After completing 44 reps on the right side I had to switch sides!
left side
Long run day – 11 miles in 86:46 followed by 0.9 easy miles.
Wednesday 8/6 – 44 deadlift with row (15 pound DBs).
readyhinge downrow
After the row, stand back up to complete a rep! Deadlifts are one of my favorite moves!!!
I only had a short amount of time to workout so I just lifted weights – Chalean Extreme Lean Circuit 2.
Thursday 8/7 – 44 squat with front raise (hands together on 1 DB – 12 pounds).
readysquat and lift arms in front
And, this was another long run day – 12 miles in 90:02 + 2.4 easy miles.
Friday 8/8 – 44 alternate side lunge with overhead triceps extension. (8 pound DB)
startlunge right arms downback to startleft lunge
Because I wanted to do 44 lunges to each side, I ended up doing 88 tricep moves!! My triceps are still sore today!!! Plus, keeping my arms overhead the entire time was a big challenge.
I only did Chalean Extreme Lean Circuit 3 – it was a struggle for some reason!!!
readycurl right with left kneeLeft curl with right knee
I counted a right curl and left curl as 1 rep. This was a great move for really working my core – love balance challenges.
Overall this was a good week of workouts. I didn’t travel to Illinois (obviously!!!) to run the ultra but still got in some good runs and strength workouts.
This week has been all about getting back into a solid workout groove. For the past couple of months I sort of let my weight training and cross training take a back seat to running. Even though I plan to keep logging lots of miles, I need to add in the other work again!!!
Sunday 5/18 – 44 shoulder burners!! This move was a front raise, flip arms over and do a bicep curl with arms out in front (and up), shoulder press, then reverse each step for 1 rep – oh, and I stood on my wobble balls just to increase the FUN!!!
readylift armsflip arms over – palms upbicep curlshoulder pressback downready to reverse the curloutflipfinally finished the rep!
Not gonna lie – my shoulders were dying by the time I finished all 44 of these!!!! (and I only used 5 pound dumbbells)
I did a DVD that I haven’t done in a long time – Jackie Warner X-Treme Crunch Free Abs. This is just over 30 minutes of serious ab/core work. The first half is all done standing and the 2nd half is on the ground. About midnight Sunday night I could really feel all of those moves!!!
I also did a treadmill run. Lately I haven’t even tried to push my pace much and I’m still going to focus on running more miles at an easy pace but every once in awhile I need to pick it up.
5 miles – 35:27 + 1 easy mile to cool down (all at 1.5% incline)
Monday 5/19 – 44 step-ups with a bicep curl.
ready
Push off foot on step to lift up and curl at the same time.
up and curl
After I did 44 on this side I had to switch sides – a total of 88 bicep curls!!! (the main reason I stuck with 8 pound dumbbells!)
ready (not sure what I’m doing with the weights!)up and curl
The nice thing about this move was that it got my heart rate up besides working my biceps, butt and quads!!!
I did one of my favorite workouts – Les Mills Combat – Extreme Cardio Fighter. 60 minutes of kicking and punching at a fairly high intensity!!! Love it!
Tuesday 5/20 – 44 fall backs with medicine ball.
readyfall back – hold
This move was HARD!!! It is great for your core and also for your quads.
The rest of the workout was 10 Minute Solutions – Hot Body Boot Camp. Not gonna lie, of the 5 10 minute sections my favorite this time was the stretching!!! I think I was dragging a little!!!
Wednesday 5/21 – 44 waving triceps while standing on wobble balls.
readyright armleft arm
Trying to stay balanced on the wobble balls and keeping my arms extended the entire time turned this into a great challenge!!! (8 pound dumbbells)
This was a running day – 10 miles in 78:43 plus 1.2 easy miles.
I’m not sure I dropped my arms as far as you are supposed to but I was trying to keep my form good and not bend my arms – lots of muscles involved here!!! (1 12 pound dumbbell)
I wanted to do something a little easier so I did The Biggest Loser – Weight Loss Yoga. Ummm….there was very little easy about the workout. Bob Harper knows his stuff and after 50 minutes of yoga I felt like I had worked out for sure!!!
