maybe it is the air conditioning? It's really weird to have new acute pain that comes and goes so mysteriously in addition to chronic pain. As much as my chronic right hip has been nagging me the past week or so, I am grateful it doesn't bother me when walking and my previous knee problem seems resolved. This, too, shall pass.

Anywho I did CS 704 this morning then the rest of Quick Fitness on the bungee. Next I did some improvised upper body stuff with bands and XCOs during a 10 minute Explosive Upper Body workout that didn't click for me then alittle Exhale lower body. Finished with some Planet Motion youtube clips.

Leg Spasm

This morning I did CS703 which was a nice routine and worked the whole body, not just its shoulder focus. Then I did the 3rd circuit from Fierce Force but did my own upright abs during the mat abs. Next I did the first half of Dance Aerobics, mostly on the bungee. Dance Aerobics reminded me alot of an old favorite of mine Cardio Rock which I may capture with Easycap. Finished with some standing Gentle Kripalu Yoga.

Last evening BEFORE watching the True Blood season finale, I took precautions after having a leg spasm during the last two shows. Ate an orange and took my evening pills with an electrolyte drink and massaged the area with Arnica gel. Kept massaging the area during the show and the spasm was prevented! Not only that but I think my hip felt better during the night and this morning. Hip still twingey but not the sharp pain I was getting in bed. Will try Arnica gel before bed to see if that is what made the difference.

Similar Combo

This morning I warmed up with CS702 which my hips did not like.
Then switched to the bungee for the last of Bunches of Punches and 2 more Quick Fitness intervals.
Finished the workout with most of the standing parts of Bellyfit Earth. Bellyfit Earth had some nice moves but I have similar workouts I like more so probably will not cave for their new set when released. Much prefer Barefoot Dancer for variety. Alittle too much TIFTTing and repeating the same combinations for me and I don't do the mat stuff. In fact, I started doing upper body stuff on my own with a band when the repetition made me lose interest which is not a good sign. Reminded me alot of how I felt about Bemoved Bollywood Dance but do love Bemoved's warmups.

Lots of Variety

I started with CS701 since my PBS station aired it today. This Fountain of Youth episode seemed to help my problematic hip!
Then I did a power round of Bunches of Punches with Bob Forcelli wearing weighted gloved but I used my homemade XCOs on the bungee.
Then I did an interval from Quick Fitness on the bungee.
Next I did a Planet Motion youtube clip uploaded by kendrita227 (Kendra Howard).
http://www.youtube.com/user/kendrita227/videos
Finished with some Mega Perfect Legs and my own stretch.

Here's the kendrita227 I did this morning:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EO-_z5iiu8&feature=plcp


I have been using my blog as a checkin journal and also to keep track of videos I like and can access through the blog with the intention of using my laptop for workingout instead of dvds/vhs. If anyone has any requests and prefers to be able to download any mentioned youtube video through filemail, make a request along with your email address to horsemom2@aol.com

Lots of Walking

Walked over 13 miles the past couple of days in AC!
Will be resuming home video workouts tomorrow morning.

Bunches of Punches!

I went to a Goodwill store yesterday that used to charge $2.99 a vhs. However, now the vhs are just 99 cents plus if a red tag, 50% off. I found 3 vhs I wanted and got all 3 for $2 plus tax. Anywho, one of them was the Contender's Club Bunches of Punches which I had borrowed once and always wanted to own. Also picked up a Gentle Kripalu Yoga in case it had some standing stuff I liked and a Cosmopolitan Dance Aerobics. Saw plenty of other exercise vhs I already own.

This morning I did 3 rounds from Bunches of Punches on my bungee while holding homemade XCO trainers and sweated. Then I continued to sweat with Yoga Dance Earth Workout #3 and finished with some CS. The CS was for back pain prevention but may have aggravated my lower back/hip problem so I did some other stretches which seem to help it.

