Category Archives: Hamstrings

Chest, Core, Fitness, Hamstrings, Plank, Push-Ups, Running, Treadmill

Running, running, running (8/17-8/23)

August 23, 2014 Kim 38 Comments

This week was all about running!!!!

Sunday 8/17 – 44 barbell clean and press with a row.

bring bar down by flipping it and keeping it close to your body

row - squeeze shoulders — row – squeeze shoulders

I liked this move because I felt like it worked pretty much every muscle in my body!!!

Monday 8/18 – 44 stair push-up with a jump.

This move was fun – it got my heart rate up and because of the angle of the push-ups I was sore for a few days!!!

This was the starting day of a long run streak:
10 miles in 79:41 + 1.5 miles easy.

Tuesday 8/19 – 44 stability ball single leg oblique punches with a dumbbell.

pull left knee in and punch with right hand

I did all 44 on one side and then switched sides for another set.

These were hard – the hardest part was keeping my balance – part of why the pictures are blurrier than normal!!!

And a shorter, faster run:
7 miles in 50:22 with an easy mile to finish.

Wednesday 8/20 – 44 plie squat jumps with a small band around my ankles and a lateral raise with dumbbells (5 pounds).

You can’t really tell that I jumped but I did!!!

Back to a double digit run at a slower pace:
10.5 miles in 86:50 + 0.7 miles

Thursday 8/21 – 44 triangle leg taps (this move is from Taylor @ Lifting Revolution – bodyweight workout for your lower body.

ready (I think I was supposed to have my legs a bit lower - oops!!) — ready (I think I was supposed to have my legs a bit lower – oops!!)

I counted a left & right tap as 1 rep. By the end of all 44 my hip flexors were dying!!!

A long run at a quicker pace:
11 miles in 86:56 + 0.6 miles

Friday 8/22 – 44 butt kicks in plank (also from Taylor and the bodyweight workout for your lower body).

I sort of kicked to my opposite side. And, when I went back to link to Taylor’s site I realized that I”m an idiot – she did them on her elbows – oh, well – a great move either way!!!

Another double digit run:
10 miles in 77:23 followed by 1.1 easy miles.

Saturday 8/23 – 44 squat pulses while standing on dumbbells.

(hard to take pictures of pulses without them being blurry!!)

Today I did a shorter run outside while Hunter had cross country practice – wish it would have been earlier since it was already close to 85 degrees!!!

4 easy miles and then 20+ minutes walking around waiting for Hunter and the other kids to get back to the school.

Overall it was a good week:
52.5 miles + 4.9 easy miles for a total of 57.4 miles.

I have a few more days of long runs planned and then I’m going to back off a bit. (Can you tell I have a race coming up????)

Happy Saturday!!

Kim

Back, Biceps, Fitness, Hamstrings, Lunges, Running, Shoulders, Squats, Triceps

Combo Moves (8/3-8/9)

August 9, 2014 Kim 30 Comments

This week’s 44s were all about combining upper and lower body moves – my favorite way to get max results in min time!!

Sunday 8/3 – 44 plies with bicep curls (10 pound dumbbells).

Monday 8/4 – 44 single arm lateral raise with leg abduction (8 pound dumbbells).

And, I can’t just work my right side!!!

This move was hard for me!!!

Strength training – Chalean Extreme Lean Circuit 1.
Running – 6 miles in 44:12 followed by 0.35 easy miles.

Tuesday 8/5 – 44 reverse lunge with shoulder press (8 pound DB).

After completing 44 reps on the right side I had to switch sides!

Long run day – 11 miles in 86:46 followed by 0.9 easy miles.

Wednesday 8/6 – 44 deadlift with row (15 pound DBs).

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).

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)

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!!!

Saturday 8/9 – 44 hammer curls with opposite knee lift (12 pound DBs)

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.

Happy Saturday (better late than never!!)!!!

Kim

Back, Core, Fitness, Hamstrings, Plank, Plyo, Running

Mixing Things Up While On Vacation (7/13-7/19)

July 19, 2014 Kim 59 Comments

Even though I was on a little vacation this past week, I still wanted to get in a good week of workouts. It was fun to just mix things up and do a variety of things using what I had available!!!

