Category Archives: Shoulders

Biceps, Core, Fitness, Running, Shoulders, Treadmill, Triceps

It’s All About the Weights, Running, Moving

April 5, 2014 Kim 55 Comments

So the title is my poor attempt at a catchy song – but I think I’ve always said it wrong!! I thought it was supposed to be, “It’s all about the money, money, money.” Ummm….maybe it’s supposed to be “It’s NOT about the money, money, money.”

Oh, well – this week has been all about weights and running!!!

Sunday 3/30 – 44 stacked leg oblique crunches with dumbbell (15 pound)

start - right leg on top — start – right leg on top

After doing 44 to the left, I switched my top leg and crunched the other direction.

Reaching with the dumbbell made this move a challenge!!!

I ran 9 miles (72:51) + 1 easy mile. Trying to continue to increase my miles for about another month (big race coming up!!).

Monday 3/31 – 44 alternating shoulder press while standing on wobble balls. I used 10 pound dumbbells and that was hard by the end!

I love using the wobble balls for moves like this because you have to keep a slight bend in your knew to hold the balance and that helps take pressure off of your low back!!!

This was also a running day!!! 8 miles (59:57) plus 2 nice and easy miles.

Tuesday 4/1 – 44 combo shoulder/arm move (5 pound dumbbells – this was hard plenty!) Start with palms facing body –

ready (don't forget to look bored!) — ready (don’t forget to look bored!)

Raise arms straight up in front –

Rotate weights so that your palms are facing down –

Pull arms back (squeeze your shoulder blades together) –

Lower arms down to side –

Curl arms down so that you are back to the start position.

I liked this move – it was a great way to work my entire upper body!!!

I needed a little break from running so I did a 10 Minute Solution DVD – Sculpt, Tone and Reshape with the Figure 8.

There are so many fun moves with this band – I love what a great workout you can get with it. This DVD was just over 50 minutes and I worked my entire body!!!

Wednesday 4/2 – 44 triceps kickbacks (10 pound dumbbells)

This was a challenge with the amount of weight I used but I don’t want to have saggy arms!!!

I did Shelly McDonald (a Caribbean workout) Core Pilates. I had a horrible headache (woke up around 1:00 am with it and it never went away) so I thought some pilates would be a good choice. I made it through almost the whole hour before I quit!

Thursday 4/3 – 44 side bend with shoulder press (8 pound dumbbells).

down with right hand, really reach up with left hand

After doing 44 to one side, I had to switch and do another set!

By the time I finished, I had worked not only my core but also my shoulders – just holding an 8 pound weight up for the entire time was a workout!!!

I did a double run on Thursday to break in my new shoes!!! Well, really just to get used to running on tired legs but….

new shoes - Mizuno Wave Prophecy 3 — new shoes – Mizuno Wave Prophecy 3

First run – 10 miles (79:24) plus 1.15 easy.
Second run about an hour and a half later – 5 miles (36:53) plus 2.35 miles at a nice pace.
Total – 15 miles of hard running and 3.5 easier miles!

Friday 4/4 – 44 bicep curls in Warrior I (5 pound dumbbells).

I had to do another set after I finished 44 that way!!

5 pounds doesn’t seem like much until you do a total of 88 bicep curls and keep your arms extended out the entire time – then it feels like at least 20 pounds!!!

The workout was a fun one – Turbo Jam – Cardio Party 3. 50 minutes of pure fun with Chalean and her crew!!!

Saturday 4/5 – 44 lateral raise on wobble balls (first 22 with 8 pounds, second 22 with 5 pounds).

This move is always hard for me!!! After the first 22 I knew that I couldn’t continue to use good form unless I dropped down in weight!!!

And, today was another day of running!! 9 miles – 63:17 plus 1.1 to cool down.

Overall, this was a great week of strength work and running!!!!

41 miles of hard running plus 7.6 easier miles for a total of 48.6 miles!!!

Did you move this week?

Happy Saturday!!

Kim

Back, Biceps, Cardio, Core, Fitness, Hamstrings, Plyo, Running, Shoulders, Treadmill

Daily Moves 3/16 – 3/22

March 22, 2014 Kim 44 Comments

It might take me awhile to figure out how I want to do my Daily 44s since I’m not posting every day!!

Sunday 3/16 – 44 Squat thrust with 4 plank jacks

No other workout – Sunday is usually my day off if I take one for the week.

Monday 3/17 – 44 seated row with band

I ran 11 miles in 88:07 followed by an easy cool down mile.

Tuesday 3/18 – 44 windshield wipers with bender ball. This move is awesome for your entire core!!!

I counted a right – left as 1 rep. Not gonna lie – this move was hard for me!! I guess my core/obliques need more work!!!

Another long run (trying to get used to running on tired legs!) – 12 miles in 95:36 followed by 2 easy miles.

Wednesday 3/19 – 44 hammer curls while standing on wobble balls.

I used 10 pound dumbbells which was about as heavy as I could handle for that many reps.