Quick Fitness

This morning I warmed up on the bungee with Caitlin then did the warmup and first two intervals from Quick Fitness on the bungee. The fresh air in the Living Room with the bungee was very invigorating and I could have done more but didn't want to over-do it. Next I did the first half of Perfect Legs Mega Legs. Finished with CS425. I am having a nagging right hip and still cannot figure out if CS helps or hurts it. Time will tell.

Nia's Awareness of Knees

This morning I warmed up on the bungee with youtube clips from Caitlin/bostonathleticclub then did most of Nia's Awareness of Knees.
Links to these are in recent posts.

I didn't sleep well because of aches and pains. Last evening for the second week in a row, my right inner thigh spasmed during True Blood at almost exactly the same time as last week! I did do some different movements as sparks yesterday since we bought a pedal device at Aldis so was cycling my legs then my arms in both directions while watching tv just before True Blood.

Anywho, the workouts I did kept me moving. I really enjoyed much of the movement in both routines in spite of feeling sleep deprived and twingey.

Boston Athletic Club (Caitlin)

Warmed up on the bungee to some really good clips which I will embed below.
Then I did Circuit 2 from Fierce Force tweaking the down on the floor stuff.
Then I finished Grace and Gusto's standing stuff and did some CS426.

The video clips are uploaded by bostonatleticclub at
http://www.youtube.com/user/bostonathleticclub/videos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qag9G6xq4cE&feature=plcp

Cardio Dance w/ Caitlin - Puakenikeni

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiVZB07Ul5U&feature=plcp

Cardio Dance w/ Caitlin - Hey Baby

Nia Awareness of Knees

Here's the online Nia class Awareness of Knees:

http://www.nianow.com/story/2012/08/nia-class-video-awareness-of-knees

Nice combo again

This morning I warmed up on the bungee to some youtube clips then did the first half of Grace&Gusto but using the FIOS VOD on Exercise Sportskool instead of the dvd so I could do it in our den with fresh air coming in.

Here's RefitRev Zoomer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBVq1NbJ5cU&feature=plcp


(will search and add another if I find it that I liked alot on the bungee)
ETA:
Found it!
Here's Dance Hall
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIgkt0cf6hk&feature=g-all-u

Today's workout

I didn't have much energy this morning so after warming up on the bungee to some youtube Pump It Up, I did the *pay it forward* freebie from Tony Horton which was very do-able but kept me moving. I added some extra stuff in during the down times. Then I did the warmup and some of the routine for the hips from CS 424. I am going to make a real effort to do more moving throughout the day using CS warmups.

Dr. Oz mentioned in the recent AARP magazine that chronic pain can be better tolerated with a better attitude. I totally agree with him because I am feeling so much better on most days by ignoring the twinges instead of focusing on them.

Revel vs Borgata

To describe Revel in a nutshell:
Pretentious

The numbers are in and Revel may be facing bankruptcy even sooner than expected. Morgan Stanley obviously made a wise decision not to sink another billion into Revel's completion. I saw so many flaws in the building's construction when visiting it, making it the perfect set for a disaster movie and most reviews, even favorable ones, continue to have complaints about its management and customer service. The management overall seems totally inexperienced in running a casino or a hotel.
Aesthetically to me if felt like an airport or mall.
Dark, cavernous, and uninviting.
Add to that that the people who love Revel mostly seem to have a condescending attitude online, personally attacking people who do not love the place while being totally blind to Revel's many flaws. These are not the type of people I want to be sitting next to when playing slots, especially after they had too much to drink.

