Tag Archives: push-ups

The Holidays can be a Hard and Lonely Time

December 19, 2013 Kim 66 Comments

Push-ups!!! It’s been a long week of very little activity and avoiding movements that make me move my head but today I did a variation of one of my favorite moves for the 44!!!

I used a foam roller –

to do push-ups. (not sure why it looks like I have a huge bald circle???)

This was a bit rough today but 44 push-ups always makes me feel semi-strong!!!

Looking around, there are so many people who struggle during this time of year. Society “tells you” that you should be Merry and Bright but sometimes that is hard for a number of reasons.

There are so many people who are hurting right now for a variety of reasons. I think that one of the main reasons that people struggle through the holiday season is loneliness!

Even with all of the commotion going on everywhere you turn right now, there are many people who feel completely isolated.

For some, it is just because they are separated from family by distance and due to work, time, finances or numerous other factors they can’t be with the ones they are closest to.There are also many people that don’t really have family to be with during the holidays. Even though they may have great friends, sometimes it is awkward to join someone else’s family on a holiday.

Since Chris and I have been married, we have spent many Christmases without any family. Many years it is just the 4 of us – sometimes we have friends over and other times we hang out together.

This year we decided to start a new tradition and hopefully reach out to some of those who are lonely and feeling left out during this time of year.

I know that we can’t make things perfect for people but I hope that we can at least help a few people who might not have anyone to celebrate with spend a few hours enjoying themselves!

I hope that this becomes a new yearly tradition and a way to spend time with friends both old and new!!!

Happy Thursday!

Kim

Chest, Core, Fitness, Shoulders

500 Posts!!!

November 16, 2013 Kim 68 Comments

Today’s 44 was a super fun move!!! I got it from the super cute Allie @ VitaTrain4Life. Allie is tough and she made this move look easy but it was hard!!! She actually included this move in an entire ab workout – Allie’s Abs – I should probably do the entire video for a 44 – maybe then my abs would look more like hers!!!

Anyway, the move – 4 mountain climbers and a push-up x 44!!!

I realized the other day that my published posts were getting close to 500 and TODAY is the day that I’m publishing my 500th post!!!

I have actually only blogged for 427 consecutive days (365 days of 43 and 62 days of 44) but along the way I’ve done posts with recipes, boot camps, some workout reviews and even a few random fun posts!!!

To celebrate my 500th post I thought I would share a few of my favorite posts.

My very first post ever was on my birthday in 2012 when I turned 43 – I had absolutely no clue what I was doing but I’m so glad I decided to give blogging a try!

Because we all know by now that I love a nice ~~bottle~~ ~~glass~~ bottle of wine, this post about German wine makes me smile!!! (Except I’m down to only a couple of bottles left – not cool!!)

Some of the pictures we took in our attempt to get a good one for our Christmas card last year were super entertaining – mostly thanks to Jordan!!! Actually, it’s about time for me to think about this year’s family picture – better get on that!!!

I have to share my all-time favorite drink – The Educated Cosmo – just saying the name makes me happy!!!

I love to try new recipes and only have a few stand-by dishes that I go back to over and over. The sad thing when I try something new and we all like it, months down the road Chris or one of the boys will ask me to make such-and-such again – ummm……I have no idea how I made it on that day!!! Last February I tried a new crock pot soup and we all loved it – Chicken and Rice Gumbo Soup. I figured that by putting my recipe on here I would be able to go back to it!!!

I think that my favorite boot camp workout that I did this summer was Tabata Boot Camp – super fun way to get in a great workout!

And, I can’t do a list of my favorite posts without listing some of my favorite blogs and blog friends!!! The only problem with that list is it’s a couple months old and I’ve added in a few more favorites since then!!!

I have other favorites but I figure that I’ve been self-indulgent enough for one day!!!

Feel free to link up one of your favorite posts from your site in the comments – such a great way to catch up on any that we might have missed out on!!

Happy Saturday!!!

Kim

Fitness, Push-Ups

Favorite Exercises

October 20, 2013 Kim 47 Comments

Today’s 44 was another push-up variation and it was hard!!! I used –

Step Stability Ball — Step
Stability Ball

To do the push-ups, I put my toes on the step and my hands on either side of the ball.

Just getting in this position was hard – I don’t think you can tell but my arms were shaking!!! From here, I just did normal push-ups.

I couldn’t get my chest all the way to the ball without killing myself so I went as low as I could. Using the stability ball for push-ups is always super hard for me!