I pulled out another DVD that I haven’t done in a long time – Shape Sculpt Your Abs. I did the entire 60 minutes plus the 12 minute bonus. I like that even though the title implies that it is just an Ab workout, it is really a full body workout!!!

Thursday 3/20 – 44 side lying hip abductions. This move was thanks to Nellie (Brooklyn Active Mama) and her Weekly Wednesday Workout. I have done a move similar before but this one had a slight variation – when you lift your leg, you pull it slightly back.

It didn’t take very many of these to feel it in my hip and outer thighs!!! And, you know I don’t want to be unbalanced so I flipped over and did 44 more!

I also got in my 3rd run of the week. 8 miles in 62:13 followed by 1.6 miles nice and easy!!!

Friday 3/21 – 44 Jefferson Dead Lifts. This move was brand new to me and I liked it OK since I like to find new things to try for my daily moves but I’m not sure I would do it regularly. I saw it on Tamara’s (Fitknitchick) Facebook page the other night and thought it would be fun!

You can see in the picture that the grip is different from a standard grip with one hand facing out and the other in.

I decided that since it seemed like one side was working a little differently I should flip around and do another set of 44 the other way.

I think that I prefer the straight leg dead lift to really target my hamstrings and butt!!

I did a new workout that I just won from Kim (BusyBod) “Thanks, Kim!!!” – The MashUP Conditioning DVD. This workout was intense!!! The idea is to work the entire body in a short time (longer if you combine segments). Each 15 minute segment consists of 3 parts – 5 minutes of strength based moves (also some agility involved). This is 5 moves for 1 minute each!

The next section was HIIT – 30 seconds on and 30 seconds off for 5 minutes. I’ve never done HIIT with that long of a rest but it was kind of nice.

The final 5 minutes was the mind/body connection – 5 primarily core moves for 1 minute each and you were encouraged to stretch as needed.

I did 2 (there are 7 total) of the Tempo segments for a 30 minute intense workout!!

Saturday 3/22 – 44 jump squats onto wobble balls. You know I’m loving my wobble balls and this was a fun way to do some jump squats!!!

I tried flipping them over and really working my balance but after nearly twisting my ankle twice I decided that it was challenging enough the way I did it!!!

And, I ran again this morning!!! 8 miles in 56:52 plus 2.2 easy miles. Today for the HappyFitMarch challenge we were supposed to run a mile and compare it to the past 3 Saturdays. I used my 8th mile today (I’ve been using my first mile which is never my fastest!) – 6:00 for the final mile.

Overall, it was a great week of 44s and working out!! I ran 4 out of 7 days for a total of 31 miles plus 6.8 easy miles.

Did you do any new moves or workouts this week?

Happy Saturday!!

Kim

Cardio, Core, Fitness, Shoulders

Staying True to My “Why”

March 16, 2014 Kim 40 Comments

Today’s 44 was a great one to get my heart rate up quickly!!! I did a squat thrust with 4 plank jacks. Instead of standing in between each rep, I just jumped my knees in and back out because I wanted this to be a shoulder burner!!!

This isn’t quite as hard as burpees but pretty close!!!

I started blogging exactly 1.5 years ago today.
365 days of Daily 43s and 182 days of Daily 44s = 547 consecutive days of a daily move and writing a blog post.

When I first started blogging, I didn’t have a clue what I was doing! I just knew that I wanted to use my blog to document my daily moves!!!

The first month or two that I blogged, all I wrote about was the exercise of the day and maybe a line or two about something else.

Slowly, I realized that I could do more than just write about whatever “daily” move I completed and I started to make this space more personal. I also started following more and more blogs and over time developed actual relationships with some incredible bloggers!!

I think that the blogging community is what keeps me logging in to my little blog space every single day!!! I love reading other blogs and sharing our lives through comments back and forth!!!

Lately, I have been struggling to read and comment as much as I want to while keeping up with my blog and my actual daily life! I don’t want to compromise the reason behind my blog because I am still very much committed to doing 44 reps of whatever daily move I pick.

I have been trying to figure out how to customize my blog without compromising my intent behind blogging. My goal has never been to make money from this or to have the most views or anything other than just to be me. The online friendships were something that I didn’t even know would happen and I feel blessed beyond measure to have “met” so many great people.

I think I have a plan for my blog going forward that will help cut down on some of my stress (I don’t want blogging to be a source of stress) and still allow me to stay true to why I started this in the first place.

I think ultimately, it is about being true to ourselves (in every aspect of our lives) and that is what I want to do!!!

Happy Sunday!!!

Kim

Back, Fitness, Lunges, Shoulders

The Marathon from a Spectator’s Point of View

February 24, 2014 Kim 74 Comments

Today’s 44 was another multi-move exercise!!! I started in a lunge –

Staying in a partial lunge the entire time, I did a row –

and then I opened to a fly.

After completing 44 with my right arm, I had to switch and do 44 more with my left arm.

I used an 8 pound dumbbell which was a challenging weight by the end!!!

