Category Archives: Quad

Core, Fitness, Hamstrings, Lunges, Quad, Running, Squats

20 miles x 2 (2/8 – 2/14)

February 14, 2015 Kim 32 Comments

This week I got in 2 long runs!!! Next week I have more big running plans so I’m trying to be smart with all of the running!!

Sunday 2/8 – 45 standing side leg pulses.

The hardest part of this move was trying to stay balanced while I moved my leg up and down!!! And, of course, I had to do the other leg.

Rest day (besides going to the grocery store, doing laundry, sweeping piles of sand out of the garage, washing my truck….).

Monday 2/9 – 45 arm pulses – keep arms bent at 90.

This was another small move but very effective – I felt it in my shoulders, upper back and biceps!

I did Jillian Michaels Hard Body Level 2 – it was hard!!!
I also did a 5 mile run (40:12) followed by an easy half mile.

Tuesday 2/10 – 45 squat with dumbbell set-down and pick-up.

squat - leave dumbbells on ground — squat – leave dumbbells on ground

squat - pick dumbbells back up — squat – pick dumbbells back up

I liked this move – to complete 45 reps I actually did 90 squats!!!

This was the first 20 mile run of the week. It wasn’t bad at all!!! (2:33.56) I tacked on an easy cool-down mile for a total of 21.

Wednesday 2/11 – 45 back/hamstring stretches.

Not gonna lie – this was a really nice 45!!!

I did a fun workout that was fairly low impact – Turbo Jam, Cardio Party 3.

Thursday 2/12 – 45 glute bridge with march (toes up). This move I got from Nellie’s (Brooklyn Active Mama) Weekly Wednesday Workout.

See why it’s called a “march”? I tried to make sure that I was keeping my hips up the entire time – this was a challenge!!

And, I did my 2nd 20 mile run of the week. Funny thing is the time was almost the same (2:33.50) – just 6 seconds faster than Tuesday! I ended up doing 1.5 miles as a cool-down this time for 21.5 total.

Friday 2/13 – 45 side lunge skaters – staying low the entire time.

The goal on this move is to stay low and work your quads the entire time. (a right-left lunge = 1 rep) And, I stood in the sunbeam – because it was warm!!!

I did a workout I hadn’t done in awhile – Denise Austin – Get Fit Fast. One thing I really like about Denise Austin’s workouts is she features “real” looking people – people who look like me with hips and not a 6-pack!!!

Saturday 2/14 – 45 dead bugs while on wobble ball with shoulders slightly off ground.

I liked this move but actually felt it much more in my hip flexors than in my core. (right-left drop = 1 rep)

Today was my final run of the week – 5 miles in 39:21 followed by an easy cool down mile.

I’m happy that I met my running goal for the week – 50 miles hard and 4 easy miles to get over the 50 mile mark for the week. The next 2 weeks I’m hoping to get my mileage a little higher and then I will ease up some.

Happy Saturday!! Happy Valentine’s Day!

Kim

Core, Fitness, Quad, Resistance Bands, Running, Treadmill

Dropped the Ball on December Challenges but Still Sweating! (11/30 – 12/6)

December 6, 2014 Kim 38 Comments

I had hoped to take part in some of the fun challenges going around:
Josie (YumYucky) has the Fit Holiday challenge going on right now.
Moniques (Burpees to Bubbly) has the Happy, Healthy Fit Challenge for the month.
Amanda (Run to the Finish) has her incredible Holiday Sweat Challenge running!!

I wanted to be part of all 3 of these challenges!! However, I’m at a point where I’m happy to be working out but realize I have some limitations right now. So I will do the parts of the challenges I can do and that will have to be enough!!!

Sunday 11/30 – 45 1 minute wall sits!

Even though this was hard – 45 minutes of wall sits in one day is my new record – it was fun because the boys did a lot of the minutes with me!!!

Monday 12/1 – 45 dancing balls. Hold a stability ball with your feet and hands while lying on your back –

Lower right leg and left arm –

right arm down left arm down — right arm down
left arm down

Switch arms and legs –

left leg down right arm down — left leg down
right arm down

This move will really work your core!!

I tried running but quickly realized it wasn’t going to happen so I walked 6 miles with a 10% incline.

Tuesday 12/2 – 45 1 minute boat poses.

This took place mostly between the 2 parts of the treatment I had on my hands/arms – perfect!!

I did TaeBo – Fat Blasting Cardio. I love TaeBo!!!