Whoever designed the building was clueless to what a resort, a resort which happens to have a casino, or a gambling resort should offer.
It may have looked good on paper but clearly, it's an architectural nightmare.
Whoever designed their convention facilities was clueless. Attendees usually are late because of the navigation to those rooms while lugging their materials along with them.
Whoever decided not to have a convenient place for smokers to take a smoking break was clueless.
Whoever decided not to have direct access to the boardwalk and beach was clueless.
Whoever decided not to include a racetrack simulcast and therefore, no future sports betting facilities was clueless.  Also whoever decided to hide the poker room was clueless.
Whoever made many business decisions such as no buffet was clueless.
(most fancier restaurants in AC hotels have been closed midweek).
Whoever decided not to have an in room coffee maker and refrigerator was clueless.
Whoever designed their online site was clueless.
Whoever designed their phone reservation system was clueless.
Whoever hired and trained the whole staff were clueless as well.
Whoever was in charge of the marketing and players rewards were clueless.
Bottomline, the CEO who happens to be a part owner of this venture was clueless.

They supposedly fixed the AT&T mobile signal which made the building very inconvenient for AT&T subscribers but it still didn't work for us on our last trip AFTER the reported fix.
There are still many reports of hallway noise from inconsiderate and/or drunk partiers when staying overnight, interfering with sleep, even now when the place is comparatively empty.
Their Player rewards system is totally unreliable even though they have hired a more qualified person, it is too little too late.

The design of the building is unsafe, confusing and demands alot of mobility, making it difficult for both older patrons and younger often drunk patrons. Cannot imagine what it would be like if an immediate evacuation situation were to occur, empty or crowded.  The building does not have safe access for evacuation in case of an emergency if it is hard to navigate when there is no urgency.
Even walking through the empty casino is confusing without adequate signage.
Just finding the larger public bathrooms can be tricky.
Lots of open spaces but very little space for people and traffic flow within the casino and between the floors.

In no way will their business improve enough to avoid bankruptcy. Most people interested in the resort have already checked it out during its first summer and first impressions are lasting impressions.
Even if somebody qualified to run a casino resort took it over, the building design has too many flaws.

Governor Christie is expecting Revel to revitalize AC and is trying to delay slot machines at NJ racetracks for at least 5 years while all neighboring states are striking gold with their racinos.  This in addition to his veto of gay marriage, has made his popularity in NJ decline. I am predicting his political future is about as limited as Palin's.

ETA: After Hurricane Sandy, I am now a Gov Christie fan!!!  LOL
He may have burnt his bridges with the Republican Party but is a true Commander-in-Chief.

Sandy will be an excellent scapegoat for why Revel has failed.
I would blame its failure on not being able to compete with The Borgata from the beginning, being pretentious (smoke and mirrors) while The Borgata delivers all that Revel lacks.
Revel's only advantage is being on the boardwalk with some great views and no smoking.
Now it is rumored there will be smoking on the gambling floor and some guest rooms which hopefully is well contained.  Don't know how this building passed any fire and safety inspections or received any liability insurance coverage.

ETA: NJ Bar convention got smart and switched back to The Borgata instead of trying Revel in May.  Revel never could have handled over 2,000 bodies and bellies.

ETA: Revel ruined the one good thing it had going for it and now has smoking on the casino floor.

ETA on 7/5/2013: The casino floor at Revel still does not get an AT&T signal so even if I liked the place, I wouldn't stay there.

Easycap Update

It pays to be tenacious :)

I got the Easycap dongle working with the sound from the USB!
I redid the HeavyHands Instructional video and think the sound is soooo much better :)

uploaded the video with better sound here:

Nice Routine Today

This morning I warmed up on the bungee to some Pump It Up, finding most of the moves easy to tweak and the great music a plus. Then I did Kacy Duke's *I Do*, enjoying her unique twist on old moves. Finished with the standing part of CS420 which loosens the back.
Am keeping my fingers (and toes) crossed that WNYE will show the new season 9 in a couple of weeks.

Last evening I had a horrible inner thigh spasm and haven't a clue why. Tylenol, Arnica gel, heating pad, Gatorade and a banana stopped it from repeating. Overkill? LOL

WOW

My bad right knee seems completely healed!
Right hip is much improved too.
Will be posting my morning workout later but just wanted it noted that my chronic pain problems have improved much more than I had ever hoped without any surgery.