I decided to do another forgotten DVD today – TaeBo Amped – Express Sculpt. The amped workouts use this cool stick or “amplifier” –

The amplifier can be used in the shortened form or extended to look like this –

This workout was 45 minutes and it isn’t very cardio heavy (not like most TaeBo workouts) but using the amplifier is a great way to really make your shoulders burn!!

Yesterday I was in Ft. Worth, TX to watch my sister-in-law, Stacy, run her first marathon.

Start – Between the half, full and ultra which all started at the same time, there were about 30,000 runners and all I can say is – WOW!!! The start was actually pretty well organized with 8 corrals. I was in a great position right at the corner for the first turn (about 100 m in).

Stacy and her running partner in matching orange tops

So, Stacy and her running partner, Anna are looking fresh and ready for the race here.

After the start, I coordinated with Sam (Stacy’s husband/my brother) and he picked me up so that we could get to our first view point.

Mile 4 – the runners were still in one huge pack at this point and it was hard to pick out Stacy but we did see her!!

Mile 4 - stopping to say hi to Hays & Isabel — Mile 4 – stopping to say hi to Hays & Isabel

I think that it was a nice place to stop for a second since they were half-way up a long hill!!! Both Stacy and Anna were still smiling at this point – all good!!

From here, we had to figure out our next view point (and feed the kids!!). Getting from place to place was a challenge since so many roads were blocked off.

Mile 10 – this was the point where the half marathon runners were being directed to stay to the right and it was still very crowded. This time, I managed a picture before they got all the way to us!

Anna had enough of the long sleeves so she handed her shirt over to me when they passed.

After we cheered for them and many others, we let the kids explore the water gardens for a bit and then headed to our next view point.

Mile 15.8 – This was a fun wait!! There were some other people cheering for runners and we had a great time yelling for people. Hays and Isabel decided to encourage runners here.

This might have been the first time I cried during the day – it was so amazing to watch the runners switch over so that they could give the kids “5.” Stacy and Anna were still running strong and seemed to be doing well when we saw them.

One lady had a huge fan group here and when she came into sight and saw them she did a cartwheel – awesome!!! I watched another lady stop and hug her baby before continuing on – so many emotions watching all these runners!

Mile 20 – I think that mile 20 was my favorite spot!! (and sadly, the only one where I didn’t take any pictures) We were at this spot for close to 30 minutes and I had a great time cheering for all the runners. At this point, they either looked really strong or completely over the whole thing!

The funny thing about getting to watch and cheer – so many people said thanks for coming out and encouraging them – I don’t think they realized how incredible the experience was for me as a spectator!!!

Mile 26 – Sam, Hays and Isabel found a view point so that they could see Stacy cross the finish line but I went further out. I was close to the 26 mile point (so they still had to run those long last 0.2 miles) and make one final turn.

I think I was here for over 45 minutes and this was by far the most emotional part of the entire day for me. Watching so many runners realize how close they were to completing the marathon – for some their first and for others one of many – but all were happy!!

I saw runners crying, spectators running with them. Some runners were jubilant and others were just gutting out that last little bit but all had one thing in common – they were marathoners!

Tired but excited and so close to completing their very first marathon!!!

I didn’t see them actually cross the line but I heard the announcer as he read their names!!!

WooHoo!!! Watching the race was an awesome experience and I’m so happy for Stacy (and Anna).

I wasn’t totally prepared for the emotional experience that it would be for me. I always thought that I was OK with not actually racing a marathon – now I’m not so sure.

Congrats, Stacy! I'm so proud of you!!! — Congrats, Stacy! I’m so proud of you!!!

By the time I got home last night I was completely exhausted and felt like I had crammed at least a week into Saturday and Sunday but I would do it all again!!!

Do you get emotional as a spectator at a race?

Happy Monday!!

Kim

Calves, Fitness, Running, Shoulders, Treadmill

Do You Love a Good Surprise?

February 22, 2014 Kim 38 Comments

Today’s 44 was a fairly simple move. Plie calf raises while holding your arms straight out (I held 5 pound dumbbells for this).

I tried to hold each calf raise for about 2 seconds – lots of wobbling!! And my arms were burning my the end!!!

I did a quick 4 mile run (1.5% incline – 26:36) and my 100 jumping lunges. The workout had to be short because I have to hit the road!!!

Surprises – I think that everyone has different thoughts on whether or not they like them or hate them. And, I guess it depends on whether it’s a good surprise or a bad surprise!

Today I’m planning to surprise one of my very favorite people and I can’t wait!!! I’m making a super quick trip to Texas (driving down today and home tomorrow) – about 15 hours of driving for this surprise.

My sister-in-law, Stacy

is running her first marathon on Sunday in Ft. Worth. Last fall I thought about running this weekend, too. I was going to run the 50K (31 miles) instead of the actual marathon.

However, the more I thought about it, the more I decided that this weekend was Stacy’s!!! I talked to her earlier in the week and told her I wasn’t going to run after all (and she thinks that I’m not coming because of that!!!).

Going down just to watch and support Stacy will be much better!!! This way instead of thinking about my race and not even getting to see her, I will be there to support her 100%!!

Now, I just need to find a cowbell! Shouldn’t be too hard on the drive today!!!