Why Do YOU Exercise?

September 11, 2013 Kim 70 Comments

Today’s 43 looks deceptively simple!!! The move is primarily geared to work your rotator cuff but after about 20 reps your entire arm will start to feel the burn!!

Start by laying on your side with a light weight (I used 5 pounds) in your top hand.

Rotate your arm about 90 degrees, keeping your elbow tight to your body.

See how simple it looks?! Try some!!! And don’t forget to work both sides!

Sometimes the littlest moves have the biggest benefits!!!

Today I did a favorite workout – Turbo Fire – Fire 55. This workout is almost an hour (55 minutes) of fast paced cardio and it is super fun every single time!!!

There are so many reasons that people exercise – some people do it only because they feel like they have to or that they should, some people do it to try and be skinny – There are some who exercise not to be skinny but to lose weight – Many people exercise or workout because they are training for something – a race, a competition of some sort, a particular event – And there are people who exercise just to become more fit – The reason people exercise often affects the enjoyment that they actually get from working out. When the goal is to be skinny or lose weight and results aren’t immediate it can be very frustrating.

Working out because you are training for something can take away some of the fun of exercising especially if you don’t perform exactly the way you had hoped to. And, following a specific training plan sometimes becomes monotonous and saps all the joy and love of the exercise.

Some people workout just because they love the way it makes them feel – the release of endorphins after a hard workout is worth the struggles and temporary pain!!! That feeling of pushing yourself to your very limit and then just going a little bit further is such an amazing thing! And getting a good sweat on is awesome!!!

I work out because I love it. I love knowing that there is very little that I can’t do if I just put my mind to it. Pushing myself to the breaking point is the way I keep challenging myself to become the very best form of me that I can be.

So – why do you workout?

Happy Wednesday and Happy Exercising!!!

Kim

P.S. Here is a picture of my new fall hair –

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

Back, Butt, Fitness, Hamstrings, Lunges

The Master Calendar

September 9, 2013 Kim 59 Comments

Today’s 43 was one of my favorite kind of moves – a combo!!! Upper & lower body at the same time!!!

I did a lunge with a row.

Today I decided to try and push myself a bit so I used a 15 pound dumbbell – not too bad until I reached about 30 – those last 13 or so were rough!!!

And I have to stay balanced so a did a 2nd set of 43 on my other side –

Can you tell that these are just posed pictures? The downside to getting up so early is that I’ve already done my move (and most of my workout) before anyone is around to take my pictures or video!! Oh, well – it still works out!!

Today I decided to go with some Turbo Jam fun for the rest of my workout. I started with Lower Body Jam which is 30 minutes geared to legs & butt with just a little upper body thrown in for good measure. Then I did 3T (Totally Tubular Turbo) – 35 minutes of strength work using resistance bands. Both of these workouts were fun because Chalean makes all of her DVDs high energy!!!

The Calendar!!!

At different times of the year, a new calendar is always exciting for me. I love to get my calendar ready for the start of each year – I always put in all of the things that are a given (birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, school dates, Chris’ work stuff…..) and then I’m ready to go!

August is another big time to add/change calendars – the start of school brings lots of new activities and events that can be added to the existing calendar.

Lately, I feel like we have so many sources that have to be checked in order to keep the calendar current that we are going to start leaving things out. For band, we have to check the website every weekend to make sure there haven’t been any changes.

Hunter brings home a weekly note from cross country with details about the upcoming meet(s). We get emails about cello lessons/events. Teacher’s tell the boys things about upcoming happenings for different classes. Phone calls often mean an addition to the calendar. So many sources to keep up with!There are usually appointments of different types to make sure we remember. Social events come up and need to be added immediately so that they aren’t left off by mistake!!

Lately I feel lost without my calendar!!! Last night we were at a friends house for small group and several dates came up – I felt a slight bit of panic because I didn’t have my calendar with me to make sure that nothing was being double booked and that I didn’t forget anything!!!A glimpse at last week (notice the empty day? Labor Day!!!) in my book – I’ve found that my date book works far better than the true “master calendar” on the kitchen wall!!!