ETA:
Right hip is just alittle twingey after working out.
First I warmed up on the bungee to Pump It Up (youtube).
Then I did some of Guillermo Gomez Fusion Power on Sports Skool (FIOS VOD).
Finished with some of CS 829.
Pump It Up was surprisingly good.
Fusion Power had too much TIFTTing for me but I did enjoy much of it and fast forwarded through the TIFTTs.

Here's Pump It Up
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=507P9YJWeTg



ETA: I resolved the audio problem I was having with the Easycap dongle.
I am uploading a video with much better sound quality of the Heavyhands Instructional to my 8/13 post about Easycap and a link to a new filemail of the improved clip. It's a much smaller file so the original file may have had better visual quality.

New Toy EasyCap Video Capture

The Easycap capture wire I had ordered through Amazon arrived from China so I spent most of the day trying to get the audio to work through the USB adapter unsuccessfully. My laptop will not recognize the USB audio even though I tried several Win7 drivers that were supposed to fix the problem.
The video captures fine and I can record the audio from the nearby tv through my laptop's mike decently. For $6, I can record Video on Demand or VHS onto my laptop to share and/or burn. May eventually try a splitter to connect the audio composite wires directly to my microphone jack for better audio quality.

Anywho my workout this morning after my usual bungee warmup was circuit one from Fierce Force then the beach ViviDance on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9DHNCC14Qc&feature=plcp

BAK

Really wish I brought my laptop along on this last trip to AC so I could have checked the Doppler radar with my own eyes since the tv weathermen really do not give any decent predictions for southern NJ. So they kept predicting severe afternoon thunderstorms and suggested people heading for the shore to go during the morning. In actuality, we had nonstop torrential rain from 9:30 am through 1:00pm then no more rain during the whole afternoon period the weathermen were predicting horrible weather!
Come on!!! Even I can see where the rain is and where it is going with Doppler radar. Somebody please train these professionals to what the various colors mean. Yellow and Red do not mean sunshine.

Just before exiting the GSP, we saw a van completely spin around and blocking 3 lanes. We were very lucky to be in the far right lane for exiting.

Cyberbullies

There is a travel site I go to because of my interest in Atlantic City which I am probably going to be visiting less often because of its cyberbullies. There was a core of cyberbullies there over a year ago and the same mob are still going strong. Best defense against cyberbullies is not to respond to them. However, if I should ever go missing, there is one guy whom the police may want to question because his cyberbullying behavior is borderline cyberstalking. His obsession with this 63 year old woman is disturbing.

Occasionally, this site mentioned above has useful information and sometimes I contribute what may be useful to others. By comparison, there is another site which is much classier for those interested in slot machines:
http://www.slotmachinesforum.com/

More of the Same

Warmed up on the bungee to more of the WorkItOut/PumpItUp aerobics on youtube.
Then I did the second routine (I Can) on Kacy Duke's strength workout *I Am, I Can, I Do*. This dvd is growing on me with its revisits because most of the moves are tweaked to feel differently.
Then I did some more of Body Gospel's Strength&Spirit holding homemade XCOs.
I would do these Body Gospels even more often by using the bungee if I could play music louder on the PlayStation2 near my bungee.
Finished with Vivdance Mobilize and Harness.
Then I used my roller for some hip releases and feel pretty good right now.

During the night I had a horrible stiff neck during a bathroom visit but luckily it was gone when I woke up.

Here's Mobilize which has nice hip circles to start:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGAOxKsLEbs&feature=plcp

Workout Vow

Something Old
Something New
Something Borrowed
Something Blue

I have so many workouts that I decided to try this formula to visit or revisit more of them.

This morning
Something Old was Body Gospel Strength&Spirit
Something New was the Perfect Legs Master workout
Something Borrowed was a youtube dance routine from the WorkItOut/PumpItUp group
Something Blue was ViviDance Ground (she wears blue and it was used as a cooldown for me)

First I warmed up on the bungee to the youtube dance then I worked the lower body with Master Perfect Legs but instead of doing all of the sets, I added in some upper body stuff with XCOs. I do like the moves in Perfect Legs because they do not aggravate my knees but do not need the DOMS from excessive reps. Then I did some of Body Gospel Strength&Spirit with the XCOs and finished with Radiant Heart Ground.

