Tag Archives: planks

Core, Fitness, Foam Roller, Running

Planks, Planks and more Planks (4/6-4/12)

April 12, 2014 Kim 48 Comments

This week the daily 44 was all about trying new plank variations – fun times for sure!!!

Sunday 4/6 – 44 plank with opposite arm/leg reach and crunch. This one took a LOT of balance but it was fun!!!

Of course, after I did one set of 44 I had to switch sides and do another set.

Not gonna lie, this move was a challenge!!!

And, Sunday was Hunter’s first long run for his half marathon training. It was 50 minutes. We did a 4 minute run and 1 minute walk (we will probably do this for at least a month on the long runs since he had never run over 3 miles before starting this!).

4.78 miles total

Monday 4/7 – 44 plank with feet on wobble balls, alternate step offs. (right foot off – right foot on, left foot off – left foot on = 1 rep)

Back to plank with both feet on.

I liked this plank move but it was a long time to hold plank!!!

Run – 8 miles (63:50) + 1.25 easy miles

Tuesday 4/8 – 44 side plank with rotation (elbow to ground)

And, you know that I can’t be lopsided so I had another set of 44.

This move was hard – sometimes I think that holding plank on the elbow is just as hard as holding it on your hand!!!

Another day, another run! 7 miles (54:04) + 0.5 miles easy

Wednesday 4/9 – 44 rocking planks with hands on foam roller (my favorite move of the week!).

This one must have been easier than some of the other options of the week because I really enjoyed it!!!

The morning workout was all about Turbo Fire. I did Upper 20, Lower 20 and Core 20 for a nice hour that worked my entire body using bands!!!

Red band - upper and core Green band - lower — Red band – upper and core
Green band – lower

Wednesday afternoon we went on a family run. Hunter and I had 35 minutes on tap and Chris and Jordan tagged along for some of the run.

35 minutes – 3.5 miles

Thursday 4/10 – 44 corkscrew planks. This move I got from Nellie (Brooklyn Active Mama) and it was HARD!!! Basically from the plank position, you twist your body so that your right arm goes underneath you and you drop your hips. When you return to plank, lift your right leg.

After ~~suffering through~~ completing all the reps on one side, switch sides and let the fun begin again!

I struggled a lot to finish but I made it through all of the reps – thankfully!

Then I ran 11 miles – (86:52) + 0.5 easy miles.

Friday 4/11 – 44 plank with moving dumbbell. This is a move that Monique (Burpees to Bubbly) had as part of a 3-2-1 workout the other day!

Basically, you start in plank with a dumbbell outside of your right hand (I used 12 pounds). With your right hand, move the DB between your hands (return to plank). Take your left hand and move the DB outside of your left hand (return to plank). Reverse the move to complete 1 rep.

Trying to keep the rest of my body still was HARD!!!

The workout was fun – Turbo Jam – Turbo Sculpt. This workout is a fun way to get in some toning with Chalean. She suggested 3-5 pound dumbbells for females but I went with 8s – it was a challenge!!!

And, after school, Hunter and I (Jordan joined us for about half) had another run! This was supposed to be a 30 minute run. We ended up running faster than we have been.

3.37 miles in 28:26 (8:26 pace). We picked up the pace every mile – hooray for Hunter!!!

Saturday 4/12 – 44 pike planks on the stability ball. So, maybe these were the hardest move of the week -not sure but they were definitely challenging!!!

Lots of wobbling to complete 44 reps of this move!

And, another day of running (I’m on a major streak right now!!) – 7 miles in 47:51 + 0.65 easy miles.

I’m loving the extra running with Hunter right now – good for preparing for my big race that is 4 weeks from today!!!

Total miles for the week – 43.87 + 3.68 easy one = 47.55

Do you like planks? Do you have some new variations I need to try?

Happy Saturday!!

Kim

Core, Fitness, Shoulders

Paging, Planking & Punching on President’s Day

February 18, 2013 Kim 14 Comments

Today I did a plank step-up for my 43. I used the top part of my transfirmer

14" double step (the Transfirmer) — 14″ double step (the Transfirmer)

which is a 6″ step. I put it under me lengthwise while I was in a plank. Then I did step-ups with my hands – right hand up to step, left hand up, right hand down, left hand down = 1 rep.

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crwbkv9YdJQ’]

I tried to keep my body as still as possible but there was a bit of wobble. Half-way through (after 22), I switched and put my left hand up first. 43 fun reps!!

This week I’m repeating last week’s Les Mills Combat plan. Because of my long run on Tuesday I skipped the HIIT workout and then never got back on track – I didn’t do either of the big HIIT programs last week. So it’s a do-over!!! Today was one of my favorites – Combat 60 – Cardio Fighter!!!

