Category Archives: Butt

Wall-Sits, Planks and National Day of Something

January 7, 2014 Kim 70 Comments

Today’s 44 was a front raise but I wanted to make it more “fun” so I did all 44 front raises while doing a wall-sit.

Not sure why I was looking down during the front raise other than I had been holding this pose for awhile waiting for Chris to take the picture – oops!!!

I just used 5 pound dumbbells and that ended up being plenty to be able to do all 44 in a slow controlled manner without swinging my arms!

I pulled out a workout that I haven’t done in awhile – Prevention 3-2-1 Workout. This is a fun way to do a bit of everything. After the warm-up, there are 6 circuits (legs, chest, butt, arms, back and shoulders) each made up of 3 minutes of cardio, 2 minutes of strength work and 1 minute of core work. The time goes by quickly and even though it’s not super high intensity, it is a good workout.

I’ve been participating in Taylor’s Core & More January Challenge since January 1 (well, I thought I was participating). Everyday I have done the challenge I’ve wondered how it is a core challenge!! Then yesterday I figured out that I’ve been doing it wrong!!!

I have been doing a 45 second wall-sit followed by 20 push-ups. What I should have been doing is a 45 second plank followed by 20 push-ups.

See – I really do know the difference!!!

So, because I want to be doing the challenge correctly I decided to get caught up today!!! I did 3 sets of 1:30 plank holds (for the 6 days that I missed) and then today’s segment of 45 seconds plank + 20 push-ups.

And, just because I find it funny that everyday is “national” something day and apparently today is National Old Rock day, what are your favorite rock songs? (I’m pretty sure the old rock day is literally old rocks like fossils but that’s not as much fun!!)

I don’t know if I can pick a favorite – I do like Led Zeppelin’s Rock and Roll a lot because way back when Chris and were dating while he was in pilot training, every weekend a group of us would go out to a super fun piano bar and lots of times Chris would end up singing – this was one of the top picks!

(Chris spent a year in Korea when he was around 20 and in active duty. During that time he was part of a band as the lead singer!!!)

What is your favorite classic rock song?

Happy Tuesday!!!

Kim

Butt, Core, Fitness, Plyo, Running, Treadmill

One Kind Act Is Worth More than 100 Acts Done out of Resentment

January 4, 2014 Kim 48 Comments

Last night I asked Hunter for some suggestions for today’s 44. He came up with one and it was rough!!! I’m not really sure what to call it – HARD?

The move consists of a jump in the air – roll (fall, whatever) back – crunch – pop up (hardest part for me!) – jump – repeat x 44!!!

I asked Hunter if he would do the demo and he agreed even though he had already taken a shower (so sweet!).

I decided to get in another run today. Since I ran nice and easy yesterday, I bumped it up today.
1.5% incline – 5 miles in 30:52 (then some easy miles!)

The other night at dinner I told Chris and the boys that I was going to try to make kindness a bigger part of my daily life.

I decided that for the month of January (and hopefully longer), I would try to make a purposeful effort to do something kind each day.

I know it’s only been a few days but in that short time I’ve discovered something – the act of kindness is all about the attitude!

Yesterday’s act of kindness was something that I would have done anyway but by changing my attitude and wanting to do something kind I actually enjoyed it so much more than if I had just done it and felt resentful for having to do it at all!!

I think that I’m going to enjoy being more purposeful about seeking out ways to be kind and I can already tell that this is one of those things that is going to make my life that much happier!!!

There are many times that I do things but resent it the entire time – my hope is that by choosing to look at some of these things as an act of kindness the resentment will fade and it will become more natural for me to look for ways to be kind!!!

I think that in the big picture I am the one who will benefit the most from choice to try and perform more acts of kindness!!!

Happy Saturday!!!

Kim

Butt, Fitness, Quad

The FitBit Force

January 2, 2014 Kim 86 Comments

Today’s 44 was all about hold and control! I held a chair pose and did alternating side tap-outs.

Because I had to take my own pictures using the mirror reflection, I couldn’t hold both arms up. However, when I did the actual move, I really did keep my arms up the entire time!!!

So, even though the pictures are awful, you can get the basic idea!!! I counted a right tap out and a left tap out as 1 rep.

I think this year I’m going to work my way through all of my workout DVDs – that should be a fun way to mix things up!!!

This morning I did Jillian Michaels Hard Body – Level 1. This is a 45 minute workout that incorporates strength training and cardio – my favorite!!!

Yesterday I mentioned that I scored a major deal on a FitBit Force. I have been wearing it every day this week and so far it has been good as a pedometer but that is about it.

Above is a screen shot from yesterday. I think the steps are probably right (sadly all but about 2200 of them were during my run and then I was a slug!!) but nothing else is accurate.

I ran 8 miles hard yesterday and then did another 2.5 miles (10.5 miles total) – and the mileage for the entire day doesn’t even show 6 miles?!

Also, the active minutes isn’t accurate – yesterday I was on the treadmill for a total of 95 minutes. Right now (after my workout, 44 and other moves) the active minutes is showing 1. Really?!

I know the calorie count is way off which is fine because I don’t really pay attention to that anyway.

