Tag Archives: punching bag

Some Happy News!!!

Today for my 43 I used a fun piece of equipment that I really want to use more but this little thing called TIME is holding me back – 

always a fun piece!
always a fun piece!

Instead of punching, I did front kicks!!!  

right
right

I did 43 with my right leg and then switched and did 43 with my left.

left
left

And, in case you can’t tell – the pictures are me trying to pose (they were after I was done with my workout) and my balance was off!!!

I got up before the roosters so I could run (3rd day in a row – longest streak in a long time!!!) on my treadmill again and still have the entire day to tackle my long list of projects.  

I ran with 1.5% incline – 6 miles in 41:52 (about 6:59 average pace) and then did 1.5 miles much slower for my cool down.  I’m happy that after 3 consecutive days of good runs my legs feel OK!!

Poppa
Poppa

Some of you might remember that the day we got to Florida (July 20) my Poppa had to be airlifted to the hospital.  He had a heart attack and tests later revealed that his heart was only operating at about 15%.  

He was in the hospital for about a week and a half and then he was moved into a rehab hospital to try and regain some strength.  He has been in the rehab hospital for 2 weeks now and gotten a little stronger every day.

My twin brother (Tim) called me yesterday and said that this afternoon he gets to return to his beloved ranch on the mountain!!!

DSCN3202

I know that it will be a hard road for my aunt since she lives at the ranch with him and is the primary (sole) care-giver but I’m so excited that he gets to go home!!!  Hopefully I can get down to help out soon!!

At 98 he will never fully regain his strength but I know that he will be much happier at the ranch than in a hospital and I am very excited for him to go home!!!

Happy Thursday!!

Kim

Why Didn’t I Think of This Sooner??!!

Today for my 43, I used Hunter’s punching bag!!Punching BagOne of the best parts about using the punching bag is getting to wear my super cool pink boxing gloves:

Pink Gloves Rock!!
Pink Gloves Rock!!

I decided to make this into a “semi” workout.  (small scale for sure!)  I did 43 right jabs and then 43 left jabs – and repeated that 10 times without stopping. (430 total right jabs + 430 total left jabs)

this picture is totally posed!
this picture is totally posed!

Then, I moved right into  right-left alternating punches   for another 43 x 10 reps (this part was actually 860 total punches).  A total of 1290 right punches and 1290 left punches all of which I will probably feel tomorrow since my arms were shaking by the end!

This 43 (or series of 43s) was the best thing I’ve done in awhile.  It only took 14 minutes but I worked up a bit of  a sweat (WooHoo!!) and got my heart rate up.  Plus – it felt good to punch something!!!

Since I can’t do much with my legs, I just planted them and then tried to  really twist using my core because it needs a LOT of work after the past couple of weeks!

I can’t believe that I haven’t used the punching bag before now!  Oh, well – I might be slow coming up with a good idea but at least I finally came up with something that makes me feel like I’m sort-of working out!!  Now, I just need to build my stamina back up!!!

I even got dinner started (love my crock pots!) this morning so that Chris doesn’t feel like he has to do everything around here!!!

Crock Pot

I’m just full of ideas this morning!!  Wonder what else I can come up with?  So many possibilities – as long as the rest of my ideas for the day involve this move

clearly not the way my legs look right now
clearly not the way my legs look right now

then I can do anything!!!

Happy Wednesday!

Kim

Paging, Planking & Punching on President’s Day

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 glovesPink 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.DSCN0042I’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)!

so grown up
so grown up

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!!!).

tall!
tall!

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…

Look how handsome he is!!!
Look how handsome he is!!!

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:Weird CloudsYou 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

The Knock-Out Punch

I have been enjoying my Combat work-outs so much that I decided to do some boxing for my 43 today.  I used Hunter’s punching bag.Punching Bag

And, happiness – I wore my pink boxing gloves!!!

Pink boxing gloves make me smile!!
Pink boxing gloves make me smile!!

For the 43 I started with a right stance and, using my right arm did a jab, hook, uppercut series plus a left cross.  (I feel like my punching technique has improved thanks to the hints I’ve gotten from the Les Mills crew.)  Of course, I had to switch my stance after I got to 43 and do another set with a left jab, hook, uppercut, right cross.  As a bonus, I did 43 alternating jabs to finish!

Boxing makes me feel powerful!!!  I didn’t think I would like it as much as I do!

Screen shot 2013-01-31 at 6.58.01 AM

I also did a Les Mills Combat work-out – Combat 45.  Great work-out  – especially the jumping side kicks and the jumping knees!!!

While I was punching and kicking today, I was thinking about things I would use a knock-out punch on.

My first thought was this: Screen shot 2013-01-31 at 7.11.28 AMBut then I would have missed out on my work-out opportunity of the day and that would not have been cool!

Then I thought I would knock-out all of the daily aches and pains I experience thanks to getting older!!!Screen shot 2013-01-31 at 6.59.25 AM

But even that is a totally selfish thought use of my knock-out punch!

What I would really, really like to use it on is Cancer.  Cancer sucks!!! The last 1.5 – 2 years it seems like many people in my circle of friends, aquaintances, etc. have been hit hard.  So, I would say –  Screen shot 2013-01-31 at 7.19.35 AM

 

And on that note, time to take on Thursday!!  4th graders today!!!  (I won’t be doing any knock-out punches at school!!!)

Happy Thursday!

Kim