Now that the boys are older and have more activities I told them we probably need to all coordinate our calendars every weekend so we can make sure everyone knows what is going on and we don’t forget anything or anyone!!!

Anyone else ever feel like your life is “controlled” by the calendar?
Do you feel a slight panic if you are out somewhere without your calendar and have new dates/events to add?

I’m pretty sure that I need to put beach time on the calendar this week!!! If it’s on the master plan it should happen, right?!

Happy Monday!!!

Kim

Fitness, Running

What a Difference a Few Years Makes!!

September 8, 2013 Kim 53 Comments

Today’s 43 was designed to help Hunter work on his stride length!!! We did 43 steps/strides at different paces to show how much further you can get when you really use your legs to increase your stride. (Yesterday at the CC meet, Hunter sprinted at the end and had a great finish but he was taking short choppy steps instead of using his legs to his advantage.)

For the 43 we started with a normal walk. After 43 steps, we marked our spot and jogged back to the beginning. Then we did a fast walk and got much further. The 3rd test was a super easy jog – we didn’t even get as far as the fast walk. Then we did our normal run – this was the first 43 that I got a lot further than Hunter. The final test was a full out sprint – I told Hunter to sprint like he did yesterday for the first try and then we did another trial where I told him to really concentrate on his stride length.

After we finished all of our different 43s, I had Hunter do some more so that I could watch him!!!

sprinting but not using his legs to their full advantage

starting to figure out how to lengthen his stride in an efficient way!

This was a fun way to get my 43 for the day because Hunter joined me!!!

When Hunter was younger (especially before he turned about 6!) he spent a LOT of time complaining about his legs being tired!!!

At age 4, Hunter still preferred to be in a stroller (or to be carried – yikes!!!) any time we did much walking (like more than about 50 steps)!!!

Part of the problem was that he had lots of leg aches at night – from about age 3 until age 5, I probably spent at least 3 nights a week up in the middle of the night rubbing his legs. (I totally empathize with growing pains because I have had them most of my life and when I was in high school I spent many nights rubbing my little sister’s legs so she could sleep.)

Fast forward to age 12 and I am so amazed at the difference in Hunter and his ability to push himself!!!

Yesterday at his first cross country meet (and his first race ever!) – he ran the mile in 7:00. I think he will drop that time a lot this season because about 1/3 into the race I was at a point to see him and he was smiling and enjoying himself.

He told me after the race that he knew he could have pushed harder!!!

(They ran 7th boys & girls together yesterday but the rest of the meets will just be the boys in their own race.)

waiting to have his shoe chip removed (yep - even at a middle school meet!) — waiting to have his shoe chip removed (yep – even at a middle school meet!)

My little boy who used to complain about the walk from a parking lot into a building is now a runner!!!

Part of his daily routine these days is to do pull-ups every time he walks by the pull-up bar in our basement. I think he does about 25 a day plus he will just drop down and bust out push-ups at random times during the evening!!!

Every once in awhile I miss the days when I carried my sweet little boy ALL over the place! But, I LOVE the young man that I get to run with now!!! I can’t wait to watch him develop even more during this cross country season!!!

Happy Sunday!

Kim

Core, Fitness

Short & Simple

September 7, 2013 Kim 44 Comments

This morning is not off to a great start and it’s barely 6:00am!!! I woke up with an horrible headache, Chris has drill this weekend, I couldn’t log-in to my site – I need a Do-Over!!! Hunter had to be up before 5:00 to get to the middle school for his cross country meet and we are fixing to head out to watch the meet so this is going to be super short!!!

For my 43 I don’t even have any pictures!!! I just did a crunch with my legs straight up (heels to the sky) – I crunched my lower and upper half (hands reaching to toes) – see simple!!!!

Ok – so, not totally representative of me but at least you can see the move I did!!!

Jordan and I are fixing to head to Manhattan (Kansas!) to watch Hunter (and all the other 7th & 8th grade kids) run in their first meet of the year!! Should be fun!!I’m hoping to sneak in an hour or so at the swim beach later today so that I can just chill before finishing out the day!!