Category Archives: Fitness

How Do You Celebrate Special Days?

January 30, 2014 Kim 1 Comment

Today’s 44 was another move from Nellie (Brooklyn Active Mama) and her Weekly Wednesday Workouts. This move is called a crab dip and Nellie said in her post yesterday that it’s not for the faint – she was definitely right about that!!!

The set-up is basically a reverse table top position –

From the table top position you lower your butt until it’s close to the ground (I never let it touch) – the work is going to come mostly from your triceps but my quads were feeling the burn by the end of all 44 reps.

The last 6 or so were brutal!!!

Since I’m trying to work my way through some of the workout DVDs that I haven’t done lately, I pulled out another new one today – Skinny Bitch Fitness. This is one of those workouts that really is a pretty good workout the cueing is completely absent – you just have to watch and figure out each new move.

The workout is mad up of 4 sections that are about 20 minutes each – abs, legs, arms and butt. I do like the format – I just sort of tune Rory (instructor) and Kim (side-kick) out because they are pretty goofy!!! It was a perfect workout for today since I wanted minimal cardio before tomorrow’s 37 miles!!!

So, yesterday was Kansas Day! Ummm….I think it is the birthday of Kansas – I’m not really sure, I just know that all through elementary school January 29th is a big deal day (if you live in Kansas).

Since I’m not a Kansan (I just live here – but we all know I’m a Texan!!!) I don’t really do much to celebrate Kansas Day. However, yesterday I thought it would be fun to make a special Kansas themed dinner.

Coming up with a Kansas themed menu was actually not that simple but here is what I ended up with:

Kansas City Barbecue Sauce (which, traditionally, is a combination of sweet and spicy) –

Corn (because people in Kansas grow corn) and this recipe was from a true Kansan –

Buffalo Chips (we all know that the buffalo is the official Kansas animal –

So, a nice Kansas dinner!!!

a food photographer I'm not! — a food photographer I’m not!

And, I don’t normally make dessert but I thought since we were celebrating and all that I should so I made “Kansas” Dump Cake!!

Since it has pineapples and cherries (well cherry pie filling but…) I think it counts as fruit!!

And that is how we celebrate Kansas Day!!!

Do you like to plan themed meals to celebrate certain events/days?

Happy Thursday!!

Kim

PS – I have a special guest tomorrow – I’m super excited!!!

Fitness, Push-Ups

Do You Work Harder When Someone Is Watching You?

January 29, 2014 Kim 104 Comments

Today I did a push-up variation for my 44. I used my yoga blocks –

clearly they don't get much use for Yoga — clearly they don’t get much use for Yoga

I just put my hands on the blocks for the push-ups so it was a very slight change from a standard push-up.

And, I sort of cheated because I counted these 44 push-ups as part of my 50 for the core challenge. (I did the 90 second plank first and then did 50 instead of 44 push-ups.)

Today was the first time in months that I did a Turbo Fire workout and it was so much fun!! I did Fire 55EZ – don’t let the EZ fool you – this is 55 minutes of high intensity, non-stop moving.

During the cool down, Chalean made a comment that has me curious. She said that people tend to work harder in group settings because someone is watching them.

This statement really got me thinking because I rarely workout with a group – usually I’m in my basement alone either with a DVD or on the treadmill – however, I feel like I put in just as much effort as I would if I were at the gym.

The way I see it, I get up at 5:00 am for a reason!!!

I don’t want to waste that time putting in a half-hearted effort during my workouts whether I’m running, lifting, cross-training -whatever I’m doing.

I think that this is something I will really focus on for the next few days and make sure that I feel like I’m working as hard as I would if I were surrounded by other people doing the same thing – definitely something to think about!!!

What about you? Do you work harder when you are in a group setting?

Happy Wednesday!!!

Kim

Cardio, Fitness, Hamstrings, Lunges, Plyo, Quad, Running, Treadmill

500 Days of Activity!!!

January 28, 2014 Kim 99 Comments

Today’s 44 was a challenge!!! I did a back lunge – front kick – back lunge (all right leg) – jump lunge to switch sides and then repeated the moves on the left side for 1 rep. Between all 3 moves (lunges, kicks and jumps) I was definitely breathing hard!!!

I liked this move but 44 reps was a lot!!! Sometimes I don’t think these things through very well!! Oh, well – it’s good for me!

It was also a run day – 1.5% incline 7 miles (51:04) + an easy cool down mile.

I probably won’t run again until Friday – big run on tap!! I’m doing a virtual race as part of Kristen’s (Stuft Mama) STUFT Challenge for Run Sixty Feet. Kristen is raising money for Run Sixty Feet with her run on Friday (she’s running 37 miles since it is her 37th birthday – what a great way to celebrate a birthday!!). I’m planning to do the same (37 miles) on Friday in support of both Kristen and the cause (Run Sixty Feet).