The part that is the most disappointing is the sleep tracker. I thought it would really show how much I’m awake and sleep patterns but it doesn’t. Because it is on your wrist, you have to be moving that arm a LOT for it to realize that you are awake. I usually try to lay still even when I can’t sleep so basically the entire time I’m in bed it records as sleep time.

I’m going to keep wearing my FitBit and trying to really increase my daily steps but I’m very happy that I only ended up spending a couple dollars on this since it is really just a pedometer at this point.

Any thoughts on the FitBit and ways to make it more accurate overall?

Happy Thursday!!! 3 degrees with snow covering the ground here – pretty sure I need a beach!!!

Kim

Butt, Fitness, Thighs

An End and a Beginning

December 31, 2013 Kim 58 Comments

Today’s 44 was another fun one with my resistance band. I stood on the band and crossed the handles to make the resistance greater. Then I stepped out with my right foot, out with my left and back in with each.

In the video you can see that I switched lead legs while doing this move – I’m not sure my hips could handle 44 each side. (now I sort-of feel like I should go do another set!!)

I pulled out one of my favorite workouts today – Les Mills Combat – Ultimate Cardio Fighter. 60 minutes of sweating while kicking, punching and jumping = awesome!!!

Looking Back at 2013:

I have seen similar posts to this and decided that it would be a fun to end 2013 with a recap of the year.

January:

I finished up a long-term sub job at an elementary school library – super fun!
Packing away Christmas was a bit of a disaster –

Another shopping trip and a little assembly later, the problem was all solved!!!

February:

I decided to do a little personal challenge during the month of February. In addition to my daily 43 and my regular workouts, I did 1 minute wall-sits to correspond to the day of the month – so by the 28th, I did 28, 1-minute wall-sits!

March:

We had a special Hobbit themed meal to go along with the DVD viewing of the movie. This was mostly Jordan’s thing but I enjoyed planning the meal with his help and then fixing the meal with the help of both boys!

April:

The biggie from this month was more of a huge mistake and learning experience on my part. I had vein surgery on April 24th and feel like I’m still paying the price for that decision!!

May:

Chris and I celebrated our 17th anniversary!

June:

The boys and I went to Texas and enjoyed what would end up being our last summer visit with my Poppa!

July:

We took a great family trip to Florida!!! The driving (22 hours each way) wasn’t really my favorite part but lots of great memories were made!!

August:

The boys started another school year – Jordan went to high school and Hunter to middle school.

Jordan kept busy with marching band!

I made a quick trip to TX to pay tribute to my wonderful Poppa.

And, our lives completely changed when we became business owners!!!

September:

More high school football games and plenty of middle school cross country meets.

Hunter walking through the end of the chute

I celebrated another birthday with another birthday run – and started doing daily 44s.

October:

HaHa – I couldn’t think of anything from October and then I remembered – the epic fail!!! I attempted my first ultra – not pretty!

November:

Hunter started his wrestling career.

Sam, Stacy, Isabel and Hays came up from Texas to spend Thanksgiving with us!!December:

We hosted our first (probably annual) Christmas Day open house at the Governor’s Row House.

We have enjoyed a much needed family reset time while we celebrated Christmas and prepare to start a new year!

Tonight we will have our yearly New Year’s Eve party (we started doing this after Jordan was born so that we could have a family oriented way to celebrate the start of the new year) and tomorrow we will wake up ready for a great new year!!!

Do you have big plans to celebrate the start of 2014?

Happy Tuesday – the final day of 2013!!

Kim

Butt, Cardio, Fitness, Lunges, Quad, Running, Treadmill

Standing Makes Me Happy!

December 27, 2013 Kim 61 Comments

Today I decided to do a fast moving 44! This was a good one for feeling a burn in my quads!!! I did a lunge with a floor touch.

This 44 went quickly!! Of course, after I did 44 on one side, I had to switch and do another set of 44 to stay balanced!!!

And – check out my shirt in the video – recognize the color?

Hunter gave me this shirt so that when we run a half marathon together in the spring (he wants to do one to celebrate turning 13!!!) we can match!!! So excited about it!

Today was another running day. I wanted to go further so I slowed my pace from the past couple of runs! I used 1.5% incline and did 10 miles in 80:15 + 1 easy cool down mile. I started out much slower and increased the speed every half mile for a nice run!!!

Over the past year, I’ve found myself sitting a lot more than I want to. And the reason is my computer and the time I spend blogging and doing other things on it.

I knew that I wanted to make a change but I still wanted to be able to spend time on the computer so…..

I told Chris awhile back that I wanted a standing work station but not a big one because I wanted it to be portable. This one is perfect!!! It is on wheels and very easy to move so I can have it in the kitchen, living room, dining room or wherever I want to be!!!

writing my blog (this was yesterday morning)

I love it since I always write my post for the day after I finish working out and I hate to just plunk myself in a chair – perfect solution!!! Now when I’m ~~being productive~~ reading blogs I won’t feel like such a slug!!!

Have you ever tried a standing work station? Do you prefer to stand or sit?
In the past I tried our kitchen table and the island – both were too low!!! I feel much more productive when I stand, too!!! (might be mental but….)

Happy Friday!!

Kim

Day With KT