Category Archives: Core

Are you Scared of the Dentist?

July 11, 2013 Kim 45 Comments

Today’s 43 came from Nellie over at Brooklyn Active Mama. She always does a Wednesday move and comes up with some really fun exercises. Anytime she features one that I haven’t tried yet, I lfeel the need to turn it into a daily 43. Yesterday, Nellie featured a Pilates Plank that I decided would be fun!

Start in plank position. Lift one leg and rock back a little while pointing and flexing your foot. Return to start, lift other leg and repeat = 1 rep.

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xno1A_-tWTE’]

This was a fun new way to get in a nice long plank and add a little additional core work. Plus – there was a bit of a mental challenge because I had to focus on lifting, rocking, pointing and flexing!!!

I pulled out my original Combat DVD – part of Les Mills Pump and did it this morning. This was the workout that got me hooked on Combat to begin with and I still enjoy it!!! 45 minutes of punching and kicking – always a great way to start the day!!!

Today’s boot camp was fun!!! We did an ABC workout – an exercise for each letter of the alphabet!! Hunter helped me come up with some creative ideas for X & Y!!! I will post the workout on the Boot Camp page later this week or over the weekend! (I know that y’all are all dying to see it and give it a try!!!)

Dentists – so many people dread going to see the dentist!!! For normal check-ups I don’t mind and neither do my boys. However, some of the other dental work can be a little scary!!!Hunter has a permanent tooth (I think it is one of his incisors) that is sideways in his gums. It’s sort-of cool to see on the X-rays but I don’t have any of those pictures.When he had his braces put on (January of this year), one of the goals was to create space for the impacted tooth and then to go in surgically and bring it down.

You can sort-of see the hole in his mouth where they have made space (he was not in the picture taking mood this morning!!!).

Well – today is the day!!! Poor Hunter is nervous – good thing he only has another hour before it is time to get it done!! They are just going to numb his mouth so that he doesn’t have to be put to sleep and then go in and cut the gum, attach a tiny chain to the tooth and bring it down. (Making me cringe just to type this!!!) No wonder he is cranky – he’s freaking out about having a knife in his mouth!!

I told him to keep his eyes closed the entire time so that he never sees any of the tools. (I’ve had 4 gum grafts and I always do that!!!) He is also planning to take his phone and listen to music so that should help distract him.

The only thing that is making him feel a tiny bit better right now is the fact that when it is over he gets to spend the next few days doing his favorite activity –

He has to take it easy for a few days so that means he will get to spend more time than I usually allow playing his favorite game and watching movies/TV!!! I think that he is looking forward to that but he is still pretty nervous and anxious. Poor guy!!

Do you dread dentist visits? Have you ever had any oral surgery that you were awake while they did it?

Happy Thursday!!

Kim

Core, Fitness

Vein Stripping: A Final Report

July 10, 2013 Kim 1 Comment

Today I worked my core with my 43. I did X-crunches!!!

Start on the floor in an X –

Crunch – bringing opposite hand and foot together –

I counted a right and left crunch as 1 so it was really 86 total crunches to complete this 43.

Today was 6 am boot camp – it was full of lunging, kicking, punching, twisting!! Everyone should feel it through-out their entire core by tomorrow!!!

And it was muggy – I literally looked (and felt) like I had just gotten out of the lake by the time we finished!! Oh – wrong kind of muggy!!!

I decided to let boot camp be my only workout today!! I’m gearing up for a huge day on Saturday – I will just say that Friday is my 300th consecutive day of 43s so that means it’s time for another LONG run!!!

It has been 11 weeks since I had vein surgery. Monday I had another follow-up appointment with the DR who did the procedure. I had a few questions for her – like “Why do I get a purple mark right above my knee cap every time I run or do any exercising?” (standard response – it’s normal)

Basically, the whole appointment lasted less than 3 minutes and she said that everything is fine. I still have this bruise on my right inner thigh (and it is still lumpy) –

My right calf still has a bruise and every time I run or do any plyo (so pretty much every day!!) – I have a burning sensation in it.

And my left ankle is still bruised, hard to the touch and stays swollen about 90% of the time.

left ankle - hard to see the bruise — left ankle

She said that some people take up to 6 months for everything to heal and that I’m one of those lucky people!!