Friday 5/23 – 44 triceps kickbacks while in chair.
readyback
I know that I should have been lower in “chair” but my quads were burning!!! (8 pound dumbbells)
It was another run day and I decided to make it a bit of a harder pace because lately I feel like I’ve been running slower most of the time.
8 miles (1.5% incline) in 53:27 + 2.4 easy miles. I try not to run hard too often anymore (I used to do it every single run – part of why I was injured more than not) but it was nice to push the pace. (6:41 average)
Saturday 5/24 – 44 leg lifts with a medicine ball between my lower legs.
readyup
Yikes – that move was hard!!! The medicine ball I used was 8 pounds and I told Chris that the hardest part was the ball hurt my ankle bones!!! Even with the whining, I still did another set of 44!!!
2nd side readyup
Hunter and I are supposed to be out running right now – his final long run but it is raining and I’m not a diehard!!! I have zero desire to be soaking wet for over an hour and a half!! We will run later or even in the next day or two – we have some flexibility since he is going to run quite a bit this week before scaling back for the final week before his race!
This week wasn’t a high mileage week for me but it felt good to get in a few runs again. I’m ready to focus on a new goal and plan to keep my miles up while getting in more strength work again!!!
So the title is my poor attempt at a catchy song – but I think I’ve always said it wrong!! I thought it was supposed to be, “It’s all about the money, money, money.” Ummm….maybe it’s supposed to be “It’s NOT about the money, money, money.”
Oh, well – this week has been all about weights and running!!!
Sunday 3/30 – 44 stacked leg oblique crunches with dumbbell (15 pound)
start – right leg on topcrunch to the left
After doing 44 to the left, I switched my top leg and crunched the other direction.
left leg on topcrunch right
Reaching with the dumbbell made this move a challenge!!!
I ran 9 miles (72:51) + 1 easy mile. Trying to continue to increase my miles for about another month (big race coming up!!).
Monday 3/31 – 44 alternating shoulder press while standing on wobble balls. I used 10 pound dumbbells and that was hard by the end!
readyrightleft
I love using the wobble balls for moves like this because you have to keep a slight bend in your knew to hold the balance and that helps take pressure off of your low back!!!
see how little they are?
This was also a running day!!! 8 miles (59:57) plus 2 nice and easy miles.
Tuesday 4/1 – 44 combo shoulder/arm move (5 pound dumbbells – this was hard plenty!) Start with palms facing body –
ready (don’t forget to look bored!)
Raise arms straight up in front –
up
Rotate weights so that your palms are facing down –
palms down
Pull arms back (squeeze your shoulder blades together) –
pull back and squeeze
Lower arms down to side –
down
Curl arms down so that you are back to the start position.
I liked this move – it was a great way to work my entire upper body!!!
I needed a little break from running so I did a 10 Minute Solution DVD – Sculpt, Tone and Reshape with the Figure 8.
figure 8 band
There are so many fun moves with this band – I love what a great workout you can get with it. This DVD was just over 50 minutes and I worked my entire body!!!
This was a challenge with the amount of weight I used but I don’t want to have saggy arms!!!
I did Shelly McDonald (a Caribbean workout) Core Pilates. I had a horrible headache (woke up around 1:00 am with it and it never went away) so I thought some pilates would be a good choice. I made it through almost the whole hour before I quit!
Thursday 4/3 – 44 side bend with shoulder press (8 pound dumbbells).
readydown with right hand, really reach up with left hand
After doing 44 to one side, I had to switch and do another set!
ready to go againgo
By the time I finished, I had worked not only my core but also my shoulders – just holding an 8 pound weight up for the entire time was a workout!!!
I did a double run on Thursday to break in my new shoes!!! Well, really just to get used to running on tired legs but….
new shoes – Mizuno Wave Prophecy 3
First run – 10 miles (79:24) plus 1.15 easy.
