Just Messin’ Around

Today for my 43, I pulled out a piece of equipment that I forgot I even had (and I have no idea where it came from).Bally Disc

It is a Bally disc.  Kind-of cool because the disc actually spins so you have to hold your core tight if you want to stay still.Bally Disc

The black part is the spinning part.  I decided to just play around with this and see what all I could do with it.

First, I stood on it and twisted.  I did 3 sets of 43 twists.

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jf3pwJT3NPM’]

I’m not sure if it would be possible for me to look any goofier than I do in that demo!!!

Then I decided to stand on the disk and do side-bicep curls (43, of course).

Hello!
Hello!
hold it....
hold it….
keep your elbows close to you!
keep your elbows close to you!
made it!
made it!

The bands aren’t really very long and they are sort-of tight so this was a pretty good exercise.  I decided to try one more 43 – alternate front raises.

ouch!
ouch!
painful
painful

This last 43 (on each side!!!) was the hardest!!   Gotta keep working on my shoulders!!!

Overall, I’m not sure how often I will pull this disc out – judging by the dust I had to clean off of it this time, not very often!!!  It was fun to mess around and do some different things for my 43 today so the disc has some value!!!

After I finished up the 43s of the day, I did Les Mills Combat – HIIT Plyo.  This is a great HIIT work-out.  It is only 30 minutes but it is super high intensity.  Lots of jumping squats, plyo lunges and burpees!!!  I also did the Core Attack work-out again because I like to torture myself challenge myself!

Yesterday was a fun girl’s day out (we even had a glass of wine with our lunch) – shopping really works up an appetite!!!  The best part of the day was coming home at dinner time to the yummy meal that Chris had all ready!!

Last night, Chris and I watched Pitch Perfect using Apple TV.   That Apple TV is handy – all you need is a remote – no DVD player required!!!  (The DVD has to be preloaded and….blah, blah, blah…..but that is behind the scenes work on Chris’ part!!!).  Chris admitted he thought the movie was going to be hokey but he ended up enjoying it as much as I did!!!

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siEHekc-1oE’]

My favorite type of movie – funny with a  happy ending – a true feel-good movie.

Happy Saturday!

Kim

 

Lovin’ Friday!

Today I mixed it up – crazy, I know!!!  I did my 43 at the end of my work-out.  Not my favorite way to get things done!!!  I like to kick things off with the 43 because for a lot of the exercises – 43 seems like a really large number and I like to hit it while I’m fresh!!!!

Anyway, today I did a move from Tae-Bo (I think it is in the Boot Camp series but I can’t actually remember which DVD it is from!).  It is a sit-up but when you come up, you split your legs and reach forward.

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YN9AvWVPuEA’]

This actually turned out to be a great 43 to do at the end of a work-out because besides the core work from the sit-up, it has a bit of a stretch!

I started my day with some Les Mills Combat – Combat 60 Ultimate Warrior!!!  Great start to any day – especially Fun Friday!!

I typically don’t run 2 days in a row with my history of injuries but today was a short run for a good cause.  Rachelle posted about a virtual 1.5 run today for a little boy (Colton) who is fighting Leukemia.  The idea is to wear orange (color to support Leukemia) and send a picture.  You can click over to her site for more details.  I thought it was a great idea so I hoped on my treadmill and  did a quick 1.5 miles.

Virtual run for Colton
Virtual run for Colton
totally posed picture
totally posed picture

Since I worked out early, I had to wait for Jordan to get up to actually take my picture – done running by that point!!!

I’m excited to be checking out a new (to me) place today.  I’m going with a friend to The Pink Suitcase.  Hmm…I wonder if they carry work-out clothes since that is what I seem to be living in these days!  It should be fun – girl’s day out!!!

And – it is supposed to be 50 degrees today!!!!  WooHoo!!!

Happy Fun Friday!

Kim

 

Warm or Cold?

Today I decided to come up with another circuit-type 43.  This one was great because it had some toning combined with cardio moves to target the same areas – BONUS!!!

I did the following circuit:Screen shot 2013-01-24 at 10.53.08 AM

I liked it a lot – got my heart rate way up and took about 15  minutes to do all 43 reps. (I didn’t set my timer.)