Wednesday 12/3 – 45 running knees while on upside down wobble ball –

After doing 45 with my right knee I had to switch and do another set of 45.

This move was fun and went very quickly!!

I did a slow 3 mile run (27:00 minutes) followed by 4.1 miles at a 10% incline.

Thursday 12/4 – 45 leg abductions with a small resistant band.

After doing 45 with the right leg I switched and did another set on the left side.

I did one of my favorite workouts ever – Les Mills Body Pump – Combat!!!

Friday 12/5 – 45 single leg balance with arm move (open and close).

I’ve been going to a PT for my leg and she mentioned that when I stand on one leg I lean (very obvious in the pictures from Thursday), so I decided to work on some moves that require me to balance on one leg.

This move was easy – balance on one leg and open arms to side –

balance on right - open arms to side — balance on right – open arms to side

Stay still and bring arms together in front of body –

I stood in front of a mirror to try and make sure that I didn’t lean.

I actually got in a decent run finally!!! 8 miles in 65:20 followed by 1.5 cool down miles.

Saturday 12/6 – 45 rope climbs. Lay on your back with your legs extended and act like you are climbing a rope as you slowly sit up. Hold your abs tight and slowly go back down.

I love how focused Hunter looks while doing this!!!

I’m hoping to join in on some of the challenges this next week now that I can start lifting and doing more with my arm!!!

Happy Saturday!

Kim

Cardio, Core, Fitness, Lunges, Plank, Plyo, Quad, Running, Squats, Triceps

Almost Skipped a Day (10/12 – 10/18)

October 18, 2014 Kim 30 Comments

This week was one of those weeks that pretty much flew by. Every day I would think, “Oh, tomorrow will be an easier day.” Not the case but it was still a good week!!!

Sunday 10/12 – 45 squat to lunge (same leg moving) – stay low on stationary leg.

Even though I only did 3 on each side in the demo, I really did 45 on each side. My hip/quad was burning by the time I finished!!!

Monday 10/13 – 45 burpees with a hop onto a step. (Actually I did 50 because Brooke’s workout for the day called for 50 burpees as the “extra” move.

There was nothing easy about these!!!

Boomer’s Burn was a strength workout all about high reps – awesome!!!

It was also a running day – 8 miles in 59:51 + 1.5 easy miles.

Tuesday 10/14 – 45 split squats with the back foot on a step.

And, of course, I had to switch legs and do another set of 45.

I held 15 pound dumbbells the entire time. This move was not easy!

I did one of the Piyo workouts that I like – Buns.

And, Boomer’s Burn was an interval workout. It was a good one – hard!!!

I did 5.5 miles during the intervals + 2.1 easy miles.

Wednesday 10/15 – 45 sit-ups with feet on step.

Boomer’s Burn was another great strength workout!!!

I ended up just walking with a 10% incline instead of running because my right quad has been bugging me. I walked just over an hour.

Thursday 10/16 – 45 second side plank with top leg lifted.

This was not easy!!! Then I had to switch sides and do it again –

don't drop the hip! — don’t drop the hip!

I pulled out one of my favorite workouts – Turbo Jam – Fat Blaster!

Boomer’s Burn was another interval day. It started out OK but during the final interval my right quad (that has been bugging me) sort of gave out – I limped through one hard rep and decided that it was time to stop.

Friday 10/17 – 45 partner push-ups (with Hunter).

This was a fun move!!

And, this day sort of got away from me!! I didn’t get up at 5:00am since the boys were out of school. Because of that I ended up not being able to workout (probably good to rest my quad). After a full day and a neighbor’s party, I finally did this move about 9:45pm!!!

Saturday 10/18 – 45 tricep presses with feet on stool.

Hunter let me take pictures of him demonstrating the move last night even though I didn’t do it until this morning!!!

I had more rest days this week than I like but sometimes that is just how it has to be.

Happy Saturday!!

Kim

BOSU, Butt, Calves, Cardio, Core, Fitness, Lunges, Quad, Running

Increasing the Daily Reps (9/14 – 9/20)

September 20, 2014 Kim 32 Comments

This week saw in a change in daily moves from 44 to 45. What’s one more rep of anything?!

Sunday 9/14 – 44 heel raises while doing a wall sit and holding up a 20 pound kettle bell.

Not gonna lie – my quads were burning by the time I finished these!!

Monday 9/15 – 44 super burpee (had to have something big for my last Daily 44.)

