Tag Archives: butt

Stability (6/22-6/28)

June 28, 2014 Kim 42 Comments

This week I used my stability ball and focused on the butt – I ended up doing a lot of new moves and some of them were HARD!!!

Sunday 6/22 – 44 stability ball kick back toner.

Start by placing your hands on the ball – and kick right leg back.

Pull your right knee in to the ball –

Repeat for 44 reps and you will feel this in both legs – your left leg will be shaking!!! And, of course, you don’t want to be off balance so this has to be done on the other leg!!

I will definitely be doing this move more often!!!

Monday 6/23 – 44 hip lifts on stability ball.

This move looks fairly simple but after about 20 you will feel your butt and hamstrings a lot!!

This was a lifting day – Chalean Extreme Burn Circuit 3. Ready to move on to the next phase!!

And, I did a 10 mile run in 76:56 followed by 1.8 miles easy.

Tuesday 6/24 – 44 plank with shins on stability ball and alternate leg lifts.

This was hard to do and hold plank – my butt hurt, my arms were shaking and my core was burning – all signs of a good move.

I did another 10 mile run (76:15) followed by 1.6 easy miles.

Wednesday 6/25 – 44 side leg pulls on stability ball.

Start by leaning on the stability ball with your left side and extend your right leg to the side –

Pull your right knee in to the ball and hold for a 2-count –

After your right hip is dying (or when you complete all reps – 44) then switch sides to go again!!!

This move is another one that I will be doing more often – it was a great way to really work my hips!!!

I finally started the next phase in Chalean Extreme – Push Circuit 1. This phase involves heavier lifting with fewer reps. I have been sore the past couple of days so that is good!!!

And, I pulled out one of my 10 Minute Solution DVDs – Kickbox Bootcamp. This one is fun because the 5 sections are all a little different and it is a great whole body workout!!!

Thursday 6/26 – 44 single leg dead lift with one leg on stability ball.

This move was much harder than it looks!!! Keeping myself balanced was a huge challenge!! And, you know that I can’t just work one side!!

This was another 10 mile run day (I’m not sure why I did 10 miles every day I ran this week – just the amount that fit into my day!!) in 77:12 followed by 2.25 easy miles.

Friday 6/27 – 44 reverse leg lifts on the stability ball

Not gonna lie – this was one of my favorite moves of the week!!!

And, it was a lifting day!! Chalean Extreme – Push Circuit 2. I think I did heavier weights for shoulder presses than I ever have (not saying a lot but…..)!!!

Saturday 6/28 – 44 stability ball leg squeezes with a butt lift.

squeeze and lift your butt - hold for 2-count before lowering — squeeze and lift your butt – hold for 2-count before lowering

This move was great for the butt and inner thighs!!!

And, since we had to go clean for the 3rd day in a row at the venue, I decided to run through town and let Chris start the cleaning!

It was exactly 10 miles at an 8:30 pace (humid and muggy)!!! And, I didn’t have to clean – running beats cleaning any day!!!

Happy Saturday!

Kim

Butt, Fitness, Lunges, Quad, Squats

Silver Linings

May 19, 2013 Kim 27 Comments

Today for my 43 I did some squat and lunge work because yesterday I caught a glimpse of my backside and realized that I have lost a lot of butt toning the past few weeks (TMI??) and swimsuit season is here!!! Yikes!!

So today, I did a 4-step move to try and start back in the right direction (ie – not saggy!!!). I held 12 pound dumbbells during this move to add some extra intensity and weight!

I started with a side-lunge to the right –

Then I stepped my foot back to the center for a squat with feet together –

A side-lunge to the left –

lunge to the left (don't mind the fact that I'm not going super low - wraps get in the way!) — lunge to the left (don’t mind the fact that I’m not going super low – wraps get in the way!)

And finally, another center squat to finish the rep –

One thing I love about doing lower body work like this, I can get my heart rate up while toning!! By the time I finished all 43 reps, I was breathing hard for sure!!

I’m giving myself another recovery day because between being an idiot last week, the storms last night, and being awake from 2-4 this morning while waiting for Jordan and the rest of the band kids to get back, I think it will be the best idea for the day!!

