Category Archives: Triceps

Fitness, Lunges, Running, Treadmill, Triceps

A Big Dose of Fun Friday – just the thing to cure the February Funk!!!

February 16, 2013 Kim 3 Comments

I don’t know what I was thinking when I picked my 43 today!! I dug out my Tae-Bo bands:

Sometimes I forget about these but they are really cool. You can see the loops that slip over your feet and they have 1 pound weights that you can take out if you only want to use the resistance from the band itself.

For my 43 I left the weights in! I did a triceps extension in a static lunge (why I thought I should hold a lunge while I did 43 of these I don’t know – cause you know I also had to do 16 wall-sits today at 1 minute each!!!

bend arm - elbow still! — bend arm – elbow still!

I know this seems like an easy 43 but the resistance tubing is no joke!!! And, 43 reps (or even 10) is something you will definitely feel!

You know I can’t be unbalanced, so I switched sides and did another set of 43.

For the rest of my work-out today, I decided to run. This week I have done a long run and a short easy run so today I decided to do a hard run. I kept the treadmill at 1.5% incline and did 6 miles in 30:50 + 2 cool down miles.

It felt good to get in a hard-paced run but I am really trying to keep my focus on just putting in the miles. I think that between now and mid-October (50 mile race) I will spend more time working on nice easy runs and even some long runs that have a run-walk pattern to get my body used to that. I’m also focusing on making my legs as strong as possible (wall-sits, static lunges…..)

Yesterday was truly a

Hunter and I met a friend of his, Zach, and his mom, Renee (who is a friend of mine) at one of my all time favorite places –

We ended up hanging out for 3.5 hours – catching up on each other’s lives while the boys entertained each other!! At one point we moved into the cafe and ate lunch (they have great sandwiches). Fun times for sure!

Yesterday evening, Chris and I went out with friends. We met up with 7 other couples for dinner at a Mexican food place which means – Margaritas!!!Then we all headed to the theater to watch Identity Thief. I haven’t laughed that much at a movie in a long, long time!!!

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uO12W35DpsQ’]

After the movie we talked about going somewhere for a drink but figured every place would be too loud for conversation so we just invited everyone over to our house for awhile!! So much fun to just hang out and talk!! (no pictures – just fun)

It was a great day and the perfect cure for

What movies have made you laugh loud and long lately? Do you laugh uncontrollably at movies?

Can’t wait to see what today has in store!!

Happy Saturday!

Kim

Fitness, Push-Ups, Triceps

Just like GI Jane (or maybe not)

February 6, 2013 Kim 6 Comments

Today’s original 43 was an EPIC FAIL!!! I truly thought I was ready to attempt the 1-arm push-up (just like Demi Moore in GI Jane!!).

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOrglFs21IA’]

I remember being in my late 20s and watching that movie thinking “no way could I ever do that!”. However, almost 20 years later I think “for sure, I can do that!!!”.

Here is my pathetic attempt:

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUvtFgIRXUE’]

So, then I thought “No big deal – I will just do them on my knees.”

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zff-5Z_jtqQ’]

Umm….form????

Moving on…. I decided to continue working on my strength and will hopefully attempt those again later!

I picked a different 43 and started fresh! This one was a side-lying triceps push-up.

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfwhesD9kZg’]

I know it looks like I’m going really fast (maybe I was a little too fast at the beginning) but that is just the demo!!! Completing 43 of these on each side really was a great work-out for my triceps!!!

Today was another day of (I’m sure this is no surprise!!!) – Les Mills Combat. Today was Combat 45 – another fast-pace, fun-filled over-all great work-out!!! (Really, I just wanted to see how many word combos I could hyphenate!)

I thought about getting in some punching bag work (and I might still do that). I’m really hoping that Jordan will want to go for a nice easy jog with me when he gets home this afternoon – it is supposed to be mid-60s!!!! Even if I can’t convince him (I would just drag him along but he is bigger than me), I might lace up and head out later!!! Gotta enjoy the nice weather now since I’m sure that in a day or two it will be gone again!

Do any of y’all have a particular move or exercise that you are trying to build up to?

Happy Wednesday!!!

Kim

Biceps, Circuit, Fitness, Shoulders, Squats, Triceps

Groundhog as Meteorologist (at least today!)

February 2, 2013 Kim

Today’s 43 was another circuit that I thought would be fun – you know I love to work as many different muscles as possible!!! This one was pretty much a total body circuit!!

Sometimes it is more challenging to keep the legs stationary than it is to move them! The single leg squats require core strength to keep your balance. Adding the hops and weights helps get your heart rate up! Score on many levels!!

I liked this circuit as a 43 – it went really quickly, too. 43 reps = 129 of each of the arm exercises!!!