To do the move: jump back into plank – push-up – jump legs in and right – jump back to plank – jump legs in and left – jump back to plank – jump feet in to hands – jump back to plank – plank jack – jump up to standing – do 8 fast feet. Hooray – 1 rep is done!!!

10 of these would have been OK but 44 was tough!!!

And I’m finally back to normal workouts!!! I started a new program – PIYO – Align the Fundamentals. Not sure how much I’m going to like it but I will give it a try!!!

Tuesday 9/16 – 45 minutes of running (to see how far I could get).

I did 7.43 miles in 45 minutes (7:23, 6:17, 5:51, 5:34, 5:39, 5:54, 5:50 and 6:01 to finish the 8th mile)

I haven’t run hard like this in awhile so I paid the price for this run for the rest of the week – stairs were rough until yesterday and my shins were very tight!!!

Wednesday 9/17 – 45 crunches while on a BOSU with a stability ball between the ankles.

You can see in the pictures that I had to keep my hands on the side of the BOSU – I didn’t hold the entire time but I sure did have to hold a lot for balance!!!

I also did 2 more of the PIYO workouts – Define Lower Body and Define Upper Body.

Thursday 9/18 – 45 plie with hands touching the floor – spring up onto toes and reach hands up.

up onto toes - reach hands up — up onto toes – reach hands up

This was another day of PIYO – Sweat. I looked ahead at the way the program is laid out and it just repeats the same workouts from this week over and over for a few weeks – not sure that I will do this program as it is written!!!

Friday 9/19 – 45 curtsey lunge with hop to opposite leg and another curtsey lunge – stay low the entire time. (right-left = 1 rep)

Then I did one of my favorite workouts – Turbo Fire!!! I did Fire 55EZ (not to be confused with easy!!). Fun way to start the day.

Saturday 9/20 – 45 mountain climbers in low plank.

I let Hunter do the demo since he is the one who told me about this lovely move!!! It was hard but I liked it!!!

So, this wasn’t a super hard week of workouts but it was nice to be back in the routine!!!

Happy Saturday!

Kim

Butt, Core, Fitness, Hamstrings, Lunges, Quad, Recovery

Taking it Easy (8/31 – 9/6)

September 6, 2014 Kim 40 Comments

This week was all about taking it easy with the workouts after last weeks high mileage. And, my legs needed the break – they were tired!!!

Sunday 8/31 – 44 jump lunges (straight up and down in lunge position).

This was a fun way to get the heart rate up!! It was hard to catch a good picture of me jumping:)

And, then I had to switch legs and do some more jumps –

Hunter did a pretty good job snapping a picture while I was in the air!!

Monday 9/1 – 44 reverse lunge to single leg T-stand.

push off heel of right foot and come up to T

My right hip was dying by the time I finished all 44 of these!!! And, then I had to work my left hip!

Can you tell that my balance isn’t as good on my left side? I’m not very parallel in that last picture!!!

Tuesday 9/2 – 44 front step to runners lunge.

step front with right leg - all the way down (left leg should be straight - that's about as straight as mine gets!) — step front with right leg – all the way down (left leg should be straight – that’s about as straight as mine gets!)

Push off of right foot back to standing –

I did all 44 with my right leg and then shared with my left!!

I did Fat Burning Pilates (very low impact) and then walked with a 9% incline for 3.25 miles.

Wednesday 9/3 – 44 pulsing lunges with foot on stability ball.

left foot on ball - down — left foot on ball – down

The hardest part of this was staying balanced and not toppling over!!!

right foot on ball - down — right foot on ball – down

Today was Turbo Jam – Ab Jam (this was a fun ab workout that I always forget about!) and 4.4 miles walking at 9% incline.

Thursday 9/4 – 44 stationary side lunges with one foot on a wobble disc.

down (although this picture doesn't show me down very far!) — down (although this picture doesn’t show me down very far!)

I did all 44 to the right and then switched feet so I could do more!

I pulled out a DVD that I rarely do – Shape Pilates. I did all 4 of the 15 minute sections for a decent workout.

Friday 9/5 – 44 step-ups onto foot stool.

And, because I’ve been way more tired than normal this week, I actually slept till 6:00 instead of getting up to workout!

Saturday 9/6 – 44 single leg squats with opposite leg extension. (and because I’m super classy, I’m going to show you the pictures I took in my bathroom mirror after my shower)

These were hard – between staying balanced and trying to coordinate the move it was a nice little challenge!!! And, I don’t want my legs to feel left out of a move so I did another set of 44 on the left leg.