Category Archives: Shoulders

Spreading Sunshine

September 18, 2013 Kim 50 Comments

Pilates was the theme of the 44 for the day!! I did a standing mermaid (pilates move) with 4 knees across the body to complete each rep.

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbVm8td_28o’]

Besides being great for the core, this was really tough for my shoulders – holding my arms out to the side for the time required to complete all 44 reps was HARD!!! And, after I finished the first side I still had another set of 44 the other direction. My shoulders are still burning!

I also did a pilates DVD today – Burn & Firm Pilates. I really like the fact that even though it is pilates, the first 40 minutes or so is standing work and is a pretty decent cardio workout!

This Sunshine Award has been making rounds and 2 super sweet bloggers nominated me (even though I am so bad at this kind of thing!). I’m going to answer the questions because they are fun but I am not nominating anyone – I choose all of y’all!!!

Brooke @ Wrecking Routine (check out her blog if you don’t already read – she shares some great workout challenges plus she is just super cute!!) nominated me last week so I will start with her questions.

1. What are you too afraid to pursue right now, whether in your dreams, work or relationships? I’m really doubting my ability to run the 50 mile race in less than 4 weeks.

2. Why did you start your blog? to document my daily 43s!!

3. What is your Zodiac sign? Virgo but don’t ask me what that says about me because I don’t have a clue!!

4. What’s your favorite thing about blogging? Hands down, the wonderful bloggers that I have gotten to know!!

5. If money wasn’t an option, what country/island would you explore for a week? Australia

6. What do you love about your body? I love how strong my body is!!!

7. Tell me your favorite season and give me 2 reasons why. Summer – sun and fun!!

8. Do you believe in love at first sight? YES!! Chris and I drove to Austin, TX (from Lubbock, TX – 7 hours) for our first date (to a concert). He told me later that he knew on the way to Austin that I was the person he was going to marry – 17.5 years of marriage later still very much in love!!

9. If you could use only 1 beauty product for the rest of your life what would your choose? Hmmm…..I’m fairly low maintenance with stuff like that – probably my favorite lotion from Bath & Body (white tea & ginger).

10. Describe your perfect day from start to finish. Wake up naturally (no alarm!!), go for a run on the beach, hang out with my family on the the beach, watch the sunset over the water – so, it needs to include my family, the beach and running – simple!!!

Kristen @ 31 Million Seconds (love her blog – sometimes funny, sometimes serious, always great) nominated me on Monday and had another fun set of questions so here are some more random facts about me.

1. Night owl or early bird? Well, since I get up at 5:00 am I guess I have to say early bird.

2. Would you rather be hot or cold? HOT!! Being cold makes me cranky!!

3. If you could only eat one thing, every meal, for the rest of your life, what would it be? Pizza – still meeting all the food groups and there are lots of different kinds!!!

4. If you could have any superpower, what would it be? the ability to go without sleep – I could get so much more done every day!!

5. What did you want to be when you grew up? I thought I would go to med school and be an orthopedic surgeon. After Chris & I got married I took the MCAT but never really pursued it beyond that and then we had kids and that was the end of that!

6. What do you miss most about being a kid right now? school – I’m a nerd!!

7. If you had one hour of free time right now what would you do with it? probably read more blogs

8. What’s the most played song on your iPod? Zac Brown Band – Toes

9. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be? HAWAII!!!

10. If you could time travel, either into the past or into the future, where would you go? Hmmm….not sure that I would do either!

Even though I’m super lame and not nominating other bloggers, feel free to pick a question or 10 and share your answers – I love learning random facts about all of y’all!!

Happy Wednesday!

Kim

Fitness, Shoulders

Why Do YOU Exercise?

September 11, 2013 Kim 70 Comments

Today’s 43 looks deceptively simple!!! The move is primarily geared to work your rotator cuff but after about 20 reps your entire arm will start to feel the burn!!

Start by laying on your side with a light weight (I used 5 pounds) in your top hand.

Rotate your arm about 90 degrees, keeping your elbow tight to your body.

See how simple it looks?! Try some!!! And don’t forget to work both sides!

Sometimes the littlest moves have the biggest benefits!!!

Today I did a favorite workout – Turbo Fire – Fire 55. This workout is almost an hour (55 minutes) of fast paced cardio and it is super fun every single time!!!

There are so many reasons that people exercise – some people do it only because they feel like they have to or that they should, some people do it to try and be skinny – There are some who exercise not to be skinny but to lose weight – Many people exercise or workout because they are training for something – a race, a competition of some sort, a particular event – And there are people who exercise just to become more fit – The reason people exercise often affects the enjoyment that they actually get from working out. When the goal is to be skinny or lose weight and results aren’t immediate it can be very frustrating.

Working out because you are training for something can take away some of the fun of exercising especially if you don’t perform exactly the way you had hoped to. And, following a specific training plan sometimes becomes monotonous and saps all the joy and love of the exercise.

Some people workout just because they love the way it makes them feel – the release of endorphins after a hard workout is worth the struggles and temporary pain!!! That feeling of pushing yourself to your very limit and then just going a little bit further is such an amazing thing! And getting a good sweat on is awesome!!!

I work out because I love it. I love knowing that there is very little that I can’t do if I just put my mind to it. Pushing myself to the breaking point is the way I keep challenging myself to become the very best form of me that I can be.

So – why do you workout?

Happy Wednesday and Happy Exercising!!!