Second run about an hour and a half later – 5 miles (36:53) plus 2.35 miles at a nice pace.
Total – 15 miles of hard running and 3.5 easier miles!
Friday 4/4 – 44 bicep curls in Warrior I (5 pound dumbbells).
readycurl
I had to do another set after I finished 44 that way!!
switch sidesculs
5 pounds doesn’t seem like much until you do a total of 88 bicep curls and keep your arms extended out the entire time – then it feels like at least 20 pounds!!!
The workout was a fun one – Turbo Jam – Cardio Party 3. 50 minutes of pure fun with Chalean and her crew!!!
Saturday 4/5 – 44 lateral raise on wobble balls (first 22 with 8 pounds, second 22 with 5 pounds).
trying to stay balancedreadygo
This move is always hard for me!!! After the first 22 I knew that I couldn’t continue to use good form unless I dropped down in weight!!!
And, today was another day of running!! 9 miles – 63:17 plus 1.1 to cool down.
Overall, this was a great week of strength work and running!!!!
41 miles of hard running plus 7.6 easier miles for a total of 48.6 miles!!!
Today for my 44 I did a slight variation on the standard burpee – sumo burpees. The main difference is your feet are in sumo position (out wide) at the beginning of the move and when you jump back up.
I was sucking air big-time at the end of this 44!!!
I pulled out an oldie today – TaeBo – Total Body Fat Blaster. This workout uses the TaeBo bands – It is about an hour of very fast-paced moving – lots of cardio plus some serious resistance training with the bands. My shoulders were screaming about half-way through this workout!!!
While I was struggling with some of the moves this morning I started thinking about the differences between working out with bands and weights.
Bands: lightweight, portable, great for travel, constant tension
Weights: heavy, not portable, gravity will take over if you aren’t careful
Don’t get me wrong – I love lifting weights!!! But in workouts like the TaeBo one that I did today where it is non-stop and fast paced, the bands are a great way to really push your muscles to the point of fatigue (especially your shoulders!!!).
I have no plans to get rid of any of our weights but if you are just starting to build a home-gym and want a way to do some resistance training bands are a great investment. Plus, they don’t take up any space!!!
So – what are your thoughts – bands or weights? Both? Neither?
Today’s 44 was fun – one of my favorite moves in a new way!! I love deadlifts and today I did a sumo deadlift (legs wider then hip width with toes slightly turned out) – go down one leg, while down (back flat) rotate torso slowly over to other leg and come up – reverse the move – once you are back at the starting position you have completed 1 rep.
This 44 took awhile just because it is a move that has to be done slow and controlled to avoid injury. I’m pretty sure that tomorrow I will feel this in my hamstrings and glutes!!!
I did another Jari Love DVD today – Get Extremely Ripped – Boot Camp. This was about an hour and 10 minutes of hard work!!! The segments alternated between combo moves for the upper and lower body with weights, cardio blasts (3 minutes each), ab work – basically some of everything in a nonstop workout. It was awesome!!!
While I was working out this morning I started thinking about my workouts and how much they have changed over the years.
About 10 years ago, all I did was run. No weights, no cross-training of any sort, no toning/strengthening exercises – just running. And I was injured a LOT!!!
It finally got to the point where I knew that I couldn’t keep running every day but I still wanted to work out so I started trying new things – lifting (P90X, the Get Ripped series, Chalean Extreme), Insanity, Turbo Fire, Jillian Michaels workouts, even some Pilates and Yoga!!!
I used to alternate days between weight training
and running
and that worked for awhile.
Then, I went back to working full time and had to fit my workout in between 4:30 and 6:00 am. And I discovered how great combo workouts can be!!
There are still days that I only run and there are some days that I don’t do any cardio – just a hard weight workout.
But, my favorite workouts are those that integrate weights and cardio (like the one I did this morning!).
So, what do you prefer – keeping your strength and cardio separate or workouts that mix the two? Or do you skip weights completely?
Happy Monday!!! (wish me luck – I’m off to tackle the nasty apartment!)