Sunday 7/13 – 44 cat-cow with a crunch.

Not sure why I don’t do this move more often – it was nice especially after spending a chunk of the day cleaning the venue!!!

Monday 7/14 – 44 Jumping Jacks with tucks.

This was a great way to get my heart rate way up!!! And, since I had to get a lot done before leaving for my trip, I only did my lifting workout – Chalean Extreme Push Circuit 2.

Tuesday 7/15 – 44 incline sit-ups and 44 incline crunches. The fitness center at the hotel had one of my favorite pieces of equipment from years ago so I made good use of it!!!

all the way up - touch feet — all the way up – touch feet

Personally, I think the full sit-ups are easier than the crunches!!

up just to the point that you can feel your abs contracting — up just to the point that you can still feel your abs contracting

Stacy and I did a nice 7 mile run – LOTS of hills!!! I also did a bunch of push-ups on the incline bench and a long squat series with 2, 30 pound dumbbells.

Wednesday 7/16 – 44 hill repeats. During our run Tuesday, we had to run up this killer hill to get to a gorgeous park. I decided that it would make a great 44 to run up and down it!!

Umm…this was a tough workout!!! (Stacy decided to do her own indoor workout inside of running up and down the hill.)

Not super fast but that’s because there was no possible way to get up that hill fast!!! Even on the downhill part, my heart rate never fully recovered! Not sure I would repeat this exact workout!!!

Thursday 7/17 – 44 decline plank with alternate shoulder taps (right-left = 1 rep).

ready - feet on bench — ready – feet on bench

So, you can tell that I’m sweaty and we are in our hotel room – I actually did this after our run!!

We just did an easy run – both of us were sore from our previous workouts!!! 3 miles up the hill from yesterday and around a gorgeous park followed by 3 miles of walking — it was great to just walk for a change!!!

Friday 7/18 – 44 alternating hamstring curls.

I did these Friday night but Chris took the pictures for me this morning – I figure it still counts as keeping up with my daily moves even if I don’t get it done until 10:00 pm!!!!

Saturday 7/19 – 44 back extensions with ball pass.

bring arms behind and hand ball off to other hand

I only did 44 total but I did reverse the direction of the ball pass so that I did 22 each way. I know my low back is an area I don’t work often enough!!

And, I did my favorite lifting program – Chalean Extreme Push Circuit 3.

Overall it was a decent week of working out – a little lighter than normal in some ways but fun to do some different things!!!

Happy Saturday!!

Kim

Fitness, Hamstrings, Lunges, Plank, Running

Bodyweight Moves Are Awesome!!! (6/29-7/5)

July 5, 2014 Kim 45 Comments

You know I love all of my fun fitness “toys” but I also love doing bodyweight moves!! There are so many options and moves that work every single muscle group!!!

Sunday 6/29 – 44 alternating star jumps (right – left = 1 rep).

This move was super fun!!! I will definitely add these in to other workouts!!

Monday 6/30 – 44 Y squats (squat while keeping arms in a “Y”).

Keeping my arms up made this squat a challenge!!!

I’m still loving my current weight lifting program – Chalean Extreme – Push Circuit 3.

And, I ran – shorter than some of my runs last week!!
6 miles in 41:50 + 2 easy miles.

Tuesday 7/1 – 44 push-ups with cross body mountain climbers.

This was a fun way to jazz up push-ups!!!

This was another running day!!
12 miles – 92:02 + 2.25 easy miles.

Wednesday 7/2 – 44 alternating cross-over lunges (right-left = 1 rep).

I really enjoyed this move – it was great for toning and also good cardio!!!

This was a lifting day – Chalean Extreme – Push Circuit 1 and the Ab Burner workout – fun!!!

Thursday 7/3 – 44 “waiter” single leg dead lifts. (Keep one arm behind your back while doing dead lifts on opposite leg.)

This was a fairly light day of workouts because I chose not to get up super early!!!

Tae-Bo Ab Boot Camp – since I haven’t done this in awhile I feel sure that I will be sore in the next day or two – score!!!

Friday 7/4 – 44 plank forward walks. Starting in plank walk right hand front, left hand front, right hand back, left hand back then switch lead hands for 1 rep.