Kim

P.S. Here is a picture of my new fall hair –

Back, Fitness, Shoulders, Treadmill

Some Workout “Alternatives”

September 6, 2013 Kim 54 Comments

Today’s 43 was hard for me because it was all about the shoulders – Windmills. I used my stability ball again

and a pair of light (5 pound) dumbbells.

Start off by laying your upper body on the ball (face down) with toes on the ground. Alternately move your arms front & back (like a windmill!):

right arm front - left arm back — right arm front – left arm back

I counted a right arm front & a left arm front as 1 rep and this was hard!!!

The good news about this 43 – it was good for my shoulders, of course, but it also really worked my upper back!!

I went to bed planning to run this morning but I woke up tired and sore so I just walked with a 12% incline – 5 miles. And, I got caught up on Project Runway!!!

So, I don’t think it comes as any surprise when I say that I like (actually love) to workout!!! The next couple of weeks I’m cutting back on my normal workouts a little in order to be as rested as possible for my birthday run!!!

But, don’t think I’ve turned into this –

Nope!!!

I’ve found plenty of other ways to keep moving and work up a solid sweat.

One day I spent most of the morning pulling weeds – some serious Lat work involved here!!Plus, lots of squatting – standing – squatting – balancing – etc.!!

And yesterday I spent 5 hours of solid hard-core cleaning!!!!Remember our new business venture? Well, I scrubbed every inch of that place yesterday!!! Baseboards, corners, windows – you name it and I cleaned it! And today my body is sore and stiff from all of the kneeling and “crawling” involved!!!

Today I’m going to move 150+ chairs, schlep some tables around and steam about 25 table cloths – I think that I can count that as another “workout” don’t you?!

Happy Fun Friday, I’m off for another busy day ending in Friday Night Football – WooHoo!!!

Kim

Biceps, Core, Fitness, Shoulders

Positive Patty Triumphs over Debbie Downer!!!

September 5, 2013 Kim 56 Comments

Today’s 43 was a fun plank challenge!! I did alternating bicep curls while in plank.

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKDikUNBtb8′]

I kept thinking that I would take a quick stretch break at some point but I made it through all 43 (with each arm!) before I had to stop – I should have timed it so I would know how long my plank was!

Today for Garage Boot Camp, we did 100s Boot Camp (10 exercise x 10 reps each) – we completed 8 rounds today (plus warm-up and cool-down) which is 80 of each exercise!!

I needed a sign like that all day yesterday!!! After my dismal run, things pretty much went downhill for the better part of the day!

Those faces pretty much represented my day – notice how there are very few smiles!!!

BUT – today is a new day and is gone!!! She is not my favorite person to “live” with so I was not sad to kick her to the curb.

Today is all about

I think that this is a much better choice and will make for a far nice day for me and those around me.

Thank all of y’all who were so encouraging and gave me some great ideas to use to push myself on my upcoming run!!!

And, I can’t even tell you how many wonderful, positive, perfectly timed blog posts I read yesterday that seemed written just for me (I know they weren’t but they were helpful when I needed it!!).

Happy Thursday – I hope your day is full of Positive Pattys and no Debbie Downers!!!!

Kim

Fitness, Push-Ups, Shoulders

Spiders & Spider Webs

September 3, 2013 Kim 40 Comments

Today for my 43 I did a modified version of last week’s failed attempt at wall climbs. I did push-ups with my feet on the wall and my body making a 90 degree angle (sort-of!). This move is one that I got from Amanda @ RunToTheFinish. She has this really cool Wallbanger Workout and this is one of the moves she did in it.

Here is a failed attempt at making a demo! This was after I had already complete my 43 and my arms were toast!!

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zgy5RyXXcHQ’]

Next attempt – a tiny bit better and as good as it’s gonna get!

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNlCDuB3xM0′]

I think that 8 was the most reps I did at a time. I had to keep resetting my feet on the wall – I’m still counting it because I did all 43 reps, just with a few short reset breaks!!!

Today was another episode of Garage Boot Camp – it is usually so much hotter and stickier when we work out in the garage than when we are outside (no breeze!!!). Oh well, a ~~little~~ bucket of sweat isn’t a bad thing!!! This morning actually wasn’t as sticky as last week – a little on the cool side – pretty nice workout conditions.

I tried a new workout today – it is loosely based on a workout from Taylor @ Lifting Revolution – the Puma Pounce workout. I made some changes to turn it into a 45 minute boot camp that I felt like my group of boot campers could handle!!!

We did a 25 Rep/Minute Workout. Fun times – the faster you complete the reps, the more rest you get (whatever is left in the minute) before starting the next move!! I had a series of 8 moves (8 total minutes) and we went did 3 rounds.

Do you love or hate spiders?

I think that spiders are fascinating creatures!!! And webs are amazing works of art.

Last night we actually had a spider outside our kitchen slider that was in the process of spinning her web. I wanted to video the process without the glare from the glass so I tried to go outside without disrupting her. Didn’t work very well!

The spider felt the movement of the door on her web and stopped working. I took a short video but she didn’t move at all during that time (mostly my video is just of Hunter on the inside telling me to leave her alone!) and as soon as I opened the door again to go in, she climbed all the way to the top of her web.

Watching the spider react to an interruption in her work made me think about how I deal with little interruptions. Sometimes I react just like the spider – I leave my work and run into a corner and refuse to continue until all of the distractions are gone.

I need to learn to deal with the distraction in a timely way and then carry on with my work no matter how many minor interruptions I encounter along the way.

Are you like a spider or can you work through any type of interruption?

Happy Tuesday!! (even though it feels like Monday to me!)

Kim

Day With KT