Absolutely enjoyed Ground!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ta4Aqaoo2NQ&feature=plcp

Chrome Video Fixes

My RealPlayer stopped downloading when using the Chrome browser.
Sometimes Realplayer will download on sites that Freemake Video Converter cannot access like the Nia blog. And I hate it when something stops working LOL
so I searched for a solution and just tried a solution I found online and it worked!!!

Go to your chrome plugins by entering the following in your address bar:
chrome://plugins/

then click on *details* in the right corner if the categories are not expanded to see all options

then choose to *disable* the first shockwave flash plug in
which reads

C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\21.0.1180.60\Peppe rFlash\pepflashplayer.dll

then I restarted my pc and the Realplayer download button was back.

If this doesn't work then try reinstalling or updating Realplayer after disabling the first shockwave flash plugin.
Being stubborn when stuff stops working has enabled me to find lots of great fixes.

ETA: I had to do this again but this time it worked without restarting the laptop after disabling the first shockwave plugin.

ETA: here is another Chrome fix if you get a green screen:
right click on the video
go to settings
go to the tab that has a box checked for hardware accelerator and click to disable it

Not the Best of Days

Woke up achy so did mostly feel good stuff this morning.
Warmed up on the bungee to some aerobics on youtube then did the second workout on the Yoga Dance (Barefoot Dancer) Earth dvd which I did enjoy in spite of the aches. Then I did Soothe and Flow from Misty's Calm dvd and finished with Senses from Radiant Heart.

Here's Radiant Heart Sense on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HHoBn_vF-M&feature=plcp

Work It Out and Nia Shin Bones

This morning I warmed up on the bungee to youtube's Work It Up then did the standing part of Nia's Awareness of Shin Bones. As expected, have major butt DOMS from Perfect Legs.
Here's the link and embedded video of Clubland's Work it Up
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8s49ZoccC8E&feature=plcp



Nia's Awareness of Shinbones can be found at
http://www.nianow.com/story/2012/07/nia-class-video-awareness-of-shinbones

I am very excited about the next online Nia class which should be uploaded this month: Awareness of Knees

CS, ReFit, Perfect Legs

This morning I did CS 719 which is all barre then some bungee with RefitRev then the Mega workout on Michele Olson's Perfect Legs, Glutes & Abs.

I was very careful with the CS and skipped any moves that have triggered my hip problem in the past, especially the bending forward moves near the end. Overall, the right knee and hip are much better than they have been for months. Nothing bothered me much when walking the past few days. Just had some spasms in bed.

The Mega Workout challenged the core and lower body, tweaking moves to throw off balance so unused muscles worked harder. Music was stimulating and Michele pleasant. I used my light Smartbell then light kettlebell then light 1 1/2 lb palm weights and even lighter one pound dumbbells for the uneven light weights. Only did 2 sets instead of 3 or more because am expecting DOMS from what I did do. Lower body feels well worked but nothing new twinging. Only did the first ab move because the others were not good for my back/hip issues.

Have a quarterly fasting dr visit today for blood tests, etc. so may do more later.

CS, Kacy Dukes, Body Gospel

This morning I did CS 718 and not sure if it helped or hurt my hip.
I figured I may as well experiment while my hip is already having problems LOL

Then I did *I Am* from Kacy Dukes dvd.
Then I did the rest of Body Gospel Live! with Fitstix and alittle on the UR.
Finished with the Body Gospel Stretch.

Hip is still pretty much the same even after doing some of my own hip stuff.

ETA:
don't forget to try the TV episodes of the Barefoot Dancer before the filemail link expires!
https://www.filemail.com/dl.aspx?id=AGXZQRPWYOHRHKN