This was hard – a lot of time spent in plank!!

Then, the boys and I did the 6 mile race around the lake!!!

For some reason, I struggled through the entire 6 miles!!!
My time was 44:50 which should not have felt as hard as it did – 3rd female finisher.
Hunter finished in 52:40 – he did awesome and loved the race!!!
Jordan’s time was 53:57 – he had a rough time near the end but still did a super job!!!

Saturday 7/5 – 44 prisoner lateral lunges (alternating).

A right and a left counted as 1 rep. This was another fun move – I enjoyed the body weight moves a lot this week!

This was sort of a lighter week of workouts but I think I needed it based on how I felt during the race yesterday and most of the rest of the day after running!!!

Happy Saturday!!

Kim

Back, Chest, Fitness, Hamstrings, Push-Ups, Running

Furniture as Fitness Equipment (5/25-5/31)

May 31, 2014 Kim 48 Comments

This week I decided to take a basic piece of furniture and use it for all of my daily 44s. I used one of the little footstools in our basement –

Sunday 5/25 – 44 elevated plank with extended arm and opposite arm row.

Can you tell that my arm is in front of me? Positioning my arm like that instead of under my shoulder made this move HARD!!!! And, I had to do a set of 44 with my right arm!

I think I need to do more planks with my arm out in front – I felt that for days!!!

Monday 5/26 – 44 triceps dips with hands on my step and feet on the foot stool (so they were higher than my hands). This move is similar to one that Josie (Yum Yucky) showed recently – advanced tricep dips!!!

Total burn during this move!!!

I did a fun workout – Prevention 3-2-1. I like this workout because the format makes the time fly by. You do 3 minutes of cardio, 2 minutes of strength work and 1 minute of core for 6 segments!!!

Tuesday 5/27 – 44 split leg dead lift with one foot on the foot stool.

After finishing one set and having a hip on fire, I had to do 44 on the other side!

I love dead lifts and this was a fun way to do them – the key is make sure that most of your weight is on the leg/foot on the ground!!! (12 pound dumbbells)

I started back on one of my favorite weight lifting programs – Chalean Extreme – Burn Circuit 1. (for the record I’m still sore today!!!)

And, after that, it was time for Hunter’s final long run – his best one ever!!! We continued with our 5 minutes of running/1 minute of walking because he likes that and wants to do that for the half – 10.65 miles in 1:41.26 (average pace 9:31).

Wednesday 5/28 – 44 single arm bent over row with one foot on the foot stool and a wobble ball under the foot on the ground. (12 pounds)

This week had lots of days that had 2 sets of 44 – always fun!!!

For some reason, I spent all of Tuesday night with a stomach ache so when I got up Wednesday I decided to do something fairly simple – I just walked 8.25 miles with an 11% incline. (It took just over 2 hours!)

Thursday 5/29 – 44 hip lifts with feet on the foot stool (toes up).

Another day of weight lifting – Chalean Extreme – Burn Circuit 2.

Friday 5/30 – 44 push-ups with feet pressed against the side (at the top) of the foot stool.

And, for the record, Chris took a bit to take the 2nd picture – pretty sure I said “Holy Hell, take the picture already!!” This move was HARD!!!!

It was a running day again – 9 miles in 67:47 with 1.5% incline + 2.5 miles easy!!!!

Saturday 5/31 – 44 box jumps using the foot stool – fun times!!!

And, yesterday when I was reading blogs, Taylor @ Lifting Revolution had this great Weekend Warrior Workout as well as a statement that I took as a challenge – she said to set a timer for 30-40 minutes for the workout but that “we weren’t going to finish and that’s the point.” Of course, that meant I had to try it!!!

The workout includes:
1 mile run
500 jumping jacks
400 squats
300 leg raises
200 push-ups
100 burpees (either dead man or with push-up)

The moves can be broken up any way you want to but the plan is to keep moving for the entire time and see how much you can get done.

Total time – 48:40 broken down to 41:35 for the moves + 7:05 for the mile. I did all the push-ups on my toes and deadman burpees for all of them.

Pretty sure that I will be moving slowly the rest of the weekend after that workout!!!

Do you ever use furniture for your workouts?

Happy Saturday!!

Kim