Today is my 500th day of daily moves – 365 days of 43s and 135 days of 44s!!!

I started this adventure on September 16, 2012 when I turned 43 with a goal of doing some form of activity every single day. Using my age is a great (although sometimes not so great) way to have a set goal for each move.

After a year of Daily 43s I enjoyed it so much that I decided to continue with Daily 44s.

There are occasionally days that I’m not as motivated to do 44 reps of anything (so I usually pick something fairly easy and just get it done) but most days I love the challenge of doing something 44 times!!!

I plan to continue the rest of this year and when September rolls around again I will decide if a year of Daily 45s is on tap or if it is time to do something else. Who knows?! I might still be doing Daily _____ when I’m 75!!!!

Oh, and I guess this is also my 500th day in a row to write a blog post since that is sort-of part of my goal, too!!! At some point I might switch to weekly updates on the daily moves but for now I enjoy posting everyday so I’m just going to keep going!!!

Do you have any Daily Streaks?

Happy Tuesday!!

Kim

Butt, Fitness, Squats

The Law of Diminishing Returns

January 27, 2014 Kim 69 Comments

Today’s 44 was another squat variation – this time with alternating glute lifts.

The key is to squeeze your butt on the way up and when you lift your leg behind. Since I counted a right and left lift as 1 rep, I actually did 88 squats to complete the 44.

I pulled out another workout DVD that I haven’t done in years – Michelle Dozois – Your Best Body Circuit. This was a good workout that included some nice cardio sections with plenty of strength training. I liked that the strength training included moves with dumbbells and resistance bands. The workout is almost an hour (58 minutes) and does a great job targeting all body parts and keeping your heart rate up!!!

OK – I have never studied economics so this isn’t going to be about economics in any way, however, I think that this statement is also true in the fitness realm!!!

I have been participating in a challenge this month that Taylor (Lifting Revolution) has going on – the Core Challenge.

The way this challenge works –

Week 1 – 45 second plank followed by 20 push-ups (every single day)
Week 2 – 60 second plank followed by 30 push-ups (every day!)
Week 3 – 75 second plank followed by 40 push-ups (still every day)
Week 4 – 90 second plank followed by 50 push-ups (also every day!!)

I’m still doing this every day – I haven’t missed a day yet but near the end of week 3 I noticed that my push-ups were becoming more and more of a struggle.

This week doing 50 push-ups is a downright hard. I feel like I’m going backwards on the push-ups some days!!! I break them into sets of 10 and then do a quick stretch break usually to complete all 50. There have been some days that I’ve had to drop to my knees in order to complete all of the reps with good form.

I thought about dropping back down to 20 or 30 push-ups to finish the challenge but I’m hoping that if I keep pushing through I will see the results once the challenge is completely over.

Plus, I don’t want to feel like a

So, I’m going to keep pushing myself and hope that this will pay-off in the long run and make me stronger!!!

What are your thoughts on the Law of Diminishing Returns as it applies to fitness?

Happy Monday!!

Kim

Cardio, Fitness, Plyo, Running, Squats, Treadmill

All Unique yet Bound by Commonality

January 26, 2014 Kim 44 Comments

For the 44 today, I did a variation on a squat jump – a criss-cross squat jump.

(Not sure why I feel the need to post the video – I always look like a total goof!!! But, that’s pretty much me all the time so…..) Anyway, you can tell that the challenge of this move is to stay low while jumping your feet out then crossed – a quick move but also effective!

I did a nice easy 6 mile run today at 1.5% incline and 8:23 pace. 5 run days in 1 week!! This next week will have fewer days of running because I have a mega run on Friday!!!

I know we are all unique but sometimes that is more obvious than other times – at least in my world.

Because I’m a people watcher, yesterday at Day 1 of the Bridal Fair (fixing to head back for Day 2) it was so interesting to observe the differences in the brides.

The future brides were –

young (one couple that stopped at our both was around 18 or 19)
older
slim
round
happy
frazzled
organized
absolutely no clue what they were doing
pregnant
mothers
dressed up
wearing PJs (yep saw some that came out in lounge pants)

But watching all of them as they made their way through the masses, I truly think that no matter what they looked like or had on or who they had with them the thing that united all of them was the fact that they all have a special day coming up!

Some of them don’t know yet when that day will be and others have set dates that are years away (not kidding – a couple of the brides aren’t getting married for several years) but they all have the excitement of knowing that there is someone special in their life who wants to build a future with them.

You can see that it was rather crowded – this was the case for big chunks of the day.

So, today we will head back and there will be more people watching and appreciating the uniqueness of each bride that we talk to – each story will be different but all of them will include LOVE!!!