A couple of weeks ago I read the book The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick and loved it!! It is pretty intense but the concept is awesome (I’m not going to do a book review here because you might want to read it yourself!!). The other day, Chris and I watched the movie!!! Awesome movie – great story (and enough humor that Chris even enjoyed it!!).

A lot of times, I don’t like to read a book then watch the movie – it drives me crazy when they don’t match up. However, in this case, I didn’t mind the differences between the 2 (and there were plenty!!). I enjoyed the movie more – it wasn’t as intense (plus, hello, Bradley Cooper!!).

One thing I noticed, though, the concept of Silver Linings is brought out a lot more in the book. Pat (Bradley Cooper), is convinced that he will have a silver lining after all of the hardships he has gone through. I tend to agree with this idea most of the time. I think the times that we need the silver lining the most are sometimes the times it is hardest to really remain positive and believe that every bad situation has some good aspect to it. I think we all have different ways of “looking for the silver linings”. Some of us run! Some of us pray. Some of us turn to friends and/or family. I think the main thing is to keep looking for that Silver Lining because it’s there!!Without the trying times in our lives, we would never fully appreciate the happy times!!

How do you look for the Silver Lining during the low times?

Happy Sunday – I hope it’s full of Silver Linings!!!

Kim

PS – I highly recommend the book (if you’re a reader) and the movie!!

Butt, Fitness, Hamstrings, Recovery, Treadmill

A Life of Moderation or a Life of Extremes – Can the 2 Combine??

March 26, 2013 Kim 25 Comments

Today I used a simple little band for my 43.

This band is fairly small and provides a lot of resistance. ( Note: you could do the move without a band.) I started with the band around one ankle and the bottom of my other shoe:

(Check out my super cute running skirt!! MizFit workout skirt – check it out here.)

From this position, I pushed my foot straight back (it’s not a big move) and then brought it back to the start.

After 43 of the back-push move, I did another set of 43 where I flexed my leg down (without touching the ground) and back up.

push leg down (don't touch ground) — push leg down (don’t touch ground)

These moves may look like nothing but if you squeeze your butt as you do both of them, you will feel it for sure!

Of course, I don’t want my hamstrings or butt to be lopsided so I had to repeat both of the 43s on the other leg. I think the second leg is always harder because it is already a little fatigued from supporting you while you work the first side.

Today was a running day for a couple of reasons: it’s been a few days since my last run and that’s about the only thing I can do because my arms HURT!!!! I’m not sure who thought doing thousands of jumping jacks was a good idea!! Moving my arms to run was OK once I got started but lifting my arms to the side or over my head – painful. I had no idea that jumping jacks could do that to a person – maybe it is because I’m an idiot and did 4,300!!!

Anyway – I ran on my treadmill (I don’t run in snow, you know) at a 1.5% incline – 8 miles (52:17) and then 2.5 more miles much easier for a total of 85:00 minutes.

Moderation can apply to so many things and areas of our lives. We all know that I like wine and cosmos and… but I do try to always use moderation in that part of my life.Potato chips – ummm…..hard to have moderation here! (I have to just not buy them!!!)

What about other areas of life (not just food/beverages)? Is moderation important?

In a lot of ways, I’m an all-or-nothing person. I know that isn’t always for the best but

I don’t really think that (all the time)! Some days I need to work on moderation (like when I have a stupid idea to do 4,300 jumping jacks!!!) but other days I kind of like extremes!

What are you – moderate, extreme, mixture of both, neither?

Happy Tuesday!!

Kim

Butt, Core, Fitness, Running, Treadmill

Monday Morning Blues

February 4, 2013 Kim 8 Comments

For my 43 today, I took a move that works your butt and by using my BOSU like this

turned into a true challenge!!! Trying to stay balanced really amped up the difficulty level!

I did a “hydrant” kick. Start on all 4s:

Push one leg straight up with a 90 degree bend in your knee.

From this lovely position, move your leg across your other leg and touch the knee to the floor.

Return to 90, drop the knee straight down and repeat until you reach desired # of reps – 43 for me. Of course, I can’t walk around unbalanced (any more than I already am!) so I did a second set of 43 with my other leg. My butt was burning and my core got a great work-out!!!