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

Today is a true example of what a total dork I am – I could tell that my arms were off during the ski run.  Who cares???  Just make big movements with your arms to get your heart pumping – the goofier the better!!!

After my 43 I ran.  I truly planned to run outside this morning but the temp on my car said 11  when I took Hunter to school.   Ummmm….no way – please don’t make me go out there!!  Treadmill – here I come!!!

I did 10 miles at a fairly steady pace with a 1.5 % incline.   Time – 72:49 (only let the last 2 miles drop under 7:00)

I actually felt really good running today.  I tried out some new shoes that I got last week on my Dick’s shopping adventure – the Brooks PureFlow 2.

check out the cool color!
check out the cool color!

I like them OK – not sure I like them as much as my Mizunos!   I do love the color though!!!

Warm or Cold – so many choices!

  • Left-over pizza – I like it either way
  • Apple crisp – Warm!!!
  • Wine – Cold!!
  • Baths – HOT
  • Weather – the warmer the better!!!

I know that there are many people who like weather like this:Screen shot 2013-01-24 at 11.07.38 AMBut my happy spot looks more like this:Screen shot 2013-01-24 at 11.10.36 AM

What about you – Warm or Cold??

Happy Thursday!

Screen shot 2013-01-22 at 2.47.12 PMKim

By the way, the answers to yesterday’s trivia challenge:

  1. the Beattles
  2. in the bones
  3. a mile

 

Are You a Trivia Master?

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

Lunge and Hold!!!
Lunge and Hold!!!

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!!!

shaking hands (look how tall he is!!!)
shaking hands (look how tall he is!!!)

KMO AwardPretty 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”!!!Screen shot 2013-01-23 at 10.05.30 AM

Happy Wednesday!

Kim

 

 

Unlimited Potential

Today for the  43 I used my BOSU again!!!

BOSU
BOSU

Today I used it for cardio, balance and toning all at the same time!!!  I started by standing behind the dome, jumped onto it and squatted, jumped off the sides (straddle) into a squat, jumped back on and squatted then stepped off the back for 1 rep.

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFsT5a6WHyk’]

The demo is painful (I could not get my balance!!).  I found during my actual 43 that if I kept my center of gravity lower (basically stayed in a partial squat) during the jumps, it was easier to stay balanced and do the squats.  I enjoyed this 43!!!

I also did Les Mills Combat – Power HIIT.  I’m not gonna lie – that work-out seems harder every time I do it!!!  Maybe because I know all the exercises and can really push hard the entire 30 minutes.  It has things like power press x 20 (which is actually 60 squats with shoulder presses) and I used 15 pound dumbbells for those today!!  Burpees with push-ups and up into 2 tuck jumps x about a million!  Fun stuff!!!

I wanted to really push myself (I think a couple of lazy days helped me kick my tiny illness and now I’m ready to go hard again!!!) so I decided to hop on my treadmill after the HIIT.  (15 degrees outside is way too cold for me to attempt an outdoor run!!!)

4 miles at 1.5 % incline   25:19    (+ an easy 2 total time 48:45)

  1. 7:48
  2. 6:32
  3. 5:46
  4. 5:13

It was hard but it felt good to push like that after my pathetic attempt outside the other day.  Hopefully it will warm up and I will get back out on the road again this week!!!

Last night on the Biggest Loser, the contestants ran a 5K.  Because I am a complete geek – I actually clapped for each of them as they crossed the finish line!!!  I love it when they (or anyone for that matter) really dig deep and push themselves to do something they thought was completely impossible!!!

Screen shot 2013-01-22 at 10.32.03 AM

I think we all have unlimited potential – we just have to dig deep to find it and then push ourselves to reach it!!!

This guy has the right idea:Screen shot 2013-01-21 at 5.44.41 PM

Yesterday was a big day for Hunter!!!

Hunter before braces - nice pic!
Hunter before braces – nice pic!
Hunter after braces
Hunter after braces

This morning he told me he is already ready to have them off.  Ummm…..soon (like 1.5-2 years!!!).  I think they make him look even older than he really is.

Happy Tuesday!!!

Kim

 

Fitness – Food – Fun