It’s no secret that I like to workout and try new moves! Today I thought I would share

Push-ups: As few as 5 years ago, the only way I even attempted push-ups was on my knees. Quite honestly, I never even considered trying them any other way. Now I like to try all sorts of push-up variations. Here are just a few:

Alt. sides of the BOSU - walk over in between — Alt. sides of the BOSU – walk over in between

Squats: Squats have always been one of my favorites!! I used to do 100s of squats at a time way back in my 20s!!! There are so many ways to do squats but I’m just picking a few today!

lift and hold — Start on ball – lift, hover, hold before lowering back down

single leg squats – right toe is barely touching floor

Burpees: Burpees are one of those moves that many people hate. This is another move I used to dread. There was a time not many years ago that when I did workout DVDs and burpees were included, I used that time as a water break!!! Now, I have all kinds of fun with this move!!!

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

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thv3mJioVSA’]

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCSfRRoiuA4′]

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQT6e33BNuM’]

Burpees with rotating squat jump:

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtBPSB1xiDo’]

I could actually go on and on with my list of favorite exercises because I like to work every part of my body and there are really only a few moves that I still don’t like – JUMPING LUNGES!!!

What are some of your favorite exercises? Do you like to do different variations?

Happy Sunday!

Kim

Core, Fitness, Push-Ups

Tuesday Tidbits

September 10, 2013 Kim 66 Comments

Today’s 43 was one of those that I knew was going to be hard from the first rep!!! I used a step (8″) and did an incline push-up then bear crawled over it and did a decline push-up and bear crawled back to the start.

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

As a side note – my shirt/short combo are making my butt look exceptionally big today!!! Nice!

Today was a hot, muggy Garage Boot Camp – these 100+ days are keeping it hot all night and into the morning!! We did a repeat workout from last week – the 25 in 1 workout. This is a series of 8 moves, 1 minute to get 25 reps of each. Some of the moves it is easy to get 25 and have a little breather but I set it up so that the last 4 are pretty much straight through!!! We completed 4 rounds so we got 100 reps of each move:

squat jacks
plank jacks
jumping lunges
push-ups
front kick right/back kick left (front/back = 1)
toe touch sit-ups
front kick left/back kick right
hurpees (burpees without a push-up)

This is a fun way to work your entire body and keep your heart rate up!

So, I was planning to do a fun post about all of the great bloggers I’ve met this year but since I was a bum last night and this morning I’m rushing to hit publish, I’m going to save it for later this week!!!

Instead I just have some random thoughts today!!

I finally uploaded some of the band picture from Friday night –

It was so nice that Jordan was on the end – made it easier to get a few pictures!!!

Tonight, Hunter has his 2nd practice for the Youth Philharmonic!!! I’m going to try to make sure that he isn’t late this week. Last week, I didn’t allow enough time and he was a few minutes late – on the way inside he said, “I don’t want to draw attention to myself.” Umm….have you seen yourself?

Since he wears highlighter yellow almost every day he sort of stands out in a crowd – silly boy!!!

My dining room table is finally cleared off – yesterday’s top project was to get the clutter under control!!!

This morning is hair day – I think I’m ready for another change just not sure what I want to do!!!

And – this afternoon is looking really good for………..

Feel free to share some tidbits from your day!

Happy Tuesday!

Kim

BOSU, Core, Fitness, Push-Ups

September Is Going to be EPIC!!!

September 1, 2013 Kim 32 Comments

Today I started with a plan for my 43 and ended up having to do an extremely modified version!!! I used my BOSU & stability ball for some hard-core push-ups!!

I put my legs on the stability ball and my hands on the upside down BOSU to do push-ups. Not easy because the BOSU wobbles when it is upside down and the stability ball wants to roll every where – good for the core though because you have to work so hard just to maintain your balance.

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdmA00gKnfg’]

My original plan was to put just my feet on the stability ball and roll the ball in close so that the push-up was more of a pike position – Um…..that move needs some serious work!!!

I did one of my favorite workouts – Turbo Fire!!! Today I did Fire 45 – 45 minutes of nonstop cardio that is super fun because Chalean keeps the energy high and the music going!

September – so many fun and exciting things coming up this month!!

1. Friday night high school football games – Jordan is in marching band and has his first game in just a few days!!

2. Cross country meets – Hunter is running middle school cross country. The meets are on Saturday mornings, Tuesday afternoons, a Wednesday meet (it varies). He has 6-8 meets in the next month!!!

3. Texas Longhorn football!!! College football is back and I’m hoping that the Longhorns have a better season than they have the past few years.

supporting the Horns even when dressed for church!

They are off to a good start with a 56-7 win last night!!! Hook ’em Horns!!!

4. This is the first month of our new business! This month we have several weddings/receptions booked and I’m going to work on some of my plans to add in more events at our venue!!!

5. In 2 short weeks (just 14 more days!) I will have accomplished 2 huge goals:
365 consecutive daily 43s
365 days with a daily blog post

6. And – IT’S MY BIRTHDAY MONTH!!! 2 weeks from tomorrow I will start in with a new goal and a new challenge – Daily 44s starting with my birthday run – 44 miles!!!!