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9pfYrxxyDc’]

After the circuit I still wanted to do a bit more today so I did one of my 10 Minute Solution DVDs – Ultimate Boot Camp with Jessica Smith. I only did 3 of the 5 sections: Fat Fighting Skills & Drills (intervals of high intensity cardio – loved this section!), Ultimate Total Body Training (power, strength & endurance moves combined – loved!), and Six Pack Ab Attack (duh – core!).

This was a great work-out for me. Each of the 10 minutes were non-stop activity and Jessica actually put together some moves that were new for me (love when that happens – sometimes it seems like all of the work-outs use the same ‘ol moves!!!)

So, in case you didn’t get up and watch the news

the famous ground hog did not see his shadow so spring is on the way!! And we all know that just like our local meteorologist – this guy is totally accurate (at least 50% of the time!!!)!

Cute tradition! And if you live in or around Punxsutawney, PA I guess it is a pretty big deal! Maybe Topeka should come up with something fun like that…hmmm……

Well, no matter when spring arrives these little guys always make me smile!

Happy Saturday (in the middle of winter!)!!

Kim

Fitness, Lunges, Triceps

Are You a Trivia Master?

January 23, 2013 Kim 5 Comments

Today the 43 was another multi-joint exercise!!! The lower body portion was static – I just held a lunge:

The upper body was to work my triceps. I did kickbacks while staying in a low lunge for the entire 43.

Umm...elbow higher?! — Umm…elbow higher?!

Jordan - take the picture - I'm dying here!!!! — Jordan – take the picture already – I’m dying here!!!!

And, you know, that I have to make sure things stay semi-balanced so I did 43 on each side!!! I used a 12 pound dumbbell for the first 33 with my right arm and then dropped to 10 pounds. On my left, I only got to 28 with the 12 pound weight and then I had to do the last 15 with a 10 pound so that I didn’t sacrifice form. Staying in the lunge the whole time – brutal and awesome!!!

Today was another day of Combat!!!! I did Combat 30 (cardio) and then I decided to try a new one – Core Attack. WOW – 20 minutes of solid core work. By the end when one of the people on the DVD said it was awesome, I’m pretty sure I used a different choice of words for how I was feeling. This was an intense 20 minutes!!!

Last night, Jordan and some of his friends/classmates were recognized at the school board meeting. In the fall, they competed in a National academic competition – Knowledge Master Open (KMO). They placed 1st out of 38 teams in the state of Kansas and 29th out of 508 teams in the nation!!!

Pretty awesome!!! Way to go guys (and girls)!!!! (and did you notice that Jordan is wearing something besides a white T-shirt and white Nike shorts? Rare!!)

The competition is broken into categories – law, government, history, even “useless trivia.”

So, let’s see how many of y’all are current on random facts (you never know when you might need some useless bit of knowledge!).

What quartet arrived in New York City on February 7, 1964?
Where are the Haversian canals?
What distance did the Romans once define as 1,000 paces?

If you can answer any of these I will be super impressed!!! (You thought there was a prize didn’t you?!) The prize is just knowing that you know “stuff”!!!

Happy Wednesday!

Kim

Fitness, Triceps

No Chicken Wings Here!

December 16, 2012 Kim 2 Comments

Oh – wrong kind (but these look sort-of delicious)!

Anyway, for my 43 today I worked my triceps (chicken wings). When I was in high school (ages ago!) I had a teacher who every time she wrote on the chalkboard (I told you it was a long time ago!!!) her arms did this wavey thing. (She really wasn’t overweight.) At the time I knew very little about fitness and toning, etc. but I remember telling myself, daily, that I would never have arms like that! Now I know that for my teacher it was just a complete lack of toning (ever) and I try to spend plenty of time on my triceps!!!

I used this awesome band to work my triceps:

I love this band – it has so many uses! Plus, it is portable and easy to take when I travel!

I wanted to get maximum resistance with the band so I choked way up on it.

choke way up on the band (maybe don't slouch, though!) — choke way up on the band (maybe don’t slouch, though!)

I started with my right arm in front of my forehead and my left arm bent back.

Then I slowly extended both arms and held before returning to the start.

Pull (now you should look completely bored!)

The first 20 or so weren’t too bad. By the time I got to 30, my arms were on fire. The last few were complete agony! It was great! This was another 2 setter – 43 with my right arm and 43 with the left.

Yesterday afternoon I wrapped presents and I think that I’m to the point where I’m completely done with everything!! Now I’m ready to enjoy this season and my family! (well maybe a few last minute things – plus meal planning, grocery shopping….OK, sort-of done with everything!)

Happy Sunday!

Kim

Day With KT