Today was another day of Les Mills Combat – Combat 30. Since it was a short work-out (30 minutes) I decided to do more today. So I ran!!!

For some reason after I dropped both boys off at school this morning, I was in a bit of a funk. Not sure why – we had a great weekend, enjoyed the game with friends last night (and I didn’t care about the outcome) – just a bit blue…

So, I did what any blue frog would do – RUN!!!

I decided to really push myself and see how far I could run in 43:00 minutes. I set the incline to 1.5%, started at an 8:00 minute pace (7.5) and increased 0.1 every 45 seconds. Outcome: 43:00 minutes = 7.3 miles!!! (sub 6:00 pace overall).

I think I outran my funk!!! (or I’m just too tired to know any different!!)

Now, since I put off grocery shopping and other errand running over the weekend, I’m fixing to head to the dreaded

Good times for sure!!!

Happy Monday (hope you aren’t fighting off the blues, too)!!!

Kim

4th day of February = 4x 1 minute wall sits – DONE!!!

Butt, Circuit, Fitness

Epic Shelving Disaster!!!

January 6, 2013 Kim 6 Comments

The 43 today had to be lower body because my upper body is sore!!! I did an exercise to work my butt and quads plus a bonus core work-out!!

The move started with a front kick

right into a back kick

This was one of those great exercises where I did 43 with my left leg and then immediately did a second set of 43 with my right leg. I tried to barely tap my toe in between kicks so that I could get the extra core work trying to keep my balance.

The rest of my work-out today was the 12 Days of Fitness. Today was the final day so I decided to take it a step further – I did the entire thing 5x through! It was a great work-out!!! I did it like a circuit and just kept moving from one exercise to the next. My heart rate was way up there!!!

If you haven’t clicked over to check the plan out, here it is. (Gina at the Fitnessista always has great work-outs like this on her site!!!)

Day 12 12 Sumo Burpees
Day 11 11 Weighted Squats (25 pound DBs for me)
Day 10 10 Overhead Press (15 pound DBs for me)
Day 9 9 Lateral Lunges – each side (25 pound DBs for me)
Day 8 8 Bicep Curls (15 pound DBs for me)
Day 7 7 Triceps Dips
Day 6 6 Pull-Ups (assisted ones for me – used a step stool)
Day 5 5 Frog Crunches
Day 4 4 Toe Touches – each side
Day 3 3 Mountain Climbers – each side
Day 2 2 Push-Ups
Day 1 1 Minute Plank (arms extended)

It really didn’t take long to go through the whole set (less than 5 minutes) – the weights really got my heart rate going. Bonus – 5 total minutes in plank today!!!

Yesterday while putting up all of the Christmas stuff, I had a ~~minor~~ ~~large~~ DISASTER of EPIC proportion!!! I have a few cookbooks and all of them were on the jankity shelves in our storage room so that I could have Christmas decorations (Santas) everywhere!!!

I was stacking a plastic tub full of Christmas stuff in the corner by the shelves and this happened:

It was scary because I could see the shelves going down but I couldn’t do anything to stop it except jump back out of the way so that I didn’t get buried alive!!! Because the shelves contained a lot of other ~~crap~~ stuff and some of it was breakable and I heard that awful shattering noise over my loud screams! I had to keep the boys back because I didn’t want any cut feet in addition to the mess. They were troopers though – I pulled books out and they carried them upstairs – lots and lots of trips upstairs!!

Many hours later, after a trip to the store and more teamwork on the part of the boys and myself, our storage room looked like this:

Check out the new – STURDY – shelves put together by yours truly!

New Shelves - built by me! — New Shelves

We might have a bit of Christmas decorations – can’t help it – I love Christmas!!!

6 trees boxed & stacked1 $5 garage sale bargain tree left out! — 6 trees, boxed & stacked
1 $5 garage sale bargain tree left out!

Today I just need to get a few more of the green bins (I decided that if I had to reorganize I might as well color coordinate!!!) and then I think the room will be done!

Last night we had the privilege of watching a friend’s 6 month old little boy while they went to a winter party. Fun times!!! Always a joy to get in a little baby time!

Happy Sunday – hopefully no disasters ahead!!!

Kim