I told her that the bruises don’t really bother me but my legs hurt 10x more now than they ever did before the surgery. Her response to that – an odd look and then she said well they look a lot better than the last time I saw you. Yes, but they hurt and I’m an athlete and don’t need another reason for my legs to hurt!!!

So, I’m still not really happy that I had the procedure done. And – I still have another step to finish treating the veins – Sclerotherapy.(not my leg or doctor)

Ummm….not sure that I’m in on having multiple injections all over my legs while I’m awake!!! She said we would wait until October for this – I told her no way would October work because I’M RUNNING A 50 MILE RACE!!! (another odd look from her – what’s up with all the looks?!)

So, in November I will have a needle stuck into my legs numerous times to finish treating the veins (unless I back out and decide to just live with them!!!).

Clearly my legs are better than the last follow-up I did on the surgery. But, even though I can do all of my normal activities, they still aren’t completely healed and they truly do hurt much more now than before I started all of this. So, my thoughts/opinions still haven’t really improved – if I had to go back in time to April, I would not go through with the surgery.

Lesson Learned (the hard way!!)!!

What lessons have you learned the hard way?

Happy Wednesday!

Kim

Cardio, Chest, Core, Fitness, Running, Shoulders, Treadmill

My Favorite Way to Cook

July 8, 2013 Kim 52 Comments

I decided it was time for another burpee variation for the 43 today. I’m still working on the awesome list of 30 burpees that Taylor @ Lifting Revolution shared awhile back. Today I did a burpee with a lateral jump over a step – FUN TIMES!!!

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

6:00 am boot camp was fun – we did the Move It, Move It workout (all legs!!) from Friday because I knew that none of the people who came Friday would be here this morning. It was HUMID – we were drenched by the end of the workout.

I decided to run on my treadmill instead of outside because I knew that I would be sucking air thanks to the mugginess. I ran at 1.5% incline – 5 miles 31:34 + 1 mile super easy for a cool down.

Irving Naxon – anyone know who he is? He developed the “all-purpose” cooker which was bought by The Rival Company in 1970 and reintroduced in 1971 as the Crock Pot.

I think the Crock Pot is truly my favorite kitchen appliance!!! I use one of my crock pots at least once a week and often as many as 3 times a week. There have been many meals that I have 2 crock pots full of stuff!!!

Any day that I have evening plans I try to get dinner into the crock pot in the morning. Such a great feeling to know that dinner (at least part of it) is already done!!!

I’m pretty sure that I’ve already shared my love of cookbooks before.

In my collection, I have a whole shelf devoted to crock pot/slow cooker cook books. My favorites are from the Fix-It-and-Forget-It series.

One of the great things about using a crock pot is there is really no need for a recipe. The thing that I do the most is put a cut of meat (ribs, round steak, roast, brisket, chicken breasts, pork roast, turkey breasts, even a whole chicken) with a rub and/or a sauce of some sort and let it cook all day. Super easy and by the end of the day we have a very tender piece of meat!

In the fall and winter I make all kinds of soups and chili in the crock pot. In the summer, I love to use the crock pot to keep the kitchen from heating up!!

I even take one of my crock pots with me on some of our longer trips (when we stay places with a kitchen) so that we don’t have to eat out every meal and I don’t have to spend any time really cooking.

Do you use a crock pot very often? What is your favorite recipe in the crock pot?

Happy Monday!!

Kim

Core, Fitness

Snap Judgements

July 7, 2013 Kim 1 Comment

Today’s 43 was all about working my obliques. I did an oblique crunch with an arm reach and an extended leg (confused? watch the demo)

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6eqIFeESQ4′]

I counted a right and left crunch as 1 rep so a total of 86 crunches!!

I decided to go with a fun workout today because I’m SORE (must be from the heavy lifting yesterday)!! I did Turbo Jam – Cardio Party 2. I’ve said many times – I love to work out with Chalean!!! The workouts are always fast paced and so much fun that they go quickly!!

I think at different times we have all formed snap judgements about other people (or even about things) and I’m sure that we have all been on the other end and been the person judged.

Years ago, I was interviewing for a teaching job. The job was as an 8th grade science teacher and I really wanted to work at that particular school. The principal and the head of the science department were both involved in the interview. The guy that was the head of the science department was completely against hiring me for 1 reason –

I was also going to be a coach (7th & 8th girls volleyball, basketball & track). The minute he found out that I was a coach he was ready to end the interview. I explained to both of them that I became a teacher first and would have taught even if I didn’t coach.

