Category Archives: Lunges

Humor – It’s a Good Thing!

April 2, 2013 Kim 14 Comments

For the 43 today, I did an 8-count lunge.

Step right leg forward
Raise up onto toes
Drop down into lunge
Lift up (leg still forward, heel still up)
Drop down into lunge
Lift up
Put heels down
Step right foot back to left

(No clue why my eyes are closed!!! And, my T-shirt is ginormous! Issues!!!) – You can see the different positions this way, though.

Of course, after I did 43 with my right leg, I had another set of 43 to do with my left leg. My legs were nice and shaky by the time I finished!!!

I pulled out another DVD that I haven’t used in awhile – BOSU Total Body Blast with Mindy Mylrea. This is a great total body workout (70 minutes). It has cardio through-out and lots of leg toning plus some core work at the end. Mindy is a bit of a goof but the time goes pretty quickly and most of the moves are easy to catch on to – lots of repetition!!

Today, I just feel the need for some laughs!!!

I’m pretty sure that Jordan and some of the other kids I tutor in Algebra think this next one!

This little thing about exercise made me smile!!

Q: What goes up and down but does not move?

A: Stairs

Q: If you were in a race and passed the person in 2nd place, what place would you be in?

A: 2nd place!

I hope y’all have a day full of smiles and laughter!!!

Happy Tuesday!

Kim

Fitness, Lunges, Quad, Stairs

6:00 AM on a Saturday?!

March 30, 2013 Kim 8 Comments

It is rare for me to be up before 7:00 on a Saturday (especially when I stayed up till midnight watching basketball) – however today is for a good cause – Hunter has a Cello Competition in Manhattan this morning so off we go!!! I wanted to get my workout done before we left because the rest of the day is going to be full!

For the 43 today I did a Plie Squat and lunge combo. Start with a plie squat:

Turn to right lunge:

Lunge right (closing your eyes takes away the pain!)

Back to plie:

Left lunge:

Those 4 moves = 1 rep x 43. I stayed in a low squat/lunge the entire time so my quads were on fire by the time I finished all 43!! Thanks to Chris for posing for the pictures last night!!

I wanted to do a pretty quick workout so I did Les Mills Combat – Combat 45. It’s been a couple of weeks since I did some Combat and I always love it (even if it is at the butt crack of dawn!!).

Yesterday afternoon was beautiful!!! I went on a 2 mile walk with a neighbor and one of her dogs (a cute little Papillon who wasn’t really into walking and ended up being carried over half the way – silly girl!).

Then Chris and the boys and I played tennis for about an hour – always fun because Chris is the only true tennis player in the group the rest of us just run around a lot!!

Jordan - always has something crazy going on! — Jordan – always has something crazy going on!

Hunter - what are you doing? — Hunter – what are you doing?

What kind of sunglasses are those??? and - serve — What kind of sunglasses are those???
Oh- tennis glasses!

Fun times for sure!! Hunter wore his new basketball shoes because he wants to break them in a little before he starts basketball camp on Monday night. Tennis – basketball – both involve a ball – who needs special shoes??

Since I was the one who stopped and took a few pictures, there are none of me (funny that happens on vacation a lot, too) – maybe we should work on that!! Nah!

Jordan and I decided to enjoy the weather and just walk home from the courts – another 2.5 mile walk around the lake!!!

I think my post title yesterday was pretty accurate – it was definitely a Fun Friday! We finished off the night with some Chinese food, rum drinks and the NCAA basketball tournament! Bummer that Kansas lost but I still have Duke winning the whole thing so I have a chance to win!!

Now – I’m off to listen to some awesome cello music!!

Happy Saturday!

Kim

Fitness, Lunges, Quad, Shoulders

Is a Dehydrator a Good Investment?

March 21, 2013 Kim 11 Comments

Check out the sunrise this morning:

OK – onto the 43 – This was one of those that ended up being more challenging than I had thought it would be! I did a lunge with a twist while holding a medicine ball.

Start standing with ball at chest.

Step into lunge with right leg and push ball straight in front of you.

right lunge - ball extended — right lunge – ball extended

Twist to right while staying in lunge.

Return to front lunge, stand and bring ball back to chest for 1 rep. After doing 43 with my right leg, I still had another set of 43 with the left!!!

I think that the hardest part of this was keeping my arms up. I used an 8 pound medicine ball and it was hard to keep pushing my arms out and twisting!!

I decided to do a Les Mills Combat workout today – Combat 60 Ultimate Cardio Fighter! Always a good workout and a quick 60 minutes!!! I also did Turbo Fire – Abs 10 to get a little core work.

So, I’ve been doing some research into dehydrators. I’m trying to decide if it is something that I would use. I know that the boys would like things like dried mangos and other fruits. What I’m really wondering is if I could use dehydrated food to get rid of my chip addiction!!!

I love potato chips but I don’t love having a jiggle around my middle when I run!! Therefore, potato chips have to go!!! I need other (healthier) snack options! Any thoughts on dehydrators? Do you have one? (and do you use it if you do??)