After the Combat work-out, I decided to put on my sweet pink boxing glovesand spend some time on the punching bag. I did 20 minutes of solid punching (jabs and crosses only today) – I’m pretty sure that my shoulders and upper back will be sore tomorrow!!! And, the punching bag makes me sweat as much as a hard run!!

Today, Jordan is paging for a local senator.I’m not exactly sure what all that entails besides a day at the Capital. I think Jordan was excited about it (awesome cause he usually prefers to just hang out at home on days out of school)!

One of his friends asked him a couple of weeks ago if he wanted to page with her and he decided he would. (They actually both paged 2 years ago, and it was a good experience then.) Plus, he is all dressed up (and not wearing his standard “uniform” of white Nike shorts and T-shirt!!!).

I hope he has a great day!! I’m sure he will learn lots and have some great stories to share tonight at dinner!!! One more picture of my handsome young man…

The rest of us (Hunter, Chris & I) aren’t nearly as exciting! We are probably just going to chill at home and enjoy the day – who knows – maybe they will play a game with me later!!!

Check out the weird clouds:You can tell the sun was shining then by the shadows but the entire time I was kicking and punching this morning, the clouds were getting darker and darker! Creepy!!!

Happy Monday – have a great President’s Day – hopefully it is a day off for you, too!

Kim

Cardio, Fitness, Pull-Ups

Spider Walking

February 15, 2013 Kim 9 Comments

Don’t be scared!!!

(Sorry, hope spiders don’t gross you out!!! I find them fascinating!!!)

Today’s 43 was one of those that worked pretty much every inch of my body!!! Spider walking!!! Fun stuff for sure!!!

Start in plank or push-up position. Walk your opposite knee and hand forward while dropping your body lower – repeat with other side – continue!

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-n3DRMobVYk’]

Jordan has pretty good form – don’t you think??

I counted 3 forward walks on each side (I think that is what Jordan did in the demo, too) as 1 rep then I stood, turned and went the other direction for the next one until I reached the magic # of 43!!! I felt this in my arms, shoulders, core, hip flexors and quads!!!! How’s that for a 5-1 combo move?!

Today I was back to Les Mills Combat with a new work-out: Combat 60 Live – Ultimate Warrior! This has to be my favorite one yet!!! First off, besides the Combat crew, there were about 400 people doing the work-out with them! Second, this work-out was HARD and very intense!!! The 60 minutes went by very quickly because, like all of their work-outs, it is broken into segments and you can see the segment (and total) time at the bottom of the screen.

What I really liked was the fact that there were some new moves and combos in this one!! Plus, the cool-down was different from the others but very effective!!!

Love trying new work-outs!!!

It’s hard to see but this skirt would have been great for yesterday. Running love!! Maybe next year I will do a Valentine’s day run!!

Hooray for a LONG weekend!!! The boys have 5 days out of school (they were out yesterday, too) because of parent/teacher conferences and an inservice on Monday. Chris is off today (SDO – scheduled day off. They work 9 hour days and then have an SDO every other week – pretty cool.) and Monday for President’s Day!WooHoo!! Love it when every one is off!!!

And, finally – 15th day of February and I’m still doing the number of wall-sits to sync up with the day – today I’ve completed 15 1-minute wall-sits. Not gonna lie – it is getting hard!!! I have to spread them out a little more. (I make tally marks as I do them so I don’t lose count and cheat or do any extra!!!) Hunter & Chris are participating, too!!! Hunter does burpees every day and Chris is doing push-ups daily!!! (Jordan opted out – party pooper!!)

Happy Fun Friday!!!

Kim

Core, Fitness, Shoulders

Super Day Sunday!!!

February 3, 2013 Kim 9 Comments

Yikes!! Today’s 43 was one of those times when I sort-of wished that I was closer to 20!!! The move itself wasn’t too bad – it’s just the act of knocking out 43 that really pushed me!!

I did plank up-downs today. 43 times!!!!!

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtiZCco5xJ4′]

I did my best to keep my body straight even during the up-down part but it was definitely a challenge!!!!

And the rest of the work-out…..Day Off!!!! I’m continuing with my daily wall sits for the month of February – today I did 3 of them for 1 minute each. My quads should be getting stronger by the minute!!!

I keep hearing about some large bowl Super bowl something? Maybe these?

I’m just kidding – I know that today is a huge football game!!! I just don’t get into pro-football much. I’m trying to decide which team to cheer for.

I love this place! Chris and I visited here the first month we were dating!So pretty and so close to Napa and wine!!! Oh, wait – football.

Well, I also like this city:Another gorgeous place! I guess I can’t pick my team based on the beauty of the city or where I have or haven’t been. Hmmmm….