Category Archives: Cardio

Resistance Bands or Weights?

November 18, 2013 Kim 87 Comments

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?

Happy Monday!!

Kim

Biceps, Butt, Cardio, Fitness, Shoulders, Thighs

Before and After

November 15, 2013 Kim 58 Comments

Today’s 44 was a great one to work my whole body and I got my heart rate up – bonus!!!

I did a plie while holding a dumbbell (10 pounds) – stood and pressed the DB overhead and to the right while lifting my left heel – lowered to plie – repeated to the left for 1 rep.

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSIK5CzLlhE’]

The video is super dark because Jordan doesn’t believe in light in the morning – he’s 15!!!

2 weeks ago, I walked into a nasty disgusting apartment and had a little freak out!!!

Today we have new tenants moving in!!!! In a short (BUSY) 2 weeks the apartment has undergone a huge transformation!!!

Kitchen Before (left) & After (right) — Kitchen
Before (left) & After (right)

Bedroom #1 Before (L) and After (R) — Bedroom #1
Before (L) and After (R)

Bedroom #2 Before (middle) After (sides) — Bedroom #2
Before (middle)
After (sides)

Living Room Before (L) & After (R) — Living Room
Before (L) & After (R)

After shots of the bathrooms and built-in

In the last 2 weeks – we hauled out 2 dumpsters full of stuff plus a couch and several other pieces of furniture, cleaned the nastiness, primed, painted, repaired numerous broken things (good thing Chris is super handy!!), did another cleaning (that’s how gross it was) and hung curtains.

The apartment went from being a place that I couldn’t stand to a super cute apartment with a lot of character!!!

In 2 months, we’ve turned over 2 of the 3 apartments – I hope that we don’t have to do this again any time soon!!!!

Happy Friday!

Kim

Cardio, Fitness

Painting vs Wrestling

November 9, 2013 Kim 44 Comments

I don’t have any pictures for my 44 today but it is super easy. I did 44 hops on my right leg and then 44 hops on my left – see? Nothing to it!!!

Today I will be at my first middle school wrestling tournament – ALL DAY LONG!!!

In a gym with 100s of 7th and 8th grade boys walking around in their sinlgets – I didn’t take a picture of Hunter when he tried his on the other night – I will try to get some pictures today (maybe). I thought he was talking about a running singlet – wasn’t prepared for the body suit action!

I’m not sure what to expect, maybe it will be like this –

Probably not!! I’m thinking I will be doing a lot of hanging out and waiting – good thing I have my Nook to take!!!

Chris can’t go because he is going to work more on the apartment – we worked all day yesterday (and Monday and…). He fixed all the broken things and I primed everything. Hopefully he can get a lot of the painting done today since we have people moving in next Friday!

We just found out Thursday that Hunter was going to the tournament today and at first I figured Chris would go (he wrestled in high school and thinks it’s awesome) but then I thought about painting all day again!!!!

Really I was holding out for Option 3!!!!! Just kidding! (sort of)

Which would you choose for the day (8am – 7 pm), painting or watching middle school wrestling?

Happy Saturday!

Kim

BOSU, Cardio, Core, Fitness, Shoulders

Exercise Is NOT One Size Fits All

November 6, 2013 Kim 78 Comments

Today’s 44 was fun!!! Kristen @ Stuft Mama demoed this super cool move yesterday and I knew that I had to give it a try. It is called – The Monkey.

Basically it is a cross body mountain climber using the

See why I had to try it?!

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxBG2OW98hs’]

You can do this move without a BOSU if you don’t have one available.

Since I already had my BOSU out I decided to do a workout with it – I did BOSU Total Body Conditioning. It is a fun workout that mixes cardio, strength moves, balance training and core work. The biggest downside – it was only about 30 minutes.

So, I also did Les Mills Pump – Combat. This has been one of my favorite workouts from the very first time I tried it. It is 45 minutes worth of non-stop cardio in the form of kicking and punching. The time flies by and I always feel like I’ve gotten a great workout.

I’ve never really understood the concept of “one size fits all.” How is it even possible when we are all so different?!?!

I think that with exercise we really have to steer away from the idea that one size fits all.

Everyone needs to figure out what works for them and not do something just because it seems to be what everyone else is doing.

For the past few months I’ve tried a bit of an experiment with my working out and it hasn’t worked well for me. For a long time I have read about and observed many people who thrive on minimal amounts of time for working out.

Workouts like the 7 minute workout are everywhere these days!!! And, I truly love that type of workout!!!

However, for me, it isn’t enough!!!

This fall I made a conscious effort to try and cut down on my workout time – most days I have only spent 40-45 minutes total working out instead of the 1-2 hours that I used to spend.

I’ve realized that I actually feel better when I workout longer – it may be all psychological and I’m totally OK with that.

So, I tried something and figured out that it was not a fit for me!!

Have you tried things that seem to be the “norm” and realized they weren’t for you?
Do you like short workouts or longer sessions?

Happy Wednesday!!!

Kim

Cardio, Fitness

Taking Time to Appreciate the Beauty of Fall

October 28, 2013 Kim 91 Comments

Today for my 44 I went back to my coaching days (except since I was working out in my basement and not a basketball gym I had to improvise!!) and did suicides!

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yUwm8eMxQU’]

The distance that I covered was relatively short but since I counted a right-left as 1 rep and kept going for all 44 reps, it was still a great way to get my heart rate up. (You can see my workout DVD paused in the back-ground – had to stop for the video before Chris left for work!)

I did a Jillian Michaels DVD today – Kickbox Fastfix. This workout has 3 20 minute segments with various fast paced kickboxing drills. I did all 3 sections for a good hour workout. The one downside to this program – if you follow Jillian and her group then you will end up very unbalanced – she does not switch leads at all during this one. (Fortunately I already knew that and just did it myself but it is sort of a pain!!)

Yesterday before lunch I convinced Jordan to go on a walk with me and take advantage of the incredible fall weather (it was almost 70 yesterday!).

Some pictures along the way –

my favorite - love the orange — my favorite – love the orange

At this point Jordan said I was weird and he was going in!!! Hmmm….

Every day last week I enjoyed the beauty all around me and I kept thinking that I needed to take the time to walk around and truly appreciate it.

Even though Kansas isn’t my favorite place – I do love the fall. There are trees of all colors, the weather is cool but not completely cold (YET!!) and it is time for soup!!!

Do you have a true fall where you live?

Happy Monday?

Kim

Day With KT