Random Seinfeld Conspiracy and Cross-training Workouts

So I kept seeing this commercial and something about it has been bugging me. This has been going on for days! You know that feeling when you recognize someone but you don’t know exactly from where? Well, this also happens to me when I recognize an actor on TV, not the big name actors though. I’m talking about the ones who have the one time appearances on a show, they sort of drift around in the background of the usual sitcoms like the leftovers passed from one table to the next.

I have this funny little game that I play. I’m obsessed with both Seinfeld and Disney Channel shows. Well, I swear there is an odd connection between the two because lots of Seinfeld characters have made the D-Channel circuit. Who? Well I’ll name a few of my favorite sightings. Larry David himself (my favorite LD character on Seinfeld was of course the man in the cape) made an appearance in a Hannah Montana episode where he was a father trying to get a table at an exclusive restaurant. He gets bumped by HM. Estelle Costanza’s been in a few different D-Channel shows but was an irate old lady on Sonny With a Chance. J Peterman showed up on Wizards of Waverly Place to play Captain Jim Bob Sherwood. There’s others but I’m getting way off on a tangent here.

Well the same thing of obscure recollection was bugging me about this random commercial I kept on TV. It’s with a family sitting in front of the TV wondering what to eat and then this awkward looking lady walks in from their kitchen touting the words of some new frozen food thing. I seriously spent forever looking for the dang commercial online and of course now that I’m obsessed with it it’s not on TV. I think it was for some kind of stuffed popper bun, but the woman selling the product, THIS lady was the one I swore I had seen in something else but I couldn’t quite place where. It was driving me crazy…ya, I’m the kind of person where stupid things like this will seriously bug me.

Last night it came to me! I thought I must have seen her in some other kind of commercial or cameo but no…I SWEAR I used to see this lady in my old gym!! Now, like you I thought there was no way it was the same lady, ya it’s not like it’s a huge role or anything and it was probably filmed somewhere else. But, she’s got a pretty distinct face and way about her. I’m convinced it’s the same lady; she was really nice by the way. Those popper things look gross, but power to her!!

Speaking of gyms, in perusing blogs and such, the whole cross training issue came up. Running of course is my top pick of exercise/cardio but let’s face it, it’s really hard on the body. Inevitably we ALL wind up with stupid injuries that force us to resort to some kind of cross-training. The usual round-up are the bike, elliptical, and swimming. I’ll tell you, after my whole car accident and spending what felt like an ETERNITY on the elliptical, it got to the point where looking at the d*** thing almost made me physically ill. When I finally got to move up to the treadmill I almost wanted to burn that elliptical! Juuuust kidding.

But in reality that elliptical is awesome. If I had to pick my favorite cross-training activity it would be that…it feels the most like running to me. Though, not gonna lie, it does get boring. So to help pass the time, and also get the most out of the workout, intervals are perfect. Here’s a pyramid style interval workout; the harder effort times vary which is good because it works both your endurance but also strength/power because on the shorter bouts you really want to push it and go nearly all out for that interval. Tell yourself that ya, it hurts but it’s almost over! 😉

Okay, so the hard portion of the workout comes out to be a total of 29 minutes. Obviously you’ll be going ‘faster’ for the shorter intervals just like you would running a 300/400 meter repeats on the track versus the longer interval times. Think of those like a 600/800 meter repeat. Take the easy minutes as just that…easy and allow yourself to regroup and recover. Because tension levels and inclines vary between machines I can’t give an exact guideline there but on the one I use I tend to put the incline at around 6-7 and the tension there too. What I also do is for the harder portions I’ll set the tension higher, 7, and scale it down to 5-6 for the recovery minutes. For me I like to feel like my turnover is similar to that of running and getting that faster rather than upping the tension to a level where my turnover just feels to slow…if that makes any sense.

You don’t have to do this on the elliptical, you can do the same layout on any kind of machine or even if you’re aqua-jogging in the pool. Just go harder in there like you’re trying to run faster. The goal is just to get that heart rate up! That said, cross-training isn’t only for when you’re injured but a great supplement to your running. So now that I’m able to run again I’m happy I didn’t burn the elliptical. 😉

Side note, that cartoon up top with the man on the elliptical was another one from the Gym Offenders Caught series. He’s the guy plugged into his iPod and belting out the lyrics like nobody’s business. I’m all for listening to music to get you pumped but do you need to sing so loud we all have to listen to your music selection?

Today for me I did an easy 8 and change. Pedestal core routine and abs. I’m thinking that’s it for now, but I hope you all are having a great Tuesday!

1) Favorite Seinfeld character? If you don’t like the show then we’ll have to send the Soup Nazi out after you. Just kidding. 🙂

2) Have you ever met an actor or actress? They can be quasi-famous too, or not even all that famous. I’m adding my gym lady poppers peddler to my list! hehe.

3) What’s your favorite crosstraining activity?

Mine’s the elliptical, but it looks like some people have resorted to just switching shoes. 😉