Happy Thursday!!! (Yikes – spring break is flying by!!)

Kim

Biceps, Butt, Fitness, Lunges, Quad

Fascinating Fun Friday!!

March 15, 2013 Kim 6 Comments

Part of the idea for today’s 43 came from Marcia who said curtsey lunges were one of her favorite exercises. I paired the curtsey lunge up with a couple of other moves and got a nice little 43.

I did the curtsey lunge and while holding the lunge did a bicep curl (I used 10 pound DBs today) then I stood and lifted the back leg while squeezing my butt = 1 rep.

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TK1gfw0ZXP4′]

Besides the fact that I nearly lost my balance during the demo – it was great! This 43 was pretty challenging – my quads were burning and I got my heart rate up since it was upper and lower body combined!!! 43 on the 2nd leg was the real kicker!

At one point I stopped for a second to stretch and told Hunter that this was a hard one. He said, “You can do it. You’ve done all of them so far.” So sweet!! Of course, he didn’t look up from what he was doing at the time. (This is one of his favorite morning activities before I take him to school – not filming me or even watching me sweat – learning new techniques with his cubes!!)

learning yet another method to solve one of the cubes!

Thanks to Hunter and his encouragement, I made it through another 43!

Today I decided to do a low-impact type workout (especially after yesterday’s crazy Tabata madness!) since I have a super long run planned for tomorrow. I pulled out an oldie – Denise Austin: Fat-Blasing Yoga. I don’t do yoga often but I have found a few DVDs that I really enjoy. Angela just did a great post about the benefits of yoga for runners so I figured today was a good day for it.

I actually have a # of Denise Austin’s DVDs – sometimes I just follow along without the sound but she does have some really great workouts. The yoga one is a nice mix of strength work and stretching. At the end there is a 15 minute section that is primarily core using a stability ball. It was a nice break from running, jumping….

real clothes don't happen often anymore! — real clothes don’t happen often anymore!

Yesterday I actually put on non-workout clothes!!! Sad part was that it was to go to a funeral (a friend of mine lost her Dad this week). Her dad served in the Navy during World War II and so at the cemetery they had the military service – 2 Navy men – salute as casket is carried up, Taps and the flag (unfold, refold then present it). Military services always sort-of get to me. I told Chris that I never want someone to hand me that flag – so do what you need to do to make sure that doesn’t happen, OK?

Well, it is going to be Fun Friday! Even though it is still in the 30s right now, we are supposed to get up to 80!!! I can’t wait.

Chris is off today and the boys will be on Spring Break when they get home this afternoon. I have a friend who is just starting to sell Origami Owl jewelry so I’m going to her party this afternoon. And, it’s basketball tournament time!!!! (Even though my teamis already out – still love the tournament!)

Happy Fun Friday!!!

Kim

Back, Fitness, Lunges

Let’s Do This!!!

March 7, 2013 Kim 10 Comments

Today’s 43 incorporated both lower and upper body so it also got my heart rate up – Bonus!!! I did a side lunge with a row.

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

Because I’m not the most coordinated individual, I had to really focus on keeping my elbows in tight as I pulled my shoulder blades back and at the same time, keep one leg extended and really sit back in my butt – that’s a lot to remember!! So if a few reps aren’t perfect form, please overlook!!

I actually did 86 reps since I counted a right lunge-row combo and a left lunge-row combo as 1. I love to try to incorporate as many muscle groups as possible so this was a great 43!!

The rest of my work-out involved Les Mills Combat with Combat 60 Live – The Ultimate Warrior!!! (I only have about a week left and I will be done with the program – then I will just add in the workouts whenever. I always try to go through a program “as prescribed” the first time I do it and then I mix the workouts in with my other routines later.)

Check out my new shoes!! The other day Stuft Mama did a post about these shoes because she received a pair right before Reebok did the big launch. I thought they were so cool that I hit up the Reebok website and ordered a pair and 5 days later Fed Ex rang my doorbell and…LOVE them!!

These are the new Reebok DMX Sky shoes and they are so cool. I love pink but they have some other really cool color combinations, too. Can’t wait to see how they handle the treadmill!

Even though today isn’t a running day for me, I wanted to wear them just a little and break them in a bit before my next run!!

At 1:00 this afternoon, I will probably look at least as frazzled as the above picture. I’m just hoping that all of the studying/cramming I’ve done this week is enough. When I was younger I don’t recall having such a hard time learning stuff – Either I’ve blocked that part of my life or my memory is fading…..

Oh well, I’m as ready as I’m going to be for my test. I actually slept most of the night last night (which is huge!!) and I’ve gotten in a work-out!!! Just going to stay calm and bubble sheet my way to a certification!! (except bubble sheets are also a thing of the past since the test is now computerized!)

I already told Chris that when I get home (test site is about an hour away) I will be ready for an evening at The Blue Moose (it’s been several weeks since Thirsty Thursday).