I got the job and after about a month, this same teacher came to me and apologized for automatically assuming that I wouldn’t be a good teacher since I was a coach!

That experience has always stuck with me because I was judged by someone who didn’t know anything about me. I try to remember how I felt and not make the same mistakes.

Sometimes our snap judgements cause us to miss out on some really great things.

I’ve known many people who won’t even try avocados or guacamole because they don’t like the color and the way it looks. They are truly missing out on something wonderful just because they are judging the taste by the color.

Often we judge people by what they drive or the clothes they wear but we don’t know the background on how they got that vehicle or where their clothes came from.

It’s so easy to make a little comment – look how overgrown their yard is – why don’t they do anything about it? But, without knowing the story – they might have a loved one fighting for their life in the hospital, or they might have lost their job and ended up working 3 different jobs to make ends meet – we really shouldn’t be so quick to judge!
So, my goal is to try and stop making snap judgements about anything – new products, food, and especially other people. Just like I sometimes tell my boys – You can’t say you don’t like something if you’ve never tried it!!! And, I shouldn’t say (or think) unkind things about people without knowing their story!

Happy Sunday!!!

Kim

Butt, Core, Fitness, Lunges

So Many Workouts, So Little Time

July 6, 2013 Kim 10 Comments

Today for my 43, I did a side lunge and a knee lift with the opposite leg.

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

The nice thing with this move was that it required a bit of mental work, too – I had to think about each part of the move as I did it otherwise I leaned the wrong way or lifted the wrong part!! Plus, the knee lift was a small bonus for my core and hip flexors!!

I did all 43 to the right side first (with a left knee lift) and then switched and did 43 lunges to the left with a right knee lift.

Today I did another round of Les Mills Body Pump – Pump and Shred. This workout is 45 minutes of lifting including a squat track (about 5:30), a chest track (5:00), back track with dead lifts and clean & press (5:15), lunge track with more squatting (5:00), shoulder track (4:45) and core work (4:00). One of my favorite parts of the Body Pump workouts is the final stretch – they always include at least 5 minutes of stretching and after all of the lifting it is a treat (even for someone, like me, who doesn’t really like to spend time stretching!!). I am enjoying these workouts so far, as they get me in the mood to stay in shape and actually stick to it. Plus, with the awesome inner chest workout that I am currently doing, I have a feeling that I may be seeing positive results sooner than I think. It’s all about being consistent with it.

One of the many things that I love about reading other blogs is the AMAZING workouts that so many bloggers share. My Pinterest workout board is getting bigger and bigger!!

412 pins – of those, I’ve probably only done about 30. I’ve pulled some ideas out of different ones for my daily 43 and even for my boot camp but there are still LOTS of great workouts that I want to try.

Plus, I have a few workout DVDs to choose from. I’ve done all of them at least once but still want to do them again (and again!!!). I have a nice variety of really intense workouts (Insanity, P90X, Body Pump), Pilates and Yoga, shorter workouts (lots of the 10-minute option DVDs where you can do from 1-5 of the sections), Tae-Bo (love!!), The Firm, some Denise Austin (old school!!), Biggest Loser workouts, Jillian Michaels, Cathe Frederick…..

This summer I have been creating a lot of my own workouts for my Boot Camp classes. I come up with 3 new classes a week so that takes time to figure them out, practice them and then teach the 6 classes (and I do the workouts every time!!).

And, then there is my top favorite option – RUNNING!!! I don’t run as often as I used to because I’ve found that when I run too much I end up injured (usually with a stress fracture – I’ve had 6 or 7 in the last 10 years) but I still love running!

So, while I have MANY options every day, I don’t have enough time for all the workouts I want to do!!! Sometimes even when I really want to do a workout or challenge, I have to realize that time is still a limited resource and I can’t do it all!!!

One of the workouts that I really wanted to do and just couldn’t make it work with my current schedule of running, boot camp, lifting and, at the time the program started, I was finishing Insanity Asylum – is Tina’s Best Body Bootcamp program. I signed up (paid and everything!!) for this round (I even have the badge on my sidebar!) but when it was time to start I realized that I couldn’t add it in and give it 100% with the other workouts that I have going now.