March 21, 2014-Jogging

Starting from March 21 & every other day when it was sunny during Spring Break, I went jogging at a park near my old elementary school. I ran four laps around the field which is equivalent to 1500 meters and that is approximately a mile. My main goal for today was to keep a good pace, and I have been practicing my pacing in gym class when we do fitness. I was able to spread my energy throughout the whole jog instead of just wasting all my energy in the first 10 minutes. I took only a couple of breaks while my legs were burning after jogging uphill, but then I got right back into it after my 30 second speed walking breaks. By jogging outside of school, it will help me to increase my score on the beep test and by doing this it also increases my endurance. Here is the video of me jogging:

March 17, 2014- Riding My Bike!

Spring break is two weeks long and during these two weeks I want to continue regularly exercising rather than slacking off. Starting on March 17 & other days throughout Spring Break when it was not raining I decided to go outside and get some fresh air by riding my bike. I usually ride my bike for 45 minutes around my neighbourhood and by doing this, I was able to become more energetic and boost my energy levels. Riding a bike is very beneficial as it burns calories, increases stamina, and strengthens your muscles. The hard part when riding a bike is when you have to ride uphill. While I was riding uphill, my leg muscles were burning and it took a little more effort than riding on flat land. While I was riding uphill, I noticed that there is an increase in coordination, as you need to stay balanced on your bike or else you can tip over. Bike riding is not only a good way to get exercise but it can also be fun too. I enjoyed riding against the wind while I was riding downhill, which is one of the fun aspects while cycling.  The main muscles that I used  while I was riding my bike, was my quadriceps and my hamstrings. Even though bike riding exercises more of your lower body; your upper body is also involved too.  Overall,  I had a great time as I was able to stay fit in an enjoyable way.

March 9, 2014-Punching Exercise

Today I thought I do a different type of exercise by punching, which would strengthen my arms. I used to watch my brother punch a punching bag, and when I tried it I found that it was a good form of workout. I found that moving around and punching a hand pad worked wonders for my arms and shoulders. I'm not pretending to be a boxer, but I find doing these punches for at least 15 minutes makes me sweat and increases my heart rate as I punch quicker and with more strength. Also, by doing this exercise, it builds that level of confidence so if I ever need to defend myself, I would be able to fight back. Maybe in the future I will join martial arts so I can improve my techniques.

March 4, 2014- Fitness Tuesday!

On March 4, 2014 it was fitness Tuesday and everyone took part in Pyramid. We've only done Pyramid once before in the school year so I was glad the gym teachers decided to do this activity for Tuesday's fitness. While I was jogging to the middle of the gym and then back, my thighs were burning but I needed to pay close attention to the voice in my head that was motivating me to keep on going. I needed to block everything else around me and just focus on my exercising. As we progressed more into the activity I noticed that my intensity increased. For example, in the beginning I wasn't as into the activity as I was near the end. I got more and more into the activity as the time passed, which means I pushed myself harder and harder as the minutes went by. I was glad that push ups were on the list of the exercise movements to do because as you know, this is an exercise that I wish to improve on by June. So by doing push ups in Pyramid it allowed me to have some practice with the structure. When we first started Pyramid, the first exercise was push ups and so when I did my first push up, I found it hard to do and I knew that the easiest way to do this would be to give up, but that's definitely not the way I wanted to deal with the situation. So then I kept trying by doing another push up, and then after that I did two more and so on, and this is how I overcame this obstacle. Having hope and confidence in yourself is so important when working with your weaknesses. Overall, I think this fitness day helped me to continue achieving my goal and showed me how to keep on going even in the rough spots. Here is some digital evidence:

February 28, 2014- Fitness Friday!

On February 28, 2014 it was fitness Friday and we did an activity similar to a relay in groups of three. In my group was Brianna (from Mr. Pederson's class) and Manzula (from Mr. Vaughan's class). I thought this fitness activity was cool because we haven't done this before this year and so everyone got a change. I liked the idea of how we were able to take turns while running, because this way you run for around a minute and then you get a break while your other partners get their turn to run. After I came back from running, even though I  was tried I didn't sit down on the benches; instead I remained standing and walked a bit in the area I was standing. While I was running, I didn't stop once and didn't take a walking break. Usually when we do the pond run, there is at least one point in the run where I have to stop and take a walking break, even if it's only for a short amount of time (5 seconds).  However this time I'm so proud of myself because I didn't stop jogging. If I was tired, I jogged slower but I didn't give up on myself and start walking. After my partners were done doing their lap, I encouraged them and told them that they did a very good job because by looking at them it was pretty obvious that they were giving it their all. I really liked my group because they didn't slack off and both of my partners pulled their weight in. I payed close attention to my pacing and made sure I wasn't wasting all my energy in the first 20 seconds. When it was time to do my first lap, I noticed that I went faster in the beginning and then near the end of the lap, I got tired. So the second time I went, I paced myself better and made sure I didn't run in the first 20 seconds; instead I jogged so my energy could be distributed evenly throughout the whole run. Marcia and I were both partner C's but in different groups so we were able to jog together. I was glad Marcia and I were able to jog together because we have about the same speed. As I mentioned, the first lap I did, it was harder to continue jogging at the same speed near the end because I did not pace myself well. However when I did the second lap, while I was jogging I noticed that it was a bit easier to continue at the same speed  near the end because I paced myself well. Also, I needed to make sure I didn't jog too fast in the beginning because at the end it would be hard to do a lap.I was able to focus on my pacing for this fitness activity and that was my main objective. Overall, I am happy of my efforts demonstrated in class and I think that I made it clear to my peers that I worked hard due to my heavy breathing and the expression on my face.

Here is a picture after we finished:

February 26, 2014- Choice

On February 26, 2014, it was choice but before we started our choice activity everyone participated in Mr. Vaughan's exercise warm up, and I was happy that we were able to do a warm up because they are really fun and they also get your heart rate up too. For the warm up, we were skipping and I really like to skip because when I was little I remember that I used to skip for an hour everyday afterschool, and I still do this now in the summer time. When I was skipping I tried different ways to skip..for example, with two feet, with one foot and I even tried to get better at my criss cross skipping which was really fun. At the end of the warm up, I was more excited to play badminton. The warm up made me become more energetic than I was before we did the warm up. Some people don't bother to do warm ups before they exercise, but it's always good to do one because it allows you to stretch out your muscles and to get more motivated and pumped up to start your main exercise. When playing badminton, my friends and I didn't actually play a game but instead we tried to keep the birdie in the air as long as possible. The main purpose was to have fun and to get a good exercise and I was able to achieve this goal by the end of the block!! I tried to help with clean up by putting away birdies that were left behind and by making sure no equipment was lying around. There was also a birdie stuck at the bottom of the equipment room door and so I didn't just look at it and walk away; I tried to take the birdie out but it was really stuck. However, I didn't just leave it because I felt that it was partially my responsibility to get it out since I was one of the people playing badminton, so I tried moving the door and my other friend was  helping too and then I tugged on the birdie and finally got it out! I only left to the change rooms once everything was put away. In brief, I made the gym block a happy environment for everyone by participating to my best ability, helping out with clean up and sharing laughter with the people around me.

Here is a video of me skipping: