Category Archives: Hamstrings

Life Isn’t Always Sunshine but I Love it Anyway

July 28, 2013 Kim 43 Comments

Today’s 43 was one that I’ve never tried but need to do more often. It was a front wall squat. I need lots more practice because I can’t go down very far without toppling over.

Start with your toes against the wall –

(you can barely see me – the bright light worked against the picture but too late now!!)

Slide down into a squat keeping your knees and hands against (or near) the wall –

You can tell from the picture (barely) that I couldn’t even get down to 90 degrees – so a good 43 but one that definitely needs work! I liked the fact that performing this type of squat added in a balance challenge!

And, because we actually slept in a little, I decided to keep my workout inside because the humidity is killing me when I run here. I did Turbo Fire – Sculpt 30. This was a great workout today since I haven’t gotten much strength work this week!! You use the Turbo Fire band

for a full body strength workout!!

For the past week, it has been easy to love life – because we’ve been at the beach (2 more days!!!)! And, I’m pretty sure that by now it is a well established fact that the beach is my true HAPPY PLACE!!!

However, in my “real life” back home in Kansas, life isn’t always sunny!! There are days that look a lot like this –

And, some days are just kind of drippy!However, I can finally say that no matter what the weather and other circumstances that come along – I LOVE MY LIFE!!!

That hasn’t always been the case! In high school, I think I just existed. I loved running track and I enjoyed school but the rest of it was just something to be survived.

College was 4 years of fun even though I worked hard to maintain a track and academic scholarship and then added in a job my senior year. But, I still wasn’t completely at peace with myself.

I spent a number of years trying to find happiness through other people instead of looking for it inside of myself.

I thought that the people I surrounded myself and hung out with controlled my happiness.

I even struggled when we had kids – I thought that being a Mom should make me happy all the time – that kids meant sunshine 100% of the time!!!

So, it has taken 43 years to finally get to the point where I am completely content during the sunny times and the not so sunny times.

And, as long as I know that there is always time at the beach to look forward to, my life is full of sunshine!!

Do you love your life in all types of weather or just during the sunny/happy times?

Happy Sunday!!

Kim

Butt, Calves, Core, Fitness, Foam Roller, Hamstrings

Ways to Stay Entertained on a Car Trip

July 19, 2013 Kim 39 Comments

Today’s 43 was one of those that was much harder than I thought it was going to be when I decided to do it. I used a foam roller –

and did a single leg glute lift.

(BTW – I didn’t really do these barefoot – I just had Jordan take the pictures for me last night because I knew that no one would be up at 5 am this morning!) So, from the bridge position, I just lifted my hips and lowered them – 43 times!!

And, of course I couldn’t just do one leg!!!

Supporting myself with one leg is always a bit of a challenge but supporting myself with one leg on the foam roller was no joke. My calves actually cramped up before I completed all 43 lifts!!!

Today was my 3rd (and final) round of The Lucky – the workout that I’ve been doing this week as part of Taylor’s challenge! This workout was made up of 3 circuits with 3 moves each. To complete a circuit, you do each of the 3 moves for 20 seconds, then 40 seconds, then 1 minute. Finish with 5 final reps of each move and then 1 burnout move of 50 reps.

You count the # of reps every time through and track them. I’m happy to say that I improved each day!!! I wasn’t sure that I would today but – BOOM – nailed it!!!

As of 7:00 AM this morning we are on vacation!! The only downside is to get to the destination (Bradenton Beach, FL – near Tampa) we have 20-24 hours in the car!!! (Chris thought is would be fun to drive this time – guess who voted against that plan?) So, we are driving (and driving and driving and….)!!

Unless you are the driver (which I actually prefer), it is mandatory to have something to do to pass the MANY hours!! We will entertain each other but I also brought a few things to keep myself busy!

We bought this cool little thing called a WiFi Hotspot (we went with the Verizon brand from Best Buy) so that I could have internet access on the road.

It’s pretty cool – just activate it (we just did a 1 month plan), plug it into a USB and – Voila!!! I can still blog!!! My little set-up –

And, yes, I’m in the back seat!! Jordan likes the front and I don’t really care where I sit if I’m not driving!!!

I also have a whole bag full of entertainment – iPad, Nook, several magazines, trivia books and logic puzzles to quiz the boys with!

If Hunter and I get bored, we can watch a movie on my laptop (I just picked up 42 the other day and can’t wait to see it!).

Other forms of car entertainment – Turner style!!

* see how many different state license plates we can find (and yes, I’m keeping a list)
* ABC game (no less than 500 times!)
* the boys like to sleep (or pretend to be asleep)
* take 100s of pictures of each other (documenting the day!)
* music trivia – see who can name the artist of the song first
* play word games – rhyming words, starts with, memory games
* car bingo
* who can find _______ first (things like an RV with a bicycle on the back, a bright yellow pick-up, a horse…..)
* snacks – when the boys are bored they decide it is snack time

I’m sure that we will come up with other fun things (cause, you know, we have plenty of time!!).

What are your favorite ways to stay entertained or to keep the family entertained during a long car trip?

Happy Fun Friday!!! (I’m hoping our day is full of fun on the road!)

Kim

Biceps, Butt, Fitness, Hamstrings, Running, Shoulders

Music and Running

July 3, 2013 Kim 33 Comments

Today’s 43 was pretty much good for my entire body!!! I did a clean & press with a dead-lift. I used my Body Pump bar with 10 pound plates on each side (I had 15 pounds/side but realized after 3 reps that I would never be able to make all 43 with proper form at that weight!).

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QoK3fDshhs’]

I would like to really increase my weight on these but that shoulder press kills me!!!

Today’s Boot Camp was fun – I set up a circuit with 18 stations and all sorts of equipment (medicine ball, stability ball, step, jump rope, agility ladder). We did 50 seconds and then had 10 seconds to move to the next. We went around the entire circuit 2x and the 2nd time was supposed to be FULL effort since everyone knew the moves then!!! I love short little bursts like this because it makes the time go quickly!!!

After boot camp, I decided to take advantage of the incredible weather that we are still enjoying (65 at 7:00) and go for a run! I ran 5.67 (I still can’t believe that I stopped at such a random # but I was at my driveway and ready to walk!!!) in 47:23 which is 8:21 pace. Considering the issues I’ve had the past couple of months with running – I was very happy with this run (and actually felt pretty good the entire time). Now, if I could just figure out how to get rid of some of the hills!!! (seems like way more steep up-hills than down hills – weird!!)

Anyone who has read my blog for very long knows that I love running on my treadmill – it paces me, I can control the hills (or lack of hills), I can watch all my favorite DVRed Reality TV shows and I keep myself totally entertained by playing games with the speed while I run.

However, I’m trying to transition at least some of my runs back outside in preparation for my 50 miler in October!!

One thing that has helped lately is the nice weather!!! And the scenery around here isn’t too bad either – I follow the lake a lot of times. It’s nice to see plenty of other people out walking (often with dogs), running and biking!!!

But – the biggest help is MUSIC!!! I tried using my iPhone but the long cord for the headphones always drove me crazy!!

Then I bought these:

This is actually a Sony mp3 headphone and it is awesome!! It came with 3 different sizes of earpieces and the small ones fit perfectly in my ears (without hurting them – a small miracle!!) and they don’t slide around at all. The only downside I’ve found is that when I sweat (a LOT when I run), having the earpieces in my ears on top of the sweat makes my ears feel all stopped up but now that I’ve used these a couple of times it seems to be getting better.

I love this little device!!! Having some tunes while I run helps keep me entertained and sometimes the songs even motivate me a little. Like today – the song that came on during the last 1/2 mile (I just have my play list on shuffle!) was old school – Salt n Pepa – Push It!!! (college day memories!!)

Now I’m not stupid (I know what the song is about) – but today I used the words to “push it” harder and finish my run with a sprint!!

And, of course, there are plenty of songs that come on that I feel the need to sing along to! Probably not a good thing since my ears are semi-stopped up from sweat and who knows how loud I end up singing and it’s a given that I don’t sing in tune!! I just figure it is adding to the workout challenge because it is pretty hard to run and sing!!!

Some of the tunes that I enjoyed (and anyone within hearing distance) today while running:

Rockin’ the Beer Gut
Redneck Woman (Gretchen Wilson)
Play that Funky Music (Wild Cherry)
It’s Tricky (Run DMC)
If I had $1,000,000 (Barenaked Ladies)
Sin Wagon (Dixie Chicks)
Single Ladies (Beyonce)
Chicken Fried (Zac Brown Band)
and of course, Push It (Salt n Pepa)

See why I feel the need to sing?!

I think that the Sony mp3 might be a good giveaway for me to do later this summer!!! (look for it around the time school starts – mid August here!)

What are your favorite running tunes?

You can tell that I’m pretty old school – I don’t think any of my favorites are very recent – many are from previous decades!!!

Happy Wednesday!!

Kim

Butt, Fitness, Hamstrings

Choices and Why I Work out First thing

June 21, 2013 Kim 37 Comments

Today I tried a new (to me) move for my 43 – sumo dead-lifts. I’ve seen these in a lot of other workouts but just never tried them because I really love regular dead-lifts. I liked these OK but still prefer the standard method!!

To do the sumo lifts, I used 15 pound dumbbells and started with my legs wider than hip distance, toes turned out.

From here, I did slow (2-count down & 2-count up) dead lift.

I couldn’t go down as far as a regular dead-lift because of the angle of my legs.

I could feel it in my glutes but not my hamstrings as much as a straight leg dead lift. I did like the move – this is the kind of thing that makes a fairly easy 43!!

Today was double Boot Camp – 6 am backyard BC and 7:15 am beach BC!!! Because I’m the only ~~crazy~~ one who did both, it was the same workout each time. I wanted everyone to get a great workout because I’m going to be gone next week and I’m pretty sure today’s boot camp accomplished that!!! We did a pyramid – up and down – fun stuff!!!

I still need to do the Insanity Asylum Fit Test to see if I improved from before I started the program but I’m going to save it for tomorrow instead of doing it after 2 rounds of boot camp – seems like a much better idea!!!

All day long we are faced with choices. Some are little and simple – what to eat for breakfast, what to wear (not always that simple, but….), go to the beach or the pool…..Other choices can be harder – get up early or sleep in, buy a new top or ~~3 new tops~~ not, quit working, start a new job……..

One of the choices that I made years ago was to workout first thing in the morning (even when it means getting up at the butt crack of dawn)!!For me that works well with my life because then no matter what comes up during the day, I don’t have to worry about when or if I’m going to be able to workout.

Yesterday, for example, a friend sent me a text me in the morning and asked if Chris and I wanted to meet her and husband atfor dinner and drinks. Well, I had planned to go to Zumba cause it’s sort-of addicting or something!!!

However, it was and a chance to catch up with some friends – plus I had already made the choice to get my workout done in the morning and Zumba is more of just a social outing (active for sure!) so I made the choice to spend some time with Chris and some friends!!!

And because of the choices I made earlier in the day I enjoyed the evening guilt-free!!!Things come up and life happens – sometimes fun stuff and other times just normal everyday stuff and we will always have choices to make. There are times that I wish I had made better or different choices but yesterday I was happy with my choices!!!

Choices – what will you do today?

Happy Fun Friday!!

Kim

Back, Core, Fitness, Hamstrings

Going from 0 to 100 Might Qualify me for an Idiot Award!!

May 17, 2013 Kim 16 Comments

Today’s 43 was a great one to work on balance! I did a single leg, bent-over row.

Start on your right side (or left – whichever you want to do first!!):

Then row (keep leg up for all reps):

After completing all reps (43 for me!) then you get to switch legs and start over!!

(Can you tell these pictures were all after I was completely done and showered – dressed for a day of PE – and totally rocking my lovely compression stockings!!)

I got up at 5:00 to do my work-out because I’m ~~an idiot~~ subbing PE today. I struggled through my entire 43 and workout today. I did a SELF DVD – Trim and Tone Fast. It was a fine workout – 60 minutes with a warm-up plus the following 6 sections and a cool-down:

legs
back
arms & shoulders
chest
core
full body

There wasn’t any cardio in this workout which was perfect for me today because I was having a hard enough time just doing basics this morning.

I think the fact that I spent almost 3 weeks like thisand the past 4 days I’ve been more like thishave left me a little drained and very sore. I’m telling myself I’m just sore from lack of activity and that I need to just suck it up!!!

In reality, I think the fact that I took the DR very literally when she said that I couldn’t hurt anything by “jogging” at this point – I felt the need to hit it hard and now I’m paying feeling it big time!!

Add to the workouts and all of my normal daily activity the fact that I haven’t slept more than 1-2 hours at a time for the past several nights (my legs sort-of throb all night long) and I should probably wear this today:But – I won’t!! I’ll just go up to the school and spend the day teaching PE to a bunch of wound-up kids (last Friday of the school year!!)!!! Oy!!

Oh, well – I can rest over the weekend – OH WAIT – that won’t happen since we have 6-7 graduation parties to attend and we have to take Jordan up to the middle school at 2:45am Saturday morning and pick him up between 3:00 & 4:00am Sunday morning!! (love a band contest/6 Flags trip!!)

Happy Fun Friday!! I’m thinking today will be a Diet Coke day for sure (rare for me but…)

Kim

Day With KT